RESEARCH DREAM TEAMS

May 29, 2009 — Funds for cancer research raised by the huge celebrity-studded telecast organized by the Stand Up to Cancer campaign have now been allocated to 5 research "dream teams." The total allocated is $73.6 million.

Each of the teams will receive funding for 3 years for translational research projects, with the aim of moving the project from bench to bedside at "what will be an extraordinarily quick pace," said head of the committee that chose the teams.

Philip Sharp, PhD, institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and a Nobel Laureate, headed a committee assembled by the campaign's scientific partner, the American Association of Cancer Research. The committee reviewed 237 applications before deciding on the 5 chosen teams.

"The Dream Teams bring together leading laboratory scientists and physicians, collaborating in ways that are unprecedented with a laser-like focus on research that has enormous potential to help patients and saves lives," Dr. Sharp said in a statement. Each team will comprise 300 researchers and at least 2 individuals from patient-advocacy groups to ensure that patients' perspectives are integrated into the research on an ongoing basis.

"The Stand Up to Cancer model could very well change the face of cancer," Dr. Sharp remarked.

The majority of the funds were raised during an hour-long television campaign, aired simultaneously on the 3 largest networks in the United States last September, as reported by Medscape Oncology at the time. The announcement of the research dream teams was broadcast on morning shows on each of the 3 networks earlier this week.

Executive producer of the telecast, cancer survivor Laura Ziskin, commented: "Every single minute of every single day, we lose someone to cancer in this country. We urgently need more and better treatments, and we need everyone to support the scientists who are working so hard to develop more effective treatments. That, in a nutshell, is what Stand Up to Cancer is trying to facilitate."

The 5 dream teams have diverse targets, as detailed below.

Epigenetic therapy at the forefront of cancer management — This team will focus on epigenomes, material outside of DNA that can turn genes on and off. Inappropriate epigenetic activity contributes significantly to cancer causation and growth but, unlike DNA mutations, these epigenetic changes can be reversed. The hope is that epigenetic therapy will return defective genes to normal functioning. The initial focus will be on breast, colon, and lung cancer, and leukemia. This team is headed by Stephen Baylin, MD, from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, Maryland; and Peter Jones, PhD, DSc, from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Targeting the PI3K pathways in women's cancers — PI3K mutations occur in breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancers, and drugs that inhibit this pathway are already in clinical trials. However, only some patients respond. This team aims to find ways of predicting who will respond. It is headed by Lewis Cantley, PhD, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts; Charles Sawyers, MD, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City; and Gordon Mills, MD, PhD, from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Targeting breast cancer molecular subtypes and their "resistance" phenotypes — This project will focus on the most significant issues related to the 3 major subtypes of breast cancer — estrogen-receptor (ER) positive, HER2 positive, and triple negative (ER negative, progesterone-receptor negative, and HER negative) — to develop innovative less-toxic therapies, with the potential to improve treatment outcomes for women with this disease. The team will be headed by Joe Gray, PhD, from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California; and Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD, from the University of California Los Angeles.

Circulating tumor cells chip technology — The measurement of circulating tumor cells that are released from a primary tumor has already shown potential clinical value, but so far this approach has been limited by technology. This team plans to build a chip based on microscopic fluid dynamics that will be 100 times more sensitive than existing systems and has the potential to revolutionize the way in which cancers are detected and treated, say the researchers. The team is headed by Daniel Haber, MD, PhD, from Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston; and Memhet Toner, PhD, from Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Cutting off the fuel supply: a new approach to the treatment of pancreatic cancer — Most cancers require a supply of glucose for their survival, but pancreatic cancer is unique in that it is addicted to glutamine, an amino acid used to build muscle mass. This can lead to extreme weight loss, which is often seen in patients with pancreatic cancer. This team aims to develop drugs designed to deprive pancreatic cancer of essential nutrients and to test them in combination with chemotherapy, with the aim of improving survival; currently, less than 90% of patients survive beyond 1 year. This team is headed by Craig Thompson, MD, from Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; and Daniel Von Hoff, MD, from the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.