Category: Featured News

Cancer Research Get Boost from Stand Up To Cancer Telecast

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News

Dozens of celebrities came together on stage Sept. 9 for the fifth biennial telecast of StandUp2Cancer (SU2C (http://www.aacr.org/NEWSROOM/PAGES/NEWS-RELEASE-LISTING.ASPX)) and used their star power to raise awareness and funds towards fighting cancer. SU2C’s event was focused on raising money for ground-breaking, collaborative cancer research, while educating the public about the challenges of cancer. The hour-long, commercial free show was broadcast simultaneously across Canada and the U.S. on over 60 channels including the major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC;  Fox; USA; VH1; Bravo and HBO.

“SU2C’s mission, to ensure that all cancer patients become cancer survivors, is one that is very close to my heart,” said the show’s executive producer and Academy Award-nominated actor Bradley Cooper, who lost his father, Charles Cooper, to lung cancer in 2011.

This theme was evident throughout the hour as celebrities who had battled cancer and survived, including Rita Wilson and Kathy Bates, urged viewers to get screened to prevent cancer or to participate in trials if they have already been diagnosed. They also lauded SU2C’s initiative to raise money critically important to fund “Dream Teams” with a goal to end cancer.

“I wouldn’t be standing here tonight if it wasn’t for the progress research has made in recent decades,” said Bates.

SU2C Dream Teams Bring Hope to Cancer Patients

The hour-long telethon presented facts and statistics, research information, and real-life stories that remind us all that cancer is far too prevalent in the United States, but that it can be beaten. SU2C-funded researchers, primarily funded through dream teams, have planned, launched or completed more than 160 clinical trials involving more than 9,000 patients, leading to FDA approval of two treatments, according to SU2C’s Sept. 1 press release (http://www.standup2cancer.org/press_release/view/more_stars_join_su2c_telecast_on_sept._9_will_rally_viewers_by_sharing_publ).

Viewers got a firsthand account from Mitch Carbon, a teen leukemia patient who was out of treatment options and had prepared himself for death until he was accepted into a clinical trial. The immunotherapy clinical trial, at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from the St. Baldrick’s Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, gave him his life back and now he is a freshman in college hoping to enter a field where he can give back to other cancer patients.

100% of the monies raised during the telethon go directly to grants supporting cancer research. Since its first broadcast in 2008, Stand Up to Cancer has raised more than $370 million. The effort has funded 19 dream teams and six translational research teams. The SU2C dream teams “pursue the most promising research, accelerating the discovery of new therapies for cancer patients and/or advancing efforts in cancer prevention research.”

New Dream Team Targets Mutation in Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma Patients

This year, a new dream team focused on KRAS-positive lung cancer, one of the most aggressive subtypes of lung cancer, is being funded through SU2C.

Following is the team’s plan, according to the SU2C website:

“The team has devised a three-pronged approach to create new treatments for patients with KRAS-mutant lung cancers. First, the researchers will identify the most effective therapies for targeting KRAS and other related biological pathways. Second, they will develop approaches to exploit the immune system for the treatment of KRAS-mutant lung cancers. Third, they will integrate targeted therapies with immunotherapies as a novel combined approach to treatment of KRAS-mutant lung cancer.”

Mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers, is highly aggressive and is resistant to many current treatments. Care often follows the same protocol as lung cancer. As a result, mesothelioma patients struggling to find effective treatments for the incurable cancer stand to benefit greatly from the amazing results of the SU2C Dream Teams. Continued funding, support and collaboration of these teams bring hope to the millions of Americans who battle cancer each year, as well as the 3,000 Americans diagnosed with mesothelioma each year.

Cancer research is expensive and time-consuming, and for research related to a rare disease, such as mesothelioma, the costs can be even higher. Events such as this not only bring in much-needed funds, but they also raise awareness of the devastation cancer causes to patients and their families.

“We’re at a tipping point in the fight against cancer – the science and technology is there,” said Vice President Joe Biden who appeared on the stage. “We are on the cusp of ending cancer as we know it.”

Visit SU2C to find out more about the initiative.

Oxygen-Focused Treatment May Overcome Drug Resistance in Mesothelioma

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News

Cancer research is often focused on developing cancer treatments that target a specific gene or biomarker responsible for a particular cancer. Now, researchers report that by focusing on tumor oxygen levels and a treatment schedule using a combination of existing anti-cancer treatments survival in lung cancer patients may be improved. Mesothelioma patients, who often follow the same treatment protocol, could also benefit from this approach.

A team of scientists from the University of Minnesota and the University of Southern California realize that low levels of oxygen in cancer can lead to drug resistance and uncontrollable tumor growth in many cancers. The condition, known as hypoxia, is treated with hypoxia-activated prodrugs, or HAPs. HAPs can penetrate into the oxygen-starved areas of tumors that other cancer drugs cannot. But, HAPs are not effective as a single treatment, so the researchers turned their attention to finding a way to increase the success of them.

The researchers developed a mathematical model to assess the effectiveness of using a HAP (evofosfamide) in combination with standard cancer therapy to prevent the resistance to erlotinib in EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). EGFR is a protein found on the surface of some cells which causes the cells to divide and spread. It is found at abnormally high levels on the surface of lung cancer and mesothelioma. The researchers report that nearly all EGFR NSCLC patients will develop a resistance to erlotinib within a year, making the drug ineffective.

Erlotinib is in a class of drugs called kinase inhibitors that is used to treat NSCLC that has metastasized in patients previously treated with at least one other chemotherapy medication and have not gotten better.

After testing a multitude of treatment schedules combined with differing dosages, the team found that ultimately the best combination to prevent resistance to erlotinib was achieved by alternating the treatment of evofosfamide and erlotinib while limiting the down time between the dosages. By alternating between the two drugs, the researchers report, “the entire population of cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment” is constantly controlled by the drugs.”

“Alternating between these two drugs allows each one to provide the necessary control over the cancer cell population the other one is lacking,” the authors wrote in the study. “These results demonstrate that incorporating HAPs in combination with targeted therapies may be an effective tool in preventing resistance, and suggest an alternative use for HAPs.”

Nearly 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with the incurable cancer, mesothelioma, each year. While recent advances in treatment for mesothelioma patients have improved survival for some patients, continued research is critically important to ensure existing treatments become even more effective. Each breakthrough or promising result from a study increases hope that mesothelioma patients can live longer, higher quality lives with the disease.

“These findings highlight the importance of designing combination therapies with drugs whose strengths complement each other in order to maximize the therapeutic benefits,” concluded the authors.

The study can be found in the Aug. 25 issue of PLOS Computational Biology.

Photo Credit: RxList.com

Is Watson the Best Approach for Determining Treatment Plans?

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News, Treatments

Five years ago Watson debuted on Jeopardy! in a matchup with two of the winningest contestants from the show, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Watson proved why he is a “supercomputer” by handily beating the two at the game. At the time, not many of the viewers envisioned that IBM’s artificial intelligence machine would someday be important to their healthcare. Now, Watson is mainstream in TV commercials asking viewers, “How can I help you?” For a mesothelioma patient, the answer might be, “Find the most effective treatment for me.”

Thanks to a partnership between New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and IBM, Watson Oncology may soon be the go-to reference for oncologists, helping drive cancer care for all patients. Watson Oncology’s primary strength lies in the massive database fed with data from MSKCC on how their doctors treat their cancer patients. While this amount of data is nearly impossible for a doctor to analyze, Watson analyzes and assesses the information quickly, placing incredible knowledge at the doctors fingertips. For patients suffering from mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive cancer with few treatment options, Watson might just be the only way to guide oncologists to finding the best evidence-based treatment protocol.

“We are training Watson so oncologists anywhere will be able to make more specific and nuanced treatment decisions more quickly, based on the latest data,” said an MSKCC spokesperson in response to a comment in an article about Watson.

What is Watson Oncology?

Watson is the result of four years of hard work in IBM’s Grand Challenge: “Can a system be designed that applies advanced data management and analytics to natural language in order to uncover a single, reliable insight in a fraction of a second?” Using Jeopardy! as the ultimate test required IBM to build a machine that can interpret natural or human language that relies on the ability to relate pictures, phrases, figures, slang and nuances.

Since then, Watson has grown into a tool and resource for businesses worldwide. When MSKCC oncologist Mark Kris, MD, William and Joy Ruane Chair in Thoracic Oncology at MSKCC, realized the potential Watson could have on patient care, he led a team to build a database for Watson Oncology that could “revolutionize care and research, accelerating progress for people with cancers.”

MSKCC uses their “world-renowned cancer expertise” to drive Watson Oncology to give oncologists access to “individualized treatment options that are informed by medical evidence and our highly specialized experience.”

“I think this is beyond an evolutionary step,” says Dr. Larry Norton, Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs, MSKCC. “I think this is a revolutionary step.”

In addition to MSKCC’s work with Watson, IBM and MD Anderson Cancer Center have also partnered. The partnership builds on MD Anderson’s oncologists’ knowledge to help drive the center’s Moon Shots program with a goal to “rapidly and dramatically reduce mortality and suffering in cancer.” In much the same as MSKCC’s Watson Oncology, MD Anderson’s Oncology Expert Advisor is expected to provide the medical team “with immediate, worldwide access to MD Anderson’s expertise and resources, and to IBM Watson’s technology prowess in quickly extracting crucial insights from large volumes of complex data.”

Expert Insight

Dr. Larry Norton, MSKCC

“This has the potential of totally changing the way we conduct medicine.”

Share on Facebook

Watson and Mesothelioma

Having what could become a nearly infinite volume of information instantly available makes Watson incredibly valuable. Using computers to help identify how to treat a complex medical condition, like mesothelioma, can improve survival and the patient’s quality of life. Having the information built by two of the most renowned mesothelioma centers in the world, can only mean excellent care for mesothelioma patients.

MSKCC is the world’s oldest and largest private cancer center, and has a team of specialists including surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and nurses who deal exclusively with mesothelioma and other thoracic cancers. They are committed to providing the best possible treatments for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, and often conduct clinical trials and studies for mesothelioma as they continue to make strides in the treatment of the deadly disease.

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center works hard at achieving their vision of being the “premier cancer center in the world” through their initiatives in the research and treatment of mesothelioma. The cancer center has over 30 specialists on staff that supports their multi-disciplinary approach to treating mesothelioma patients. Their ongoing research and unique initiatives dedicated to finding a cure for mesothelioma makes them one of the few cancer centers in the world with a comprehensive program.

“Cognitive computing in healthcare allows us to use every step, every heartbeat, every checkup, every gene, every prescription,” according to IBM. “IBM Watson Health is helping transform healthcare and leading us to new insights. Helping keep us all healthier.”

To find out more about how Watson can help you in your mesothelioma care see Watson Oncology on MSKCC’s website, or visit MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program online.

Researchers Find New Way to Treat KRAS Lung Cancer

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News, Treatments

In March, MesotheliomaHelp reported that two drugs may be better than one when it comes to treating KRAS-positive lung cancer patients. Now, in a new study, researchers report they have found yet another way to tackle lung cancer when the KRAS gene is present.

In a July 28 press release from UT Southwestern, researchers report that the Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) gene, that is responsible for the most aggressive subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and is found in nearly 30% of all NSCLCs, controls cell division and can drive healthy cells to divide uncontrollably, leading to cancer. The gene is tough and it nearly always fights off treatments building resistance to the drugs.

“Mutant KRAS not only promotes the growth of tumors, but also the survival of established lung cancer,” said Dr. Scaglioni, who leads the Cancer Signaling Laboratory at the Simmons Cancer Center. “Since we have no clinically-relevant effective inhibitors of mutant KRAS at this time, there has been an intense clinical interest in developing a treatment that is proven effective.”

In order to influence the effects of KRAS, the researchers realized they needed to target the ACSL3 gene. The researchers found that it is the ACSL3 gene that keeps cancer cells alive, yet when suppressed, the gene is responsible for cell death. They also found that the ACSL3 gene is “highly expressed” in lung cancer, thus making it critical to find a way to suppress it.

The scientists tested the impact of the ACSL3 gene in the lab using mice and on a human KRAS-positive NSCLC line. In both cases, the researchers proved that “ACSL3 silencing was accompanied by induction of apoptosis,” or cell death. They propose that, “ACSL3 is a target for the development of targeted therapies against mutant KRAS lung cancer.”

“There is an urgent need for discovery of additional targets that inhibit lipid metabolism in cancer cells that could lead to targeted therapies: the discovery of the importance of ACSL3 in lung cancer meets this unmet need,” said Dr. Mahesh S. Padanad, first author of the study.

Although the research was focused on lung cancer, every new breakthrough in cancer research brings hope to mesothelioma patients. Pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer equally as aggressive as NSCLC, is diagnosed in close to 3,000 Americans each year. Currently, there is no cure for the disease and treatments are often considered palliative.

The study was published in the July 26 issue of Cell Reports.

IBM’s Lab-On-A-Chip Offers Potential for Early Diagnosis

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News

Lab-on-a-chip technology has been in the news since at least 2012 when researchers at Harvard announced their plans to ultimately create a human-on-a-chip. Since then, other research institutes have tackled the chip technology to create a way to mimic the human organs and to detect and track cancer. Now, IBM has announced it has created a chip that can detect “cancer before symptoms appear.”With no reliable technology yet available to detect mesothelioma asbestos cancer early, the mesothelioma community is keeping a close eye on this latest breakthrough.

According to an Aug. 2 article in Phys.Org, years of work by IBM researchers has culminated in development of a new lab-on-a-chip technology that can separate bioparticles down to nanometers –  which are one-billionth of a meter – which then allows access to DNA and exosomes. Exosomes are biomarkers that are the core of cancer research, found in bodily fluids such as blood, saliva or urine, and according to the researchers, “can be used in the context of less invasive liquid biopsies to reveal the origin and nature of a cancer.”

“The ability to sort and enrich biomarkers at the nanoscale in chip-based technologies opens the door to understanding diseases such as cancer as well as viruses like the flu or Zika,” said Gustavo Stolovitzky, Program Director of Translational Systems Biology and Nanobiotechnology at IBM Research, in an Aug. 1 press release from IBM. “This extra amount of time could allow physicians to make more informed decisions and when the prognosis for treatment options is most positive.”

By looking closely at the exosomes and assessing the surface proteins, and other critical information, researchers can find “essential information about the presence and state of developing cancer and other diseases.” The technology can decipher cell-to-cell communications which, when monitored, can track a patient’s health and the progression of the disease.

Pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs, is a very aggressive cancer that is often not diagnosed until the patient has developed life-threatening complications. At this point, mesothelioma treatment options are palliative and may help relieve symptoms but do not typically extend survival.

“When we are ahead of the disease we usually can address it well; but if the disease is ahead of us, the journey is usually much more difficult,” said Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo, Professor and Chairman for the Mount Sinai Health System Department of Pathology.

IBM and a team of researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are now collaborating and will move forward to test the technology on prostate cancer.

The study can be found in the Aug. 2 issue of Nature Nanotechnology.
http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v11/n11/full/nnano.2016.134.html

Photo Credit: IBM Research

Sources:

• Harvard
  https://wyss.harvard.edu/wyss-institute-to-receive-up-to-37-million-from-darpa-to-integrate-multiple-organ-on-chip-systems-to-mimic-the-whole-human-body/
• IBM
  http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/watson_in_healthcare.shtml
• Phys.Org
  http://phys.org/news/2016-08-ibm-lab-on-a-chip-breakthrough-aims-physicians.html