Stand Up To Cancer Teams Focus on Lung Cancer & Ewing Sarcoma
Three new teams from Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), including a Lung Cancer Health Equity SU2C Catalyst Research Team and two SU2C Catalyst Research Teams, will be investigating new treatments for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and Ewing sarcoma. They will build on important work being done under unique SU2C research programs focused on improving cancer health equity and finding new uses for existing compounds to bring innovative therapies to patients faster.
SU2C also funded two awards, the 2022 Laura Ziskin Prize in Translational Research and the inaugural SU2C Maverick Early Career Scientist Award, to researchers conducting critical research in glioblastoma and breast cancer.
"SU2C is committed to bringing new, more effective treatments to patients faster through cutting-edge research by the most talented investigators. We are excited to continue to expand our efforts to eliminate long-standing barriers to state-of-the-art cancer care for underserved and underrepresented patients, and to secure new collaborations with the pharmaceutical industry to bring new treatments and technology to patients as rapidly as possible," said Russell Chew, President and CEO of SU2C. "We continue to be passionate about finding new ways to engage and support early career researchers to help build the next generation of cancer investigators." The recently funded teams included the following programs:
* Lung Cancer Health Equity SU2C Catalyst Research Team: Researchers will investigate whether mobile technology services can improve patient outcomes for underserved, underrepresented diverse patients. Specifically, the team will study whether Black, Hispanic, and Asian NSCLC patients across NYC using the ApricityR digital platform, as well as the on-demand ApricityRx Cancer Adverse event Rapid Evaluation (CARE) service, to see if their long-term outcomes can be improved and whether technology-enabled monitoring can close gaps in clinical care for underrepresented populations.
* SU2C Catalyst Lung Cancer Combination Therapeutics Team: Participants will conduct a laboratory study (not in patients) to identify which existing targeted therapeutic agents, when combined with the compound JZP-815, a pan-RAF inhibitor, may offer improved outcomes for patients with KRAS-mutated NSCLC. The team will use samples of tumor cells from racially and ethnically diverse patients with KRAS-mutated NSCLC, including Hispanic, Black or African American, Asian, and other patients. These cell samples will be grown in the laboratory to become 3D tumor organoids, which will be used to test the different treatment combinations. Findings from a digital ethnography will also be available to help the investigators better target their interventions.
* SU2C Catalyst LiFFT Study in Adolescent and Young Adult Ewing Sarcomas: This award is focused on finding new, targeted treatments for patients 10 years and older to include adolescents and young adults, as well as adults, with Ewing sarcoma. Researchers have yet to identify an effective targeted treatment for Ewing sarcoma; however, multiple studies have shown it to be dependent on the protein EWS-FLI1, which provides a target for potential treatments. This team will study a compound called lurbinectedin, which has been shown to target and inhibit the EWS-FLI1 protein. While Ewing sarcoma is much more common in White male teens, the team will seek to engage traditionally under-represented patients. Findings from a digital ethnography will also be available to help the investigators better target their interventions. They will also investigate if lurbinectedin might be an effective targeted treatment for other tumor types driven and characterized by the same group of proteins.
Additional funded awards include the following:
* SU2C Maverick Early Career Scientist Award: Awarded to Anirban Das, MBBS, MD, DM, to study the potential of biomarker-guided use of immunotherapy alone as the initial treatment for hypermutant glioblastoma in children and young adults followed by additional radiotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors where the latter alone is not sufficient.
* Laura Ziskin Prize in Translational Research: Awarded to Jane E. Visvader, PhD, FAA, FAHMS, FRS, and Geoffrey J. Lindeman, MBBS(Hons), FRACP, PhD, FAA, FAHMS, both joint division heads at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. They will share a $250,000 grant for their yearlong research project to study a new class of drug that targets tumor survival pathways in ER-positive breast cancer. By combining targeted therapy with an inhibitor that triggers tumor cell death, the team hopes to improve responses for patients whose tumors have become resistant to therapy, hopefully speeding translation of the concept into clinical studies.
Cristina R. Ferrone, MD, Named Chair of Cedars-Sinai Department of Surgery
Following an extensive national search, Cedars-Sinai has appointed Cristina R. Ferrone, MD, as Chair of the Department of Surgery. Currently a Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Office of Clinical Careers for Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, she will assume her new position in January 2023. Ferrone succeeds Bruce L. Gewertz, MD, who has moved into a new, expanded leadership role as Vice Dean of Clinical System Development and Faculty Affairs.
"Dr. Ferrone is known as a visionary leader who has excelled in all aspects of academic medicine," said Shlomo Melmed, MB, ChB, Cedars-Sinai's Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Medical Faculty. "She is an innovative clinician, as well as an exceptional translational scientist and teacher."
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Ferrone received her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and completed her general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She earned a master's degree in clinical trial design from the Harvard/MIT Investigator Training Program.
Ferrone specializes in the care of patients with complex hepato-pancreatico-biliary disorders and is Associate Program Director of General Surgery Residency. She has spearheaded novel minimally invasive surgical techniques and developed cutting-edge immunotherapeutic strategies for patients with cancer of the liver, biliary system, and pancreas. She runs an NIH-funded translational research laboratory dedicated to discovery of novel immunotherapeutic treatments for these cancers.
Known for being a talented administrator and consensus builder, Ferrone has excelled in assembling multidisciplinary clinical oncology programs by integrating general surgery, surgical oncology, transplant surgery, and medical and radiation oncology expertise. A surgical oncology leader who served as secretary of the Society of University Surgeons, Ferrone has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and presented at major academic conferences around the world. She leads the largest North American clinical trial for resectable pancreatic cancer.
"I am excited to join Cedars-Sinai and to collaborate across specialties with my new colleagues," Ferrone said. "Collaboration is the key to medical discoveries and innovation, improving outcomes for patients and enhancing public health."
Loic Le Marchand, MD, PhD, MPH, Awarded 2022 AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) awarded Loic Le Marchand, MD, PhD, MPH, as the recipient of the 2022 AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities. He presented his award lecture, "Translating Multiethnic Epidemiological Research Into Innovative Interventions," during the opening session of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved in Philadelphia.
This special AACR lectureship recognizes an investigator whose novel and significant work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of cancer health disparities.
Le Marchand is Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement, and Cancer Disparities, and full member of the Population Sciences in the Pacific Program (Cancer Epidemiology) at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center (UHCC). Having built a research career dedicated to promoting the health of underserved racial and ethnic populations, Le Marchand is being honored for his significant contributions to advancing the understanding of the role of genetics, biomarkers, and health behaviors in ethnic/racial cancer disparities. His versatile and collaborative approaches exemplify how classic observational studies, in-depth and innovative biomarker investigations, and randomized interventions may be integrated to reduce cancer and health disparities.
Le Marchand's early research demonstrated that Japanese migrants in Hawaii were particularly susceptible to the effect of a Westernized lifestyle, resulting in altered colorectal cancer risk in such populations. Through a series of studies, his team determined that individuals of Japanese descent frequently carry genetic variants that allow them to more efficiently metabolize heterocyclic aromatic amines from smoking and consumption of well-done red meat into carcinogenic compounds. This work was expanded to identify novel genetic risk variants for colorectal cancer in Japanese and Black patient populations through the use of genome-wide association studies.
Since 2012, Le Marchand has led the Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC), a collaboration between the UHCC and the University of Southern California. The MEC is a uniquely valuable resource for investigating important genetic, behavioral, and environmental risk factors and social determinants that impact cancer and health disparities. Since the study's inception, countless internal and external investigators have used MEC-generated data, contributing to more than 950 publications and over 130 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants.
Le Marchand was one of the first to observe racial and ethnic differences in lung cancer risk despite similar smoking history. Using data from a population-based case-control study in Hawaii and from the MEC, he discovered that after accounting for smoking history, African Americans and Native Hawaiians are at higher risk of developing lung cancer compared to Whites, Japanese Americans, and Latin Americans/Hispanics. Through biomarker screening studies, he has also shown that higher lung cancer risk in African Americans may be partly explained by their higher smoking intensity and associated uptake of lung carcinogens. Conversely, decreased lung cancer risk in Japanese Americans is partially attributable to impaired nicotine metabolism, likely resulting in reduced nicotine cravings and, in turn, decreased cigarette usage and smoking intensity. This work has informed discussions on whether lung cancer screening guidelines have equitable eligibility criteria across U.S. populations.
For over 35 years, Le Marchand has led epidemiologic investigations with continuous support from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He directed an NCI Program Project Grant to investigate how differential fat distribution can impact cancer risk and found stark racial and ethnic differences in ectopic fat distribution, with the highest relative levels of abdominal visceral fat in Japanese Americans and the lowest levels in African Americans. His team later demonstrated that a predicted score for visceral fat was associated with increased breast cancer risk, independent of body mass index and other risk factors. Resulting from these studies, Le Marchand designed a dietary intervention with intermittent energy restriction combined with a Mediterranean diet to facilitate decreases in visceral adiposity among adults in high-risk racial and ethnic groups.
Michele Cote, PhD, Named New Director for World's Only Healthy Breast Tissue Bank
The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Michele Cote, PhD, as Director of the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank.
Researchers at this facility collect and share healthy breast tissue samples with researchers worldwide to help further the understanding of how breast cells turn cancerous. Cote is the second director of the tissue bank and will expand the bank's research with an epidemiological focus, studying the impact of long-term lifestyle and environmental influences on breast biology. She succeeds Anna Maria Storniolo, MD, a pioneering clinical scientist who co-founded the tissue bank in 2007.
"Dr. Cote is the perfect choice to lead the Komen Tissue Bank to reach its potential. She provides longitudinal perspectives on how and why breast cells become cancerous. We created the bank to be poised for this moment, and I am thrilled that we have arrived," Storniolo said. "Her passion for the tissue bank's mission will guide its continued growth and impact on breast cancer research worldwide." Storniolo plans to continue her involvement with the tissue bank as a volunteer. She will retire at the end of this year.
In addition to her role with the Komen Tissue Bank, Cote is the inaugural Dr. Carrie Ann Glasscock West Chair in Breast Carcinogenesis at IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI. Cote is the first person to hold the this role, which was established by a $2 million gift from The Glasscock Family Foundation Inc. West was a medical student when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Storniolo served as both her mentor and oncologist as she graduated and pursued a career in holistic medicine as an internist. West succumbed to breast cancer in 2016.
An internationally recognized molecular cancer epidemiologist and health disparities researcher, Cote has more than 20 years of experience in scientific research and educational program management. She joins IU from Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, where she was Professor in the Department of Oncology. She also served as an Associate Center Director for cancer research training and education at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
"I look forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the ongoing scientific projects at the Komen Tissue Bank, while also developing ways to keep the tissue bank at the forefront of research for the next decade and beyond," Cote said. "I expect we will continue to grow in the number of participants, enhance follow-up and engagement of participants over time-all with the constant goal of remaining flexible and responsive to needs from the research community."
In her research, Cote explores how benign breast disease impacts risk of subsequent cancer. She also conducts research to understand why incidences of endometrial cancer are increasing, particularly high-grade cancers with poorer survival.
Poetry Corner: The Will
By Bhushan Bhalgat, MBBS, MS, MCH
Engrossed in the joy of getting a toy as a present
She and her little sister were merry and cheerful
Their eyes had the innocence and glitter, unbounded
World within, world outside; their world was their mom!
Leaving the gates open behind, she ran towards them
Hugs and hugs, tightening with seconds passing by; sobbing.
She kissed her children; like it was the last time she could
They embraced her back; little did they know!
She wanted to scream. Wanted to ask "Why?"
This time the question was not "Why me?" It was "Why they?"
The little angels wiped her tears and caressed her; the elder one said
"Mamma, don't cry, please. We will sit with you through your last chemo tomorrow.
"Their silky long hair flew into her face as the wind blew around them.
Her heart sank! The words of the genetic counselor rang in her ears.
The mutation had taken its toll! It was BRCA1.
The will of her darlings had been signed by her!
BHUSHAN BHALGAT, MBBS, MS, MCH, is a Senior Resident at SMS Medical College and Hospital in Jaipur, India. He has a dual specialization in General Surgery and Surgical Oncology.