Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

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High Risk, High Reward Ideas Granted $1.35M

Three years ago, Andy Rachleff, a highly-successful investor, decided that he wanted to apply a venture capitalist approach to cancer research funding.  He and his wife Debra shared the belief that the vast majority of true breakthroughs will likely come from high risk, high reward research – unlike the safe, incremental research preferred by traditional funding institutions.  Andy also believed that this research should be carried out by young investigators, because they have the creativity, drive and open-mindedness to ask new questions.  

The resulting partnership is the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, an annual grant of $1.35 million divided between three winning ideas by early career scientists.

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Cancer Research News Roundup: April 7-15

Every week, we will be rounding up articles from reputable sources, linking you to the latest news and commentary related to recent discoveries, new trends in cancer research, government policy and more.

This week’s roundup includes the following and more:

Merck’s Zolina shows good signs in pelvic cancer - Dow Jones via Wall Street Journal
“Merck’s new oral cancer drug Zolina shows promising antitumor activity and is well tolerated when combined with short-term palliative radiotherapy in patients with advanced pelvic cancer, according to research published Wednesday in The Lancet.”

Some cancer patients more likely to get blood clot - Associated Press via New York Times
“Men with prostate cancer being treated with hormone therapy have a slightly higher risk of developing a blood clot, new research says.”

FDA toughens process for radiation equipment - New York Times
The FDA “said Thursday that it was taking steps to reduce overdoses, underdoses and other errors in radiation therapy by strengthening the agency’s approval process for new radiotherapy equipment.”  

Counterpoint: Data First - Nature
Large, unbiased genomic surveys are taking cancer therapeutics in directions that could never have been predicted by traditional molecular biology, says cancer researcher Todd Golub.  

> Read the full roundup

The ‘War on Cancer’ - Where We Stand Now

by: Lorraine W. Egan, Executive Director
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

Almost 40 years after President Nixon declared a “war on cancer” many
are questioning how far we’ve come.  Gina Kolata of the New York Times
has written a series of articles on the subject.  I believe that while
many of these articles raise important points, the question, “are we
winning the war on cancer?” is actually the wrong one.

Is this really a “war”?

The phrase “War on Cancer” was coined back in the 1970’s at a time when little was known about cancer. It gave the impression that there was a single enemy that could be defeated if we simply devoted more money to the fight.

Since then, our understanding of cancer has advanced by quantum leaps.  That knowledge makes it crystal clear that “defeating” cancer is one of the most complex scientific challenges we have ever faced. 

Unlike other diseases like polio, which are caused by outside invaders that we can identify, cancer is the breakdown of our own basic cellular processes.  Moreover, cancer is many diseases.  We do not know how many because we continue to learn that even cancers with the same name vary significantly from person to person at the molecular level.  For example, one person’s colorectal cancer is not genetically the same as another person’s colorectal cancer.

> Read the whole post: The ‘War on Cancer’ - Where We Stand Now

Cancer Research News Roundup: April 16-21

Every week, we round up articles from reputable sources, linking you to the latest news and commentary related to recent discoveries, new trends in cancer research, government policy and more.

This week’s roundup includes the following and more:

Federal cancer research is ‘at a breaking point,’ IOM study finds - Kaiser Health News
“The government’s cancer research network is ‘approaching a state of crisis’ as waste and inefficiency cause 40 percent of late-stage trials it funds to be abandoned before completion, according to a report released yesterday.”

Licenses drive gene debate - Wall Street Journal
“Genetic research holds the promise of pinpointing a person’s risks for diseases. But Duke University researchers, in a study published Wednesday, said the practice of granting exclusive licenses on individual genes could slow down or even derail that promise.”

Study: Two good choices to prevent breast cancer - Associated Press via New York Times
“Older women at higher risk for breast cancer now have two good drug options for preventing the disease, but they will have to weigh the trade-offs, a major study shows.”

Hope for targeted lung-cancer treatment - Wall Street Journal
“An unusual clinical trial involving four different drugs offered promise that guiding treatment based on the molecular traits of a tumor can improve survival from lung cancer. ”

> Read the full roundup

Lung Cancer Drug Shows Promise Against Neuroblastoma

A team of researchers in Philadelphia, including former Damon Runyon Scholar Mark A. Lemmon, PhD, announced that the recently-approved lung cancer drug crizotinib (Xalkori) could potentially be used to treat neuroblastoma patients. The most common cancer among infants, neuroblastoma is a disease of the developing nerve cells. Treatment options are currently limited to surgery and chemotherapy.

> Read the whole post: “Lung Cancer Drug Shows Promise Against Neuroblastoma”

New Therapy Dramatically Improves Breast Cancer Survival

Decades of research have had an incredible impact on breast cancer. Today, many forms of the disease can be treated successfully when detected early. Once a tumor spreads, however, the likelihood of survival begins to plummet.  That troubling reality is starting to change thanks to former Damon Runyon Fellow David E. Lebwohl, MD, and a recent Phase III clinical trial in which survival time was doubled for its participants.

> Read the whole post: “New Therapy Dramatically Improves Breast Cancer Survival”

New Device Makes Finding Tumor Cells Easier

Current Damon Runyon Fellow Ian Y. Wong, PhD, has made a potential leap forward in cancer diagnosis with a tiny device (pictured below) that isolates specific cells more rapidly and accurately than existing tools.

When scientists separate blood and other fluids in the laboratory, they are often searching for a very specific or rare cell type—like tumor or stem cells— amid billions of others. As cell mixtures flow through Ian’s new device, the fluids are slowed and directed in such a way that target cells come into contact with antibodies that recognize and attach to them.

> Read the whole post: “New Device Makes Finding Tumor Cells Easier”