To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funds to pursue innovative cancer research.
January 25, 2010 > Link established between obesity and liver cancer
Guobin He, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘06-‘09) and colleagues in the laboratory of Michael Karin, PhD, at University of California, San Diego, reported that obesity, either dietary or genetic, actively promotes liver tumors in mice. Obesity-promoted hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was dependent on increased production of factors that cause inflammation (cytokines IL-6 and TNF) and activation of the oncogenic transcription factor STAT3. This chronic inflammatory response caused by obesity may also increase the risk of other cancers. This study was published in the journal Cell.
January 18, 2010 > Expanded umbilical-cord blood used to successfully treat leukemia
Colleen Delaney, MD (Damon Runyon-Novartis Clinical Investigator ‘07-‘10) of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, reported the first successful use of umbilical-cord blood transplants in a Phase I clinical trial to treat patients with acute leukemia. This is a significant breakthrough because unlike bone marrow transplants, umbilical-cord blood transplants do not require a perfect match to the patient. However, cord blood contains a low number of stem cells, making the time to engraftment lengthy and leaving the transplant recipient susceptible to potentially fatal infections. In this study, the researchers expanded the cord blood stem cell population prior to transplantation by activating a signaling pathway called Notch. These expanded cells were then infused into patients resulting in successful rapid engraftment. Seven of the ten patients treated are still alive with no evidence of disease. The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
January 13, 2010 > New compound selectively targets leukemia cells
David A. Fruman, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘95-‘98) of the University of California, Irvine, reported that Acute Leukemia cells containing a genetic rearrangement called the Philadelphia chromosome are sensitive to treatment with a compound called PP242, which blocks TORC1 and TORC2, two targets of the tyrosine kinase mTOR. PP242 is more effective at targeting leukemia cells than the currently-used rapamycin, and also causes fewer side-effects. These studies suggest that this compound could be a promising new therapeutic for leukemia. The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.