Damon Runyon identifies today’s most brilliant early career scientists and funds their innovative cancer research.
- Today’s Promising Areas of Cancer Research
- What is Cancer?
- A Broken Pipeline?
A Generation of Science at Risk
- ARISE Report
Early Career Scientists and High-Risk, High Reward Research - American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Why We’re Losing the War on Cancer (And How To Win It)
Clifton Leaf - Fortune Magazine
December 23, 2009 > New agent discovered for certain drug-resistant lung cancers
Nathanael S. Gray, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘08-‘10) and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, identified a new agent that can act on non-small cell lung cancers that have become resistant to the drugs Iressa® and Tarceva®. Each of these drugs targets a protein called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase, which promotes cell growth. The new compound, WZ4002, is highly specific for the form of EGFR in cancer cells while not affecting normal healthy cells; for this reason, the compound is less likely to produce side effects. In the future, this compound may be an effective treatment for lung cancer patients. These findings were published in the journal Nature.