News

New Discoveries January 20, 2016

Biomarker predicts which colon cancer patients may benefit from chemotherapy

Piero D. Dalerba, MD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘16-‘17), of Columbia University Medical Center, New York, and colleagues, have identified a biomarker, the CDX2 gene, that could be used to predict which stage II colon cancer patients may benefit from chemotherapy after surgery to prevent a recurrence of their disease. They found that cancers that do not express the gene have a worse prognosis than those that do. The study was published in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

New Discoveries January 6, 2016

Clinical trial shows injectable agent illuminates cancer during surgery

David G. Kirsch, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '08-'10, Innovation Award Committee Member) at the Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, and colleagues, have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon's ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The study reports that in 15 patients undergoing surgery for soft-tissue sarcoma or breast cancer, the injectable agent called LUM015, identified cancerous tissue in human patients without adverse effects.

New Discoveries January 6, 2016

New drug may be effective for pediatric neuroblastoma

Mark A. Lemmon, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ’97-‘98, Damon Runyon Fellow ’93-’96) of Yale University, New Haven, and colleagues at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reported that a next-generation ALK inhibitor drug, called PF-06463922, shows promise in treating pediatric neuroblastoma. In animal models, it caused rapid and sustained tumor regression and was more effective than the FDA-approved ALK inhibitor crizotinib. This new drug is currently being tested in a phase 1/2 clinical trial of an ALK-driven subtype of lung cancer in adults.

New Discoveries December 3, 2015

2016 American Society of Hematology Awards announced

Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD (Damon Runyon-Edward P. Evans Foundation Clinical Investigator ’13-’16) of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, received the 2015 Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement from the American Society of Hematology. Stephen T. Oh, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Doris Duke Foundation Clinical Investigator ’14-’17) of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis received the 2016 ASH Scholar Award for Basic Junior Faculty.

New Discoveries November 5, 2015

Vitamin C may be effective for killing cancer cells

Jihye Yun, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘11-‘13) of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, and a team of collaborators including Christine I. Chio, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘13-‘17), and Jihye Paik, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘06-‘08), have demonstrated that high doses of vitamin C were capable of destroying colon cancer cells carrying common mutations in the KRAS or BRAF genes by suppressing an enzyme necessary to metabolize energy, effectively starving the cells.

New Discoveries October 7, 2015

Damon Runyon Fellows’ research contributed to 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich (Former Damon Runyon Fellowship Sponsor) and Aziz Sancar (Former Damon Runyon Fellowship Sponsor) “for having mapped, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information. Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments.” We congratulate two Damon Runyon alumni, Robert S.

New Discoveries October 6, 2015

2015 NIH High-Risk, High-Reward Research Awards

The NIH announced the 2015 recipients of awards within its High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. These awards are designed to support scientists proposing highly innovative approaches to major contemporary challenges in biomedical research. Of 78 total awards this year, seven were granted to Damon Runyon Scientists.

New Discoveries September 29, 2015

Young scientists receive 2015 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research

Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ‘06-‘08) of Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, was named one of three investigators named recipients of this year’s Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research. The award, given by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, recognizes promising investigators aged 45 or younger for their efforts in advancing cancer research. He is honored for his discovery of genetic material called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and analysis of their roles in helping cells sense where they are in the body.

New Discoveries September 28, 2015

Combination therapy shows promise in colorectal cancer treatment

Ryan B. Corcoran, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator '12-'17), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues reported the results of a Phase I/II clinical study demonstrating that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and the MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinist) produced responses in some patients with BRAF V600–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer, ranging from stable disease to complete response. Interestingly, they also identified mutations in the gene PIK3CA in responding patients.

New Discoveries September 10, 2015

Cancer drug from rare plant produced in lab

Elizabeth S. Sattely, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow '08-'10) and colleagues at Stanford University reported that they were able to produce a common cancer drug called etoposide—previously only available from an endangered plant—in a common laboratory plant. This work could lead to a more stable supply of the drug and allow scientists to produce even safer and more effective versions of the drug. The technique could potentially be applied to other plants and drugs, creating a less expensive and more stable source for those drugs.

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