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New DiscoveriesJune 2, 2014

Immunotherapy extends long-term survival of melanoma patients

Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘03-‘08) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues, reported the results of an ongoing clinical trial evaluating the safety and activity of combined immunotherapies for treatment of advanced melanoma. Nivolumab (anti-PD-1), an investigational PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, and ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4; Yervoy), were given either concurrently or sequentially to these patients. The two-year overall survival rate was 88%.

New DiscoveriesMay 8, 2014

Nanotechnology based drug delivery system developed

Eranthie Weerapana, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘12-‘14) and colleagues at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, have developed new nanotechnology “cage” that can entrap small molecule drugs and infiltrate cancer cells. This is a promising drug delivery system that could be used to fight cancer and other diseases. The results were published in the American Chemical Society journal ACSNano.

New DiscoveriesApril 23, 2014

Gene levels indicate whether aspirin effective in prevention of colorectal cancer

Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ‘08-‘13) of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, working with a multi-institutional team, analyzed data from two long-term studies involving nearly 128,000 participants. The researchers found that individuals whose colons have high levels of a specific gene, 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH), dramatically reduce their chances of developing colorectal cancer by taking aspirin. In contrast, aspirin provides no benefit to individuals whose colons show low levels of 15-PGDH.

New DiscoveriesApril 20, 2014

Novel cancer vaccine successful in Phase I clinical trial

Madhav Dhodapkar, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘02-‘07), Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, reported positive results from a Phase 1 clinical trial using a cancer vaccine called CDX-1401, which activates the patient’s immune system against cancers that express the tumor marker NY-ESO-1. In 45 patients with advanced malignancies (melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer), thirteen patients experienced stabilization of disease and two patients had tumor regression.

New DiscoveriesApril 14, 2014

2014 National Science Foundation Award for young researchers

Feng Zhang, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘12-‘14), of the Broad Institute, Cambridge, was named the 2014 recipient of its Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This award is NSF’s highest honor that recognizes an outstanding researcher under the age of 35 and funds his or her research in any field of science or engineering.

New DiscoveriesApril 2, 2014

New technology to analyze proteins in cancer cells

Sean Bendall, PhD (Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Scientist ‘14-‘16, Damon Runyon Fellow ‘09-‘12), of Stanford University, Stanford, and colleagues, reported the development of a new technology that can simultaneously detect as many as 100 clinically important proteins in breast tumor cells-conventional methods can pinpoint only two to four at the same time. This technology, called multiplexed ion beam imaging (MIBI), will enable scientists to provide new insights into cancer cell development that will be valuable for basic research, drug discovery and clinical diagnostics.

New DiscoveriesMarch 7, 2014

Anti-psychotic drugs may also be effective for brain tumor treatment

Clark C. Chen, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘04-‘06) of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, and colleagues, reported that FDA-approved anti-psychotic drugs possess tumor-killing activity against the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma.

New DiscoveriesMarch 5, 2014

Using viruses and immunotherapy to target tumors

Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD (Dr. Bart A. Kamen Fellow ‘13-‘15) in the laboratory of Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘03-‘08) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, reported the clinical efficacy of a combined approach using checkpoint blockade, a strategy that harnesses the immune response to treat cancers, and oncolytic virotherapy, an investigational intervention that uses viruses to destroy tumors.

New DiscoveriesMarch 4, 2014

American Association for Cancer Research names recipients of prestigious awards

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) named two Damon Runyon alumni as 2014 recipients of its prestigious awards. Elaine V.

New DiscoveriesFebruary 19, 2014

Success of immunotherapy in treatment of advanced leukemia

Renier J. Brentjens, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘06-‘11) and colleagues at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, reported the success of immunotherapy treatment in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This is the largest clinical study conducted thus far; it showed that 88 percent of patients achieved complete remissions after being treated with their own T immune cells, which had been genetically modified to target and attack the cancer cells.