News

New Discoveries November 22, 2011

Tumor-specific metabolic pathway discovered

Ralph J. DeBerardinis, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ‘11-‘14) of UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and colleagues, discovered a metabolic pathway unique to some tumors. The tumor-specific pathway is dependent on the amino acid glutamine and reverses many of the chemical reactions of the Krebs cycle, used by normal cells. This new finding could provide a new target for drugs that could specifically target cancer cells without harming healthy cells. The study was published in the scientific journal Nature.

New Discoveries November 9, 2011

Targeted therapy for treatment of neuroblastoma

Mark A. Lemmon, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ‘97-‘98, Damon Runyon Fellow ‘93-‘96) of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues, reported new findings that will allow physicians to identify which neuroblastoma patients are most likely to respond to crizotinib (Xalkori). The drug was recently approved for treatment of certain lung cancers. It targets a protein called anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) which is mutated in about ten percent of children with deadly neuroblastoma tumors.

New Discoveries October 26, 2011

Fish oil may slow prostate cancer growth

Naoko Kobayashi, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘91-‘94) and colleagues at University of California, Los Angeles, reported results of a short-term Phase II clinical trial demonstrating anti-cancer benefits of fish oil. Men who ate a low-fat diet with fish oil supplements for four to six weeks before having their prostate removed had slower cancer cell growth in their prostate tissue than men who ate a typical high-fat Western diet. The researchers plan to expand this study to a larger group of men who will be monitored over an extended period of time (one year).

New Discoveries October 17, 2011

Possible link between colorectal cancer and bacterium

A team of researchers including Wendy S. Garrett, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘06-‘09), Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘95-‘98), Akinyemi I. Ojesina, MBBS, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘08-‘11) and Ramesh A. Shivdasani, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ‘98-‘99) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute, Cambridge, reported high levels of a specific type of bacteria, Fusobacterium, in colorectal tumor samples.

New Discoveries October 14, 2011

Novel mechanism of gene regulation identified

Judith Lieberman, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘84-‘86) of the Immune Disease Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues, reported the first description of competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) and their function. ceRNAs comprise a complex regulatory network that controls gene expression through binding of other RNAs called microRNAs. This study demonstrated that PTEN, a tumor suppressor, is regulated by 150 ceRNAs in human prostate and colon cancer cell lines. A separate study linked ceRNA-mediated regulation of PTEN to glioblastoma brain cancer.

New Discoveries October 9, 2011

Role for Hedgehog signaling pathway in lung cancer

Julien Sage, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ‘05-‘07) of Stanford University, Stanford, and colleagues, reported a crucial role for Hedgehog signaling in the development of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). They demonstrated that blocking Hedgehog signaling inhibited the growth of SCLC, particularly after chemotherapy. Their findings suggest that Hedgehog pathway inhibition may be a promising therapeutic strategy to slow disease progression and delay cancer recurrence in SCLC patients. This study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

New Discoveries September 30, 2011

New NIH High-Risk Research Awards announced

The intent of the NIH High-Risk Research Awards is to encourage investigators to explore bold ideas that have the potential to catapult fields forward and speed the translation of research into improved health. We congratulate the Damon Runyon scientists who are recipients of these awards.

New Discoveries September 27, 2011

Genome mapping of advanced prostate cancers

Peter S. Nelson, MD (Clinical Investigator Mentor, Damon Runyon Scholar ‘02-‘04) of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, and colleagues, conducted the first comprehensive assessment of the genome of advanced, lethal prostate cancer. They discovered a number of recurrent genetic mutations common to advanced prostate cancer that may contribute to disease progression and resistance to commonly used therapies. The researchers hope that these findings will lead to development of new strategies for diagnosis and treatment.

New Discoveries September 20, 2011

2011 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research

Scott A. Armstrong, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘03-‘08) of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston, and Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD (Clinical Investigator Award Committee Member) of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, are two of this year’s recipients of the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research. The awards recognize three young investigators under the age of forty-six for their exceptionally innovative work that has helped to advance the field of cancer research. Dr.

New Discoveries September 10, 2011

New target for treatment of blood cancers

James E. Bradner, MD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘11-‘13) of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues, identified the protein Brd4 as a critical requirement for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) disease maintenance. Brd4 functions to control expression of Myc, a protein frequently disrupted in many cancers. Blocking Brd4, using either RNA interference or a drug called JQ1, led to anti-leukemic effects such as cancer cell death and a delay in disease progression.

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