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Credit: Standing against cancer
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – January 28, 2019 – Stand Up To Cancer today announced the creation of an $ 8 million dream team of top scientists working on treatments for T-cell lymphoma. a rare cancer of the blood and immune system, using chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to get the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells.
The SU2C Meg Vosburg Dream Team on T-Cell Lymphoma: Adapting T-Cell Lymphoma-Based Immunotherapy Strategies in CAR will be led by Helen Heslop, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, along with Gianpietro Dotti, MD, Chapel of the University of North Carolina Hill (UNC-CH), as co-leader. This team pays tribute to the memory of Meg Vosburg, a lifetime student, educator and humanitarian, who died of T-cell lymphoma in 2018 at the age of 51.
The announcement was made at the annual SU2C scientific summit, bringing together more than 400 scientists and SU2C supporters, organized by the American Association for Cancer Research, SU2C's scientific partner, and which is the largest scientific research group in the world. is held at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.
The challenge of developing immunotherapy to treat T-cell lymphoma is to find a treatment that attacks cancerous T cells without harming the cells that are essential for the body's immune response.
"We are exploiting the potential of the immune system to cure T cell lymphoma by genetically modifying immune system cells, called T cells, so that they have new receptors that will allow them to recognize lymphoma cells and cells. kill, "said Heslop. "And we are evaluating different targets and different kinds of immune effector cells.This is a modular system where we can, we hope, combine the best of each approach to produce a therapy that will improve the results in this patient population. "
In addition, the team is working to modify the cells carrying the CAR so that they are not hindered by the immune cells. This will help reduce cancer and prepare patients for a potential stem cell transplant to contain or cure cancer.
CAR treatment is usually personalized for each patient. The team is trying to find a way to develop CAR cells on a "ready-to-use" basis so that the treatment is more accessible to patients and less expensive. The team is also working on identifying biomarkers to monitor the effectiveness of the therapy and is evaluating a new small molecule that shows encouraging activity in T cell lymphoma as a reducer (reducing size).
Heslop is President of Dan L. Duncan and Director of the BCM Cell and Genetic Therapy Center, Houston Methodist Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital. She is a Professor in the Hematology-Oncology Section of the BCM Medicine and Pediatrics Departments in Houston. She is also Associate Director of Clinical Research and Director of the Cancer and Cancer Cell Therapy Program at the Dan L Duncan Cancer Center in Baylor.
Dotti is Director of the Immunotherapy Program of the North Carolina University's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (UNC) and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the UNC-CH.
According to the American Cancer Society, T-cell lymphomas account for less than 15% of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in the United States, and they tend to be difficult to treat because they appear in cells thought to fight the disease, and no he.
"We are proud to extend the work of SU2C to T-cell lymphoma," said Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, a molecular biologist and Nobel laureate at MIT, who chairs the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee. "The approach of the Dream Team could bring a very effective new treatment to what is now a relatively difficult disease to treat."
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The other scientists in the team include:
Baylor College of Medicine:
Malcolm K. Brenner, MD, PhD, investigator
Carlos Ramos, MD, investigator
Maksim Mamonkin, PhD, young researcher
LaQuisa Hill, MD, Young Researcher
Rayne Rouce, MD, Young Researcher
Natasha Lapteva, PhD, investigator
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill:
Barbara Savoldo, MD, PhD, investigator
Anne Beaven, MD, investigator
Natalie Grover, MD, Young Researcher
Joel Parker, PhD, investigator
Paul Eldridge, PhD, investigator
MD Anderson Center for Cancer Control at the University of Texas (MDACC)
Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD, Director of the Dream Team
Elizabeth J. Shpall, MD, investigator
May Daher, MD, Young Researcher
Wake Forest Baptist Complete Cancer Treatment Center (WFBHCCC):
Bayard Powell, MD, Director of the Dream Team
Timothy S. Pardee, MD PhD, Investigator
Wei Zhang, PhD, investigator
Zanetta S. Lamar, MD, young researcher
The lawyers
Patty Spears, UNC Lineberger Patient Advocacy Group for Research.
Gustavo Ayala, MD, University of Texas at Houston; parent of a teenager with T cell lymphoma.
Bambi Grilley, Director of Clinical Research and Early Product Development at Cell and Gene Therapy at BCM.
Ruth Sorelle, retired journalist and survivor of NK-T cell lymphoma.
Cancer immunotherapy – allowing the immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells – has had a considerable impact on a wide range of cancers, including B cell lymphomas. However, it has not yet been effective in lymphomas involving T cells. The biggest problem is to find a treatment that can attack cancerous T cells while leaving normal T cells, because T cells are essential to the body's immune response.
Dream Team will test therapeutic approaches using cells to transport molecules known as RACs against different antigens found on the surface of cancerous T cells. By knowing the most effective combination of immune cell and CAR effector, scientists will be able to develop CAR-based therapies, in which the patient's immune system can extend to armies of anti-cancer cells.
"It's been a little over a year since Meg received her diagnosis," said her husband, Craig Vosburg, "and I'm excited to hear about new ideas to help patients in the foreseeable future. thanks to this Dream Team. "
"Meg was pbadionate about improving people's lives, what she did through education and helping them find ways to pursue their dreams," she said. -he declares. "What better way to continue doing this than to prolong life and find a cure for future patients with this difficult disease."
CONTACTS:
SU2C: Jane Rubinstein, 646-386-7969, [email protected]
AACR: Richard L. Lobb, 215-446-8298, [email protected]
About Stand Up Against Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to quickly bring new treatments to patients and save lives now. SU2C, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501 (c) (3) charity, was created in 2008 by film and media leaders who use industry resources to inspire the industry. public to support a new collaborative model of cancer research and to increase awareness of cancer prevention and progress in the fight against cancer. As a scientific partner of SU2C, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a scientific advisory board led by Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, conduct review processes competitive and rigorous in order to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee the administration of grants. , and provide an expert review of research progress.
Current members of the SU2C Founders and Consultants Council include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Williams, Ellen Ziffren and Kathleen Lobb. The late Laura Ziskin and Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, has been President and CEO of SU2C since 2011.
For more information on Stand up to Cancer, visit http: // www.
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's first and largest professional organization dedicated to the advancement of cancer research and its mission of prevention and control. cancer treatment. AACR has more than 40,000 researchers in the laboratory, translation and clinical research. scientists of the population; other health professionals; and advocates for the rights of patients residing in 120 countries. The AACR brings together the full range of skills of the cancer community to accelerate progress in cancer prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment by organizing more than 30 conferences and training workshops every year. most important being the AACR Annual Conference, which brings together more than 22,500 participants. In addition, AACR publishes eight prestigious and peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. AACR funds meritorious research directly and in cooperation with many cancer organizations. As a Scientific Partner of Stand up to Cancer, AACR provides peer review, grant administration and scientific oversight of team scientific research and individual grants for cancer research likely to provide benefits to patients in the short term. AACRs are actively communicating with legislators and other decision makers on the value of cancer research and related biomedical sciences to saving cancer lives. For more information on AACRs, visit http: // www.
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