AACR in the News

AACR Team to Ride Cycling's Iconic Philadelphia Championship Road Course

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

AACR’s team Riders 4 Research includes inspirational cyclist and cancer survivor Todd Key

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research has been invited to be a “Charity of Choice” at the upcoming Bicycling Magazine Open. The AACR team Riders 4 Research will be riding the challenging Philadelphia Championship Road Course, Sunday, June 3, 2012, between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET.

Cancer survivor Todd Key will ride in support of the AACR Riders 4 Research. Due to an accident at age 7, Key lost the use of his right arm. At age 17, he was diagnosed with cancer (myosarcoma). The myosarcoma affected the muscles in his right leg and resulted in two years of chemotherapy and the amputation of his right leg above the knee. Despite this, Key, whose cancer has been in remission for more than 30 years, rides his bike more than 250 miles a week.

Key and the other members of the AACR Riders 4 Research team will have the chance to ride up to three timed laps of the completely closed 14.5 mile championship circuit, including the daunting “Manayunk Wall.” This is the first time in the 28-year history of the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship that amateur cyclists are being given the chance to experience the course.

The AACR Riders 4 Research team is raising funds to support cancer research. The top fundraisers will win prizes such as VIP access to the post-event meal and concert, Garmin cycling jerseys, Hutchinson tires and Garmin 800 Platinum/500 GPS.

In addition, the AACR will have a booth at the event in the health, fitness and cycling pavilion where information will be shared about the AACR and the importance of cancer research.

The event is expected to attract 300,000 spectators and participants in addition to millions of television viewers worldwide. The Bicycling Magazine Open will be followed by the 28th TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship and the women’s Liberty Classic. These races bring together the best male and female professional cyclists from around the world. Lance Armstrong started his professional cycling career when he won the race in 1993, and racing greats like Eric Heiden, George Hincapie and Davis Phinney are past winners.

To support the AACR Riders 4 Research, visit www.aacrriders4research.org.

For information on the Pro Cycling Tour TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship, visit http://procyclingtour.com.

For information on the Bicycling Magazine Open, visit http://www.echelongranfondo.org/bicyclingopen.

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Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 17,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

AACR Receives Three Prestigious Hermes Creative Awards

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research is pleased to announce that it has received three coveted 2012 Hermes Creative Awards for its two most recent Annual Meeting videos and one video highlighting the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011.

The 2011 AACR Annual Meeting video “We Are Making It Happen” is honored with a platinum award, the 2012 AACR Annual Meeting video “Accelerating Science” is lauded with a gold award and the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011 video is the recipient of an honorable mention. The AACR received all three awards in the category of video/nonprofit.

“The American Association for Cancer Research is very honored to receive these accolades for our videos about cancer and cancer research,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “It is very important that all members of the general public, not just researchers, patients and their caregivers, are aware of the extraordinary advances that have been made in cancer research and treatment for the benefit of cancer patients, as well as the fact that more work needs to be done to meet the challenges ahead. These awards give us great confidence that our educational videos have achieved our goal to broadly disseminate this information relevant to public health.”

Collectively, these dynamic videos detail the progress and promise of cancer research, while aiming to inspire further innovation and progress against this insidious disease, with the clear message that “Cancer Research Saves Lives.”

The Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional materials and programs, and emerging technologies. The awards recognize outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals. The competition is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals.

The Hermes Creative Awards has developed into one of the largest competitions of its kind in the world. This year, there were more than 4,700 entries from throughout the United States, Canada and several other countries. These entries were diverse, coming from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, graphic design shops, production companies, web and digital creators and freelancers.

This year’s recipients ranged from individual communicators to media conglomerates and Fortune 500 companies. A full list of this year’s award recipients can be found at www.hermesawards.com.

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Weight Loss Led to Reduction in Inflammation

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Study indicates relationship between weight loss and cancer risk.
Patients had a manageable goal of 10 percent weight loss.
Participants were overweight or obese, postmenopausal women.

PHILADELPHIA — Postmenopausal women who were overweight or obese and lost at least 5 percent of their body weight had a measurable reduction in markers of inflammation, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“Both obesity and inflammation have been shown to be related to several types of cancer, and this study shows that if you reduce weight, you can reduce inflammation as well,” said Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Prevention Center at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash.

Women in the trial who were assigned to a weight loss intervention had a goal of 10 percent weight reduction during the course of one year achieved through a diet intervention with or without aerobic exercise.

“So this program was highly achievable and reproducible. We are not talking about drastic weight loss,” said McTiernan.

The researchers measured levels of C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, interleukin-6, leukocyte and neutrophil in 439 women.

At the end of one year, C-reactive protein reduced by 36.1 percent in the diet-alone group and by 41.7 percent in the diet and exercise group. Interleukin-6 decreased by 23.1 percent in the diet group and 24.3 percent in the diet and exercise group.

McTiernan and colleagues found a mild dose response, as there were greater reductions in these measures among women who lost at least 5 percent of their body weight. They also found that exercise alone, without a dietary weight loss component, had little effect on inflammation markers.

“This study adds to the growing understanding we have about the link between obesity and cancer, and it appears we can affect inflammation directly through nonpharmaceutical means,” said McTiernan.

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Nominations Invited for AACR-Prevent Cancer Foundation Award

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

AACR Seeks Submissions for 2012 Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research announces a call for nominations for the 2012 Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research, co-sponsored by the AACR and the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

The AACR-Prevent Cancer Foundation Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research is bestowed upon a scientist from anywhere in the world for seminal contributions to the field of cancer prevention. The research for which the individual is recognized must have been conducted in basic, translational, clinical, epidemiological or behavioral science in cancer prevention research. Furthermore, these studies must have had not only a major impact on the field, but must also have stimulated new directions in this important area.

Last year’s award was presented to Andrew J. Dannenberg, M.D., the Henry R. Erle, M.D.-Roberts Family professor of medicine and director, Weill Cornell Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, N.Y. Dannenberg was honored for his work on the inflammation-cancer connection with an emphasis on prostaglandin biology. He delivered his award lecture, titled “Obesity and Breast Inflammation: Implications for Cancer Prevention,” at the 10th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

The recipient of the award will receive a $5,000 honorarium and present a 50-minute lecture at the 11th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. The conference will be held Oct. 16-19, 2012, in Anaheim, Calif.

Deadline for nominations: June 20, 2012
For more information, contact Monique P. Eversley at awards@aacr.org or visit www.aacr.org/ScientificAwards.

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Nominations Invited for AACR Distinguished Lectureship Funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

AACR Seeks Submissions for 2012 Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research announces a call for nominations for its 2012 Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure^®.

The AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities is awarded to an investigator whose novel work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of cancer health disparities. This work may involve any discipline in biomedical research including basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological studies.

Last year’s award was presented to Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade, M.D., Walter L. Palmer distinguished service professor of medicine and human genetics and associate dean for global health, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Ill. Olopade was honored for her pioneering work in the study of breast cancer genetics in women. She delivered her award lecture, titled “Closing the Knowledge Disparity Gap: From Molecular Mechanisms to Interventions and Back,” at the Fourth Annual AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.

The recipient of this year’s award will receive a $5,000 honorarium and present a 45-minute lecture at the Fifth Annual AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved. The conference will be held Oct. 27-30, 2012, in San Diego, Calif.

Deadline for nominations: June 20, 2012
For more information, contact Monique P. Eversley at awards@aacr.org or visit www.aacr.org/ScientificAwards.

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Nominations Invited for AACR Award Funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

AACR Seeks Submissions for 2012 Outstanding Investigator Award
for Breast Cancer Research

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research announces a call for nominations for the 2012 AACR Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure^®.

The AACR Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research is awarded to an investigator of no more than 50 years of age whose novel work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of breast cancer. The work for which the individual is recognized may involve any discipline across the continuum of biomedical research, including basic, translational, clinical and epidemiological studies.

Last year’s award was presented to Ramon E. Parsons, M.D., Ph.D., Avon Foundation professor of pathology and cell biology and medicine, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. Parsons was honored for his work in establishing the importance of the PTEN/PI3K pathway to breast cancer. Parsons delivered his award lecture, titled “Alteration and Inhibition of PTEN in Breast Cancer,” during the 34th Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.

The recipient of this year’s award will receive a $10,000 honorarium and present a 25-minute lecture at the 35th Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The symposium will be held Dec. 4-8, 2012, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Deadline for nominations: May 16, 2012
For more information, contact Monique P. Eversley at awards@aacr.org or visit www.aacr.org/ScientificAwards.

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AACR Congratulates Scott M. Lippman, M.D., on His Appointment as Director of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research congratulates Scott M. Lippman, M.D., editor-in-chief of the AACR’s journal Cancer Prevention Research, on his appointment as director of the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego.

Lippman will resign as chair of the department of thoracic/head and neck medical oncology and professor of cancer medicine and cancer prevention at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and begin this new role at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, on May 1.

“Dr. Lippman has made extraordinary contributions to the field of cancer prevention, and is highly regarded as one of the leading physician-scientists in cancer research today,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “He is a very active member of the AACR, and his prominence in the field is evidenced by the many leadership positions he has held throughout his career. UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center is fortunate to have a leader like Dr. Lippman to serve as its new director.”

As the director of the cancer center, Lippman plans to implement a number of strong initiatives at Moores that facilitate the translation of novel cancer research discoveries made at UCSD and within the rich surrounding environment of other centers and the biotech and pharmaceutical industry into clinical advances that will reduce the burden of cancer on patients and their families.

“The UCSD Moores Cancer Center houses several of the world’s top laboratory scientists in cancer research, and I am very fortunate and thrilled to have this opportunity to join them and the many other exceptional researchers and clinicians at UCSD in the fight against cancer,” said Lippman.

Lippman graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a degree in biological science. He received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif. He subsequently pursued fellowships in hematology at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, Calif., and in medical oncology and cancer prevention and control at the University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson. He is triple board-certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology.

Lippman has more than 25 years of experience as a principal investigator of translational research involving investigator-initiated clinical trials. His major fields of research are translational/molecular studies of cancer risk, molecular-targeted drug development and personalized therapy. He has participated in the national leadership of clinical/translational research planning and development within the National Cancer Institute Cooperative Group setting and currently sits on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Trials/Translational Research Advisory Committee.

The author of more than 300 journal articles and chapters in medical textbooks, Lippman has received many awards, including the AACR-Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research and the ASCO-American Cancer Society Award. Also, he is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians.

His extensive record of extramural service includes serving on the Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee, the NIH Clinical Oncology Study Section and the NIH Chemo/Dietary Prevention study section, which he currently chairs. He is the founding editor-in-chief of AACR’s journal Cancer Prevention Research, and his service on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals includes the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, as well as Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, which are journals of the AACR. Lippman also served as senior editor of the AACR’s journal Cancer Research for five years.

Additionally, he has chaired major scientific meetings, served on various committees and has given numerous keynote lectures at AACR meetings and other prominent organizations’ scientific meetings.

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KRAS Gene Mutation and Amplification Status Affects Sensitivity to Antifolate Therapy

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Patients with lung cancer and KRAS mutation responded well to antifolate therapy.
Response linked to downregulation of KRAS expression.
Downregulation may render cells more susceptible to chemotherapeutic drug.

CHICAGO — Testing patients with non-small cell lung cancer for both mutations and amplifications of the KRAS gene prior to therapy may help to predict response to treatment with antifolates, according to the updated results of a preclinical study presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Patients, especially those with lung cancer, who have KRAS gene mutations have a worse prognosis and do not respond well to targeted therapies, according to Sarah Bacus, Ph.D., Quintiles senior vice president and chief scientific officer of translational research and development, oncology. The results suggest that although these mutations are linked to a poor response to targeted therapies, they may predict response to treatment with antifolates, as long as the number of mutant genes is not amplified.

She and her colleagues assessed the relationship between antifolate medications and KRAS mutations and amplification, where the gene has an excess number of copies.

The preliminary results of the study were presented in November at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. Researchers treated human non-small cell lung cancer cell lines (KRAS wild type, KRAS-mutant nonamplified and KRAS-mutant amplified) with the antifolates methotrexate or pemetrexed.

In lung cancer, the KRAS-mutant tumors need the folate pathway, which is associated with the growth of cancer. Treatment with the antifolate pemetrexed led to dramatic responses in patients with KRAS-mutant lung cancer. Patients with KRAS-wild type were less responsive. The researchers found a similar trend in KRAS-mutant lung cancer cell lines. When cell lines with KRAS mutations were deprived of access to this pathway, they failed to grow. However, this response was not seen if the number of copies of the KRAS-mutant gene was amplified or if the KRAS was wild type.

“KRAS mutations are most frequently observed in pancreatic, colorectal, lung, endometrial and biliary tract cancers, and as such, antifolates may have utility in the treatment of these cancers alone or in combination with other chemotherapies such as DNA-damaging agents,” Bacus said.

She recommended that before prescribing an antifolate, whether in lung cancer or other cancers where KRAS mutations are prevalent, physicians should test for KRAS mutation and amplification, because the study results suggest that patients are likely to respond well only if the KRAS gene is mutated and not amplified.

This study was funded by the Quintiles Translational Research and Development Group; no external funding was used to finance the research.

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Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Vaccine Yielded Encouraging Long-term Survival Rates in Certain Patients With NSCLC

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Patients with nonprogressive disease had improved survival rates.
Five-year survival rate for stage 3B/4 patients was 50 percent.

CHICAGO — Long-term follow-up of a phase II clinical trial showed encouraging survival in some patients with stage 3B/4 non-small cell lung cancer treated with belagenpumatucel-L, a therapeutic vaccine. The findings were presented here at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held March 31 - April 4.

“This is a novel immunotherapy that appears to show unusually long survival in some patients,” said Lyudmila Bazhenova, M.D., associate clinical professor at the University of California-San Diego Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla, Calif.

These findings represent an updated long-term survival analysis on patients treated with belagenpumatucel-L, a cell-based allogeneic vaccine derived from four lung cancer cell lines.

The open-label study included 75 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) — two patients with stage 2 disease, 12 with stage 3A, 15 with stage 3B and 46 with stage 4. The researchers randomly assigned patients to three dose cohorts: 1.25, 2.5 or 5 × 107 cells/injection.

For all patients, median survival was 14.5 months, and the five-year survival rate was 20 percent. The 40 patients with stage 3B/4 cancer enrolled in the second and third dose cohorts had a median survival of 15.9 months and a one-year survival rate of 61 percent, a two-year survival rate of 41 percent and a five-year survival rate of 18 percent.

Patients with stage 3B/4 nonprogressive disease after chemotherapy had a median survival of 44.4 months; five-year survival was 50 percent, which is “unheard of for patients with NSCLC,” Bazhenova said.

In contrast, patients who progressed after front-line chemotherapy had a median survival rate of 14.1 months and a 9.1 percent five-year survival rate.

Bazhenova said that although these results are intriguing, they must be confirmed in a phase III clinical trial, which is currently under way in eight countries.

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Baseline Hormone Levels Appear to Predict Survival in Metastatic, Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

High hormone levels linked to longer survival regardless of treatment.
Biomarker provided meaningful method for patient stratification.
Data should inform future clinical trial design.

CHICAGO — Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with the androgen inhibitor abiraterone and who had high baseline hormone levels had longer overall survival compared with patients with low hormone levels, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

If confirmed, these data mean that levels of hormones, specifically adrenal androgens, may provide physicians with another way to predict the efficacy of therapy in patients with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to Charles J. Ryan, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine and urology at University of California-San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Francisco, Calif.

“We have identified that patients who have higher levels of androgen compared with those with lower levels have a better prognosis overall and a better prognosis when receiving abiraterone than patients with lower levels of androgens,” said Ryan. “Patients with low hormone levels seem to have a worse prognosis overall; however, they still benefitted significantly from receiving abiraterone as opposed to receiving placebo.”

In the past, this form of prostate cancer was referred to as hormone-refractory prostate cancer. However, this term is no longer used because, in recent years, researchers have discovered that certain drugs, like abiraterone, which are essentially hormone therapies, improve outcomes and survival rates.

In this prospective substudy, Ryan and colleagues evaluated data from a randomized phase III trial that compared abiraterone to placebo and led to the approval of abiraterone. They categorized patients according to high levels or low levels of hormones.

The results indicated that higher baseline hormone levels were associated with significantly higher overall survival in patients regardless of initial treatment compared with low baseline levels. Patients assigned to placebo and who had high hormone levels had nearly 50 percent improvement in survival compared with those assigned to placebo and who had low hormone levels. In addition, abiraterone was associated with longer overall survival compared with treatment with placebo in patients with high and low levels of baseline hormones.

Patients assigned to abiraterone who had high baseline levels of hormones had almost twice the overall survival compared with those with low levels of hormones assigned to placebo.

“We used to think that it was not necessary to measure hormone levels once they were below normal — that was in part due to the fact that we were using insensitive assays,” Ryan said. “However, now we know that they have prognostic and predictive significance and that physicians treating these patients should think about conducting hormone tests.”

According to Ryan, more work is required to determine how these data will inform the standard-of-care management of patients with prostate cancer; however, it is likely that these data will affect the design of future clinical trials.

The study was sponsored by Cougar Biotechnology, which is owned by Johnson & Johnson.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Excess Body Weight Associated With Increased Risk for Cancer Recurrence After Treatment for Prostate Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Risk for prostate cancer recurrence increased as excess body weight increased.
Obese and overweight men were at higher risk.
Body weight status and related lifestyle factors could be used to predict risk.

CHICAGO — Researchers have found an association between excess body weight and an increased risk for cancer recurrence in men with clinically localized prostate cancer.

“Men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and who have excess body weight as indicated by a higher-than-normal body mass index (BMI) have an increased risk for cancer recurrence after treatment,” said Vincent L. Freeman, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the division of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois in Chicago, Ill.

Freeman presented results of this cross-sectional study at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Freeman and colleagues examined BMI, which measures body weight relative to height, and risk for cancer recurrence based on blood prostate-specific antigen level, physical exam and prostate cancer biopsy results in 119 men who were awaiting surgery for clinically localized prostate cancer.

The results showed that the risk for cancer recurrence increased with increasing BMI. Men in the upper quartile for BMI were nearly eight times more likely to have prostate cancers that had a moderate-to-high risk for recurrence after treatment compared with men in the lower quartile. Men in the upper-middle and lower-middle quartiles for BMI were 6.5 times and 3.5 times more likely to have a moderate-to-high recurrence risk, respectively.

“The association was not limited to obese men; even being just overweight based on BMI was associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer recurrence,” Freeman said.

He and his colleagues concluded that body weight status and related lifestyle factors connected to prostate cancer could be used as viable indicators for high-risk cases.
“The results provide additional support for a mechanistic link between body weight status and the clinical presentation and course of prostate cancer,” Freeman said. “Our findings also highlight the importance of maintaining a healthy body weight throughout adulthood.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute.

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Caffeine and Exercise May Be Protective Against Skin Cancer Caused by Sun Exposure

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Caffeine and exercise decreased risk for sunlight-caused skin cancers in mice.
Results suggest that fat and tumor growth are related.
Findings link caffeine and exercise with lower levels of inflammation.

CHICAGO — The combined effects of exercise plus caffeine consumption may be able to ward off skin cancer and also prevent inflammation related to other obesity-linked cancers.

“We found that this combination treatment can decrease sunlight-caused skin cancer formation in a mouse model,” said Yao-Ping Lu, Ph.D., associate research professor of chemical biology and director of skin cancer prevention at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in Piscataway, N.J. He presented these findings at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“I believe we may extrapolate these findings to humans and anticipate that we would benefit from these combination treatments as well,” Lu added.

The researchers evaluated the effects of caffeine and exercise on mice at high risk for developing skin cancer. Results showed that mice that took a dose of caffeine and exercised with a running wheel experienced 62 percent fewer skin tumors. The volume of tumors also decreased by 85 percent compared with the mice that did not consume caffeine or exercise.

Positive effects were found with either caffeine or exercise alone, but to a lesser extent. Researchers observed a 27 percent reduction in tumors in caffeine-only mice and a 61 percent reduction in tumor size. In the exercise-only mice, researchers found that tumor activity decreased by 35 percent and tumor volume decreased by 70 percent.

The researchers also found that exercise and caffeine reduced weight and inflammation. They fed mice a high-fat diet of omega-6 fatty acid-rich foods and measured the volume of the parametrial fat pad (the largest fat pad in a mouse) after two weeks of exercise and/or caffeine treatment.

Mice that had caffeine and exercised had a fat pad weight decrease of 63 percent. Caffeine-only mice had a 30 percent decrease, and exercise-only mice had a 56 percent decrease. Development and size of cancer decreased as well. The link, Lu believes, is inflammation, which dropped as much as 92 percent in mice that exercised and consumed caffeine.

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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Race May Play Role in Presentation of Triple-negative Breast Cancer in Hispanic Women

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Disease prevalence similar between Hispanics in Puerto Rico and California.
Researchers suggest that biology of disease drives tumor behavior.
Expression of estrogen receptor associated with better prognosis.

CHICAGO — Hispanic women in Puerto Rico who have triple-negative breast cancer share similar disease characteristics with Hispanic women in California, suggesting that race plays a significant role in the presentation of triple-negative breast cancer among Hispanic women.

These study results were presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“We think the fact that our patients are geographically located outside the mainland and still have the same disease characteristics suggests that the biology of the disease plays a major role in how the disease is expressed in these patients compared with other factors that have been considered like socioeconomic status, access to treatment, etc.,” said Edna M. Mora, M.D., associate professor in the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine department of surgery and the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Based on our results, we speculate that the biology of the disease promotes the tumors to be more aggressive,” she said. “Knowing that biology is important, because then we can develop different treatment strategies for the different subtypes of triple-negative cancers.”

Overall, Hispanic women have a lower incidence of breast cancer, but among those who develop the disease, prognosis and survival are poor, Mora said.

In this cross-sectional study, the researchers analyzed data from 1,082 women with breast cancer who were diagnosed between 2000 and 2005. Mora and colleagues obtained data from hospital cancer registries and through a medical record review.

The prevalence of triple-negative breast cancer was 16.3 percent, which is comparable to the percentage among Hispanics in California, Mora said. Compared with women with HER2-negative, estrogen receptor-positive disease, patients in the triple-negative group were younger at diagnosis and had larger tumor size, invasive ductal histology and higher tumor grades.

Most importantly, these results showed that the HER2-negative patients whose tumors expressed estrogen receptors had a dramatically different disease presentation and better outcomes, Mora said.

“When the patient’s tumor expressed estrogen receptor, it made a significant difference in terms of how the patient responds to therapy and behaves in terms of survival,” she said.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
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In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
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Cruciferous Vegetable Consumption Linked to Improved Breast Cancer Survival Rates

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Intake associated with decreased mortality and recurrence rates.
Dose–response relationship observed.
Researchers recommend survivors eat more cruciferous vegetables.

CHICAGO — Eating cruciferous vegetables after breast cancer diagnosis was associated with improved survival among Chinese women, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“Breast cancer survivors can follow the general nutritional guidelines of eating vegetables daily and may consider increasing intake of cruciferous vegetables, such as greens, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, as part of a healthy diet,” said Sarah J. Nechuta, M.P.H., Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

She and her colleagues investigated the role of cruciferous vegetables in breast cancer survival in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study, a prospective study of 4,886 Chinese breast cancer survivors diagnosed with stage 1 to stage 4 breast cancer from 2002 to 2006.

After adjusting for demographics, clinical characteristics and lifestyle factors, the researchers found cruciferous vegetable intake during the first 36 months after breast cancer diagnosis was associated with a reduced risk for total mortality, breast cancer-specific mortality and recurrence in a dose–response pattern. Across increasing quartiles of cruciferous vegetable consumption, risk for total mortality decreased by 27 percent to 62 percent, risk for breast cancer-specific mortality decreased by 22 percent to 62 percent, and risk for recurrence decreased by 21 percent to 35 percent.

Nechuta noted that cruciferous vegetable consumption habits differ between China and the United States and suggested this fact be considered when generalizing these results to U.S. breast cancer survivors.

“Commonly consumed cruciferous vegetables in China include turnips, Chinese cabbage/bok choy and greens, while broccoli and brussels sprouts are the more commonly consumed cruciferous vegetables in the United States and other Western countries,” she said. “Second, the amount of intake among Chinese women is much higher than that of U.S. women. The level of bioactive compounds such as isothiocyanates and indoles, proposed to play a role in the anticancer effects of cruciferous vegetables, depend on both the amount and type of cruciferous vegetables consumed.”

She suggested that future studies with direct measurements of bioactive compounds such as isothiocyanates and host factors that influence the effects of these biological compounds be conducted to better understand the association of cruciferous vegetable intake with breast cancer outcomes.

# # #

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Nearly Half of Cancer Survivors Died From Conditions Other Than Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Fifty-one percent of people who have had cancer died from cancer.
Forty-nine percent of cancer survivors died from other conditions.
Researchers encourage a more comprehensive approach to survivor health.

CHICAGO — Although cancer recurrence may be the overriding fear for many survivors, nearly half of survivors from a recently presented study died from other conditions.

These results indicate survivors could potentially benefit from a more comprehensive, less cancer-focused approach to their health, according to lead researcher Yi Ning, M.D., Sc.D., assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and associate research member at VCU Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, Va. Ning presented the results at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31- April 4.

“We realized that the mortality rates for some types of cancer, such as breast cancer, had declined,” said Ning. “Cancer survivors live much longer than they did several decades ago. So with this large group of cancer survivors, we need to pay more attention to cancer survivors’ overall health.”

Ning and colleagues evaluated 1,807 cancer survivors who had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) study. The most common forms of cancer among the study group were breast, prostate, cervical, lung and colorectal.

When originally surveyed through NHANES, a large percentage of the study group suffered from conditions other than cancer, including cardiovascular conditions, hypertension and diabetes.

Researchers followed patients for more than 18 years. During the course of the study, 776 cancer survivors died. Fifty-one percent died from cancer and 49 percent died from other causes. Cardiovascular disease was the primary cause of noncancer deaths.

Researchers found that the longer patients survived after their initial cancer diagnosis, the more likely they were to die from another disease: 32.8 percent died from another condition within five years of diagnosis compared with 62.7 percent after 20 years.

With nearly half of cancer survivors dying from other causes, Ning said that physicians and patients must improve efforts to manage those risks.

“After the detection of cancer, clinicians and cancer survivors pay less attention to the prevention and treatment of other diseases and complications,” said Ning. “We shouldn’t neglect other aspects of health because we are focused on cancer and overlook other chronic conditions.”

# # #

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Noninvasive Stool Test for Colorectal Cancer Unaffected by Medications, Lifestyle Factors and Other Variables

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Patients did not have to adjust lifestyle or common drugs for this test.
Age affected four methylation markers studied, but to different extents.
Selecting optimal methylation markers may minimize false positives.

CHICAGO — Research on an investigational DNA methylation test for colorectal cancer demonstrated that the only clinical variable that influenced test results was age, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“There was a progressive increase in background methylation levels that varied widely between methylation markers tested as a patient aged,” said David Ahlquist, M.D., professor of medicine and a consultant in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “For example, median background methylation levels of the TFPI2 gene increased 49 percent in patients from age 50 to age 80, whereas levels for the BMP3 gene increased by only 0.2 percent across this age range.”

His group at the Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with Exact Sciences, developed the multimarker molecular stool test, which is highly sensitive to the critical cancer screening targets of early-stage cancers and precancerous adenomas, he said.

“This test, if broadly applied, should have a very important impact on reducing both the mortality and incidence of colorectal cancer,” Ahlquist said.

The researchers examined common patient variables, including age, sex, race, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, body mass and medication use in 500 patients undergoing screening colonoscopy or polyp follow-up. Patients had a normal colonoscopy in the last three years.

With the exception of age, none of the variables influenced test results, nor did family history of colorectal cancer or polyps or personal history of polyps. These results mean that “patients don’t have to change their lifestyle to have this test,” Ahlquist said. “That was important from a patient-friendly standpoint for a test like this and could benefit compliance.”

Researchers have selected the two markers least affected by age for further test development and validation based on these study results.
“If we can minimize the false positives, that will reduce the cost of the whole screening program by avoiding unnecessary colonoscopies,” Ahlquist said.

The screening test is currently undergoing FDA validation in a multicenter study in the United States and Canada, which is expected to be completed in the fall. The Mayo Clinic and Ahlquist have a financial interest in the technology referenced in this announcement.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
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Drug Combination May Provide Option to Patients With NSCLC Ineligible for Bevacizumab

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin yielded a 41 percent response rate.
Toxicity of the combination is “tolerable.”

CHICAGO — A combination of nab-paclitaxel and carboplatin for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer may be a promising option for patients ineligible for treatment with bevacizumab, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31-April 4.

“The combination of carboplatin and nab-paclitaxel demonstrates promising efficacy with tolerable toxicity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ineligible for therapy with bevacizumab,” said Gregory A. Otterson, M.D., professor of internal medicine, co-director of the thoracic oncology program and associate director of the hematology and medical oncology fellowship program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio.

Otterson and colleagues evaluated the drug combination in 63 patients with advanced NSCLC. Seventy-six percent of patients had squamous histology, making them ineligible for bevacizumab. Other contraindications for bevacizumab among this patient population included hemoptysis, thrombosis and therapeutic anticoagulation. Researchers assigned patients to 300 mg/m2/AUC6, which was later adjusted to 260 mg/m2/AUC6 due to excess neuropathy, every 21 days.

Researchers found an overall response rate of 41 percent among 53 patients available for evaluation. An additional 39 percent of patients had stable disease for at least six weeks. Disease progressed in 19 percent of patients.

“We have been surprised at the durability of response with some patients not requiring further treatment for at least six months,” Otterson said.

More than 10 percent of patients had grade 3 to 4 toxicities, including hematologic toxicity, febrile neutropenia, infection, sensory neuropathy, dyspnea and dehydration; researchers reported four deaths as grade 5 toxicities.

“This combination treatment should be an option, particularly for patients with squamous histology who have limited alternative options,” Otterson said.

# # #

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Phase III Research Represents Potential Shift in Standard of Care for Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Connaught strain of bacillus Calmette-Guérin proved superior.
Patients treated with Tice strain may be at increased risk for recurrence.
Genetic strain differences rather than dose and preparation at cause.

CHICAGO — Use of the Connaught strain of bacillus Calmette-Guérin, an adjuvant immunotherapy used in the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, significantly reduced cancer recurrence compared with the Tice strain of bacillus Calmette-Guérin, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Cyrill A. Rentsch, M.D., Ph.D., of the division of urology at the University of Basel in Switzerland, presented the phase III data, which represent the potential for a shift in the standard-of-care treatment for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) was originally developed as a vaccine for tuberculosis but has also been the standard of care for the treatment of noninvasive bladder cancer for more than 30 years. Currently, at least eight strains of BCG are used in treating bladder cancer.

“This is the first study demonstrating that different BCG strains lead to different clinical outcomes in the treatment of bladder cancer,” Rentsch said.

He and his colleagues prospectively compared the efficacy of the Connaught and Tice strains in preventing recurrences and progression of cancer. They recruited and randomly assigned 149 patients to six weekly injections of Tice or Connaught. All patients had undergone surgery to remove visible bladder tumors.

After a median follow-up of 25 months, the five-year recurrence-free survival rate for all patients was 61 percent. Patients who underwent treatment with Connaught had significantly fewer recurrences compared with patients treated with Tice. The five-year recurrence-free survival for patients treated with Connaught was 75 percent compared with 46 percent for patients treated with Tice.

“At five years, this results in a more than twofold improvement in the recurrence rate in favor of BCG Connaught,” Rentsch said. “Based on its common use, we estimate that more than 20 percent of the worldwide population is at risk to receive treatment with BCG Tice, a treatment that, based on our findings, is less effective in reducing recurrences than BCG Connaught.”

These results have the potential to substantially improve the course of disease in many patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, according to Rentsch.

“As an example of clinically successful immunotherapy, it is a must to further dissect and understand the specific mechanisms underlying BCG immunotherapy,” Rentsch said. “The genetic differences identified between the two strains might represent a start for further studies.”

The study was funded clinically by the department of urology at the University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland, and the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research. Translational funding included the Swiss National Foundation, Inserm, La Ligue contre le Cancer and Institute Pasteur in Paris.

# # #

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AACR Inaugurates New Leadership

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Frank McCormick, Ph.D., F.R.S., D.Sc. (hon.), is president.
Judy E. Garber, M.D., M.P.H., is now past-president.
Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., is inaugurated as president-elect.

CHICAGO — The AACR welcomes its new leadership as Frank McCormick, Ph.D., F.R.S., D.Sc. (hon.), assumes the role of president of the American Association for Cancer Research for 2012-2013. He was inaugurated today during the Annual Business Meeting at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

“The AACR is a remarkable organization and I am delighted to serve as president,” McCormick said. “The AACR’s membership represents the largest community of cancer researchers in the world, and I will be looking for new ways to help this community work together more effectively. I will also focus on strengthening the AACR’s impact overseas and on new initiatives in education and training.

“There have never been more opportunities to make a major impact on cancer, and I want to make sure that the AACR and its members worldwide are in the strongest position to seize these opportunities, and to use the power of research to prevent and cure cancer,’’ he added.

McCormick is the director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He holds the E. Dixon Heise distinguished professorship in oncology and the David A. Wood distinguished professorship of tumor biology and cancer research at UCSF. Additionally, he is the associate dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and a distinguished professor in residence in the department of microbiology and immunology as well as in the department of biochemistry and biophysics.

McCormick is a pioneer in cancer research. He has studied the molecular basis of cancer and how genes, when mutated or expressed at high levels, help turn normal cells into oncogenes. In 1992, he founded the biotech company Onyx Pharmaceuticals and developed Nexavar, which is used to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. His current research interests center on the Ras pathway and new ways of targeting this pathway for cancer therapy.

Among his extensive service to the AACR, McCormick served as program chairperson for the 2010 Annual Meeting, member of the Board of Directors and co-chair of the Annual Meeting Program Committee. He chairs the Task Force on Co-development of Investigational Drugs and previously chaired the Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research and the Team Science Award Committees. He is a member of the Special Conferences Committee and participated in the Scientific Review and the Program Committees for the AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics meeting. McCormick is a scientific editor of the AACR’s newest journal, Cancer Discovery, and was a senior editor of Molecular Cancer Research. He was the recipient of the 2002 AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award for outstanding accomplishments in basic cancer research.

McCormick is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and an elected fellow of The Royal Society, England. He was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Birmingham, England. McCormick has received many accolades and awards, including the Science of Oncology Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Cancer Research Grant, the Novartis Drew Award in Biomedical Research and the Shubitz Award from the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center. He is on the editorial board of a number of cancer publications. He has served as a board member and advisor for numerous cancer research organizations including the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the Melanoma Therapeutics Foundation, the Canary Foundation, the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy and the Friends of Cancer Research.

McCormick received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Birmingham and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London.

Judy E. Garber, M.D., M.P.H., who preceded McCormick as president, served as the AACR president for the 2011-2012 term with distinction and will now fulfill the role of past president 2012-2013.

Garber is director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is an associate physician of medicine and attending physician of medical service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass.

Garber’s research has focused primarily on breast cancer risk assessment and risk reduction. A clinical translational researcher, she has led epidemiologic, cancer surveillance, cancer genetics service delivery and cancer risk reduction (chemoprevention) studies in hereditary cancers. Her primary interests have included breast and ovarian cancers, but she has also studied pediatric cancers and sarcomas in Li-Fraumeni syndrome and hereditary gastrointestinal stromal tumors. More recently, Garber has led a series of therapeutic clinical trials as part of a translational group focusing on basal-like breast cancer, the most common form of cancer in women with germline BRCA1 mutations.

Garber has served in many critical leadership roles of the AACR. She is a member of the Board of Directors and served as a member of the Stand Up To Cancer Innovative Research Grants Review Committee, the Finance and Audit Committee, the Special Conferences Committee, the Grants Advisory Committee and the Susan Love/Avon Army of Women Scientific Advisory Committee. She was chairperson of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation-AACR Grants for Translational Breast Cancer Research Scientific Review Committee and has served on several other grants committees and scientific award selection committees over the years. Garber has served on the Annual Meeting Program Committee as well as on the program and scientific review committees for many other meetings, including the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, the AACR Scientific Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics and the JCA-AACR Special Joint Conference, The Latest Advances in Breast Cancer Research.

Garber is a senior editor of Cancer Prevention Research and a member of the editorial board for Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. She has also served as a senior editor for Clinical Cancer Research. All three publications are journals of the AACR.

Garber is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Claire W. and Richard P. Morse Research Award and the Tisch Family Outstanding Achievement Award, both from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Statesman Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, a member of the scientific advisory board of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and was a member of the advisory board of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Garber earned her medical degree and her master’s degree in public health from Yale University School of Medicine and completed her internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Brockton-West Roxbury Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. She completed her fellowship in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and in hematology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., is AACR president-elect, taking the presidency in April 2013.

Sawyers is chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator. He is also a professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Program and Department of Medicine at the Joan & Sanford Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University.

He is currently conducting research to investigate the signaling pathways that drive the growth of cancer cells, with an eye toward designing new treatment options for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and prostate cancer. His laboratory is currently exploring the molecular basis of prostate cancer and mechanisms of resistance to hormone therapy. This work is focused on the role of the androgen receptor in disease progression, even when tumors progress to the hormone-refractory stage. Additional projects include deciphering mechanisms of resistance to MDV3100, a novel antiandrogen discovered by his group that is nearing FDA registration based on positive survival data in a recent phase 3 clinical trial. His lab is also dissecting AR function using RNA interference screens and examining crosstalk between AR and other common molecular lesions in human prostate cancer such as PTEN loss and TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusions.

Sawyers has received numerous accolades, including the AACR Richard & Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award, the Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research, the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, the American Society of Clinical Oncology David A. Karnofsky Award, the Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and most recently the 2012 American Cancer Society/Society of Surgical Oncology Basic Science Lecture.

He is a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery, the associate editor of Clinical Cancer Research and was an associate editor for Cancer Research, all scientific journals of the AACR. Sawyers is a co-leader of the Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team: “Targeting the PI3K Pathway,” for which the AACR is a scientific partner.

In addition, he was a keynote speaker and scientific committee co-chairperson for the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, co-chairperson of the AACR’s special conferences Targeting the PI3 Kinase Pathway in Cancer and Emerging Concepts in Oncology, and chairperson of the AACR’s educational workshop Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology. Sawyers has also served previously as a member of the AACR Board of Directors, the Nominating Committee and the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Committee.

Among his extensive service to the AACR, Sawyers is past president of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, serves on the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Councilors and is a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences.

Sawyers received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1985. Three years later he completed residency training at the University of California, San Francisco, and joined the fellowship program of the division of hematology-oncology at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1993, Sawyers became an assistant professor at UCLA, and three years later was appointed associate chief of basic research and director of the Hematopoietic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplant Program. In 2002, he was named an HHMI Investigator. Sawyers joined Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 2006 to chair the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

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Strong Oral Carcinogen Identified in Smokeless Tobacco

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

(S)-NNN is “only chemical in smokeless tobacco known to cause oral cancer.”
Carcinogen caused oral and esophageal tumors in every animal exposed.
Findings should influence regulatory decisions on smokeless tobacco.

CHICAGO — The chemical (S)-N’-nitrosonornicotine, or (S)-NNN, which is present in smokeless tobacco products, is a strong oral carcinogen, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Although smokeless tobacco products have long been linked with certain cancers, including oral cavity cancers and esophageal cancers, this is the first study to identify a specific chemical present in smokeless tobacco products that induces oral cancer in animals, according to Silvia Balbo, Ph.D., research associate at the Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn.

“(S)-NNN is the only chemical in smokeless tobacco known to cause oral cancer,” Balbo said. “This finding provides mechanistic underpinning for the epidemiologic observations that smokeless tobacco products cause oral cancer.”

Balbo and colleagues administered two forms of NNN called (S)-NNN and (R)-NNN to four groups of 24 rats. The rats were given either (S)-NNN alone, (R)-NNN alone, a combination of both or tap water. The total dose was approximately equivalent to the amount of (S)-NNN to which a smokeless tobacco user would be exposed from chronic use of these products.

All rats assigned to (S)-NNN alone or the combination began losing weight after one year of exposure and died by 17 months. Rats assigned to (R)-NNN or tap water were terminated at 20 months.

All rats assigned to (S)-NNN had esophageal tumors and demonstrated 100 percent incidence of oral tumors including tumors of the tongue, buccal mucosa, soft palate and pharynx. In contrast, researchers found oral tumors in only five of 24 rats given (R)-NNN and esophageal tumors in three of 24 rats assigned to (R)-NNN. Twelve rats given the combination of (S)-NNN and (R)-NNN had 153 esophageal tumors and 96 oral tumors.

“Measures should be taken to reduce this chemical in smokeless tobacco,” Balbo said. “If it is not possible to stop the use of smokeless tobacco products, we should advocate for a reduction of this chemical in these products.”

Because the Food and Drug Administration regulates tobacco products, Balbo said she hoped these results will inform regulatory decisions. Moving forward, she and her colleagues hope to identify other chemicals that may be carcinogens in smokeless tobacco and to understand what level of these chemicals is present in smokeless tobacco products.

“In addition, we have to understand how this research translates to human beings,” Balbo added. “We have to understand the uptake of NNN from smokeless tobacco products in humans and develop better biomarkers, such as urinary biomarkers, to have a tool to monitor the levels to which smokeless tobacco users are exposed.”

Balbo believes these findings are yet another affirmation that tobacco products should be avoided.

This research was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Peptide Vaccine Stimulates Immune Response in Patients With Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Patients with breast cancer responded well to vaccine for recurrence prevention.
T regulatory cells decreased in patients assigned to the vaccine.
Immunologic testing may help identify responders to peptide vaccine.

CHICAGO — Patients with breast cancer assigned to the HER2-based peptide vaccine AE37 had immunologic responses compared with a control group, according to 24-month results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“The theory is that once you form that response to the specific peptide, if the body has a recurrence, it will recognize that cancer as a bad thing, a foreign thing,” said Diane F. Hale, M.D., a research resident in general surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam, Houston, Texas. “The immune markers could lead us to potentially identify those people who may have a recurrence.”

Of the 217 women enrolled in this prospective, randomized, single-blinded phase II trial, all had completed the standard therapy for breast cancer and were disease-free at the start of the trial.

“We wanted the high-risk patients, those who are at the highest risk for recurrence, so we included those patients who were node-positive or who were node-negative but had poor prognostic factors, such as ER/PR negativity,” Hale said.

Researchers assigned 109 patients to AE37 and the immunoadjuvant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and assigned 108 patients to GM-CSF alone in six monthly intradermal injections.

They evaluated in vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions by injecting a small, nontherapeutic dose of the vaccine beneath the patient’s skin and looking for a physical reaction of greater than 5 mm. In the vaccine group, 86 percent of patients showed a significant response compared with 27 percent of patients in the control group.

In addition, researchers evaluated in vitro proliferation responses and found that the vaccine group had more responders than the control group. The latter group had more nonresponders, based on stimulation indexes.

“Naturally, the people in the vaccine group had a significant response compared with the control group because they didn’t have that immune stimulation to the HER2 peptide,” Hale said.

Researchers also measured T regulatory cell responses in 107 patients. Within the vaccine group, “there was a larger percentage of patients who had a decrease in their T regulatory cells” from prevaccination baseline, Hale said. Forty-one patients assigned to the peptide vaccine vs. 28 patient controls had a decrease of more than 90 percent.

Monitoring immunologic tests and T regulatory cells throughout the vaccination process may classify patients as responders and nonresponders. “That can also help us in the future to identify who may recur,” Hale said.

# # #

Tremelimumab Shows Promise in Treatment of Liver Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Tumor burden reduction and disease stabilization occurred in some cases.
Tremelimumab also reduced blood levels of hepatitis C virus.

CHICAGO — Tremelimumab treatment stabilized patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma due to chronic hepatitis C infection for more than 12 months, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Researchers evaluated 21 patients treated with tremelimumab intravenously at a dose of 15 mg/kg every 90 days for about two cycles. Tumor burden was reduced for two patients, and disease stabilized for more than a year in 11 patients.

“The unique conditions [of heptaocellular carcinoma and hepatitis C infection] permitted us to monitor the antitumor effects and immune response to well-defined viral antigens, killing two birds with one stone,” said lead researcher Ignacio Melero, M.D., Ph.D., a consultant in the department of oncology and a professor and senior investigator in El Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada at Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.

In an intention-to-treat analysis, researchers observed a median overall survival of 7.5 months and time to progression of 6.4 months. They reported treatment-related adverse events among 80 percent of patients; grade 3 or higher adverse events included one case of pruritus, one case of purpura and five cases of elevated transaminases.

Melero and colleagues also observed a reduction of hepatitis C virus in the patients’ blood, which was also accompanied with objective enhancements of antiviral immunity.

“The short series of patients already showing clinical activity offers clear signs for the need to extend these trials,” Melero said. “It is unusual to spot clear signs of clinical activity with such a small number of patients, and the information on antiviral activity is also very promising.”

The study was supported by Pfizer, and tremelimumab has been licensed by MedImmune. Melero is a consultant for Bristol-Myers Squibb.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy Regimen May Prolong Survival in Advanced Cancers

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Lower doses of IL-2 and 13-cis retinoic acid increased natural “killer” cells.
Combination therapy might benefit patients with stage 4 cancers.
Patients who received this combination had improved survival rates.

CHICAGO — Maintenance therapy with interleukin-2 and 13-cis retinoic acid may be an inexpensive method for increasing survival in patients with a variety of stage 4 cancers, according to data reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Francesco Recchia, M.D., director of oncology at the Civilian Hospital in Avezzano, Italy, started evaluating the maintenance therapy in patients with advanced disease in 1995 after one patient with metastatic melanoma did not tolerate the usual 18 M UI/m2 high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy.

“The patient was treated with lower doses, and he had a wonderful, long-lasting response,” he said.

After this observation, Recchia conducted several other studies of IL-2 with or without retinoic acid (RA). “I was encouraged by these preliminary results, and therefore, I conducted a phase II study of this drug combination in 80 patients who had obtained a clinical benefit from chemotherapy. The results were very interesting.”

The researchers evaluated 500 patients with different tumor types, but all with stage 4 disease. After their normal cancer treatment, patients were assigned to self-administered subcutaneous IL-2 (1.8×106 IU) and oral RA (0.5 mg/kg) five days a week for two consecutive cycles of three weeks, followed by a one-week rest, for one year. After a median follow-up of 60 months, researchers reported increased numbers of natural “killer” cells — immune cells with antitumor functions — and a decrease of vascular endothelial growth factor. The 15-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 32.6 percent and 36.8 percent, respectively.

“These studies had such good and unexpected results that I thought it would not be ethical to conduct a randomized study without this immunotherapy regimen,” Recchia said. “All types of cancer treated had a benefit from this immunotherapy regimen: ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, cardiac metastases of sarcoma, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, renal cell carcinoma, melanoma, head and neck cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and recurrent ovarian cancer.”

Despite the limitations of different cancer populations, the researchers reported a marked improvement in the five-year overall survival rate for the most commonly treated metastatic cancers compared with National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results data: breast (42.7 percent vs. 23.3 percent), lung (26.4 percent vs. 3.6 percent), colorectal (43.6 percent vs. 11.7 percent) and renal (23 percent vs. 11 percent).

Immunotherapy with IL-2 has fallen out of favor in place of newer monoclonal antibodies, according to Recchia. Although his results appear promising, a blinded, controlled, randomized trial would be needed before clinicians could begin using this maintenance regimen.

# # #

Peptide Vaccine Shows Evidence of Immunological, Clinical Activity in Children With Gliomas

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Eighteen of 22 children had regression, stable disease for more than three months.
Some children experienced immunological pseudoprogression.

CHICAGO — Peptide vaccination in children with gliomas was well tolerated with evidence of immunological and clinical responses, but some children experienced periods of immunological pseudoprogression, where tumors appeared larger than they actually were, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“We’ve found that the vaccine is tolerated well with limited systemic toxicity, but we’ve also observed that there are some patients who have immunological responses to the vaccine target in the brain that can cause swelling and transient worsening, and subsequently, some of those children can have very favorable responses,” said Ian F. Pollack, M.D., Walter Dandy professor of neurological surgery and vice chairman for academic affairs in the department of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, Pa. “We’ve also demonstrated immunological responses in the majority of the kids.”

In the pilot study, Pollack, who is also chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and co-director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Brain Tumor Program in Pittsburgh, Pa., and colleagues enrolled 27 children, including 16 with newly diagnosed brain stem gliomas, five with newly diagnosed cerebral high-grade gliomas and six with recurrent gliomas.

Researchers assigned HLA-A2–positive children to subcutaneous vaccinations with peptides for glioma-associated antigen (GAA) epitopes emulsified in Montanide-ISA-51 every three weeks for eight courses. They also administered intramuscular injections of poly-ICLC. The GAAs included EphA2, IL13Rα2 and survivin.

Among 22 evaluable cases, four children had rapidly progressive disease, 14 had stable disease for more than three months, three had sustained partial responses and one had prolonged disease-free status after surgery. ELISPOT analysis, which was completed in seven children, revealed responses in six children: to IL13Rα2 in five cases, EphA2 in three and survivin in three.

“These kids, who, for the most part, have intact and very robust immune systems, seem to mount an immune response against the vaccine very effectively at rates that may be even higher than have been noted in studies in adults,” Pollack said.

Pseudoprogression occurred in some cases and was similar to true tumor progression. For example, one child with a brain stem glioma had transient tumor enlargement and acute neurological deterioration four months after vaccine initiation. However, the tumor later regressed and the patient experienced a sustained partial response. Three other children with brain stem gliomas had symptomatic pseudoprogression, with transient neurological deterioration and tumor enlargement followed by stabilization on decreasing steroid doses.

“This was the first study of its type that examined peptide vaccine therapy for children with brain tumors like this,” Pollack said. “The fact that we’ve seen tumor shrinkage in children with very high-risk tumors has been extremely encouraging and somewhat surprising.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

# # #

Cancer Stem Cell Vaccine in Development Shows Antitumor Effect

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Stem cells had greater effect than differentiated tumor cells in eliciting antitumor immunity in vivo.
Antibodies and T cells targeted cancer stem cells in laboratory models.
Data could provide a rationale for a new type of immune therapy.

PHILADELPHIA — Scientists may have discovered a new paradigm for immunotherapy against cancer by priming antibodies and T cells with cancer stem cells, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“This is a major breakthrough in immunotherapy research because we were able to use purified cancer stem cells to generate a vaccine, which strengthened the potency of antibodies and T cells that selectively targeted cancer stem cells,” said Qiao Li, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the department of surgery at the University of Michigan.

Cancer stem cells are tumor cells that remain present, and ultimately resistant, after chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Scientists disagree on whether these cells have unique properties, but those who support the uniqueness idea have argued that these cells regenerate the tumors that lead to relapse.

Despite the similar name, cancer stem cells are distinct from embryonic stem cells, and the two avenues of research are separate.

For the current study, Li and colleagues extracted cancer stem cells from two immunocompetent mouse models and used them to prepare the vaccine.

“We found that these enriched cancer stem cells were immunogenic and far more effective as an antigen source compared with the unselected tumor cells normally used in previous immunotherapy trials,” said Li. “The mechanistic investigations found that when antibodies were primed with cancer stem cells, they were capable of targeting cancer stem cells and conferring antitumor immunity.”

The researchers also found that cytotoxic T lymphocytes harvested from cancer stem cell-vaccinated hosts were capable of killing cancer stem cells in vitro.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Stand Up To Cancer and Prostate Cancer Foundation Announce New Dream Team

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

$10 Million, Three-year Grant will Fund Cutting-edge Collaborative Research to Develop Personalized Treatments for Advanced Prostate Cancer

CHICAGO — Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), along with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), SU2C’s scientific partner, announced the formation of a new Dream Team dedicated to prostate cancer research during a press conference today (watch a webcast of the press conference) at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held in Chicago, Ill.

Arul M. Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, and Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, will lead the Dream Team project titled “Precision Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer.” The Dream Team scientists are drawn from five leading prostate cancer clinical research centers in Ann Arbor, New York, Boston, Seattle, and London.

The SU2C-PCF Prostate Dream Team Translational Cancer Research Grant will provide funding of $10 million over a three-year period for a seven-center project including both clinical centers and two research infrastructure sites that will address therapeutic interventions for advanced prostate cancer with special emphasis on metastatic disease, and deliver near-term patient benefit through investigation by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, synergistic Dream Team of expert investigators.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of death for men in the United States. According to PCF, one man dies every 18 minutes from this disease. In addition, a new case occurs every 2.4 minutes. More than 2 million American men are currently living with prostate cancer and more than 16 million men are affected worldwide.

“Through this unique partnership with PCF, we will focus critically needed research on advanced prostate cancer,” said Sherry Lansing, one of SU2C’s co-founders. “Our collective goal is to produce personalized treatment approaches that will begin to benefit patients in the next few years.”

“We are excited to announce and fund this Dream Team in partnership with Stand Up To Cancer. Healthy competition for the prestigious research award brought out tremendous innovation — well beyond what the National Cancer Institute or Department of Defense is currently funding,” commented Jonathan Simons, M.D., president and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. “We are highly confident that the cross-institutional teams of researchers led by Drs. Chinnaiyan and Sawyers will significantly fast-forward actionable therapeutic sciences for men with treatment-resistant metastatic prostate cancer.”

Chinnaiyan is a clinical pathologist and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, S.P. Hicks endowed professor of pathology and professor of urology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and an American Cancer Society research professor. He also serves as the inaugural director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology. The Chinnaiyan laboratory has focused on functional genomic, proteomic, metabolomic and bioinformatic approaches to study cancer for the purposes of understanding tumor biology, as well as to discover clinical biomarkers. Chinnaiyan has also been the recipient of PCF career-development funding and research awards since 2001.

“Utilizing this Dream Team grant, we will be able to bring together great scientists and clinicians from around the world to join in the fight against metastatic prostate cancer. We hope this unique model of research will lead to patient benefit in the short term,” said Chinnaiyan.

Sawyers is chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Additionally, he is a professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Program and the Department of Medicine at the Joan and Sanford Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, also in New York. Sawyers’ PCF-funded research in prostate cancer molecular pharmacology defined upregulation of androgen receptor signaling as the primary mechanism of resistance to hormone therapy, resulting in the discovery of the antiandrogen MDV3100 that was recently shown to prolong survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer. Sawyers has been a recipient of PCF research award support since 1996.

“The unique research model facilitated by SU2C will allow unparalleled collaborations in the field of prostate cancer therapy research,” said Sawyers. “We hope that our project will move the world of precision medicine forward for the benefit of those who suffer with the disease and those who care for them.”

The Prostate Dream Team Translational Cancer Research Project

Prostate cancer, like other types of cancer, is not a homogeneous disease. For example, up to 50 percent of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients have a genetic aberration of two genes fused together. Often these fusions, which were first reported by Chinnaiyan’s lab, involve the ETS genes, a group of oncogenes that play an important role in the progression of prostate cancer. A majority also have a “deletion” or loss of an entire gene called PTEN. The diversity of genetic aberrations found in prostate cancer suggests that treatment decisions will require a personalized or precision approach — matching treatment to specific characteristics of a tumor. The premise for this proposal is that information about the genetic makeup of an individual’s CRPC may guide the doctor to choose a “personalized” treatment for that patient.

Chinnaiyan, Sawyers and the members of their Dream Team will focus on patients with metastatic prostate cancer. First, the team will implement a multi-institutional study that systematically evaluates the prostate cancer genomes of patients enrolling in four clinical trials, evaluating novel drugs for CRPC or beginning treatment with approved drugs like abiraterone.

They will identify predictors of why some patients respond to these therapies, as well as predictors of resistance to these therapies. The study will capture a molecular snapshot of a patient’s cancer and incorporate this information into the clinical trials. It will also enable a framework that will facilitate progress toward a personalized approach for evaluating new drugs and treating patients with prostate cancer.

The delivery of clinically valuable information based on the analyses of each patient’s tumor will improve the lives of patients with prostate cancer. While state-of-the-art technology in DNA sequencing has dramatically accelerated biomedical research, translation into a clinical setting has numerous barriers that limit the potential benefits. This multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional effort establishes a framework for translating research into precision prostate cancer medicine for patient care.

The project is estimated to start mid-2012 with the first clinical trials scheduled to open in early 2013.

Dream Team Selected Through Unique, Rigorous Process

A SU2C-PCF Joint Scientific Advisory Committee (JSAC) conducted a unique, rapid and rigorous evaluation of the applications via a multi-step scientific review process.

The committee is chaired by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., institute professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. It is co-chaired by SU2C representative William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., the Marion I. Knott director and professor of oncology, and director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., and PCF representative Howard R. Soule, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief science officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. The JSAC is comprised of highly accomplished senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists, as well as advocates.

The review process began with a call for letters of intent by the AACR in October. The committee then chose four finalist teams, each of which met with the JSAC to present the plans for their research and respond to questions about their projects – a level of interaction between applicants and reviewers that are unique in a scientific review process.

Prostate Dream Team Principals and Advocate Members

The “Precision Therapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer” Dream Team consists of a multi-disciplinary group of experts that includes laboratory and clinical researchers, young investigators and senior scientists who have not worked together in the past, as well as patient advocates. In addition to Chinnaiyan and Sawyers, team members are:

Principals:

Philip W. Kantoff, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
Levi A. Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., Broad Institute, Cambridge, Mass.
Peter S. Nelson, M.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
Johann S. de Bono, M.D., Institute for Cancer Research/Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, U.K.
Mark A. Rubin, M.D., Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, N.Y.

Advocates:

Doug Pergament, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
James Kiefert, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wash.
Stan Klein, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
Thomas Farrington, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Broad Institute, Boston, Mass.
Ian Liston, Institute for Cancer Research/Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, U.K.
Grant Gregory, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y.

Prior to today’s announcement, SU2C has awarded grants to six Dream Teams and 26 Innovative Research Grants have been awarded to young investigators. These recipients comprise 270 scientists from 67 unique institutions.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Stand Up To Cancer
Adam Pockriss
(212) 843-8286
apockriss@rubenstein.com
In Chicago, March 31 – April 2:
(917) 596-5951

Prostate Cancer Foundation
Cara Lasala
(310) 570-4727
clasala@pcf.org

American Association for Cancer Research
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) – a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c) (3) charitable organization – raises funds to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. SU2C facilitates collaboration among the best and the brightest in the cancer research community. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee conduct rigorous, competitive review processes through which SU2C’s grantees are selected. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C generates awareness and builds grassroots support for this new approach to ending cancer.

Stand Up To Cancer was founded by a group of media, entertainment and philanthropic leaders whose lives have been affected by cancer in significant ways. Members of SU2C’s Executive Leadership Council include Sherry Lansing, chairperson of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s (EIF) Board of Directors and founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation; EIF President and CEO Lisa Paulsen; Katie Couric; EIF Senior Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; Pam Williams, partner at Laura Ziskin Productions; and nonprofit executive Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin, a legendary film producer who executive produced the 2008 and 2010 SU2C telecasts, was also a co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating research. Founded in 1993 by Michael Milken, PCF has raised more than $479 million and provided funding to over 1,600 research projects at nearly 200 institutions in 15 countries around the world. Since 2008, it has supported 98 Young Investigators in seven countries and launched 17 PCF team science Challenge Awards. PCF advocates for greater awareness of prostate cancer and more efficient investment of governmental research funds supporting transformational cancer research. Prostate Cancer Foundation efforts over 19 years have helped produce a 20-fold increase in government funding for prostate cancer and fast-forward research on research on four new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drugs for advanced prostate cancer in the past two years. More information about PCF can be found at pcf.org.

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 advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

SU2C Partnership Results in New, Potent Epigenetic Drug for Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Leukemia

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Drug’s epigenetic approach seeks to alter behavior of cancer cells.
Preliminary results show minimal toxicity.
Innovative approach to phase I trial seeks to establish optimal dosage.

CHICAGO — As a result of collaboration between academic and pharmaceutical scientists, made possible by a Stand Up To Cancer research grant, researchers may have discovered a new, potent epigenetic drug that could safely alter the way cancer cells function within the body, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

The epigenetic code studied can be thought of as small tags that decorate DNA and provide instruction for how the body uses DNA, according to Jean-Pierre Issa, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Fels Institute for Cancer and Molecular Biology at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. In patients with cancer, this code has become abnormal. DNA methylation inhibitors are drugs that try to normalize these tags and the code of cancer cells.

“I compare it to war and diplomacy,” Issa said. Traditional cancer drugs declare war on cancer cells by killing them. In contrast, DNA methylation inhibitors use “diplomacy” and try to alter cancer cells.

“These drugs try to remind the cancer cell of its normal origin and proper behavior,” he said. “They remove these ‘tags’ and rewrite the instruction manual.”

Using Stand Up To Cancer’s grant model of collaborative research, Issa and colleagues worked with Astex Pharmaceuticals to develop SGI-110, a novel DNA methylation inhibitor that is a modified form of an existing epigenetic treatment, decitabine. According to Issa, decitabine currently has limited efficacy because it is quickly degraded in the body. SGI-110 has the potential to demonstrate prolonged drug exposure and improved efficacy through protection from degradation.

Issa and colleagues conducted a phase I trial to establish a biologically effective dose and tolerability of SGI-110 in patients with either myelodysplastic syndrome or leukemia — a novel approach that differs from traditional use of the maximum tolerated-dose trial design.

In the first-in-human study, researchers randomly assigned patients with relapsed or refractory intermediate- or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome or leukemia to subcutaneous daily injections of SGI-110 for five days or to weekly injections for three weeks.

To date, Issa and colleagues have recruited 66 patients. Results indicated that SGI-110 is well tolerated, with local injection site pain, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia as observed adverse effects.

In addition, data revealed that SGI-110 has an extended half-life and produces clinical response. At least two patients have had disease remission, with one complete response and one partial response. Issa presented complete safety and efficacy results during the meeting.

“There have been some remarkable results in patients who have no options left to them,” Issa said. A phase II study will soon be under way to further explore SGI-110 doses. In addition, Issa and colleagues are beginning to design studies exploring the use of the drug in other, more common solid tumors such as lung cancer and breast cancer.

# # #

Unexpected MEK1 Mutations Not Cause of Potent Melanoma Drug Resistance

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Sixty percent of patients with BRAF-mutant melanomas responded to BRAF inhibitor despite a concurrent MEK1 mutation.
Theory was tested in single- and double-mutant tumors.

CHICAGO — A genetic mutation in MEK1 does not prevent response to BRAF inhibitors in patients undergoing treatment for BRAF-mutated melanomas, contrary to current thought that the gene mutations might have been a cause of resistance.

This groundbreaking research was published online ahead of print in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and was presented here during a Stand Up To Cancer Press Event on Sunday, April 1, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. CT in Room 10 A/B/C of the Hyatt Conference Center, adjacent to McCormick Place.

BRAF mutations are found in more than 50 percent of melanomas. BRAF inhibitors can induce an antitumor response in about 60 percent of patients. Thus, a subset of tumors is drug resistant at the outset, and those patients who first responded can go on to develop resistance to the drugs.

“Another gene, known as MEK1, is rarely mutated in cancers, but in this study, we found to our surprise that mutated MEK1 was frequently associated with BRAF mutations,” said Roger S. Lo, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine/dermatology at University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

To explore the association between MEK1 and BRAF, Lo and colleagues analyzed tumor samples from 31 patients with melanoma treated with a BRAF inhibitor. Of these patients, 16 percent carried both BRAF and MEK1 mutations in tumors before drug treatment.

“Based on the current state of knowledge, the presence of both mutated MEK1 and mutated BRAF is thought to be a biomarker for BRAF inhibitor resistance in melanomas,” Lo said. “However, we were surprised again when we found that patients with double BRAF/MEK1-mutated melanomas can respond to BRAF inhibitors as well as patients with single BRAF-mutated melanomas.”

Specifically, three of five patients with double BRAF/MEK1-mutated melanomas had a tumor response to the BRAF inhibitors. Lo and colleagues further verified these conclusions using melanoma cell lines grown in the laboratory.

“These findings tell oncologists that these two groups of patients — those patients with BRAF-mutated melanomas and those with BRAF and MEK1-mutated melanomas — can be expected to respond similarly well to BRAF inhibitors or the combination of BRAF inhibitors plus MEK inhibitors,” Lo said.

Despite the fact that MEK1 is not a cause of BRAF inhibitor resistance, Lo and colleagues will continue to explore why BRAF and MEK mutations coexist in the same tumor to find novel ways to weaken tumors with both mutations. In addition, other possible causes for ongoing BRAF inhibitor resistance still need to be uncovered.

“We are pushing forward to uncover biomarkers of BRAF inhibitor sensitivity or resistance and hope to use them as a guide to formulate therapeutic strategies,” Lo said.

The research was funded by Stand Up To Cancer and exemplifies Stand Up To Cancer’s unique research model, according to Lo.

“It places strong emphasis on the study of human cancer tissues, on knowledge generation that will help patients with cancer today and on the power of collaboration that can accelerate both aforementioned points,” he said.

# # #

AACR Board of Directors Pronounce Crisis in Cancer Research Funding its No. 1 Priority

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Leaders from the American Association for Cancer Research, which today opened its AACR Annual Meeting 2012 here, declared that the ability of cancer researchers to bring the promise of science to improve the outcomes for cancer patients is in peril due to a decade of declining budgets at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

For the past decade the NIH budget has remained essentially flat, and when factoring in the rate of biomedical inflation, the agency has lost approximately $6 billion in purchasing power or nearly 20 percent. As a result, the chances that a researcher will be awarded a NIH grant to uncover scientific knowledge and pursue lifesaving treatments have reached all-time lows. At the same time, the number of opportunities for turning our growing scientific knowledge against cancer has never been greater.

“As a practicing breast oncologist, I have personally observed the truly remarkable and explosive progress in cancer research, and the acceleration of that progress to benefit patients,” said AACR President Judy E. Garber, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Early in my career, I had patients die from HER2 positive breast cancer. Due to advances in cancer research, these individuals can often now be cured of their disease. This an example of the unparalleled opportunities that come from taking basic discoveries to the clinic and which are now under unprecedented threat from reduced funding for cancer research and biomedical science.”

Therefore, the AACR announced this morning that it plans to redouble its efforts to engage with Congress to make research funding a higher national priority, raise public awareness of the importance of continued investment in cancer research, and call on its 34,000 members and broader advocacy community constituencies to join together to help better explain and illustrate the value of cancer research and biomedical science to the economic health and well-being of this nation.

“We already see the effects on our most precious resource, young investigators,” said Garber. “This is potentially disastrous, as we are relying on them to ensure the continuing pipeline of new discoveries that will have ever greater impact on the welfare of patients and the public health.”

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Long-term Use of Estrogen Hormone Therapy Linked to Higher Risk for Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Risk increased as the duration of hormone therapy use increased.
Death rate from breast cancer did not increase with hormone therapy use.

CHICAGO — In a landmark study, researchers have linked the long-term use of estrogen plus progesterone and estrogen-only hormone therapy with a higher risk for developing breast cancer.

“It’s already been confirmed that patients shouldn’t be undergoing estrogen plus progesterone hormone therapy (HT) for the long term,” said Wendy Y. Chen, M.D., M.P.H., associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor in medicine at the Breast Cancer Oncology Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass. “What we found is that people should also be careful about longer-term use of estrogen-alone HT.”

In previous studies, she said, researchers only evaluated risks associated with less than 10 years of HT use. Chen presented the findings at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Using data from the Nurses’ Health Study, the researchers evaluated follow-up data collected during 1980 through 2008 from postmenopausal female registered nurses who were aged 30 to 55 years old in 1976.

Chen and colleagues found that the risk for breast cancer, when compared with women who did not use HT, was 88 percent higher in women who had taken estrogen plus progesterone for 10 to 14.9 years; the risk increased more than twofold for women who used estrogen plus progesterone therapy for 15 to 19.9 years. For women who used estrogen-only HT, researchers found a 22 percent increased risk for breast cancer if used for 10 to 14.9 years and a 43 percent greater risk associated with 15 to 19.9 years of use.

Researchers also found that the risk did not plateau for either kind of HT. “There’s a continued effect over time. The longer you use it, the higher the risk,” said Chen.

To further clarify long-term risks of estrogen-only therapy, the researchers evaluated a subset of the women who also met the requirements of participants in the Women’s Health Initiative trial, which is a randomized trial of postmenopausal women aged 50 years or older. Although the risk for breast cancer dipped slightly for women who used estrogen-only HT for less than 10 years, the risk increased 30 percent for women who took estrogen for 15 to 19.9 years.

HT did not increase the risk for fatal breast cancers.

“Even though we saw an increased risk in developing breast cancer, we did not see an increased risk for dying from breast cancer,” Chen said. She and her colleagues are currently researching this aspect of the findings.

This research was funded by the National Cancer Institute.

# # #

HPV Infection Lasts Longer in College-age African-American Women

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

African-American women had more difficulty clearing HPV infection.
They were nearly twice as likely to have an abnormal Pap test.
Disparities may be attributed to biological determinants of HPV immune response.

CHICAGO — College-age African-American women have a more difficult time clearing human papillomavirus infection and are more likely to have an abnormal Pap test than European-American women, according to research presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“African-American women are 40 percent more likely to get cervical cancer and are two times more likely to die from the disease than European-American women,” said study leader Kim E. Creek, Ph.D., vice chair and professor in the department of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences in the South Carolina College of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.

Creek and colleagues conducted the Carolina Women’s Care Study to assess human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and persistence in college-age women enrolled at the University of South Carolina. The study began in 2004, and researchers followed participants for the duration of their college experience.

High-risk HPV status was evaluated every six months in Pap test samples collected from 326 European-American and 113 African-American women.

The incidence rate of new high-risk HPV infection was similar between the two groups of participants, but researchers reported that at any visit, African-American participants were 1.5 times more likely to test positive for high-risk HPV infection. Fifty-six percent of African-American women were still infected two years after incident infection compared with 24 percent of European-American women. African-American women were 1.7 times more likely to have an abnormal Pap test.

“Most women infected with high-risk HPV clear the infection within nine to 18 months,” said Creek. “However, high-risk HPV can persist in some women who are much more likely to have abnormal Pap tests and to develop cervical cancer. We propose that an increase in high-risk HPV persistence in African-American women may provide a biological basis for the higher incidence of cervical cancer found in African-American women.

“Although the differences in incidence and mortality rates for cervical cancer between these two groups have been attributed solely to access to care, no study has systematically attempted to identify other factors that may contribute to this disparity. We were not sure what to expect, but we suspected that there may be biological factors involved in the immune response to HPV that contribute to the disparity. Our findings support this hypothesis.”

The study was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Creek is a member of the speakers’ bureau for Merck.

# # #

Link Between Inflammation and Breast Cancer Metastases Identified, May Be Treatable

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Metastases increased in mice with breast cancer and arthritis.
Mast cells one of the major underlying causes of metastases.
Therapies could be developed to decrease metastases.

CHICAGO — The incidence of breast cancer-associated metastasis was increased in animal models of the chronic inflammatory condition arthritis, according to results of a preclinical study presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. The results indicate that inflammatory cells known as mast cells play a key role in this increase and that interfering with mast cells reduces the occurrence of bone and lung metastases.

“The most devastating aspect of breast cancer is the emergence of tumor cells that grow to distant organs,” said Lopamudra Das Roy, Ph.D., research assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, N.C. “It has been reported that sites of chronic inflammation are associated with the establishment and growth of tumor cells.”

Prior research conducted by Das Roy established that the incidence of breast cancer metastasis to the bone and lungs was increased in arthritic mice. Because both breast cancer and arthritis are prevalent in women, specifically postmenopausal women, the researchers conducted an additional study using two groups of mice to identify what might be causing the association between arthritis and breast cancer metastases.

The first group of mice had spontaneous arthritis and was induced to have breast cancer. The second group of mice had spontaneous breast cancer and was induced to have arthritis. Because mice in both groups had enhanced numbers of mast cells within the bone and lung, Das Roy and colleagues focused on understanding how these cells might influence breast cancer metastasis.

“We found that there were many proinflammatory factors that are upregulated in the arthritic microenvironment and several of these proinflammatory factors known to influence metastases are produced by mast cells, which are activated by tumor-derived stem cell factor (SCF) binding to its receptor c-Kit,” Das Roy said.

A subsequent key finding was that SCF/c-Kit signaling was increased in arthritic mice with breast cancer versus nonarthritic mice with breast cancer. This set the stage for examining the effects of blocking this signaling.

When the mice were treated with a therapy to target the c-Kit mast cell receptor in combination with celecoxib (a drug used to treat autoimmune arthritis), the incidence of breast cancer metastasis to the bone and lung was greatly reduced.

“The clinical implications of this research are huge,” Das Roy said. “We already have data that show that women with breast cancer and arthritis have lower survival as compared with women with breast cancer and no arthritis. This research indicates that we may be able to design a therapy to block SCF/c-Kit signaling, which could help reduce metastases to the bone and lungs.”

This research was funded by a postdoctoral grant on behalf of the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.

# # #

Older Patients With Certain Breast Cancer Subtype May Not Benefit From Radiation Therapy

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Radiation therapy did not add benefit for patients with luminal A subtype.
Patients with all other breast cancer subtypes benefited from radiation therapy.
Routine testing for biomarker Ki-67 recommended for patients with breast cancer.

CHICAGO — Local breast radiation therapy may not be necessary for women with the luminal A subtype of breast cancer, particularly those aged older than 60, according to study results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“Local breast radiation therapy, however, is still of benefit and is required for all the other breast cancer subtypes,” said Fei-Fei Liu, M.D., staff radiation oncologist at Princess Margaret Hospital, senior scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute and professor at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The researchers performed molecular subtyping for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), Ki-67, HER2, epidermal growth factor receptor and cytokeratin 5/6 on 304 tumor blocks from 769 women with breast cancer. These women had participated in a randomized trial in which they were assigned to tamoxifen and whole-breast radiation therapy or to tamoxifen alone. Based on the immunohistochemistry results, researchers classified patients into six categories: luminal A, luminal B, luminal-HER2, HER2-enriched, basal-like or triple-negative phenotype-nonbasal. They followed the patients for a median of 10 years.

Women in the luminal A subgroup, defined as ER-positive, PR-positive, HER2-negative and low Ki-67 (<14%), had the best outcome, with a 10-year risk for local relapse of 8 percent with tamoxifen alone vs. 4.6 percent with both tamoxifen and breast radiation therapy.

For luminal A patients aged older than 60, the local breast relapse rate was even lower at 4.3 percent with tamoxifen alone vs. 6 percent for tamoxifen plus breast radiation therapy, indicating that local breast radiation therapy did not contribute to the outcome of this group of patients, according to the researchers.

On the other hand, for other breast cancer subtypes, local breast radiation therapy was of definite benefit, according to Liu. For example, women with luminal B tumors had a recurrence rate of 16.1 percent with tamoxifen alone vs. 3.9 percent with tamoxifen and radiation therapy.

“If our data are validated with a larger number of patient tumor samples, we would recommend that Ki-67 be added to our current standard panel of ER, PR and HER2 testing for all patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer,” Liu said. “If the luminal A subtype is identified for lymph node-negative patients, especially for those 60 years old or older, then a discussion can be undertaken with these patients that if they take tamoxifen (or an equivalent medication) for their breast cancer, we might be able to avoid breast radiation therapy.

“This is yet another powerful example of ‘personalized cancer medicine.’ When this information is combined with well-conducted randomized clinical trials, significant advances can be made whereby we can truly start to tailor therapies, based on new molecular markers, which can be introduced into routine clinical practice.”

# # #

Proteins Associated With Poor Prognosis in Hormone Receptor-positive Breast Cancer Identified

registration@aacr.org () — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Activation of protein translation linked to more aggressive node-positive disease.
Markers identified are regulated by PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway.

CHICAGO — Researchers have identified specific proteins involved in translation that when overexpressed or activated are associated with a poorer prognosis in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, suggesting their role as prognostic markers and therapeutic targets, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“Overexpression or activation of some proteins involved in translation is associated with more aggressive node-positive breast cancers,” said Funda Meric-Bernstam, M.D., professor of surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and medical director at the Institute of Personalized Cancer Therapy in Houston, Texas. “The results suggest that translational aberrations play an important role in cancer progression.”

Through analysis of tumors from 190 patients with stage 1 to stage 3 hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, the researchers found that increased phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 and translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1, increased expression of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase and decreased expression of programmed cell death protein 4 were associated with poor prognosis in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

“Gene expression involves translation of messenger RNAs into protein. The rate of translation is under critical control at many levels; however, recently, several abnormalities in translation have been described in cancer,” said Meric-Bernstam. “We used a functional proteomics approach to quantify the expression and phosphorylation of several factors associated with translation. Several of these proteins have been suggested to play a role in tumor aggressiveness.”

The markers identified are regulated by the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway, a key oncogenic pathway activated in breast cancer and other cancers, according to Meric-Bernstam. Novel inhibitors of the pathway are being investigated in clinical trials.

“There are recent phase III clinical trial data suggesting that inhibiting mTOR signaling with everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, in addition to endocrine therapy with aromatase inhibitors improves progression-free survival in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer,” Meric-Bernstam said. “Activation of the pathway conferring poor prognosis provides rationale as to why pathway inhibitors improve outcome.”

The study was funded by an AACR–Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team Award, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Society of Surgical Oncology Clinical Investigator Award and the National Institutes of Health Cancer Center Grant.

# # #

Novel Technology Allows for Noninvasive Imaging of Prostate Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Prostate cancer-specific radiotracer designed to highlight prostate cancer.
Imaging agent helped to identify bone metastases.
Technology could allow physicians to monitor treatment efficacy.

CHICAGO — Use of a novel, noninvasive imaging tool allowed researchers to measure free prostate-specific antigen in prostate cancer models and to visualize bone metastasis in a tumor-specific manner, according to results published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Results of this paper were presented here at an AACR Annual Meeting 2012 press conference on Saturday, March 31, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. CT in Room 20 A/B/C of the Hyatt Conference Center, adjacent to McCormick Place.

If further validated, the use of this tool, a prostate cancer-specific radiotracer, could potentially aid in treatment planning on an individualized patient basis, according to Michael J. Evans, Ph.D., research fellow in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, N.Y., and colleagues.

A radiotracer is a small amount of a compound that has been “tagged” with a radionuclide. Patients are injected with the radiotracer, which aids in visualizing the tumor using positron emission tomography (PET).

In this study, Evans and colleagues examined the effects of ⁸⁹Zr-5A10, the first radiotracer designed specifically to target free prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a known biomarker of prostate cancer that provides a more accurate measure of risk when compared with serum PSA.

“Once injected, the use of ⁸⁹Zr-5A10 allows physicians to measure different biological properties among metastatic lesions within the same patient, which a serum biomarker cannot achieve,” Evans said.

Researchers tested the utility of ⁸⁹Zr-5A10 in a group of male mice with PSA-positive prostate cancer. The radiotracer localized to the tissue of castration-resistant prostate cancer, a state of the disease where serum PSA does not always reflect clinical outcomes, and sensitively measured declines in PSA expression induced by therapeutic intervention with the antiandrogen drug MDV3100.

The radiotracer also helped researchers identify metastatic bone lesions related to the primary prostate cancer. Traditional bone scans are unable to discriminate between malignant and nonmalignant lesions.

If translated to humans, this PET agent could help to stage prostate cancer, streamline the evaluation of prostate cancer therapies and aid in clinical trial management.

“The ultimate goal is to be able to predict the response of patients to new and existing therapies at an early stage, thereby personalizing their treatment and improving outcomes,” Evans said.

Given the success of this preclinical work, Evans and colleagues hope to translate the ⁸⁹Zr-5A10 platform for a human trial by 2013.

# # #

EGFR Mutation Unique to Glioblastoma May Explain Lack of Response to Traditional EGFR Inhibitors

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Different mutations in the same cancer gene affected treatment response.
Type 2 EGFR inhibitors may be more effective against glioblastoma.

CHICAGO — The epidermal growth factor receptor mutations that occur in glioblastoma differ from those that occur in lung cancers — a finding that may explain the lack of response to epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors seen in glioblastoma.

These results, published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and presented at an AACR Annual Meeting 2012 press conference here, provide further rationale for focused drug development approaches tailored to cancer type, according to Ingo K. Mellinghoff, M.D., of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program and department of neurology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, N.Y.

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults. These tumors often harbor genetic alterations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, which encodes a protein that transmits growth and survival signals from the outside of the cell to the cell nucleus.

“In contrast to the experience in lung cancer with EGFR mutations, the EGFR kinase inhibitor erlotinib has only shown limited effectiveness for the treatment of glioblastoma,” Mellinghoff said.

He and his colleagues had previously examined human glioblastoma samples and observed that EGFR mutations in this disease mostly affected the extracellular portion of the protein, whereas EGFR mutations in lung cancer affected the kinase domain inside the cell.

“Mutations in glioblastoma were almost exclusively found in the extracellular part of the receptor, which binds to growth factors,” Mellinghoff said. “Mutations in lung cancer, on the other hand, typically map to the intracellular part of the receptor that executes its signaling program — the so-called kinase domain.”

Mellinghoff and colleagues now report that the extracellular EGFR mutants in glioblastoma are more sensitive to type 2 EGFR kinase inhibitors, whereas most EGFR kinase domain mutants in lung cancer respond better to type 1 EGFR kinase inhibitors such as erlotinib.

Researchers then examined whether lapatinib, a type 2 EGFR kinase inhibitor, might show clinical activity against EGFR-mutated glioblastoma. Mellinghoff’s group evaluated lapatinib concentrations and EGFR activity in patients with glioblastoma who had received lapatinib prior to surgery for tumor recurrence.

“We found that standard lapatinib dosing does not result in sufficiently high drug concentrations in the tumor tissue to effectively shut off EGFR,” Mellinghoff said. “We are now planning on a clinical trial with higher lapatinib doses given on an intermittent dosing schedule.”

To advance this research, Mellinghoff said he and his colleagues need to conduct further preclinical testing of type 2 EGFR kinase inhibitors alone and in combination with other pathway inhibitors in EGFR-mutant experimental glioma models.

“We would also like to understand how extracellular and intracellular regions of EGFR communicate with each other,” Mellinghoff said.

# # #

Lack of Oxygen Influenced Tumor Behavior and Patient Outcome in Intermediate-risk Prostate Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Low oxygen (hypoxia) predicts prostate cancer recurrence after radiotherapy.
Measuring prostate cancer hypoxia could help identify the best treatment for patients.
New treatments that target prostate cancer hypoxia could improve patient outcome.

CHICAGO — Hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen, in prostate cancer tumors was associated with early biochemical relapse and local recurrence after radiotherapy in men with intermediate-risk disease, according to a study published online today in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and presented at an AACR Annual Meeting 2012 press conference.

This new insight into the behavior of prostate cancer tumors could lead to the development of new treatment strategies that target hypoxia or the manifestations of hypoxia and ultimately improve outcomes, according to Michael F. Milosevic, M.D., radiation oncologist in the Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Program, University Health Network and professor of radiation oncology at the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Localized prostate cancer commonly is treated with surgery or radiotherapy, and about 25 percent of men develop either progressive local disease or metastases — when cancer spreads to bones or other areas of the body. Doctors now rely on a range of clinical factors to predict how patients will respond to these treatments. The ability to identify biologic factors that influence prostate cancer behavior will enable physicians to better select the most appropriate and effective treatments for individual patients, according to Milosevic.

“Our particular focus was to look at aspects of prostate tumors related to hypoxia,” he said. “Many kinds of tumors are hypoxic, but it has never conclusively been demonstrated before in prostate cancer.”

Milosevic and colleagues measured hypoxia in 247 men with localized prostate cancer prior to radiotherapy and followed them for a median of 6.6 years. The five-year biochemical relapse-free rate was 78 percent, determined by measuring blood prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels over time. Researchers found that a percentage-of-oxygen reading of <10 mm Hg in the tumors independently predicted early biochemical relapse after radiotherapy.

When the researchers specifically evaluated 142 patients with bulk tumors at the site of the oxygen measurement, they found that hypoxia was even more strongly associated with early biochemical relapse. In addition, hypoxia was the only factor identified that predicted local recurrence in 70 patients who had biopsies performed during follow-up.

“People do worse if they have low oxygen levels in their prostate cancer,” Milosevic said. “In addition, the length of time over which they do poorly seems to be shortened. These patients tend to develop evidence of cancer recurrence at earlier time points, within a few years of completing treatment, compared with other patients.”

Simpler ways to measure prostate cancer hypoxia need to be explored, according to Milosevic.

“The way we measured hypoxia in our study was a rigorous method that is not applicable to widespread clinical practice,” he said. Although other methods exist, such as evaluating biopsy tissue or using imaging, they still need to be validated.

Milosevic and colleagues hope that their research will lead to new treatment approaches for those men identified as having hypoxia.

“We want to actually be able to intervene in their treatment and improve their outcomes,” he said. “We hope to explore this concept of new drugs that might target hypoxia or manifestations of hypoxia so treatments are more effective.”

# # #

Metformin May Lower Risk for Oral Cancer Development

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Agent acts against mTOR to prevent lesion progression.
Oral cancer incidence reduced by 70 to 90 percent.
Results are part of increasing evidence of metformin’s protective effect.

PHILADELPHIA — New findings published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, suggest that metformin may protect against oral cancer.

J. Silvio Gutkind, Ph.D., chief of the Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues induced premalignant lesions in laboratory mice and studied the effect of metformin on progression of these lesions to oral cancers.

“We saw strong activity against mTORC1 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1), which we know contributes to oral cancers, so this is strong preclinical information that there is a protective effect,” said Gutkind.

Metformin is the most widely used treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes, and scientists have started to notice a trend toward cancer reduction in a number of organ sites.

Gutkind and colleagues found that administration of metformin reduced the size and number of carcinogen-induced oral tumoral lesions in mice and significantly reduced the development of squamous cell carcinomas by about 70 to 90 percent.

They found that metformin inhibited mTORC1 function in the basal layer of oral premalignancies and prevented their spontaneous development into head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Selumetinib Controlled Recurrent Low-grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Selumetinib controlled the disease in 81 percent of patients.
Median progression-free survival was 11 months.
Patients experienced minimal side effects.

CHICAGO — Selumetinib, a small-molecule MEK inhibitor, demonstrated the ability to control low-grade serous ovarian or peritoneal cancer, according to phase II study results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

The first line of defense against low-grade serous ovarian cancer is surgery, followed by cytotoxic chemotherapy. However, this is a slow-growing cancer and does not respond well to traditional chemotherapies, which target fast-growing cells.

Seeking a more rational treatment approach, Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) researchers led by John Farley, M.D., a professor at Creighton University School of Medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., used selumetinib to target the MEK-1/2 protein kinase in the MAPK pathway, which is known to mutate in this form of cancer.

GOG researchers assigned 52 women to 100-mg doses of selumetinib orally twice daily in four-week cycles; 33 percent underwent 12 or more cycles. Prior to the study, 58 percent of patients had received three or more rounds of chemotherapy.

Selumetinib controlled the disease in 81 percent of patients. Specifically, eight patients had complete or partial responses to treatment, and 34 had stable disease. The median survival rate without cancer progression was 11 months, and 63 percent of patients had progression-free survival longer than six months. In addition, selumetinib was well tolerated, with three patients experiencing grade 4 adverse events.

“The results were striking,” said Farley. “Many of the patients in the study had received multiple rounds of chemotherapy and were running out of options. By using these tumors’ historical inherent molecular aberrations to select patients for a treatment that in theory could exploit these abnormalities, we took an important step toward individualized cancer therapies.”

In addition to studying the impact of selumetinib on this type of ovarian cancer, investigators were also interested in how patients with RAS/RAF mutations responded to the drug. The team analyzed the tumor DNA from 34 patients, 62 percent of whom had some form of RAS/RAF mutation. Ultimately, they found that RAS/RAF mutations had no impact on patient response.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute.

# # #

Metformin May Protect Against Liver Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Metformin activity occurs primarily in the liver.
Drug is safe and well-tolerated in patients with diabetes.

PHILADELPHIA — Metformin, a widely used, well-tolerated drug prescribed for patients with diabetes, may protect against liver cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The study, led by Geoffrey Girnun, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, is one more in an ongoing look at the effect of metformin in cancer prevention. However, it is one of the first to evaluate liver cancer.

“Since many of the effects of the drug take place in the liver, we were surprised when we reviewed the literature that there was no direct evidence for a protective effect of metformin in liver cancer except for a few retrospective epidemiological studies,” said Girnun.

He and his colleagues chemically induced liver tumors in mice. The mice taking metformin displayed minimal tumor activity, while the control mice displayed significant tumor growth.

Girnun’s team also showed that metformin prevented liver cancer in part by inhibiting lipid synthesis in the liver, a process known to promote cancer. Patients with diabetes, obese individuals, patients with hepatitis or patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are at the greatest risk for liver cancer. All these diseases are associated with increased lipid synthesis. While diabetic patients are already prescribed metformin for their conditions, according to Girnun, the mechanism by which metformin prevents liver cancer may be transferable to these other patient populations at risk for liver cancer.

“So we are talking about a targeted population that will receive this benefit,” he said.

Girnun is currently planning a clinical trial in patients at risk for liver cancer to determine if the chemopreventive qualities observed in mice are confirmed in humans.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Metformin Appeared to Slow Prostate Cancer Growth

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Preliminary data show diabetes drug reduced cancer growth.
No grade 3 adverse events reported.
Findings have implications for men with diabetes, prediabetes.

CHICAGO — The use of metformin in men with prostate cancer before prostatectomy helped to reduce certain metabolic parameters and slow the growth rate of the cancer, according to the results of a phase II study.

Anthony M. Joshua, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., staff medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, presented the data at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Metformin is the most commonly prescribed medication for diabetes. Prior laboratory research has suggested that metformin may also help to improve prognosis in patients with prostate cancer by slowing the growth of the cancerous cells.

To follow up on the laboratory clues, Joshua and colleagues evaluated 22 men with confirmed prostate cancer who had been assigned up to 500 mg of metformin three times a day prior to undergoing prostatectomy.

“This gave us the ability to compare what the prostate cancer looked like when it was first diagnosed to what it looked like when the prostate cancer was removed from the body,” said Joshua. “We were able to directly measure the effect of metformin on the prostate cancer.”

Patients were assigned metformin for a median duration of 41 days. During that time, none of the men reported grade 3 adverse events, and all of them underwent prostatectomy with no adverse effect related to use of metformin.

The researchers found that metformin significantly reduced fasting glucose, insulin growth factor-1, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio.

In addition, “although these are preliminary results, metformin appeared to reduce the growth rate of prostate cancer in a proportion of men,” Joshua said. “Also, it appeared to reduce one of the main growth pathways that may have contributed to the overall growth of the tumor.”

These results may have implications for men with prostate cancer who also have diabetes or early undiagnosed diabetes and for men with prostate cancer whose tumors have characteristics that make them sensitive to metformin, according to Joshua.

“This research builds on the hypothesis that metformin has a role in prostate cancer,” he said. “Exactly what that role will be will depend on the results of the analysis currently being completed by our study team and others worldwide.”

Joshua is particularly interested in better defining the precise mechanism of action and the subpopulation of patients with prostate cancer for whom metformin has the potential to improve outcomes.

This study was funded by The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, the Jewish General Hospital Foundation (Montreal) and the Terry Fox Foundation.

# # #

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Metformin May Improve Pancreatic Cancer Prognosis in Patients With Diabetes

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Patients with pancreatic cancer often have a high prevalence of diabetes.
Metformin was linked with a nearly twofold higher two-year survival rate.
Patients prescribed metformin had a 32 percent reduced risk for death.

PHILADELPHIA — Patients with diabetes and pancreatic cancer who are prescribed metformin may have improved survival compared with those not prescribed the commonly used diabetic agent, according to a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Although the causes of pancreatic cancer remain largely unknown, patients with pancreatic cancer often have a high prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance.

“This study suggests that metformin use in patients with diabetes was associated with improved pancreatic cancer survival, so we should certainly begin study of its supplemental use in pancreatic cancer treatment,” said Donghui Li, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

In a retrospective study, Li and colleagues observed 302 patients with diabetes and pancreatic cancer; of which 117 were prescribed metformin.

At one year, the researchers found that 63.9 percent of the patients prescribed metformin were still alive, while 46.3 percent of the group not prescribed metformin survived.

By two years, 30.1 percent of the metformin group remained alive compared with 15.4 percent of the non-metformin group. Median survival was 15.2 months for patients prescribed metformin and 11.1 months for patients not prescribed metformin. Those prescribed metformin had a 32 percent reduced risk for death.

This protective effect was evident at all disease stages, with the exception of metastatic disease where metformin appeared to have no measurable effect.

Li suggested that metformin was acting on the insulin resistance observed in both diabetes and pancreatic cancer, as well as on the AMPK/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and said a randomized clinical trial is warranted.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Metformin in Combination With Common Cancer Drug Increased BRAF-Mutant Melanoma Tumor Response

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Drug combination superior to cancer drug alone.
Data emphasize importance of understanding genetic mutations.
Combination could be effective treatment for BRAF-mutant melanoma.

PHILADELPHIA — The combination of metformin, a commonly prescribed antidiabetic drug, and vascular endothelial growth factor-A inhibitors increased suppression of tumor growth in melanoma tumors with BRAF mutations compared with treatment with the inhibitors alone, according to the results of a study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“Our results were surprising because combining metformin and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) inhibitors was much more effective at blocking tumor growth than would be expected given the effect of either drug on its own,” said Richard Marais, Ph.D., who was recently appointed professor of molecular oncology and director at The Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester, England.

Although recent research has suggested that metformin may have anticancer properties, few studies have evaluated how metformin might affect the growth of melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer.

To examine this association, Marais and colleagues at the Institute for Cancer Research in London tested how metformin affected a series of patient-derived melanoma cells, specifically those with two of the most common genetic mutations, BRAF and NRAS. First, they tested metformin on NRAS-mutant and BRAF-mutant melanoma cells grown in culture.

“When grown in culture, metformin had little effect on the growth of BRAF-mutant melanoma cells because BRAF activated a protein called RSK that promotes metformin resistance,” Marais said.

Next, researchers grew BRAF-mutated melanoma tumors in mice. In this setting, they found that metformin caused BRAF-mutated cells to secrete increased levels of VEGF-A, a molecule that promotes blood vessel formation and increases tumor growth. This observation prompted the researchers to use an animal model to test metformin in combination with commonly used VEGF-A inhibitors.

Tumor growth increased twofold with metformin alone. However, when metformin was combined with axitinib, tumor growth was suppressed by 45 percent; when combined with bevacizumab, tumor growth was suppressed by 64 percent compared with 34 percent for bevacizumab alone.

“Our results suggest that care should be taken when prescribing metformin to patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma as it could potentially worsen their disease,” Marais said. “Most importantly, our findings regarding the effectiveness of the metformin/VEGF-A inhibitor combination could be directly tested in the clinic.”

Moving forward, Marais and colleagues plan to research the mechanism behind this combination blocking tumor growth.

“We wish to initiate a clinical trial testing the combination of metformin and VEGF-A inhibitors in patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma, with the hope that this becomes an effective treatment option for people suffering from this deadly disease,” Marais said.

This study was funded by the Association for International Cancer Research, Cancer Research U.K. and the Institute of Cancer Research.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Early Clinical Data Show Galeterone Safe, Effective Against Prostate Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Galeterone targets prostate cancer through three distinct mechanisms.
The drug was well tolerated and safe at all doses tested.
Efficacy was demonstrated by PSA decreases and tumor reduction.

CHICAGO — Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer had limited side effects and in many cases a drop in prostate-specific antigen expression with galeterone (TOK-001), a small-molecule oral drug, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is an advanced form of prostate cancer that occurs when the disease progresses after treatment with androgen deprivation therapy. Galeterone works against CRPC by blocking the androgen receptor, reducing levels of the ligand that binds to the receptor and degrading the androgen receptor protein.

“This drug has a novel combined mechanism of action,” said co-lead researcher R. Bruce Montgomery, M.D., associate professor of medical oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Wash. “Cancer cells are sly and mutate to get around drugs. The fact that this drug hits the prostate cancer cell in three different ways may help prevent resistance. It is a well-tolerated drug that could potentially be more effective than drugs we have now.”

In the ARMOR1 study, Montgomery and colleagues assigned 49 patients with CRPC to one of eight dose regimens in single or split oral escalation doses of 650 mg, 975 mg, 1,300 mg, 1,950 mg or 2,600 mg every day for 12 weeks. None of the patients had received chemotherapy for their prostate cancer.

Researchers reported that no patients reached a maximum tolerated dose. Most side effects were minor and included fatigue, nausea and diarrhea. Researchers observed transient, nonserious elevated liver function tests in 15 patients, many of whom were asymptomatic. Eleven of these patients temporarily stopped galeterone treatment, and six returned to treatment with no recurring liver function test elevations. One serious complication occurred involving rhabdomyolysis in the setting of simvastatin therapy and underlying renal insufficiency.

In early efficacy tests, 49 percent of patients had prostate-specific antigen (PSA) reductions of 30 percent or more; 11 of these patients had reductions of 50 percent or more. In addition, CT scans revealed reduction in tumor size for some patients.

“Because the androgen receptor controls PSA expression, improved PSA response shows that the drug is getting to the target,” said Montgomery. “For the majority of patients, to reduce their PSAs by 30 percent or more is quite good in a phase I dose-finding trial.”

Researchers will investigate long-term safety and an assessment of efficacy in a phase II study that Tokai Pharmaceuticals has planned for the second half of 2012.

# # #

Combination Targeted Therapy Well Tolerated, Effective for Refractory Ewing’s Sarcoma Tumors

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

EWS is the second most common bone malignancy in children and adolescents.
Combination therapy efficacious against chemotherapy-resistant EWS.
The combination was safe, with manageable adverse events.

CHICAGO — A combination of targeted therapies may be effective against relapsed or recurrent Ewing’s sarcoma or desmoplastic small-round-cell tumors, according to results of a phase I trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4, and published simultaneously in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“Ewing’s sarcoma (EWS) is the second most common bone malignancy striking children, adolescents and young adults in the prime of their lives,” said lead researcher Aung Naing, M.D., assistant professor in the department of investigational cancer therapeutics in the division of cancer medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. “More treatment options are needed for this disease, because relapse of the disease is quite frequent.

“When tested in the treatment of the EWS family of tumors, single-agent insulin growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) inhibitors and the mTOR inhibitors given as monotherapy have produced variable outcomes.”

The researchers evaluated a subset of 20 patients, including 17 with EWS and three with desmoplastic small-round-cell tumors (DSRCT), who were treated as part of an expansion cohort from a phase I study of an IGF-1R inhibitor, cixutumumab, and the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus.

All patients had been pretreated heavily before enrolling in the study. Researchers assigned patients to four-week cycles of 6 mg/kg cixutumumab and 25 mg to 37.5 mg of temsirolimus.

At a median follow-up of 8.9 months, they observed prolonged stable disease lasting more than six months and two complete responses in 29 percent of the patients with EWS. Notably, in one patient who had previously demonstrated a marked clinical response to a different IGF-1R targeted antibody before acquiring resistance, combining IGF-1R inhibition and mTOR inhibition induced a complete response, which provides strong evidence for synergy between mTOR and IGF-1R antagonists. Four responders developed grade 3 mucositis, myelosuppression or hyperglycemia, which were treated with supportive therapy.

“This study demonstrated early evidence that this combination can be considered for patients with relapsed and recurrent diseases,” Naing said. “Further studies in larger numbers of patients with EWS and DSRCT as well as additional investigation into underlying resistance mechanisms in individual patients are needed.”

# # #

Biomarker Identified in Relation to Drug Response in Refractory Urothelial Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Pazopanib achieved the primary endpoint of response.
Interleukin-8 may be an indicator of tumor resistance and poor survival.
Data need further validation in a large patient population.

CHICAGO — The antiangiogenic drug pazopanib has demonstrated clinically meaningful activity in patients with refractory urothelial cancer, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. The results also revealed that increases in interleukin-8 levels early after treatment with pazopanib may predict a lack of tumor response to the therapy.

“Historically, prognosis of patients with relapsed or refractory urothelial cancer is quite dismal,” said Andrea Necchi, M.D., faculty member in the department of medicine at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan, Italy. “Patients who fail to be cured after multiple chemotherapy regimens have a poor survival estimate, and palliative care is a reasonable trade-off.”

Data from the phase II proof-of-concept trial identified pazopanib as the first targeted compound to have clinically meaningful activity in patients with refractory urothelial cancer, according to Necchi.

“Our data indicate that pazopanib seems to be a legitimate drug in this disease,” said Necchi. “Most interestingly, our biomarker analysis clearly pointed out the role of rising levels of circulating interleukin-8 as an early and potentially practice-changing indicator of tumor resistance and poor survival.”
The researchers assigned 41 patients with relapsing or progressing urothelial cancer between 2010 and 2011 to 800 mg once-daily pazopanib. All patients had at least one prior chemotherapy regimen for metastatic disease.

At follow-up, seven patients had a partial response to therapy and 24 patients had stable disease — an overall clinical benefit of 76 percent. Median progression-free survival was 2.6 months, and median overall survival was 4.7 months. However, 10 percent of patients had a long-term cure after a median follow-up of 19 months.

The researchers examined blood samples for predictive biomarkers at baseline and every four weeks. They found that early rising levels of interleukin-8 (e.g., after four weeks of pazopanib) were associated with tumor progression and shorter overall survival.

“This trial gave a clear proof of concept that will require confirmation on a larger number of patients,” Necchi said. “However, the preliminary findings, mainly regarding the role of interleukin-8 levels, have the potential to change at least the concept of new trial design with antiangiogenic agents in this disease.”

Necchi served as an adviser and consultant for GlaxoSmithKline Inc. The current study was sponsored by Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori. GlaxoSmithKline Inc. provided the drug supply and granted independent radiologic review, which was performed at Columbia University Medical Center.

# # #

Oral Vitamin D Supplements Reduced Levels of Ki67 in Prostate Cancer Cells

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Ki67 is a protein that indicates cancer cell growth.
Vitamin D increased prostate tissue calcitriol levels, which lowered Ki67.

CHICAGO — Higher oral doses of plain vitamin D raised levels of calcitriol in prostate tissue. Higher prostate levels of calcitriol, a hormone made from vitamin D, corresponded with lower levels of the proliferation marker Ki67 and increased levels of cancer growth-inhibitory microRNAs in prostate cancer cells, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

The results not only point to the mechanisms by which vitamin D affects the rate of prostate cancer growth, but also indicate that vitamin D may slow the growth of prostate cancer cells — a key finding given that the role of vitamin D in prostate cancer has been “controversial, with some suggesting that higher levels of vitamin D should be avoided,” said Reinhold Vieth, Ph.D., professor at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

“This study shows calcitriol makes the foot come off the gas pedal of cancer growth. We are not able to prove that the speed of the car has slowed down, but it certainly is a good sign,” said Vieth. “We expect that this early-phase clinical trial will open the door for more detailed clinical research into the usefulness of vitamin D in the treatment or prevention of prostate cancer.”

Vieth and colleagues previously reported that in men who were being monitored regularly for prostate cancer, higher vitamin D levels slowed the rate of rise in prostate-specific antigen levels. They randomly assigned 66 men scheduled for radical prostatectomy to daily vitamin D in doses of 400, 10,000 or 40,000 IU for three to eight weeks before surgery.

Researchers found that calcitriol levels in the prostate increased progressively with each daily dose of vitamin D, with 40,000 IU showing the highest levels. These higher levels of calcitriol corresponded with lower prostate levels of Ki67, a protein that indicates prostate cancer cell growth, as well as higher levels of specific growth-inhibitory microRNAs.

Vieth stressed that he and his colleagues do not advocate vitamin D supplementation in doses higher than 4,000 IU daily. Patients were assigned to the 40,000 IU daily dose because of the short presurgical time frame available for study, not as a regular regimen.

“Plain vitamin D provides the raw material to permit the body to take care of its own needs,” he said. “We showed here that plain vitamin D allows the prostate to regulate its own level of calcitriol, and at the doses we used, for the time frame we used, it has been safe with the hoped-for desirable outcomes.”

The next step in this line of research will be to conduct a phase III clinical trial in which men who are being monitored for prostate cancer progression will be randomly assigned to placebo or to a “high” dose of plain vitamin D.

This research was funded by the Canadian Cancer Society and was a collaboration between investigators at University Health Network, Sunnybrook Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, all in Toronto, and at the University of Chicago.

# # #

Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., Receives Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Grant

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will award Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with the 2012 Caring for Carcinoid Foundation-AACR Grant for Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research.

The grant will be given during a grants reception on Tuesday, April 3 at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here.

Created in partnership with the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation (CFCF), the grant will advance the understanding of neuroendocrine tumor biology, elucidate the mechanisms of currently available therapies, and identify new treatment targets for carcinoid and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

This two-year grant of $250,000 ($125,000 per year) support junior and senior investigators as they develop and study new ideas and innovative approaches that have direct application and relevance to carcinoid tumors or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Pasqualini is the Buchanan and Seeger Professor of Medicine and Experimental Diagnostic Imaging. Wadih Arap, M.D., Ph.D., Stringer Professor of Medicine and Experimental Diagnostic Imaging at MD Anderson, and Steven K. Libutti, M.D., Professor of Surgery and Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the Marvin L. Gliedman, M.D. Distinguished Surgeon at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York are long-time collaborators of Pasqualini’s. The three have worked together on targeted cancer therapies and are internationally recognized experts in vascular biology, metastasis and angiogenesis.

Their research titled “Octreotide-targeted treatment of neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas,” will showcase the use of a hybrid vector with genetic elements from adeno-associated virus (AAV) and a M13-derived phage called AAVP to display octreotide and mediate selective internalization of viral particles.

“Establishing an octreotide-targeted AAVP for delivery of TNF-α (AAVP-TNF) would provide for the systemic, targeted delivery of an apoptotic agent directly to the vulnerable vasculature of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors with limited toxicity for normal tissues,” the researchers wrote in their abstract.

The Caring for Carcinoid Foundation is dedicated to discovering cures for carcinoid, pancreatic neuroendocrine, and related neuroendocrine cancers. Along with its focus on research, the foundation is committed to supporting patients, families, friends, and caregivers by providing them with complete and up-to-date information. CFCF directs 100 percent of all individual donations to breakthrough scientific research. This is made possible by the generous support of CFCF’s board of directors and corporate sponsors. Since its inception, CFCF has awarded more than $6 million in research grants to leading scientists at renowned institutions worldwide. For more information about CFCF please visit www.caringforcarcinoid.org.

An additional Caring for Carcinoid Foundation-AACR Grant for Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research grant is expected to be awarded by the fall of 2012.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Recognizes its Newest Grantees at the Annual Meeting 2012

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The AACR congratulates its 13 new grant recipients at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Career Development Awards:

2012 AACR-Aflac Inc. Career Development Awards for Pediatric Cancer Research

Carl R. Walkley, Ph.D., St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research
“New models and approaches in osteosarcoma”
Jing Crystal Zhao, Ph.D., Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
“Role of imprinted long non-coding RNA Gtl2 in gene regulation”

AACR-FNAB Career Development Award for Translational Cancer Research

Christine L. Phillips, M.D., Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center - Research Foundation
“Genetic model of cytarabine sensitivity in children with AML”

AACR-Genentech BioOncology Career Development Award for Cancer Research on the HER Family Pathway

Eddy Shih-Hsin Yang, M.D., Ph.D., The University of Alabama at Birmingham
“HER2 overexpression confers susceptibility to PARP inhibition”

AACR Judah Folkman Career Development Award for Antiangiogenesis Research

Richard W. Joseph, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville
“The relationship of angiogenesis and immune evasion in renal cell carcinoma”

Fight Colorectal Cancer-AACR Career Development Award, in memory of Lisa Dubow

Richard B. Halberg, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Molecular differences predicting tumor progression in colorectal cancer”

Grants for Independent Investigators:

AACR Dharma Master Jiantai Innovative Grant for Lung Cancer Research

Julie M. Wells, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
“Detecting changes in circulating microRNAs during lung cancer progression”

Fellowships:

AACR-Amgen Inc. Fellowships in Clinical/Translational Cancer Research

Sarah E. Bohndiek, Ph.D., Stanford University
“Molecular imaging and diagnostics for improved ovarian cancer management”
Ami S. Bhatt, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
“Pathogen discovery in urothelial cancer using next-generation sequencing”

AACR-Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Fellowship in Clinical Cancer Research

Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
“Single-nucleus sequencing of circulating tumor cells”

AACR-Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Translational Cancer Research Award

Richard Mark White, M.D., Ph.D., Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research
“BRAFV600E as a regulator of transcriptional elongation”

AACR-Genentech BioOncology Fellowship for Cancer Research on the HER Family Pathway

Sadhna Vora, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital
“Fructose metabolism as a mechanism of resistance to PI3k inhibitors”

Fellows Grants:

2012 AACR-FNAB Fellows Grant for Translational Pancreatic Cancer Research

Aatur Dilip Singhi, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
“Marker of sensitivity to GEM/SBRT in unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma”

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Sixth Annual AACR Margaret Foti Award Presented to John Mendelsohn, M.D.

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — John Mendelsohn, M.D., will receive the Sixth Annual American Association for Cancer Research Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 during the opening ceremony on Sunday, April 1, at 8:15 a.m. CT in room W375.

This award recognizes an individual whose leadership and extraordinary achievements in cancer research, or in support of cancer research, have made a major impact on the field.

“Dr. Mendelsohn was a pioneer in the area of targeted cancer therapies, specifically working with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “The AACR commends him for his groundbreaking research on targeted therapy, which opened the door to a new way of thinking about cancer and its treatment. In addition, Dr. Mendelsohn is both a nationally and internationally recognized leader in cancer policy.”

“I am thrilled to receive this award because it is in honor of a great leader, Dr. Foti, and because it recognizes my lifetime commitment to improving the care of cancer patients through research,” Mendelsohn said. “I have been privileged to work with many outstanding laboratory and clinical investigators in initiating the field of targeted cancer therapy and in expanding translational cancer research programs at three great academic institutions.”

Mendelsohn currently serves as co-director of The University Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT). The IPCT is a research program designed to embrace a multidisciplinary approach including laboratory researchers, clinicians and investigators to test cancer therapies targeting abnormal genes and gene products detected in an individual patient’s cancer. He is also chair of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine.

Prior to this, Mendelsohn served as the president of MD Anderson from 1996 to 2011, recently stepping down to return to clinical and translational research. During his time as president, Mendelsohn worked with a visionary management team to transform the cancer center into what it is today, one of the world’s most respected cancer research centers. Under his supervision and guidance, MD Anderson was ranked as number one in cancer care in the nation, for eight out of the last 10 years, in the “America’s Best Hospitals” survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report.

However, Mendelsohn’s significant contributions to the cancer community extend far outside of the walls of MD Anderson.

In an effort to meet the increasing demand for training of international physicians and scientists, Mendelsohn established the Center for Global Oncology, an organization that coordinates MD Anderson’s formal affiliations with more than 24 foreign academic, health care and government entities. In the 1990s he worked with cancer leaders at other health care centers to double the budget of the National Institutes of Health.

In addition to an impressive list of book chapters and editorials, Mendelsohn has authored or co-authored more than 200 scientific articles, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Clinical Cancer Research, one of the seven journals of the AACR.

Among Mendelsohn’s many contributions to cancer research, his most significant research revolved around studying the cell surface receptor tyrosine kinase epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a member of the ErbB family of proteins. This receptor represents one of the most important proteins in cancer research, as the receptor is capable of being activated by a number of extracellular, stimulatory proteins and molecules, inevitably leading to subsequent activation of intracellular biological signaling pathways that involve cancer-causing genes (oncogenes).

Prior to our current understanding of this family of proteins, Mendelsohn and his collaborators hypothesized that inhibition of EGFR and of tyrosine kinases in general might represent a potential avenue for effective cancer treatments. This notion led to the creation of monoclonal antibody mAb-225 (cetuximab), the first agent capable of blocking EGFR activation, in turn inhibiting cellular growth. These findings quickly led to mAb-225 entering clinical trials, where it became the first successful agent specifically designed to safely and effectively target a growth factor receptor and/or a tyrosine kinase. Subsequent to this work, nearly a dozen agents activate against the EGFR family of tyrosine kinases have been developed and taken into the clinic. The drug (mAb) cetuximab received FDA approval for use against colon cancer in 2004 and two years later was approved for the treatment of head and neck cancer. These results speak to the importance of this drug discovery and its implications for the treatment of many cancers.

Additionally, Mendelsohn has been influential in research that provided proof that the anti-HER2/neu (ErbB-2) agent trastuzumab could produce a clinically useful response rate in patients. He was also instrumental in the first clinical trials to demonstrate that the addition of EGFR inhibitors could overcome chemotherapeutic resistance in patients.

Mendelsohn has received numerous awards and honors, including the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Lila Gruber Memorial Cancer Research Award from the American Academy of Dermatology and the Dorothy P. Landon–AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research.

Mendelsohn received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1958. He conducted his graduate studies in biochemical sciences at Harvard and received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1963.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Scientists Reprogram Cancer Cells With Low Doses of Epigenetic Drugs

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Drugs previously considered too toxic for human use.
Cancer stem cells were a target of these agents.
Study by Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team published in Cancer Cell.

CHICAGO — Experimenting with cells in culture, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have breathed possible new life into two drugs once considered too toxic for human cancer treatment. The drugs, azacitidine and decitabine, are epigenetic drugs and work to correct cancer-causing alterations that modify DNA.

The researchers also found that the drugs took aim at a small but dangerous subpopulation of self-renewing cells, sometimes referred to as cancer stem cells, which evade most cancer drugs and cause disease recurrence and spread.

In a report published in the March 16, 2012, issue of Cancer Cell, the Johns Hopkins team said their study provides evidence that low doses of the drugs cause antitumor responses in breast, lung and colon cancer cells. They will discuss their work at a Stand Up To Cancer press event on April 1, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. CT in Room 10 A/B/C of the Hyatt Conference Center, adjacent to the McCormick Place Conference Center.

Conventional chemotherapy agents indiscriminately poison and kill rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells, by damaging cellular machinery and DNA.

“In contrast, low doses of azacitidine (AZA) and decitabine (DAC) may reactivate genes that stop cancer growth without causing immediate cell killing or DNA damage,” said Stephen Baylin, M.D., Ludwig professor of oncology and deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, Md.

Many cancer experts had abandoned AZA and DAC in the treatment of common cancers, according to the researchers, because they are toxic to normal cells at standard high doses and there was little research showing how they might work for cancer in general. Baylin and colleagues decided to reevaluate the drugs after low doses of each showed a benefit in patients with a preleukemic disorder called myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Johns Hopkins investigators also found benefit with low doses of the drugs in tests with a small number of patients with advanced lung cancer. “This is contrary to the way we usually do things in cancer research,” said Baylin. He noted, “Typically, we start in the laboratory and progress to clinical trials. In this case, we saw results in clinical trials that made us go back to the laboratory to figure out how to move the therapy forward.”

Baylin’s team worked with leukemia, breast and other cancer cell lines and human tumor samples using the lowest possible doses that were effective against the cancers. In all, the investigators studied six leukemia cell lines, seven leukemia patient samples, three breast cancer cell lines, seven breast tumor samples (including four samples of tumors that had spread to the lung), one lung cancer cell line and one colon cancer cell line.

Researchers treated cell lines and tumor cells with low-dose AZA and DAC in culture for three days and allowed the drug-treated cells to rest for a week. They then transplanted the treated cells and tumor samples into mice and observed continued antitumor responses for up to 20 weeks. This extended response was in line with observations in some patients with MDS who continued to have anticancer effects long after stopping the drug.

The low-dose therapy reversed cancer cell gene pathways, including those controlling cell cycle, cell repair, cell maturation, cell differentiation, immune cell interaction and cell death. Effects varied among individual tumor cells, but the scientists generally saw that cancer cells reverted to a more normal state and eventually died. These results were caused, in part, by alteration of the epigenetic, or chemical, environment of DNA. Epigenetic activities turn on certain genes and block others, according to Baylin.

The research team also tested AZA and DAC’s effect on a type of metastatic breast cancer cell thought to drive cancer growth and resist standard therapies. Metastatic cells are difficult to study in standard laboratory tumor models because they tend to break away from the original tumor and float around in blood and lymph fluids. The research team re-created the metastatic stem cells’ environment and allowed them to grow as floating spheres.

Baylin and his team are conducting ongoing studies that focus on the precise mechanism of how the drugs work. “Our findings match evidence from recent clinical trials suggesting that the drugs shrink tumors more slowly over time as they repair altered mechanisms in cells and genes return to normal function, and the cells may eventually die,” said Baylin.

The results of clinical trials in lung cancer, led by Johns Hopkins’ Charles Rudin, M.D., and published late last year in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, also indicate that the drugs make tumors more responsive to standard anticancer drug treatment. According to researchers, this means that the drugs could become part of a combined treatment approach rather than a standalone therapy and as part of personalized approaches in patients whose cancers fit specific epigenetic and genetic profiles.

Low doses of both drugs are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of MDS and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Clinical trials in breast and lung cancer have begun in patients with advanced disease, and trials in colon cancer are planned.

The research was funded by a Specialized Programs of Research Excellence grant for lung cancer from the National Institutes of Health, the Hodson Trust Foundation, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Lee Jeans, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and the Cindy Rosencrans Fund for Triple-negative Breast Cancer Research. All of the studies have been accelerated by funding from the Stand Up To Cancer project in partnership with the American Association for Cancer Research.

# # #

AACR Honors Giuseppe Bernardi, M.D., With Award for Distinguished Public Service

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will present Giuseppe “Gios” Bernardi, M.D., with the 2012 AACR Award for Distinguished Public Service.

“The AACR recognizes and commends Dr. Bernardi for his enduring passion and commitment to enhancing the ever-growing landscape of cancer research worldwide,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “As the president of the Pezcoller Foundation, he has been a vital force in fostering close relationships among multiple research institutions, cancer centers, organizations, and associations such as ours. His leadership, drive and hard work have been important factors in strengthening international cancer research, and we have been privileged at the AACR to have the special opportunity of working with him for so many wonderful years.”

The AACR Award for Distinguished Public Service will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 during the opening ceremony on Sunday, April 1, at 8:15 a.m. CT in the Skyline Ballroom of McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, Ill.

Bernardi served as president of the Pezcoller Foundation in Trento, Italy, from 2001 to 2011, and he currently holds the position of president emeritus of the foundation. During his long tenure as president, he was tireless in his devotion to the foundation’s mission of promoting cancer research through awards, conferences, publications, seminars and symposia. He served on the foundation’s Board of Directors for many years and helped establish its vision of furthering cancer research through a variety of mechanisms including international collaborations. Clearly, his work has had far-reaching implications for advancing cancer research and improving patient care.

Bernardi has been a skillful and enthusiastic steward of the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research, which was established in 1998 to recognize an active, outstanding scientist each year who has made a major scientific discovery in basic cancer research or who has made significant contributions to translational cancer research. Such work must be ongoing and hold promise for continued substantive contributions to progress in the field of cancer.

Bernardi was influential in establishing the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Lecture in 2006, which is given annually in Padua by the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR awardee to showcase significant breakthroughs in cancer research. He has served as the editor of the Pezcoller Foundation Journal.

Bernardi received his medical degree from the University of Milan in 1948. He specialized in the fields of radiology and physiotherapy, hygiene, preventive medicine and hospital engineering. After his formal training, Bernardi became a surgeon and would later work as a radiologist in the Hospital of Trento. He was radiology director in several hospitals located in Levico and Trento, Italy.

In addition to his medical responsibilities and commitments, Bernardi has been very active in other professional organizations. He served for 10 years as a board member of the National Agency for Care and Welfare of Medical Doctors and founded the Italian Federation of Homeopathic Medicine, serving as its president from 1993-1998.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Bayard D. Clarkson, M.D., Receives the AACR 2012 Distinguished Service Award

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will present Bayard D. Clarkson, M.D., with the AACR’s Distinguished Service Award at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 during the opening ceremony on Sunday, April 1, at 8:15 a.m. CT in room W375 of McCormick Place.

The AACR is honoring Clarkson, who is head of the laboratory of hematopoietic cell kinetics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, for his work on behalf of the AACR for over three decades.

Clarkson served two terms on the Board of Directors and was president of the AACR in 1980. He was later recruited to serve as AACR treasurer, and he continued in that position for a record 15 years during a period of exponential growth in AACR membership, programs and activities. His sage advice and guidance in science and policy during this long period in the AACR’s evolution were pivotal to its success as the most important and influential cancer research organization in the world. No individual in the history of the AACR has given so much time and effort to the AACR and its mission.

His most recent service to the AACR has been in the capacity of president and chairman of the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer. He was the driving force behind creating the Foundation in 2001, when the AACR was beginning a rapid expansion of its fund development program. He personally recruited members of the Foundation Board and has overseen its growth for the past 11 years. His work with the foundation was the culmination of many years devoted to the financial stewardship of AACR resources.

“Dr. Clarkson is an outstanding scientist, leader and innovative thinker in the cancer field. While engaged in his very busy research career, he volunteered an extraordinary amount of his professional life to furthering the work of the AACR and to advancing cancer research worldwide,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), CEO of the AACR. “The AACR and its Foundation would not have been as successful without his unstinting efforts, and today the Foundation raises millions of dollars each year for cancer research and education. Dr. Clarkson’s career and work ethic are exemplary and it has been truly rewarding and inspiring to have been associated with him during this period of his career. Young investigators should observe him closely as an excellent example of what it means to be truly dedicated to one’s field,” she noted.

This year, Clarkson becomes a 50-year member of the AACR. His laboratory has been devoted to understanding the growth and differentiation properties of leukemia cells and progenitor cells. By studying the core biological principles that govern and fuel cancer formation, Clarkson and his colleagues were among the first to develop and optimize treatment programs for adults with acute leukemias and lymphomas. He has also made significant contributions to the understanding of cancer biology, especially in the area of cancer stem cells.

Clarkson received his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and has treated patients and conducted research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for over five decades. He has authored hundreds of papers reporting the results of his laboratory’s research as well as numerous review articles describing advances in cancer research.

As a tribute to Clarkson, the AACR named an annual scientific session in his honor, “The Bayard D. Clarkson Symposium on Stem Cells and Cancer,” which will be held on Tuesday, April 3, at 1 p.m. CT in room W183 of McCormick Place.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and AACR Award Research Grants Totaling More Than $3.4 Million

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Association for Cancer Research awarded 14 grants to outstanding scientists throughout the country, supporting their innovative research in the field of pancreatic cancer.

This year’s total funding level of more than $3.4 million represents the largest annual disbursement since the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network introduced the program in 2003.

“Partnering with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is an incredibly satisfying experience. It has given us an opportunity to work with the spectacular professional staff there and has enabled us to help fund the most-promising, cutting-edge pancreatic cancer research to advance the field,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “These worthy projects have the potential to lead to major breakthroughs that will prevent, detect and treat pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly of all cancers.”

In its mission to advance pancreatic cancer research, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has collaborated with the AACR to promote and support outstanding research focused on conquering this dread disease. The goals of the grants program are to build a robust pancreatic cancer research community; to encourage collaboration, information-sharing and innovation; and to expedite scientific and medical breakthroughs for patient benefit.

“We are so impressed by the caliber of these 14 scientists and proud to fund their outstanding research projects. We are looking forward to engaging them with our organization and working together to help accelerate scientific breakthroughs,” said Lynn Matrisian, Ph.D., vice president of scientific and medical affairs at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. “These grant recipients are joining a strong and dynamic collaborative community of researchers the organization has been developing since 2003 when we launched our grants program. Their findings will undoubtedly move us closer to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s goal of doubling the survival rate of pancreatic cancer by 2020.”

The recipients will be honored at a grants reception and dinner during the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grants are five-year grants totaling $600,000 each. These grants are designed to support the future leadership of pancreatic cancer research by funding outstanding early-career investigators beginning in their postdoctoral, mentored research positions and continuing through their successful transition to independence. The 2012 recipients are:

Stephanie K. Dougan, Ph.D., Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
“Transnuclear mice: Understanding the T cell response to pancreatic cancer”|
Supported by Celgene Corporation.

Oliver G. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
“Genome-wide epigenetic reprogramming during evolution of pancreatic cancer”
Supported by The Daniel and Janet Mordecai Foundation

The 2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Innovative Grants are intended to promote the development and study of novel ideas and approaches in basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological research that have direct application and relevance to pancreatic cancer. These two-year grants provide $200,000 over the grant term. The 2012 recipients are:

David A. Boothman, Ph.D., UT Southwestern Medical Center
“NQO1-mediated ‘kiss of death’ targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer”
Supported by the George & June Block Family Foundation

Paul J. Chiao, Ph.D., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
“TAK1 is a novel therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer”
Supported in part by the Lefkofsky Family Foundation

Channing J. Der, Ph.D., The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“Mechanism of ERK inhibition resistance and ERK-dependent pancreatic cancer”
Supported by Tempur-Pedic Retailers

Peter Espenshade, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
“SREBP pathway as a target for pancreatic cancer therapy”
Supported in memory of Bonnie L. Tobin

Tyler Jacks, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Mechanisms of K-RAS independent growth in pancreatic cancer”
Supported by Blum-Kovler Foundation

The 2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Career Development Awards are two-year grants of $200,000 that are designed to attract and support early-career scientists as they conduct pancreatic cancer research and establish successful career paths in the field. This year’s recipients are:

Jiyoung Ahn, Ph.D., New York University School of Medicine
“Oral microbiome and pancreatic cancer: A prospective case-control study”
Supported by The Daniel and Janet Mordecai Foundation

Darren R. Carpizo, M.D., Ph.D., University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
“Pre-clinical studies of an allele-specific p53 mutant reactivating compound in pancreatic cancer”
Supported by The Daniel and Janet Mordecai Foundation

Eric A. Collisson, M.D., University of California, San Francisco
“Optimizing MEK inhibition in pancreatic cancer; from cytostatic to cidal”

Mikala Egeblad, Ph.D., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
“Dynamics of tumor-stroma interactions in pancreatic cancer”
Supported by The Daniel and Janet Mordecai Foundation

Kazuki N. Sugahara, M.D., Ph.D., Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
“Tissue-penetrating drug delivery to desmoplastic pancreatic tumors”
Supported by The Daniel and Janet Mordecai Foundation

David Sung-wen Yu, M.D., Ph.D., Emory University
“Exploiting the replication stress response in pancreatic cancer”

The 2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Fellowship is a one-year grant of $45,000 designed to support a postdoctoral investigator’s work in pancreatic cancer research. The 2012 recipient is:

Florencia McAllister, M.D., Johns Hopkins University
“Role of inflammatory cells in early pancreatic tumorigenesis”
Supported in memory of Samuel Stroum

# # #

Media Contacts:
Tara Yates
American Association for Cancer Research
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Jennifer Reeves
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
(310) 706-3362
jreeves@pancan.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 3:
(310) 460-8901

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

About the AACR
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is the national organization creating hope in a comprehensive way through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure. The organization is leading the way to increase the survival rate for people diagnosed with this devastating disease through a bold initiative—The Vision of Progress: Double the Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rate by 2020. Together, we can know, fight and end pancreatic cancer by intensifying our efforts to heighten awareness, raise funds for comprehensive private research, and advocate for dedicated federal research to advance early diagnostics, better treatments and increase chances of survival.

Click here to meet these grant recipients and learn more about their funded projects.

Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Twitter: @pancan
Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jointhefight

AACR and Landon Foundation Support the Next Generation of Researchers With INNOVATOR Awards

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research and the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation will present three INNOVATOR Awards at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The Fifth Annual Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for Cancer Prevention Research will be presented to Guang Peng, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The Fifth Annual Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research will be presented to Judith A. Varner, Ph.D., at the University of California, San Diego.
The Third Annual Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for Research in Personalized Cancer Medicine will be presented to Sameek Roychowdhury, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Michigan.

The AACR will honor the award recipients at a grants reception and dinner on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. CT in the Adams Foyer and Room at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago.

The Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Awards, established in 2008, are designed to foster innovation and collaboration in cancer research and support independent investigators early in their careers. The awards provide the recipients with the recognition they need to further their careers and possibly leverage additional funding.

The AACR and the Landon Foundation shifted from presenting two annual scientific achievement awards to presenting research grant funding in 2009. This was in an effort to refocus attention on younger researchers and recognize the critical need to identify and support the next generation of top cancer researchers as a way of facilitating breakthroughs in treatment and prevention.

The Landon Foundation-AACR partnership continues with these INNOVATOR Awards, which honor pioneers in cancer research. Prior to 2011, three prevention, three international collaboration and one personalized medicine awards were given. Combined with the previous scientific achievement awards, the total contribution of the Landon Foundation-AACR partnership is now close to $4 million.

Awardees each receive a two-year grant for $100,000 over the grant term.

2012 Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for Cancer Prevention Research

The INNOVATOR Award for Cancer Prevention Research supports a junior faculty researcher conducting research in any discipline of cancer prevention.

Peng’s project is titled “Targeting the DNA repair network as a novel approach for cancer prevention.” A constant challenge for researchers involved in cancer prevention research is the ability to identify preventive methods or treatments that have proven efficacy and safety. One such prevention strategy is the use of chemopreventive agents, which are employed to help prevent or delay the onset of cancers. Chemopreventive therapies aim to target and kill premalignant cells containing genetic alterations before they can progress to becoming cancerous and without damaging neighboring, normal cells.

In her research, Peng is taking a new approach to chemoprevention by targeting the DNA repair network of cancerous cells. DNA repair mechanisms play a critical role in cellular responses that occur once a premalignant or malignant cell is under replication or cellular stress. The predominant DNA lesions caused by this replication stress are double-strand DNA breaks. In order for a cell to counteract and survive these double-strand DNA breaks, they require a coordinated effort of DNA repair mechanisms. One such means of repair is termed homologous recombination (HR).

Peng’s research objective is to identify therapies that will inhibit proteins involved in HR-mediated DNA repair, in turn promoting cell death for premalignant cells that are experiencing replication stress. These inhibitors will be developed and tested through the use of available cell lines and through the use of animal models. If Peng is able to discover and optimize drugs capable of inhibiting HR repair and proves that cells under replication stress are more sensitive to these treatments, this novel approach will expand the field of preventive treatment strategies by offering a molecular means by which to specifically target premalignant cells for death.

2012 Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research

The Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research supports an established international cancer research collaboration involving institutes in multiple countries by supplementing existing funding and providing the means to facilitate travel, training in new techniques and the dissemination of the scientific knowledge gained from the collaboration.

Varner’s project, “Targeting tumor inflammation: A new approach to treat pancreatic cancer,” will be part of a continuing international collaboration between U.S. and Italian-based laboratories to explore the role of inflammation in ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (PDAC), a disease associated with a poor five-year survival rate that will affect more than 40,000 Americans in 2012.

In recent years, research has established that inflammation may be a contributing factor to tumor development and progression, resulting in increased research efforts to develop therapeutic drugs and strategies adapted to combat inflammation and inflammatory responses. Recently, Varner and her colleagues at Emilio Hirsch’s laboratory at the Molecular Biotechnology Center, School of Medicine, University of Torino, in Italy discovered that PI3-kinase gamma (PI3Kγ) regulates tumor inflammation within myeloid cells, partially by recruiting factors that contribute to angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels) and overall tumor survival. Varner hypothesizes that targeting this protein may help suppress pancreatic tumor growth and metastasis by preventing PI3Kγ-mediated angiogenesis and immunosuppression in the pancreas.

This grant supports this ongoing international cancer research collaboration that continues to evaluate whether PI3Kγ inhibitors can successfully target pancreatic cancer cells in animal models of PDAC and whether such inhibitors can block myeloid-induced immunosuppression during pancreatic cancer onset and progression.

2012 Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for Research in Personalized Cancer Medicine

The Award for Research in Personalized Cancer Medicine, now in its third year, provides support for a physician-scientist who conducts meritorious studies that hold promise for near-term patient benefit to accelerate progress in the area of personalized cancer medicine.

Roychowdhury will be working on the project “Mechanisms of resistance in prostate cancer through integrative sequencing.” An increased interest in high-throughput sequencing of cancer genomes has led to an expanding molecular classification of prostate cancer, the most common type of cancer in men. Researchers hope that further exploration and characterization of molecular pathways associated with common cancers will help to identify the genetic mechanisms of resistance due to currently employed drug therapies.

Roychowdhury proposes to apply genetic sequencing strategies to prostate cancer patients in an effort to identify mechanisms of drug resistance and ultimately better inform treatment decision-making in the clinic.

Roychowdhury proposes to establish high-throughput sequencing regimes for patients with advanced prostate cancer (otherwise known as castration-resistant prostate cancer) in an attempt to establish a better understanding of the inherent and acquired genetic aberrations that contribute to the disease. To assist in this endeavor, Roychowdhury has established a multi-disciplinary Sequencing Tumor Board consisting of experts from medical oncology, pathology, bioinformatics, genomics and bioethics. These experts will collaborate to manage the results of the proposed sequencing experiments, interpret the produced data and hopefully locate the molecular contributors to drug resistance. These findings will also lead to the identification and development of potential drug therapies.

Roychowdhury’s research will represent the first attempt at integrative sequencing in prostate cancer and will hopefully result in expansion of the molecular classification of the disease. If successful, researchers could subsequently apply the use of high-throughput sequencing within other clinical trials to further classify the molecular nature of disease progression and drug resistance in other cancer areas.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

About the Kirk A. & Dorothy P. Landon Foundation

The Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation was created through a bequest from Mrs. Dorothy P. Landon whose intent, along with that of her late husband, Kirk A. Landon, was to dedicate a major portion of their estate to medical research, especially research related to cancer. Mr. R. Kirk Landon, son of Kirk A. Landon, serves as the president of the foundation. The foundation seeks to accomplish its cancer research mission through a variety of programs and initiatives, including the Landon-AACR INNOVATOR Awards.

Media Contact:
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In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
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Beatrice Mintz, Ph.D., Receives Ninth Annual AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Beatrice Mintz, Ph.D., professor and Jack Schultz chair in basic science at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, will receive the Ninth Annual AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research during the opening ceremony of the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held Sunday, April 1, at 8:15 a.m. CT in room W375 of McCormick Place West.

The AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research was established in 2004 to honor an individual who has made significant fundamental contributions to cancer research, either through a single scientific discovery or a body of work. These contributions, whether they have been in research, leadership or mentorship, must have had a lasting impact on the cancer field and must have demonstrated a lifetime commitment to progress against cancer.

“Dr. Mintz’s scientific insights have led to new directions in developmental cancer biology and genetics,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “Her groundbreaking work has helped shape our understanding of stem cell behavior and the tumor microenvironment in cancer, and has provided scientists with important tools to study the many types of cancer.”

Mintz’s pioneering research involving chimeric and transgenic mice, stem cells and tumor microenvironments have had a profound effect on cancer research and have greatly advanced the techniques that scientists use today to study the molecular genetic mechanisms that drive cancer progression. Her work has also contributed to a better understanding of the role of epigenetic changes in cancer.

Mintz said she likes to ask big questions, as they hold the most promise of uncovering the underlying order in complex events. Her first big question was: How does a complex organism, such as a mouse, develop from a single-cell fertilized egg? That question, though not in itself new, led her to devise methods enabling a new experimental approach to the problem. By assembling early embryo cells from two genetically different mouse strains, viable “chimeric” mice were obtained, in which the genetic differences served as markers of cell migrations and interactions. Development occurred as an orderly expanding hierarchy of clones from small numbers of increasingly specialized stem cells, with a favorable balance between proliferation and differentiation.

In the mid-1970s, Mintz then proposed that cancer is essentially a genetically caused aberration of development, in which the balance is shifted toward stem cell proliferation. Thus, her research has made it possible to study cancer experimentally in an intact model organism throughout life.

Mintz chose to examine the relation between genetically cancer-prone early stem cells and normal cells, by producing chimeras including stem cells of a mouse teratocarcinoma (a tumor of the earliest-stage stem cells). The results were dramatic. Normal mice were obtained in which tumor-strain cells were found in all tissues examined, along with normal-strain cells. This led to another new and important concept — that the microenvironment can have an ameliorating effect on the behavior of cancer cells.

Her laboratory next produced an in vitro stem cell line of the teratocarcinoma genotype, and showed that it could serve as a vehicle to convey a desired genetic change into the embryo, after first testing the cells in culture for that change. Next, the availability of specific DNA independently allowed Mintz’s laboratory, and several others, to introduce a gene of interest directly into the fertilized egg. The change is then transmitted to offspring through the germ line. These mice are termed “transgenic.”

Mintz has chosen to produce melanoma-prone transgenic mice that are valid models of melanoma in humans. The mice provide a means of improving our understanding of this malignancy, and of exploring treatments.

During her career, Mintz has authored more than 170 scientific publications, advancing our knowledge of developmental biology and genetics in cancer research. A member of the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences since 1973, she has won numerous awards for pioneering research, including the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award in Basic Medical Research, in 1980, the Genetics Society of America Medal, in 1981, the Ernst Jung Gold Medal for Medicine, in 1990, the American Cancer Society National Medal of Honor for Basic Research, in 1997, and in 2011, the Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research from the National Foundation for Cancer Research. She has been a member of numerous editorial boards and has received several honorary degrees.

Mintz earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College of The City University of New York and a doctorate at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR's Associate Member Council Honors Early-career Future Leaders of Basic Cancer Research

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will recognize four talented future leaders of basic cancer research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4. Each of these young scientists will present their work during the Future Leaders in Basic Cancer Research Special Symposium to take place on Monday, April 2, at 1 p.m. CT in room W179 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

“These outstanding young investigators are among those who represent the future of basic science in cancer,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “It is a pleasure to see these scientists recognized, as our future accomplishments in the cancer field will depend on the innovation and passion of our talented early-career scientists to conduct excellent research, and discover and develop cutting-edge preventive and treatment strategies against this disease.”

This special symposium has been developed to highlight early-career scientists in cancer research whose work reflects innovation, scientific independence, motivation and creativity. Nominees are required to be graduate students, medical students or residents, clinical fellows or postdoctoral fellows and institutional nomination was required for consideration.

This year’s selected nominees and speakers are:

Carrie Adelman, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, London Research Institute, Cancer Research U.K., South Mimms, England

Adelman will present her research regarding the role of the HelQ helicaseas, an important DNA damage response factor and tumor suppressor protein. Using HelQ transgenic mouse models, Adelman and colleagues are beginning to find links between HelQ and certain types of inherited cancer syndromes. She has been influential in discovering that HelQ assists in sensing DNA damage and in governing intracellular DNA damage repair pathways that have a significant role in the onset of Fanconi anemia, a genetic disease that predisposes people to hematological abnormalities. Adelman’s research has important implications for understanding the genesis of Fanconi anemia and cancer and how DNA damage that is caused by cytotoxic cancer therapies is repaired.

Faiyaz Notta, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Notta was selected as a speaker based on his groundbreaking research exploring the genetically distinct nature of tumor-initiating cells derived from Philadelphia-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells. During his presentation he will review past and current concepts surrounding clonal evolution of cancer stem cells and their role in tumor development. Notta’s research has elucidated the understanding of cellular expansion and genetic evolution in ALL, while simultaneously emphasizing the significance of this concept in all cancers. This discovery of a complex network of cellular growth and change has shifted the paradigm concerning how researchers visualize cancer progression and may explain why various patient populations are resistant to certain cancer treatments.

Michael Quante, M.D., clinical fellow, II. Medizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany

Quante was nominated for this honor based upon his pioneering work in generating mouse models of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma that closely resemble the human disease by first presenting with esophagitis, which later progresses to a cancerous state. This model represents a tractable preclinical model for these conditions that will allow researchers to investigate preventative strategies and therapies for the growing population of patients with such cancers. In addition to his work with cancer mouse models, Quante has also contributed immensely to the field of cancer research through his findings concerning the generation, function and biological nature of various subpopulations of progenitor cells and how they contribute to cancer.

David A. Solomon, Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D. student, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.

Solomon will present his exciting research findings concerning aneuploidy (abnormal numbers of DNA chromosomes). In cancer, genetic and molecular defects commonly lead to chromosomal instability. This state is often accompanied by the onset of DNA aberrations such as aneuploidy that further complicate the cancer, contributing to its aggressiveness and severity. Solomon discovered that one potential molecular mechanism behind aneuploidy involves the STAG2 (stromal antigen 2) protein, which is involved in the cohesin complex that is essential for proper cellular division. His research demonstrated that aneuploidy is promoted upon STAG2 inactivation, either through deletion or mutation. This identification of STAG2 as a tumor suppressor and inhibitor of aneuploidy provides a novel molecular concept and target for therapeutic intervention in all tumor types that display aneuploidy. In addition to this work, Solomon has been both active and successful in researching the pathogenesis and treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Alan D. D'Andrea, M.D., Receives the 52nd Annual AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Alan D. D’Andrea, M.D., the Alvan T. and Viola D. Fuller American Cancer Society professor of radiation oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, will receive the 52nd Annual AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award for his work in understanding cancer survival and progression, which has included milestones such as cloning the erythropoietin receptor and discovering the Fanconi anemia family of proteins involved in maintaining DNA stability.

D’Andrea’s lecture, “Targeting DNA Repair in Cancer Therapy: Lessons From Fanconi Anemia,” will take place at 5:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 31, in room S100 of McCormick Place South at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

“Dr. D’Andrea has been a vital contributor to cancer research,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “His work has greatly enhanced our knowledge of the field of DNA instability and repair mechanisms. Furthermore, his studies have provided us with a better understanding of the biological relationships of rare hereditary diseases, such as Fanconi anemia, and cancer.”

The AACR and Eli Lilly and Company established the G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award in 1961 to honor G.H.A. Clowes, a founding member of the AACR. This honor recognizes an individual with outstanding recent accomplishments in basic cancer research.

“I am greatly honored to receive the 2012 G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award from the AACR,” D’Andrea said. “Work from my laboratory has shown that the study of rare pediatric cancer susceptibility syndromes, such as Fanconi anemia, can lead to broad insights into the cause and treatment of cancer in the general population. My laboratory members and I are especially grateful to the children and families with Fanconi anemia who have been our close partners in this research during the last two decades.”

During his postdoctoral studies, D’Andrea cloned the erythropoietin (EPO) receptor, a key protein involved in red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) and survival. The receptor’s role in erythropoiesis offers a potential avenue for cancer therapeutics, as a blood supply is necessary for the growth and spread of cancer. D’Andrea continues to investigate the receptor in hematological malignancies, examining the ways that inherent (somatic) mutations and/or epigenetic modifications of the receptor affect its downstream, intracellular signaling pathways including JAK/STAT (Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription) and MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase).

D’Andrea has also investigated DNA repair mechanisms, more specifically how DNA damage impacts chromosomal stability, cell cycle progression and resulting cancer susceptibility. He has examined these processes in rare chromosomal instability syndromes including ataxia telangiectasia, Fanconi anemia and Bloom’s syndrome. His most extensive work has involved Fanconi anemia, which has the potential to lead to the onset of acute myelogenous leukemia. D’Andrea’s work in DNA repair mechanisms has led to the identification of the FANCC protein. He discovered that this protein is part of a family of proteins that block the harmful effects of DNA-damaging agents, in turn assisting in the preservation of DNA integrity in the body. His research into the FANCC protein family continues to provide insights that enhance the understanding of DNA repair processes in different disease pathologies.

D’Andrea received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He did his residency at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in pediatrics and his fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital of Boston in pediatric hematology and oncology. He returned to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital of Boston after postdoctoral studies at the Whitehead Institute. He is professor in the departments of radiation oncology and pediatrics, genetics and complex diseases and co-director of Gene Therapy Center, Children’s Hospital of Boston.

He has received many awards, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Excellence in Research Award, the E. Mead Johnson Award for Research in Pediatrics and the Fanconi Anemia Scientific Symposium’s Award of Merit. In addition, D’Andrea has published numerous papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
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AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Honors Pelayo Correa, M.D., With Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship Award

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research and its Minorities in Cancer Research membership group will award Pelayo Correa, M.D., with the Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

Correa is the Ann Potter Wilson endowed chair in cancer research, and professor of medicine and pathology in the division of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. His award presentation and lecture, “Gastric cancer: An infectious disease,” will take place on Sunday, April 1 at 4:15 p.m. CT in room W196 of the McCormick Place West Convention Center.

The AACR-MICR Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship was established in 2006 to give recognition to an outstanding scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, though leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of minority investigators in cancer research.

Correa’s research centers around the epidemiology of gastric cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related mortalities worldwide. The majority of his research involves investigating the relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections and the onset of stomach cancer.

Correa’s interest in gastric cancers began in the 1960s. During this time, he noticed that the incidence of stomach cancer within subpopulations of people in his native country of Colombia who lived in high-altitude areas of the Andes Mountains was far greater than among those who lived on the Pacific coast. In an effort to understand this occurrence, he started collecting biopsy specimens from affected individuals and began to characterize the progression of the disease.

Correa demonstrated that the progression to gastric cancer begins with a wave of inflammation within the stomach (gastritis) followed by loss of glands (atrophy) and intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia. Eventually, this process will continue to progress into stomach cancer. This multi-step transition from stomach inflammation to cancer has since been termed the “Correa Cascade,” a tribute to the extensive studies conducted by Correa to define the variable stages of gastric cancer onset and progression.

Correa and his colleagues are currently examining the effects of variable strains of H. pylori on the development of gastric cancer in ethnic populations worldwide. The bacterial strains can be traced to their ancestral origin. Those with African ancestry are less carcinogenic than those of European origin. These studies take into account the complexity of the disease and have included the identification of genetic and environmental factors that, coupled with H. pylori infections, contribute to the disease’s process.

Correa received his medical degree at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, in 1949. He completed a pathology residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., and then returned to Colombia in 1954, where he served as chairman of the department of pathology at the Universidad del Valle School of Medicine. Correa returned to the United States on a permanent basis in 1970 when he began working at the National Institute of Cancer and later at Louisiana State University Medical Center, where his laboratory thrived until being destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, causing him to relocate to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center at Vanderbilt University in 2005.

He is the founding editor of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the AACR. He has received numerous honors in the United States and Latin America, including the Schering Award for Research Done by Medical Students in Colombia, Maude Abbott Lecturer at the International Academy of Pathology, the first American Cancer Society Award on Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, presidential appointment to the National Cancer Advisory Board, honorary member of Sociedad Colombiana de Patologia, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the American Society of Preventative Oncology and honorary fellow of the American College of Epidemiology.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Honors Lisa M. Coussens, Ph.D., With the 15th Annual AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will award Lisa M. Coussens, Ph.D., with the 15th Annual AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship for her role as an internationally renowned basic scientist who has conducted novel studies on inflammation and stromal regulation of tissue homeostasis and tumor development.

Coussens’ lecture, “Inflammation and Cancer: Translating Basic Research into Clinical Practice,” will take place on Saturday, March 31 at 5:15 p.m. CT in room W196 of McCormick Place. The lecture is part of the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

“I am so honored to be given this opportunity,” said Coussens, associate director for basic research for the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). “Solving the problem of cancer will require diverse perspectives and insights. It is gratifying to be the recipient of an award that encourages scientists to foster progress, not only in their own work, but by assisting and encouraging others.”

Along with her role in the OSHU Knight Cancer Institute, Coussens serves as the Hildegard Lamfrom chair in basic science and professor and chair of cell and developmental biology for OHSU.

The AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship was established in 1998 in honor of renowned virologist Charlotte Friend, Ph.D., for her discovery of the Friend virus and her pioneering research on viruses, cell differentiation and cancer. The lectureship recognizes an outstanding scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of women in science.

Coussens is well regarded for her research involving immune cell-mediated regulation of breast, lung and skin cancer development. Her early studies were amongst the first to define mechanistic roles for immune system-related cells, such as mast cells, in inflammatory processes regulating blood vessel production (angiogenesis) and tumorigenesis. She and her collaborators also helped to define in vivo roles of leukocyte-derived matrix metalloproteases (MMPs), as key regulators of tumor development.

Her studies have highlighted the numerous functions of MMPs in biological events such as fostering tumor cell survival, and fundamentally regulating tumor microenvironments to favor cancer development. Landmark results from her laboratory have showcased the diversity between leukocyte subtypes and their ability to regulate cancer development and metastasis. Coussens’ research has also demonstrated that lymphocytes and myeloid cells coregulate pro- and antitumor bioactivities in tissue-dependent manners. Her examination of interactions between myeloid cells and lymphocytes has fueled a paradigm shift in the field of tumor immunology and has reinforced the need for additional studies involving these cell populations in carcinogenesis.

Collectively, Coussens has contributed to the understanding that cancer is a disease that mirrors embryonic development, alluding to the notion that cancer is similarly vulnerable to manipulation and reprogramming. Her research has also expanded the view of inflammation and its role in cancer onset and progression, in turn promoting the need for drugs that target immune-pathways, when appropriate, within cancer treatment regimes.

Her lab continues important work, collaborating with biotech companies and clinicians. Currently, the lab is working with clinicians to develop investigator-initiated phase I/II clinical trials to examine immune modulation and standard-of-care chemotherapy in mesothelioma, breast and pancreas cancer.

Coussens received her Bachelor of Arts in biology from San Francisco State University, her doctorate in biological chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, and was a post-doctoral fellow in cancer biology at the University of California, San Francisco.

She has organized and presented at multiple national and international meetings, and has served on and assisted numerous professional organizations and government agencies. She has been the principal investigator on 24 research grants, which have also provided significant opportunities for mentoring of junior scientists.

In addition, she previously received the Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award from the AACR, a V Foundation Scholar Award, the Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation Award for Medical Research and sequential awards from the Hellman family. She also received the prestigious Era of Hope Scholar Award from the U.S. Department of Defense. She has published 75 peer-reviewed articles with more in review, 20 other articles or editorials, and 17 book chapters. Coussens is a past member of the AACR Board of Directors, and former deputy editor for the AACR journal Cancer Research. She currently serves as an editorial board member for the journal Cancer Cell.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Congratulates Co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer Lisa Paulsen on Receiving the Society of Surgical Oncology's James Ewing Layman Award

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research congratulates Lisa Paulsen, president and chief executive officer of the Entertainment Industry Foundation and co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), on receiving the James Ewing Layman Award. The Society of Surgical Oncology is honoring Paulsen with the award for her efforts to eradicate cancer through her leadership of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), especially her major role in establishing Stand Up To Cancer.

“Lisa Paulsen’s accomplishments have touched the lives of many cancer patients,” said AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.). “The monies raised by the EIF have contributed to many breakthroughs, including the development of the breast cancer therapy trastuzumab. Recently, Stand Up To Cancer has begun to change the face of cancer with the funding of impressive scientific Dream Teams and Innovative Research Grants to young investigators. Along with the co-founders of SU2C, she has skillfully leveraged the assets of the entertainment industry to advance translational research and bring the dream of the conquest of all cancers closer to reality. We applaud her recognition by the Society of Surgical Oncology.”

Paulsen will receive the award today at the Society of Surgical Oncology Annual Meeting, held in Orlando, Fla.

As a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, the EIF utilizes the enormous power of the industry to raise awareness and funds for critical health, educational and social issues. Among the most pressing health issues championed by the EIF is the fight against cancer. Under Paulsen’s leadership, the EIF has raised millions of dollars for cancer research, education, prevention and treatment. Among the fundraising vehicles established by the EIF during Paulsen’s tenure as president and CEO is one of the largest single-day women’s cancer fundraisers in the country — the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women. SU2C was launched in May 2008 and is the largest initiative of the EIF.

Members of SU2C’s Executive Leadership Council include Sherry Lansing, chairperson of the EIF Board of Directors and founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation; EIF President and CEO Lisa Paulsen; Katie Couric; EIF Senior Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; Pam Williams, partner at Laura Ziskin Productions; and nonprofit executive Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin, a legendary film producer who executive produced the 2008 and 2010 SU2C telecasts, was also a co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer.

SU2C was founded on the belief that there is a strong understanding of the basic science of cancer and that, with the appropriate level of funding, teams of scientists will be in a position to translate this understanding to the clinic for rapid patient benefit.

In its first year alone, more than $100 million was pledged to SU2C for cancer research. SU2C committed more than $76 million of this money to fund five interdisciplinary scientific Dream Teams. These Dream Teams were identified by the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee, chaired by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., institute professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An additional Dream Team, jointly funded with the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), was established in December 2011. In addition, 26 Innovative Research Grants have been awarded by SU2C to meritorious young investigators. These grants support high-risk and potentially high-reward projects with significant potential for translational application.

To date, the Dream Teams and Innovative Research Grant recipients comprise more than 270 scientists from more than 67 unique institutions. Moreover, SU2C-funded cancer research has, in just three short years since the first funding was allocated, spawned 34 clinical trials across the country. SU2C’s mission of accelerating the translation of cancer research from “bench to bedside” is already bearing fruit and benefiting patients now.

As the proud scientific partner of SU2C, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants that have the potential to have near-term impact on the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of cancers.

The James Ewing Layman Award is bestowed annually by the Society of Surgical Oncology and its James Ewing Foundation. It is awarded to a nonphysician to thank and honor his or her work in support of public awareness, patient resources or clinical research efforts in the prevention or cure of cancer. Previous awardees include Sanford L. Weill, Mary Lasker, Laurance Rockefeller, and Evelyn Lauder. The James Ewing Foundation was established in 1978 to perpetuate the memory of the discoverer of Ewing’s sarcoma, James Stephen Ewing, M.D. In addition to being the founder of the Society of Surgical Oncology, Ewing was a founding member and the first president of the AACR.

The AACR seeks to establish a close relationship with surgical oncologists as they represent a vitally important specialty in the interdisciplinary care of cancer patients, and it is in the process of forming a Task Force on Surgical Oncology, with Monica Morrow, M.D., chief of breast service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and president-elect of the Society of Surgical Oncology, as chairperson of the task force. The goal of the task force is to give surgical oncologists who are research-oriented a greater platform for their voice.

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Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

AACR Honors Graham A. Colditz, M.D., Dr.P.H., With Award for Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will recognize Graham A. Colditz, M.D., Dr.P.H., with the 21st AACR-American Cancer Society Award for Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The AACR-American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention was established in 1992 to honor outstanding research accomplishments in the fields of cancer epidemiology, biomarkers and prevention. Colditz will give his lecture, “Integrating risk across the life-span: The case of breast cancer prevention,” on Tuesday, April 3 at 3 p.m. CT in room S100 of McCormick Place.

Colditz is the Niess-Gain professor of surgery, professor of medicine and associate director of prevention and control at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. He is also chief of the division of public health sciences, department of surgery and deputy director at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University School of Medicine.

Colditz’s research interests have revolved around elucidating the lifestyle and environmental risk factors that contribute to the onset of cancer. One mechanism employed by Colditz to accomplish this has been to conduct large-scale, population studies involving subsets of individuals that present with a particular disease. Colditz has served as principal investigator on two such studies, the Nurses’ Health Study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS).

The Nurses’ Health Study seeks to identify risk factors and biomarkers such as smoking, tobacco, oral contraceptive use, diet and exercise, and alcohol consumption that predispose or increase the risk for women to develop various diseases or conditions including cancer, cardiovascular or eye disease, osteoporosis and/or stroke. From these studies, Colditz has determined that specific hormone replacement therapies, for instance the addition of progestin to estrogen-based treatment regimens, are associated with a substantial increase in a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, especially among postmenopausal women. This finding has been confirmed in randomized, controlled trials and subsequent epidemiological studies that have further determined that up to 10 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in postmenopausal women are associated with combined hormone-based cancer therapies.

Similar studies have been conducted by Colditz within GUTS. This study is tailored toward investigating the risk factors among children and adolescents that predispose them to diseases such as diabetes and cancer. He has shown alcohol intake during adolescence increases a woman’s risk of premalignant breast lesions in her early adult years. The study is further focused on defining the role of a sedentary lifestyle and the growing epidemic of childhood obesity on disease occurrence and understanding how such risk factors influence adulthood predisposition to illness.

In addition to his work with the Nurses’ Health Study and GUTS, Colditz is heavily involved in cancer prevention and education and has worked to implement strategies to reduce cancer’s burden on society. He has been influential in developing an interactive web tool (www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu) that provides the public with cancer risk assessments and prevention strategies, while simultaneously educating users on the background and nature of cancer. This website has received numerous awards, including the 2008 eHealth Leadership Award for interactive media.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Colditz received his master’s and doctorate of public health degrees from Harvard University of Public Health in Boston, Mass., in 1982 and 1986, respectively. In 1998, he received his medical degree from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

Colditz has received many honors and awards, including the AACR-DeWitt S. Goodman Memorial Lectureship, a Fulbright Scholarship and the Knox Fellowship at Harvard University, the American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award, the ASPO Distinguished Achievement Award, election to membership of the Institute of Health and the American Cancer Society Cissy Hornung Clinical Research Professorship. In 2011, he was awarded the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor for cancer control research.

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Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR's 2012 Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship Goes to Mary J. C. Hendrix, Ph.D.

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The AACR will honor Mary J. C. Hendrix, Ph.D., president and scientific director of the Children’s Memorial Research Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, with the sixth annual Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lecture is presented to a scientist whose novel and significant work had or may have a far-reaching impact on the detection, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of cancer, and who embodies the dedication of the princess to multinational collaborations. Her Imperial Highness Princess Kikuko Takamatsu was instrumental in promoting cancer research and encouraging cancer scientists. She became a champion for these causes following her mother’s death from bowel cancer in 1933 at the young age of 43.

“I am honored and humbled to be the recipient of the Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship, especially having had the extraordinary privilege of meeting Princess Takamatsu and admiring her tenacious efforts toward the eradication of cancer,” Hendrix said. “Many of our scientific accomplishments were greatly enhanced through international collaborations, which the Princess Takamatsu Lectureship actively promotes.”

Hendrix’s lecture, “Targeting the Plasticity of Metastatic Tumor Cells,” will take place at 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 2 in room S100 at McCormick Place West.

Hendrix, a cell biologist, has led groundbreaking work that has helped change the way scientists understand how cancer grows and spreads, findings that hold promise for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

New blood vessels are capable of being formed from existing vessels through a process called angiogenesis. Tumors exploit this biological process as a means to foster their development and growth and to transport spreading (metastatic) cancer cells to secondary tumor locations throughout the body via the bloodstream.

This concept of tumor growth and spreading was further expanded in 1999, when Hendrix and her colleagues introduced the concept of “vasculogenic mimicry” (VM) in their study published in the American Journal of Pathology and highlighted in Science. Hendrix’s team observed that highly aggressive uveal melanomas, which develop in the eye, exhibit the ability to form vascular networks in the primary tumor, networks which had been generated by the cancer cells themselves. This discovery supported the idea that tumors possess the ability to fuel themselves by generating complex, vascular networks without the need of endothelial cells or new blood vessel formation. VM has now been reported in over 20 different cancer types, associated with aggressive phenotype.

These results, combined with subsequent studies, may help explain why some cancers often do not respond to conventional chemotherapies or why tumor growth and spread can continue despite treatment with angiogenesis inhibitors in rodent models and in humans. This hypothesis has been supported by Hendrix in her 2004 Journal of the National Cancer Institute article, which showed that the drug endostatin, along with other angiogenesis inhibitors, blocked endothelial cell-mediated formation of new blood vessels, but failed to halt the formation of vascular networks produced by treated uveal and cutaneous melanoma cells.

Subsequent studies conducted by Hendrix and her colleagues have focused on understanding the molecular driving forces behind vasculogenic mimicry. More specifically, how cell-to-cell communication, cell identity and fate, and cellular interactions within the tumor microenvironment all contribute to specific gene expression changes that lead to tumorigenesis, tumor-mediated vasculogenesis and metastasis. These studies, in addition to contributing to the understanding of cancer evolution and survival, have further highlighted the “plastic” nature of tumor cells (similar to an embryonic phenotype) and their potential to be reprogrammed, which may ultimately lead to new therapeutic opportunities against cancer.

Hendrix is a past president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and is a recipient of a prestigious MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute. An author of more than 200 scientific publications, Hendrix has received numerous awards and honors.

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Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Recognizes the Outstanding Achievements of Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D.

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Recipient of the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research

CHICAGO — Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D., is the recipient of the 2012 Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research for his outstanding work in the fields of cell and molecular biology, and cancer genetics.

The Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award, now in its 15th year, recognizes an individual scientist of international renown who has made a major scientific discovery in basic or translational cancer research.

Weinberg will give an award lecture during the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Monday, April 4 at 5:00 p.m. CT in the Skyline Ballroom of McCormick Place.

“Dr. Weinberg is a true pioneer of cancer research and an authority on the genetics of human cancer,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “His work has had a profound impact on our understanding of the role of oncogenes and suppressor genes in cancer research, and among his major findings has demonstrated how certain gene regulators contribute to metastasis.”

“The Pezcoller-AACR award is a singular honor and in receiving it, I join the ranks of a select few who have been recognized in this way over the past 15 years,” Weinberg said. “This represents a tribute to the truly extraordinary people whom I have been able to attract to my laboratory over the past three decades and more. Their qualities and achievements make it abundantly clear that the most important thing a scientist like myself can do is to recruit talented young people to his or her scientific workshop.”

Weinberg is a founding member of the Whitehead Institute and a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His most notable accomplishments to date include his discoveries of the first human oncogene, ras, capable of initiating cancer formation in normal cells and his isolation of the first tumor suppressor gene, Rb.

The Weinberg laboratory made a seminal discovery in 1979, when Weinberg and colleagues isolated DNA from mouse cells that had been transformed into tumor cells by exposure to chemical carcinogens. The researchers subsequently introduced this DNA into normal mouse fibroblasts, which proceeded to transform into tumor cells. This observation indicated that a factor existed within the isolated tumor cell DNA that was capable of causing cancer in otherwise normal cells. This factor was later discovered to be a mutated form of a cellular gene (also referred to as an oncogene or cancer-causing gene). These results laid the groundwork for subsequent research conducted by his group and helped pave the way for future biomedical research and landmark cancer discoveries.

Weinberg’s early research demonstrated that the neoplastic behavior of cancer cells can be traced to their inherent genetic material. This led to the discovery of somatic mutations, or small changes in the cell’s genetic material, that result in the formation, activation or establishment of cancer-causing genes and proteins.

The Weinberg lab is currently focusing on the molecular biology of tumorigenesis. More specifically, it is investigating how interactions between different cell types in various areas of the body lead to cancer formation, progression, invasiveness and metastasis. By understanding these fundamental processes that govern the ability of cancer to form and survive, researchers will be better able to investigate how to specifically target a patient’s cancer.

Weinberg received his doctorate in biology from MIT in 1969, and has since held research positions at the Weizmann Institute and the Salk Institute. He was one of the founding members of the MIT Center for Cancer Research in 1973. In 1982, he was appointed a professor of biology at MIT, cofounded the Whitehead Institute and published his landmark paper “Mechanism of Activation of a Human Oncogene” in the journal Nature.

He has received numerous awards including, but not limited to: Discover magazine’s Scientist of the Year award (1982); U.S. Steel Foundation Award in Microbiology (1984); Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research (1984); AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award (1996); National Medal of Science (1997); Wolf Prize in Medicine (2004); Landon-AACR Prize for Basic and Translational Cancer Research (2006); Otto Warburg Medal (2007); Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s Jill Rose Award (2008); and Science of Oncology Award from ASCO (2011).

He is also an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a member of the Institute of Medicine and the American Philosophical Society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Weinberg has authored or edited six books and more than 350 articles.

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Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Society of Surgical Oncology Names Lisa C. Paulsen Recipient of the 2012 James Ewing Layman's Award

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

The SSO Recognized Paulsen for Her Leadership of the
Entertainment Industry Foundation, Including Her Efforts in the
Creation of the “Stand Up To Cancer” Initiative

Los Angeles, CA – March 23, 2012 – The Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and its James Ewing Foundation recognized the efforts of Stand Up To Cancer’s co-founder Lisa C. Paulsen toward eradicating cancer by presenting her the SSO’s 2012 James Ewing Layman’s Award at the Society’s Annual Cancer Symposium in Orlando, Florida on March 23rd.

The James Ewing Layman’s Award is presented annually and is intended to thank and honor non-physicians for their work in support of public awareness, patient resources, or clinical or research efforts in the prevention or cure of cancer.

Lisa Paulsen is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a national philanthropic organization of the TV and film industry, founded in 1942. Under Paulsen’s leadership, EIF’s charitable budget has grown from $1.8 million to more than $160 million per year. She has recruited senior executives from all the major studios, networks, unions, guilds, and agencies as board members, and has enlisted celebrated actors as volunteers. EIF funds efforts in science and medicine, education, the environment, poverty, and other major issues facing society.

In 2008, EIF was a co-creator of the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) initiative. Since then, more than $180 million has been pledged to SU2C for research. SU2C has awarded six three-year grants to multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research “Dream Teams” and has given “Innovative Research Grants” to 26 individual young scientists for “high-risk, potentially high-reward” research rarely funded by other sources.

EIF has been a leading force in the fight against cancer for 20 years. Funds raised through EIF’s Revlon Run/Walk For Women, for example, helped fast-track the revolutionary breast cancer treatment Herceptin ®, which received FDA approval years ahead of schedule. In addition to raising funds to advance research, EIF’s Women’s Cancer Programs also raise awareness and support community programs that assist women at risk of and affected by cancer. EIF’s National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, co-founded with Katie Couric, also raises funds for cutting-edge research on all aspects of colon cancer, and promotes the life-saving value of screening and early detection.

“It was a great privilege to receive this award from such an esteemed group of surgeons, whose precision and passion save lives every day,” Paulsen said. “All of us at the Entertainment Industry Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer are grateful to and extremely supportive of the Society of Surgical Oncology’s mission and its ability to improve and consistently advance patient care. Surgical oncologists play a key role in a multidisciplinary approach to cancer research and treatment, and we’re proud to have surgeons among the members of the SU2C Dream Teams.”

ABOUT THE JAMES EWING FOUNDATION

Founded in 1970 by the Society of Surgical Oncology, the primary focus of the James Ewing Foundation is the support of education and research in surgical oncology. The Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to advancing Dr. Ewing's legacy as a researcher and clinician. Past recipients of the James Ewing Layman’s Award have included Sanford L. Weill; Mary Lasker; Laurance Rockefeller; Armand Hammer; Evelyn Lauder; Anne and Donna Gioia; Lt. Governor John C. Carney, Jr.; Paula Kim; Nancy Brinker; Don and Deidre Imus; Sec. HHS Tommy G. Thompson; and Hamilton Jordan.

ABOUT THE SOCIETY OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY

Founded in 1940, the mission of the Society of Surgical Oncology is to improve patient care by advancing the science and practice of surgical oncology worldwide. The Society is a 2,800 member organization for surgeons and health care providers dedicated to advancing and promoting the science and treatment of cancer.

ABOUT THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION

The Entertainment Industry Foundation, as a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support charitable initiatives addressing critical health, education and social issues. For more information, visit www.eifoundation.org.

ABOUT STAND UP TO CANCER

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) – a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c) (3) charitable organization – raises funds to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. SU2C facilitates collaboration among the best and the brightest in the cancer research community. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee conduct rigorous, competitive review processes through which SU2C’s grantees are selected. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C generates awareness and builds grassroots support for this new approach to ending cancer.

Stand Up To Cancer was founded by a group of media, entertainment and philanthropic leaders whose lives have been affected by cancer in significant ways. Members of SU2C’s Executive Leadership Council include Sherry Lansing, chairperson of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s (EIF) Board of Directors and founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation; EIF President and CEO Lisa Paulsen; Katie Couric; EIF Senior Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; Pam Williams, partner at Laura Ziskin Productions; and nonprofit executive Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin, a legendary film producer who executive produced the 2008 and 2010 SU2C telecasts, was also a co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer.

###

Contact:
Kathleen Lobb, EIF (onsite)
Misty Espinoza, EIF
Tel: 917-623-9743 (Lobb)
      213-240-3926 (Espinoza)
Email: klobb@eifoundation.org
          mespinoza@eifoundation.org

Contact:
Curt Mattson
Tel: 847-427-1400, ext 280
Cell: 630-730-7314
Email: curtmattson@surgeonc.org

AACR Honors Bert Vogelstein, M.D., with Distinguished Lectureship

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will award Bert Vogelstein, M.D., with the Eighth Annual AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

Vogelstein’s lecture, “Cancer genomics and their implications for research and patients,” will take place on Monday, April 2 at 3:30 p.m. CT in the Skyline Ballroom of McCormick Place.

“We congratulate Dr. Vogelstein on his paradigm-shifting research in the application of molecular biology to the study of human cancer,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “His landmark contributions have stimulated new thinking about cancer science and its potential clinical impact.”

The AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship was established in 2004 to acknowledge an individual whose outstanding innovations in science and whose position as a thought leader have the potential to inspire creative thinking and new directions in cancer research.

“When Judy Garber invited me to give this award, she said that its major purpose was to ‘inspire young investigators toward creative avenues of research.’ That purpose resonated with me, as young investigators, particularly students and post-docs, have been responsible for virtually all of the advances in cancer research, and our future is in their hands,” said Vogelstein, director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, professor of oncology and pathology and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“This lecture will give me a chance to highlight the work of the young investigators in my laboratory, and to emphasize how many opportunities there are for creative uses of the information gained from cancer genetics in the immediate future,” he added.

Vogelstein’s scientific expertise is in determining the molecular and genetic causes of cancer. In the late 1980’s, he formulated a model for the development of colorectal tumors that has formed the conceptual basis for understanding solid tumors in general. Since that time, he has devoted his career to identifying the genes and mutations predicted by his model. In the process, he, together with long-time collaborator Kenneth W. Kinzler, Ph.D., and their team, have discovered many of the genetic alterations that underlie numerous forms of human cancers, including those in such well-known genes as p53, APC, b-catenin, PIK3CA, and IDH1.

Currently, Vogelstein’s research team is interested in engineering novel ways to diagnose cancer as well as an individual’s degree of susceptibility toward developing cancer based on his or her genetics. Such techniques would allow for early detection of potentially oncogenic mutations through routine blood tests.

Vogelstein obtained his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed his internship and residency in pediatrics. During his postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, he focused his research on new techniques in molecular biology.

He has been honored with numerous awards including, but not limited to, the Young Investigator Award from the American Federation for Clinical Research, The Gairdner Foundation International Award in Science, the Pezcoller Foundation AACR-International Award for Cancer Research, the Richard Lounsbery Award from the National Academy of Sciences and the AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award. Vogelstein is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the European Molecular Biology Organization.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Lawrence H. Einhorn, M.D., Receives the 17th Annual AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Lawrence H. Einhorn, M.D., distinguished professor of medicine and the Lance Armstrong Foundation chair in oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and a physician-researcher at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Ind., will be awarded the 17th Annual AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The award is presented to a scientist who has made outstanding achievements in clinical cancer research. Einhorn’s lecture, “Curing testicular cancer: Present studies and future challenges,” is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT on April 3 in room S100 of McCormick Place South.

“I want to very graciously express my appreciation and humility at being the recipient of the Joseph Burchenal Award for Clinical Research,” said Einhorn. “Successful clinical research is never performed by one individual in a vacuum, and I have the opportunity to work with many extraordinary colleagues. I never had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with Dr. Burchenal, but he was one of my early idols in oncology.”

Einhorn’s clinical interests include solid tumor oncology, specifically within the fields of genitourinary and lung cancers. His legacy will be forever linked, however, with revolutionizing testicular cancer treatment. At one point, patients diagnosed with testicular cancer had approximately a 10 percent chance of survival when they developed metastatic disease.

Einhorn’s research drastically altered this number when he first studied platinum combination chemotherapy in patients with metastatic testicular cancer. This monumental finding has resulted in current survival rates for metastatic testicular cancer at 80 percent.

Einhorn rose to even greater prominence when he used his novel treatment paradigm to treat Lance Armstrong, cancer advocate and seven-time winner of the Tour de France. With Einhorn’s treatment, Armstrong survived stage 3 testicular cancer that initially presented with abdominal, brain and lung metastases. Like Armstrong, Einhorn remains dedicated to raising cancer awareness. He was appointed the first Lance Armstrong Foundation professor of oncology in 2006.

After receiving his medical degree from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Einhorn completed fellowships at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis. Einhorn has published more than 450 peer-reviewed articles. His work has garnered many accolades, including AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology Karnofsky Award, American Cancer Society Medal of Honor, and the General Motors Kettering Prize. In addition, Einhorn is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Philosophical Society.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(310) 528-8206

Marker of DNA Damage Could Predict Response to Platinum Chemotherapy

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Assay could direct treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer.
Accumulations of telomere AI predicted sensitivity to therapy.

PHILADELPHIA — Scientists have uncovered a marker of DNA damage that could predict who will respond to platinum-based chemotherapy drugs like cisplatin or carboplatin.

These drugs are widely used for ovarian cancer, but as with most cancer drugs, it can be difficult to predict who will respond to therapy.

A team of researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that this marker, telomeric allelic imbalance or tAI, could predict sensitivity to therapy in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

The results are published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“We currently do not have any targeted therapies for patients with triple-negative breast cancer, so if these laboratory findings are confirmed and an assay is created to predict sensitivity to drugs that target defective DNA repair, it would be a major step forward,” said lead pathologist Andrea Richardson, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Scientists have long known that DNA repair status is a predictor of sensitivity to therapy and thus prognosis. However, measurements of DNA repair status have been slow to arrive.

Richardson and colleagues looked for genomic signatures in cell lines and tumors and correlated them to platinum sensitivity.

In patients with triple-negative breast cancer, they found that a high level of subchromosomal regions with allelic imbalance extended to the telomere predicted response to cisplatin treatment. The same was true for serous ovarian cancer.

Importantly for patients with triple-negative breast cancer, researchers found an inverse relationship between the level of tAI and BRCA1 expression.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Scientists Identify New Mechanism of Prostate Cancer Cell Metabolism

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Higher levels of PFKFB4 found in metastatic prostate tumors.
Depletion of this gene inhibited tumor growth in laboratory models.
Results suggest a potential new target for therapy.

PHILADELPHIA — Cancer cell metabolism may present a new target for therapy as scientists have uncovered a possible gene that leads to greater growth of prostate cancer cells.

Study results are published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Almut Schulze, Ph.D., a group leader in the Gene Expression Analysis Laboratory at Cancer Research U.K., and colleagues analyzed three metastatic prostate cancer cell lines and compared those findings with those of a nonmalignant prostate epithelial cell line.

“Cancer metabolism is a new and emerging target that can be exploited as a potential therapeutic, and our study identified one of the components for the growth of these cancer cells,” she said.

The researchers analyzed the effects of gene silencing of 222 metabolic enzymes, transporters and regulators on the survival of the cell lines.

“This approach revealed a significant complexity in the metabolic requirements of prostate cancer cells and identified genes selectively required for their survival,” said Schulze.

Researchers determined that the gene PFKFB4 was vital in many of these processes. Specifically, it was required to balance glycolytic activity and antioxidant production to maintain cellular redox balance in the cancer cells. When levels of this gene were depleted in laboratory models, tumor growth was inhibited. Higher levels of this gene were found in the metastatic prostate cancer cell lines.

Schulze concluded that this gene is required for tumor growth and thus could be manipulated with targeted therapies. Although this study was confined to prostate cancer, she believes the findings could be applicable in other cancers as well.

The study was funded by Cancer Research U.K.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Stephen W. Fesik, Ph.D., Receives Sixth Annual AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will recognize Stephen W. Fesik, Ph.D., with the 2012 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

Fesik is the Orrin H. Ingram II chair in cancer research and professor of biochemistry, pharmacology and chemistry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. His lecture, “Drugging the undruggable using fragment-based methods,” will take place at 3:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 3, in room W196 of McCormick Place West.

“It is a great honor to be recognized by the American Association for Cancer Research, which has a history of contributing to the fight against cancer for over 100 years,” said Fesik. “I appreciate the support of my past and present colleagues who made this award possible. Using fragment-based methods, we hope to discover inhibitors against highly validated but challenging cancer targets. Every day, I am inspired by the possibility that our efforts in cancer drug discovery could dramatically improve the lives of millions that are affected by this horrible disease.”

Fesik is receiving this award for the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to discover novel, potent small molecules capable of being used as cancer therapeutics.

He was one of the first researchers to utilize NMR spectroscopy for cancer drug discovery. He developed many NMR methods and determined the three-dimensional structures of several proteins, especially proteins involved in apoptosis. In addition, through the use of his “SAR (structure-activity relationships) by NMR” method, one of the first examples of fragment-based approaches to drug discovery, several inhibitors of protein-protein interactions were discovered. One of these compounds, ABT-263 (navitoclax), is currently in clinical trials for its ability to inhibit the Bcl-2 family of proteins and subsequently initiate tumor cell death (apoptosis).

Fesik received his doctorate in medicinal chemistry from the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, Storrs, Conn., and conducted his postdoctoral work at Yale Medical School in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, New Haven, Conn. Subsequently, Fesik joined Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., where he served in various roles, including the divisional vice president of cancer research. In 2009, he joined Vanderbilt where the focus of his research is on cancer drug discovery using fragment-based methods and structure-based drug design.

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Research Team Honored for Innovative Science to Advance Cancer Research and Patient Benefit

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

A Team from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital U.K. Receives the AACR’s Sixth Annual Team Science Award

CHICAGO — The Sixth Annual AACR Team Science Award will be presented to a team of researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden Hospital: Cancer Research U.K. Cancer Therapeutics Unit and Drug Development Unit, during the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

The AACR Team Science Award recognizes an outstanding interdisciplinary research team for its innovative and meritorious scientific work that has advanced or will likely advance cancer research, detection, diagnosis, prevention or treatment. This team was selected based on its tremendous impact in preclinical and clinical studies relating to cancer therapeutics.

“This team’s research is an outstanding example of how innovative cancer research conducted by a highly functioning translational team can start with biologic hypotheses and ultimately lead to much-needed cancer therapeutics,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research. “The AACR congratulates this research team for its successes to date and looks forward to its future accomplishments that help cancer patients.”

The 2012 AACR Team Science Award will be presented during the opening ceremony on Sunday, April 1, beginning at 8:15 a.m. CT in the Skyline Ballroom of McCormick Place.

The ICR and Royal Marsden Hospital: Cancer Research U.K. Cancer Therapeutics Unit and Drug Development Unit Team, which is based in Sutton and London, U.K., has been responsible, with academic and industrial collaborators, for the discovery of 16 therapeutic drug candidates over the past six years. Six of these candidate drugs, which include highly innovative inhibitors of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B/AKT, and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), have now entered clinical trials. The 16-member team also carried out pioneering preclinical work on BRAF and its inhibitors and discovered CHK1 and dual Aurora/FLT3 inhibitors.

Led by Paul Workman, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.Med.Sci., Harrap professor of pharmacology and therapeutics and deputy chief executive at the ICR, as well as head of the division of cancer therapeutics and director of the Cancer Research U.K. Cancer Therapeutics Unit, this team’s many research accomplishments include the discovery and development of abiraterone.

This drug is used to treat castration-resistant prostate cancer by inhibiting CYP17A1, a critical enzyme required for the production of testosterone in the body. By inhibiting the enzymatic production of testosterone precursor molecules in the body, abiraterone essentially helps starve the cancer for fuel, which in this case is often testosterone or its derivative, dihyroxytestosterone.

Workman’s research team evaluated abiraterone through phase I and II clinical studies where the drug demonstrated impressive anti-tumor activity with excellent tolerability. In partnership with a biotechnology company, the team subsequently was involved in a multinational phase III study that demonstrated a survival advantage of four months following abiraterone treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved abiraterone in April 2011 for the treatment of metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer. It has also been approved by Health Canada and the European Medicines Agency.

Overall, the work carried out by this multidisciplinary team over the last six years provides an outstanding example of the nonprofit cancer drug discovery and development model that they have pioneered, as well as exemplifying a meritorious ability to collaborate productively with industry to accelerate patient benefit.

“I am proud and honored to accept this award on behalf of our team at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden,” Workman said. “The dedicated members of our multidisciplinary team are all individually experts in their respective fields of cancer biology, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry and medical oncology. This expertise is really important, but it’s also the very close collaboration between the scientists and doctors in our cancer research institute and partner hospital, as well as industry colleagues, that has really enhanced our ability to translate basic scientific research into new personalized cancer medicines.”

“This award is a great endorsement of the academic drug discovery and development model that we pioneered. Most of all we are thrilled that we have been able to make a real and ongoing impact on the lives of cancer patients,” he added.

Harpal Kumar, D.Sc., Cancer Research U.K.’s chief executive, said: “We’re delighted that Cancer Research U.K.-funded scientists have been recognized for their work in bringing more effective treatments to patients with this prestigious award. The great achievement reflects the often groundbreaking work that our researchers are leading, taking us closer to our vision of beating cancer.”

The AACR Team Science Award, generously supported by a grant from Eli Lilly and Company, is presented with the intent to stimulate change within the traditional cancer research culture by recognizing those individuals and institutions that value and foster interdisciplinary team science. The winning team collectively receives a $50,000 prize and is recognized for its scientific accomplishments and leadership role in fostering team science to advance cancer research.

Honorees include (in alphabetical order):

Bissan Al-Lazikani, Ph.D., leader of the Computational Biology and Chemogenomics Research Team;
Udai Banerji, Ph.D., Cancer Research U.K. senior clinical lecturer at the ICR and The Royal Marsden;
Julian Blagg, D.Phil., head of medicinal chemistry, deputy director of the Cancer Research U.K. Cancer Therapeutics Unit, leader of the Medicinal Chemistry 1 Research Team;
Ian Collins, Ph.D., leader of the Medicinal Chemistry 2 Research Team;
Johann S. de Bono, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Drug Development Unit and leader of Prostate Targeted Treatment Research Team;
Sue Eccles, Ph.D., leader of the Tumor Biology and Metastasis Research Team;
Michelle D. Garrett, Ph.D., leader of the Cell Cycle Control Research Team;
Swen Hoelder, Ph.D., leader of the Medicinal Chemistry 4 Research Team;
Keith Jones, Ph.D., leader of the Medicinal Chemistry 3 Research Team;
Stan Kaye, M.D., Ph.D., Cancer Research U.K. professor of medical oncology at the ICR and The Royal Marsden;
Spiros Linardopoulos, Ph.D., leader of the Target Discovery and Apoptosis Research Team;
Richard Marais, Ph.D., head of the Division of Cancer Biology and leader of the Signal Transduction Research Team;
Florence I. Raynaud, Ph.D., leader of the Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics Research Group;
Caroline J. Springer, Ph.D., leader of the Gene and Oncogene Targeting Research Team;
Rob L.M. van Montfort, Ph.D., leader of the Hit Discovery and Structural Design Research Team; and
Paul Workman, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.Med.Sci., director of the Cancer Research U.K. Cancer Therapeutics Unit at the ICR.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Maura L. Gillison, M.D., Ph.D., Receives AACR’s Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will award Maura L. Gillison, M.D., Ph.D., with the 36th Annual AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award during the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4. Gillison is receiving this award in recognition of her significant contributions to the understanding of the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in head and neck cancers.

Gillison’s award lecture, “Clinical implications of HPV in head and neck cancers,” will take place at 10 a.m. CT on Wednesday, April 4 in room S100 of the McCormick Place Convention Center.

“It is an honor to be the recipient of this award,” said Gillison. “Our team strives to generate data that will improve the lives of individuals affected by head and neck cancers, and this is a wonderful validation that we are on the right track.”

This award is designed to provide incentive to young investigators early in their careers. It was established in 1977 by the AACR and the Rosenthal Family Foundation to recognize research that has made, or promises to make, a notable contribution to improved clinical care in the field of cancer.

Gillison is a professor of medicine, epidemiology and otolaryngology and the Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio. She is also adjunct faculty at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Md. Her seminal research on the role of HPV in head and neck cancers revolutionized the specialty. Her research has demonstrated that HPV infection causes a distinct molecular, clinical and pathological subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

In a landmark case-control study, Gillison identified oral sexual behavior and HPV infection as risk factors for oropharyngeal cancer, findings that led the International Agency for Research on Cancer to formally recognize HPV-16 as a significant cause of oropharyngeal cancers.

Results of other key studies conducted by Gillison and her colleagues showed that tumor HPV status is one of the single greatest predictors of survival in head and neck cancer. As a result, multiple organizations now advocate routine HPV testing of oropharyngeal cancer patients. Clinical trial designs have also been amended to adopt HPV testing as a means by which to stratify various cancer subsets, allowing for better targeted therapies and treatment regimens. Additionally, Gillison established the gold standard of HPV diagnostic tests, currently in use within clinics nationwide. Currently, she is the principal investigator of the first phase III trial focused on HPV-positive head and neck cancers, which began enrolling patients in 2011.

Gillison has led several studies in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that have examined the effects of HPV infection on head and neck cancer at the population level. She has also been the leader in development of methods for oral HPV detection, which will facilitate the development of primary and secondary prevention strategies for the cancer she characterized.

Gillison’s work has had, and will continue to have, significant public health implications. Her group’s recent research established that HPV has been the cause of a dramatic increase in the incidence of oropharyngeal cancer in the United States during the last 20 years.

Currently, the burden of HPV-caused cancers is shifting from women to men, a trend that is anticipated to continue throughout the next decade. In 2011, such data were presented to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which now recommends that all preteen boys aged 11 to 12 be vaccinated against HPV.

# # #

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
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Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
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AACR Honors Yibin Kang, Ph.D., With Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will recognize Yibin Kang, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular biology in the department of molecular biology at Princeton University and member of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, with the 32nd Annual AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

Kang’s lecture, “Decoding tumor-stromal interactions in breast cancer metastasis,” will take place at 4:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 3, in room W196 of McCormick Place West.

“It is a privilege to receive this honor from the American Association for Cancer Research and an honor to be recognized by leaders in the field,” noted Kang. “Through continued collaboration with my distinguished colleagues, I am hopeful that we will be able to further elucidate the inner workings of cancer metastasis and apply that knowledge toward the development of targeted therapies.”

Since 1979, the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research has honored an investigator younger than 40 to recognize his or her meritorious achievements within the field of cancer research. Award recipients are nominated by their peers and are selected by the AACR International Selection Committee. Final determination is then made by the AACR’s Executive Committee.

Kang is being recognized for his research in furthering the molecular understanding of cancer metastasis. His research has defined the biological mechanisms that govern the ability of breast cancer cells to migrate and colonize various locations throughout the body. The need to understand this ability of cancer cells to metastasize and form secondary tumors is essential as these events often occur in patients, despite having received cancer treatments.

Through the use of imaging techniques and various mouse models, Kang has discovered that certain tumor proteins are capable of altering the biological activities of various bone cells to facilitate metastasis. One such protein, JAG1 or “Jagged1,” promotes secondary tumor formation by stimulating tumor-promoting cellular responses in bone cells, causing the eventual degradation of the bone tissue. This allows for the establishment of a more suitable environment for metastatic cancer cells to grow. Kang’s goal is to better understand how cancer cells are able to populate areas of the body away from primary cancer locations so that better treatments can be designed to counteract such occurrences.

Kang received his doctorate in genetics from Duke University in Durham, N.C. He conducted postdoctoral work at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, N.Y., and joined the faculty of Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., in 2004.

He has published more than 60 novel research articles, and has received numerous awards including the AIMM-ASBMR John Haddad Young Investigator Award and the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award. He was one of five individuals to receive the prestigious 2006 Department of Defense Era of Hope Scholar Award. Last year, Kang received the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Sciences, a prestigious award honoring young immigrant scientists who have demonstrated exceptional creativity and originality in the early stages of their careers in the United States.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Awards 44 Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Awards

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research is awarding 44 Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Awards at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The award, now in its 27th year, is intended to enhance the education and training of minority researchers and increase the visibility and recognition of minorities involved in cancer research. It provides funds for the participation of early-career, meritorious minority scientists at the Annual Meeting. Scholars are chosen from minority institutions and the larger bodies of universities, colleges and research institutions based on their qualifications, references from mentors and an estimation of the professional benefit to the awardees.

The award is sponsored by a grant from the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. Additionally, Merck Oncology has agreed to provide support to fund the participation of young minority investigators.

The recipients of the 2012 Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Awards include:

Maria M. Abreu, B.S., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #4978. The C/EBPbeta isoform, liver-enriched inhibitory protein (LIP) induces cell death in breast cancer cell lines;
Lauren Amable, Ph.D., University of South Alabama, Mobile, Ala.
Abstract #5613. A specific isoform of Gli1 binds the Gli-binding-site of the c-jun and c-fos promoters;
Ernest K. Amankwah, Ph.D., H. Lee Moffitt Cancer & Research Center, Tampa, Fla.
Abstract #2615. Genetic variations in angiogenesis-related genes in prostate cancer recurrence;
Oluwatoyin A. Asojo, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Neb.
Abstract #4746. Structural studies of human glioma pathogenesis-related protein 1 (GLIPR1);
Tameka A. Bailey, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Neb.
Abstract #1221. Microscopy-based high throughput screen for the mechanistic analyses of ErbB2 degradation in response to HSP90-targeted therapeutics;
Erica N. Bozeman, B.E., Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #3537. Manipulation of local and systemic immune suppression by GPI-anchored immune stimulatory proteins;
Rebecca Joyce Burkhalter, B.S., University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
Abstract #2472. Peritoneal mechanobiology and metastatic success in epithelial ovarian cancer;
Linette Castillo-Pichardo, Ph.D., Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Abstract #2142. Dietary grape polyphenol resveratrol regulates Rac activity to increase mammary tumor growth and metastasis;
Tainya C. Clarke, M.P.H., University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Fla.
Abstract #3577. A decade of changed behavior: Trends in screening adherence and incidence 2000-2010;
Shahnjayla K. Connors, Ph.D., M.P.H., H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Fla.;
Leah M. Cook, Ph.D., University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
Abstract #3416. Ubiquitous Brms1 expression is critical for mammary carcinoma metastasis suppression via promotion of apoptosis;
Rachel Cooper, M.S., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #2114. Trypanosoma brucei: A model to evaluate joint contribution of BRCA2 and PARP in DNA damage repair;
Valerie A. Cortez, B.S., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
Abstract #3294. A novel inducible mammary gland-specific PELP1 murine breast cancer model;
Zobeida Cruz-Monserrate, Ph.D., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Abstract #2357. Novel transgenic animal model of salivary gland tumors;
Alejandra De Angulo, B.S., University of Texas at Austin, DPRI, Austin, Texas
Abstract #3553. Modulation of pro-inflammatory signaling pathways by aging T-lymphocytes contributes to a more malignant phenotype in prostate epithelial cells;
Romone M. Fancy, B.S., University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
Abstract #4754. Quantitative characterization of calmodulin and Fas death domain interactions;
Lauren L. Fonseca, B.S., University of Hawai'i Kaka’ako Campus, Honolulu, Hawaii
Abstract #2144. RasGRp1 induces autophagy in primary epidermal keratinocytes resembling fail-safe mechanisms triggered by oncogenic Ras;
Kyle E. Francis, M.S., Institution of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Edinburgh, U.K.
Abstract #3642. Phospho-CHK1 as a prognostic biomarker in ovarian cancer and a potential target in platinum-resistant disease;
Evan Gomes, Ph.D., MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando Cancer Research Institute, Orlando, Fla.
Abstract #2859. Dual targeting of protein tyrosine kinase c-Src and protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 is a novel therapeutic strategy that induces potent inhibition of pancreatic cancer cell viability in vitro and tumor progression in vivo;
Engda Hagos, Ph.D., Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y.
Abstract #2028. Krüppel-like factor 4 null mouse embryonic fibroblasts exhibit DNA repair defects post exposure to gamma-irradiation;
Chanae R. Hardamon, B.S., University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.
Abstract #5228. Inhibition of myeloid cell PI3Kγ is a potential therapeutic approach to treat pancreatic cancer;
Ashley C. Huderson, B.S., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #5459. Benzo(a)pyrene biotransformation enzyme expression, activities and metabolite disposition in ApcMin mouse colon and liver is altered by resveratrol exposure;
Tiffany A. Katz, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Abstract #1052. Synergy between inhibition of novel histone demethylase (LSD2) and DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) in modulating gene expression and inhibiting growth in human breast cancer cells;
Laurimer Kuilan-Torres, B.S., University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Abstract #3078. Effects of neuregulins in the regulation of EGFR in breast cancer cell lines;
Taoreed O. Lawal, B.S., Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #2890. Image-guided transcatheter intra-arterial drug delivery of doxorubicin encapsulated iron oxide nanoparticles to liver tumors: safety and feasibility;
Stephania Libreros, B.S., Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Fla.
Abstract #1393. Chitinase-3-like-1 protein overexpression in lung epithelial cells enhances breast cancer metastasis to the lung;
Florencia McAllister, M.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
Abstract #2968. TH17 cells in early pancreatic tumorigenesis;
Lauren E. McCullough, M.S.P.H., University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Abstract #2601. Polymorphisms in oxidative stress genes, physical activity and breast cancer risk;
Tanisha Z. McGlothen, B.S., Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #785. Leptin-Notch-Wnt axis affects drug resistance in breast cancer;
Melania E. Mercado-Pimentel, Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
Abstract #2398. S100P/RAGE signaling activates AP1 and NF-kB in miR-21/RECK regulation;
Diana M. Merino, M.S., Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Abstract #2479. TP53 status as a marker of recurrence and survival in choroid plexus carcinomas;
Shermaine K. Mitchell-Ryan, M.S., Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Mich.
Abstract #3822. A tumor-targeted 5-pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine antifolate is a potent inhibitor of 5-amino-4-carboxamide formyltransferase in de novo purine biosynthesis;
Sylvestor A. Moses, M.S., University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Ariz.
Abstract #3752. Nanoparticles delivery of a novel AKT/PDK1 inhibitor inhibits pancreatic cancer tumor growth;
Bethsaida I. Nieves, Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
Abstract #204. Molecular function of the RNA binding protein EWS in RNA processing;
Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi, Ph.D., University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
Abstract #2413. Human glypican-3 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression via induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition;
Trenis D. Palmer, B.S., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #4217. Engaging CD151 inhibits cell migration and metastasis through a novel mechanism involving the cell adhesion molecule ALCAM/CD166;
Deanna M. Patmore, B.S., Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Abstract #1433. TC21/R-Ras2 is a critical mediator of the Nf1 oncogenic switch;
Bethany Kristen Rankin, B.S., University at Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.
Abstract #3901. Estrogen receptor conformation-sensing small molecules as novel anticancer agents;
Zeyana S. Rivera, Ph.D., University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Abstract #2514. CSPG4 as a target of antibody-based immunotherapy for malignant mesothelioma;
Raysa Rosario Acevedo, B.S., Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Abstract #1992. Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) induces autophagy in inflammatory breast cancer by regulation of the mTOR signaling pathway;
Jennifer M. Rothberg, B.S., Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Mich.
Abstract #2467. Acidic pericellular pH increases contribution of cathepsin B to invasiveness of a human breast carcinoma cell line;
Sabrina L. Samudio-Ruiz, Ph.D., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.
Abstract #4083. Increased DNA methyltransferase activity and DNA methylation following epidermal growth factor stimulation in ovarian cancer cells;
Francisco J. Sánchez-Rivera, B.S., David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
Abstract #2957. Uncovering tumor-specific components of the p53 pathway using mouse models and RNAi; and
Cherease R. Street, B.S., City University of New York Medical School, New York, N.Y.
Abstract #3891. NOSH-aspirin, a novel nitric oxide- and hydrogen sufide-releasing hybrid is a potent inhibitor of colon cancer cell growth.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Congratulates 35 Recipients of the Minority-serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Awards

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will recognize leaders in the minority cancer community with the Minority-serving Institution Faculty Scholars in Cancer Research Awards. The 35 recipients will be honored at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The Minority-serving Institution Faculty Scholars in Cancer Research Awards are given to scientists who are working at the level of assistant professor or above at a minority-serving institution and who are engaged in meritorious basic, clinical, translational or epidemiological cancer research. Minority-serving institutions include historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, American Indian tribally controlled colleges and universities, and other post-secondary institutions defined as minorities-serving by the U.S. Department of Education.

The award is intended to increase the scientific knowledge base of faculty members at minority-serving institutions, to encourage them in their research and to assist in inspiring their students to pursue careers in cancer research. It is supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities.

The recipients of the 2012 Minority-serving Institution Faculty Scholars in Cancer Research Awards include:

Tiffany W. Ardley, Ph.D., Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy, Tallahassee, Fla.
Abstract #3903. Synthesis of substituted N-{4-[(2-hydroxyethyl)sulfanyl]-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2h)-yl} benzamide/benzenesulfonamide as anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents;
Zhenbang Chen, Ph.D., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.;
Mahavir B. Chougule, Ph.D., University of Hawaii at Hilo College of Pharmacy, Hilo, Hawaii
Abstract #5644. Targeted nanocarriers of siRNA for the treatment of cancer;
Laronna S. Colbert, M.D., Morehouse School of Medicine, Decatur, Ga.
Abstract #80. Differential expression of NILCO reveals pathogenesis of human breast cancer;
Oswald D'Auvergne, Ph.D., Southern University, Baton Rouge, La.
Abstract #280. Genetics and functions of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) glycoproteins in virion egress, infectivity and tumorigenesis;
Sakina E. Eltom, D.V.M., Ph.D., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #698. Overexpression of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor correlates with high tumor grade in human breast invasive carcinomas;
Tamar Ginossar, Ph.D., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.;
Shanchun Guo, Ph.D., M.D., Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #5297. Autocrine stimulation of VEGFR-2 by leptin is associated with Notch signaling pathway and cancer stem cell marker expression;
Cimona V. Hinton, Ph.D., Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #538. ROS differentially regulates prostate cancer cell survival;
Offiong F. Ikpatt, M.D., Ph.D., University of Miami, Miramar, Fla.;
Efe Williams Iyamu, M.D., Ph.D., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #1627. Chloroquine-induced inhibition of Arginase-1 promotes the nuclear localization of p53 in colon cancer cell lines;
Kimberly M. Jackson, Ph.D., Spelman College, Atlanta, Ga.;
Khosrow Kashfi, Ph.D., City University of New York Medical School, New York, N.Y.
Abstract #3898. NOSH compounds: Nitric oxide- and hydrogen sulfide-releasing hybrids, a new class of anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals;
Dae Joon Kim, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
Abstract #2537. UVB irradiation induces nuclear translocation of TC-PTP in keratinocytes;
Lilia Kucheryavykh, Ph.D., University Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Abstract #318. Microglia promote glioma cell migration through a Pyk2 signaling pathway;
Nazarius Lamango, Ph.D., Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fla.
Abstract #1843. Overexpression of polyisoprenylated methylated protein methyl esterase in triple-negative breast cancer;
TinChung Leung, Ph.D., North Carolina Central University, Kannapolis, N.C.
Abstract #4255. Natural product ginger promotes hematopoietic recovery;
Magaly Martinez-Ferrer, Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Abstract #590. Andrographolide suppresses prostate cancer cell migration and alters the expression of vimentin, ZO-1 and MMP-11;
Amosy E. M'Koma, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #2058. Macrophage engulfment of erythrocytes releases free heme iron, a possible transforming factor in ulcerative colitis-related colorectal cancer;
Shane Young Morita, M.D., University of Hawaii/The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Abstract #3591. Triple-negative (c-KIT, BRAF, NRAS) acral lentiginous melanoma in Hawaii: Molecular profiling in a multi-ethnic population;
Valerie Odero-Marah, Ph.D., Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #5332. Snail transcription factor contributes to prostate cancer tumor progression via reactive oxygen species and Rac1 activation;
Yvette C. Paulino, Ph.D., University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam;
Carlos Perez-Stable, Ph.D., University of Miami VA Medical Center, Miami, Fla.
Abstract #4679. Betulinic acid inhibits deubiquitinases to increase the degradation of pro-survival proteins and enhance prostate cancer-specific apoptosis;
James E. Raynor Jr., Ph.D., Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, N.C.;
Checo J. Rorie, Ph.D., North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, N.C.
Abstract #4908. The apoptotic response of the triple-negative breast cancer cell line HCC1806 to chemotherapeutics;
Pothana Saikumar, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas;
Amos M. Sakwe, Ph.D., Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #5313. Sustained hypercalcemia primes noninvasive breast cancer cells for metastasis to high-calcium microenvironments;
Rajesh Singh, Ph.D., Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #3649. Expression of CXCR5 and its natural ligand CXCL13 in ovarian cancer;
Shailesh Singh, Ph.D., Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
Abstract #586. Withaferin-A inhibits prostate tumor growth by enhancing antitumor immune response;
Rajeshwar Rao Tekmal, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
Abstract #5753. Potential therapeutic use of ER beta modulators in treating endocrine therapy-resistant breast cancers;
Marta Torroella-Kouri, Ph.D., University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Fla.
Abstract #398. Tumor microenvironment imposes major alterations and profoundly shapes functional status of macrophages: Peritoneal and tumor-associated macrophages from tumor hosts are two very different subpopulations;
Pablo E. Vivas-Mejía, Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Abstract #1105. MicroRNAs and their target genes promote cisplatin resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer cells;
Leslie G. Wooten-Blanks, Ph.D., Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C.;
Huan Xie, Ph.D., Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas
Abstract #2889. Development of a novel nanoconstruct for tumor hypoxia photothermal therapy; and
XiaoHe Yang, Ph.D., M.D., North Carolina Central University, Kannapolis, N.C.
Abstract #548. Erythropoietin promotes mammary tumor development in MMTV-erbB-2 transgenic mice.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Awards 34 Students the AACR-Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award for Undergraduate Students

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research will recognize 34 recipients of the AACR-Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award for Undergraduate Students at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The primary purpose of the Bardos award is to inspire science students at the undergraduate level to enter the field of cancer research.

The AACR is committed to promoting the education and training of the next generation of dedicated scientists, and to facilitating and nurturing their careers in cancer research or cancer-related biomedical science. Since its founding in 1997, AACR Science Education Awards have been supported by generous annual contributions from a distinguished member of the AACR, Dr. Thomas J. Bardos, Ph.D. His contributions are subsequently matched by those of the AACR. The National Cancer Institute Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities generously provides additional funding to support the participation of underrepresented minority students.

The recipients of the 2011-2012 AACR-Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award for Undergraduate Students include:

Jeff Chen, University of California Davis, Davis, Calif.;
Benjamin W. Dulken, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
Abstract #4770. Delivery of doxorubicin to multi-drug resistant murine xenografts via drug-loaded micelles formed from mixtures of amphiphilic triblock copolymers;
Aurian P. Garcia-Gonzalez, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico;
Allison Gomez, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, Calif.;
Kelsey Gray, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Abstract #103. DCPS as a cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma susceptibility gene;
Akash Gupta, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.;
Nisan M. Hubbard, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.;
Thomas M. Kaffenberger, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio;
Steve L. Lu, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas;
Ashwathi S. Mohan, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas;
Melony A. Ochieng, North Carolina Central University, Durham, N.C.;
Emily E. Ortega, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.;
Daniel W. Sharp, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah;
Daniel C. Sotelo, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.;
Ken Tanaka, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan;
Christopher A. Walker, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.; and
Lian Zhu, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Abstract #2139. RhoC is a determinant of metastatic potential and affects the abundance of breast cancer stem cells.

The recipients of the 2012-2013 AACR-Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award for Undergraduate Students include:

Grace C. Blitzer, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis.
Abstract #2352. Molecular profiles of head and neck cancer tumorgrafts;
Sara K. Coulup, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colo.
Abstract #4745. Multivalent dendrimeric peptides as new biomarker probes for the detection of cancer metastasis;
Victoria E. Deneke, Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, Notre Dame, Ind.
Abstract #2183. Determining the functional roles of the specific isoforms of ARID3B from cellular localizations;
Lois M. Dodson, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.;
Jerry Fong, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.
Abstract #1457. Valproic acid enhances radiation therapy by protecting normal hippocampal neurons and sensitizing malignant glioblastoma cells;
Wenji Guo, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Abstract #4322. Iron increases the invasiveness of prostate cancer cells in vitro: Mechanisms and inhibition by the antioxidant ebselen;
Selena Kuo, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.
Abstract #3378. Metformin protects head and neck cancer stem cells against DNA damage-induced apoptosis;
Russell J. Ledet, Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, La.
Abstract #5735. Synthesis and characterization of PEG-ylated porphyrins for targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor in colorectal cancer detection;
Daniel O. Macaulay, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas
Abstract #4773. Synergistic effects of chitosan and docosahexanoic acid on osteopontin expression and secretion in an ovarian cancer cell line, SKOV-3
Abstract #3931. Progesterone and estrogen affect the expression and secretion of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) in RL95-2 cells, an endometrial cancer cell line;
Clarissa R. Martins, University of Nevada, Reno, Nev.
Abstract #5440. Upregulation of prostaglandin E2 and TGF-alpha by linoleic acid enhances pro-oncogenic signaling in models of human lung and breast cancer;
Gael R. Nicolas, University of South Florida, Tampa, Fla.
Abstract #2897. Preferential drug delivery to cancer cells than to normal cells by using the Niosome-Chitosan Thermo-Responsive Double Package System (NCTR-DPS);
Elham Rahimy, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, Calif.
Abstract #422. Nanog promotes PI3K/Akt and mTOR-mediated invasion in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma;
John L. Robinson, University of South Florida, Tampa, Fla;
Connie R. Shi, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Abstract #5622. Effect of novel RhoC inhibitor on breast cancer progression and metastasis in vivo;
Ronald F. Siebenaler, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio;
Helen Unger, Yeshiva University, New York, N.Y.
Abstract #2253. New targets of mTORC1 pathway in ER-positive cells; and
Jimmy N. Vo, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
Abstract #1535. Intratumoral chitosan/interleukin-12 immunotherapy reduces breast cancer metastasis.

# # #

AACR Welcomes New Members to the Board of Directors and Nominating Committee

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The members of the American Association for Cancer Research will welcome Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., as president-elect 2012-2013 on Monday, April 2, at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held in Chicago, Ill. from March 31 - April 4.

Sawyers is chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Additionally, he is a professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Program and the Department of Medicine at the Joan & Sanford Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University. He will serve for one year as AACR president, beginning in April 2013.

“Dr. Sawyers is a tremendous asset to the AACR and the cancer research community. His extraordinary experience in translational and clinical research will be extremely valuable to the AACR as we continue to accelerate the translation of exciting basic research for the benefit of cancer patients. The AACR is excited to welcome him on board,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR.

Sawyers’ vision statement for his term emphasized his great concern about the federal budget for cancer research and his desire to work with the AACR and its members to raise awareness among its nation’s political leaders and general public about the importance to public health.

“We must educate our leaders, and the public, that this is absolutely the wrong time to compromise on cancer research funding,” he said. “Our voices must be heard, and the American Association for Cancer Research is uniquely poised to coordinate on this outcry. It is time to bring this issue to the forefront through a highly coordinated, worldwide plan to ‘occupy’ cancer research.” (Read more about Charles L. Sawyers, M.D.)

In addition, the members have elected five distinguished scientists to serve on the AACR Board of Directors for the 2012 to 2015 term: Kenneth C. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D. (hon.); Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D.; Michelle M. Le Beau, Ph.D.; Benjamin G. Neel, M.D., Ph.D.; and Karen H. Vousden, Ph.D.

Kenneth C. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D. (hon.), is the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine, vice chair of the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine and research associate of the Center for Blood Research at Harvard Medical School. Anderson is also the director of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics, director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, medical director of the Blood Component Laboratory, attending physician of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Service, associate professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, associate medical director at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Blood Bank and an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass.

He currently serves as a member of the AACR’s Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee, the Task Force on Regulatory Science and Policy and the Clinical and Translational Cancer Research Committee. Anderson has served as co-chairperson of the AACR Annual Meeting Program Committee, co-chairperson and member of the Scientific Program Committee for the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics and a member of the Team Science Award Committee. He is an editorial board member for Molecular Cancer Therapeutics and is editor-in-chief of Clinical Cancer Research, both of which are journals of the AACR.

Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., is director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center in Boston, Mass., professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Division of Signal Transduction at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Cantley currently serves as co-editor-in-chief for the AACR’s newest journal, Cancer Discovery, along with Jose Baselga, M.D., Ph.D. He is a member of the AACR’s Council of Scientific Advisors, the Special Conferences Committee and the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research Committee, and was a member of the AACR Outstanding Achievement Award for Breast Cancer Research Committee. Cantley served as a member and co-chairperson of the Annual Meeting Program Committee and the Scientific Committee of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. He was chairperson of the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research Committee, co-chairperson of the special conference Targeting the PI3-Kinase Pathway in Cancer and co-chairperson of the AACR-ASH Workshop on PI3-Kinase: A Common Pathway for Hematologic Malignancies and Solid Tumors.

He is the leader of the Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team: “Targeting the PI3K Pathway”; Sawyers, newly elected president-elect of the AACR, is the co-leader of this initiative. AACR is a scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer.

Michelle M. Le Beau, Ph.D., is the Arthur and Marian Edelstein Professor in the department of medicine, section of hematology/oncology, director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and director of the Cancer Cytogenetics Laboratory at the University of Chicago.

Le Beau is a member of the AACR’s Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee and has previously served as a member of the AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship Committee, the Publications Committee and the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research Committee. She is vice president of the Association of American Cancer Institutes.

Benjamin G. Neel, M.D., Ph.D., is director of the Ontario Cancer Institute at University Health Network, which includes The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute at Princess Margaret Hospital. He is also a professor in the department of medical biophysics at the University of Toronto and holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in signal transduction and disease.

Neel is the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 Committee chairperson and a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery. His other involvement with the AACR includes: chairperson and member on the Annual Meeting Program Committee, and a member of the Scientific Review Committee for the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics and the Laboratory Research Awards Committee. He also served as an editorial board member of Cell Growth and Differentiation.

Karen H. Vousden, Ph.D., is director of the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, Scotland.

She is currently a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery, a co-chairperson of the Annual Meeting Program Committee and a Steering Committee member of the Council of Scientific Advisors. She is also a member of Molecular Cancer Research’s editorial board and a member of the AACR’s International Affairs Committee. Vousden has served as a member on the following AACR committees: Annual Meeting Education Committee, Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research Committee, the Task Force on Aging and Cancer and the Scientific Review Committee of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.

On Monday, April 2, at 12:30 p.m. CT, during the AACR Annual Meeting Business Meeting, the AACR leadership will induct Frank McCormick, Ph.D., F.R.S., D.Sc. (hon.), as president of the AACR.

McCormick is the director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He holds the E. Dixon Heise distinguished professorship in oncology and the David A. Wood distinguished professorship of tumor biology and cancer research at UCSF. Additionally, he is the associate dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and a distinguished professor in residence in the department of microbiology and immunology as well as in the department of biochemistry and biophysics.

McCormick will succeed Judy E. Garber, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate physician of medicine and attending physician of medical service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass.

Garber served with distinction as AACR president for the 2011 to 2012 term and will assume the role of past-president (2012-2013).

In addition, the following renowned scientists have been elected to serve as members of the Nominating Committee for the 2012 to 2014 term: Chi Van Dang, M.D., Ph.D.; Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D.; Matthew L. Meyerson, M.D., Ph.D.; and Martine F. Roussel, Ph.D.

Chi Van Dang, M.D., Ph.D., is director of the Abramson Cancer Center and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. He is also a professor of medicine and the John H. Glick professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

He is currently a scientific editor of Cancer Discovery, an editorial board member for Cancer Research and a member of the Publications Committee and the Science Education Committee. He has served as a co-chairperson for the special conference Pancreatic Cancer: Advances and Challenges and the Annual Meeting Program Committee, a member of the AACR Team Science Award Committee, a session chairperson for the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics and as senior editor and associate editor for Cancer Research.

Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., is the Distinguished University Professor and co-chair in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, and associate director for therapeutics at the Albert Einstein Cancer Center in New York, N.Y. She is also the Rose C. Falkenstein professor of cancer research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y.

Horwitz is an AACR past president and currently serves as a member on the Council of Scientific Advisors. She was a chairperson of the AACR’s Translational Cancer Medicine Meeting; co-chairperson of the educational workshop Translational Cancer Research for Basic Scientists, the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research Committee and the AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development; and served as faculty for the Scientist↔Survivor Program at the AACR 2009 Annual Meeting. She was a member on numerous AACR committees and the Board of Directors.

Matthew L. Meyerson, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, director of the Center for Cancer Genome Discovery and professor of pathology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.

Meyerson is currently a member on the AACR Special Conferences Committee and the 2012 Annual Meeting Education Committee, and is a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery. He has served as a co-chairperson or chairperson for the AACR-Japanese Cancer Association Joint Conference, Cancer Genomics, Epigenomics and the Development of Novel Therapeutics; the AACR International Conference on New Horizons in Cancer Research: Biology to Prevention to Therapy; and the AACR International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Joint Conference, The Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer.

Martine F. Roussel, Ph.D., is a full member in the departments of genetics and tumor cell biology, co-chair of the Cancer Center Signal Transduction Program and endowed chair in molecular oncogenesis at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and is a professor in the department of molecular sciences at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, Tenn.

Roussel is currently an editorial board member of Molecular Cancer Research. She has served as a chairperson and member of the AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship Committee, co-chairperson and member of the Annual Meeting Program Committee and chairperson of the G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award Committee. Roussel was a member of the Laboratory Research Awards Committee, the Scientific Review Committee of the AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development, the Annual Meeting Education Committee and the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research Committee, and served as an editorial board member and associate editor for Cancer Research.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Elects Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., as President-elect 2012-2013

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The members of the American Association for Cancer Research have elected Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., as their president-elect for 2012-2013. Sawyers is chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Additionally, he is a professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Program and the Department of Medicine at the Joan & Sanford Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University.

In his new role, Sawyers will work collaboratively with the AACR Board of Directors and the 34,000-plus membership to further the AACR’s mission to accelerate progress in the prevention and cure of cancer. He will officially become president-elect on Monday, April 2, at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held in Chicago, Ill. from March 31 - April 4, and will assume the presidency in April 2013.

“I am deeply honored to serve as president-elect of the AACR,” said Sawyers. “We are in the midst of a transformative decade in cancer research, with many new therapies emerging from our work that are improving the lives of cancer patients around the world. Yet we are at risk of failing to realize this full vision due to the economic challenges faced by our nation. Now is not the time to cut our investment in cancer research. I will work with the outstanding staff of the AACR to get this important message to the leadership in Washington.”

“Dr. Sawyers’ research has revolutionized the cancer therapeutics landscape,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “We are thrilled that an esteemed expert in clinical and translational research has been elected to serve as the next AACR president-elect. Dr. Sawyers shares in the AACR’s goal to bring a renewed commitment to increased, sustained funding for cancer research, and we know that he will lead the association with much vigor and commitment to make cancer research funding a higher national priority.”

A member of the AACR since 1998, Sawyers has demonstrated his dedication to the AACR through his extensive leadership and involvement in the association. He is a scientific editor of Cancer Discovery and was associate editor for Cancer Research (2000-2004), all of which are journals of the AACR.

Among his many accolades, he was keynote speaker (2009) and scientific committee co-chairperson (2003) of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, co-chairperson of the AACR’s special conferences Targeting the PI3 Kinase Pathway in Cancer (2008) and Emerging Concepts in Oncology (2006), and was chairperson of the AACR’s educational workshop Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology (2005-2007). Sawyers has also served as a member of the AACR Board of Directors, the Nominating Committee, the Council of Scientific Advisors, and the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Committee.

Among his extensive service to the field of cancer research, Sawyers is past president of the American Society of Clinical Investigation; served on the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Councilors; and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.

Sawyers has received numerous accolades for his clinical and translational research, including the AACR Richard & Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award, the Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research, the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, the ASCO David A. Karnofsky Award and the Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.
His research efforts are currently centered on investigating the signaling pathways that drive the growth of cancer cells, with an eye toward designing new treatment options for patients. In collaboration with Brian Druker, M.D., at Oregon Health Sciences University, he developed the ABL kinase inhibitor imatinib as a primary therapy for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Shortly thereafter, his group discovered that resistance to imatinib is caused by BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations.

He worked closely with John Kuriyan, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, to examine the structural consequences of these mutations on the ABL kinase domain and postulated that second-generation ABL kinase inhibitors that bind to ABL differently from imatinib might retain activity against imatinib-resistant mutants. In collaboration with scientists at Bristol-Myers Squibb, his research showed that the dual Src/Abl inhibitor dasatinib has such properties in preclinical models, then co-led the clinical development of dasatinib as a treatment for imatinib-resistant CML.

Subsequently, he found that dasatinib resistance occurs through additional, novel BCR-ABL mutations, some of which remain sensitive to imatinib, making a strong case for combined ABL kinase inhibitor treatment to prevent the emergence of resistant subclones. Sawyers’ work in prostate cancer defined upregulation of androgen receptor signaling as the primary mechanism of resistance to hormone therapy, resulting in the discovery of the antiandrogen MDV3100 in collaboration with Michael Jung, that was recently shown to prolong survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer.

Additionally, in 2009, Sawyers was named a co-leader of the Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team: “Targeting the PI3K Pathway.” Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., serves as leader. The AACR is a scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer. This Dream Team is a collaborative group of researchers investigating targeted therapies to treat women’s cancers.

Sawyers received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1985. Three years later he completed residency training at the University of California, San Francisco, and joined the fellowship program of the division of hematology-oncology at UCLA. In 1993, Sawyers became an assistant professor at UCLA, and three years later was appointed associate chief of basic research and director of the Hematopoietic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplant Program. In 2002, he was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Sawyers joined Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 2006 to chair the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7109
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Awards 30 Women in Cancer Research Scholars

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research is awarding 30 Women in Cancer Research scholars at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.

The annual award provides funding for the participation of early-career members of the AACR’s Women in Cancer Research membership group who are presenting scientific papers at this year’s AACR Annual Meeting. This year’s recipients were chosen following a highly competitive selection process. Scholars are selected on the basis of their qualifications, references from mentors and an estimation of the potential professional benefit to the awardees. There were nearly 250 applicants this year and these recipients truly represent the best and brightest young scientists.

Merck Oncology and the William H. Pruscoff Foundation have provided additional support to fund the participation of these young investigators in this year’s AACR Annual Meeting. The 2012 Women in Cancer Research scholars are:

Stacey J. Adam, Ph.D., Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
Abstract #4879. Distinct roles of p53 and p19ARF in MYC-dependent tumor oncogene addiction;
Anna M. Azarova, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
Abstract #2935. The ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor Torin2 enhances sensitivity of the ALK F1174L mutation to crizotinib in neuroblastoma;
Paloma Bragado, Ph.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
Abstract #5234. Microenvironmental signals dictate disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) fate through regulation of TGFβII and p38α;
Andrea N. Burnett-Hartman, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wash.
Abstract #1673. BRAF mutation is associated with large, proximal sessile serrated polyps, but not with adenomas;
Zafira Castano, Ph.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
Abstract #4861. Triple-negative breast cancers establish a systemic environment that drives malignant progression of otherwise indolent disseminated tumors via EGF and IGF;
Katherine L. Cook, Ph.D., Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Abstract #4995. Glucose-regulated protein 78 regulates crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy to determine anti-estrogen responsiveness;
Catherine A. Del Vecchio, B.A., Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
Abstract #10. Oncogenic variant EGFRvIII defines a hierarchy in glioblastoma and expression is restricted by epigenetic mechanisms despite the presence of gene amplification;
Lissette Delgado-Cruzata, Ph.D., Columbia University School of Public Health, New York, N.Y.
Abstract #4482. Effects of lifestyle modification on global DNA methylation in minority breast cancer survivors;
Emily M. Fox, Ph.D., Vanderbilt-Ingram Comprehensive Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #4825. Inhibition of AKT abrogates resistance to endocrine therapy in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer;
Joan T. Garrett, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Abstract #3867. Dual blockade of HER2 in HER2-overexpressing tumor cells does not eliminate HER3 function completely: Clinical implications;
Xiaolan Guo, M.D., Ph.D., University of Minnesota Hormel Institute, Austin, Minn.
Abstract #1173. AKT-mTOR pathway mediates mutant p53 gain-of-function by inhibiting autophagy;
Karin G. Hermans, Ph.D., University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Abstract #3330. Functional characterization of microRNAs identified in human acute myeloid leukemia stem cells;
Christine How, B.S., University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Abstract #2311. MicroRNA-196b regulates HOXB7 in cervical cancer;
Andrea L. Kasinski, Ph.D., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Abstract #2950. miR-34 prevents in vivo lung tumor initiation and progression in the therapeutically resistant Kras;p53 mouse model;
Kate Lawrenson, Ph.D., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
Abstract #2928. Functional effects of SNPs in noncoding RNAs at the 3q25 ovarian cancer susceptibility locus;
Vivian S. W. Li, Ph.D., Hubrecht Institute, Utrecht, Netherlands
Abstract #983. Wnt pathway activation involves inhibition of β-catenin ubiquitination within the endogenous Axin1 complex;
Monica Mann, B.S., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
Abstract #5628. Novel cell permeable peptide inhibitors of PELP1 oncogenic functions;
Tapati Mazumdar, Ph.D., The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
Abstract #898. Hedgehog signaling (HH/Gli) transcriptionally regulates hTERT gene expression in human cancer cells;
Ying Ni, M.S., The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
Abstract #1120. α-Tocopherol protects cells from lipid peroxidation and rescues tumorigenic phenotypes in CS/CSL patients with germline SDHx variants;
Mukti Parikh, M.S., Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
Abstract #3306. A novel reconstructed metastasis (rMet) model to understand the role of breast cancer stem cells in metastasis;
Ruth Perets, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
Abstract #3292. A genetically engineered mouse model for high grade serous “ovarian” carcinoma arising in the fallopian tube;
Aparna Rao, M.S., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Abstract #4399. Immunostimulatory effects of HSP90 inhibition: Insights from combinational immunotherapies targeting EphA2;
Jaya Sangodkar, B.S., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
Abstract #1885. Targeting the FOXO1/KLF6 transcriptional network to modulate response to antiEGFR-based therapy;
Raphaela Schwentner, M.Sc., Children's Cancer Research Institute, Vienna, Austria
Abstract #2198. A functional ETS/E2F module in cancers expressing ETS fusion genes;
Bing Song, Ph.D., Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
Abstract #2050. Plk1 phosphorylation of Orc2 promotes DNA replication under conditions of stress;
Maria S. Sosa, Ph.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
Abstract #4262. NR2F1 and SOX9 mediate reprogramming of tumor cells into dormancy: Potential role in dormant bone marrow DTCs;
Christina Vorvis, B.S., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
Abstract #5335. Identification and molecular characterization of pancreatic tumor-initiating cells;
Sarah R. Walker, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
Abstract #971. Identification of BCL6 targeted therapies for breast cancer through gene expression networks;
Xiaoqi Xie, Ph.D., The Cancer Institute of New Jersey/UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N.J.
Abstract #2276. Coordinate autophagy and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway inhibition enhances cell death in melanoma; and
Pan Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J.
Abstract #2121. Nonerythroid alpha spectrin prevents telomere fragility after DNA interstrand crosslink damage.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 – April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Honors 19 New Members to 50-year Members Club

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The American Association for Cancer Research is pleased to recognize 19 new inductees to the ranks of the 50-year Member Club during the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“The AACR extends its heartfelt appreciation to these members for their long-term participation and continued support of our association,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “Their valuable input into AACR programs and activities speaks to their lifelong commitment and devotion to the mission of the AACR and cancer research. The AACR has benefited greatly from their sage advice over the years, and we are delighted to honor them and their service to our association.”

The AACR will present awards of appreciation to its 50-year members during the opening ceremony, which will be held on Sunday, April 1 at 8:15 a.m. CT in the Skyline Ballroom of McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill.

In addition, the 50-year members will be honored during a breakfast that will take place on Tuesday, April 3 from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. CT in Boulevard C Room at the Chicago Hilton. (Please note: This is an invitation-only event.)

The following people will be inducted into the 50-year Member Club, joining 143 other members who have been AACR members for more than 50 years:

Joseph R. Bertino, M.D., past president of the AACR, and associate director and chief scientific officer at UMDNJ-The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, N.J.;
William H. Bond, M.D., retired, Indianapolis, Ind.;
Bayard D. Clarkson, M.D., past president, former treasurer, and emeritus founding president and chair of the AACR Foundation, and head of the laboratory of hematopoietic cell kinetics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y.;
Henry P. Close, M.D., retired, Devon, Pa.;
Allan H. Conney, Ph.D., professor and director of the laboratory for cancer research at Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J.;
Joseph R. Davis, M.D., Ph.D., retired, Aurora, Ill.;
Geoffrey Falkson, M.D., retired, Hermanus, South Africa;
Emil J. Freireich, M.D., D.Sc., director of the adult leukemia research program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas;
Raul Grinberg, M.D., retired, Vestal, N.Y.;
Franz Halberg, M.D., director of the Halberg Chronobio Center at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.;
Harold B. Haley, M.D., retired, Roanoke, Va.;
Alvin S. Levine, Ph.D., retired, St. Pete Beach, Fla.;
Robert E. Madden, M.D., professor of surgery at New York Medical College, Valhalla, N.Y.;
Ines Mandl, Ph.D., retired, New York, N.Y.;
Robert J. Rutman, Ph.D., retired, Mesa, Ariz.;
Joseph Song, M.D., retired, Des Moines, Iowa;
John S. Stehlin, M.D., scientific director of the Christus Stehlin Foundation, Houston, Texas;
Athanasios Theologides, M.D., Ph.D., retired, Santa Clara, Calif.; and
Arthur J. Weiss, M.D., physician at Oceanside Medical Corporation, Little Deer Isle, Maine.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Praises New HHS Tobacco Education Campaign

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its plans to launch a new nationwide tobacco education campaign, “Tips From a Former Smoker,” which will feature depictions of the health risks of smoking.

“Tobacco use causes nearly one-third of all cancer deaths, about 170,000 people every year — and cancer is only one of the ways that tobacco kills people,” said Roy Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the AACR Task Force on Tobacco and Cancer, and chief of medical oncology at Yale University. “We must do a better job educating people about the dangers of all tobacco products because, despite our efforts to date, one in five Americans is still smoking. Tobacco use is the single largest cause of preventable death in the country, yet we’re seeing that every day nearly 4,000 young people try their first cigarette, with about 1,000 becoming addicted to the nicotine in these products.”

The goals of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) campaign are to increase public awareness about the health risks of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, motivate smokers to quit, encourage smokers who need help to call 1-800-QUITNOW and encourage adults to actively protect their kids from exposure to secondhand smoke. The ads will begin airing nationwide on Monday, March 19.

The HHS announcement comes on the heels of a new report from the surgeon general, titled Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults, which details the scope, health consequences and influences that lead to youth tobacco use and specifies proven strategies that prevent its use. The report also provides further scientific evidence on the addictive nature of nicotine.

Remarking on the administration’s efforts, Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR, said, “As a research community we are actively working to find better treatments for all types of cancer, but we know that tobacco use causes cancer and the best way to prevent people from dying from this terrible disease is simply to prevent them from using tobacco in the first place. The administration’s efforts to prevent tobacco use are very encouraging and we hope this will make a real difference in combating this enormous public health problem, which causes no fewer than 18 different types of cancer.”

In 2010, the AACR released a comprehensive policy statement (Adobe Acrobat Reader required) on tobacco and cancer comprising policy recommendations and a road map for future research to stem the tide of tobacco-related death and disease. In particular, the statement highlighted the need for more effective, evidence-based public communication to prevent, reduce and eliminate tobacco use.

Among other tobacco-related efforts planned for the coming year, the task force will sponsor a policy session at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Sunday, April 1 at 3:15 p.m. CT in room W178 of McCormick Place West titled “Challenging Conventional Cancer Care: The Untold Story of Tobacco’s Effect on Cancer Biology, Treatment Response and Survival.” This Science Policy Session will offer attendees an analysis of the effects of tobacco on tumor physiology and cancer treatment, identify the complexities of both assessing tobacco use and providing cessation support to cancer patients, report on the current state of tobacco assessment in National Cancer Institute Cooperative Group clinical trials and provide a framework for incorporating tobacco use into the design and interpretation of future cancer research.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network–AACR Pathway to Leadership Grants

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Two Awards Total $1.2 Million to Advance Pancreatic Cancer Research

CHICAGO — The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Association for Cancer Research have awarded Stephanie K. Dougan, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and Oliver G. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, the 2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grants.

These five-year grants, each providing $600,000 in research funding, will be formally awarded at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

“With the partnership of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, we are able to provide these grants to encourage gifted, young researchers such as Dr. Dougan and Dr. McDonald to pursue their research endeavors and advance the field,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research. “Their projects have the potential to lead to breakthroughs that better prevent, detect and treat pancreatic cancer.”

“As the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network works diligently to double the survival rate of pancreatic cancer by 2020, it is critical that we fund the very best science and brightest minds to ensure scientific progress is made. We are honored to welcome Drs. Dougan and McDonald to the team and to our robust community of pancreatic cancer researchers,” stated Lynn Matrisian, Ph.D., Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s vice president of scientific and medical affairs. “We look forward to interacting with Drs. Dougan and McDonald and trust that the Pathway to Leadership Grant will accelerate progress towards improved patient outcomes.”

The Pathway to Leadership Grant, intended for postdoctoral or clinical research fellows, parallels the highly coveted K99/R00 early-career investigator awards offered by the National Institutes of Health. It provides financial support for two years of mentored research followed by three years of independent research.

The goals of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network–AACR grants program are to build a robust pancreatic cancer research community; to encourage collaboration, information-sharing and innovation; and to expedite scientific and medical breakthroughs for patient benefit.

Funding decisions for the Pathway to Leadership Grant are made by a stellar committee of experts in pancreatic cancer using a rigorous and transparent process. In addition to receiving research funds, grant recipients are provided with career development opportunities. These include mentorships and connections with senior scientists in the field; invitations to present at scientific sessions, lead conference workshops, and participate in training and educational webinars; involvement with pancreatic cancer survivors and their caregivers; and resources to keep them apprised of emerging developments in the field.

2012 Pathway to Leadership Grant Recipients:

Stephanie K. Dougan, Ph.D.
Dougan’s research, “Transnuclear mice: Understanding the T cell response to pancreatic cancer,” proposes to generate an innovative mouse model (called TN) of pancreatic cancer with alterations to the immune system. In this TN mouse model, cytotoxic (or killer) T cells of the immune system will be programmed to recognize a protein present in pancreatic cancer cells, mesothelin. The mice will also allow Dougan to investigate the balance between cytotoxic T cells trained to attack pancreatic cancer and regulatory T cells that would otherwise impede the immune response.

Dougan believes that immunotherapy represents a very attractive approach for pancreatic cancer treatment. Through the creation of TN mice, Dougan aims to identify mechanisms to inhibit the immunosuppressive regulatory T cell response, in turn resulting in an increased population of cytotoxic T cells and a heightened immune response generated against the cancer.

“This novel approach will not only generate many lines of useful mouse models, but also identify the specificity of regulatory T cells for the first time, and may help address why these cells home so readily to pancreatic tumors and block the body’s innate immune response to the tumor,” Dougan said. “Such information will allow us to create targeted therapies to suppress or eliminate regulatory T cells specifically while promoting cytotoxic T cell function.”

This research will serve as the foundation of Dougan’s independent research program.

Dougan’s grant is supported by Celgene Corporation.

Oliver G. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D.
McDonald’s research, “Genome-wide epigenetic reprogramming during evolution of pancreatic cancer,” will investigate non-sequence related genetic or epigenetic events that induce cellular changes necessary for the onset and eventual metastasis (spread) of human pancreatic cancer.

Previous studies conducted by McDonald and colleagues have mapped the function of various epigenetic modifications that accompany pivotal cellular changes. For example, normal cells of the pancreas would not have the ability to depart the pancreas or survive in the bloodstream, but cancer cells are able to adopt these characteristics. Such modifications represent survival mechanisms exhibited by cancer cells as these epigenetic changes facilitate cell movement necessary for metastasis, as well as chemotherapeutic resistance. By understanding the nature of such modifications and the mechanisms involved in their establishment, McDonald and his colleagues hope to identify key regulators of pancreatic cancer reprogramming, metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy.

“These seminal studies will provide unprecedented insights into epigenetic reprogramming during pancreatic cancer evolution,” said McDonald. “The findings will have far-reaching implications, and will pave the way for development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics for pancreatic cancer.”

McDonald’s research is supported by The Daniel and Janet Mordecai Foundation.

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Twitter: @pancan
Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jointhefight

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is the national organization creating hope in a comprehensive way through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure. The organization is leading the way to increase the survival rate for people diagnosed with this devastating disease through a bold initiative—The Vision of Progress: Double the Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rate by 2020. Together, we can know, fight and end pancreatic cancer by intensifying our efforts to heighten awareness, raise funds for comprehensive private research, and advocate for dedicated federal research to advance early diagnostics, better treatments and increase chances of survival.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

Dietary Cadmium may be Linked With Breast Cancer Risk

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Cadmium is a toxic metal found in many fertilizers.
Study included more than 55,000 women.
Whole grains and vegetables may counteract the effects.

PHILADELPHIA — Dietary cadmium, a toxic metal widely dispersed in the environment and found in many farm fertilizers, may lead to an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Cadmium occurs at low concentrations naturally, but scientists are concerned because contamination of farmland mainly due to atmospheric deposition and use of fertilizers leads to higher uptake in plants.

“Because of a high accumulation in agricultural crops, the main sources of dietary cadmium are bread and other cereals, potatoes, root crops and vegetables,” said Agneta Åkesson, Ph.D., associate professor at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. “In general, these foods are also considered healthy.”

For the current study, Åkesson and colleagues observed 55,987 women for more than 12 years. They estimated the dietary cadmium exposure using a food frequency questionnaire. During the follow-up period, researchers observed 2,112 incidences of breast cancer including 1,626 estrogen receptor-positive and 290 estrogen receptor-negative cases.

Cadmium consumption was divided into three groups with the highest levels of exposure compared with the lowest. Overall, a higher exposure to cadmium via diet was linked with a 21 percent increase in breast cancer. Among lean and normal weight women, the increased risk was 27 percent.

Both estrogen receptor-positive and negative tumors had the same risk increase at roughly 23 percent. Åkesson said that women who consumed higher amounts of whole grains and vegetables had a lower risk of breast cancer compared to women exposed to dietary cadmium through other foods.

“It’s possible that this healthy diet to some extent can counteract the negative effect of cadmium, but our findings need to be confirmed with further studies,” said Åkesson. “It is, however, important that the exposure to cadmium from all food is low.”

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and of related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

AACR CEO Receives Prestigious Research!America Advocacy Award

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Research!America Honors Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), for her leadership and dedication to cancer research, treatment and prevention

PHILADELPHIA — Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research, will receive Research!America’s 2012 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership. Foti is honored for her national leadership role in science and public policy, and in particular, for her tireless and effective advocacy for federal funding for cancer research and biomedical science during her long tenure as chief executive officer of the AACR.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to receive this award from Research!America,” said Foti. “This is a time of unprecedented scientific progress and opportunity. Today more than ever, cancer researchers are translating fundamental discoveries for the benefit of patients, and I passionately believe there is no better investment that our country can make than in advancing the promise of biomedical research.

“The AACR is proud to be a member of the Research!America alliance of organizations that share in its unwavering mission to educate lawmakers and the public about the value of research in saving lives. We applaud the work of Research!America to foster collaborations across the entire biomedical research community in order to expand the nation’s support of scientific discovery and innovation,” she added.

The award will be presented to Foti at the 16th Annual Advocacy Awards, being held tonight at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. The awards dinner attracts nearly 500 leaders from government, industry, academia and health advocacy organizations to recognize top medical and health research advocates whose efforts had an extraordinary impact on advancing the nation’s contributions to research.

“Dr. Foti has long provided the knowledge, commitment and the national leadership to increase funding for medical research,” said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America. “Her leadership has created synergy within the cancer community for strong advocacy initiatives.”

Foti became CEO of the AACR in 1982. During her tenure, the AACR’s membership has grown from about 3,000 to 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; students; cancer survivors; and research and patient advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries.

In the fall of 2007, the AACR opened a Washington, D.C. office to educate members of Congress about the inextricable link between cancer research and public health. As a result, the AACR has a regular presence on Capitol Hill, sponsoring educational briefings for members of Congress and their staffs, and facilitating opportunities to connect researchers with key decision makers at all levels of government.

Most recently, Foti’s leadership was instrumental in the production of the landmark AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011, which highlights the extraordinary progress made in cancer research over the past 40 years. This report is a comprehensive, informational tool that illustrates the astounding return on investment in cancer research supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, and provides a summary of the scientific breakthroughs that promise to revolutionize the prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Foti has received many accolades for her contributions to cancer research. In 2010, she was awarded the first Margaret Foti Award, established in cooperation with the University of Catania Ph.D. Oncology Program and the Italian League Against Cancer of Catania. In 2009, she received the first Margaret Kripke Legend Award from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the European CanCer Organization Lifetime Achievement Award and a citation from Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter for her dedication to increasing awareness of the importance of cancer research as well as for her pivotal role in designating May as National Cancer Research Month. She was the first recipient of the AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research, created in her name in 2007.

She has received numerous other awards, such as the Award of Appreciation from the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Chairpersons, the Award with Recognition and Appreciation from the Israel Cancer Association, the Italian League Against Cancer Commendation, the Distinguished Service Award from the George Washington University Medical Center’s GW Cancer Institute, the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the AACR Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research, the Ville de Paris Award, the Cina del Duca Award for raising public awareness of cancer globally, the Community Caring Award from the William S. Graham Foundation for Melanoma Research and the Special Recognition Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology for her work in advancing clinical cancer research.

Foti has also been awarded honorary memberships in the Japanese Cancer Association, the European Association for Cancer Research and the Hungarian Cancer Society. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine and surgery from the University of Rome La Sapienza in 2003, and a second honorary doctorate in medicine and surgery from the University of Catania in Sicily in July 2008. She received a third honorary doctorate in medicine from the University CEU San Pablo in Madrid in 2009.

Award benefactors Beverly and Raymond R. Sackler, M.D., emeritus directors of Research!America, are long-standing supporters of medical research. They have sponsored research investigations at more than a dozen leading universities in the United States and abroad through the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Fund for the Arts and Sciences.

Other 2012 Research!America Advocacy Award winners are U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md.; Sanjay Gupta, M.D., chief medical correspondent for CNN; Scott Johnson, president and founder of the Myelin Repair Foundation; Donald Lindberg, M.D., director of the National Library of Medicine; and the Food Allergy Initiative.

Research!America is the nation’s largest nonprofit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority. The annual Research!America Advocacy Awards program was established in 1996 to honor outstanding advocates for medical, health and scientific research.

The 2012 Advocacy Awards represent Research!America’s 16th year of recognizing the accomplishments of leading advocates for medical and health research. For more information, visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

AACR Announces Annual Meeting 2012 Press Conference Schedule

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research is pleased to announce the official press conference schedule for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held in Chicago, Ill. from March 31 - April 4.

Press conferences will be held at the Hyatt McCormick Conference Center, which is adjacent to the McCormick Place Conference Center. Attendance is limited to registered members of the media and pre-approved guests.

Press registration is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration. Reporters who are unable to attend the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 in person can participate in selected press conferences by calling (888) 647-7462. If calling from outside the United States or Canada, please dial (201) 604-0169.

The AACR will host the following press conferences. A full press kit with embargoed news releases and abstracts will be distributed on Tuesday, March 27, 2012.

Saturday, March 31:

“Late-breaking Clinical Trials”
1:30 p.m. CT
Room CC20 A/B/C
U.S./Canada: (888) 647-7462; International: (201) 604-0169

“Personalized Medicine: Late-breaking Science from AACR Journals”
4:00 p.m. CT
Room CC20 A/B/C
U.S./Canada: (888) 647-7462; International: (201) 604-0169

Sunday, April 1:

“Breast and Gynecological Cancers”
8:00 a.m. CT
Room CC20 A/B/C
U.S./Canada: (888) 647-7462; International: (201) 604-0169

“Stand Up To Cancer”
1:00 p.m. CT
Room CC10 A/B/C
Teleconference: Not available

Monday, April 2:

“Vaccines and Immunotherapy”
7:30 a.m. CT
Room CC20 A/B/C
U.S./Canada: (888) 647-7462; International: (201) 604-0169

“Genetic Screening”
11:00 a.m. CT
Room CC20 A/B/C
U.S./Canada: (888) 647-7462; International: (201) 604-0169

# # #

Press registration for the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 is free to qualified journalists and public information officers: www.aacr.org/PressRegistration.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In Chicago, March 31 - April 4:
(312) 528-8206

AACR Calls for Letters of Intent for a New Stand Up To Cancer-Cancer Research Institute Cancer Immunology Translational Research Dream Team

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), along with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), call upon the cancer research community to submit Letters of Intent for a new Dream Team — the SU2C-CRI Cancer Immunology Translational Research Dream Team.

Significant scientific developments in the field of cancer immunology and the recent FDA approvals of two cancer immunotherapies highlight the field’s potential to transform cancer treatment.

The formation of a Dream Team focused on this promising area of cancer research aligns with CRI’s 60-year mission to advance cancer immunology and SU2C’s mission to accelerate translation of scientific discovery into new treatments for cancer patients.

The SU2C-CRI Cancer Immunology Translational Research Dream Team Grant will provide funding of $6 million over a three-year period for translational cancer research projects that address laboratory and clinical efforts leading to the immunological treatment, control and prevention of cancer. Projects should also deliver near-term patient benefit through investigation by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, synergistic Dream Team of expert investigators.

In addition, these projects may include the identification of inflammatory/immune pathways involved in cancer initiation, progression, dissemination and responsiveness to therapy and their targeting by therapeutic approaches such as vaccines, antibodies, adoptive cell transfer, cytokines and other molecularly targeted therapeutics.

Deadline: Letters of Intent must be submitted by 12:00 p.m. (noon) ET on Monday, April 9, 2012. The SU2C-CRI Cancer Immunology Translational Research Dream Team is scheduled to be announced in September.

To maximize creativity, innovation and collaboration, the Dream Team must include laboratory and clinical researchers, senior and/or young investigators and senior scientists who have not worked together in the past, as well as patient advocates. Mechanisms to foster collaboration within and among the Dream Teams should be employed — an approach that promotes the sharing of information and a goal-oriented focus on measurable milestones of progress.

A SU2C-CRI Joint Scientific Advisory Committee (JSAC) will conduct a unique, interactive, rapid and rigorous evaluation of the applications via a multi-step scientific review process.

The JSAC is composed of highly accomplished senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists, as well as advocates. The committee is chaired by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., institute professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is co-chaired by Giorgio Trinchieri, M.D., and Carl H. June, M.D. Trinchieri is director of the Cancer and Inflammation Program and chief of the Laboratory of Experimental Immunology at the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, and associate director for basic science at the Trans-NIH Center for Human Immunology. June is director of translational research at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and is an investigator with the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. He is also a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Since the launch of Stand Up To Cancer in 2008, the AACR has played an integral role as SU2C’s scientific partner by providing scientific leadership, expert peer review and grants administration. The AACR is responsible for administering these grants and provides ongoing scientific oversight to ensure that progress is being made.

For general information on eligibility criteria, the application process and other details about the SU2C-CRI Cancer Immunology Translational Research Dream Team, please visit: www.aacr.org/SU2CCRI.
Inquiries may also be directed to the SU2C Grants Office at: (267) 765-1049 or SU2C@aacr.org.
Interested applicants should submit Letters of Intent detailing their best ideas for cancer immunology translational research using the proposalCENTRAL website at: https://proposalcentral.altum.com/.

# # #

About Stand Up To Cancer

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) — a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization — raises funds to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking translational research that will get new therapies to patients quickly.

SU2C’s “Dream Team” approach to funding translational cancer research enables scientists from different disciplines at research centers across the country and internationally to collaborate on projects geared toward getting new, less toxic treatments to patients as quickly as possible. Monies also support innovative cancer research projects that are often deemed “too risky” by conventional funding sources. Currently, more than 200 scientists from over 60 institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects — either as members of Dream Teams or as recipients of Innovative Research Grants. As SU2C’s scientific collaborator, the American Association for Cancer Research, with the leadership of a prestigious SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee, provides scientific oversight, expert peer review of the research projects and grants administration.

Members of the SU2C Executive Leadership Council include Katie Couric; the Entertainment Industry Foundation, represented by Board of Directors Chairperson Sherry Lansing (Founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation), CEO Lisa Paulsen and Senior Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; Pam Williams, partner at Laura Ziskin Productions; and nonprofit executive Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin, a legendary film producer who executive-produced the 2008 and 2010 SU2C telecasts, was also a co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer.

About the Cancer Research Institute

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit established in 1953, is the global leader in cancer immunology. Since its inception, CRI has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to support research conducted by more than 3,000 scientists and clinicians worldwide to understand the immune system and how it can be harnessed to conquer all cancers. This work has laid the foundation for nearly every major cancer immunotherapy breakthrough over the past half century.

Guided by an international panel of the world’s leading immunologists and cancer immunologists, including three Nobel laureates and 29 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, CRI provides essential funding to support every stage of discovery, from laboratory investigation to clinical trials of the most promising cancer immunotherapies for patients.

CRI also sponsors a seminal international symposium on cancer immunology each year, hosts annual scientific colloquia dedicated to overcoming challenges in immunotherapy research and development, forges collaborative partnerships between academia and industry to facilitate the development pathway for novel immunotherapeutics and presents special recognition awards to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to cancer research, patient care and public awareness.

Through its sustaining support and leadership in the field, CRI is accelerating the development of safe and effective immunotherapies that stand to revolutionize the treatment of all cancers. For more information, visit http://cancerresearch.org.

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 advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit: www.AACR.org.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

Combination Therapy May Enhance Gemcitabine Activity for Pancreatic Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Nab-paclitaxel appears to enhance gemcitabine activity.
Study also shows the potential value of a time-delay administration.
Combination treatment regimen already in late-stage phase III clinical trial.

PHILADELPHIA — Oncologists who treat patients with pancreatic cancer may be one step closer to understanding why gemcitabine, the only currently available treatment, works in some cases but not in others, according to a paper in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

David Tuveson, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of pancreatic cancer medicine at the University of Cambridge, utilized a laboratory model to test the combination of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel in pancreatic cancer.

“The combination has shown promise in an early clinical trial, and clinical results from a pivotal phase III trial will be reported in 2013,” said Tuveson. “However, we know very little about the mechanism of action because tumor samples have been so small.”

Using a laboratory model of metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the researchers showed that combination treatment increased intratumoral gemcitabine levels due to a marked decrease in the primary gemcitabine metabolizing enzyme, cytidine deaminase.

Paclitaxel appeared to reduce these levels through reactive oxygen species-mediated degradation, resulting in increased stabilization of gemcitabine. Tuveson said understanding these mechanisms of action are important and will lead to better administration of the therapeutic combination if the larger human trials prove positive.

“For example, we predict from this mechanistic study that nab-paclitaxel may be most effective if we administer it first, and delay administration of the gemcitabine. The next step is to test this prediction, since it could help a great deal with patient treatment,” said Tuveson.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Combined Inhibition of VEGF and c-MET Can Decrease Metastasis

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Inhibition of VEGF increased c-MET expression in tumors.
Invasion and metastasis were blocked by inhibition of VEGF plus c-MET.
Dual VEGF/c-MET inhibitors are in late-stage clinical trials.

PHILADELPHIA — Dual inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor and c-MET signaling inhibited tumor invasion and metastasis in a laboratory model of pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, according to a paper published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“Inhibition of VEGF signaling plus c-MET signaling results in a synergistic effect on tumors that leads to slowing of tumor growth and decreased invasiveness and metastasis,” said lead researcher Donald M. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at the University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Previous laboratory research had shown that inhibition of VEGF signaling with agents like bevacizumab or sunitinib can give rise to a number of side effects including increased tumor invasion and metastasis.

What was not known was whether anti-VEGF therapy results in elevated c-MET expression, which has been previously shown to promote tumor cell invasiveness and metastasis. To determine this, McDonald and colleagues conducted a two-phase laboratory study. They treated mice engineered to develop pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors with an anti-VEGF antibody, which reduced tumor size but increased invasiveness and metastasis. This treatment also increased tumor hypoxia and expression and activity of c-MET.

However, when both VEGF and c-MET signaling were inhibited simultaneously, there was a reduction in invasion and metastasis. The researchers tested three c-MET inhibitors: crizotinib and PF-04217903, which target c-MET but not VEGF signaling, and cabozantinib, a dual inhibitor that blocks VEGF and c-MET signaling.

McDonald said they conducted their initial study in neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors because the genetic mouse model of these tumors has been studied so extensively, and then observed the effect in other tumors as well.

“The intent of this study was to explore a mechanism, and there is no indication that this effect will be confined to pancreatic tumors,” he said.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

AACR Expresses Concern With the President's FY2013 Budget

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Calls on Congress to Provide $2 Billion Increase

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association for Cancer Research is grateful for President Obama’s outspoken support for science, innovation and research, but fears the president’s recent proposal to freeze funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in fiscal year 2013 will slow the rate of progress against cancer.

“The potential for continued flat funding could not come at a worse time because the opportunities for turning our growing scientific knowledge into effective strategies for the treatment and prevention of cancer have never been greater,” said AACR President Judy E. Garber, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“This is a defining moment in cancer research; tremendous progress has been made in our understanding of cancer and its vulnerabilities,” Garber added. “We must capitalize on these discoveries and transform treatment for cancer patients everywhere. In addition, the value of cancer research and biomedical research to the economic health and well-being of this nation cannot be overestimated.”

For the past decade the NIH budget has remained essentially flat, and due to the rate of biomedical inflation has lost approximately $5.5 billion in purchasing power since 2003. If enacted, the president’s request would continue the downward trend that is putting lifesaving research at risk, and jeopardize the nation’s longstanding position of global leadership in science and technology.

These consequences would seemingly undermine the president’s stated commitment to scientific progress and innovation, as emphasized in his recent State of the Union Address. During the speech, the president acknowledged that basic research is essential to innovation. He specifically highlighted opportunities in cancer research by saying, “Today, the discoveries taking place in our federally-financed labs and universities could lead to new treatments that kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones untouched.”

“We are grateful for President Obama’s longstanding support for cancer research, but the fiscal year 2013 budget request is extremely concerning,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “If we are going to continue to make significant progress, it will require a renewed commitment on the parts of President Obama and Congress to provide the NIH and National Cancer Institute with sustained funding increases.”

As the FY2013 budget debate advances, the AACR will be calling on Congress to provide the NIH with a $2 billion increase, to $33 billion.

“This level of support will ensure the future scientific advances needed to capitalize on past research investments, spur innovation and make a difference in the lives of people worldwide,” said Foti.

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Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

AACR Journal Cancer Discovery Receives Prestigious 2011 PROSE Award

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research’s newest journal, Cancer Discovery, has received a 2011 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE Award). Cancer Discovery received this award for “Best New Journal in Science, Technology and Medicine.”

The Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division of the Association of American Publishers presented more than 45 PROSE awards at a special awards luncheon, which was held recently during the PSP Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

“The American Association for Cancer Research is honored to receive this accolade for its newest addition, Cancer Discovery, to our robust publications program,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “This award solidifies the journal’s reputation as an influential publication in the industry. Through the expert guidance of its outstanding editors-in-chief, Cancer Discovery brings top-rated research articles to the scientific and medical community, and we are very proud that it has received this early recognition for its contributions to the cancer literature.”

“All of us who are involved with the publishing of Cancer Discovery are extremely pleased to receive such an esteemed award,” said the journal’s publisher Diane Scott-Lichter. “Cancer Discovery captures the most significant work in cancer research and provides a unique forum to communicate and inspire new thinking in the field.”

Cancer Discovery launched at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011 and is the seventh journal published by the AACR. The journal provides readers with high-impact, peer-reviewed articles describing major advances in basic, translational, clinical and epidemiological research. It features game-changing research, review articles, perspectives and commentaries, news, and “Research Watch” summaries of important journal articles.

In addition, Cancer Discovery combines the expertise and experience of founding Editors-in-Chief Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., director of the cancer center and chief of the division of signal transduction at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School, and José Baselga, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the division of hematology/oncology and associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The 2011 PROSE Awards received a record-breaking 512 entries — more than ever before in its 36-year history — from more than 60 professional and scholarly publishers across the country. Award recipients were determined by a distinguished panel of 14 PROSE judges. A full list of the award recipients and video highlights from this year’s awards luncheon can be found at www.proseawards.com.

For more information on Cancer Discovery, please visit http://cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
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About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

AACR Supports World Cancer Day, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research supports World Cancer Day on Saturday, Feb. 4, and the efforts of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to bring the looming world cancer crisis to the forefront by urging the public, government leaders and health policy makers to take proactive steps in the global fight against cancer.

The 2012 World Cancer Day initiative, in following the footsteps of this year’s theme “Together it is Possible,” is raising public awareness through education and encouragement of healthy lifestyle choices in an effort to reduce cancer risk.

“World Cancer Day is a reminder that we must take action and work together to decrease the global burden of cancer,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “The AACR has had a long-standing focus on cancer prevention research. We believe that known prevention strategies offer long-term potential for lowering cancer incidences and mortality and we urge everyone to take action.”

Worldwide, cancer cases are projected to almost double to 21.4 million by 2030, with nearly two-thirds of all diagnoses occurring in low- and middle-income countries. In the United States alone, approximately 1.64 million people will be diagnosed with cancer and more than 577,000 will die of the disease in 2012. However, one in three cancer deaths are preventable through lifestyle changes such as these:

Eat a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables, limit your fat intake and if you consume alcohol, do so in moderation.
Exercise regularly, at least 30 minutes a day, and maintain a healthy weight.
Avoid tobacco use – this includes cigarettes, pipes, water pipes and chewing tobacco.
Protect yourself from the sun by avoiding midday sun, wearing sunscreen, and avoiding tanning beds and sunlamps.
Get vaccinated and protect yourself from certain viral infections like the Hepatitis B virus and the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Be aware of your family history, learn the signs of cancer, perform self-exams and get proper routine cancer screenings by your doctor.

How else can you help? Take action, join the fight against cancer and sign the World Cancer Day declaration. The declaration is an initiative to bring the global cancer burden to the attention of governments and health policy makers.

In an effort to rally the online community, a dedicated 2012 World Cancer Day application on Facebook has been launched to allow users to make their personal pledge by donating their Facebook status. A companion campaign on Twitter will support #WorldCancerDay as a trending topic. Express your commitment to cancer prevention publicly.

It is only by every person, organization and government entity doing their part that we will be able to reduce the global cancer burden. Learn more about World Cancer Day, and how you can get involved: http://www.worldcancerday.org/wcd-home.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in 97 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research that have the potential for patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policy makers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

Soy Isoflavone Supplements Did Not Provide Breast Cancer Protections

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Findings suggest the effects of food may be more complex.
Adverse effect observed in younger women.

PHILADELPHIA — Soy isoflavone supplements did not decrease breast cancer cell proliferation in a randomized clinical trial, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Lead researcher Seema A. Khan, M.D., professor of surgery at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, said the results of this study are consistent with the findings of previous studies that were designed to test cancer prevention benefits of dietary supplements.

“Simply put, supplements are not food. Although soy-based foods appear to have a protective effect, we are not seeing the same effect with supplementation using isolated components of soy, so the continued testing of soy supplements is likely not worthwhile,” said Khan.

Khan said that beta-carotene and selenium supplementation have also been shown to lack benefit in lung cancer prevention studies.

“Foods are very complex and there are likely traveling companions that we haven’t identified that are protecting against cancer,” said Khan.

For the current study, Khan and colleagues randomly assigned 98 women to receive a mixed soy isoflavones supplement or placebo. Isoflavones are components of soy foods that were expected to have anti-estrogen activity.

These women had more than 4,000 breast cancer epithelial cells identified by fine needle aspiration biopsy. At six months, researchers evaluated the levels of Ki-67, an established protein marker of cancer cell growth. In the overall population, no difference was seen after six months in either group. However, among pre-menopausal women, the level of Ki-67 increased from 1.71 to 2.18, suggesting a negative effect of the supplementation.

“This was a small finding, but one that should suggest caution,” said Khan.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the AACR

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR’s membership includes 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes seven peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous organizations. As the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review and scientific oversight of individual and team science grants in cancer research. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and of related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer.

For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

AACR Congratulates David G. Nathan, M.D., on Receiving Lifetime Achievement Award from ASH

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research congratulates David G. Nathan, M.D., a member of the AACR Foundation’s Board of Trustees, on receiving the 2011 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology from the American Society of Hematology.

This award is the American Society of Hematology’s highest honor and is named for Wallace Henry Coulter, a prolific inventor and entrepreneur who made important contributions to hematology and to the American Society of Hematology. The award is presented to someone who has demonstrated a lasting commitment to the field of hematology through outstanding contributions to education, research and practice.

“David Nathan is a true leader in the field of hematology research, and we are pleased that he has been awarded this distinguished honor. His visionary leadership will continue to move the field forward for the benefit of patients not only with hematologic diseases, but also all types of cancer,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR.

Nathan is president emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Robert A. Stranahan distinguished professor of pediatrics and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Throughout the course of his nearly 50-year career, he has made numerous advances in medicine, including the development of the first prenatal diagnostic test for thalassemia and sickle cell anemia, and the introduction of hydroxyurea for the amelioration of sickle cell anemia.

Nathan graduated from Harvard College in 1951, then from Harvard Medical School in 1955. He completed an internship and residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and was a clinical associate at the National Cancer Institute. From 1959 to 1966 Nathan was a hematologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and then became chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In 1985, he was named physician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital Boston, a position he held until he was named president of Dana-Farber in 1995. He served as president until 2000.

As part of his career-long commitment to clinical research, Nathan chaired the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Panel on Clinical Research in 1997. He is also a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the American Pediatric Society, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. In addition, he has written several books and has published several articles in AACR journals, among others. Nathan is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Society of Hematology Henry M. Stratton Medal, the National Medal of Science, the Walker Prize of the Boston Museum of Science, the John Howland Medal of the American Pediatric Society and the George M. Kober Medal of the Association of American Physicians.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

Possible New Pathway Can Overcome Glioblastoma Resistance

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

A20 E3 ubiquitin ligase could be a therapeutic target.
Targeting this ligase may overcome TRAIL resistance.
No current therapy available for glioblastoma.

PHILADELPHIA — Glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer, is one of the most resistant to available therapies and patients typically live approximately 15 months.

Previous research has focused on the activation of the apoptosis, or cell death, pathway using therapeutic agents such as tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL); however, the vast majority of these experiments have been stymied by resistance.

“Scientists in this field have been hoping to treat this cancer with this new type of apoptosis pathway-targeted therapeutic drug, and this new information may provide a path forward,” said Chunhai “Charlie” Hao, M.D., Ph.D., a neuropathologist at Emory University.

Using human glioblastoma samples and tumor-initiating cells or cancer stem cells, Hao and colleagues identified a possible new pathway for targeted therapies. Results of their work are published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

TRAIL treatment often leads to caspase-8-mediated apoptosis. However, study results showed that the A20 E3 ligase is highly expressed in glioblastomas and together with receptor interacting protein 1 (RIP1) and caspase-8, forms a signaling complex. Upon TRAIL interaction with this complex, the A20 E3 ligase triggers ubiquitination of RIP1, interferes with activation of caspase-8 and prevents caspase-8-initiated apoptosis.

“Previous research in this area has been unable to overcome the obstacle created by resistance. This research shows one of the mechanisms for how we can manipulate the ubiquitination process to overcome the resistance to the apoptosis-targeted cancer therapies,” said Hao.

Understanding the mechanisms of resistance is vital to developing therapies going forward, according to Hao.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Applications Open for Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Grants

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Deadline for Applications is Feb. 1, 2012.

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research is currently accepting applications for the 2012 Caring for Carcinoid Foundation-AACR Grants for Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research. This is the second year of the AACR’s grant-giving partnership with the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation.

“The AACR shares in the vision of the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation to combat carcinoid tumors through innovative cancer research,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “We are very pleased to be the scientific partner of this Foundation that vigorously supports and encourages this important research.”

2012 Caring for Carcinoid Foundation-AACR Grants for Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research: These two-year grants of $250,000 ($125,000 per year) are open to independent junior and senior investigators affiliated with academic, medical or research institutions to develop and study new ideas and innovative approaches that have direct application and relevance to carcinoid tumors or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Through this joint effort, the AACR and the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation hope to increase the understanding of neuroendocrine tumor biology, elucidate the mechanisms of currently available therapies and identify new treatment targets for carcinoid and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Proposed research may be in any discipline of basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological cancer research. Applications will be accepted from researchers currently in the field and those with application experience in other areas of cancer research. It is anticipated that at least two grants will be funded.

The application deadline is Feb. 1, 2012, noon ET.

Learn more about eligibility criteria, the nomination process and other details.

# # #

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About the American Association for Cancer Research
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

About the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation
The Caring for Carcinoid Foundation is dedicated to discovering cures for patients with carcinoid, pancreatic neuroendocrine and related neuroendocrine cancers. The CFCF directs 100 percent of all individual donations to breakthrough scientific research. This is made possible by the generous support of CFCF’s Board of Directors and corporate sponsors. Since its inception, the CFCF has awarded more than 6 million dollars in research grants to leading scientists at renowned institutions.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(215) 446-7110
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

Scientists Uncover Novel Mechanism of Glioblastoma Development

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Changes to specific proteins can lead to tumor growth and development.
Glioblastoma patients often have a poor prognosis.
Understanding molecular mechanisms can lead to new treatments.

PHILADELPHIA — Most research on glioblastoma development, a complicated tumor of the brain with a poor prognosis, has focused on the gene transcription level, but scientists suggest that post-transcriptional regulation could be equally or even more important.

In a recent report in Molecular Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, scientists led by Luiz O. F. Penalva, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of cellular and structural biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, illustrated that the connection between two RNA-binding proteins, Musashi1 and HuR, can have important consequences to glioblastoma.

“This is a novel finding in terms of what we know about glioblastoma development,” said Penalva. “Most of what we know about glioblastoma is limited to gene transcription-level research, but there are other regulatory processes beyond transcription that when disrupted could contribute to tumor formation.”

RNA-binding proteins are key regulators in all cellular processes from splicing to translation. Changes that affect either their function or expression levels can have dramatic consequences to protein production and can lead to disease states including cancer.

In the lab, Penalva and his colleagues showed that increased levels of HuR up-regulate the expression of another RNA-binding protein, Musashi1. Both proteins control the expression of cancer-related genes; their interaction brings together two important gene networks with major consequences to glioblastoma development.

The results are still early, but Penalva stressed that little is known about glioblastoma development and the findings represent a move toward greater understanding.

“To treat cancer, you have to understand what triggers tumor formation,” said Penalva. “If we continue to think that all the activity is at the transcription level, we are just fooling ourselves. Clearly, something is going on beyond that level.”

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

AACR Announces Revised News Release Embargo Policy

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research has updated its embargo sanctions policy. This revised policy affects all meetings and journals promoted by the AACR.

In sum, the AACR supports quality scientific journalism and recognizes that comprehensive stories take time to prepare carefully. Toward that end, the AACR Communications Department often releases material early, under embargo, to credentialed journalists. This process requires trust and responsibility on the part of both parties. The revised embargo policy recognizes that journalists and other media professionals occasionally make honest mistakes; these mistakes should not permanently damage the relationship between the association and the media.

Therefore, each embargo break by a journalist or outlet will be investigated by the AACR Communications Department. If the break is determined to be accidental, the outlet will take internal steps to make sure its processes are corrected. After assurances are made, both verbally and in writing, that these steps have been taken, the AACR will maintain the press credentials of the media outlet.

However, repeat offenders may face sanctions at the discretion of the AACR Communications Department, which potentially include removal from AACR mailing lists, dismissal from AACR meetings and the possible removal of the ability to cover other AACR events.

Read the complete, revised AACR embargo policy.

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Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Ganetespib Showed Activity in KRAS-Mutant NSCLC as Monotherapy and in Combinations

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Novel Hsp90 inhibitor shows activity in slowing KRAS-mutant NSCLC tumor cell growth.
Use with traditional chemotherapy resulted in increased cancer cell death.
Phase 2b/3 trial combined with docetaxel under way.

SAN DIEGO — The investigational drug ganetespib, a synthetic second-generation Hsp90 inhibitor, slowed the growth of cancer cells taken from non-small cell lung cancer tumors with a mutation in the KRAS gene. The drug was even more active when combined with traditional lung cancer treatments and other investigational targeted therapies, according to preclinical study data.

David A. Proia, Ph.D., and Jaime Acquaviva, Ph.D., scientists at Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., presented the data at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012.

Currently, patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with KRAS mutations have no effective treatment strategy. A phase 2 trial showed tumor shrinkage in more than 60 percent of patients with KRAS-mutant NSCLC at eight weeks after treatment with ganetespib administered once weekly as a monotherapy, indicating the drug’s potential effectiveness, according to Proia.

He and his colleagues examined whether ganetespib was effective against several different cell lines of KRAS-mutant NSCLC and confirmed it was effective in 15 different cell lines. They then sought to determine which combination treatments would enhance the activity of ganetespib in this cancer type.

First, the researchers combined ganetespib with several standard-of-care chemotherapies currently available in the clinic for KRAS-mutant NSCLC tumor samples. They found that the combination of ganetespib with alkylating agents, antimitotics and topoisomerase inhibitors resulted in an increased cell death of 1.4-, 1.5- and 2.6-fold, respectively, compared with ganetespib alone.

“We saw great activity with, for example, docetaxel and [ganetespib],” Proia said. “What we are doing now is conducting a large phase 2b/phase 3 trial with docetaxel and [ganetespib] in NSCLC patients. Activity in the KRAS-mutant subpopulation is a coprimary endpoint in this trial.”

The researchers also tested ganetespib in combination with two therapies that target pathways known to be involved in NSCLC: a MEK inhibitor or a PI3K/mTOR inhibitor. Results in tumor samples revealed that combining ganetespib with either therapy was also more active in slowing tumor growth compared with ganetespib alone.

“Not only was ganetespib activity enhanced in combination with traditional chemotherapies, which may be understood in terms of the ability of Hsp90 inhibition to block certain resistance or repair mechanisms, but activity was also enhanced in combination with a number of targeted therapies for which recent work has shown very interesting complementary inhibition of signaling pathways,” Proia said.

Finally, the researchers further validated their results by combining ganetespib with the PI3K/mTOR inhibitor in mice with KRAS-mutant NSCLC. Both drugs alone promoted tumor shrinkage, but the combination resulted in a greater inhibition of tumor growth.

If further validated, this research could open up avenues for future treatment options for patients with KRAS-mutant NSCLC.

# # #

About the AACR:
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the United States and abroad and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the IASLC:
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association’s membership includes more than 3,500 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries.

IASLC members promote the study of etiology, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and all other aspects of lung cancer and thoracic malignancies. IASLC disseminates information about lung cancer to scientists, members of the medical community and the public and uses all available means to eliminate lung cancer as a health threat for individual patients throughout the world. Membership is open to any physician, scientist, nurse or allied health professional interested in lung cancer, including patients, survivors, caregivers and advocates.

IASLC publishes the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, a valuable resource for medical specialists and scientists who focus on the detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.

To learn more about IASLC, visit http://iaslc.org

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In San Diego, Jan. 8-11:
(619) 615-6922

Precancer Markers Identified in Airway Epithelium Cells of Healthy Smokers

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Smokers are more likely to have molecular features of cancerization in the large airway epithelium.
Smokers with COPD had significant changes in the small airway epithelium.
Findings could lead to development of a diagnostic test.

SAN DIEGO — Smoking may be associated with the development of molecular features of cancer in the large airway epithelium. In the small airway epithelium, molecular cancerization is associated with development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to recent data.

“We are striving to find the earliest molecular changes that are induced by environmental stressors — in this case, smoking,” said Renat Shaykhiev, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, who presented the findings at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012. “Our goal is to understand the early pathogenesis of lung cancer and to develop strategies to prevent lung cancer in susceptible individuals.”

Shaykhiev and colleagues analyzed the large and small airway epithelia of healthy nonsmokers, healthy smokers and smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is typically caused by long-term smoking, for expression of so-called “molecular cancerization” features (i.e., the genes upregulated in lung cancer compared with nonmalignant adjacent tissue).

Researchers found significantly more cancer-like gene expression changes in the large airway epithelia of smokers than in those of nonsmokers. When analyzing the small airway epithelium, though, they did not find significant differences between healthy smokers and nonsmokers, but they did find significant overall upregulation of cancerization genes in smokers with COPD. Analysis of these genes in the large and small airway epithelia obtained from the same individuals revealed that molecular cancerization occurs more frequently in the large airway epithelium than in the small airway epithelium.

Shaykhiev and colleagues drew the following conclusions: Smoking is associated with acquisition of molecular cancerization features in the large airway epithelium prior to the development of disease, and the large airway epithelium is likely more susceptible to smoking-induced changes than the small airway epithelium, implying that it may be the primary site of molecular alterations leading to lung cancer in smokers.

These findings could potentially lead to the development of a diagnostic test that would look for these genetic changes in susceptible individuals, the researchers suggested.
“Ideally, we would use these genes to do very routine analysis to determine which smokers or even nonsmokers are at risk for development of lung cancer,” said Shaykhiev.

# # #

Embargoed For Release:                                                  Media Contact:
4:30 p.m. PT, Jan. 10, 2012                      Jeremy Moore
                                        (215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In San Diego, Jan. 8-11:
(619) 615-6922

Sorafenib Effective in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, but Low Survival Rates Reported

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Survival rates were “unsatisfactory” in patients with NSCLC and a KRAS mutation.
“Great need” exists for new treatment combinations in this patient population.

SAN DIEGO — Sorafenib was effective in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and a KRAS mutation, but survival rates were reportedly “unsatisfactory,” according to data presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012.

Patients with lung cancer and a KRAS mutation are believed to have a poor prognosis and may not benefit from treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, according to study author Wouter W. Mellema, M.D., a doctoral candidate at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

“There is a great need for targeted treatment options for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a KRAS mutation,” he said.

In the phase 2, multicenter study conducted in the Netherlands, researchers assigned 57 patients with NSCLC and a KRAS mutation to 400 mg of sorafenib twice daily.

At six weeks, Mellema and colleagues reported a rate of no progression of 52.6 percent. Fifteen patients stopped treatment before six weeks — 10 of whom stopped due to clinical progression. Median progression-free survival was 2.3 months, and median overall survival was 5.3 months. The researchers reported that 14 patients are still alive.

“Sorafenib could be a useful drug in this patient population by inhibiting the growth-stimulating signal of the RAS protein,” Mellema said. “However, although sorafenib showed relevant activity, the outcome was unsatisfactory.”

Mellema and his team had conducted a pilot study in 10 patients, which showed “very promising results. Unfortunately, the results of the phase 2 study were less optimistic. We expected that progression-free survival and overall survival would be better [in the phase 2 study],” Mellema said.

He suggested that the KRAS mutation causes early progression by stimulating cell growth through an alternative pathway. “Future studies currently in preparation in our group should focus on simultaneous inhibition of these pathways,” he said.

# # #

Sensitive Detection Method Analyzes Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients With Lung Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Extremely sensitive methodology can analyze a DNA sample size as small as three cells.
Analysis method may be able to detect mutations in CTCs from patients with NSCLC.
Method could help track progress of NSCLC and guide choice of targeted therapies.

SAN DIEGO — Researchers have developed a method to analyze circulating tumor cells in the blood of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. This method, which can analyze a sample size as small as three cells, may allow clinicians to track cancer progress and treatments and could help them develop new therapies.

“We have developed an extremely sensitive test that could be able to detect mutations present in circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and we are hoping that from their characterization, we would be able to understand diagnostic, prognostic and predictive markers,” said Heidi S. Erickson, Ph.D., assistant professor of thoracic/head and neck medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Erickson presented the findings at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012.

Even though researchers have found that the presence of CTCs in the blood of patients with lung cancer is associated with short survival, clinicians have had no way to analyze the actual CTCs because their levels were so small.

In this study, Erickson and colleagues showed the effectiveness of using high-throughput matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry single nucleotide polymorphism analysis (MALDI-TOF MS SNP) — an extremely sensitive analysis using a mass spectrometer — to analyze and determine the exact genetic mutations present in DNA from a few malignant cells that can be applied to CTC samples.

Identifying these mutations would allow clinicians to track progress of genetic changes and thus monitor the cancer and the effectiveness of any treatments being administered. It could also enable researchers to identify ways in which the cancer develops and possibly identify new therapy targets. This analysis method also benefits the patient in the way samples are taken.

“By being able to collect a blood sample from a patient instead of having to do a biopsy, we’ll have an opportunity to monitor the patient throughout treatment in an easier way,” said Erickson.

The researchers showed the method works by “spiking” a blood sample with a cell line containing a known specific mutation. They then used the MALDI-TOF MS SNP method to test the sample and found the cancer cell line mutation they had used.

Collection and purification methods of CTC samples are not yet perfected. When they are, the researchers will test samples from actual patients with lung cancer, Erickson said.

# # #

Estrogen-Targeting Drug Combo May Help Prevent Lung Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Early results reported from a preclinical mouse study.
Combination included an antiestrogen and aromatase inhibitor.
Effect seen before and after precancerous development.

SAN DIEGO — A combination of drugs that target estrogen production significantly reduced the number of tobacco carcinogen-induced lung tumors in mice, according to results from a preclinical study.

“Antiestrogens have been shown to prevent breast cancer in some women,” said Jill M. Siegfried, Ph.D., professor in the department of pharmacology and chemical biology at University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. “If antiestrogens can prevent lung cancer as well, this would be a major advance, because these drugs are safe to give for long periods and there are no approved ways to prevent lung cancer.”

Siegfried presented the results at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012.

Most lung cancers are positive for a type of estrogen receptor that makes lung tumors grow when exposed to estrogen. In addition, an enzyme in the lung called aromatase produces estrogen. Siegfried and colleagues hoped that by blocking this estrogen receptor and the aromatase enzyme, they might be able to prevent estrogen-sensitive lung tumors.

To test this theory, they conducted a study on two groups of female mice: one group that was currently being exposed to a tobacco carcinogen and one that had past exposure to a tobacco carcinogen and in which some precancerous cells had already formed. The mice were assigned to treatment with a placebo, the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole, the antiestrogen fulvestrant or a combination of anastrozole and fulvestrant.

“The first model asks whether the treatments inhibit the process by which cancer is first started before it is even detectable under the microscope, and the second asks whether the treatments inhibit the process by which microscopic precancers develop into visible tumors,” Siegfried said.

In the first model, the combination treatment given during carcinogen exposure resulted in significantly fewer lung cancer tumors compared with placebo or either treatment alone. The tobacco carcinogen was stopped once treatment began to maximize its ability to halt lung cancer development. Combination treatment also resulted in maximum antitumor effects in the second model, where precancerous cells were already present.

According to Siegfried, these results suggest that antiestrogen treatment combined with an aromatase inhibitor prevents lung cancer development during tobacco carcinogen exposure and after carcinogen damage to the airways has already occurred.

Siegfried said that ultimately, the hope is that this research could lead to an approved treatment that could greatly reduce the risk for an ex-smoker to develop lung cancer.

“We may be able to prevent lung cancer in people who have been previously exposed to tobacco carcinogens using some of the same antiestrogen drugs that can prevent breast cancer,” Siegfried said. “A lot of work needs to be done to determine who would benefit from this therapy, and these drugs would need to be tested in clinical trials in those at high risk for lung cancer.”

# # #

Genetic Composition of Multicentric Lung Tumors Appears to be Similar

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Certain genes can be used to define the lung tumor’s type and ability to clone.
Genetic status information might be used to presume genetic background.

SAN DIEGO — Multicentric carcinogenesis with the same genetic mutation appears to occur in lung adenocarcinoma, according to data presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012.

Data also demonstrated that the EGFR and KRAS genes, which are mutually exclusive, can be used to define clinically relevant molecular subsets of lung adenocarcinoma and can define tumor clonality.

“The information on genetic status of multiple lung cancers is valuable and might be able to presume genetic backgrounds for carcinogenesis of the lung,” said Kenji Sugio, M.D., Ph.D., research director and chief of the department of thoracic oncology at the National Kyushu Cancer Center in Fukuoka, Japan.

By using high-resolution computerized tomography (CT), researchers are able to detect small-sized lung tumors and “sometimes multiple tumors.” Sugio and his colleagues analyzed the genotype of the EGFR and KRAS genes and the expression of the EML4-ALK fusion gene in synchronous multiple noninvasive adenocarcinomas to evaluate the possibility of multicentric carcinogenesis. According to Sugio, in five of the nine patients in this study, multiple tumors, which were defined as pathologically noninvasive tumors, showed the same genetic mutation.

“These findings demonstrate that multicentric carcinogenesis under the same genetic backgrounds occurs in lung adenocarcinoma,” Sugio said. “We expected a high incidence rate of the same genetic mutation in synchronous multiple lung adenocarcinomas because the whole lung of patients with lung cancer is thought to be under an almost uniform environment of carcinogen.”

# # #

Researchers Map Potential Genetic Origins, Pathways of Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Progress made in identifying ways lung cancer develops in never-smokers.
New mutations and pathway changes not found in patients who smoked.
Ten percent of lung cancers are found in patients who never smoked.

SAN DIEGO — Researchers have begun to identify which mutations and pathway changes lead to lung cancer in never-smokers — a first step in developing potential therapeutic targets.

Never-smokers (defined as an individual who smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in his or her lifetime) are estimated to account for 10 percent of lung cancer cases. However, in the past, researchers have not examined this patient population as extensively as they have studied patients with lung cancer who smoked, according to Timothy G. Whitsett, Ph.D., senior postdoctoral fellow in the cancer and cell biology division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

He presented findings on potential gene mutations and pathway alterations that could lead to lung cancer in never-smokers at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine, held Jan. 8-11, 2012.

“This is the starting point. We certainly have a lot of pathways and gene expression alterations that we’re going to be very interested in confirming and looking at in larger cohorts of patients,” Whitsett said. “This is a very important subset of patients with lung cancer, and our research looks to identify pathways and genes that are potentially driving this form of cancer.”

Whitsett and his colleagues looked at three female patients with adenocarcinoma: one never-smoker with early-stage disease, one never-smoker with late-stage disease, and, as a comparison, one smoker with early-stage disease. The team performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) and whole transcriptome sequencing (WTS) on each patient to identify gene mutations and pathway alterations that could have led to the development and progression of their specific lung cancers.

“In the never-smoker with early-stage cancer, there were very few mutations in the genome, but when we looked at the whole transcriptome, we saw differences in gene expression,” said Whitsett.

In the never-smoker with late-stage disease, the researchers found mutations in what Whitsett called “classic tumor-suppressor genes.” He and his colleagues hypothesized that mutations of the tumor-suppressor genes might be a factor in late-stage lung cancer in never-smokers.

Notably, Whitsett and his colleagues reported that these never-smokers’ tumors lacked alterations in common genes associated with lung cancer such as EGFR, KRAS and EML/ALK translocations. This finding makes these patients ideal cases for the discovery of new mutations that may drive lung adenocarcinomas in never-smokers, according to the researchers.

Whitsett said that using WGS and WTS to identify cancer origins “has become a way to really dive down into an individual tumor to try to understand the pathways that may be driving that tumor and identify what therapeutic interventions may be possible.”

The researchers are now validating these findings in about 30 never-smokers with lung adenocarcinoma and about 60 clinically matched smokers with lung adenocarcinoma.

# # #

About the AACR:
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the United States and abroad and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the IASLC:
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association’s membership includes more than 3,500 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries.

IASLC members promote the study of etiology, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and all other aspects of lung cancer and thoracic malignancies. IASLC disseminates information about lung cancer to scientists, members of the medical community and the public and uses all available means to eliminate lung cancer as a health threat for individual patients throughout the world. Membership is open to any physician, scientist, nurse or allied health professional interested in lung cancer, including patients, survivors, caregivers and advocates.

IASLC publishes the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, a valuable resource for medical specialists and scientists who focus on the detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.

To learn more about IASLC, please visit http://iaslc.org

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In San Diego, Jan. 8-11:
(619) 615-6922

Lung Cancer Conference to Focus on New Diagnostic Techniques, Potential Treatments

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States and often the most fatal unless caught early, but scientists are working on ways to improve their understanding of the disease.

Several hundred scientists will gather in San Diego at the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina during Jan. 8-11, 2012, for the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer: Biology, Therapy and Personalized Medicine.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

The conference hosted a media briefing, entitled “Lung Cancer Diagnosis: Pitfalls, Challenges and the Path Ahead,” on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 1:00 p.m. PT (4:00 p.m. ET). The briefing was held in the Atlanta/Chicago room of the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina.

The following leaders in lung cancer spoke at the press conference:

Roy Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., chief of medical oncology and associate director for translational research at the Yale Cancer Center;
David P. Carbone, M.D., Ph.D., Harold L. Moses chair in cancer research, director of the Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Lung Cancer and co-leader of the Thoracic/Head and Neck Research Program at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; and
Paul A. Bunn, M.D., professor and James Dudley chair in cancer research at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Listen to a recording of the teleconference:

Download* the mp3 of the teleconference (34.26 MB, 37:25 minutes)

*On a PC, right mouse click on the "Download" link and select "Save link as..." in Firefox or "Save Target as..." in Internet Explorer.

Conference leaders have also designated the following research as newsworthy:

Estrogen-Targeting Drug Combo May Help Prevent Lung Cancer
Researchers Map Potential Genetic Origins, Pathways of Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers
Ganetespib Showed Activity in KRAS-Mutant NSCLC as Monotherapy and in Combinations
Precancer Markers Identified in Airway Epithelium Cells of Healthy Smokers
Sorafenib Effective in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, but Low Survival Rates Reported
Sensitive Detection Method Analyzes Circulating Tumor Cells in Patients With Lung Cancer
Genetic Composition of Multicentric Lung Tumors Appears to be Similar

# # #

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
In San Diego, Jan. 8-11:
(619) 615-6922

Antiestrogen Therapy May Decrease Risk for Melanoma

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Melanoma risk was 60 percent higher among those not taking antiestrogen therapy.
Researcher cautions against widespread antiestrogen supplementation use.
Study included 7,360 women with breast cancer.

PHILADELPHIA — Women with breast cancer who take antiestrogen supplements may be decreasing their risk for melanoma, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Christine Bouchardy, M.D., Ph.D., professor at the University of Geneva and head of the Geneva Cancer Registry, and colleagues analyzed data from 7,360 women who had breast cancer between 1980 and 2005. About half (54 percent) of these women received antiestrogen therapy.

The researchers followed the patients until 2008 and recorded 34 melanoma cases during the follow-up period. Risk for melanoma was 60 percent higher among patients who did not receive antiestrogen therapy compared with patients who received antiestrogen therapy.

According to Bouchardy, the increased focus on estrogen’s role in breast cancer has led scientists to start questioning what role estrogen is playing in other cancers. “These data reinforce the hypothesis that estrogens play a role in melanoma occurrence,” she said.

Bouchardy said this may be due to the fact that estrogens are associated with increased levels of melanocytes and melanin production in human skin, which have been linked to early-stage melanoma. However, she cautioned against widespread antiestrogen supplementation to prevent melanoma in the general population.

“These results need to be replicated in other studies, particularly given the numerous side effects linked to this kind of drug,” said Bouchardy.

The study was funded by a grant from the Swiss Research Foundation against Cancer, a nonprofit group.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals in 2010. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and progress in the field.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Agent Shows Ability to Suppress Brain Metastasis and Related Damage

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Brain metastasis remains an unconquered challenge in cancer treatment.
Pigment epithelium-derived factor suppressed brain damage.
Agent is already being studied for macular degeneration.

PHILADELPHIA — Scientists are one step closer to repairing the damage caused by brain metastasis, a major challenge in cancer treatment, according to data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“We are making progress from the neck down in cancer treatment, but brain metastases are increasing and are often a primary reason patients with breast cancer do not survive,” said Patricia S. Steeg, Ph.D., head of the Women’s Cancers Section at the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research.

Steeg, who is also a deputy editor of Clinical Cancer Research, another journal of the AACR, said very few drugs that are effective for the treatment of breast cancer break what scientists call the “blood–brain barrier” and treat disease established inside the brain.

Scientists are striving to understand the mechanisms and effects of brain cancer metastasis.

Steeg and colleagues observed the role of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) on metastatic breast cancer cell lines. PEDF is currently being studied as a therapy for macular degeneration because it has been shown to protect neurons in the retina.

Researchers found that PEDF managed to suppress the brain metastatic activity of these lines. Furthermore, it exerted a prosurvival effect on neurons and shielded the brain from tumor-induced damage. Specifically, there was a 3.5-fold reduction in the number of dying neurons adjacent to tumors expressing PEDF.

Although further research is needed to confirm these findings and their applicability, Steeg said the findings represent a significant step forward in trying to manage this condition.

This study was supported by the intramural research programs of the National Cancer Institute and the National Eye Institute and by the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Gene Identified in Increasing Pancreatic Cancer Risk

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:00:00 GMT

Mutations in the ATM gene increase hereditary pancreatic cancer risk.
Information could help with risk counseling.
Screening methods are undergoing clinical trials.

PHILADELPHIA — Mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most morbid cancers, with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed with the disease surviving to five years. Approximately 10 percent of patients come from families with multiple cases of pancreatic cancer.

“There was significant reason to believe this clustering was due to genetics, but we had not, to this point, been able to find the causative genes that explained the cluster of pancreatic cancer for a majority of these families,” said lead author Alison Klein, Ph.D., associate professor of oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and director of the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry.

Klein and colleagues used next-generation sequencing, including whole genome and whole exome analyses, and identified ATM gene mutations in two kindreds with familial pancreatic cancer.

When these initial findings were examined in a large series for patients, ATM mutations were present in four of 166 subjects with pancreatic cancer but were absent in 190 spousal control subsets.

Klein said that knowledge of the presence of the ATM gene could lead to better screening for pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death. However, there are currently no recommended screening tests.

Many doctors use endoscopy as a screening tool for pancreatic cancer, but researchers are still evaluating this technique in clinical trials.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Stand Up To Cancer and Melanoma Research Alliance Announce Dream Team

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:00:00 GMT

Team Will Pursue Targeted Therapies for Patients with a Melanoma Subtype for Which There are Few Treatment Options

PHILADELPHIA — Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) and SU2C’s scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), today announced a new Dream Team dedicated to melanoma research. Jeffrey M. Trent, Ph.D., and Patricia M. LoRusso, D.O., will lead the Dream Team project entitled “Personalized Medicine for Patients with BRAF Wild-Type (BRAFwt) Cancer.”

Melanoma of the skin is the fifth most common cancer diagnosed in the United States, where one person dies from the disease every hour.

“Having a Dream Team of physicians and scientists focus on such an important and unmet need for patients who are not able to benefit from the latest breakthrough drugs is a most welcome development,” said Debra Black, co-founder and chair of the Melanoma Research Alliance. “MRA’s joining with Stand Up To Cancer and the AACR to fund such a talented and committed team marks an event of great significance that could herald the next wave of discoveries for patients and all those at risk for being diagnosed with this deadly skin cancer.”

“Combining resources to compete against this disease and accelerating the pace of cancer research are twin pillars of the Stand Up To Cancer approach, and we were delighted to work with the Melanoma Research Alliance on our first grant made in collaboration with another foundation,” said Sherry Lansing, one of Stand Up To Cancer’s co-founders. “Another exciting first is having Dr. LoRusso as the first woman among SU2C’s Dream Team leaders and co-leaders.”

Trent, an internationally recognized expert in molecular-based systems biology approaches to cancer, will serve as Dream Team leader. He is president and research director at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Az., where he is also professor in the genetic basis of human disease division and head of the melanoma therapeutics lab. He also holds a similar title at the Van Andel Research Institute. His work is focused on applying genomic tools to study melanoma, and he is recognized for this work and his work in translational medicine.

LoRusso, Dream Team co-leader, is director of the Eisenberg Center for Experimental Therapeutics, principal investigator for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Insitute-UO1-funded phase I program, and professor of oncology at Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Mich. She is a leading clinical investigator in early developmental therapeutics and will be principal investigator for the clinical trials, overseeing all clinical aspects of this Dream Team project.

The SU2C-MRA Melanoma Dream Team Translational Cancer Research Grant provides $6 million during a three-year period. The project is intended to accelerate the application of new therapeutic agents to the clinic, thus advancing scientific research in the interests of both today’s cancer patients and those who may develop cancer in the future.

"The Stand Up To Cancer-Melanoma Research Alliance grant gives us the remarkable ability to align cutting edge researchers across the globe to join forces to defeat this terrible disease," said Trent.

“We hope to use this unique multi-stage clinical investigation to define new treatments that will produce benefits for metastatic melanoma patients, based on extensive genomic profiling. We have great scientists and clinicians from across the nation who will join forces on this,” said LoRusso.

The Melanoma Dream Team’s Research Project

Currently, patients who develop metastatic melanoma have a dismal prognosis, with a median survival of six to nine months and a five-year survival rate of 15 percent to 20 percent. About half of patients with metastatic melanoma have an oncogenic mutation in their tumor’s BRAF gene, but the other half of patients are BRAF wild type (BRAFwt) and have no mutation in the gene. Very little progress has been made to identify new therapeutic targets to treat patients with BRAFwt metastatic melanoma.

This Dream Team will investigate the utility of personalized target/therapy identification in patients with BRAFwt metastatic melanoma and will explore the efficacy of molecularly guided therapy involving numerous Food and Drug Administration-approved and investigational agents. Team members will molecularly profile BRAFwt and BRAF-mutant cell lines and test for sensitivity to 100 prioritized compounds that might translate into therapeutic utility. Researchers will use these data to generate models that predict the sensitivity of BRAFwt melanomas to specific drugs. They will test these predictions using xenografts of the melanoma cell lines and primary tumors. An ensuing clinical trial will determine whether this personalized approach significantly improves clinical outcome. The goal is a 30-percent improvement in tumor response relative to standard-of-care therapy.

The target for the start of clinical trials is estimated at mid-2012. To inquire about clinical trials, e-mail MelanomaDreamTeam@karmanos.org.

The team hopes that an individualized medicine approach to the treatment of BRAFwt metastatic melanoma will not only lead to therapeutic benefit for this patient population but may also be beneficial to many other tumor and disease types.

Dream Team Selected Through Rigorous, Interactive Process

“The collaboration between Trent, an expert in human cancer genetics, and LoRusso, a clinician and clinical trialist, exemplifies the types of expertise SU2C brings together in hoping to move science from bench to bedside where it can benefit patients quickly,” said Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., institute professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sharp chaired the SU2C–MRA Joint Scientific Advisory Committee (JSAC) in its unique, interactive, rapid and rigorous evaluation of Dream Team applications via a multi-step scientific review process. The committee is composed of highly accomplished senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists, as well as advocates. JSAC vice chairpersons include Suzanne L. Topalian, M.D., professor of surgery and director of the Melanoma Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, and also Chief Science Officer at the MRA, and William G. Kaelin, Jr., M.D., professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The review process began with a call for ideas issued by the AACR in May, coinciding with National Melanoma Awareness Month. In response, the AACR received 17 submissions, all of which were evaluated by the JSAC members.

The committee then chose three finalist teams, which each met in person with the JSAC to present the plans for their research, and respond to questions about their projects – a level of interaction between applicants and reviewers that is unique in a scientific review process.

Since the launch of SU2C in 2008, the AACR has played an integral role as SU2C’s scientific partner by providing expert peer review and grants administration, as well as ongoing scientific oversight to ensure that progress is being made. The AACR will work closely with the MRA, the largest private funder of melanoma research.

“We are very excited about the synergy between the AACR, SU2C and MRA on the first collaborative Dream Team model. The team has great potential for providing new hope for patients with a type of melanoma that is particularly challenging to treat, and for further advancing the field,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D., (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR.

Melanoma Dream Team Principals and Advocate Members

The “Personalized Medicine for Patients with BRAF Wild-Type (BRAFwt) Cancer” Dream Team is composed of a multidisciplinary group including experts in the medical management of patients with metastatic melanoma, drug development, genomics research, biostatistics, bioinformatics and patient advocacy. It includes laboratory and clinical researchers, young investigators and senior scientists who have not worked together in the past, as well as patient advocates. In addition to Trent and LoRusso, team members include:

Principals:

Svetomir Markovic, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic
Brian Nickoloff, M.D., Ph.D., Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Neal Rosen, M.D., Ph.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Nicholas J. Schork, Ph.D., The Scripps Research Institute & Scripps Health
Aleksandar Sekulic, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic
Jeffrey A. Sosman, M.D., Vanderbilt University
Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Craig Webb, Ph.D., Van Andel Research Institute
Joshua LaBaer, M.D., Ph.D., The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University

Advocates:

Mark Gorman, J.D., National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
Derrick Hall, president of Arizona Diamondbacks MLB League
Connie Mack, U.S. Senator, Ret.
Jane Perlmutter, Ph.D., Gemini Group

Dream Team members come from the following institutions: Translational Genomic Research Institute, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Scripps Research Institute & Scripps Health, Van Andel Research Institute, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, Arizona State University, Johns Hopkins University, National Cancer Institute, Queensland Institute for Medical Research, and University of California Santa Cruz.

Prior to today’s announcement, SU2C has awarded grants to five Dream Teams comprised of 221 scientists at 43 unique institutions. The 26 Innovative Research Grants that have been awarded to young investigators include the Allan H. (Bud) and Sue Selig Stand Up To Cancer Melanoma Innovative Research Grant to Dr. Roger Lo at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, who is investigating which specific genetic changes lead to drug resistance in some patients with melanoma. MRA, in the four years since its founding, has awarded more than $30 million in funding to 73 projects at 55 institutions in 10 countries.

For more information on the Melanoma Dream Team, please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLRaxFfuuuw starting at 12:01 a.m. ET, Dec. 14, 2011. To download footage with members of the team, please visit our FTP site at bit.ly/MelanomaInfo. Contact Adam Pockriss at Apockriss@Rubenstein.com for log-in information.

# # #

About the Melanoma Research Alliance
The Melanoma Research Alliance is a public charity formed under the auspices of the Milken Institute, with the generous founding support of Debra and Leon Black. It supports an international, cross-disciplinary group of biomedical researchers possessing clinical and scientific expertise to explore, identify and pursue innovative solutions to critical research questions, leading to better treatments and a cure for melanoma patients. Since its founding in 2007, MRA has become the largest private funder of melanoma research. For more information about MRA’s research programs, visit www.curemelanoma.org.

About the American Association for Cancer Research
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Visit AACR: www.aacr.org
Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

Media Contacts:
Adam Pockriss
(212) 843-8286
Apockriss@Rubenstein.com

AACR Applauds Introduction of Resolution Recognizing 40th Anniversary of the National Cancer Act

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research commends U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) for introducing a Congressional resolution this afternoon that reaffirms the national commitment to understanding and controlling cancer.

“We are deeply grateful to Senators Brown, Moran and Kerry, who took the initiative to introduce this important measure and rallied the support of so many of their distinguished colleagues behind it,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “It is heartening to see senators from both sides of the aisle joining together to shine light on the urgent need to accelerate and strengthen the nation’s efforts against the more than 200 diseases we know as cancer.”

The resolution, cosponsored by 39 senators in addition to Brown, Moran and Kerry, commemorates the 40th anniversary of the signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971, which set the nation on a concerted course to conquer cancer through investment in cancer research and related biomedical science. The resolution is a tribute to the more than 12 million cancer survivors who are alive today because of our country’s commitment to accelerate progress in preventing, detecting, diagnosing and treating cancer.

“Today, more than any time in history, cancer researchers are maximizing the impact of the fundamental discoveries made over the past 40 years and are translating them into improved patient care,” said AACR President Judy Garber, M.D., M.P.H. “Our ability to maintain this momentum depends upon a strong commitment by Congress to adequately fund the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and its parent agency, the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The resolution also complements a landmark cancer progress report www.cancerprogressreport.org recently released by the AACR that illustrates the astounding return on investment in cancer research and biomedical science supported through the NIH and the NCI, and provides a summary of the scientific breakthroughs that promise to revolutionize the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Michele Sharp
(267) 312-8711
michele.sharp@aacr.org

Study of Two Sisters Sheds Light on Lymphoma Evolution

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:00 GMT

A woman received a transplant from her sister to treat leukemia.
Both sisters later developed lymphoma, suggesting transfer of a common ancestor.
Finding gives scientists new insight into lymphoma development.

PHILADELPHIA — When a 41-year-old woman was diagnosed with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia, she received a bone marrow transplant and subsequent leukocyte infusion from her sister. These treatments controlled her leukemia, but seven years later, both sisters developed follicular lymphoma.

Although the phenomenon of a donor passing a malignancy to a recipient is well documented and considered a minimal risk to those in the transplant community, this case gave scientists the unique opportunity to understand the genetic abnormalities that led to follicular lymphoma in both cases.

“We were able to combine clinical activity with laboratory expertise to gain a real insight into the biology involved,” said David Weinstock, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who published the case study in a recent issue of Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The study was funded by a Stand Up To Cancer Innovative Research Grant.

Both sisters are now in remission after standard chemotherapy treatment. Weinstock’s research group will present their findings at the 2011 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego on Dec. 12, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. PT.

Weinstock and his colleagues sequenced the DNA of samples derived from the two sisters as well as a frozen sample of the leukocyte infusion to determine the genetic lesions that led to the lymphoma.

They found that both sisters had identical BCL2/IGH rearrangements and the same V(D)J rearrangement. They also identified 15 mutations that were present in both lymphomas. Researchers recovered 14 of these mutations from the donor lymphocyte infusions using ultra-deep sequencing — a finding that indicates that a lymphoma ancestor harboring these mutations was passed from the donor to the recipient seven years before clinical presentation.

Weinstock said this sort of knowledge could one day lead to an early treatment for follicular lymphoma.

“Currently the only curative approach is stem cell transplantation, but the more we understand about the genetic aberrations that lead to follicular lymphoma, the better we’ll be able to manage the disease,” said Weinstock.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org

Estrogen May Play Role in Rising Rates of Head, Neck Cancer (HealthDay)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:00:00 GMT

HealthDay

TUESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Rates of head and neck cancer are rising among some groups of people, including young women without any known risk factors. Now, a study suggests that estrogen may help the cancer spread by boosting the movement of precancerous cells in the mouth.

Previous research found that the body changes how it handles estrogen after the lungs are exposed to smoke. This may lead to lung cancer.

In the new study, researchers examined how estrogen affects cells that are cancerous or primed to become cancerous. They found that an enzyme called CYP1B1 is linked to reproduction in precancerous cells.

"In the future, we would like to find a natural or dietary agent to deplete the CYP1B1 enzyme and see if we can prevent oral cancer at the precancerous stage," Ekaterina Shatalova, a postdoctoral fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, said in a news release from the American Association for Cancer Research.

"Our previous studies showed that the CYP1B1 enzyme sits at the hub of changes that occur in the lungs after smoke exposure. We were now able to look at its role in a more direct fashion by removing it from precancerous cells of the oral cavity," Margie Clapper, co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, explained in the news release.

"We found that cells lacking it move slower," Clapper added. "CYP1B1 could be a wonderful target in precancerous lesions of the head and neck because, by attacking it, we might stop these lesions from progressing or moving to a more advanced stage."

The findings could help researchers "understand factors that cause head and neck cancer, in addition to the traditional risk factors of tobacco and alcohol exposure," according to Dr. Jennifer R. Grandis, director of the Head and Neck Cancer Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

But the findings won't be confirmed until researchers do more work in people, the study authors noted.

The study is published in the January issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

Immune System May Impact Tumor Blood Supply

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

· Early research suggests that the immune system can affect angiogenesis.
· Manipulation of angiogenesis is a key therapeutic strategy for cancer.

PHILADELPHIA — Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may have uncovered a mechanism for blocking tumor angiogenesis that involves the patient’s immune system, according to findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Angiogenesis is the process by which tumors acquire and process blood, which is needed for their continued growth. Anti-angiogenesis drugs block blood flow and are an important part of cancer treatment.

“Substantial evidence indicates that inhibiting angiogenesis is a validated strategy for cancer therapy, but current approaches are in need of further improvements,” said Glenn Dranoff, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dranoff and colleagues analyzed blood and tumor samples from patients who showed clinical responses to treatment with a combination of immune stimulants and regulatory molecules. Unexpectedly, the study showed that these immunotherapies stimulated a host response that targeted the selective destruction of tumor blood vessels. A key step in this process was the ability of patients to generate antibodies that neutralized factors that produce and sustain tumor blood vessels.

Overall, the immune treatments activated cellular processes in the tumor microenvironment that achieved an anti-angiogenic response.

“It appears that the body’s own immune system can be used to develop a new way to block angiogenesis,” said Dranoff. “Angiogenesis involves multiple factors, and our studies suggest that it may be advantageous to target several of these at the same time, rather than only focus on one factor, such as vascular endothelial growth factor.”

Mark Smyth, Ph.D., head of the Cancer Immunology Program at Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Australia, and a section editor of Cancer Research, believes this research represents important new information in the angiogenesis arena.

“It has long been recognized that anti-angiogenesis is a worthwhile therapeutic approach to cancer treatment and a number of molecules have been defined as potential targets,” said Smyth.

“The important issue here is that combination therapy does, in fact, raise host antibodies to these angiogenic targets. Future efforts to generate immunotherapies to cancer need to keep this information in mind.”

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(267) 646-0558
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

Higher Co-payments Increase Chance of Early Discontinuation, Inadequate Use of Breast Cancer Therapy

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Use of aromatase inhibitors in early-stage breast cancer patients affected.

• Older women more likely to discontinue early because of high co-payments.
• Primary care physician involvement, quantity of other prescriptions affect use.

SAN ANTONIO — A higher prescription co-payment, especially among older women, is associated with both early discontinuation and incomplete use of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy, a lifesaving therapy for women with hormone sensitive early-stage breast cancer.

Dawn L. Hershman, M.D., M.S., associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and co-director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, presented detailed study results at the 33rd CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12, 2010.

Previous research has identified several factors affecting patient compliance with use of adjuvant aromatase inhibitors, such as young and old age, severity of side effects and belief that the medication is useful.

Hershman and colleagues examined the impact of prescription co-payments on hormone therapy use. Working with the Medco Research Institute, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medco Health Solutions Inc., anonymous patient information was used to target women older than 50 years who were prescribed aromatase inhibitors for early breast cancer.

“We looked at two different factors: women who discontinued use altogether or had no subsequent refills and those that did not refill their prescription on time or did not take the medication at least 80 percent of the time,” said Hershman.

Results showed that of the 8,110 women aged 50 to 65 years, 21.1 percent stopped taking the medication and of those who properly continued with their regimen 10.3 percent did not take the medication as directed over the two-year period. Of the 14,050 women 65 years or older, almost 25 percent stopped taking the medication and of those who continued, 8.9 percent were non-adherent.

Co-payments were categorized as less than $30, between $30 and $89.99, and $90 or more. The 90-day co-payments ranged from $0 to $893.49.

In the 65 and older group, women were more likely to discontinue medication use if they fell in the co-payment categories above $30. However, it was not until the co-payment reached $90 or more that the less than 65 age group was more likely to discontinue use or not take it as prescribed.

Additionally, the study results showed that women whose prescriptions came from a primary care doctor or women who were prescribed many other medications were also more likely to stop taking the medications or not take them as prescribed.

“When we have highly effective medications available, we need to try to set limits on potential barriers to use like co-payments,” said Hershman. Based on these findings, “future public policy efforts should be directed towards reducing financial constraints as a means of increasing the complete use of these medications.”

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter @AACR, and throughout the meeting using the hash tag #SABCS.

Recordings of the teleconferences and video interviews with researchers will be posted to the AACR website throughout the meeting: www.aacr.org/page23506.aspx.

The mission of the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is to produce a unique and comprehensive scientific meeting that encompasses the full spectrum of breast cancer research, facilitating the rapid translation of new knowledge into better care for breast cancer patients. The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and Baylor College of Medicine are joint sponsors of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. This collaboration utilizes the clinical strengths of the CTRC and Baylor, and the AACR’s scientific prestige in basic, translational and clinical cancer research to expedite the delivery of the latest scientific advances to the clinic. The 33rd annual symposium is expected to draw nearly 9,000 participants from more than 90 countries.

Contact Media:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
In San Antonio, Dec. 8-12:
(210) 582-7036

Unique Needs and Outcomes of Pregnant Women with Breast Cancer Identified

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Weight of babies exposed to intrauterine chemotherapy tended to be higher.
• More malformations were found, regardless of treatment.
• Multidisciplinary team should be part of pregnant patient’s cancer management.

SAN ANTONIO — Do not delay treatment of breast cancer just because a woman is pregnant, said lead researcher Sibylle Loibl, Dr. med, of the German Breast Group.

This suggestion is based on study results detailing the effects of different treatment options on the infant. Loibl presented this data at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12, 2010.

“At the time we started the study in 2003, there was hardly any information on breast cancer therapy during pregnancy, but we felt there was a medical need for it,” she said.

Although the incidence of pregnancy among breast cancer patients is small (about 2 to 3 percent), women are delaying childbirth until later in age, which may increase the instances of cancer cases among pregnant women, according to Loibl.

The researchers collected data from women diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant to see how the infants fared.

From April 2003 until June 2010, they collected data from 313 women, aged 23 to 47 years old. The women had various subtypes of breast cancer, and the cancer was in various stages when diagnosed. All of the women were pregnant when they were diagnosed with cancer: 23 percent were in the first trimester, 42 percent were in the second and 36 percent were in the third trimester. Some women received various treatment regimens while the rest received chemotherapy.

Two of the infants died shortly after birth and 29 did not continue the pregnancy. Premature deliveries were more common among women who did not receive chemotherapy than among women who did receive chemotherapy. In addition, the infants of the women who received chemotherapy tended to weigh a little more than those who did not receive chemotherapy.

Infants from both groups experienced congenital problems, most of which were related to premature birth.

“We were surprised about the number of congenital malformations,” Loibl said. “It is about 1 to 3 percent in the general population, but was higher in this cohort.”

Although the study was primarily focused on the infant outcomes, the researchers also looked at the treatment effects on the women and found that the median overall disease-free survival of the mothers was 27 months and median overall survival was 55 months.

Based on these results Loibl said she would advise her pregnant cancer patients to “continue the pregnancy and start with a treatment as closely as possible to standard recommendations for nonpregnant women.” In addition, it is critical that a multidisciplinary team in close collaboration with an obstetrician, prenatal care specialist and a neonatologist treat the pregnant woman with breast cancer.

###

Follow the AACR on Twitter @AACR, and throughout the meeting using the hash tag #SABCS. Recordings of the teleconferences and video interviews with researchers will be posted to the AACR website throughout the meeting: www.aacr.org/page23506.aspx.

The mission of the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is to produce a unique and comprehensive scientific meeting that encompasses the full spectrum of breast cancer research, facilitating the rapid translation of new knowledge into better care for breast cancer patients. The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and Baylor College of Medicine are joint sponsors of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. This collaboration utilizes the clinical strengths of the CTRC and Baylor, and the AACR’s scientific prestige in basic, translational and clinical cancer research to expedite the delivery of the latest scientific advances to the clinic. The 33rd annual symposium is expected to draw nearly 9,000 participants from more than 90 countries.

Contact Media:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
In San Antonio, Dec. 8-12:
(210) 582-7036

Phase III Efficacy Data on Bevacizumab Plus Chemotherapy in Early Breast Cancer to be Presented

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Possible new treatment option for early HER2-negative breast cancer.
• Safety data, published earlier this year, indicated bevacizumab was feasible.
• Data on response and surgical outcomes to be presented at symposium.

SAN ANTONIO — Results of the GeparQuinto study, randomized Phase III efficacy data on the use of bevacizumab plus chemotherapy to treat women with early breast cancer will be presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Gunter von Minckwitz, M.D., Ph.D., managing director of the German Breast Group, and colleagues are conducting final analyses on efficacy data from this study, which will detail the early treatment of more than 1,900 patients with HER2-negative breast cancer treated with chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab.

“So far, no efficacy data from Phase III trials have been reported for early breast cancer. This will be the first,” said von Minckwitz. “If the pathological complete response rate is higher with bevacizumab than without bevacizumab, it will provide a new option to improve neoadjuvant treatment in HER2-negative breast cancer.”

Bevacizumab is currently approved in the United States in combination with paclitaxel for the first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer. In July 2010, the Food and Drug Administration’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 12 to 1 to eliminate this indication from the treatment label of bevacizumab.

“A negative or positive result might have a significant effect on this picture,” said von Minckwitz. “However, pathological response as a surrogate for outcome is only confirmed for chemotherapy. Long-term follow up, as well as results from adjuvant studies have to be awaited.”

The researchers investigated whether adding bevacizumab to treatment with four cycles of epirubicin/cyclophosphomide, followed by four cycles of docetaxel improved the rate of pathological complete response, which was defined as no invasive or non-invasive residual cancer in the breast or nodes.

Between May 2007 and June 2010, 944 patients were assigned chemotherapy treatment with epirubicin/cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel; 945 patients were assigned this treatment plus bevacizumab.

After the first four cycles, the researchers performed an interim assessment; 24 percent of patients treated without bevacizumab and 17 percent of patients treated with bevacizumab showed no response and were discontinued from treatment.

Interim safety data from the trial, published earlier this year, indicated that treatment with bevacizumab was feasible. Patients assigned bevacizumab experienced more leukopenia, infections, mucositis and hypertension, but less edema. This safety profile is no different from that reported in first-line metastatic trials or Phase II adjuvant trials of bevacizumab, according to von Minckwitz.

Full results on the histological response and surgical outcome will be reported during the symposium.

“The results will provide an important signal as to whether bevacizumab will be effective as an adjuvant treatment,” said von Minckwitz.

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Denosumab Delayed Time to First Skeletal-related Side Effect

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Denosumab may be a safe, effective alternative to zoledronic acid.
• Drug is easy to administer via subcutaneous injection.
• Dose adjustments or renal monitoring is not required.

SAN ANTONIO — For patients with breast cancer and bone metastases, denosumab delayed skeletal-related side effects five months longer compared to those on zoledronic acid, according to results presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.

“The average life expectancy of patients with metastatic breast cancer is approximately 2.5 years, so if you can prolong the time without a skeletal-related event by five months, you are substantially benefiting the patient,” said Alison T. Stopeck, M.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the Clinical Breast Cancer Program at the Arizona Cancer Center, University of Arizona, Tucson.

The Food and Drug Administration approved denosumab, sold by Amgen as XGEVA starting Nov. 18, 2010, for the prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors.

Previous results from this Phase III trial indicated that denosumab was superior to zoledronic acid in delaying the time to first on-study, skeletal-related side effects, such as fracture, radiation to bone, surgery to bone or spinal cord compression in patients with breast cancer and bone metastases. These results detail an additional four months of blinded treatment.

Stopeck and colleagues randomized 2,046 patients with advanced breast cancer to receive either 120 mg of subcutaneous denosumab or 4 mg of intravenous zoledronic acid every four weeks. Both of these drugs inhibit osteoclasts, or the cells that break down bone, therefore, all patients took calcium and vitamin D daily.

Denosumab was better at delaying the time to first on-study, skeletal-related event by 18 percent and the time to first and subsequent event by 22 percent. The median time to first on-study, skeletal-related event was five months longer for the denosumab group compared to the zoledronic acid group.

Overall survival and disease progression was similar for both groups. Rates of side effects were 96.2 percent for those taking denosumab and 97.4 percent for those taking zoledronic acid. Jaw osteonecrosis occurred in 2.5 percent of patients taking denosumab and 1.8 percent of those taking zoledronic acid.

Stopeck thinks these results will be practice changing. “We now have an alternative to zoledronic acid that is more convenient, less toxic and more effective for patients with bone metastases,” she said.

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High CTC Levels Predicted Poor Outcome in Metastatic Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Predictive value independent of serum tumor markers.
• CTCs are independent prognostic marker for metastatic disease.

SAN ANTONIO — A high level of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) — cells that have detached from a tumor and are circulating in the body through the blood — are an independent prognostic marker in metastatic breast cancer as first-line therapy. In addition, persistence of high CTC level during therapy was found to be an early marker of poor outcome.

“This is the largest, prospective series validating the prognostic value of CTCs in first-line chemotherapy metastatic breast cancer, independently from serum tumor markers for overall survival,” said Jean-Yves Pierga, M.D., Ph.D., professor of the medical oncology department, Institut Curie and Université Paris Descartes, France. “Persistence of a high level of CTCs before the second cycle of chemotherapy was a strong and early predictive marker of poor outcome.”

Pierga presented results of this study at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held here Dec. 8-12, 2010.

Breast cancer can metastasize from a primary tumor in the breast to distant organs, such as the liver, lungs or bone, through the blood. New techniques have allowed for the detection of metastasis by testing blood for CTCs.

Previous research has not established that routine use of CTC measurements can improve patient outcomes, therefore, it is not currently a recommended practice, said Pierga.

The researchers prospectively tested CTCs as an outcome predictor compared with serum tumor markers in metastatic breast cancer patients treated by first-line chemotherapy. Serum tumor markers are proteins or glycoproteins released into the blood; however, tumor markers only indirectly reflect the presence of cancer and can be associated with dead cells, according to Pierga. In fact, some breast cancers can metastasize without any increase in tumor serum markers.

This study included 267 patients with metastatic breast cancer who were receiving first-line chemotherapy and had undergone assessment for three tumor markers: CA 15.3, CEA and LDH. Patients were enrolled in one of five cancer centers in France between June 2007 and Sept. 2009, and were followed for a median of 16 months.

Sixty-five percent of the patients had one or more CTCs; 44 percent had five or more CTCs. Of the measured tumor markers, 64 percent of patients had high CA 15.3, 51 percent had high CEA and 45 percent had high LDH.

High CTC levels were predictive of poor progression-free survival and overall survival, independent of serum tumor markers.

Evaluation of serum tumor markers showed that baseline levels of CA 15.3, CEA and LDH were prognostic for poor progression-free survival, but only LDH was prognostic for overall survival. CTCs were highly associated with tumor markers, tumor burden, performance status, and number of metastatic sites, but were also independent of tumor biology, such as HER2 status, or grade of cancer.

“CTCs add an independent prognostic marker in metastatic breast cancer at first-line chemotherapy, and an early predictive marker of clinical benefit after one cycle of chemotherapy,” Pierga said.

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CTCs Predict Poor Outcome From Blood Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation is effective therapy.
• Therapy may release cancer stem-like cells from bone marrow.
• Patients who had low circulating tumor cells did well.

SAN ANTONIO — Metastatic breast cancer patients who had circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in their blood before or after high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation had poor outcomes, according to researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Patients with CTCs in their blood before chemotherapy treatment had reduced survival and those with these cells in their blood after the stem cell transplant recurred faster and died earlier. These findings were presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec 8-12.

While it has been known that CTCs in metastatic breast cancer are linked to cancer recurrence and lower survival, this study adds several new insights, the researchers said. One is that the process of collecting hematopoietic progenitor cells appears to recruit CTCs from bone marrow into the blood, and the other is that these CTCs are likely to be responsible for cancer recurrence.

“Our group had previously shown that metastatic breast cancer patients with CTCs in their blood relapsed faster and now we see that these same cells can be recruited from bone marrow and that they may have the same effect on disease outcome,” said the lead researcher Hui Gao, Ph.D., a research scientist working in the laboratory of James M. Reuben, Ph.D.

“Furthermore, some CTCs seem to have the characteristic markings of stem-like cells, but we don’t know yet if they are cancer stem cells,” Gao said.

The 21 patients included in this study were younger women (average age of 44) diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who were offered high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplant. Before chemotherapy, patients were given a growth factor treatment to recruit hematopoietic progenitor cells from bone marrow, then the cells were harvested from their blood.

CTCs were found in six patients before transplant and in nine patients one month after. Researchers determined that more than five CTCs at baseline was associated with shorter overall survival and that five or more CTCs after transplant was linked to both shorter relapse-free survival and overall survival.

The process of using growth factors to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells also appears to mobilize some CTCs that have lost their epithelial properties and undergo mesenchymal transition, according to the researchers. Such cells are not easily detected by the conventional CTC detection assays and the importance of this observation might be overlooked by the clinicians.

High-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplant did reduce the number of existing CTCs in some patients, but increased CTCs in other patients. Patients who recurred faster and had shorter survival had a higher percentage of epithelial cells with stem-like markings mixed in with blood hematopoietic progenitor cells that were mobilized by the growth factor to enter the blood stream.

“When we enriched for hematopoietic progenitor cells, we found some CTCs within the milieu of cells we collected,” Gao said.

In some cases, mobilization may have facilitated the release of cancer stem cells from the bone marrow that were associated with shorter relapse-free survival. However, mobilized CTCs can be removed from the final transplanted product using a procedure to positively select for CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells. This procedure may account for the fact that the patients with low CTCs did well.

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Circulating Tumor Cells Predicted Recurrence, Death in Patients with Early-stage Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Blood was tested after surgery and before chemotherapy.
• Risk was apparent with just one CTC in the blood.
• More individualized treatment approaches might be possible based on CTC characterization.

SAN ANTONIO — The presence of one to four circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of early-stage breast cancer patients almost doubled patient’s risk of cancer relapse and death, and five or more CTCs increased recurrence by 400 percent and death by 300 percent, according to Phase III results of the SUCCESS trial. These cells were found in patients after surgery but before chemotherapy treatment.

Results of this study were presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12, 2010, and demonstrate the value of CTCs in early breast cancer, independent of estrogen-receptor or HER2 status and before use of adjuvant therapy.

The benefit of using CTCs to predict risk for recurrence and death in metastatic breast cancer patients has been shown in a number of studies, and use of a CTC test in metastatic breast cancer has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The CTCs found in this study are likely evidence that a tumor is shedding breast cancer cells, said lead researcher Brigitte Rack, M.D., head of the department of gynecological oncology at the Women’s Hospital at the University of Munich, Germany. “The CTCs might have been released from the primary tumor before these patients underwent surgery, and the expression of stem cell markers on disseminated tumors cells has been shown by several groups.”

Survival of these CTCs after chemotherapy further suggests they are cancer stem cells, Rack added.

Researchers with this study are testing the effectiveness of two different chemotherapy regimens and extended adjuvant bisphosphonate treatment in early breast cancer. SUCCESS’ efficacy data are expected to be released next year.

Results of this study showed that 21.5 percent of patients had one or more CTCs in their blood before the start of adjuvant treatment. These patients were more frequently node-positive, but no other linkage could be made with tumor size or grade or HER2 status.

Breast cancer recurred in 114 patients, and 66 patients died. Being CTC-positive was a significant independent predictor for both disease-free and overall survival. Patients with one to four CTCs had an 88 percent increased risk of early breast cancer recurrence and a 91 percent increased risk of death from breast cancer, according to Rack.

Prognosis was worse in patients with five or more CTCs; these patients had a fourfold risk of cancer recurrence and a threefold risk for death from the disease.

“Our study suggests testing CTCs may prove to be important to help individualize therapy for early-stage breast cancer where no measurable tumor is present,” she said. “Patients who seem to be at high risk due to CTC may benefit from additional treatment options, and those that don’t have CTCs may be spared side effects of some treatments.”

She added, however, that prospectively randomized trials are necessary to show an improvement of survival based on CTC diagnostics. Trials testing this notion are either ongoing or about to start in Europe and the United States, according to Rack.

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Phase III Study Compared Neoadjuvant Therapy with Lapatinib or Trastuzumab for Early Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Researchers compared traditional neoadjuvant therapy with new combination of chemotherapy and lapatinib.
• Histological and surgical outcome results after neoadjuvant therapy presented.

SAN ANTONIO — Researchers presented Phase III efficacy data from the GeparQuinto study, a head-to-head comparison of neoadjuvant lapatinib and trastuzumab in combination with chemotherapy for patients with early breast cancer, at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.

“We had a primary goal to compare the standard anti-HER2 neoadjuvant combination of chemotherapy, trastuzumab, with the new combination of chemotherapy and lapatinib,” said Michael Untch, M.D., head of the multidisciplinary breast cancer department at Helios Clinic in Berlin, Germany.

The GeparQuinto study was conducted at 85 centers throughout Germany and includes 2,500 patients, 550 of whom have HER2-neu-overexpressing breast cancer. This is the largest prospective patient cohort of chemo-targeted neoadjuvant therapy worldwide.

All patients received four cycles of 90 mg/m² epirubicin and 600 mg/m² cyclophosphamide every three weeks, followed by four cycles of 100 mg/m² docetaxel. They were randomly assigned to also receive concomitant 6 mg/kg trastuzumab every three weeks or 1,250 mg lapatinib per day throughout all cycles.

At baseline, patient characteristics were similar between the two groups, with both groups presenting a clinical median tumor size of 40 mm. The researchers also reported a similar number of patients in each group with T4a-c or T4d disease, bilateral, multifocal or multicentric disease, and estrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative disease.

The last of the patients are currently undergoing surgery, and Untch will present histological and surgical outcome results for these patients at the symposium.

“After assessing response to neoadjuvant chemo-targeted therapy in patients with HER2 overexpressing tumors, we are following the patients from this study to see whether pathologic complete response at surgery is correlated to the outcome of the patients,” he said.

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Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab Combination Improved Efficacy for Women With HER2-positive Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Adding pertuzumab to trastuzumab and docetaxel eradicated tumors.
• Some tumors were eradicated without chemotherapy.

SAN ANTONIO — The combination of pertuzumab and trastuzumab had superior antitumor activity in women with early HER2-positive breast cancer, according to Phase II study results of the NeoSphere neoadjuvant trial.

Details of these study results were presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.

“The findings establish that the addition of pertuzumab to trastuzumab and the chemotherapy drug docetaxel has an impressive rate of tumor eradication (46 percent), which is 50 percent more than achieved with docetaxel and trastuzumab, the standard therapy,” said Luca Gianni, M.D., director of medical oncology at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Tumori di Milano.

“In addition, the combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab without chemotherapy is capable of eradicating the tumor in a remarkable fraction of cases (17 percent) without any of the toxicities commonly seen with chemotherapy,” Gianni said.

NeoSphere is a randomized trial that tested the efficacy of the new HER2-directed monoclonal antibody pertuzumab in combination with trastuzumab with or without chemotherapy. The trial included 417 women; all participants received four cycles of therapy before they underwent surgery, or as neoadjuvant therapy.

The results showed that combining pertuzumab with trastuzumab might offer improved efficacy to women with early HER2-positive breast cancer, according to Gianni. Additionally, a small percentage of tumors could be treated and eventually cured without chemotherapy.

“The most important result of the study is that a relatively small neoadjuvant trial of short duration can rapidly provide data that better outline the value of different new strategies and shape the approach to further and much larger adjuvant studies,” Gianni said.

Investigators are working on a follow-up, adjuvant randomized trial with pertuzumab added to trastuzumab and chemotherapy. They are also conducting several molecular analyses aimed at improving the ability to predict benefit or failure and permit greater focus on personalized treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.

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Combination Therapy Reduced HER2-positive Breast Cancers

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Three drug combination worked better than when used alone.

• Surgical remission rate was 50 percent, but was 20 percent with single therapy.

SAN ANTONIO — A combination of lapatinib, trastuzumab and paclitaxel significantly improved tumor response rates than either agent alone among patients with HER2-positive breast cancers, according to data presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12. Full results were presented at the symposium during a press briefing on Dec. 10, 2010, at 8:00 a.m. CT.

Reporters who cannot attend in person can participate using the following call-in information:

• U.S. and Canada: (888) 282-7404
• International: (706) 679-5207
• Access Code: 25346432

Lead researcher José Baselga, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the division of hematology and oncology and associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, said early data indicate a 50 percent rate of pathological complete remission compared with 20 percent for either agent alone.

“This study suggests that a dual blockade against HER2 is an efficient way to target HER2-positive breast tumors and that lapatinib adds to trastuzumab. While further research is ongoing, our results indicate that we are on the right track to improve the therapy of HER2-positive disease,” said Baselga, who is also a founding editor-in-chief of the AACR’s newest journal Cancer Discovery, along with Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D.

These results are from the NeoALTTO Trial, an international, multicenter, randomized study comparing the efficacy of lapatinib plus paclitaxel vs. trastuzumab plus paclitaxel vs. a combination of all three agents as neoadjuvant chemotherapy among 455 patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

“It has been suggested in basic science research and smaller clinical trials that the combination of these therapies would be more effective than either alone, but this is the first time it has been shown in a large clinical trial setting,” said Baselga.

At the symposium, Baselga presented the primary outcome of tumor rate after surgery, as well as the secondary outcomes of objective response rate, safety, pathologic node-negative status, rate of conversion to breast conservation, disease-free survival and overall survival.

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Study: Half of women over 40 get annual mammograms (Associated Press)

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Remember the uproar last year when a government task force said most women don't need annual mammograms? It turns out that only half of women over 40 had been getting them that often to start with, even when they have insurance that covers screening.

The information comes from a review of insurance claims that show what women actually do — not what they say in surveys.

"We all support many things — fast food isn't what we should eat for dinner every night — but that isn't what we do," said Dr. Milayna Subar of Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages benefits for many large insurers, including some Medicare plans.

She did the study, using records on more than 1.5 million women, and reported results Thursday at a breast cancer conference.

The finding is disturbing, said Dr. Judy Garber of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research, one of the conference's sponsors. "Here's an insured population where cost is not a barrier," and yet many women are not getting tested.

Rates of screening are likely even lower among women without insurance, though government programs pay for mammograms for many women who lack such coverage.

Mammograms are X-rays of the breast that can reveal tumors when they're too small to be felt. But they also raise many false alarms, leading to worry, expense and overtreatment. How often and when women should get mammograms has long been controversial.

In November 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said women in their 40s at average risk for cancer do not need mammograms and that women 50 and older need them only every two years. Many groups, including the American Cancer Society, still advise annual mammograms starting at 40.

Everyone agrees that the age group that most benefits from mammograms is women 50 to 64, and the government estimates that roughly three-quarters of women in this age group had a mammogram within the previous two years, based on surveys.

However, the review of insurance claims from 2006 through 2009 put the true number at 65 percent. It also found that only 54 percent of women in this age group had been getting mammograms every year.

Among all women 40 to 85, only half had been getting annual mammograms, the study found.

Doctors will not be surprised by these results, said Dr. Peter Ravdin of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the organizers of the cancer conference. Women forget or lose track of when they last had a mammogram, and that's one of the downsides of advice not to go every year, he said. Some may even lie when asked how often they go.

"There's both a conscious and mostly unconscious desire to please the person asking that question," because most women know they should be getting one, Ravdin said.

Dr. Marisa Weiss, a 51-year-old Philadelphia breast cancer specialist who founded the consumer Web site breastcancer.org, is glad she had been following her own advice to get screened every year. She was diagnosed in April with breast cancer found through a routine mammogram.

"It was a very favorable diagnosis and I feel very lucky about that. I was a true beneficiary of early detection," she said.

If she'd followed advice to get screened just every two years, it could have meant "a real difference in my prognosis," Weiss said.

Even Women Most Everyone Agrees Should Get a Mammogram Don’t (Wall Street Journal)

registration@aacr.org (Anna Wilde Mathews) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Wall Street Journal

Since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued recommendations late last year that stopped short of endorsing regular mammograms for all women younger than 50, there’s been an often-fierce debate about how many of the screening tests women should get, and at what age they should start.

But the back-and-forth often overlooks a basic fact: Lots of women aren’t getting the scans now. That’s true even among those for whom they’re widely believed to be worthwhile. The latest sign comes from a study by the research arm of pharmacy-benefit manager Medco Health Solutions, which has an interest because it’s starting to offer a new service to clients that will reach out to women they cover who aren’t getting recommended mammograms. The study is being unveiled today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The Medco study, based on a database of insurance claims from 12 million people, covered 2006 through 2009. It found that for women 40 and older, the annual average mammography rate was 50%. That dipped slightly for those 40 to 49, to 47%, and was 54% for those aged 50 to 64. Among those 40 and older, 77% had at least one mammogram in four years, and 60% had two or more mammograms over that span.

The lead researcher, Medco’s Milayna Subar, tells the Health Blog that the relatively low rates could possibly be due to some confusion among women about whether they needed mammograms, though the dates of the study wouldn’t likely capture the impact of the preventive services task force guidelines, which originally came out in November 2009. (The new guidelines say women aged 50-74 should be screened every other year and that women younger than 50 should make individual decisions about mammograms based on the pros and cons of screening.)

The screening rates also could reflect access issues, even among the insured population, if the women couldn’t get quick appointments and didn’t reschedule, Subar says.

These rates appear slightly lower than those in a recent National Committee for Quality Assurance report, which found that in 2009, around 71% of women aged 40 to 69 who were covered by commercial HMOs had at least one mammogram in the current or prior year. The figure for Medicare beneficiaries was 69.3%, and that for Medicaid recipients was 52.4%.

The CDC has also looked at the question, and found that the share of women 40 or older who had a mammogram in the past two years was 68% in 2008.

New Surgeon General Report on Smoking and Disease Caps Successful Year of Federal Anti-Tobacco Action, AACR Says

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association for Cancer Research commends the U.S. Office of the Surgeon General for its continued focus on tobacco, one of most pressing public health issues of our time. The Surgeon General today released a new report, How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease, that details the scientific evidence on how smoking causes cancer and numerous other diseases.

The report states that no level of tobacco smoke exposure is safe and describes the biological mechanisms behind smoking’s damaging effects, including how the chemicals and toxicants in smoke inflame the lining of the lungs and damage DNA within cells. The report also describes how tobacco smoke weakens the body’s ability to fight cancer by decreasing the effectiveness of some chemotherapy drugs and promoting tumor growth.

“This Surgeon General’s report is an eye-opener because it comprehensively compiles the scientific evidence that spells out how tobacco smoke attacks our bodies to cause disease,” said Roy Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the AACR Task Force on Tobacco and Cancer, and professor of medicine and section chief of thoracic medical oncology in the department of thoracic/head and neck medical oncology, division of cancer medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. “Understanding the biological reasons for tobacco’s profoundly negative impact is an important component of developing effective, evidence-based, anti-tobacco efforts. Such knowledge explains, for example, why it is so critical to protect people from secondhand smoke.”

This new report, the Surgeon General’s 30th one on tobacco, comes at the end of a year that has seen significant anti-tobacco efforts at the federal level. The AACR applauds these collective efforts and urges continued federal leadership.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which became law in June 2009, provided the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and advertising of tobacco products. Since then, the FDA has worked swiftly to implement the law, including banning the sale of candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes as well as the use of deceptive terms such as “light,” “low” and “mild.” Most recently, the FDA proposed new bolder health warnings with graphic images for cigarette packaging and advertisements.

Through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Congress also enacted other important measures aimed at reducing tobacco use, including the expansion of health plan coverage for proven smoking cessation interventions and the creation of a prevention trust fund that began funding tobacco prevention and cessation programs in fiscal year 2010.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has also shown leadership this year with the release of a comprehensive, agency-wide, tobacco control plan last month that included a strategy to accelerate research to expand the science base and monitor progress in reducing tobacco use and attendant disease.

“Tobacco is responsible for nearly 30 percent of all cancer deaths, taking the lives of 169,000 Americans every year,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “The AACR is committed to working with Congress, the Obama administration and the global community to leverage resources and make progress in reducing the toll of death and disease due to tobacco use. While momentous strides have been taken to date, we need to continue to be vigilant in our collective efforts to reduce tobacco use.”

The AACR Task Force on Tobacco and Cancer published a comprehensive policy statement on tobacco and cancer in Cancer Research last April, which called on all stakeholders to engage in a renewed and concerted effort to combat the global tobacco epidemic. Among other tobacco-related efforts planned for the coming year, the task force will be submitting comments to the FDA on the proposed cigarette warning labels in January. The task force is comprised of experts from across the spectrum of research on tobacco use and tobacco-related cancers, including David Sidransky, M.D., who served as senior scientific editor of the Surgeon General’s new report.

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Rachael Cullins
(202) 898-0668
Rachael.Cullins@aacr.org

Zoledronic Acid Did Not Improve Disease-Free Survival in Early Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Results of the long-awaited AZURE trial prove negative.
• Significant benefit in post-menopausal women will need further study.
• Researchers said clinicians should be cautious about this investigational use in the adjuvant setting in premenopausal women.

SAN ANTONIO — Zoledronic acid did not improve disease-free survival among women with stage II/III breast cancer according to results of the Adjuvant Treatment with Zoledronic Acid in Stage II/III Breast Cancer (AZURE) trial, which was presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

“In the larger population, we did not see a difference,” said Robert Coleman, M.D., professor of medical oncology at the University of Sheffield in England.

However, among 1,101 patients who were five years post-menopause, about 30 percent of the overall group, there was a 29 percent improvement in overall survival. Coleman stressed that this was a secondary outcome, so it could not be considered conclusive, but it did present the largest unanswered question.

“To see a survival advantage like this is quite remarkable, and the difference in outcome between this group and the younger population is unlikely to be a chance finding. We will clearly want to investigate further in this population,” he said.

The AZURE trial included 3,360 patients with stage II/III breast cancer from 174 centers. Coleman and colleagues randomly assigned the patients to standard therapy or to standard therapy plus zoledronic acid. The primary outcome was disease-free survival.

The researchers found no difference in disease-free survival in the overall population.

“This will likely dissuade clinicians from giving adjuvant bisphosphonates on a routine basis to younger women taking adjuvant chemotherapy because, although the drug is generally well tolerated, there is a small risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw,” said Coleman.

The researchers identified 17 (1.1 percent) confirmed cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw over the duration of the study period.

These results do not impact on the current usage of zoledronic acid for the treatment of metastatic bone disease across a broad range of cancers.

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Exemestane may be Another First-line, Adjuvant Therapy for Hormone-receptor Positive, Early-stage Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Exemestane and anastrozole provide similar control of breast cancer and survival with different side effect profiles.
• Exemestane may be considered as an alternative, first-line adjuvant therapy.

SAN ANTONIO — Exemestane, an aromatase inhibitor that blocks production of estrogen, may provide another post-surgery option for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive, early-stage breast cancer.

In the first head-to-head adjuvant clinical trial comparing two aromatase inhibitors, anastrozole and exemestane, the drugs resulted in similar survival rates and prevention of breast cancer recurrences. Some differences in the side effect profile were seen, including a potential difference in the risk of developing osteoporosis.

Paul E. Goss, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, presented detailed results of this study at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12, 2010.

In hormone-receptor positive breast cancer estrogen stimulates tumor growth. Currently, patients undergo surgery and then receive drugs that stop estrogen production for five years. Aromatase inhibitors block an enzyme, which is responsible for converting androgens to estrogens.

In previous research, aromatase inhibitors have shown superiority over standard endocrine therapies, with anastrozole and letrozole as the only drugs in the class approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a first-line, adjuvant therapy.

But Goss said investigators had hypothesized that another class of aromatase inhibitors, of which exemestane is an example, may be more potent and have a more favorable side effect profile, including less damage to bones, organs and lipid metabolism.

“The difference in the drug class is that anastrozole is a non-steroidal inhibitor and exemestane is a steroidal inhibitor,” said Goss.

To test this hypothesis, the NCIC Clinical Trials Group at Queen’s University, Canada, led a large, randomized clinical trial comparing the two treatments among 7,576 women from Canada, the United States and Europe. The trial included support from the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program and the European-based International Breast Cancer Study Group.

“We found that the drugs are comparable in terms of preventing recurrent breast cancer and in overall survival,” said Goss. “Osteoporosis was reported less frequently and cholesterol levels appeared to be lower in patients on exemestane than anastrozole. Other side effects such as mood change and abnormalities of blood tests assessing liver function were reported more frequently with exemestane, although, the overall numbers of these events were small. With these results, exemestane should be considered as an alternative to anastrozole for initial adjuvant therapy.”

Exemestane is currently approved by the FDA when used following tamoxifen, a standard endocrine therapy, or as a second-line therapy for metastatic breast cancer.

“The three available aromatase inhibitors are due to come off patent and these results provide another alternative for the most commonly prescribed medication for breast cancer globally,” he said.

The good news for patients is how well women in this trial did, with a reported 91 percent overall survival rate after more than four years of follow-up, according to Goss. “The results are likely as a result of a combination of many advances including screening, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and endocrine therapy,” he said.

Initially, the researcher’s clinical trial also included investigating the role of a COX-2 inhibitor called celecoxib when used in combination with the aromatase inhibitors. Less than two years into this seven-year trial, this portion of the study was discontinued because of concerns about heart problems associated with COX-2 inhibitors. A total of 1,635 women had received celecoxib at that time.

COX-2 inhibitors are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce inflammation by blocking COX-2 enzyme, which is responsible for the pain and swelling associated with inflammation. They are also produced in response to precancerous and cancerous tissues.

“Therefore, the value of COX-2 inhibitors in reducing breast cancer recurrence remains unanswered,” said Goss.

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Obese Women with ER-positive/HER2-negative Breast Cancer Have Poorer Survival Rates

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Obesity was associated with inferior survival in women with stage I to III breast cancer.
• Women with ER-positive/HER2-negative disease had inferior outcomes.
• Research is needed to identify contributing factors and develop therapeutic interventions.

SAN ANTONIO — Obesity was associated with worse overall and disease-free survival in women with operable breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, but for the first time, researchers observed this finding in only a specific subset of patients – those with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/HER2-negative disease.

About one third of all adults in the United States are obese, posing a major public health problem because of obesity’s association with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. This study indentified a new hazard associated with obesity.

Results were presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12, 2010.

“We were surprised to find that there was no evidence that this finding played out in the other breast cancer subtypes – it’s mainly a phenomenon that we seem to be seeing those with ER-positive/HER2-negative disease,” said Joseph A. Sparano, M.D., professor of medicine and women’s health at Albert Einstein Medical College of Medicine and associate chairman of the department of oncology at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y.

“Our results may be explained by the fact that obesity is associated with hyperinsulinemia, which may drive the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors,” said Sparano.

Sparano and colleagues conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the effect of obesity on the outcomes of three Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group trials: E1199, E5188 and E3189. All three trials involved doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide and other agents.

The researchers first evaluated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and disease-free survival and overall survival in the E1199 trial. Results showed a nonsignificant trend toward worse disease-free survival and overall survival for the obese patients compared with others.

However, after evaluating these data by breast cancer subtype, obese women with ER and/or progesterone receptor (PR)-positive/HER2-negative disease had significantly worse disease-free survival and overall survival. The same effect was not seen in women with HER2-positive and triple-negative disease.

After this initial finding was seen in the E1199 trial, the research team attempted to validate these findings in two other trials, one of which included only ER-positive disease (E5188) and a second that included only ER-negative disease. The results held up in these two other studies – obesity was associated with worse outcomes in patients with ER-positive disease in the E5188 trial, but only in patients with ER-negative disease treated in the E3189 trial.

“If validated in other studies, this finding provides strong rationale for trying to identify potential causes, and prospectively evaluate intervention strategies designed to reduce their risk of recurrence,” Sparano said.

The researchers plan additional studies to evaluate the relationship between obesity and tumor gene expression, and to identify other host factors that may be associated with recurrence, such as insulin and other growth-factor levels.

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Estrogen Alone is Effective for Reducing Breast Cancer Risk

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Exogenous estrogen (administered as HRT) reduces breast cancer rates.
• HRT based on estrogen alone helps manage menopausal symptoms.
• More data are needed to elaborate on estrogen’s role in chemoprevention.

SAN ANTONIO — While endogenous estrogen (i.e., estrogen produced by ovaries and by other tissues) does have a well-known carcinogenic impact, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) utilizing estrogen alone (the exogenous estrogen) provides a protective effect in reducing breast cancer risk, according to study results presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.

“Our analysis suggests that, contrary to previous thinking, there is substantial value in bringing HRT with estrogen alone to the guidelines. The data show that for selected women it is not only safe, but potentially beneficial for breast cancer, as well as for many other aspects of women’s health,” said lead researcher Joseph Ragaz, M.D., medical oncologist and clinical professor in the faculty of medicine, School of Population and Public Health at The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

“These findings should intensify new research into its role as a protective agent against breast cancer,” he added.

Ragaz and colleagues reviewed and reanalyzed data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) hormone replacement therapy trials. WHI is a national health study that focuses on strategies for preventing heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and fracture in postmenopausal women. The WHI was launched in 1991 and includes more than 161,000 U.S. women aged 50 to 79 years.

“Over the last 30 years HRT has been used almost indiscriminately by women expecting the benefit of reducing cardiac risks, while providing a protective effect against bone fracture, and improving overall quality of life,” said Ragaz. “The WHI results as originally interpreted led to a major pendulum swing against HRT.”

The WHI HRT trial consisted of two cohorts of women; the estrogen-alone group of women without a uterus and the estrogen-plus-progestin group of women with a uterus.

Ragaz and colleagues reanalyzed the WHI studies in more detail and found that subsets of women with no strong family history of breast cancer who received estrogen alone had a significantly reduced breast cancer incidence. In addition, the 75 percent of women without benign disease prior to the trial enrollment also had a reduced breast cancer risk.

“Reduction of rates of breast cancer in the majority of women who are candidates for estrogen-based HRT is a new finding because estrogen was always linked with a higher incidence of breast cancer,” Ragaz said, “yet estrogen administered exogenously is actually protective for most women.”

Based on the results of this current analysis, Ragaz suggested that “while the use of HRT with estrogen alone may reduce the risk of breast cancer and may also be appropriate to manage menopausal symptoms, further research is warranted to elaborate on the optimum treatment regimen, to refine the selection of ideal candidates for estrogen therapy, and to understand the estrogen mechanisms that support the prevention of human breast cancer.”

“The recommendations based on prior analyses of the results of the WHI HRT studies were not to use HRT, but we are optimistic this will change,” he said. “Our conclusion, based on the data presented, should enhance considerations for an early approval of HRT based on estrogen-alone for the majority of selected women suffering with menopausal symptoms and galvanize new research on HRT to define the optimum regimens for individual women.”

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Aromatase Inhibitors Increased Risk of Heart Disease in Postmenopausal Women with Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Increased risk for cardiovascular disease appears to be a drug class effect.
• Risk is small in general population, but may be high in patients with risk factors.
• Switching to aromatase inhibitors after tamoxifen use may decrease mortality unrelated to breast cancer.

SAN ANTONIO — Postmenopausal women who take aromatase inhibitors as a treatment for breast cancer may be at an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease, according to the results of a meta-analysis.

These data, presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, indicate that women presenting with breast cancer treatment who have risk factors for cardiovascular disease should be considered for a shorter duration of use of aromatase inhibitors.

“It appears that aromatase inhibitors have a significant increase in cardiotoxic side effects, such as heart attack, angina and heart failure,” said Eitan Amir, M.D., a senior fellow in the division of medical oncology and hematology at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada.

Because some cancers, especially breast cancers, require estrogen to grow and spread, drugs that block estrogen production are often used to treat the disease. Tamoxifen blocks the effect of estrogen in breast tissue, whereas aromatase inhibitors prevent the production of estrogen.

Each class of drugs also have related adverse effects. For example, although tamoxifen blocks estrogen production in breast tissue, it has the opposite effect in uterine tissue. Previous research has shown that extended use of tamoxifen results in a small increase in the risk for endometrial cancer and venous thrombosis.

On the other hand, in December 2008, the Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to anastrozole, an aromatase inhibitor, which indicated potential increased risk for heart disease. For this reason, Amir and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis to determine if this increased risk for heart disease occurred with the use of any aromatase inhibitor.

The researchers examined data from seven large randomized clinical trials that compared tamoxifen with aromatase inhibitors in postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer.

Data from the analysis confirmed that any duration of use of an aromatase inhibitor was associated with a 20 percent higher probability of developing cardiovascular disease. However, use of aromatase inhibitors also resulted in a reduced risk for venous thrombosis and endometrial carcinoma.

As a secondary analysis, they determined if switching from treatment with tamoxifen to aromatase inhibitors had any effect on mortality or adverse effects. Results showed that the risk for serious adverse effects were similar when aromatase inhibitors were used as an initial treatment compared with switching to aromatase inhibitors after treatment with tamoxifen.

“However, it appears from the data — and this is strictly hypothesis-generating — that if a woman switches from one drug to another, there is a reduction in the risk from death from causes other than breast cancer,” Amir said. “This potentially suggests that there may be side effects that build up the longer a woman is on a certain drug, but switching drugs may reduce the side effects.”

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Most Women Do Not Get Recommended Mammograms

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Only 50 percent of women get regular mammograms.
• Analysis conducted in an insured population.
• Reason for low mammography rates is unknown.

SAN ANTONIO — Only half of eligible women in the United States are getting their annual mammograms, even if they have insurance to pay for the procedure, according to data presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Last year the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of non-federal experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine, recommended that the age of first mammogram be lifted from 40 to 50 years of age, at which biennial mammography begins, and caused a public outcry. To date, no major insurance company or other organization has acted on that recommendation.

“Women reacted strongly to that recommendation with protests about their right to have an annual mammogram that should not be taken away,” said Milayna Subar, M.D., vice president and national practice leader for oncology at Medco Health Solutions Inc. in N.J. “Interestingly though, we found that a large percentage of women do not get regular mammograms.”

Subar and colleagues reviewed medical claims between January 2006 and December 2009 from a database of more than 12 million people. All participating women had either employer-provided insurance or Medicare.

Among those who were 40 to 85 years of age, only 50 percent had a mammogram in any given year and only 60 percent had two or more mammograms over four years. Average annual mammography rates were 47 percent for women aged 40 to 49 years, 54 percent for women aged 50 to 64 years and 45 percent for women aged 65 years and older.

The researchers did not examine reasons as to why the women were not getting mammograms, but several theories exist, according to Subar. Among these theories: discomfort from the test, lack of available screening centers, general non-compliance or denial.

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AACR Mourns the Loss of Elizabeth Edwards

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

The American Association for Cancer Research is deeply saddened by the loss of Elizabeth Edwards. An outspoken cancer advocate and passionate supporter of access to quality health care for all, she fought her disease in the public eye and exhibited a great deal of courage by speaking candidly about coping with terminal breast cancer.

We want to express our heartfelt condolences to the Edwards' family, as well as our gratitude for her advocacy efforts. Though breast cancer incidence has declined over the last decade, and mortality has steadily decreased since 1990, much work remains to be done on this disease that is expected to kill nearly 40,000 Americans in 2010.

This week, the AACR is in Texas, working in partnership with the University of Texas Health Science Center and Baylor College of Medicine for the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The symposium facilitates the rapid translation of new scientific knowledge into better care for breast cancer patients.

It is our hope that the work being done by scientists here and around the world will spur the momentum of progress for breast cancer research, and lead to better methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for those who suffer from the same disease that caused the untimely passing of Ms. Edwards.

CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Press Conferences

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

SAN ANTONIO — The American Association for Cancer Research Communications Department will hold several press conferences will be held onsite at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The first press conference will take place on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, at 8:00 a.m. CT in room 217D of the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center.

AACR President-elect Judy Garber, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will moderate a press conference on “Patient Screening and Management. Reporters and other interested parties can participate using the following call-in information:

• U.S. and Canada: (888) 282-7404
• International: (706) 679-5207
• Access Code: 25346432

On Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. CT, Robert Coleman, M.D., professor and honorary consultant medical oncologist at the Cancer Research Center, Academic Unit Medical of Clinical Oncology at Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield, England, will present the results of the AZURE trial. Reporters and other interested parties who cannot attend in person can participate using the following information:

• U.S. and Canada: (888) 282-7404
• International: (706) 679-5207
• Access Code: 25348290

On Friday, Dec. 10, 2010, at 8:00 a.m. CT in room 217D of the convention center, Neil Spector, M.D., professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, will host a press conference on “Targeting HER2 Beyond Herceptin.” Reporters and other interested parties who cannot attend in person can participate using the following information:

• U.S. and Canada: (888) 282-7404
• International: (706) 679-5207
• Access Code: 25352046

On Friday Dec. 10, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. CT in room 217D of the convention center, Minetta Liu, M.D., director of translational breast cancer research at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center, will host a press conference on “Circulating Tumor Cells and Metastasis.” Reporters and other interested parties who cannot attend in person can participate using the following information:

• U.S. and Canada: (888) 282-7404
• International: (706) 679-5207
• Access Code: 25352274

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George W. Sledge Jr., M.D., Honored for International Contributions to Breast Cancer Research

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

SAN ANTONIO — George W. Sledge Jr., M.D., a nationally recognized pioneer in the development of novel therapies for breast cancer, will receive the 2010 William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Supported by GlaxoSmithKline Oncology (GSK) since its inception in 1992, this honor acknowledges distinguished internationally recognized researchers for their significant contributions to breast cancer research.

Sledge is the Ballve-Lantero Professor of Oncology and professor of medicine and pathology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and a physician/ researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. He is also co-director of the IU Simon Cancer Center’s breast program. Sledge specializes in the study and treatment of breast cancer, and his research specifically focuses on molecular and tumor biology, growth factors and anti-angiogenic therapy. He has chaired several nationwide clinical trials involving new therapies for breast cancer.

“Dr. Sledge’s work developing novel therapies to treat women with breast cancer has improved the lives of countless cancer patients,” said C. Kent Osborne, M.D., codirector of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and director of the Baylor College of Medicine Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center. “The selection of Dr. Sledge is even more appropriate since he was one of the first medical oncology fellows to graduate the new fellowship training program at the University of Texas Health Science Center Division of Medical Oncology, established by Dr. McGuire as division director in the late 1970s. We congratulate Dr. Sledge on this fitting honor.”

Sledge will give a lecture entitled, “What Would Bill Do? Channeling Your Inner McGuire,” on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010, at 11:15 a.m. CT, during the 33rd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. This symposium, encompassing the full spectrum of breast cancer research, will be held Dec. 8-12, 2010, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas.

Paolo Paoletti, M.D., senior vice president and head of the oncology R&D unit at GlaxoSmithKline, said “Dr. Sledge has been a true visionary and pioneer in the progression of pathway-related treatments for breast cancer and other diseases. His work with HER2-positive, anti-angiogenesis treatment helped herald a new era in the treatment of breast cancer, and millions of patients have benefitted from this advancement in science. Admirably, all of Dr. Sledge’s contributions to research were done with a unique attention and commitment for patients’ feelings and needs, which drive everything he does. This award is befitting of such a tremendous scientist and supporter of patient care.”

Sledge joined the Indiana University School of Medicine faculty in 1983, after completing his residency at St. Louis University and his fellowship at the University of Texas, San Antonio. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his medical degree from Tulane University.

He holds many honors including the Jill Rose Award – Breast Cancer Research Foundation (2007) and the 2006 Komen Foundation Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction. Sledge has been listed among “America’s Top Doctors” as well as “America’s Top Doctors for Cancer.”

Sledge is the current president of ASCO and has been an active member of the AACR since 1988. He has served as a breast cancer committee leader with the Hoosier Oncology Group. He serves as chair of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and in various capacities for The Breast Cancer Intergroup. He was secretary (1997-1998) and a board of trustees member (1995-1998) of the Indiana Medical Oncology Society. Sledge has published extensively in the area of breast cancer research, and has served as editor-in-chief of Clinical Breast Cancer.

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About the William L. McGuire Memorial Lectureship
Dr. William L. McGuire, along with Dr. Charles A. Coltman, founded the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in 1977. The William L. McGuire Memorial Lectureship was established in 1992 to commemorate the significant contributions of Dr. McGuire to our understanding of breast cancer biology and treatment. His research played a major role in introducing estrogen receptor assays on breast tumor tissue as a guide to treatment decisions for women with breast cancer. Breast cancer patients everywhere now receive these tests. The lecturer is selected by the SABCS Executive and Planning Committees from persons nominated by distinguished researchers in the field.

About the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
The mission of the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is to produce a unique and comprehensive scientific meeting that encompasses the full spectrum of breast cancer research, facilitating the rapid translation of new knowledge into better care for breast cancer patients. The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and Baylor College of Medicine are joint sponsors of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. This collaboration utilizes the clinical strengths of the CTRC and Baylor, and the AACR’s scientific prestige in basic, translational and clinical cancer research to expedite the delivery of the latest scientific advances to the clinic. The 33rd annual symposium is expected to draw nearly 9,000 participants from more than 90 countries.

About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and health care companies, is dedicated to producing innovations in cancer that will make profound differences in the lives of patients. Through GSK’s “bench to bedside” approach, it is transforming the way treatments are discovered and developed, resulting in one of the most robust pipelines in the oncology sector. Its worldwide research in oncology includes partnerships with more than 160 cancer centers. GSK is developing a new generation of patient-focused cancer treatments in prevention, supportive care, chemotherapy and targeted therapies.

Media Contact:
Michele Sharp
(267) 646-0622
michele.sharp@aacr.org
In San Antonio, Dec. 8-12:
(210) 582-7036

AACR Applauds Cancer Objectives in Healthy People 2020, Underscores Importance of Federal Funding for Research

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association for Cancer Research commends the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the establishment of science-based, 10-year objectives to reduce the incidence of cancer, which was included as part of the Healthy People 2020 initiative that launched yesterday.

The Healthy People 2020 framework points out that “continued advances in cancer research, detection and treatment have resulted in a decline in both incidence and death rates for all cancers.”

“This particular statement underscores the importance of federal funding for cancer-related biomedical research,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “If we are to improve the health of all Americans, the Administration and Congress must continue to invest in the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.”

The AACR is pleased that Healthy People 2020 features numerous objectives aimed at reducing tobacco use, the leading cause of cancer, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of all cancer deaths and is causally linked to 18 different cancers. In April, the AACR issued a comprehensive policy statement on tobacco and cancer, which called for immediate action to stem the global tide of tobacco-related death and suffering, and to improve public health through tobacco cessation and prevention efforts.

The AACR also applauds the emphasis that the HHS placed on reducing obesity rates in the United States, which has been shown to decrease the risk of cancer. In 2001, experts concluded that cancers of the colon, breast (postmenopausal), endometrium (the lining of the uterus), kidney, and esophagus are associated with obesity. Some studies have also reported links between obesity and cancers of the gallbladder, ovaries and pancreas.

Healthy People 2020’s goals and resources related to cancer can be found here.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Rachael Cullins
(202) 898-0668
Rachael.Cullins@aacr.org

Practice-changing Cancer Research Presented at 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Experts present the latest research in breast cancer treatments and lifesaving strategies.

SAN ANTONIO — More than 9,000 people from more than 90 countries will gather Dec. 8-12, 2010, at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, for the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The symposium is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. Each year it draws academicians, clinicians, survivors, patient advocates, industry and others interested in the advancement of breast cancer research to discuss and learn about new and late-breaking research, which includes experimental biology, etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of breast cancer and pre-malignant breast disease, as well as new findings from clinical trials.

The CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is a partnership between the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) at UT Health Science Center San Antonio, the American Association for Cancer Research and Baylor College of Medicine.

“The driving force behind this collaboration is the shared mission of the organizations to advance progress against breast cancer,” said Program Chairperson C. Kent Osborne, M.D., director of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at the Baylor College of Medicine. “By combining their respective strengths, the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium encompasses the full spectrum of breast cancer research and facilitates the rapid transition of new knowledge into improved care for breast cancer patients.”

The symposium begins on Wednesday, Dec. 8, with a full schedule of educational events. The opening plenary session begins the next day at 8:30 a.m. CT in Exhibit Hall D of the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center.

In addition to the ongoing plenary session, there is a full industry exhibit hall and a program for survivors and breast cancer advocates. Press conferences will be held for registered members of the media.

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter @AACR, and throughout the meeting using the hash tag #SABCS.

Recordings of the teleconferences and video interviews with researchers will posted to the AACR website throughout the meeting: www.aacr.org/page23506.aspx.

The mission of the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is to produce a unique and comprehensive scientific meeting that encompasses the full spectrum of breast cancer research, facilitating the rapid translation of new knowledge into better care for breast cancer patients. The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and Baylor College of Medicine are joint sponsors of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. This collaboration utilizes the clinical strengths of the CTRC and Baylor, and the AACR’s scientific prestige in basic, translational and clinical cancer research to expedite the delivery of the latest scientific advances to the clinic. The 33rd annual symposium is expected to draw nearly 9,000 participants from more than 90 countries.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
In San Antonio, Dec. 8-12:
(210) 582-7036

AACR and University of Catania Establish the Margaret Foti Award for Best Thesis in Translational Oncology

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research, in cooperation with the University of Catania Ph.D. Oncology Program and the Italian League Against Cancer of Catania, announces the establishment of the "Margaret Foti Award" for the best thesis in translational oncology. The first awards will be given on Dec. 2, 2010, in Catania, Italy.

In recognition of her commitment to cancer research and funding for cancer research, AACR CEO Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D., (h.c.) will receive the first award.

"Dr. Foti and the AACR have been instrumental in supporting the careers of cancer scientists and the important work they do," said Massimo Libra, M.D., Ph.D., of the department of biomedical sciences at the University of Catania. "Dr. Foti's international vision has enabled the AACR to unite a worldwide community of cancer researchers by sponsoring important scientific meetings and publishing high quality scientific journals."

(Pictured above: Ferdinando Nicoletti, M.D., Ph.D. [left] and Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.).)

"The efforts of Dr. Foti and the AACR to accelerate the pace of discovery in basic and clinical research have laid the foundation for improvements in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment," added Ferdinando Nicoletti, M.D., Ph.D., director of the laboratory of translational immunopharmacology in the department of biomedical sciences at the University of Catania.

The annual Margaret Foti Award will recognize an outstanding postdoctoral candidate from the University of Catania who has completed a doctorate in the field of translational oncology. The winner will receive funds in the form of a "Young Investigator Scholar-in-Training" travel award to attend the AACR Annual Meeting.

"We established this award in the name of Dr. Foti in recognition of her work on cancer research. Dr. Foti's leadership with the AACR has brought scientists, political figures and the public at large together in the collective fight against cancer," said Franca Stivala, M.D., Coordinator of the Ph.D. Oncology Program, University of Catania.

After receiving the first award, Foti will present the second award to Bibiana Bruni, Ph.D. Bruni's thesis, Osteopontin/Matrixmetalloproteinasis Pathway Activation in Head and Neck Cancer, underlines the relevance of osteopontin/matrix metalloproteinase-9 pathway as a marker for head and neck cancer progression and provides a promising therapeutic strategy to interfere with signaling pathway(s) that regulate OPN-mediated MMP-9 activation in this cancer type.

(Pictured above: Bibiana Bruni, Ph.D., receiving the Margaret Foti Award from Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.).)

"I feel very honored to present the Margaret Foti Award to Dr. Bruni," said Foti. "Funding the next generation of promising young investigators will lead to breakthroughs in cancer research. Moreover, this award encourages international collaboration, which is so critical to moving the science forward at a rapid pace and sustaining the pipeline of cancer scientists for the future."

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Michele Sharp
(267) 646-0622
michele.sharp@aacr.org

Wide Genetic Testing for Lynch Syndrome Cost Effective

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Identifying Lynch Syndrome could prevent colon/endometrial cancer.

• AACR hosted teleconference on Nov. 18, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. ET.
• Henry Lynch, discoverer of the syndrome, participated.

PHILADELPHIA — Widespread genetic testing for Lynch Syndrome appears to be a cost-effective strategy for identifying those at risk for colorectal and endometrial cancer, according to a report in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“Genetic testing was always assumed to be cost effective for those at high risk based on their family history, but this shows it would be cost effective in a wider population, similar to the cost effectiveness of mammography,” said Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., director for cancer prevention and control at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a lead researcher on the study.

Gruber and colleagues used a mathematical model developed by Archimedes Inc., which showed when risk, based on family history, was assessed starting at ages 25, 30 or 35, followed by genetic testing for those who had risk exceeding 5 percent, colorectal cancers could be reduced by 12.4 percent and endometrial cancers by 8.8 percent. The average cost effectiveness ratio, a measure of expenditure per life year gained by the new strategy would be $26,000, a value favorably below the often-quoted benchmark of $50,000.

The American Association for Cancer Research hosted a teleconference on these findings on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Download * the mp3 of the teleconference (10.5 MB, 46 minutes and 13 seconds)

*On a PC, right mouse click on the "Download" link and select "Save link as..." in Firefox or "Save Target as..." in Internet Explorer.

AACR President-elect Judy Garber, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, hosted the teleconference.

“This will affect a wide population by changing our thinking about risk for colon cancer. Young individuals will be able to have an assessment of their personal and family history using a computerized model that can help guide their colon cancer risk management for decades, and make it possible to prevent significant numbers of colon and associated cancers, especially in young people, for a very reasonable cost. It is a huge step forward in terms of bringing the benefits of cancer genetics to the broader population using tests that have, in the past, been considered too expensive,” said Garber.

The following panelists participated in this teleconference:

Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., director for cancer prevention and control at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a lead researcher on the study

Heather Hampel, M.S., associate director of the division of human genetics and professor in the department of internal medicine at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute

“Genetic testing is the most expensive way to test for Lynch Syndrome, but it is also the most effective. Lynch Syndrome is under-recognized and anything we can do to raise awareness and encourage diagnosis will help save lives,” said Hampel.

Henry Lynch, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Hereditary Cancer Center at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, who discovered Lynch Syndrome

“I first presented this hereditary concept in 1964, and since then it has become more accepted. However, cost has always been a hurdle. With this new information about cost, we’ll be able to save a lot of lives and as a medical oncologist I feel very good about that,” said Lynch.

Randall W. Burt, M.D., professor of medicine and director of prevention and outreach, Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, and co-researcher on the paper

Tuan A. Dinh, Ph.D., head of cancer modeling at Archimedes Inc., and developer of the modeling system to calculate anticipated health benefits and cost effectiveness

# # #

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @AACR #AACR
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

Subscribe to the AACR Scientific Podcasts via iTunes OR an RSS Reader to download the video podcasts and recordings of the press conferences.

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org

AACR Congratulates José Baselga, M.D., Ph.D., for Receiving the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Gold Medal

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research congratulates José Baselga, M.D., Ph.D., recipient of the 2010 Queen Sofía Spanish Institute’s Gold Medal. Baselga was selected for this prestigious award for representing Spain’s leadership in the area of cancer research.

“This incredible honor is testament to the international impact Dr. Baselga’s research has had on the field,” said AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.). “But more so, it spotlights Dr. Baselga’s leadership in the global effort to eradicate cancer. Through his work in Spain and at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as with the AACR, he unites researchers worldwide and encourages collaborative efforts that move the field forward.”

Since 1978, the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute’s Gold Medal has been awarded annually to Americans and Spaniards in recognition of their contributions to the betterment of relations between the United States and Spain. Past winners have included President William Jefferson Clinton, Dr. Henry Kissinger, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, signer Julio Iglesias, and actress Penelope Cruz.

Baselga is founding editor-in-chief of the AACR’s newest journal Cancer Discovery along with Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D. He is chief of the division of hematology/oncology and associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Baselga was previously the director of medical oncology, hematology and radiation oncology and chairman of medical oncology service at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. He was also the director of the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Research Institute and a professor of medicine at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain.

Baselga’s research focuses on the clinical development of novel, molecular-targeted agents for the therapy of cancer, particularly breast cancer. He conducted the initial clinical trials with the monoclonal antibodies cetuximab and trastuzumab and has been involved in the clinical development of several new agents including pertuzumab and PI3K inhibitors. His main focus in the laboratory and clinic is in the area of novel anti-HER2 agents and in the identification of mechanisms of resistance to anti-HER2 agents.

Baselga has served the AACR in many key capacities. He is a member of the Board of Directors and has served on the Council of Scientific Advisors. He was co-chairperson for the 2009 Annual Meeting Education Committee, chairperson of the Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research Committee, and has served as a Senior Editor for Clinical Cancer Research.

The Queen Sofía Spanish Institute was founded as The Spanish Institute in 1954 to promote greater awareness and understanding of the culture of the Spanish-speaking world in the United States, and was renamed in November 2003 to recognize the support given to the Institute through the years by Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Michele Sharp
(267) 646-0622
michele.sharp@aacr.org

William S. Dalton, M.D., Ph.D., Receives Leadership Award, Cites Approach to Cancer as a Model for Personalized Medicine

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research is proud to recognize one of its prestigious leaders, William S. Dalton, M.D., Ph.D., for receiving the 2010 Leadership in Personalized Medicine Award from the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC). Dalton, who accepted the honor yesterday at the Harvard Personalized Conference in Boston, has been an AACR member for more than 20 years and chairs the association’s Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee.

Dalton, who also serves as the president/chief executive director and center director at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., was instrumental in establishing an approach to personalized cancer care that began at the cancer center almost eight years ago. During his speech upon accepting the award, he described the initiative, called Total Cancer Care, and said the goal is, in essence, “to stop focusing on treating the cancer, and instead focus on caring for the patient.”

“By focusing on solutions to individual needs, we believe we will reduce death and suffering due to cancer,” Dalton pointed out.

He went on to explain that this approach requires strategic partnerships to:
• create a system to identify the needs of individual patients;
• identify markers that would predict needs and risks so that interventions could become preemptive;
• identify molecular signatures for patients who are not likely to respond to the standard of care;
• utilize clinical characteristics and molecular profiling techniques to match the right patient, to the right treatment, at the right time, and the right place; and,
• raise the standard of care for all patients by integrating new technologies in an evidenced-based approach to maximize benefits and reduce costs.

“Dr. Dalton’s cutting-edge efforts give true meaning to the term personalized medicine,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “He plays such a crucial leadership role in cancer research on many levels, and he has been integral to its forward momentum. We congratulate him on receiving this important award.”

Dalton received his doctoral degree in toxicology and medical life sciences and his medical degree from Indiana University. He completed his internship in internal medicine at Indiana University, his residency in medicine and his fellowships in oncology and clinical pharmacology at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology and is an expert in multiple myeloma.

The PMC Award recognizes an individual whose contributions in science, business and/or policy have helped advance the frontiers of personalized medicine.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Rachael Cullins
(202) 898-0668
rachael.cullins@aacr.org

American Association for Cancer Research Hosts 102nd Annual Meeting in 2011

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

FOREMOST INTERNATIONAL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS BREAKTHROUGHS IN CANCER RESEARCH
ORLANDO, FLA., APRIL 2-6, 2011

What:
The AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011 will feature the latest findings in laboratory, translational, prevention, epidemiological and clinical cancer research. This year’s Annual Meeting focuses on innovative research, novel technologies, lifesaving therapies in the pipeline, clinical trials and new approaches to cancer prevention.

To help you plan your coverage of the Annual Meeting, the program schedule and related scientific abstracts will be available online at www.aacr.org/page23084.aspx in early March. An electronic press kit containing the press releases and highlighted abstracts will be available to subscribing reporters one week prior to the meeting via EurekAlert and Newswise, and by request through the AACR Communications Department.

More than 6,000 abstracts will be presented at the meeting, complementing an outstanding program of scientific and educational events. The AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011 attracts world leaders in cancer research and treatment, including clinical oncologists, basic scientists, translational researchers and epidemiologists, who are working to improve prevention, diagnosis and patient care with the ultimate goal of eradicating cancer.

When:
April 2-6, 2011

Where:
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Fla.

Press Registration and Hotel Accommodations:
The advanced registration deadline is Friday, March 11. The deadline for housing requests is Friday, Feb. 25. A limited number of rooms have been set aside for reporters; however, we cannot guarantee hotel availability after this date. Please visit the following link to download a registration and housing form: www.aacr.org/page23073.aspx.

Wide Genetic Testing for Lynch Syndrome Cost Effective

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Identifying Lynch Syndrome could prevent colon/endometrial cancer.
AACR to host teleconference on Nov. 18, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Henry Lynch, discoverer of the syndrome, will participate.

PHILADELPHIA — Genetic testing for Lynch Syndrome has always been the most effective strategy for identifying those at risk for colorectal or endometrial cancer, but cost has been a major hurdle. New findings in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, address those questions of cost effectiveness.

The American Association for Cancer Research will host a teleconference on these findings on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. ET. Reporters and other interested parties can participate by using the following information:

Dial-in (U.S. and Canada): (888) 282-7404
Dial-in (International): (706) 679-5207
Access Code: 20084557

AACR President-elect Judy Garber, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, will host the teleconference.

The following panelists will also participate in this teleconference:

Henry Lynch, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Hereditary Cancer Center at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, who discovered Lynch Syndrome

Randall W. Burt, M.D., professor of medicine and director of prevention and outreach, Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, and co-researcher on the paper

Tuan A. Dinh, Ph.D., head of cancer modeling at Archimedes Inc., and developer of the modeling system to calculate anticipated health benefits and cost effectiveness

Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., director for cancer prevention and control at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a lead researcher on the study.

# # #

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org

Soy chemicals may lower risk for invasive breast cancer (HealthDay)

registration@aacr.org (Amanda Gardner, HealthDay) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

USA Today - Online

The more isoflavone-containing soy products a young woman eats, the lower her odds for developing invasive breast cancers, according to research presented at a meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Philadelphia.

That was among the good news, but other research at the meeting found that hormone replacement therapy might raise women's odds for ovarian cancer.

The soy study looked specifically at isoflavones, organic compounds found in certain foods. These compounds contain antioxidants that are thought to be protective against breast cancer.

The study included 683 women with breast cancer and 611 women without the disease. It found that participants who consumed the most isoflavones had a 30% lower risk of developing an invasive tumor.

Examining the data more closely, researchers found that among premenopausal women, those who consumed the most isoflavones had a 30% decreased risk of early, stage I disease, a 70% decreased risk of having a tumor larger than 2 centimeters, and a 60% decreased risk of having stage 2 breast cancer. These connections were not seen among postmenopausal women, the researchers reported. "Eating isoflavones seems to be associated mainly with breast cancer characteristics that are more treatable and less severe than other types," said study lead author Anne Weaver, a graduate student at the University at Buffalo and a research apprentice with Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. She and the other researchers noted that the findings were not definitive and needed to be confirmed through further research.

"The biggest source of isoflavones are soy and soy products but they're also found in beans, cooked cereal, potato chips, coffee, cookies and cake," Weaver said. She cautioned that the overall intake of soy in the study was low in fact, 75% of participants reported never eating soy at all.

The hormone replacement therapy study aimed to see if different types of treatment (estrogen alone or estrogen-plus-progestin), the form of treatment (pill, patch, cream), or whether or not it was taken sequentially or continuously affected ovarian cancer risk.

During the 1990s, hormone replacement therapy was widely used by women to help control menopausal symptoms. However, data from the Women's Health Initiative study in 2002 suggested that the treatment raised risks for cardiovascular events and breast cancer, and rates of use fell precipitously.

In the new study, the authors examined data on almost 127,000 postmenopausal women in 10 European countries.

"Current use of hormone therapy was associated with a small but significant increased risk of ovarian cancer (29 percent compared to women who had never used hormone therapy) but there was no association for former use," said study lead author Konstantinos Tsilidis, a postdoctoral fellow in the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford.

The longer a woman used the therapy, the higher the risk, although the only significant risk was seen among women who used hormone therapy for over five years. There seemed to be no difference in risk between type of therapy, by regimen or route of administration.

A third study presented at the conference found a heavy burden of side effects including hot flashes, sleep aberrations, hair loss and leg cramps in women taking aromatase inhibitor medications to treat their breast cancer.

"Aromatase inhibitors are associated with the new onset of a number of symptoms that occur much more frequently in women with breast cancer compared to women of the same age without cancer," said study lead author Lisa Gallicchio, an epidemiologist with the Prevention and Research Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. "These symptoms may affect quality of life and medication adherence which is crucial in reducing breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer-related mortality."

A previous study found that only 49% of patients took aromatase inhibitors "at the full duration at the optimal schedule," Gallicchio said. "That means 51% did not."

The current research was partially funded by pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca.

A final study, this time by researchers at Yale University, found that exercising for at least 150 minutes a week reduces the odds of developing endometrial cancer by 34%.

The benefit was greater for slim women, who had a 73% reduced risk compared with heavy, sedentary women. But even overweight and obese women who exercised had a 52% reduced risk compared to their counterparts who didn't exercise.

CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium to Hold 33rd Annual Symposium

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

FOREMOST INTERNATIONAL BREAST CANCER SYMPOSIUM HIGHLIGHTS BREAKTHROUGHS IN RESEARCH AND TREATMENT

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, DEC. 8-12, 2010
TWITTER #SABCS

What:
The 33rd CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium will feature the latest findings in prevention, epidemiological, laboratory, translational and clinical breast cancer research. This year’s symposium will highlight new therapies in the pipeline, new approaches with existing agents and emerging biology that will affect the quest for personalized medicine.

To help you plan your coverage of the symposium, the program schedule is available at www.sabcs.org. An electronic press kit containing the press releases and highlighted abstracts will be available to subscribing reporters one week prior to the symposium via EurekAlert and Newswise, and by request through the AACR Communications Department.

This year’s CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium will highlight:

• results of the AZURE trial, which will define the role of zolendronic acid;
• new data on the effect of obesity on risk and patient management;
• how clinicians might move beyond Herceptin in managing HER2 positive breast cancer;
• the role of circulating tumor cells in patient management and risk; and
• mammography compliance data in the general population.

The CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium attracts world leaders in cancer research and treatment, including clinical oncologists, basic scientists, translational researchers and epidemiologists, working to improve prevention, diagnosis and patient care with the ultimate goal of eradicating breast cancer.

When:
Dec. 8-12, 2010

Where:
Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center
San Antonio, Texas

Press Registration:
Forms can be downloaded here: http://www.sabcs.org/Documents/PresRegistrationForm2010.pdf

AACR Praises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its Tobacco Prevention Efforts

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for its newly launched comprehensive tobacco control program.

Kathleen Sebelius, HHS secretary, along with Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H., HHS assistant secretary for health, and Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, announced a new department-wide tobacco initiative at a press conference held at George Washington University this morning.

The larger, more graphic warning labels that HHS will soon require on all cigarette packs were unveiled as part of a wider plan aimed at creating a society free of tobacco-related death and disease. The four-pronged strategy backing this goal includes evidence-based tobacco interventions; change of social norms around tobacco use; reform of HHS systems and resources to lead by example; and, acceleration of research to expand the science base.

As emphasized in a 2010 AACR policy statement on tobacco and cancer, tobacco kills more than 5 million people per year worldwide and nearly half a million people in the United States alone.

Tobacco use takes an economic toll, too. The estimated total annual economic burden of cigarette smoking, including direct health care expenditures and productivity losses, is more than $190 billion in the United States alone.

“Although tobacco use in the United States has decreased remarkably over the last half century, an estimated one in five U.S. adults still uses tobacco on a regular basis,” said Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the AACR’s Task Force on Tobacco and Cancer. “It’s as if the American public has become immune to anti-tobacco efforts. To see the HHS undertake this initiative is very encouraging and will, we hope, make new progress in combating this enormous public health problem.”

The AACR and HHS both stress that preventing the initiation of tobacco use is as important as fostering cessation efforts. The AACR’s Ninth Annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference concludes today in Philadelphia and featured several sessions pertaining to the underlying science of tobacco addiction, use, cessation and carcinogenicity.

“Science has established that tobacco use can cause an astonishing 18 different cancers — not just lung cancer,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “Tobacco-related cancers are preventable. We must work together to build upon the renewed efforts of the HHS to implement effective evidence-based policies where they exist and to galvanize research activities where evidence is slim.”

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

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Regular exercise may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer (Los Angeles Times)

registration@aacr.org (Jeannine Stein) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Los Angeles Times

Exercising 150 minutes a week or more may decrease a woman's risk of endometrial cancer, a study finds.

The 150-minutes-a-week idea is the recommended minimum amount for most adults. In this case, researchers from the Yale School of Public Health used it as a measure to see if it would affect rates of endometrial cancer, which starts in the tissue that lines the uterus.

They looked at data on 668 women with endometrial cancer as well as 665 women matched in age who served as the control group. Women who exercised 150 minutes a week or more had a 34% decreased risk of developing endometrial cancer than those who were sedentary.

For thinner women with a body mass index of less than 25 (including underweight women), the reduced risk was even higher: 73%, compared with women who were overweight, didn't exercise and had a BMI of more than 25.

But if overweight women did exercise, they had a 52% decreased risk of endometrial cancer.

The study was presented Tuesday at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference in Philadelphia sponsored by the American Assn. for Cancer Research.

HPV vaccine is not embraced by young women (Los Angeles Times)

registration@aacr.org (Shari Roan) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Los Angeles Times

The HPV vaccine was approved in 2006 as the first vaccine that can prevent a type of cancer. The vaccine protects against several common strains of human papilloma virus, which causes genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer. However, a new study shows that a majority of young women who are eligible for the vaccine are either not getting it or are not following the three-shot protocol to be fully immunized.

Researchers from the University of Maryland analyzed data from 9,658 teenagers and young women who were eligible for the HPV vaccination at the University of Maryland Medical Center between August 2006 and August 2010. Fewer than one-third (2,641 people) of the women started the three-shot series. Among those women, 39% got a single dose and 30% received two doses. An additional 31% got the complete regimen.

Doctors may need to do a better job of encouraging patients to adhere to the three-shot regimen, the authors of the study said. (The second shot should be given one to two months after the first dose; the final shot six months after the first dose.) The authors of the study, presented Tuesday at the American Assn. for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention conference in Philadelphia, are exploring whether text-message reminders would help to get teens and young women back to the clinic to complete the series of shots.

The vaccines Cervarix and Gardasil are licensed for females age 9 through 26. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all girls who are 11 or 12 years old get the three doses (shots) of either brand of HPV vaccine to protect against cervical cancer and precancer. Girls and young women age 13 through 26 should get all three doses of an HPV vaccine if they have not received all doses yet. Gardasil is also licensed for males age 9 through 26 to prevent genital warts.

Use of Androgen Deprivation Therapy Increases Fracture Risk Among Prostate Cancer Patients

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• History of fracture, comorbid conditions increase risk of fracture after treatment.
• Orchiectomy linked to higher fracture risk than use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

PHILADELPHIA — Men with history of fracture and comorbidities are at an increased risk of fracture after long-term use of androgen deprivation therapy, and initiating this therapy should be carefully considered in older men with localized prostate cancer.

In addition, the longer duration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) use and history of orchiectomy (removal of the testicles to stop testosterone production, which prostate cancer needs to continue to grow) are also associated with an increased risk of fracture among men with prostate cancer.

These study results were presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

Grace Lu-Yao, Ph.D., professor of medicine at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and colleagues analyzed data in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare program to estimate fracture risk among more than 46,500 men aged 66 years and older who were diagnosed with localized prostate cancer.

Participants in this study survived at least five years after diagnosis and received long-term androgen deprivation therapy. Extended use of androgen deprivation therapy is common among older men.

Older men who have more comorbidities are usually prescribed androgen deprivation therapy as their primary treatment because they are not suitable candidates for radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy, according to Lu-Yao. However, pre-existing conditions are often associated with higher risk of fracture.

“Our results showed that 48 percent of prostate cancer patients who used androgen deprivation therapy received more than 24 months of Gn-RH or orchiectomy,” said Lu-Yao.

Men treated with androgen deprivation therapy had a 20 percent increase in the risk of a first fracture and a 57 percent increased risk of a second fracture after the first two years of treatment. Older age, higher comorbidity, history of fracture and stroke were associated with increased fracture risk.

“Treating men who have pre-existing conditions with longer duration of androgen deprivation therapy exacerbates their risk of fracture, and becomes more pronounced over time” said Lu-Yao. “Careful evaluation of the patient’s risk of fracture, while initiating treatment, is important because fracture has a strong impact on quality of life and mortality.”

Further, men who were 75 years of age or older and received Gn-RH for more than two years or longer were associated with a 3.63 times risk of having fracture, compared with those aged 66 to 74 who received androgen depravation therapy less than two years. In addition, men who underwent orchiectomy had a 75 percent higher risk of a hospitalized fracture.

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Home Exposure to Tobacco Carcinogens High in Children of Smokers

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Ninety percent of children had tobacco carcinogens in their urine.
• Exposure was linked to lack of smoking restrictions in the home.
• Black children were especially affected.

PHILADELPHIA — Ninety percent of children who lived in a house where an adult smoked had evidence of tobacco-related carcinogens in their urine, according to research presented at the Ninth AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here from Nov 7-10, 2010.

The average amount of tobacco metabolites in children aged one month to 10 years old was 8 percent of what is found in a smoker, said the lead researcher Janet L. Thomas, Ph.D., assistant professor of behavioral medicine at the University of Minnesota.

“This finding is striking, because while all of the researchers involved in this study expected some level of exposure to carcinogens, the average levels were higher than what we anticipated,” she said. For comparison, carcinogens found in the urine of adult non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke are about 1 percent to 5 percent that of smokers.

“No one knows the long-term impact of cumulative exposure to these chemicals. It could prime the body in some way that leads to DNA changes in cells that might contribute to lung damage, and potentially lung cancer,” Thomas said.

The researchers also found a direct correlation between the number of cigarettes one or more adults smoked in the house each day and tobacco metabolites in the children who lived there. There was also an association between childhood exposure to secondhand smoke and lower socioeconomic status, employment and parental education.

Additionally, black children had the highest levels of tobacco-related metabolites in their urine, even if their parent or parents smoked comparatively less.

“This suggests, as other researchers have found, that African-Americans metabolize tobacco-related chemicals differently,” she said.

The researchers conducted this study to quantify tobacco-related carcinogens in children, with the hope that the children’s parents might be open to banning smoking inside the home.

“Almost one third of young children in the United States live in a house with at least one smoker,” Thomas said. “My concern is that parents and family members may not truly understand the risk they pose to these children.”

The researchers took urine samples from 79 children who lived in a home where at least one parent smoked. They quantified total NNAL (a biomarker of NNK, which is a nitrosamine produced during tobacco curing and is a known carcinogen), as well as nicotine and cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine that stays longer in the body.

Ninety percent of the children had detectable levels of NNAL and nicotine in their urine; 95 percent had evidence of cotinine.

In addition, the researchers measured carbon monoxide levels in parents and asked about the number of cigarettes smoked per day and smoking restrictions in the home. NNAL levels were significantly lower in homes that had complete smoking restrictions and there was a correlation between cigarettes smoked per day and NNAL in their children.

“Based on these results, there is little doubt that total NNAL in the urine of children could be substantially reduced by home smoking restrictions,” said Thomas. “We need to act now to ensure that all parents have the facts they need to make informed decisions to protect their families from this completely preventable health hazard.”

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Very Few Eligible Young Women Opt to Take HPV Vaccine

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Only one-third of female teens complete the three-dose vaccine series.

• Young women and black women are least likely to complete the series.

PHILADELPHIA — Despite strong evidence of its effectiveness, few of the young women who are eligible for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine take it, according to research presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Nov. 7-10. What’s more, many of the teens who begin treatment do not complete the recommended three-dose regimen.

“Only about one-third of young women who begin the three-dose series actually complete it; this means that large numbers of teenagers are unprotected or under-protected from strains of HPV that lead to cervical cancer,” said J. Kathleen Tracy, Ph.D., assistant professor, epidemiology and public health, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease among adolescent girls in the United States. At any given time, 29.5 percent of sexually active 14- to 19-year-old teenagers are infected. Persistent infection with certain HPV types may lead to cervical cancer.

Tracy and colleagues gathered information from the University of Maryland Medical Center’s (UMMC) clinical data repository on the 9,658 teenagers and young women who were eligible for HPV vaccination between August 2006 (when UMMC began offering the vaccine) and August 2010. In all 2,641 young women started HPV vaccination; 39.1 percent received a single dose, 30.1 percent received two doses and 30.78 percent completed the recommended three-dose regimen.

Two-thirds of the teenagers who initiated vaccination were black. Age was a factor in vaccine adherence; young women aged 18 and older were the least likely to take more than a single dose. Young black women and teens were less likely than white women and teens to complete the three-dose series.

From a public health perspective, these findings highlight several critical issues, Tracy said. Scientists and public health advocates must identify strategies for increasing vaccination initiation. For instance, practitioners may have to play a more active role in encouraging patients to complete the doses, she said. Parents can be valuable partners, encouraging vaccination and ensuring that their daughters complete all three doses. Finally, strategies are needed to increase completion among all young adult women.

Technology may be one answer. Tracy and her team are preparing to launch a clinical trial to determine whether text message reminders increase completion of the three-dose series.

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Long-term Statin Use is Unlikely to Increase Cancer Risk

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Decreased risk of lymphoma, melanoma and endometrial cancer found.
• More research is needed to confirm lower risk of these cancers.

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers have further established that long-term use of statins is unlikely to substantially increase or decrease overall cancer risk, according to study results presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Nov. 7-10, 2010, in Philadelphia.

Statins are a class of drugs commonly used in the United States to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. While study results to date have shown that short-term use of statins has little effect on risk of developing cancer, not much is known about long-term statin use and incidence of many cancers.

Eric J. Jacobs, Ph.D., strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society, and colleagues examined the association between use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, predominantly statins, and the incidence of the 10 most common cancers, as well as overall cancer incidence.

The study included 133,255 participants in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.

Participants completed several questionnaires that included information about a range of lifestyle and medical factors, including use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, and were followed over a period of about 10 years, according to Jacobs. During this time frame, more than 15,000 participants were diagnosed with cancer.

Using cholesterol-lowering drugs for five years or longer was not associated with overall cancer incidence, or incidence of bladder, breast, colorectal, lung, pancreatic, prostate, or renal cell cancer, but was associated with lower risk of melanoma, endometrial cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“The lower risk of endometrial cancer and melanoma among long-term users has not been seen in most previous studies and was surprising,” Jacobs said. “The lower risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma among statin users has been seen in some, but not all, previous studies.”

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Side Effects of Hormonal Breast Cancer Therapy Increased; May Affect Treatment Adherence

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Aromatase inhibitors result in an estrogen-deficient state.
• Estrogen-deficient state increases occurrence of side effects.
• Side effects may decrease treatment adherence.

PHILADELPHIA — Women being treated for breast cancer with aromatase inhibitors may experience extremely low estrogen levels resulting in a wide variety of side effects that a typical postmenopausal woman without cancer may not experience.

Data presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010, showed that women assigned to take aromatase inhibitors had increases in side effects such as hot flashes, decreased appetite, fatigue, fever, breast sensitivity, etc.

“Aromastase inhibitors represent one of the most major advances in breast cancer treatment,” said Lisa Gallicchio, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at The Prevention and Research Center at Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore. “Their incorporation into the breast cancer treatment armamentarium has led to impressive reductions in breast cancer recurrence and mortality rates.

“Despite this, many breast cancer patients stop taking their aromatase inhibitor treatment —which is usually prescribed for five years — or do not adhere to their treatment prescription,” she said, adding that this may be due to, at least in part, the side effects associated with the drugs.

To better define the full spectrum of side effects associated with aromatase inhibitor treatment, Gallicchio and colleagues surveyed 100 women with breast cancer who were about to start treatment with aromatase inhibitors. Their side effects were compared with those of 200 similarly-aged women without a history of breast cancer.

Questionnaires about symptoms were completed prior to treatment initiation by women with breast cancer and at the start of the study for the healthy women. Women were followed for six months and completed additional questionnaires at three months and at the completion of the study.

Women taking aromatase inhibitors were five times more likely to report having hot flashes, breast sensitivity and chest pain than healthy women. In addition, they were four times more likely to report night sweats, cold sweats and hair loss and about three times more likely to report leg cramps, weight gain, sleep disturbance, tendency to take naps and forgetfulness. Other increased symptoms included intestinal gas, cough, depression, interrupted sleep and irritability.

“We know that aromatase inhibitors are effective in treating breast cancer,” Gallicchio said. “Knowing the side effects of aromatase inhibitor treatment and how to treat them is critical for keeping women on their aromatase inhibitor treatment and improving their chances of surviving and living cancer free.”

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Exercise May Reduce Risk of Endometrial Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Association was seen in all women, regardless of weight.
• Exercising more than 150 minutes per week showed benefit.
• Endometrial cancer risk was reduced by 34 percent.

PHILADELPHIA — Women who exercise for 150 minutes a week or more may see a reduced risk of endometrial cancer, despite whether or not they are overweight, according to data presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

“This study is consistent with other studies that strongly support the association between physical activity and lower risk of endometrial cancer,” said Hannah Arem, a doctoral student at Yale School of Public Health.

Arem and colleagues examined data collected from a case-control study led by Herbert Yu, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., associate professor at Yale School of Public Health. The study included 668 women with endometrial cancer and compared them to 665 age-matched control women.

Those who exercised for 150 minutes a week or more had a 34 percent reduced risk of endometrial cancer compared with those women who were inactive.

This association was more pronounced among active women with a body mass index (BMI) less than 25, or underweight women, where the reduction in risk was 73 percent compared with inactive women with a BMI more than 25, or what is commonly considered overweight.

Although BMI showed a strong association with endometrial cancer, even women who were overweight, but still active, had a 52 percent lower risk.

“Clearly, programs should be in place to increase the level of physical activity in women,” said Arem.

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Menopausal Hormone Therapy May Increase Risk of Ovarian Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Observed risk present in those who currently use hormone therapy.

• Risk levels did not differ by type of hormone therapy.
• Former hormone therapy use not linked to increased risk.

PHILADELPHIA — Women planning on taking hormone therapy for the treatment of menopausal symptoms should be aware of a possible increased risk for ovarian cancer, according to data presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

“This study is consistent with previous recommendations that say if women are going to take hormones they should only take them in the short term,” said Konstantinos Tsilidis, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford.

Tsilidis and colleagues analyzed the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, which included 126,920 women, of whom 424 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer over nine years of follow-up.

Although former use of hormone therapy was not associated with increased risk, current use of hormone therapy was linked with a 29 percent increased risk.

Risk levels did not differ by type of hormone therapy (estrogen only vs. estrogen plus progestin), specific hormonal constituents, regimens and routes of administration of hormone therapy, or by ovarian cancer histology.

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Results of NSLT to be Presented at AACR Meeting

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Results of the NCI's National Lung Cancer Screening Trial will be presented at the Ninth Annual American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference.

As seen on the news last week, Christine Berg, M.D., of the Early Detection Research Group at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, will be presenting the initial results of the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial, which showed a clear benefit with CT scans for lung cancer screening.

The press conference will take place at 2:00 p.m. ET in room 203A of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Reporters who cannot attend in person can dial in using the following information:

DIAL IN: (US & Canada): 1-888-282-7404
DIAL IN: (International): 1-706-679-5207
ACCESS CODE: 24532861

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Exercise May Cut Endometrial Cancer Risk (WebMD)

registration@aacr.org (Katrina Woznicki) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

WebMD Health News

Nov. 8, 2010 -- Exercising 150 minutes or more every week may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by a third, according to a study.

Researchers led by Herbert Yu, MD, MSc, PhD, associate professor at Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., compared 668 women with endometrial cancer with 665 women of the same age who did not have the disease. Women answered questionnaires about their lifestyles, environment, and physical and recreational activities.

Based on the survey results, the researchers found that:

The findings were presented at the Ninth Annual American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference held in Philadelphia.

Researchers said the results suggest that both exercise and BMI levels affect endometrial cancer risk and that they also reaffirm earlier findings showing an independent association between exercise and a lowered risk for endometrial cancer.

The CDC recommends adults ages 18 to 64 get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.

Endometrial cancer is a cancer that forms in the lining of the uterus. The National Cancer Institute estimates there will be 43,470 new cases and 7,950 deaths from endometrial cancer in the U.S. in 2010.

Statins Don't Reduce Colon Cancer Risk, Study Finds (msn.com)

registration@aacr.org (Steven Reinberg) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

msn.com

Conclusion conflicts with some earlier research that saw a benefit

MONDAY, Nov. 8 (HealthDay News) -- A large-scale new study found that postmenopausal women who take cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins do not reduce their risk for colorectal cancer.

Previous studies have suggested that statins may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. But this new study of more than 150,000 women found no reduced risk, regardless of the type of statin taken or for how long.

"The upshot was there was no significant difference in colorectal cancer risk between statin users and nonusers," lead researcher Dr. Michael S. Simon, a professor of oncology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said during a Monday afternoon press conference.

Simon was to present the findings at the American Association for Cancer Research's ninth annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, which concludes Wednesday in Philadelphia.

For the study, Simon's team collected data on 159,219 postmenopausal women who took part in the Woman's Health Initiative study. Over 10 years of follow-up, there were 2,000 cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed among the women. Some 7.6 percent of the women were taking statins.

Simon said that results from several earlier studies had suggested a small reduction in colorectal cancer risk in people who use statins. But, most studies have found no association between statin use and reduced colorectal cancer risk.

Simon added, however, that this new study probably won't end the debate, and more research is needed about the role statins might play in cancer prevention. In fact, the impact of statin use on colorectal cancer risk deserves more study in certain types of patients, he said.

"A recent study suggested a possible greater effect of statins in reducing both cardiovascular and colorectal cancer risk among individuals with a genetic variation of the enzyme inhibited by statins," Simon said. "This finding suggests that future studies should focus on individuals at high risk based on family history or genetic predisposition."

Results of another study presented at the press conference showed that the gout drug allopurinol (Lopurin, Zyloprim) may be a potential treatment for colorectal cancer and prevention. The drug has been on the market for more than 20 years and costs only about $1.40 a month, according to lead researcher Dr. Andrea De Censi, director of the medical oncology unit at Galliera Hospital in Genoa, Italy.

But the study was small and preliminary, and more trials are needed before scientists can prove a real benefit for patients, the researchers said.

For the study, Censi's group did a preliminary trial that pitted allopurinol against a placebo in 73 patients with pre-cancerous colorectal polyps, with patients taking either a 100-mg or 300-mg dose of the drug. The patients stayed on their regimes for four to six weeks before their polyps were removed.

The researchers looked for changes in a tumor tissue biomarker dubbed Ki67. The researchers found that in the first 13 patients the level of Ki67 rose only 5 percent among those taking either dose of the drug, compared with more than doubling in patients taking a placebo.

Soy Isoflavones May Modify Risk of Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Soy isoflavones are found in deli meats, breads and vegetables.

• Decreased risk of low-grade and large tumors found with use.

PHILADELPHIA — Increased phytoestrogens commonly found in dietary soy may modify the risk of some types of breast cancer, according to findings presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Nov. 7-10, 2010.

“This study was unique in that we looked at specific subtypes of breast cancer, and found a suggestion that menopausal status may play a role in risk,” said Anne Weaver, a graduate student at the University at Buffalo and research apprentice at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Weaver and colleagues evaluated 683 women with breast cancer and compared them with 611 healthy women. Dietary data patterns were observed using a food frequency questionnaire and isoflavones were measured as a dietary, rather than supplemental, intake. Isoflavone intake was divided into three groups.

Those women with the highest isoflavone intake had an approximately 30 percent decreased risk of having an invasive breast tumor, and an approximately 60 percent decreased risk of having a grade 1 tumor.

Observations by menopausal status revealed the following: Among premenopausal women, the highest intake of isoflavones had a 30 percent decreased risk of stage I disease, a 70 percent decreased risk of having a tumor larger than 2 cm, and a 60 percent decreased risk of having stage 2 breast cancer. These connections were not seen among postmenopausal women.

Like most dietary studies, Weaver said these findings are not definitive and need to be considered in the context of further follow-up and confirmation.

“Still, we definitely saw a reduction that deserves further investigation,” she said.

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Could Lung Cancer in Smokers vs. "Never-smokers" be Different Diseases?

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Lung tumors in never-smokers harbor alterations distinct from smokers.
• EGFR mutations are not the only ones driving never-smoker lung cancer.
• Smokers’ tumors may arise through different molecular mechanisms.

PHILADELPHIA — Lung tumors in those who smoke and those who never smoked have different DNA alterations in the tumor genomes, according to results of a pilot study presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Nov. 7-10, 2010, in Philadelphia.

Based on the results of this study, Kelsie Thu, a Ph.D. candidate at the BC Cancer Agency Research Centre in Vancouver, Canada, suggested that “lung cancer in never-smokers should be studied as a separate group,” and that lung cancers in smokers and never-smokers may represent two different diseases.

Thu and colleagues investigated the biology of lung cancer to determine how it is different in 30 patients who never smoked vs. 53 patients who were current or former smokers. The goal: to improve the current understanding of lung cancer development.

“A better understanding of the biology underlying lung cancer development will lead to improved detection and therapeutic strategies, and ultimately, will result in improved patient prognosis,” she said.

Using genomic technologies, the researchers found regions of DNA that were altered in both the smoker and never-smoker groups, as well as regions of DNA altered preferentially in one group.

Besides having more epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, which is typical, never-smoker tumor genomes had more DNA alterations than smokers altogether. This suggests there may be more genomic instability in never-smoker lung tumors and that they could develop through different molecular mechanisms, according to Thu.

“Hopefully, our findings will stimulate the research community to further investigate the differences between lung cancer in these two cohorts, which could ultimately lead to the discovery of novel molecular targets for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in never-smokers,” Thu said.

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Obesity Not Linked to Breast Cancer in Mexican-American Women

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Adult weight gain reduced risk for breast cancer.
• Association may be due to shorter duration of estrogen exposure.

PHILADELPHIA — Obesity was not associated with breast cancer risk in Mexican-American women, even when measured at numerous ages throughout a woman’s lifetime, according to data presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

However, data did show that weight gain during adulthood seemed to reduce breast cancer risk, regardless of menopausal status.

“We found that for every 5 kg of weight gain there was a significant 8 percent decrease in the risk for breast cancer,” said Krystal Sexton, Ph.D., a Susan G. Komen Fellow in breast cancer disparities research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. “However, it is important that we do not send a message that gaining weight prevents breast cancer.”

Instead, Sexton and colleagues in the department of epidemiology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, are hypothesizing that the reduced risk for breast cancer among overweight and obese Mexican-American women may be due to a shorter lifetime exposure to estrogen, which is associated with breast cancer.

Previous research has shown that in Mexican-American women there is an association between obesity and earlier age of menopause.

“Women in our study who did not have breast cancer were actually experiencing menopause at an earlier age — especially women who were overweight and obese — compared with women who were overweight and obese and did have breast cancer,” Sexton said.

This earlier onset of menopause exposed overweight and obese women to two fewer years of estrogen throughout their lifetimes, possibly putting them at a lower risk for breast cancer, according to Sexton.

The researchers identified 155 Mexican-American women with breast cancer and compared them with 333 women of similar ages without breast cancer. Patients reported their weights at ages 15, 30 and at cancer diagnosis. They also reported weight gain between age 15 and diagnosis.

Unlike research in non-Hispanic white women, which has shown an increased risk for breast cancer in obese postmenopausal women, there was no association between body mass index and breast cancer in Mexican-American women, regardless of menopausal status.

“We know that Hispanic women have a lower incidence of breast cancer, but they continue to be diagnosed with breast cancers that have larger tumor sizes, more advanced cancer stages and poorer prognostic factors, leading to lower survival rates compared to non-Hispanic white women,” Sexton said. “There is a real need to continue to try to understand why these disparities exist.”

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Smoking Increased Risk of Death in Women With Breast Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Connection between smoking and breast cancer death had been unclear.
• Risk existed independent of socioeconomic, clinical and life-style factors.
• BMI, molecular breast cancer subtype and menopausal status modified risk.

PHILADELPHIA — Being a current smoker or having a history of smoking significantly increased the risk of breast cancer progression and overall death among a group of multiethnic women with breast cancer, according to the results of a large prospective cohort study.

“We found that women who are current smokers or have history of smoking had a 39 percent higher rate of dying from breast cancer, even after we took into account a wide array of known prognostic factors including clinical, socioeconomic and behavioral factors,” said Dejana Braithwaite, Ph.D., assistant professor, division of cancer epidemiology, department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.

Researchers presented these results at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held Nov. 7-10, 2010.

Although smoking is associated with lung cancer and implicated in several other cancers, it is unclear what effect smoking has on breast cancer, according to Braithwaite.

“Specifically, it is unclear how long women live following breast cancer diagnosis and whether smoking increases the risk of death because of breast cancer progression or whether there is an association between smoking and life expectancy following breast cancer diagnosis that works through affecting non-breast cancer causes of death,” she said.

Therefore, Braithwaite and colleagues set out to examine the relationship between smoking and the risk of death due to breast cancer progression or non-breast cancer causes of death in a large group of women.

They enrolled 2,265 multi-ethnic women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997 and 2000. The women were followed for an average of nine years. Researchers examined whether smoking affected death from breast cancer, non-breast cancer related causes and death from all causes.

Results showed that 164 deaths from breast cancer and 120 deaths from non-breast cancer causes occurred during follow-up.

Those women who had a history of smoking or who were current smokers also had a twofold increased risk for dying from non-breast cancer related causes compared with women with breast cancer who had never smoked.

An analysis was also conducted to examine whether body mass index, molecular breast cancer subtype or menopausal status modified risk. Women who were current or past smokers and also had a HER2-negative tumor subtype had a 61 percent increased risk for breast cancer death compared with those who never smoked. Smokers with a body mass index less than 25 kg/m² had an 83 percent increased risk for breast cancer death, and postmenopausal women had a 47 percent increased risk for breast cancer death compared with those who never smoked.

“The implication of this research is that it is important for physicians to improve smoking cessation efforts, especially among women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, in order to improve breast cancer specific outcomes and overall health outcomes,” Braithwaite said.

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Anti-gout Drug May Decrease Risk for Colorectal Adenoma Progression

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• The drug has a long-standing safety profile.
• It could be an inexpensive chemoprevention method.
• Decreased levels of colorectal cancer biomarker Ki67 was observed.

PHILADELPHIA — Allopurinol, a relatively inexpensive anti-gout medication that has been on the market for more than 20 years, may have some activity against colorectal adenomas, according to data presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

Specifically, the presence of a colorectal tumor tissue biomarker, Ki67, was markedly decreased in the preliminary results of a study of patients with colorectal polyps assigned to take allopurinol.

“Allopurinol has a well-known and good safety profile, and a cost of approximately one euro for one month of treatment,” said Andrea De Censi, M.D., director, medical oncology unit, Galliera Hospital, Genoa, and advisor, division of cancer prevention and genetics, EIO, Milan, Italy.

“In the era of very expensive target-therapy in oncology, it is important to search for cheap agents that could be active in cancer prevention and thus have huge public health implications,” he said.

In colorectal tumor tissue there are high levels of ROM, or reactive oxygen metabolites.

“These ROMs are thought to be important for development of tumor tissue and carcinogenesis. It is known today that ROMs activate crucial processes involved in cell growth, and in processes that inhibit programmed cell death, one of the main mechanisms involved in cancer control,” De Censi said.

Therefore, researchers are testing the effect of ROM scavengers, such as allopurinol, to measure their effects on chemoprevention. According to De Censi, previous research from a large case-control study conducted in Israel showed that patients under chronic allopurinol use for gout had a lower risk for colorectal cancer than a matched control group not using allopurinol.

In the current study, De Censi and colleagues conducted a Phase I/II double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of patients with colorectal adenomatous polyps. Between 2006 and 2010, 73 patients were enrolled and assigned placebo or either a 100-mg or 300-mg dose of allopurinol for four to six weeks prior to removal of polyps.

They collected normal and adenomatous tissue samples and measured changes in the biomarker Ki67 in the normal tissue and the adenomatous tissue to measure the effect of allopurinol. At an interim analysis, conducted in November of 2008, only three mild adverse gastrointestinal events had occurred, confirming the high safety profile of allopurinol.

Tissue analysis in the first 13 patients indicated that levels of Ki67 in normal tissue had doubled in patients taking placebo, but had only increased by 5 percent in patients taking either dose of allopurinol.

In adenoma tissue, levels of Ki67 increased by 70 percent in patients taking placebo compared with only 6 percent in patients taking 100 mg allopurinol and 12 percent in patients taking 300 mg allopurinol.

“Our findings need to be confirmed on a larger number of subjects. However, if the positive trend noted on Ki67 is confirmed, we will conclude that allopurinol has some activity against colon carcinogenesis that may explain the favorable trend noted in the epidemiological studies. These results will provide the background for a large trial of adenoma recurrence reduction with allopurinol,” De Censi said.

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Chemoprevention Biomarker for Breast Cancer Identified

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Chemoprevention trials currently lack biomarker measures.
• Researchers tested protein network signaling in women.

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified a possible biomarker for measuring progress in breast cancer chemoprevention trials, according to data presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

Although breast cancer treatments are constantly being tested, the progress in chemoprevention has been slower because of a lack of reasonable outcomes that can be measured, according to lead researcher Victoria Seewaldt, M.D., director of the prevention program at the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“No one expects to get cancer, so we can’t measure the rate of people who do not get cancer as a measure of success,” said Seewaldt. “The trials would need to be at least 20,000 patients. By identifying this biomarker, we can set up trials that would need only 200 patients.”

Seewaldt and colleagues tested for protein network signaling in breast cells from women at high risk for breast cancer. This analysis identified three signaling pathways that would indicate increased risk of breast cancer: Akt/mTOR/PI3K/cSrc, EGFR/MEK/ERK and HER2/bcl-2. Drugs that could lower the rate of these molecular signals could, therefore, prevent increased risk of breast cancer.

“One of the great struggles of chemoprevention is that we cannot crack what happens inside the breast,” said Seewaldt. “Using protein signaling, we will be able to figure out which pathways are active before and after a chemoprevention agent.”

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Statins Did Not Reduce Colorectal Cancer in WHI Analysis

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Duration and type of statin did not affect risk.
• Statin use did not affect tumor location or stage.

PHILADELPHIA — The use of statins among a group of postmenopausal women did not reduce the risk for colorectal cancer, according to the results of a prospective analysis of data from the large population-based Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).

“The results of our study are consistent with the majority of the literature suggesting no significant reduction in colorectal cancer risk among users of statins,” said Michael S. Simon, M.D., professor of oncology in the department of oncology at Wayne State University and Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit.

Simon presented these study results at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here from Nov. 7-10, 2010.

According to Simon, the results from several case-control studies have shown a moderate reduction in colorectal cancer risk in people who use statins. However, a majority of the literature researching the association, including data from randomized controlled trials and cohort studies, show no association between statin use and reduced colorectal cancer risk.

“Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer incidence and death in the United States,” he said. “While regular screening has been shown to be effective in decreasing mortality, the majority of the population receives no screening, or inadequate screening, which supports the need to focus on chemoprevention to lower death rates.”

One method of colorectal cancer chemoprevention being researched is the use of statins. In this study, Simon and colleagues used data from the WHI to determine if there was a link between colorectal cancer prevention and statins. The study included 159,219 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years. There were 2,000 cases of colorectal cancer identified during an average of 10 years of follow-up.

Women participating in the study were asked to bring all medications to their screening interviews and the use of any statin, or other lipid-lowering medication, was entered into the WHI database. About 8 percent of women in the study were using statins.

The yearly rate of colorectal cancer did not differ between women taking statins and those not taking statins. There was also no difference in risk for colorectal cancer based on the duration of statin use, type of statin, statin potency or use of other lipid-lowering medications. In addition, the researchers identified no link between statin use and tumor location, stage, grade or histology.

According to Simon though, the effect of statins on colorectal cancer risk deserves some additional study in certain patient populations.

“A recent study suggested a possible greater effect of statins in reducing both cardiovascular and colorectal cancer risk among individuals with a genetic variation of the enzyme inhibited by statins,” he said. “This finding suggests that future studies should focus on individuals at high risk based on family history or genetic predisposition.”

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Gefitinib May Have Chemopreventive Benefits in Pancreatic Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Researchers measured the effect on neoplasm, or early-stage disease.
• Chemopreventive may be of use in high-risk patients.

PHILADELPHIA — Gefitinib may be a promising chemoprevention agent for pancreatic cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The study is published in the November issue, and was discussed during a press conference at the Ninth Annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

Pancreatic cancer has a dismal prognosis because it is often asymptomatic and not detected until it is in late stages. Strategies to combat pancreatic cancer have focused on earlier and earlier treatments, and this is the first time that a chemoprevention strategy has been tried.

Chinthalapally V. Rao, Ph.D., director of the Center for Chemoprevention and Cancer Drug Development at the University of Oklahoma Cancer Institute, tested the strategy in mice.

The mice were bred to be at high risk for pancreatic cancer and then fed gefitinib in escalating doses of 0, 100 and 200 ppm for a period of 35 weeks, at which time the tumor incidence was analyzed.

Compared to the group that received no gefitinib, the mid-dose group experienced 77 percent fewer pancreatic tumors and the high-dose group had 100 percent fewer tumors.

In the 100 ppm group, 67.6 percent of the mice were free of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasms, a known pre-cursor to pancreatic cancer, compared with 77.3 percent in the 200 ppm group.

“These findings are dramatic enough that human trials should begin soon,” said Rao. “The clear message is that the earlier we start, the better the outcome is, and we can already measure neoplasm levels in humans so there is a potential here for clinical benefit.”

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Prolonged Maternal Separation Increased Breast Cancer Risk in Neonatal Mice

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Study adds to evidence that psychosocial stress affects cancer risk.
• Brief maternal separation did not have the same effect.
• Prolonged separation increased ER alpha expression in mammary glands.

PHILADELPHIA — Young mice that experienced the psychosocial stress of prolonged separation from their mothers had a higher incidence and faster onset of breast tumors compared with young mice who did not experience this stressful life event. Specifically, neonatal mice separated from their mothers for a prolonged period of time developed mammary tumors twice as fast as mice that experienced short or no maternal separation.

The results of this study, conducted by Leslie Kerr, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and psychology at Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, and colleagues, add to the increasing amount of research examining the effects of stress and other social experiences on cancer development. Much of this research has been published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“So far, we have not really understood, or really sifted through and found factors in the environment that cause a predisposition to the development of breast cancer, or any cancers,” Kerr said. “For example, how does the environment or experiences of an animal, including humans, affect physiological function and how might that influence risk for developing breast cancer?”

Examining environmental effects related to breast cancer development is of increased interest because, like the brain, breast tissue develops postnatally. This means that changes in developmental environment including changes in hormonal activity may increase an animal’s risk for developing breast tumors, Kerr said.

Social experiences are one of the keystones of life, according to Kerr. Two other studies published in Cancer Prevention Research within the last year explored whether social isolation-another psychosocial stress-affected breast cancer risk.

“The studies by Conzen et al and Schuler et al compared social housing vs. individual housing and its effect on breast cancer risk,” Kerr explained. “Animals are born and reared in a group, so when they are isolated as an individual it is an environmental stress.”

Both studies looked at mice at puberty that were housed individually compared with mice housed in groups. Conzen and colleagues found that social isolation altered the expression of certain genes, increasing tumor growth. Schuler and colleagues found that social isolation affected breast cancer development, but that the connection between environmental stressors and cancer may not be as clear as initially hypothesized.

Although the results of the two studies differed slightly, Kerr said that important result is that the environment, specifically the psychosocial environment, likely affects cancer risk.

“In contrast to these studies, ours was designed to show whether neonatal experiences, including either mild or moderate stress because of maternal separation experiences, affect normal breast development or predisposed the animal to carcinogen-induced breast cancer,” Kerr said.

Kerr and colleagues examined how either brief maternal separation – for 15 minutes daily – or prolonged separation – for four hours daily – during the first three weeks of life influenced the development of normal and cancerous mammary gland development in female mice. These mice were compared with mice that did not experience any maternal separation.

When the mice reached puberty and young adulthood, the researchers measured the levels of estrogen receptor alpha and p53, the levels of which have been linked to breast cancer development in prior research. All the mice were then exposed to a known carcinogen in order to assess breast tumor incidence and invasiveness.

The researchers found that 300 days after exposure to the carcinogen 53 percent of the mice exposed to prolonged separation had developed palpable breast lesions compared with 20 percent of mice exposed to brief or no maternal separation. The cancers in mice with prolonged separation were also more invasive.

In addition, mice exposed to prolonged separation had 200 percent greater expression of estrogen receptor alpha levels compared with mice that had no separation, and 30 percent higher levels than mice exposed to brief separation. No differences in p53 expression were found between mice that were exposed to different neonatal conditions.

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Deadline for Stand Up To Cancer’s Innovative Research Grant Letters of Intent Fast Approaching

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

$10 Million Available to Support Innovative Cancer Research Projects

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research reminds the cancer research community that the Letters of Intent deadline for Stand Up To Cancer’s Innovative Research Grants (IRG) is less than two weeks away.

The IRG Letters of Intent submission deadline is 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 15, 2010.

IRGs will support the next generation of extraordinary cancer research leaders in their quest to conquer cancer by providing funding of up to $750,000 over a three-year period.

Those interested should submit Letters of Intent detailing their best ideas for cutting-edge research projects on all forms of cancer, using the proposal website, which can be found at: https://proposalcentral.altum.com.

IRGs offer financial support to scientists pursuing novel, high-risk, but potentially high-reward cancer research proposals that have significant potential for translational application and hold great promise for advancing SU2C’s goal of improving and saving lives. Proposals may focus on any discipline within basic, translational or clinical research, provided that these criteria are met.

The Innovative Research Grants program was established in honor of the late Judah Folkman, M.D., to recognize him as one of the great innovators in cancer research, an outstanding teacher of young investigators, and an early contributor to the SU2C project.

The AACR, as SU2C’s sole scientific partner, is responsible for administering these grants and, through the Scientific Advisory Committee and Innovative Research Grants Committee, provides ongoing scientific oversight to ensure that progress is being made.

IRG recipients will be announced in April of 2011.

For general information on eligibility criteria, the nomination process and other details about the Innovative Research Grants, please visit: www.aacr.org/IRG. Or direct your inquiries to the SU2C Grants Office at: (267) 765-1049 or su2c@aacr.org.

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
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AACR Conference to Focus on Prevention, Management of Cancer in Women

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Cancer affects one in three women in the United States.

• Media conference to focus on new research that affects women.

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research will host a media forum focusing on new advancements in the prevention and patient management of cancer among women. This forum will be held here as part of the AACR’s Ninth Annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, which is Nov. 7-10, 2010.

"Cancer affects one in three women in the United States, and even as we understand more about potential treatments, the best strategy remains preventing cancer in the first place," said Judy E. Garber, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and president-elect of the AACR.

"The needs of women are unique in this area, and the American Association for Cancer Research is at the forefront of the search for answers," she added.

The media forum will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010, at 12:00 p.m. ET in room 203A of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Reporters who cannot attend in person can participate using the following information:

• Dial-in (U.S. and Canada): 1-888-282-7404
• Dial-in (International): 1-706-679-5207
• Access Code: 18308730

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
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jeremy.moore@aacr.org
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Cancer Prevention Conference Underscores Need for Congress to Pass Appropriations Bill That Funds NIH

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — Despite innovative cancer research being presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, as well as numerous other conferences organized by the American Association for Cancer Research each year, the pace of scientific discovery in cancer research will slow if Congress does not pass the pending appropriations bill for fiscal year 2011.

The Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (Labor-HHS) bill, as currently written in both the House and Senate, would provide a 3.2 percent increase in fiscal year 2011 for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The proposed $1 billion increase for the NIH in fiscal year 2011 will sustain the pace of progress in the fight against many diseases, including cancer, and will create new scientific opportunities.

“The breadth of current opportunities in cancer research and the excitement surrounding the potential for advancing the science for patient benefit are astounding,” said AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.). “Sustained increases in appropriations for the NIH will ensure that promising research in all aspects of cancer investigation will bring hope to millions of Americans who are suffering from this disease and also stimulate new thinking about cancer prevention.”

While the increase scarcely covers the cost of inflation, it will prevent cuts to numerous programs and projects that are furthering the understanding of cancer. If Congress passes a year-long continuing resolution instead of the appropriations bill, the NIH — along with other federal agencies — would remain at fiscal year 2010 levels through September 2011.

The AACR is sending an action alert to its members, asking them to contact their members of Congress in support of passing the Labor-HHS appropriations bill during the upcoming lame duck session.

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
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Researchers at Philadelphia conference announce progress toward noninvasive colon cancer test (Philadelphia Inquirer)

registration@aacr.org (Marie McCullough) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Holy Grail of colorectal cancer prevention - a reliable screening test that users don't dread and avoid - appears to be getting close.

A novel test that detects telltale DNA markers in stool samples correctly identified 85 percent of colon cancers, 64 percent of significant precancerous polyps, and 90 percent of healthy samples, researchers announced Thursday in Philadelphia at a conference held by the American Association for Cancer Research. "There is no other noninvasive screening test for colon cancer that comes close" to that accuracy rate, said David Ahlquist, a Mayo Clinic researcher who invented part of the technology and who is working with the commercial developer, Exact Sciences of Madison, Wis.

The DNA test is still experimental, hasn't been validated under real-life conditions, and will take at least another year of development, he said.

The United States has about 150,000 new diagnoses and 50,000 colon cancer deaths each year. The disease kills about 40 percent who are diagnosed, reflecting the fact that most people do not undergo colonoscopy until they have symptoms such as bleeding - at which point the cancer may be advanced.

If forthcoming studies prove successful, the test could increase early detection by making screening less onerous.

Now, the gold standard for screening is a colonoscopy, which requires a colon clean-out only slightly less unpleasant than stomach flu, followed by threading a scope through the intestines under anesthesia. "The fact of the matter is, very few people avail themselves of [screening] colonoscopy - only about 20 percent," Johns Hopkins University researcher Bert Vogelstein said. "So there is a real need for a noninvasive test." Vogelstein discovered genetic defects that turn precancerous polyps into malignant tumors. He is not involved in Exact Science's research, but the company licensed some of his technology from Hopkins for the test.

Colonoscopy would still be the only way to confirm a positive result from the new test and remove suspicious polyps.

But most people using the new test would have negative results. And even if a result was wrong, colon cancers tend to grow slowly, so Exact Sciences estimates the test would be needed only every three years.

While taking a wait-and-see attitude, Vogelstein said the science behind the new test looked promising. "I haven't looked under the hood, but it sounds like they're getting close," Vogelstein said. "It's not as sensitive as colonoscopy, but if it holds up in a larger study, it would be a respectable way to screen." There are currently two stool screening tests; one uses Vogelstein's mutation discoveries, and the other searches for blood hidden in the stool. Both miss many cancers.

Exact Sciences' test combines mutations and hidden blood with a novel molecular marker called methylation, in which cells use a chemical tag to turn off certain genes.

When cells turn cancerous, methylation goes awry in ways that can be measured.

In the latest study, the new test was able to detect polyps bigger than a quarter-inch, while ignoring smaller, usually inconsequential ones. And though it picked up an average of 85 percent of tumors in the most curable stages, it detected only 69 percent of late-stage cancer, suggesting that methylation changes as cancer spreads beyond the colon.

However, the latest results were based on testing 678 stool samples from patients with and without cancer who had already undergone conventional screening and diagnosis. The next study, planned for next year and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, will see how the DNA test performs in real-life use, Ahlquist said.

Though the cost has not been set, it could be as low as $300 per test. "It will be affordable and very cost-effective," he said. University of North Carolina researcher David Ransohoff, who has worked with Exact Sciences both as a paid and unpaid adviser, has seen other promising screening tests turn into disappointments. "These results should be confirmed in other appropriate populations," he said.

AACR Announces New Journal, Cancer Discovery

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research announces the launch of its newest journal, Cancer Discovery, which will publish high-impact, peer-reviewed articles describing major advances in basic and clinical research. Its unique format will feature game-changing research, review articles, perspectives and commentaries, news, and "Research Watch" summaries of important journal articles. Cancer Discovery is a new addition to the AACR’s robust publication program.

Cancer Discovery combines the expertise and experience of founding Editors-in-Chief Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., and José Baselga, M.D., Ph.D., along with full-time professional editors. Mark W. Landis, Ph.D., has been appointed executive editor.

"Cancer Discovery will make major contributions to the growing body of knowledge and be a touchstone for the diverse professional community in the cancer field," said Cantley.

Baselga added, "Topics will span the spectrum of cancer science and medicine; from the laboratory to the clinic to epidemiologic and prevention studies. This is a vital resource for everyone working on the problem of cancer."

"Facilitating communication and cross-disciplinary interactions in the field by publishing excellent journals is a core mission of the American Association for Cancer Research," said AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.). "We are thrilled that Cancer Discovery will provide a new publication outlet that captures the most significant work in the field and inspires thinking that will accelerate the pace of breakthroughs."

Cantley is director of the cancer center and chief of the division of signal transduction at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is also professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School. Cantley’s laboratory discovered PI3 Kinase (PI3K) and revealed its role in a pathway that controls cell growth and cell transformation. PI3K is implicated in many cancers as well as in other diseases. As a result, pharmaceutical intervention in the PI3K pathway is being explored.

Baselga is chief of the division of hematology/oncology and associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. He is also professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Baselga’s research focuses on the clinical development of novel, molecular-targeted agents for the therapy of cancer, particularly breast cancer. He conducted the initial clinical trials with the monoclonal antibodies cetuximab and trastuzumab and has been involved in the clinical development of several new agents including pertuzumab and PI3K inhibitors. His main focus in the laboratory and clinic is in the area of novel anti-HER2 agents, in the identification of mechanisms of resistance to anti-HER2 agents.

Landis was previously with Cell Press, most recently as senior editor for the journal Molecular Cell. Landis holds a doctorate in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology from Harvard University, where his work focused on breast cancer. He has held research and teaching assistantships at Dartmouth College, the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Children’s Hospital in Boston.

Cancer Discovery is now receiving manuscripts for consideration for publication, and will publish electronically in April 2011 and in print in July 2011. For more information or to submit a manuscript, please view the following link: http://cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org/

Watch the AACR’s immediate Past President Tyler Jacks, Ph.D., interview Drs. Cantley and Baselga about what makes Cancer Discovery unique vis-à-vis other journals.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Michele Sharp
(267) 646-0622
michele.sharp@aacr.org

New Colon Cancer Screening Test in the Works (WebMD)

registration@aacr.org (Kathleen Doheny) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

WebMD

Oct. 28, 2010 -- A new, consumer-friendly test for colon cancer, once approved, could persuade more Americans to undergo screening for the deadly cancer, according to researchers presenting their findings on the test's effectiveness at a cancer conference in Philadelphia.

At the same meeting, other researchers reported that they have new clues about how DNA characteristics can help predict colon cancer risk.

The research was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's special conference, Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy.

''One in every 17 of us will have colon cancer in our lifetime," says David Ahlquist, MD, professor of medicine and a consultant in gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who presented his findings on the new colon cancer screening test.

Although colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for men and women in the U.S., many adults don't undergo the screenings once they reach age 50 (or earlier for those with a family history), Ahlquist told a news conference.

Estimates of how many adults undergo screening vary, but Ahlquist says probably only 40% adhere to the screening schedule over time.

One screening test, the colonoscopy, in which a flexible, lighted tube with a video camera is inserted to examine the colon, requires dietary restriction and preparation of the colon. Patients must often take time off work and need transportation home from the procedure.

The new test, a next-generation stool test known as a DNA methylation test, detects tumor-specific alterations or methylations in the DNA in the cells shed into the stool from cancerous or precancerous lesions. The test can be done at home without dietary restrictions or bowel preparation.

At the meeting, Ahlquist presented the results of the first clinical evaluation study, which enrolled 1,100 patients."We were pleased by the results of this first clinical study," he says.

The test found 64% of precancerous tumors that were bigger than a centimeter (less than a half inch) and found 85% of cancers.

Ahlquist called the 85% figure ''very high" and adds: "It would be very hard to find a noninvasive approach that could get that range."

The test also found tumors on both sides of the colon, Ahlquist says, a feat that is not always accomplished by colonoscopy. "These results were encouraging," he says.

The detection rate was 87% for cancers in stages I through III, considered the most curable, and 69% percent for stage IV, the most advanced.

The test is better at detecting cancer in early stages, he says, because the cells can become less methylated in later stages. The focus of the test is to catch cancers early, he says. "We are targeting early-stage cancers, and that's where the test does the best."

The median age of the patients was 60 (half were older, half younger).

Positive test results would be followed up with colonoscopy.

A clinical trial of the new stool test is expected to start in 2011, he says, and if all goes well the test could be available soon after that.

Ahlquist and Mayo Clinic are working in collaboration with Exact Sciences Corp. of Madison, Wis., to develop the test.

New DNA Tests Aimed at Reducing Colon Cancer (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org (Nicholas Wade ) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

New York Times

Two new DNA-based tests, one of them described at a meeting in Philadelphia on Thursday, hold the promise of detecting early — and sharply reducing — colon cancer, a disease that afflicts 150,000 people a year in the United States and costs an estimated $14 billion to treat.

The new tests could help most people avoid colonoscopies, which are routinely prescribed for people over age 50. Instead of screening the entire population, doctors could instead refer people for a colonoscopy only if they had tested positive in one of the DNA tests.

Unlike colonoscopy, in which a seeing tube is threaded up the colon, the DNA tests are noninvasive, so more people would take them. Both tests could be brought to market within two years.

One of the tests, developed by Exact Sciences of Madison, Wis., looks in stool samples for the presence of four altered genes that are diagnostic of colon cancer. The test could catch cancerous and precancerous tumors at an early stage, when they are curable, and allow doctors to remove them promptly.

The other test looks in blood for changes in a single gene, called Septin 9, which is not in the Exact Sciences’ panel of four genes. The test has been developed by Epigenomics AG in Germany.

Both tests would be less expensive than colonoscopy, and potentially more effective. Compliance with colonoscopy is low, since people don’t want to have one, and the overall cost per detection is high because most people are healthy, and even colonoscopy misses many tumors in the upper part of the intestine.

Exact Sciences now plans to enlist several thousand patients in a prospective trial designed to win the Food and Drug Administration’s approval. The trial will be completed in 2012 and the test, if approved, should be available shortly thereafter.

“If widely used, and regularly, this test really does have the opportunity to eliminate colon cancer,” said Dr. David A. Ahlquist, a colon cancer expert at the Mayo Clinic and an adviser to Exact Sciences.

The practical value of the tests depends critically on details like their sensitivity, meaning the proportion of tumors that are detected, and their specificity, meaning how many of the positive results are in fact false alarms.

Exact Sciences reported in July that its test was highly sensitive and specific when applied directly to cells taken from tumors. But in the real world, the tumor DNA must be detected in stool samples, even though almost all the DNA comes from the bacteria of the gut. Just 0.01 percent of the DNA is human, and most of this is normal DNA, not the altered DNA of tumors.

The company reported Thursday at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that in a trial of 1,100 patients, the test had detected 64 percent of adenomas, or polyps, larger than one centimeter in diameter, and 85 percent of cancers, as judged by the colonoscopies also given to the patients.

Dr. Ahlquist said he was very pleased with the new results, especially the 64 percent detection rate for precancerous polyps, since these are best targets for intervention.

Although such a detection rate sounds far from perfect, it can be effective if the test is given on a regular schedule. “The Pap smear detects only 50 percent of cervical cancers, but applied over time it virtually eliminates the disease,” Dr. Ahlquist said.

The specificity of the Exact Sciences test is 88 percent, meaning that 12 percent of the time the patient will be given a false alarm. This may be acceptable, given that the worst that will happen is that the patient will get an unnecessary colonoscopy.

“With stool tests, you need a 90 percent specificity,” said Dr. Bert Vogelstein, a cancer expert at Johns Hopkins University who is also an adviser to the company. “Exact Sciences has gotten close to that. There’s a lot of hope for getting a stool-based test.”

Promising results for the blood-based tests were reported this week at a meeting in Barcelona, Spain. Epigenomics said its test had a sensitivity of 86 percent and a specificity of 93 percent.

Proponents of each test note possible weaknesses of the other. Dr. Achim Plum, a vice president for Epigenomics, said that 30 to 40 percent of people have small polyps, but less than 10 percent of these ever become cancerous. The colon-based test may pick up too many of these, sending far too many people in for colonoscopy.

“The health economics of such a test make no sense,” he said.

But the blood-based test may have a similar problem, since a positive signal could come from cancers anywhere in the body. If the patient is advised to take a whole body imaging scan, more false positives could be generated “so you end up doing more harm than good,” Dr. Vogelstein said.

Dr. Plum said that Epigenomics did not see its test as being necessarily in competition with the Exact Sciences test, because the blood-based test would be good alternative for people put off by stool testing.

New colon cancer test works without colonoscopy (MSNBC.com)

registration@aacr.org (Maggie Fox, Reuters ) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - Exact Sciences' new test detected 87 percent of stage I, II and III colon tumors, which can be surgically removed, and found 64 percent of the biggest pre-cancerous growths, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

It finds altered DNA that has either turned a cell cancerous, or has started the changes that lead to cancer.

"The noninvasive stool DNA test we have developed is simple for patients, involves no diet or medication restriction, no unpleasant bowel preparation, and no lost work time, as it can be done from home," said Dr. David Ahlquist of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who developed the test.

When it comes to reducing breast cancer risk, you can’t change your family history. But you can change your nutritional habits, and that could go a long way in decreasing your risk.

"Positive tests results would be followed up with colonoscopy."

Mayo has licensed the test to Exact Sciences, which believes it has the potential to reach sales of $1 billion in the United States alone.

Exact Sciences' shares were up 0.22 percent when trading restarted after the news was announced after midday, at $2.63 a share.

The test looks for three genes that have been altered in a process called methylation.

Colorectal tumors develop in the lining of the colon and in the rectum. As fecal matter passed through the tract, it collects some cells from these growths. The test can find even tiny amounts of altered DNA from these growths in a stool sample.

Studies of 1,100 patients showed the test detected 64 percent of precancerous growths called adenomas that were bigger than 1 cm (0.4 inch), which is considered the size most likely to turn into a tumor.

It found 85 percent of cancers, and 87 percent of the earlier-stage cancer that can potentially be cured by surgical removal.

"This is the first study of a stool DNA test to show such promising results in detecting colorectal pre-cancer," Ahlquist said in a statement.

"Colorectal cancer is a treatable disease if caught early, and this test shows great promise as a potential addition to other available screening tools." Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cancer killer in the United States and other developed countries.

The American Cancer Society estimates there will be about 122,000 new cases of colon cancer in 2010, with more than 51,000 deaths.

It recommends that all Americans start getting tested for the disease at age 50.

In standard colonoscopies, a tiny camera is threaded up through the rectum. The device has a little pair of clippers on the end to remove suspicious-looking growths called polyps so they can be tested to see if they might become cancerous.

But only about half of those who should get tested do, in part because the procedure is embarrassing, uncomfortable and can, in rare cases, cause injury.

Exact Sciences hopes a home-based test would be a big seller and health experts hope it would encourage more people to get screened.

The company has said earlier it would aim for a charge of about $300 to $400 per test, and plans to submit for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2012.

Danish biotech company Exiqon and Belgian biotech firm OncoMethylome are developing blood tests for colon cancer.

Noninvasive Test for Colon Cancer Shows Promise in Early Trial (msn.com)

registration@aacr.org (Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

msn.com

THURSDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- A new noninvasive test to detect pre-cancerous polyps and colon tumors appears to be more accurate than current noninvasive tests such as the fecal occult blood test, Mayo clinic researchers say.

The search for a highly accurate, noninvasive alternative to invasive screens such as colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy is a "Holy Grail" of colon cancer research.

In a preliminary trial, the new test was able to identify 64 percent of pre-cancerous polyps and 85 percent of full-blown cancers, the researchers reported.

Dr. Floriano Marchetti, an assistant professor of clinical surgery in the division of colon and rectal surgery at University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the new test could be an important adjunct to colon cancer screening if it proves itself in further study.

"Obviously, these findings need to be replicated on a larger scale," he said. "Hopefully, this is a good start for a more reliable test."

Dr. Durado Brooks, director of colorectal cancer at the American Cancer Society, agreed. "These findings are interesting," he said. "They will be more interesting if we ever get this kind of data in a screening population."

The study's lead researcher remained optimistic.

"There are 150,000 new cases of colon cancer each year in the United States, treated at an estimated cost of $14 billion," noted Dr. David A. Ahlquist, professor of medicine and a consultant in gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"The dream is to eradicate colon cancer altogether and the most realistic approach to getting there is screening," he said. "And screening not only in a way that would not only detect cancer, but pre-cancer. Our test takes us closer to that dream."

Ahlquist was scheduled to present the findings of the study Thursday in Philadelphia at a meeting on colorectal cancer sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research.

The new technology, called the Cologuard sDNA test, works by identifying specific altered DNA in cells shed by pre-cancerous or cancerous polyps into the patient's stool.

If a DNA abnormality is found, a colonoscopy would still be needed to confirm the results, just as happens now after a positive fecal occult blood test (FOBT) result.

To see whether the test was effective, Ahlquist's team tried it out on more than 1,100 frozen stool samples from patients with and without colorectal cancer.

The test was able to detect 85.3 percent of colorectal cancers and 63.8 percent of polyps bigger than 1 centimeter. Polyps this size are considered pre-cancers and most likely to progress to cancer, Ahlquist said.

The sensitivity of the test is much better than what has been seen in other stool screening tests, the ACS' Brooks added. "But, showing that in a small group of samples is very different from demonstrating that in a population where only a small number of individuals are going to have polyps of that size. Then we will know if this is a big step forward," he said.

According to Ahlquist, Cologuard is the first noninvasive test to detect pre-cancerous polyps, he added.

In addition, the test is the only one that is able to identify cancer in all locations throughout the colon, something which other tests either can't or don't do well, Ahlquist said.

One more advantage: patients do not need to do any special preparation before taking the test, something that other tests require, he added.

Ahlquist noted that the test still needs to be refined. "We learned there are still some bugs and we can make the test even better," he said.

Cologuard is not yet available for sale. Clinical trials comparing the test with colonoscopy are slated to start next year. Ahlquist hopes that the test will be approved and available within two years.

Ahlquist noted that the cost of the test has not yet been established. It is expected to cost more than a fecal occult blood test, but far less than a colonoscopy. A fecal occult blood test can cost as little as $23 while a colonoscopy can total $700.

Another benefit is that it would probably need to be done once every three years, while the fecal occult blood test is usually done yearly. Savings over time on a more accurate test done fewer times could justify the higher cost of the Cologuard test, Ahlquist said.

In two other presentations at the meeting, researchers have linked key gene variants to the risk for colon cancer and also to the prognosis of the disease.

In one study, researchers found that people who have long telomeres, the small strips of DNA that cover the ends of chromosomes, have a 30 percent increased risk of developing colon cancer.

"Even for people their age, their telomeres were longer than you'd expect for healthy people," lead researcher Dr. Lisa A. Boardman, an associate professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, said in a statement. "This suggests that there may be two different mechanisms that affect telomere length and that set up susceptibility to cancer," she said.

In the other study, a research team led by Kim M. Smits, a molecular biologist and epidemiologist in the GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, uncovered a surprise when it came to a gene variant on the KRAS gene called the G variant. This variant, long linked to poorer outcomes in advanced colorectal cancer, actually predicted a better prognosis in early-stage colon cancer.

"You would intuitively think that the G variant would be associated with a poorer prognosis, as it is in late-stage colorectal cancer, but that is not the case," Smits said in a statement.

Experts point out that studies presented at scientific meetings do not have to pass the rigorous peer review of studies published in reputable journals.

New Test Measures DNA Methylation Levels to Predict Colon Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Test found 64 percent of colorectal pre-cancers and 85 percent of cancers.
• Validation study included 1,100 patient samples.
• Ease of use could increase screening rates.

PHILADELPHIA — An investigational DNA methylation test could alter the screening landscape for colorectal cancer, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy, held here Oct. 27-30, 2010.

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer, and the second leading cause of cancer mortality. While celebrities continue to undergo public colonoscopies in an effort to increase awareness, only 60 percent of adults age 50 and older have undergone recommended screening, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

David Ahlquist, M.D., professor of medicine and a consultant in gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, said much of that low rate may be due to inconveniences associated with conventional approaches.

“There is definitely an incentive and legitimate justification to be designing a screening approach that is user friendly, affordable and has the ability to detect pre-cancers,” said Ahlquist. “The noninvasive stool DNA test we have developed is simple for patients, involves no diet or medication restriction, no unpleasant bowel preparation, and no lost work time, as it can be done from home. Positive tests results would be followed up with colonoscopy.”

The test that Ahlquist and colleagues evaluated is under development by Exact Sciences, a molecular diagnostics company in Wisconsin.
The test, which is not yet approved by the FDA, is conducted using a stool sample and works by detecting tumor-specific DNA alterations in cells that are shed into the stool from pre-cancerous or cancerous lesions.

In this first clinical validation study presented at the AACR conference, which included 1,100 patients, the researchers detected 64 percent of precancerous adenomas greater than 1 cm and 85 percent of cancers. Polyps over 1 cm are considered the most likely to progress. Furthermore, cancers and precancerous adenomas were detected equally well on both sides of the colon.

Colorectal cancer rate detection was 87 percent for cancers considered to be in the most curable stage (stage I-III) and 69 percent for the most advanced stage (stage IV).

Further clinical trials are planned for next year, according to Exact Sciences.

Under an exclusive license agreement with Mayo, Exact has rights to intellectual property developed by Ahlquist and Mayo Clinic. Exact will make up-front, milestone and royalty payments to Mayo Clinic, which will be shared with Ahlquist in accordance with Mayo Clinic’s Royalty Sharing Policy and will also provide funding for future work in Ahlquist’s lab.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
Loews Hotel, Phila., Oct. 27-30:
(267) 256-7172

FAK Inhibitor Effectively Blocked Colon Cancer Cell Growth and Viability

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Y15, a novel FAK inhibitor, may be useful for treating colon cancer.
• Y15 targets a specific site on the Y397 molecule.

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers are one step closer to providing a new therapy for colon cancer, after findings revealed that a small molecule focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor known as Y15 effectively blocked cell viability, promoted detachment and apoptosis, and decreased tumor growth in mice. These findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy, held Oct. 27-30, 2010.

“We believe that these types of novel small molecule inhibitors may be the future direction for cancer therapy,” said Melissa Heffler, M.D., a research associate at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. “We are excited that Y15 showed efficacy in decreasing colon cancer cell growth. This is just the first step in pushing these molecules closer to clinical use.”

Because more than 80 percent of colon cancers overexpress FAK, Heffler and colleagues investigated whether inhibiting FAK action would affect the growth of colon cancer cells in the laboratory. They first evaluated whether Y15 would decrease the growth of SW620, a highly aggressive colon cancer cell line, in vitro. They then administered the drug to mice to evaluate whether it would decrease tumor growth in vivo. According to Heffler, Y15 is unique because it blocks the site of Y397, which is not specifically targeted by other drugs.

In vitro results showed that Y15 decreased FAK expression and activation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Compared with control, a 1 µM dose of Y15 inhibited cell viability. Cell detachment also decreased as dosage increased, with nearly 100 percent of cells detached at 50 µM of Y15.

In mice treated with Y15 after being injected with SW620 cells, tumor volume was significantly less after 19 days of treatment than that of mice treated with Y15A derivative or a negative control.

“Although we have shown the efficacy of this inhibitor in treating other types of cancers, like neuroblastoma and breast and pancreatic cancers, metastatic colon cancer can be especially difficult to treat,” Heffler said. “Our inhibitor has worked on these cells, and early data have suggested that it might even work better than the standard colon cancer chemotherapy, 5-fluorouracil.”

The researchers plan to further study Y15 in comparison to and in combination with 5-fluorouracil and plan to investigate its effect on the inhibition of metastases in vivo using a mouse model. They recently submitted untreated and treated cells to a microarray facility for gene analysis and hope to use those data to identify the detailed mechanism by which Y15 influences tumor growth.

“Our preclinical results are promising and will, hopefully, lead to further investigation of this FAK inhibitor in a clinical setting,” Heffler said. “Ideally, we ultimately hope to provide novel therapies for clinicians to employ for the benefit of their patients fighting cancer.”

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
Loews Hotel, Phila., Oct. 27-30:
(267) 256-7172

Telomere Length Affects Colorectal Cancer Risk

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Telomeres of some young-onset colorectal cancer patients showed accelerated aging.
• Other patients had telomeres longer than those of young healthy people.

PHILADELPHIA — For the first time, researchers have found a link between long telomeres and an increased risk for colorectal cancer, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy, held here Oct. 27-30, 2010.

Telomeres are small strips of DNA that cover the ends of chromosomes — they are similar to the plastic coverings on shoelace tips. They prevent chromosome tips from fraying during cell division. If the telomeres shorten, then cells age. Shortened telomeres have been associated with an increased risk of cancer development, said Lisa A. Boardman, M.D., associate professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Boardman and colleagues sought evidence of biological aging in people who develop colorectal cancer at a young age. The researchers hoped to determine what was causing these young patients to develop a disease that is typically associated with aging, she said.

“We anticipated that we would see some people who had young-onset colon cancer and shorter telomeres compared to people of the same age group who did not have cancer,” said Boardman.

They were surprised, however, to find a group with longer telomeres.

“Even for people their age, their telomeres were longer than you’d expect for healthy people. This suggests that there may be two different mechanisms that affect telomere length and that set up susceptibility to cancer,” she said.

The researchers measured peripheral blood leukocyte DNA telomere length in 772 patients diagnosed with microsatellite stable colorectal cancer. Patients were younger than 60 years at diagnosis and had no history of chemo-radiotherapy. The researchers compared this group’s telomere length with 1,660 nonrelated, age-matched, healthy controls.

Patients with the longest telomeres — those patients in the 95th percentile of telomere length — were 30 percent more likely to develop colorectal cancer than those in the 50th percentile, the results showed. Overall, the individuals with the shortest and the longest telomere lengths were at an increased risk for colorectal cancer, Boardman said.

These results indicate that there may be two distinct groups of colorectal cancer in young-onset patients. One that involves telomere shortening and this subset of young-onset of colorectal cancer patients may have accelerated aging. The other may be a distinct subgroup of patients with longer telomeres.

In future studies, researchers will examine the telomere maintenance genes in the peripheral blood DNA. In order to determine if these subsets of patients with younger-onset colorectal cancer have tumors that are mechanistically distinct, we are in the process of comparing the telomere lengths in the peripheral blood DNA with that in the tumor.

“It may be that if they truly go through different mechanisms in the development of cancer, then they may respond to different types of treatment and have a different molecular profile,” said Boardman.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
Loews Hotel, Phila., Oct. 27-30:
(267) 256-7172

Researchers Build Colony of Colon Cancer Stem Cells to Test New Approach to Therapy

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• Colon cancer stem cells may be the root of therapy resistance.
• Idea is to shut down cells that continually revive tumors.
• First model that shows how a single colon cancer stem cell behaves.

PHILADELPHIA — University of Pittsburgh researchers have devised a three-dimensional system in laboratory culture that mimics the growth patterns of colon cancer stem cells in patients. Their findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy, held Oct. 27-30, 2010.

The assay, which uses green fluorescent “reporter” proteins to watch the process of stem cell differentiation, is designed to understand how these cancer stem cells behave, and to identify and test therapies that could halt production of the endless generations of new cancer stem cells that continually revive a tumor.

“Colon cancer stem cells are thought to be the root of therapy resistance, metastases and recurrence in colon cancer, so our approach is to find a way to remove the ability of these stem cells to self-renew,” said the study’s lead investigator, Julie Chandler, a graduate student in pathology.

“While many labs have investigated notch inhibitors and others have investigated cancer stem cells, our unique approach combines both in a three-dimensional culture that mimics what happens in patients,” she said. Animal models, which are immunodeficient and use human xenografs, may not provide accurate information about colon cancer stem cell behavior, Chandler added.

Colon cancer stem cells have the ability to repopulate a tumor after treatment, using stem cells that are resistant to treatment. Such treatment forces a response in these cells, which are genetically unstable, forcing the cells to adapt and pass on resistance to daughter stem cells.

In the same way that adult intestinal stem cells self-renew, colon stem cells give rise to different kinds of cells, including daughter stem cells and fully differentiated cells, such as the goblet epithelial cells that line the colon. Researchers would like to force cancer stem cells to differentiate and behave like goblet cells because these cells do not self renew. Chandler said the notch pathway that controls differentiation in stem cells is inactivated in goblet cells. One way to possibly do that is to use agents that shut down the notch pathway, such as gamma secretase inhibitors, she said. Cancer treatment may then be able to destroy tumors that are now populated by fully differentiated goblet cells.

In their new assay, Chandler used a three-dimensional culture matrix in which she could watch a single cancer stem cell divide and produce progeny, which is called an “independent organoid.”

To see the kind of cells a colon cancer stem cell produces, they labeled a protein that is specific only to goblet cells. To date, the researchers have found that some colon cancer stem cells produce many differentiated cells, such as goblets and others, while others produce more primitive, self-renewing cells.

In this way, the researchers can test the ability of notch pathway inhibitors to force progeny cancer stem cells to differentiate into harmless goblet cells.

“Green goblet cells are no longer capable of promoting cancer growth,” Chandler said. “It may be that a certain notch inhibitor or similar drug is all that is needed to prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis that so often follows an initial response to treatment. This new tool will help us determine if that is so.”

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
Loews Hotel, Phila., Oct. 27-30:
(267) 256-7172

Small-molecule Inhibitors Effectively Targeted Active Colon Cancer Enzyme

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• More specific target increases efficacy, decreases toxicity.
• Small-molecule inhibitors could be developed into oral-based therapies.

PHILADELPHIA — Researchers have identified two small-molecule inhibitors that effectively targeted the focal adhesion kinase (FAK), an enzyme present in certain cancers that helps tumors thrive and survive.

If the drugs are developed into oral therapeutic agents in the future, they could open up the potential for more effective and less toxic cancer therapies, according to research presented at The American Association for Cancer Research special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy, held Oct. 27-30, 2010.

“It is well known that FAK is overexpressed in more than 89 percent of colon cancer tumors, helping these cancer cells survive and spread,” said Vita M. Golubovskaya, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of surgical oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., and co-founder and senior scientist of CureFAKtor Pharmaceuticals. “We have found that targeting a specific site of FAK, called the autophosphorylation site, is an effective way to kill colon cancers cells, as it blocks FAK activation and its survival signaling.”

Through prior research, Golubovskaya and colleagues identified a novel cancer therapy approach that targets the autophosphorylation site of FAK, known as Y397. Once it is “activated” the Y397 site acts as a controller that can “activate” additional cells of the FAK enzyme.

“Thus, our goal was to inhibit this Y397 site to block FAK activity,” Golubovskaya said.

To do that, the researchers screened more than 140,000 small molecules from the National Cancer Institute database and identified several small molecules that could effectively target Y397. They then tested all of these molecules and found two that were the most potent at stopping colon cancer-cell growth: Y11 and Y30.

The effect of Y11 and Y30 were then tested on colon cancer cells. Compared with a commercially available inhibitor, Y11 and Y30 decreased the viability of all colon cancer cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner.

“Most companies target a site called the ATP binding site, which is very conservative, thus drugs developed to target this site are less specific and more toxic,” Golubovskaya said. “Our inhibitors are very specific, inhibiting colon cancer survival and decreasing its viability and inhibiting tumor formation.”

According to Golubovskaya, the next step is to test Y11 and Y30 in mice, eventually conducting pre-clinical studies with the goal in the future to use these drugs in patients after clinical trials.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
Loews Hotel, Phila., Oct. 27-30:
(267) 256-7172

Jekyll-Hyde MicroRNA Binding Variant Linked to Improved Outcome in Early-stage Colorectal Cancer

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

• MicroRNA variant also predicts worse survival in later stages of cancer.
• Variant leads to ineffective regulation of KRAS.
• Another pathway may be regulating tumor growth.

PHILADELPHIA — A variant site linked to poor outcome in advanced colorectal cancer has now been found to predict improved prognosis in early stages of cancer, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy, held Oct. 27-30, 2010.

Researchers said they don’t know why this variant site, a microRNA binding site that should allow appropriate regulation of the KRAS gene, exhibited a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde duality. Further study could show that patients with this miRNA variant might benefit from therapy early-on to forestall aggressive tumor behavior.

“Our results suggested that patients with this variant have a good prognosis, but only in early stages. We need to make sure we identify them in an early stage before the cancer progresses,” said lead researcher Kim M. Smits, Ph.D., a molecular biologist and epidemiologist in the GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology at Maastricht University Medical Center, in the Netherlands.

The binding site responds to a molecule that belongs to the lethal-7 (let-7) family of microRNAs that has been linked to control the KRAS gene, which, if unregulated or mutated, can lead to growth of colorectal cancers. But the “G” variant at this site has been shown to lead to poorly regulated KRAS because it does not allow appropriate binding of let-7 to the gene, thus leading to increased KRAS expression. The G variant has previously been associated with an increased risk of lung cancer in moderate smokers, increased risk of ovarian cancer, reduced survival among patients with oral cancers and reduced survival in late-stage colorectal cancer independent of KRAS mutations.

In this study, the researchers evaluated the effect the G variant had on early-stage colorectal cancer compared to the more common “wild type” T variant.

Researchers examined preserved tissue from 409 early-stage colorectal cancer patients who were part of the Netherlands Cohort Study from 1989 to 1994. Median survival was 7.6 years, but patients with the G variant had a 54 percent improved survival compared to patients with T variant. This survival benefit was enhanced if KRAS mutations were taken into account, Smits said.

“None of the patients with a KRAS mutation and the T variant died,” she said.

In later stages of the cancer, this survival advantage was reversed, which Smits said was unexpected.

“You would intuitively think that the G variant would be associated with a poorer prognosis, as it is in late-stage colorectal cancer, but that is not the case,” said Smits.

Smits believes that in patients with the G variant, “KRAS control has been taken over by another, still unidentified pathway. These patients may be born with reduced KRAS control and I think the body has taken action on this, and another pathway controlling KRAS is overexpressed or activated to compensate for the imbalance.”

“This would explain why these patients have a good prognosis, even if KRAS has an activating mutation — KRAS is controlled by another pathway,” she said. “In late-stage patients, this alternative pathway might be impaired, thereby losing KRAS control.”

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
Loews Hotel, Phila., Oct. 27-30:
(267) 256-7172

New study casts doubt on retrovirus link to cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (Los Angeles Times - Online)

registration@aacr.org (Trine Tsouderos ) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Los Angeles Times

A new study casts further doubt on the role of a retrovirus, XMRV, in human disease, adding weight to the possibility that earlier studies finding a link between the virus and cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome may have been wrong.

In the study, researchers from the National Cancer Institute and Johns Hopkins University report being unable to find any evidence of the retrovirus in nearly 800 prostate cancer samples.

"It is possible that XMRV is not actually circulating in the human population," the team wrote in its paper published by the journal Cancer Research last week.

Scientists have been wrestling with XMRV since 2006, when a research team reported finding a link between XMRV and prostate cancer. The finding, if confirmed, would have massive implications for the detection, prevention and treatment of the cancer.

Then, almost exactly one year ago, a team of researchers led by the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease reported a new link — this time between chronic fatigue syndrome and XMRV. That news also caused enormous waves. Patients diagnosed with the syndrome expressed excitement that a potential cause of their illness had finally been found and that effective therapies for the frustrating disorder might be on the horizon.

A commercial lab began selling commercial lab tests to detect XMRV. Some chronic fatigue syndrome patients started taking potent antiretroviral drugs usually used to treat HIV.

But in both prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome, independent teams of researchers have had trouble replicating the findings. No team has published a confirmation of the link between XMRV and CFS. Negative studies have piled up, and there are doubts about the original findings.

This latest study used two techniques -- polymerase chain reaction and immunohistory chemistry – to look for evidence of XMRV in nearly 800 samples from prostate tumors. The scientists found no signs of XMRV.

AACR Colorectal Cancer Conference to Focus on Screening, New Treatments

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Press conference held on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 1:00 p.m. ET at the Loews Hotel.
New DNA methylation test may change screening landscape.
Emerging targeted treatments show promise in hard to treat cases.

PHILADELPHIA — The American Association for Cancer Research hosted its first special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy from Oct. 27-30, 2010, at the Loews Hotel, Philadelphia.

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer in men and women. While screening has brought mortality rates down, much work remains to be done.

"Colorectal cancer is still one of the deadliest cancers, and our current screening methods are not yet always efficient or complete," said Anil Rustgi, M.D., chief of gastroenterology, T. Grier Miller Professor of Medicine and Genetics, and American Cancer Society Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a program chairperson of the AACR special conference.

Rustgi hosted a press conference featuring new research on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 1:00 p.m. ET in the Adams Room on the third floor of the Loews Hotel in Philadelphia.

Listen to a recording of the teleconference:

Download* the mp3 of the teleconference (11.5 MB, 52:19 minutes)

*On a PC, right mouse click on the "Download" link and select "Save link as..." in Firefox or "Save Target as..." in Internet Explorer.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(267) 646-0557
jeremy.moore@aacr.org
Loews Hotel, Phila., Oct. 27-30:
(267) 256-7172

Oral Sex Linked to Rise in Men's Throat Cancer (ABC News - Online)

registration@aacr.org (Susan Donaldson James) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

ABC News - Online

Studies Show Epidemic That Could Be Stemmed by Cervical Cancer Vaccine Gardasil

For years now, doctors have urged young women to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is believed to cause cervical cancer.

But now, growing research in Europe and the United States is implicating HPV in a rising number of cases of head and neck cancers in men, and many doctors are recommending that all boys be vaccinated as well.

Doctors say that changing sexual behaviors -- earlier sex, more partners and especially oral sex -- are contributing to a new epidemic of orpharyngeal squamous cell cancers, those of the throat, tonsils and base of the tongue.

These cancers can be deadly, and are striking men at a younger age and in increasing numbers.

"There's a lag in information," said Dr. John Deeken, a medical oncologist at Georgetown University. "We physicians have done a poor job of advertising the fact that boys and girls should have the vaccine."

"This kind of cancer traditionally affects males who have been smoking and drinking all their life," he said. "Now, in their mid-60s they are getting head and neck cancer. It's in younger patients who have never smoked."

Two decades ago, about 20 percent of all oral cancers were HPV-related, but today that number is more than 50 percent, according to studies published by the American Association for Cancer Research.

Similarly high rates have also been seen in Europe, where a new Swedish study has shown a strong correlation between oral cancers and oral sex. Oddly, the rising rates have not been seen yet in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia and New Zealand.

Vital Signs: Mental Health: Fog May Be From Cancer, Not the Chemo (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org (Roni Caryn Rabin) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

New York Times

Cancer survivors often complain about chemo brain, a mental fog and inability to concentrate that persist long after treatment. But the problem may not be limited to cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy, a study suggests.

Researchers analyzed data gathered from 2001 to 2006 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on 9,819 adults ages 40 and older, of whom 1,305 reported a history of cancer.

Participants answered questions including "Are you limited in any way because of difficulty remembering or because you experience periods of confusion?" While 8 percent of the respondents who had never had cancer reported impairment, 14 percent of those with a history of cancer reported problems.

After controlling for differences between the groups, like age, education and overall health, researchers concluded that people with a history of cancer were 40 percent more likely to report memory impairment. These problems may be related to treatment, such as chemotherapy, radiation or hormonal therapy, or to something about the disease itself which can change brain chemistry, or to psychological distress, said Pascal Jean-Pierre, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who presented the findings at an American Association for Cancer Research conference in Miami.

Promising treatments might include behavioral interventions and medications like antidepressants, said Dr. Jean-Pierre, adding that his study shows this is a serious national problem.

Vital Signs: Mental Health: Fog May Be From Cancer, Not the Chemo (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org (Roni Caryn Rabin) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

New York Times - Online

Cancer survivors often complain about chemo brain, a mental fog and inability to concentrate that persist long after treatment. But the problem may not be limited to cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy, a study suggests.

Researchers analyzed data gathered from 2001 to 2006 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on 9,819 adults ages 40 and older, of whom 1,305 reported a history of cancer.

Promising treatments might include behavioral interventions and medications like antidepressants, said Dr. Jean-Pierre, adding that his study shows this is a serious national problem.

Low Vitamin D Linked to Breast Cancer (WebMD)

registration@aacr.org (Bill Hendrick) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

WebMD

Oct. 4, 2010 -- African-American woman have higher rates of vitamin D deficiency associated with aggressive breast cancer than white women, a new study finds.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina studied 107 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past five years, including 60 African-Americans. Sixty percent of African-American women studied had low vitamin D levels, compared to 15% of white women.

“We know that darker skin pigmentation acts somewhat as a block to producing vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, which is the primary source of vitamin D in most people,” study author Susan Steck, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of epidemiology at the University of South Carolina, says in a news release.

All participants donated a blood sample, and vitamin D concentrations were measured.

The mean serum concentration of vitamin D was 29.8 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) in white women and 19.3 ng/ml in African-American women, researchers say in a news release. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum concentration of less than 20 ng/mL. Aggressive breast cancer was eight times more likely among patients with vitamin D deficiency. The study, Steck says, provides a foundation for possible preventive strategies, but she adds that more research is needed to confirm findings.

All participants were between 33 and 84 years old.

The study “corroborates other research showing racial differences in vitamin D status and provides further support for a protective role of vitamin D in breast cancer,” Steck says in an abstract of the study, presented in Miami at the Third American Association for Cancer Research Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities. “The prevalence of and insufficiency was high, suggesting the need for monitoring of vitamin D levels among breast cancer patients.”

Vitamin D levels are affected by sun exposure, dietary intake, supplements, skin tone, age, and body mass index. This study was presented at a medical conference. The findings should be considered preliminary as they have not yet undergone the "peer review" process, in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal.

Vigorous exercise could greatly reduce the risk of breast cancer for postmenopausal African American women, a study finds. (Los Angeles Times)

registration@aacr.org (Jeannine Stein) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Los Angeles Times - Online

The pilot study, presented this week at the American Association for Cancer Research conference in Miami, Fla., may be good news for women as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month kicks off. Researchers asked 97 African American women who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and 102 matched women without breast cancer questions about their physical activity. Exercise such as aerobics and running was considered vigorous.

Women who did vigorous exercise for two or more hours per week in the past year had a 64% decreased risk of breast cancer compared with sedentary women. Those who did moderate activities, such as walking, showed a 17% reduced risk of breast cancer compared with women who didn't exercise.

The benefits were seen mostly for postmenopausal women, who had a 62% decrease in cancer risk. The small study sample could be to blame for not seeing greater reduced risk in premenopausal women, the authors said.

"People often want to know what they can do to reduce their risk of disease," lead author Vanessa Sheppard said in a news release. Sheppard, an assistant professor in the department of oncology at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C., added, "We have found that just two or more hours of vigorous activity per week can make a difference in one's risk of developing breast cancer."

Sheppard said that the findings should be approached carefully: "This is a pilot study and a larger, more rigorous study is needed to precisely quantify the effect of exercise on development of breast cancer. I think it is fair to conclude that if African American women exercise they can help take charge of their health."

Clue found in aggressive breast cancer (CNN.com)

registration@aacr.org (Elizabeth Landau) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:00:00 GMT

CNN.com

Researchers may have found a new lead toward treating triple negative breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer that occurs more often in younger women and African-American or Hispanic women.

A study looks at insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R), which has been shown to be involved in several cancers, including more common types of breast cancer, but no study has focused on its role in triple negative breast cancer before. The findings were presented at the Fourth AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development on Tuesday.

"There is a desperate need to better understand this cancer and find potential new targets for treatment," said study author Dr. Agnieszka Witkiewicz, associate professor of pathology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

There are about about 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women each year in the United States, according to the latest information from the American Cancer Society. Between 10 to 20 percent of breast cancers are triple negative, according to breastcancer.org.

Receptors are proteins on the surface of cells which receive signals to grow. Specific types of receptors on cancer cells indicate what is fueling the cancer.

The diagnosis of most breast cancers involves three types of receptors: estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). But in triple negative breast cancer, estrogen and progesterone receptors are not present in the cancer cells, and there is not an excess of the HER2 protein on the cells' surfaces.

That means that patients with triple negative breast cancer will not respond to treatments targeted at those receptors. Chemotherapy can help, but this form of breast cancer often takes an aggressive course, and has a high likelihood of recurrence.

Witkiewicz's study showed that IGF-1R was overexpressed, or present in excessive amounts, in 25 percent of cases, meaning this protein could be a potential therapeutic target. Participants included 73 white and 24 African American patients.

Overexpression was associated with longer survival in patients under 55 years old. This high expression was somewhat associated with low tumor size; low expression carried a greater risk of lymph node metastasis.

There are already several clinical trials involving drugs called IGF-1R inhibitors that could be relevant for triple negative patients, based on the findings of this study, Witkiewicz said. After more patients are analyzed, researchers could look at clinical trial data to see if the response to the drugs is associated with IGF-1R overexpression. In other words, this particular protein may be predict how well a patient responds to drugs in clinical trials.

In most studies of breast cancer, patients with triple negative are underrepresented, she said.

Body size matters with colon cancer (CNN.com)

registration@aacr.org (Leslie Wade) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:00:00 GMT

CNN.com

Carrying excess weight in the waist and hips may increase an older woman's risk of dying from colon cancer, according to a new study in a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Healthy seniors who maintained a normal weight before getting diagnosed were more likely to survive, the study found.

For an average of 10 years, researchers followed about 1,100 postmenopausal women suffering from colon cancer and found heavier women were more likely to die from the disease than thinner women in the same age group. They suspected more than added weight was to blame. Scientists looked at data for weight, body mass index, or BMI, waist size and waist-to-hip ratio and found that carrying extra pounds at the waist and hips appeared to be more of a factor in colon cancer deaths than overall weight or BMI.

"Women whose waists were 37 inches or larger had a 34 percent increased risk of dying from colon cancer than women with smaller waists of 32 inches or less," said lead study author Anna Prizment, cancer epidemiologist with the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

The study also found that underweight women were more likely to die from colon cancer than women who maintained a normal weight before being diagnosed. Prizment is quick to point out, however, that the number of very thin women in the study was small and much of the data from this group was unavailable.

Still, there's much to be gained from the research according to Dr. Peter Campbell, Director of the Tumor Respository at the American Cancer Society who was not involved in the study. It looked at women and weight issues before cancer diagnosis, not after, he noted. Many studies have linked obesity with an increase risk of developing colon cancer but not dying from the disease, he added.

"This study adds important new information to our understanding of the role of excess body size and health and underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy body size through out life," explains Campbell.

According to the American Cancer Society , colon cancer is the third most common cancer found in men and women in the US. Death rates have declined over the past 15 years mostly due to better screening and treatments. People 50 and older should get regular screenings such as a colonoscopy. And maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help people of all ages.

Metformin shows promise for helping smokers avoid deadly disease (MSNBC.com)

registration@aacr.org (Reuters ) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:00:00 GMT

MSNBC.com

CHICAGO — The common diabetes drug metformin may hold promise as a way to keep smokers from developing lung cancer, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

They said metformin prevented lung tumor growth in mice exposed to a cancer-causing agent found in tobacco smoke, and because it is already widely used in people, it may be worth further study.

Metformin has been shown to switch on an enzyme that blocks mTOR — a protein that helps tobacco-induced lung tumors grow.

A team led by Dr. Philip Dennis of the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, studied metformin in mice exposed to a potent, cancer-causing agent in tobacco called nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone or NNK.

They treated the mice with metformin either orally or with an injection. Mice that got the drug orally had 40 to 50 percent fewer tumors, while those injected with the drug had 72 percent fewer tumors.

Tests in smokers may be next

The findings were so strong the team now wants to test it in smokers to see if it can keep then from developing tumors.

"Although smoking cessation is the most important step for current smokers, over half of lung cancer cases are diagnosed in former smokers, raising the importance of identifying those at highest risk and identifying effective preventive treatments," Dennis, whose findings were published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, said in a statement.

Other studies have shown that metformin can cut diabetics' risk of pancreatic and breast cancers, and the latest finding now suggests it may defend the body against smoking-induced lung tumors.

"This important laboratory study, together with prior laboratory and epidemiology research, suggests that metformin may be useful in cancer prevention and treatment," said Dr. Michael Pollak of McGill University in Montreal, who wrote a review on metformin research in the same journal.

The World Health Organization says tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death globally, killing more than 5 million people each year from heart disease, cancer and lung disease.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 20 percent of U.S. adults smoke. Tobacco kills one-third to one-half of those who smoke.

Doctors Are Slow To Prescribe Pill To Prevent Prostate Cancer (National Public Radio)

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Souce Date: August 11, 2010
Source Author: Richard Knox
NPR

A generic drug called finasteride reduces the risk of prostate cancer by 25 percent, according to a 2003 study of 18,000 men.

Finasteride, the active ingredient in brand-name drugs Proscar, for enlarged prostates, and Propecia, for baldness, has been shown to lower the risk of prostate cancer. But doctors haven't jumped to prescribe it.

But doctors apparently don't believe it, misunderstand the findings, or just don’t know about it.

Almost two-thirds of urologists and 80 percent of primary care doctors in the Veterans Health Administration system, say they never prescribe finasteride to prevent prostate cancer. The survey, involving 1,525 doctors, appears in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

When researchers asked them why, half said they didn’t know the drug could prevent prostate cancer. And more than half said they were worried that men taking finasteride had a higher risk of developing more aggressive tumors.

That second concern arises from the first results of that 2003 study, called the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. It seemed to show that finasteride, which blocks the cancer-stimulating effects of testosterone, lowered the overall rate of prostate cancer by 25 percent but increased the risk of more dangerous tumors by 27 percent.

But in 2008, the researchers refuted from that finding, after looking more closely at the data along with biopsies of the tumors that occurred during the study. The new analysis showed finasteride didn’t really raise the risk of high-grade tumors, it just makes tests for tumor grade more sensitive.

Apparently, many doctors haven’t caught up with the newer study, says Dr. Ian Thompson of the University of Texas Health Science Center, who conducted the 2003 study and the 2008 reanalysis.

"People tend to read editorials more than they read actual journal articles," Thompson said. The editorial accompanying the 2003 study highlighted the apparent paradox that was later proven false.

The number of finasteride prescriptions has grown over the past few years, presumably because the drug shrinks enlarged prostates and relieves urinary symptoms of benign disease. The generic form of the medicine, originally sold as Propecia to combat baldness and Proscar to treat enlarged prostates, can now be had for about $70 a month.

But Thompson thinks more doctors ought to prescribe the drug to prevent prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death among men after lung cancer.

A fundamental difficulty is that there's no easy way to measure the effect of a cancer-prevention drug. When doctors prescribe statins, Thompson notes, they and their patients can see the resulting drop in cholesterol — an accepted marker for lower heart attack risk.

"With a cancer chemoprevention agent, you cannot measure success except with the absence of cancer, which you weren't expecting to get anyway," Thompson says.

Dr. Linda Kinsinger of the Veterans Health Administration, who led the new survey, agrees, "The concept of chemoprevention is a difficult one for physicians and patients."

Study: Fish-oil supplements may cut breast-cancer risk (Seattle Times)

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: July 11, 2010
Source Author: Cassandra Brooks
Seattle Times

Fish-oil supplements may lower your risk of breast cancer, according to a newly published study, but don't run out and stock up on pills quite yet.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center surveyed more than 35,000 postmenopausal women in Western Washington and found that those who took omega-3 fish-oil supplements had a 32 percent lower incidence of breast cancer, but senior author Emily White doesn't recommend that women begin taking the highly touted capsules.

"The evidence is intriguing, but it's not definitive," said White, a University of Washington epidemiologist.

The survey-based study targeted people already taking supplements, which may introduce a bias.

"Supplement users may have healthier lifestyles," she said. "Or they may have other underlying health conditions."

To confirm the cancer-fighting benefits of fatty-acid supplements, researchers would need a rigorous and costly randomized clinical trial comparing fish-oil pills and placebos.

This would also reveal any potential side effects of taking omega-3 supplements, which contain five to 10 times more fatty acids than are naturally found in a serving of fish.

"When it comes to omega-3 fatty acids, we know that some intake is better than none for cardiovascular health," said cardiovascular-health specialist David Siscovick, an epidemiologist at the UW. "But it may not be that more is better. One to two servings of fish a week may be enough."

The American Heart Association recommends at least two servings of fish per week to enhance cardiovascular health but doesn't offer specific recommendations about supplements.

"Taking a supplement is not the same as eating a fish rich in fatty acid," said Siscovick, who dines on fish to get his omegas. "The fish might contain things other than omega-3s that contribute to heart health." Instead of supplements, he advocates making healthful diet choices.

Does that mean succumbing to the increasing array of omega-fortified food products on our grocery-store shelves?

Not necessarily, the researchers said. Just as with fish-oil pills, there's no conclusive evidence to support that fortified foods are more than a marketing campaign aimed at health-conscious buyers.

Flax seed and other vegetarian omega-rich sources may also confuse consumers. These foods contain a fatty acid referred to as ALA, which is structurally different from the long-chain fatty acids found in marine fishes, referred to as EPA and DHA.

These latter two omegas are key structural molecules in our heart and brain, according to Michael Brett, an aquatic biologist at the UW.

Getting the same health benefit from consuming vegetable sources such as flax seed would be almost impossible because our bodies can't utilize ALA efficiently, said Brett, who has his family on a daily regimen of fish-oil supplements.

Consumers might soon know if omega-3 fish-oil supplements offer the benefits their producers claim. Harvard University has initiated a federally funded randomized trial looking at their health benefits.

"The scientific evidence for fish oil is to the point where we should definitively test it," White said. But until she sees the results, she'll stick to getting her fatty acids from fish.

The Fred Hutchinson study was published in the July issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Fish oil linked to lower breast cancer risk (CNN Online)

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: July 8, 2010
Source Author: Amanda Gardner, Health.com
CNN Online

Millions of Americans already take fish oil to keep their hearts healthy and to treat ailments ranging from arthritis to depression. Now, a new study suggests that the supplements may also help women lower their risk of breast cancer.

Postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 76 who took fish oil were 32 percent less likely to develop certain types of breast cancer than women who didn't, the study found.

The researchers looked at 14 other popular supplements (including gingko biloba, black cohosh, soy, and St. John's wort), but only fish oil -- which contains concentrated amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, tuna, and other fish -- had any connection to breast cancer risk.

Despite their findings, the researchers say it's too soon to recommend that women start taking fish oil to stave off breast cancer.

"People should try to achieve nutrients through a healthy diet, so eating fish is a better recommendation than fish oil," says the lead author of the study, Dr. Emily White, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, Washington. "We think that fish oil is promising in terms of disease prevention, but it's not proven."

White and her colleagues measured fish oil consumption using surveys, and they simply compared the rates of breast cancer diagnosis among women who took the supplements and women who did not. Though their analysis took a number of other factors into account (such as age, family history of breast cancer, and whether the women were on hormone therapy), unknown factors could have affected the results.

"We tried to equalize the two groups in terms of other health behaviors, but only a randomized trial would offer more definitive information," White says, referring to a study in which women would be randomly assigned to receive fish oil or a placebo.

In the past, a number of studies similar to White's that have found an apparent link between supplements and reduced cancer risk haven't been confirmed by more rigorous studies, says Dr. Jay Brooks, M.D., an oncologist at Ochsner Health System, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"This is an interesting study, but we've done a lot of [these] studies that have turned out not to be helpful in terms of prostate cancer prevention," Brooks says.

Still, it's plausible that fish oil could lower breast cancer risk. The unsaturated fatty acids in the oil are believed to tamp down inflammation, which plays a role in some cancers as well as heart disease. Fish oil supplements, which have been shown to lower blood pressure and triglycerides (a type of blood fat), are most commonly taken to improve heart health.

The new findings "reinforce something that most of us feel in our hearts but are struggling to prove," says Dr. David Pearlstone, M.D., chief of the division of breast surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center, in New Jersey. "Fish oil probably is really good for you in a lot of ways, but the data has been [slow] in coming."

The study, which appears in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, included about 35,000 women without breast cancer living in Washington state. Between 2000 and 2002, the women filled out questionnaires about their past and present supplement use, medical history, and lifestyle.

Roughly 8 percent of the women had taken fish oil at some point. Of those women, 83 percent said they took fish oil supplements at least four times a week, and 60 percent said they took them daily. The researchers had no way of verifying that, however, or of knowing the doses each woman was taking.

Over the next six years, 880 of the study participants (or about 2.5 percent) got breast cancer. The women who were taking fish oil when the study began had a reduced risk of invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer. Fish oil did not seem to affect the risk of lobular cancer.

Americans spent $739 million on fish oil supplements in 2008, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. Although more research is needed before doctors begin recommending fish oil to women, using already-popular supplements to reduce breast cancer risk holds a lot of appeal.

"It would be an easy intervention," says Pearlstone.

Advancing the Use of Biomarkers in Cancer Drug Development (Pharma Strategy Blog)

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: July 1, 2010
Source Author: Sally Church, Ph.D.
Pharma Strategy Blog

This was the title of a fascinating article I saw on Twitter a few minutes ago, courtesy of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). They are providing access to the paper free of charge to the public using this link. If you are on Twitter and interested in cancer related research, do follow them and keep track of the hot news items as they share quite a few important articles on translational research. Of all the medical associations I've come across in social media, they are also very helpful and responsive to enquiries.

So, what of the Consensus Report? Well, it's a collaborative effort from the AACR, FDA and NCI to create a position statement of the state of play so far:

"There is a growing imperative to modernize the drug development process by incorporating new techniques that can predict the safety and effectiveness of new drugs faster, with more certainty, and at lower cost."

As always, though, things are never as easy or simple as one might like.

Developing novel and useful biomarkers is an expensive and time consuming process driven largely by translational research and bioinformatics, often with a lot of diverse stakeholders involved in the process.

The Cancer Biomarkers Collaboration covered recommendations in eight key areas:

1. Biospecimens

2. Analytical performance

3. Standardisation and harmonisation

4. Bioinformatics

5. Collaboration and data sharing

6. Regulatory issues

7. Stakeholder education and communication

8. Science policy

Ultimately, the goal of the collaboration is to:

"The AACR-FDA-NCI Cancer Biomarkers Collaborative is a stakeholder-driven effort to inform and accelerate the FDA Critical Path Initiative and the work of the broader cancer community."

The paper is well worth reading for those interested in the area, so check it out.

Meanwhile, on a practical note, a new potential biomarker has emerged in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) - see link to the Journal of Thoracic Oncology below (subscription required). The problem here is that while the majority of people with SCLC initially respond well to chemotherapy, resistance develops leading to relapse. The big question is why?

To answer this question, the researchers hypothesised that:

"... tumor microRNAs (miRNAs) could serve as predictive biomarkers for chemoresistance and prognostic biomarkers for survival of patients with SCLC treated with systemic chemotherapy."

The initial microRNA research on tumour samples (n=34) showed that:

"Higher tumor miR-92a-2* levels are associated with chemoresistance and with decreased survival in patients with SCLC. Tumor miR-92a-2* may have application in screening patients with SCLC at risk for de novo chemoresistance in an effort to design more tailored clinical trials for this subpopulation."

In other words, microRNA (miR-92a-2*) could potentially be used as both a predictive and prognostic marker in SCLC. These results will need to be validated in larger scale trials, but they offer a promising glimpse of what might be possible for future therapeutic interventions.

Coffee and Cancer Risk: Java Junkies Less Likely to Get Tumors, Study Says (CBS News)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: June 23, 2010
Source Author: David W. Freeman
CBS News

Evidence is brewing that coffee can prevent cancer.

The latest study shows that java junkies are significantly less likely to develop head and neck cancer - and the more coffee consumed, the lower the risk.

Those who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were a whopping 39 percent less likely to develop tumors, according to the American Association for Cancer Research, which publishes Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, the journal that published the study.

The study, which looked at pooled data from nine previous studies, didn't answer the question of whether decaf had the same anticancer effect as caffeinated coffee. But it found no evidence that drinking tea affects the risk of head and neck cancer.

The study was associative, which means although researchers found a strong link between coffee drinking and reduced cancer risk, they can't say for sure that it's the coffee doing the trick.

"Since coffee is so widely used and there is a relatively high incidence and low survival rate of these forms of cancers, our results have important public health implications that need to be further addressed," said Mia Hashibe, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of family and preventive medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and the lead author of the study.

This isn't the first study to suggest that coffee has an anticancer effect.

Last December, Harvard University researchers presented data showing that coffee consumption lowers the risk of prostate cancer. Men who drank the most coffee were 60 percent less likely to get an aggressive form of the disease than men who didn't drink coffee.

And English researchers recently published a study that found that brain tumors were less common in people who drank at least five cups of coffee or tea a day.

Does light or moderate coffee consumption lower the risk of head and neck cancer? "We didn't see a clear association for the moderate drinkers," Hashibe told Aol Health. "But coffee is a really complex set of chemicals. I wouldn't recommend that everybody drink that much coffee."

But if you do, at least you have something nice to think about as you struggle to fall asleep.

Breast density linked to cancer risk (Los Angeles Times)

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: June 21, 2010
Source Author: Karen Ravn
Los Angeles Times

Density. It's a less obvious feature of the female breast than, say, size. But at least when it comes to good health, it's probably more important.

In fact, it just might be the greatest cancer risk you've never heard of.

Study after study has found that as breast density goes up, so does the risk of breast cancer. "There are very few things we know about that are so reproducibly found," says Dr. Norman Boyd, senior scientist at the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto.

And the relationship can be very strong: Evidence shows that for women with extremely dense breasts, the cancer risk can be four to six times higher than for women whose breasts are not dense. By comparison, a family history of breast cancer — long considered an important risk factor — usually only doubles the risk.

The link between breast density and breast cancer was first discovered in the 1970s. "It took a long time for people to accept it," says Malcolm Pike, a professor of preventive medicine at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at USC and an attending epidemiologist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "But nobody's arguing about it now."

Yet as widely accepted as the link is in the scientific community — and despite the fact that many researchers are convinced it could help identify high-risk women and maybe lead to treatments to reduce their risk — to date it has played a small part in the battle against breast cancer.

"Most women don't even know their own breast density," says William Barlow, a senior biostatistician at Cancer Research and Biostatistics in Seattle.

If you've ever had a mammogram, your breast density has probably been measured and recorded — but not reported to you. After all, the measurement has traditionally been considered of interest only to radiologists. It was instituted not as a harbinger of breast cancer risk but rather as an indication of how difficult a mammogram is to read. (The denser the breast, the harder the read.)

Even now, when the link to cancer risk is well established, many health professionals fear that giving women information about their breast density will serve little purpose other than to confuse or worry them, since it's largely determined by factors outside of their control (such as heredity, age and ethnicity).

But Connecticut passed a law last year requiring that patients' mammography reports must include breast-density information. And many doctors and researchers are in favor of more disclosure.

"I think patients should be told as much information as possible — recognizing they may not be able to use all of it. It certainly should be available if women ask for it," Barlow says. "After all, you can't change most of the risk factors for breast cancer."

Besides, Barlow and others argue that there are ways to use breast density information. If you know you have dense breasts, you may choose to have more clinical exams or mammograms than you would otherwise. Or you may choose to have an MRI, which doesn't become harder to read in cases of dense breasts the way mammograms do.

Also, density can change over time, so you may want to track your density from mammogram to mammogram. Two studies reported in April at the American Assn. for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting 2010 found that if a woman's breast density changes, so does her risk of breast cancer — if density goes up, so does risk, and vice versa.

One of the studies used data from the 2002 Women's Health Initiative trial that found postmenopausal women using hormone replacement therapy (estrogen and progestin) had a greater risk of breast cancer than women taking a placebo. In the new study, researchers found that in mammograms done a year apart, breast density went up for 85% of the women in the replacement group, and this increase in density could explain the increased cancer risk in that group.

These findings suggest that knowledge about breast density could be important to a woman deciding whether to use hormone replacement therapy for relief of hot flashes or other menopausal symptoms, for example, says Celia Byrne, assistant professor of oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University and lead researcher on the study. "If she has dense breasts, she might consider not taking hormones."

Another way to use the breast density-breast cancer link might be to incorporate it in the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, a method developed by the National Cancer Institute and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project that is widely used by health professionals to assess a patient's breast cancer risk. So far, this has not been done.

But researchers have developed other assessment tools that do take breast density into account — and in their studies so far, these tools give better (if only modestly better) results than the standard one. The National Cancer Institute says that additional studies done by independent researchers are necessary before changing the standard tool.

And there's another hang-up. Many researchers acknowledge that implementing such models would not be easy because of a fundamental problem with breast density: measuring it.

The measure in most common use — the one made with most mammograms — is rather imprecise and subjective. It simply rates densities according to four categories from the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (or BI-RADS), which is widely used by radiologists, from 1, for predominately fat, to 4, for extremely dense.

Researchers often aim for greater precision by estimating the percentage of dense breast tissue or using computer-based systems to calculate it. MRIs can provide very precise measures too but are probably too expensive for widespread use.

New techniques are on the horizon. Another study reported at the April meeting of the American Assn. for Cancer Research found that a technology commonly used to measure bone density and total body composition — dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DXA — can provide breast-density measurements that correlate well with mammographic measurements but with lower radiation exposure. Other researchers are working on ways to make totally radiation-free measurements with ultrasound.

To date, though, no method exists that is precise and objective enough to provide consistent results while at the same time being simple and inexpensive enough for wide use.

Indeed, Boyd says, the fact that density is so closely associated with risk is even more remarkable considering the weaknesses in density measurement. "Probably," he says, "the relationship is much stronger than we know."

Boyd suggests that down the road, the breast density-cancer link may be useful not only in identifying those at high risk but also in helping to lower that risk. Preliminary evidence supports that belief. More than a decade ago, for example, Pike and a number of colleagues found that a particular type of hormonal contraceptive could lead to substantial reductions in breast density. More recently, another study found that the cancer drug tamoxifen can reduce breast density.

"Theoretically," Boyd says, "in the same way that people now take drugs to lower their cholesterol and thus their risk of heart attack or stroke, you could someday take a drug to lower your breast density — and thus your risk of breast cancer."

Lung Cancer in Women on the Rise (Wall Street Journal)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: June 8, 2010
Source Author: Shirley S. Wang
Wall Street Journal

As doctors have substantially brought down the rate of lung cancer in men over the past three decades, they face a stubborn riddle: Why does it continue to grow among women?

A new study offers an intriguing possibility that the answer may involve estrogen.

Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of both women and men. And overall, it still kills more men than women: Some 71,000 deaths are projected in women and 86,000 in men in 2010. That's a much higher casualty rate than the No. 2 killer, breast cancer, with about 40,000 deaths expected, according to the American Cancer Society.

Experts don't agree on whether women are naturally at greater risk for lung cancer or more vulnerable to the effects of tobacco smoke than men. Still, there are striking gender differences in cancer rates. For instance, women who have never smoked are far more likely than men who have never smoked to get lung cancer, according to data from the National Cancer Institute.

The diagnostic trajectory among women is concerning. Researchers are trying to understand why it is rising and what can be done to change it.

"Unless we start seeing a turnaround for women," says Brenda Edwards, associate director of the surveillance research program at the National Cancer Institute, "there will be as many women diagnosed with lung cancer in the next few years as men."

The rate of new cases of lung cancer has dropped for men to 72 in 100,000 males in 2007 from 89.5 in 100,000 in 1975. In women, however, the number of cases has more than doubled to 53 in 100,000 females in 2007 from 24.5 per 100,000 in 1975, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The hormone estrogen is a possible culprit. Certain forms of estrogen are known to help create genetic mutations in cells and contribute to tumor formation in the breast. Recently, researchers found out that lung cells in both women and men also make estrogen, raising the possibility that the hormone contributes to lung-cancer development.

Margie Clapper and her colleagues at Fox Chase Cancer Center, a major research center in Philadelphia, set out to examine what would happen to the lung cells of female animals that were exposed to tobacco smoke. They wanted to identify early genetic changes in the cells—before tumors formed—that could be targeted in the future.

The goal is that one day these early genetic changes could be disrupted, preventing lung cancer from developing in the first place, says Dr. Clapper, co-leader of the cancer prevention and control program.

After placing female mice in smoke-filled chambers six hours a day, five days a week for three, eight or 20 weeks, they looked to see how material produced by genes differed in the lung tissue of animals that were exposed to smoke and those that weren't.

Researchers found differences in 10 genes around an enzyme called cytochrome P450 1b1, which is known to break down estrogen and tobacco smoke. The 1b1 enzyme activates cancer-causing agents in tobacco and converts estrogen to a more active form that appears to cause DNA mutations. Estrogen may, in essence, be adding fuel to the fire that occurs when lung cells are exposed to tobacco smoke.

The findings, published last week in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, "reinforce the role that estrogen is clearly a player and we need to look at it more closely," Dr. Clapper says.

Since only female mice were used in the study, it isn't clear how male mice—whose lung cells also produce estrogen—would react differently.

Dr. Clapper says that this estrogen pathway could be particularly harmful for women because they have higher levels of estrogen in their blood before menopause, and some may take drugs that boost estrogen, including hormone-replacement therapies or birth control pills.

The lab is now looking at what happens when hormone levels are boosted in mice that already have lung tumors, and also what hormones might do to damage cells even in a non-smoke environment.

The study "points to directions that we could take to either prevent or treat lung cancer," says Jill Siegfried, a pharmacology and chemical biology professor at the University of Pittsburgh who wrote a commentary, which accompanied Dr. Clapper's paper, on why the research is important. The research "also provides some public health information for women to understand what tobacco smoke is doing to their lungs and how it could interact with their natural hormones."

Some cancer researchers say that the rise in lung cancer cases in women is simply due to differences in men's and women's smoking patterns.

Women as a group started smoking later than men and are slower to quit, and smoking is known to be the biggest contributor to lung cancer, says Michael Thun, a researcher and former head of the surveillance and epidemiology group at the American Cancer Society. The rise in cases seen now for women is just a result of the rise in women's smoking from decades ago, he says.

Others say that while smoking patterns explain part of the trend, recent evidence suggests that women are more susceptible to lung cancer than men.

One in five women diagnosed with lung cancer has never smoked compared with one in 12 men, says Tracey Hyams, director of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology at the Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Three times as many female never-smokers are diagnosed with lung cancer compared with male never-smokers, according to a report recently published by Dr. Hyams's group.

Tanning Beds Substantially Raise Skin Cancer Risks (NPR)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: May 27, 2010
Source Author: Patti Neighmond
NPR

Indoor tanning may be more dangerous than previously thought.

New research finds people who frequent tanning salons significantly increase their risk of getting melanoma, one of the most aggressive and deadliest cancers.

Cancer epidemiologist and lead researcher DeAnn Lazovich of the University of Minnesota says melanoma risk was 74 percent higher for the people who tanned indoors compared with those who didn't.

Because melanoma is related to exposure to ultraviolet light, researchers from the University of Minnesota wanted to know exactly how much of the risk indoor tanning contributed.

Those who tanned indoors most frequently faced the biggest risk. In questionnaires and telephone interviews of more than 2,200 people (about evenly divided between cancer patients and those without the disease), Lazovich asked about their tanning habits. Had they ever used indoor tanning? Is so, at what age did they start and how often did they go?

She found the risk increased for people who reported more than 10 years of use, more than 100 tanning lifetime sessions or spent more than 50 hours in tanning beds. The findings appear in the latest issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Dr. Allan Halpern, chief of dermatology, says these findings are an important addition to evidence about tanning beds and melanoma risk. Tanning is unsafe no matter how people do it, he says. "What tanning beds are doing is concentrating the same kind of rays that we get from the sun; so, you're getting a much bigger dose" than you would from the same amount of time outdoors, he says.

Another dispute has been over the increasing use of indoor tanning by younger people, particularly teenage girls. The federal government estimates that 1 in 5 girls has been to a tanning booth at some point in her life.

Several studies have raised questions about the link between the age which people start tanning and melanoma risk. Lazovich says that, although certain research found links between indoor tanning that started before the age of 36 and melanoma, her study didn't find such a link. The accumulation of exposure was the culprit.

Nevertheless the World Health Organization has classified tanning beds as carcinogenic and recommends banning them for kids under 18.

Melanoma appears as a dark brown or black patch with irregular edges. Sometimes, its multi colored with shades of red, blue, or white. Every year, more than 68,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma. About 10 percent will die.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration regulates the ultraviolet light dose from indoor tanning and sets guidelines for how long people should stay in tanning beds. The agency is considering stricter regulation, including stronger warnings on the beds themselves, requiring teenagers to get approval from their parents before allowed entry to a salon, along with a 'ban' for kids under 18.

Officials with the indoor-tanning industry question the findings, saying the results could be biased because researchers looked only at people in Minnesota, who are largely caucasian, and therefore at greater risk of melanoma.

Link between tanning beds, melanoma grows stronger (USA Today)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: May 31, 2010
Source Author: Liz Szabo
USA Today

Strong evidence now links tanning beds to melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer that afflicts nearly 69,000 Americans a year.

People who have ever used tanning machines were 74% more likely to develop melanoma than others, according to a study of 2,268 patients reported today in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Those who tanned the most — for 10 years or more — had more than twice the risk of melanoma compared with people who never used tanning beds, says co-author Martin Weinstock of Brown University School of Medicine. Those risks didn't change when researchers accounted for age, sex, income, family history, education, skin and eye color, freckles, moles, sunscreen use or time in the sun.

About 2.5% of men and 1.7% of women develop melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society.

The study provides some of the strongest evidence yet to link tanning beds to melanoma, which kills nearly 7,000 Americans a year, says Electra Paskett of Ohio State University.

The study includes information on the newest tanning technologies, finding that machines emitting both types of ultraviolet light — UVA and UVB — increased melanoma risk, says Allan Halpern of New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Halpern and many other doctors say they're especially concerned about the risks of tanning salons for teenagers, which are popular this time of year as kids prepare for proms, graduations and beach trips. About 35% of 17-year-old girls use tanning machines, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The new report comes at a time of increased scrutiny of indoor tanning:

•The FDA is considering recommendations from an advisory panel that suggested that teens be barred from tanning salons, or at least get parental consent before tanning.

•Congress included a 10% tax on indoor tanning in the health reform bill to help pay for expanding medical coverage and to make it harder for teens to afford indoor tanning.

•The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, in July listed ultraviolet radiation-emitting beds as "carcinogenic to humans," its highest category of cancer risk.

In a statement, the Indoor Tanning Association's John Overstreet says scientists disagree about the link between melanoma and tanning beds. "When reputable researchers are coming to vastly different conclusions, it's clear that a lot more research is needed," he says. "The science on both sides of the question needs to be weighed before consideration is given to any sweeping policy changes."

Study Suggests Indoor Tanning Boosts Chances of Melanoma (Wall Street Journal)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: May 27, 2010
Source Author: Katherine Hobson
Wall Street Journal

Last year the International Agency for Research on Cancer added indoor tanning to its list of carcinogens, but the evidence it relied on showed only a weak link between using sunbeds and the risk of melanoma, a rare but deadly form of skin cancer.

Research out today, though, suggests a much stronger tie — specifically, that people who tanned indoors had a 74% higher chance of developing melanoma than those who hadn’t. (Because melanoma is rare, that’s still a pretty low risk.)

The study, which appears in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, took a group of 1,167 people diagnosed with melanoma and compared their tanning habits to a similar, randomly selected group of 1,101 people. That type of study has the potential for biases, but the researchers said they attempted to correct for that as much as possible.

Researchers concluded that contrary to the IARC’s findings, the age at which someone starts tanning indoors isn’t the important factor in melanoma risk; instead, they say cumulative exposure is the key. Previous research has suggested that the risk of melanoma increases with sunburns and intermittent exposure to the sun, such as the kind you get on vacation or in sunbathing sessions, and these findings agree, study author DeAnn Lazovich, a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, tells the Health Blog. When it comes to melanoma risk, “it doesn’t matter if you’re exposed from artificial or solar sources” of UV rays, she says.

Interestingly, this and other studies haven’t found links between melanoma and total sun exposure or the kind of chronic exposure you get from working or regularly doing a sport outdoors. The tanning industry cited that, among other issues — including the fact that fair-skinned Minnesotans are more likely to develop melanoma so don’t accurately represent the U.S. population — in its criticisms of the research.

Hazards: Indoor Tanning Is Linked to Skin Cancer (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: May 31, 2010
Source Author: Roni Caryn Rabin
New York Times

Indoor tanning almost doubles the risk of dangerous melanoma skin cancer, and the more hours spent tanning, the greater the risk, according to a new study.

Those who used indoor tanning devices were 1.74 times as likely to develop melanoma as those who did not. Frequent users — who had more than 100 sessions or 50 hours of indoor tanning over 10 years — were at 2.5 times the risk of non-users, the study found.

That correlation, called a dose response, “is very important for helping to support that this is a causal influence,” said DeAnn Lazovich, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist who is lead author of the study, published online Wednesday in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Last year, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified tanning beds as carcinogenic to humans, and the United States Food and Drug Administration is considering revising requirements for tanning beds and strengthening warning labels about the risks.

The new study compared 1,167 Minnesota residents who had an invasive melanoma diagnosis from 2004 to 2007 with 1,101 healthy individuals. Some 62.9 percent of melanoma patients had tanned indoors, compared with 51.1 percent of the comparison group.

Studies clash on vitamin benefits (CNN.com)

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 03 May 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: April 19, 2010
Source Author: Elizabeth Landau
CNN

To take the multivitamin or to not take the multivitamin: That is the question researchers are still trying to answer.

New research on vitamins has offered conclusions that weren't crystal clear. But researchers generally recommend getting vitamins from foods, not supplements, to boost your health.

Vitamin supplements and cancer

A study done on women in Puerto Rico, presented Sunday at the American Association for Cancer Research, found that multivitamin and calcium supplements have a protective effect against breast cancer. But a large Swedish study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that taking multivitamin supplements may increase the risk of breast cancer.

The Puerto Rican study, which was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, looked at the capacity of DNA to repair itself in the face of damage. A low DNA repair capacity has previously been linked to cancer risk, said Jaime Matta at the Ponce School of Medicine. Researchers surveyed 268 breast cancer patients and 457 healthy controls and took samples from them to analyze their DNA repair capacity.

They found that participants who took multivitamin supplements reduced the odds of having breast cancer by 30 percent, and those who took calcium had a 40 percent decreased risk. Statistical analysis suggested that the calcium effect could be explained by the DNA repair capacity, but the vitamin effect was independent. Taking supplements of individual vitamins such as A, C and E had no effect, Matta said.

The Swedish study, which looked at more than 35,000 Swedish women, found that those who reported taking multivitamins were 19 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than those who said they didn't take them.

Both studies should be looked at in the broader context of research on the subject, which has consistently found no association between multivitamins and cancer, said Joanne Dorgan, epidemiologist at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A 2009 study of more than 160,000 women in the U.S. Women's Health Initiative found no link between multivitamin use and the likelihood of developing cancer or cardiovascular disease, or of dying. Other large-scale studies similarly have not found connections between breast cancer and multivitamin use.

The Swedish study, which also has a large sample, should be followed up, Dorgan said.

Although the Puerto Rican study is small, it generates a useful hypothesis about DNA repair capacity that should be looked into also, said Dr. Banu Arun, professor of medicine at University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. It is important to explore why some people may benefit from vitamin intake more than others, and DNA repair capacity is a possible factor in that, she said.

Arun's bottom line: "Don't take all of these multivitamins with the intention that it will decrease breast cancer risk. Getting the vitamins and minerals from natural sources -- food source -- is the best." Those with deficiencies because of genetics or chronic illnesses should compensate with supplements, she said.

Vitamins in diet and the heart

Getting nutrients from foods gets more support from a large Japanese study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers looked at more than 23,000 men and 35,000 women, ages 40 to 79. They used questionnaires to assess how much folate, vitamin B-6 and vitamin B-12 participants had in their diets.

They found that greater intake of folate and vitamin B-6 was linked to fewer deaths from heart failure in men. These nutrients were also linked to fewer deaths from stroke, heart disease and overall cardiovascular diseases in women.

When researchers controlled for cardiovascular risk factors and took out the participants who used supplements, the folate and vitamin B-6 continued to show these benefits.

Previous research has found that higher levels of homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood, may be related to blood clots and artery lining damage. B vitamins such as folic acid help break down homocysteine, but this study does not prove a direct cause.

The study represents a substantial source of data to further evaluate or expand upon dietary recommendations, said Linda Van Horn, nutrition researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

The large sample size and the standardized food frequency questionnaire give credence to the study, Van Horn said.

"These particular nutrients -- there's no reason to think they wouldn't be as important in an American population as they are in a Japanese population," she said.

Still, the findings may not be entirely generalizable to the United States, as the Japanese dietary intake is different, and the country's population is less obese as a whole. There should be a similar assessment in the United States to determine if the findings can be applied there, researchers said.

The message is to eat foods that contain B-vitamins, Van Horn said. These include dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, dried beans, peas, lentils and kidney beans, and chickpeas. Many cereals are also fortified with the vitamins.

Study: Bone drug lowers breast cancer risk 38% in high-risk women (USA Today)

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 03 May 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: April 19, 2010
Source Author: Liz Szabo
USA Today

A common osteoporosis drug, raloxifene, reduces breast cancer risk by 38% in women at high risk for the disease, without causing the serious side effects of similar drugs, a new study shows.

That suggests more high-risk women should consider taking raloxifene, also known as Evista, says Victor Vogel, main author of the study presented Monday at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington.

"It's not a cure ... but it's an important protection for women who are at very high risk," says Vogel, who followed nearly 20,000 high-risk, postmenopausal women for almost seven years.

Both raloxifene and another drug, tamoxifen, are approved to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk. Few women take them for prevention, however, because of concerns about side effects.

Tamoxifen reduces breast cancer by 50% but can also cause hot flashes and other symptoms. So about half of breast cancer patients, who often take it to prevent a relapse, stop the drug early, says study co-author Lawrence Wickerham of Allegheny General Hospital.

Tamoxifen also doubles the risk of endometrial cancer, from about one in 1,000 women to about two in 1,000, according to the National Cancer Institute, so many doctors are cautious about prescribing it.

Given these concerns, no more than 5% of high-risk women today "even consider taking" either drug, says Gabriel Hortobagyi of Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, who wasn't involved with the study but will participate in a panel discussion at the conference. "The impact of these drugs is huge," he says. "The only thing that reduces the risk as much is a bilateral mastectomy."

The new study — which shows that raloxifene doesn't substantially increase the risk of endometrial cancer — should put those concerns to rest, says co-author Patricia Ganz, who runs a clinic for high-risk women at the University of California-Los Angeles.

"We have two very effective agents for breast cancer prevention," Ganz says. "If women were not so risk-averse, we might actually be able to reduce the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women."

A typical American woman has about a 12% chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime. That risk rises to about 18% for a woman whose mother or sister has had the disease, and to 30% for a woman with a breast lesion called atypical hyperplasia, Ganz says.

Older Drug Cuts Breast-Cancer Risk More (Wall Street Journal)

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 03 May 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: April 20, 2010
Source Author: Shirley S. Wang
Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON—A long-term study comparing two popular drugs that help to prevent breast cancer suggests the older one is significantly more effective over time.

But both tamoxifen and Eli Lilly & Co.'s newer Evista cut high-risk women's risk of developing breast cancer, according to results presented Monday at a meeting here of the American Association for Cancer Research. Tamoxifen, while more effective, also brought increased risk of side effects.

The federally funded study followed 19,490 women for almost seven years during and after their treatment with tamoxifen, an off-patent drug used to treat cancer, and Evista, which was developed as an osteoporosis drug and is generically known as raloxifene.

The drugs are used to fend off breast cancer in post-menopausal women at high risk of the disease. Only 5% to 20% of the tens of thousands who could benefit from the medicines use them, according to researchers.

In 2006, earlier published results of the study, known as STAR, found that both drugs cut the risk of breast cancer by 50% in high-risk, postmenopausal women. In those results, women taking tamoxifen had increased risk of certain side effects, such as blood clots.

Monday's findings suggest tamoxifen is significantly better than raloxifene at preventing breast cancer several years after treatment, which generally lasts about five years. Over the longer time period, tamoxifen cut the risk of invasive breast cancer by 50%, while raloxifene's effectiveness dropped to 38%. Raloxifene did match tamoxifen in preventing noninvasive breast cancer.

Raloxifene users continued to have significantly fewer side effects, including blood clots and uterine cancer, compared with those who took tamoxifen.

"Tamoxifen is still a little bit better," said D. Lawrence Wickerham, who presented the data and helps leads a federally funded research network on breast and colorectal cancer. But "raloxifene remains an effective way to prevent breast cancer and does it with far less toxicity," said Dr. Wickerham, who serves as a consultant to Eli Lilly.

Unless women have a known risk for blood clots or uterine cancer, they can consider both drugs as breast-cancer prevention options, according to Dr. Wickerham. Raloxifene may be particularly beneficial for those post-menopausal women with fragile bones because it offers them a "two-for-one benefit," he said.

But not all experts agree that raloxifene is just as good an option as tamoxifen.

"Tamoxifen is more protective than raloxifene," said Mary Daly, chairwoman of clinical genetics Fox Chase Cancer Center site in Philadelphia, who ran the study at that site. "Raloxifene is falling behind. The longer we follow these women, the more that divide will grow."

These drugs work by acting like the hormone estrogen in some organs and by blocking the effect of estrogen in others. In the breast, both block estrogen's action, which prevents the progress of breast cancer or pre-malignant changes in the breast.

However, in the lining of the uterus, tamoxifen acts like estrogen. This may be the reason women taking it experience higher rates of endometrial cancer.

Tamoxifen stays in the body much longer than does raloxifene, which might be the reason for the difference in the drugs' effectiveness, said researchers.

Patricia Ganz, another study investigator and director of cancer prevention and control research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, said she would incorporate the new findings into her practice by leaning toward tamoxifen for preventing breast cancer in high-risk women, those with a family history of the disease or who have had a biopsy to look at abnormally growing cells, or those with no uterus.

But if a woman had an elevated risk of blood clots or couldn't tolerate the side effects of tamoxifen, Dr. Ganz said she would suggest raloxifene.

"The updated results of the STAR trial provide important information to help guide patients and health care professionals in weighing the risks and benefits of medications available to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer," said Teeresa Shewman, a spokeswoman for Eli Lilly. "Lilly stands behind the safety profile and efficacy of Evista."

Eric Winer, director of the breast oncology center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who wasn't involved in the study, agrees that there are more women in the U.S. who could benefit from these treatments than currently use them if they understood more about them.

"It doesn't mean that everyone should take it," said Dr. Winer. But, women "deserve to hear more."

Blocking gene boosts radiotherapy (BBC News)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: April 2, 2010
BBC News

A gene which hinders the ability of radiotherapy to kill cancer cells has been detected by UK researchers.

The team found that if they blocked the POLQ gene - which has a role in repairing damaged DNA - radiotherapy was more effective.

It is hoped that the discovery, which came about after a trawl through 200 candidate genes, could lead to new drugs to boost radiotherapy.

The findings are published in the journal Cancer Research.

Many thousands of cancer patients will have some form of radiotherapy as part of their treatment, and it is estimated to contribute to 40% of cases where cancer is eliminated.

The researchers from the University of Oxford said tumours can differ widely in the way they respond to radiotherapy - but the reasons for these differences are largely unknown.

In order to find a potential target for increasing the chances that radiotherapy would work, they looked specifically at genes involved in repairing DNA damage.

After pinpointing the POLQ gene, they found that blocking it in several different types of cancer cell in the laboratory, including laryngeal and pancreatic tumours, rendered the cells more vulnerable to the effects of radiation.

Selective

Previous research had shown that the POLQ gene is not particularly active in normal healthy tissue.

Doing the same experiment in healthy cells, the team found that blocking the gene did not have any effect on the sensitivity of normal tissue to radiation.

The researchers said the fact that the POLQ seemed to more abundant in cancer cells than normal cells made it a good target for boosting the effects of radiotherapy.

Study leader Dr Geoff Higgins, a Cancer Research UK scientist at the Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, said: "We've sieved through a vast pool of promising genetic information and identified a gene that could potentially be targeted by drugs to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy.

"Blocking the activity of this gene resulted in a greater number of tumour cells dying after radiotherapy and provides new avenues for research."

Professor Gillies McKenna, director of the institute, added: "The next stage is to translate this discovery into a treatment that will benefit patients."

Pain Relievers May Reduce Cancer Risk (WebMD)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: March 23, 2010
Source Author: Salynn Boyles
WebMD

For some time, studies have suggested that aspirin and other over-the-counter painkillers may protect against breast and ovarian cancer. Now new research may help explain why.

Postmenopausal women in the study who took aspirin, other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Advil, Aleve, and Motrin, or Tylenol (acetaminophen) on a regular basis had lower estrogen levels than women who did not take the pain relievers.

The declines were modest, but the findings bolster suspicions that the painkillers may reduce the risk of most breast and ovarian cancers by suppressing the hormones that fuel them.

Study researcher Margaret A. Gates, ScD, says the association must be confirmed before analgesics can be recommended for cancer prevention. That's because the risks may outweigh potential benefits.

Regular aspirin and NSAID use are associated with rare, but possibly serious, stomach and intestinal bleeding, and Tylenol has been linked to liver failure.

Gates is a research fellow in epidemiology at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

"A randomized trial that directly measures the impact of analgesic use on hormone levels in a similar population of postmenopausal women would be helpful," she tells WebMD.

Earlier Studies Show Lower Cancer Risk

Over the last decade, no fewer than a dozen studies have suggested an association between frequent aspirin or NSAID use and a reduced risk for breast and ovarian cancer, but almost all the research has been observational.

In one of the most widely reported studies, Columbia University researchers questioned close to 3,000 women with and without breast cancer about their aspirin use.

They found a 20% lower breast cancer risk among women who said they were regular aspirin users, compared to infrequent aspirin users.

Just last year, Brigham and Women's researchers reported that breast cancer survivors who took aspirin regularly had a lower risk of cancer recurrence or death from their disease than women who did not take aspirin; the breast cancer survivors also had a lower risk of having their cancer spread beyond the breast.

The researchers followed 4,000 female nurses enrolled in the ongoing Nurses Health Study (NHS) who had been treated for breast cancer at least a year earlier.

Painkillers and Estrogen Levels

The newly published study included 740 postmenopausal NHS participants.

Researchers collected information on their use of analgesics between 1988 and 1990, and they also took blood samples from the women during this time.

Women who reported using the over-the-counter painkillers at least 15 days a month had estrogen levels that were 13% to 15% lower than women who reported no analgesic use, Gates says.

The finding suggests, but does not prove, a direct link between regular analgesic use and lower estrogen levels, American Cancer Society Vice President of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research Michael J. Thun, MD, says in a news release.

Thun serves on the editorial board of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, which published the study.

Like Gates, he called for new studies -- with participants randomly assigned to the use of painkillers -- to determine if analgesic use really does lower estrogen levels.

"Until then, we have a possible mechanism for a potentially important, but as yet unproven chemopreventive benefit," he notes.

Soda-cancer link? (CNN video)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: February 8, 2010
CNN

Sodas may be linked to higher risk of pancreatic cancer, but about that risk...(L.A. Times Health Blog)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: February 8, 2010
Source Author: Tami Dennis
L.A. Times Health Blog

Sugar-sweetened sodas -- with their high-glycemic load eliciting natural suspicion -- have been linked with varying degrees of success to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. So scientists have been trying to clarify the precise nature and size of that risk.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health noted that most of the studies along these lines have been in people of European descent. So they decided to cull through data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, assessing whether sugar-sweetened soft drinks and juices had a noticeable effect in a different population.

Yes on soft drinks, they concluded; no on juices. In fact, they said, consumption of two or more soft drinks a week was linked to an 87% increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Here's the abstract, published online today in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, and the press release from the American Assn. for Cancer Research, which publishes the journal.

And here's a more thorough explanation -- from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network -- of pancreatic cancer risk as it relates to nutrition. (Pity the poor pancreas having to respond to heavy doses of sugar.)

It's worth pointing out that the average person's risk of pancreatic cancer is low, so even a doubled risk would be little reason to panic. It's also worth noting that people who drink a lot of soda probably aren't health and nutrition zealots.

As the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network notes, wisely and cautiously, in its information about glycemic load: "Additional investigation is needed."

Here are pancreatic cancer statistics and risk factors from the American Cancer Society, plus overall cancer cases and deaths in the United States.

All that being said, pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate, so anything we learn about the disease -- or any clues we have to its development and progression -- is welcome. The new findings may be a clue.

Legislature should end tax break for soda, candy (The Boston Globe)

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: February 18, 2010
The Boston Globe

GOVERNOR PATRICK'S proposal to end the sales tax exemption for soda and candy should be adopted by the Legislature as both a sensible way to provide money for health care and as a way to combat dangerous eating habits. While critics are justified in worrying about a slippery slope - just how much fat is in fine cheeses, by the way? - the state is on solid ground in making a narrow, clearly defined effort to promote healthier diets for children.

Each month brings yet more bad news to connect sugary soda to diabetes, obesity, and worse. Last week, a University of Minnesota study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention suggested that people who drink two or more sodas a week nearly double their risk of developing highly deadly pancreatic cancer. Researchers are concerned that the high levels of sugar in soda may stimulate insulin production to the point of promoting tumor growth. The American Beverage Association predictably responded that cancer can be caused by factors other than soda. It said, "You can be a healthy person and enjoy soft drinks." That requires a sense of moderation that has ceased to exist among many Americans. The American Cancer Society says soda is clearly linked to obesity and diabetes, which in turn are associated with a higher risk of pancreatic cancer.

Unfooled by industry rhetoric, Patrick made his case for the repeal of the sales tax exemption in an issue brief that cited major studies detailing the outrageous amount of sugar in soda and the way empty calories wreak havoc on the body and ruin a person’s appetite for healthy foods. He called the repeal "a critical first step to discouraging the consumption of these unhealthy items." That suggests there could be more to come. Public health advocates around the nation want a penny-per-ounce tax on soda to cut consumption and raise tens of billions of dollars for health programs. With his first step, Patrick hopes to raise more than $50 million annually for health programs in Massachusetts. It would be the first step in the long march to protect the well-being - and prolong the lives - of the next generation.

Cancer and stem cells; A strand apart (The Economist)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: January 14, 2010
The Economist

The notion that tumours are chaotic masses of anarchic cells has been falling by the wayside recently. Many researchers now think, by contrast, that cancers actually resemble normal, well-regulated organs in several important ways. One of these is that they are believed to have a small population of stem cells which keep them going when other cells die or are killed off. The existence of such cancer stem cells is still a matter of debate. But this week the discussion may have taken an important turn. Brid Ryan, Sharon Pine and Curtis Harris, of America’s National Cancer Institute, reported that some lung-cancer cells do, indeed, seem to behave like stem cells during the process of cell division.

Unlike normal cells, stem cells can divide in two different ways. They may do so symmetrically, thereby producing identical daughter cells, each of which resembles the mother cell. Or they may do so asymmetrically, and give rise to two very different daughters. In such cases, one of the daughters is identical to the original stem cell, while the other takes on new characteristics and can then differentiate into whatever cell type the tissue it inhabits requires.

During asymmetrical divisions, some stem cells take an extra step to preserve the integrity of their DNA. Part of the process of cell division involves the duplication of a cell’s chromosomes, so that each daughter can have a full set of these strands of DNA. Instead of sending old and new chromosomes into the daughter cells at random, the dividing stem cell carefully shuttles all of its old chromosomes into the daughter that remains a stem cell. The newly synthesised DNA, which may contain errors, is put into the daughter that is destined to differentiate. That way, any mutations which have arisen during DNA replication will not affect the all-important stem cell population.

Until now, the main evidence supporting the cancer-stem-cell hypothesis has been the observation that many different types of tumour contain a small group of cells, identifiable by special types of protein found on their surfaces, that can form new tumours with high efficiency. (By contrast, the cells that comprise the bulk of most tumours lack these surface proteins and are poor at creating new tumours.)

Dr. Ryan, Dr. Pine and Dr. Harris reasoned that if such cells really are stem cells then they should be able to undergo both symmetrical and asymmetrical divisions, just like the stem cells in healthy tissue. They looked in samples taken directly from patients with lung cancer, and also in lung-cancer cells from laboratory cultures. In both cases, when they grew the cells in the presence of a chemical that infiltrates newly synthesised DNA, they could see that the unlabelled template strands of DNA went into one daughter cell and the new strands went to the other. Moreover, the daughter that retained the old DNA also retained the cell-surface proteins that mark the putative cancer stem cells.

The team, who presented their results at a joint meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in Coronado, California, this week, are now investigating whether their putative cancer stem cells are more resistant than run-of-the-mill cancer cells to chemotherapy or radiation, as research on other putative stem cells has suggested. What they do know is that when they grow these cells in culture, they can push them toward either asymmetrical or symmetrical division by controlling the density of cells and the amount of oxygen available. If they can find a similar way to control the cells' fate in patients' tumours, they may have opened a new avenue for cancer therapy.

Estrogen May Help Precancerous Cells Spread in Oral Cavity

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Head and neck cancer accounts for 650,000 new cancer cases each year.
Data provide insight into novel mechanisms underlying head and neck cancer.
Potential new targets for chemoprevention identified.

PHILADELPHIA — Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer and is on the rise in some demographic groups, including young women without any known risk factors. Now, researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center report that estrogen may increase the movement of precancerous cells in the mouth and thus promote the spread of the disease within the oral cavity.

The new results, published in the January issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, may lead to novel chemoprevention strategies in the future.

Margie Clapper, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Cancer Prevention Research editorial board member, and colleagues had previously reported that estrogen metabolism changes following smoke exposure in the lungs and may contribute to lung cancer. This study on estrogen and lung cancer first appeared in the June 3, 2010, issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

To find out if this female hormone influences development of head and neck cancer, Ekaterina Shatalova, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Center and researcher on this study, examined the impact of estrogen on precancerous and cancerous cells.

They found that estrogen induces the expression of an enzyme called cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1), which is responsible for breaking down toxins and metabolizing estrogen. Interestingly, CYP1B1 induction occurred only in precancerous cells, which are neither totally normal nor cancerous. Surprisingly, estrogen did not induce CYP1B1 in cancer cells.

With closer investigation, the researchers found that depleting the expression of CYP1B1 diminished the ability of precancerous cells to move and divide, as compared to similar cells with normal levels of CYP1B1. Estrogen also reduced cell death in the precancerous cells, irrespective of the amount of CYP1B1 present.

“In the future, we would like to find a natural or dietary agent to deplete the CYP1B1 enzyme and see if we can prevent oral cancer at the precancerous stage,” said Shatalova.

“Our previous studies showed that the CYP1B1 enzyme sits at the hub of changes that occur in the lungs after smoke exposure. We were now able to look at its role in a more direct fashion by removing it from precancerous cells of the oral cavity,” Clapper said. “We found that cells lacking it move slower. CYP1B1 could be a wonderful target in precancerous lesions of the head and neck, because by attacking it, we might stop these lesions from progressing or moving to a more advanced stage.”

In addition, patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer are at a high risk of developing a second primary tumor, which is associated with poorer overall survival. Finding a way to reduce these subsequent tumors could improve patients’ survival.

These results may help researchers to “understand factors that cause head and neck cancer, in addition to the traditional risk factors of tobacco and alcohol exposure,” said Jennifer R. Grandis, M.D., professor and director of the Head and Neck Cancer Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and an editorial board member for Cancer Prevention Research.

However, because these results are limited to a single premalignant cell line, said Grandis, further studies are needed to validate these findings in head and neck cancer in a human population.

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

Media Contact:
Tara Yates
(267) 646-0558
Tara.Yates@aacr.org

Stand Up To Cancer Funds High-risk/High-reward Cancer Research by 13 Young Scientists

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:00:00 GMT

$9.68 Million Supports Innovative Projects by Next-generation Research Leaders

Dec. 7, 2009, New York, N.Y./Los Angeles, Calif.: Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) announced today that it is awarding $9.68 million to support high-risk/high-reward cancer research conducted by 13 young scientists. Over a three-year period, each investigator will receive a total of up to $750,000 as part of SU2C's Innovative Research Grants program, which supports the next generation of cancer research leaders.

"We asked our best and brightest young researchers to step outside their comfort zones and strive to make big differences with bold initiatives," said Richard D. Kolodner, Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, senior researcher at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in La Jolla, Calif., and chairman of the review committee for the grants. "If these projects come to fruition, some of the ideas could be game-changers in cancer research."

The Innovative Research Grants program is the second major funding commitment made by Stand Up To Cancer. Earlier this year, SU2C awarded $73.6 million to five interdisciplinary, multi-institutional Dream Teams with more than 300 members from 20 institutions. All of these SU2C-funded projects focus on groundbreaking translational research aimed at getting new therapies to patients as quickly as possible. Since its launch in May 2008, SU2C has raised more than $100 million from a wide range of philanthropic, corporate, and organizational donors, as well as the general public, much of it in connection with an SU2C telecast on September 5, 2008, that aired simultaneously on ABC, CBS, and NBC.

"By any measure, Stand Up To Cancer has been making significant progress in facilitating new ways of doing cancer research," said Laura Ziskin, one of SU2C's founding members and the executive producer of the Sept. 2008 broadcast, who is also a cancer survivor. "Cancer claims 1,500 lives every single day in this country, and by 2010 it will become the leading cause of death worldwide, so the need for more and better treatments has never been more urgent. We set out to engage people all over the United States in supporting the scientists who are working to end this disease ... We're grateful to everyone - from the person who contributes one dollar through our website, to the philanthropists and companies who've made multimillion dollar gifts - who is standing up with us."

Innovative Grant Funding Formula Departs from Traditional Approach
Stand Up To Cancer's funding model for the Innovative Grants was designed specifically to support work that utilizes new ideas and new approaches to solve critical problems in cancer research. These innovative projects are characterized as "high-risk" because they challenge existing paradigms, and because in order to receive a grant the applicants were not required, as they would be by most conventional funding mechanisms, to have already conducted a portion of the research resulting in an established base of evidence. If successful, the projects have the potential for "high-reward" in terms of saving lives.

The American Association for Cancer Research, Stand Up To Cancer's scientific partner, assembled the expert SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee as well as the Innovative Research Grants Review Committee, who administered the scientific review process and will provide ongoing scientific oversight of the grants.

"Traditionally, the projects most likely to be funded are those with a demonstrable expectation of success, which means that some of the research has to be done before an investigator can submit a proposal," explained Kolodner, who is also a member of Stand Up To Cancer's Scientific Advisory Committee. "There are not many opportunities to receive funding for cancer research where young scientists are freed from the requirement of having ‘proof of concept' data in order receive grants, and certainly not such large grants."

13 Stand Up To Cancer Innovative Grant Recipients
The projects funded all represent new approaches to the most important and challenging problems facing cancer researchers today. They address a wide range of cancer types and organ sites, including lung, ovarian and breast cancers, as well as leukemia and lymphomas. Some projects focus on developing improved therapies for difficult to treat cancers that affect children and young adults, including Ewing sarcoma and rhabdoid tumors. All the projects have the potential to significantly advance the identification of the complex mechanisms that cause cancers to occur and spread; to lead to the development of a new generation of targeted treatments; and to improve the methods of diagnosing cancers and monitoring the effects of treatment.

The 13 Stand Up To Cancer Innovative Research Grant recipients for 2009 are:

Fernando D. Camargo, Ph.D., Children's Hospital Boston: An Emerging Tumor Suppressor Pathway in Human Cancer

Elizabeth R. Lawlor, M.D., Ph.D., Childrens Hospital Los Angeles: Modeling Ewing Tumor Initiation in Human Neural Crest Stem Cells

Matthew Levy, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University: Cancer Cell Specific, Self-delivering Pro-drugs

Markus Müschen, M.D., Childrens Hospital Los Angeles: Targeted Inhibition of BCL6 for Leukemia Stem Cell Eradication

William Pao, M.D., Ph.D., Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center/Vanderbilt University: Identifying Solid Tumor Kinase Fusions via Exon Capture and 454 Sequencing

Charles M. Roberts, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Therapeutically Targeting the Epigenome in Aggressive Pediatric Cancers

Rajat Rohatgi, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University: Endogenous Small Molecules that Regulate Signaling Pathways in Cancer Cells

José M. Silva, Ph.D., Columbia University Medical Center: Genetic Approaches for Next Generation of Breast Cancer Tailored Therapies

Kimberly Stegmaier, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Modulating Transcription Factor Abnormalities in Pediatric Cancer

Muneesh Tewari, M.D., Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: Noninvasive Molecular Profiling of Cancer via Tumor-derived Microparticles

Loren D. Walensky, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: A Transformative Technology to Capture and Drug New Cancer Targets

David M. Weinstock, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Functional Oncogene Identification

Hang Yin, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder: Probing EBV-LMP-1's Transmembrane Activation Domain with Synthetic Peptide

Distinctive Review and Selection Process
The grant selection process began in late 2008 with a call for Letters of Intent from young researchers in the early stages of their careers. The 45-member Innovative Research Grants Review Committee considered 412 eligible letters in an intense, multi-step evaluation process that began in May, 2009. Based on the initial review of each proposal by three committee members, the group was narrowed to 73 semi-finalists who were invited to submit full research proposals, which were then reviewed late this past summer. The list was narrowed again, to 19 finalists who made in-person presentations to the Grants Review Committee during an intensive two-day meeting in early October. From that group, the committee selected the 13 recipients.

The committee evaluated the submissions using these criteria: potential for high-risk/high-reward; innovation in method or approach; potential for significant translation to clinical application; promise to improve and save the lives of cancer patients; and potential to develop into a Dream Team project.

"The review process was unusually interactive; it's very rare in cancer research funding for young investigators to present their proposals to a group of senior scientists in face-to-face meetings," said Scientific Advisory Committee Member and Innovative Research Grants Review Committee Vice-Chairperson William G. Nelson, V., M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncology and director, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University. "The seasoned scientists on the committee provided direct feedback to the finalists on their projects, which the grant recipients can integrate as they begin to undertake their research."

Grants are Living Legacy to Research Pioneer Judah Folkman
The Innovative Research Grants program was established in honor of the late Judah Folkman, M.D., to recognize him as one of the great innovators in cancer research, an outstanding teacher of young investigators and an early contributor to the SU2C project. Folkman's pioneering work led to a new understanding of angiogenesis in cancer and the development of important new treatments based on his discoveries.

"At our very first meeting, as we were just beginning to formulate the plans for Stand Up To Cancer, Dr. Folkman spoke passionately about the need to fund young investigators. They say that science always stands on the shoulders of the giants that come before, and we lost a true giant when Dr. Folkman died just six weeks later. It's fitting to honor him by funding the next generation of potential research stars. Their work will be an important tribute to his legacy and his dream of defeating cancer," said Sherry Lansing, a SU2C founding member and board chair of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the underlying 501(c)(3) charitable organization that serves as the initiative's fiduciary.

Funded Projects Address Wide Range of Challenges

Margaret Foti, Ph.D, M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research, said she was very excited by the scientific excellence and the scope of the research projects selected by the committee.

"The Innovative Grant recipients are thinking broadly and creatively, with one end goal in mind: making scientific progress to save lives from cancer," Foti noted. "We are at a very important juncture in cancer research; its pace is increasingly rapid, and that enhances the speed at which we can move new discoveries out of the lab and into the clinic. Support for the next generation of remarkable young scientists is critical to ensuring that we continue to accelerate that pace. The AACR is proud of its partnership with Stand Up To Cancer and the contribution this important initiative is making to advancing cancer research."

Collaboration and Transparency in the SU2C Funding Model
Fostering increased collaboration among cancer researchers at different institutions is a key SU2C goal. Planning is underway for both formal and informal communication and meetings among all the SU2C-funded scientists to share ideas and progress. It is expected that these interactions between the Innovative Research Grant recipients and Dream Team members will lead to new synergies and potential collaborations.

The AACR, through the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee and Innovative Research Grants Review Committee will conduct regular reviews to ensure accountability and that objectives are being satisfactorily achieved. Stand Up To Cancer is committed to transparency in both the funding process, and the outcomes of the projects. Progress reports will be made available to the public at: www.su2c.org and www.aacr.org.

The SU2C Movement's Online Community
SU2C's robust online community (www.su2c.org) offers various ways for people to share opinions and support, view video updates, contribute, and learn of ongoing initiatives and progress in the fight against cancer. The scope of donation opportunities on the SU2C website ranges from naming a star in honor of a loved one to web team challenges that encourage collaborative fundraising efforts by groups of various sizes all over the country. The online community provides ample opportunity to share SU2C's efforts via a variety of social media outlets, including Twitter, Facebook, AOL, MySpace, YouTube, flickr, and several other sites that are accessible through the SU2C website. SU2C is implementing ongoing grassroots efforts, and is participating in national and regional events to raise awareness and funds.

# # #

About the Stand Up To Cancer Initiative

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to hasten the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. In the fall of 2007, a group of women whose lives have all been affected by cancer in profound ways began working together to marshal the resources of the media and entertainment industries in the fight against this disease. The SU2C founding members include Laura Ziskin, executive producer of the Sept. 5, 2008 broadcast, who is a cancer survivor; Sherry Lansing, chairperson of the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Board of Directors and founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation; EIF President and CEO Lisa Paulsen; Katie Couric; Noreen Fraser, founder of the Noreen Fraser Foundation (NFF) and a cancer survivor; EIF Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; and nonprofit executive Ellen Ziffren. SU2C was formally launched on May 27, 2008, and Diane Balma serves as its executive director.

Major League Baseball was the lead donor to contribute to Stand Up To Cancer, and Sidney Kimmel, the country's largest individual supporter of cancer research, pledged $25 million during last year's telecast. Other major SU2C supporters include Amgen, AARP, Bloomberg Philanthropies, GlaxoSmithKline, Revlon, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Wallis Annenberg & The Annenberg Foundation, Alliance for Global Good, Milken Family Foundation, Philips Electronics, Steve Tisch, The Island Def Jam Music Group and many others. In addition to ABC, CBS and NBC, SU2C major media partners include AOL, Condé Nast Media Group, eBay Inc., Facebook, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Hearst Corporation, Los Angeles Times, Meredith Corporation, The New York Times Company, Time Inc, and WebMD.

About the AACR

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), which consists of over 30,000 scientists engaged in the fight against cancer, is the oldest and largest scientific organization in the world focusing on every aspect of high-quality, innovative cancer research from the bench to the bedside. Lauded internationally for its scientific breadth, innovation and spread of new knowledge about cancer, the AACR is on the front lines in the quest for the prevention and cure of cancer. The AACR holds meetings on critical cancer research topics around the world and publishes six major cancer research journals.

As Stand Up To Cancer's scientific partner, the AACR is responsible for administering the grants, and - in conjunction with the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and David H. Koch Institute at MIT - providing scientific oversight.

About the Entertainment Industry Foundation

Stand Up To Cancer is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that serves as the collective philanthropy for the television and film businesses. EIF has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support programs addressing critical health, education and social issues.

For additional information on Stand Up To Cancer, visit www.su2c.org

Media Contacts:

Thomas Chiodo
Rubenstein Communications
212-843-8289/917-714-6670
tchiodo@rubenstein.com

Christine Wilson
American Association for Cancer Research
215-440-9300/215-817-9625
christine.wilson@aacr.org

The American Association for Cancer Research at the Forefront of Groundbreaking Research (Pathology.org)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: November 30, 2009
Pathology.org

The mission of the AACR is to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, and collaboration. Through its programs and services, the AACR fosters research in cancer and related biomedical science; accelerates the dissemination of new research findings among scientists and others dedicated to the conquest of cancer; promotes science education and training; and advances the understanding of cancer etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment throughout the world.

Watch a video about the importance of basic science in cancer research.

The AACR is the authoritative source of information about advances in the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer, and publishes six peer-reviewed scientific journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research, as well as CR, a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians and scientists.

Dynamic interactions and exciting science characterize all of the AACR's meetings, conferences and educational workshops. The Annual Meeting, the largest of its kind in the world for cancer researchers, attracts more than 17,000 researchers from over 60 countries. In addition to the Annual Meeting, the AACR holds several large conferences that focus on the latest developments and advances in Molecular Diagnostics, Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics (joint meeting with EORTC and the NCI), Cancer Health Disparities, and Translational Cancer Medicine. Eight to 12 Special Conferences focus on emerging areas of cancer research each year. Similar conferences are held overseas in conjunction with international cancer research organizations. The AACR also conducts a unique series of educational workshops that offers young scientists the latest scientific information along with critical skills that include mentoring, networking and career development opportunities.

Watch a video about AACR meetings.

Building upon the AACR's longstanding commitment to fostering partnerships with survivor advocates-and to fulfill its goal of significantly expanding these relationships-the association's Survivor and Patient Advocacy Program is dedicated to fostering mutually beneficial and enduring partnerships among leaders of the cancer survivor, patient advocacy and scientific communities. Additionally, the AACR's office of Science Policy and Government Affairs advocates for strong federal research funding.

Paul C. Zamecnik (AACR Past President), Biologist Who Helped Discover an RNA Molecule, Dies at 96 (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: November 7, 2009
Source Author: Vicki Glaser
New York Times

Paul C. Zamecnik, a molecular biologist whose determination to unlock the secrets of how a protein is made led to his co-discovery of transfer RNA, a molecule that is essential to the process, died on Oct. 27 at his home in Boston. He was 96.

The cause was cancer, his daughter Karen Zamecnik Pierson said.

Dr. Zamecnik also discovered a method for blocking individual genes that pointed the way to a new class of drugs.

In the 1950s, Dr. Zamecnik (pronounced zam-ESS-nik) devised a system for modeling protein synthesis in a test tube, so he could more easily track the steps involved in translating the genetic information encoded in DNA into a chain of amino acids, the building blocks of a protein.

In 1956, Dr. Zamecnik and his colleagues Dr. Mahlon Hoagland (who died on Sept. 18) and Dr. Mary Stephenson discovered a critical element of the protein synthesis pathway: the molecule that shuttles amino acids to the cell's protein factory, called the ribosome. There they are linked to create a chain that folds to form a protein. This newfound molecule they called transfer RNA, or tRNA. The discovery was a milestone in molecular biology.

Dr. Zamecnik's work "advanced the study of protein synthesis," taking it from a purely metabolic process "into proper biochemistry for the first time," said Thoru Pederson, the Vitold Arnett professor of cell biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, who was a colleague and a friend. Dr. Pederson described him as "a transformative figure" during the very early years of molecular biology research.

In 1978, Dr. Zamecnik published the first work showing that a short, synthetic series of nucleotides, the chemical components of DNA and RNA, could be used to inactivate a specific gene. The concept, which he called antisense technology, is based on the double-stranded structure of a DNA molecule. One strand, called the sense strand, carries the genetic instructions; it is intertwined with the complementary antisense strand to form the double helix. A cell reads the genetic information encoded on the sense strand and creates a corresponding messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule, which delivers the genetic message to the ribosome.

In antisense technology, a short series of nucleotides recognizes a specific sequence on an mRNA strand, preventing it from being translated into a protein and blocking expression of a gene.

Although Dr. Zamecnik's antisense concept was first met with skepticism, it has given rise to a new class of therapeutic compounds called antisense drugs, which are under active development in the biotechnology industry. One antisense drug is already on the market, and about a dozen more are in clinical trials.

Dr. Zamecnik's antisense work "will change how medicines are developed," said Sudhir Agrawal, president and chief executive of Idera Pharmaceuticals, who worked with Dr. Zamecnik over the years on developing the technology.

Paul Charles Zamecnik was born in Cleveland in 1912. He enrolled at Dartmouth at the age of 16. Five years later, in 1934, he had completed both his undergraduate degree and the two-year program at Dartmouth Medical School. He completed his medical degree at Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1936.

After he was put on a waiting list for a surgical internship, he did an internship in oncology at Huntington Memorial Hospital, work that first led to his interest in scientific research. He did a subsequent internship in medicine at University Hospitals in Cleveland. When an obese patient abruptly died there and the autopsy showed an abundance of fat tissue and too little muscle and protein, he began to seek answers to the question of how proteins are made.

To expand his knowledge of biochemistry, and protein chemistry in particular, he took additional classes and pursued a fellowship at the Carlsberg Laboratories in Copenhagen. After he returned to the United States, he worked for two years at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City. He then became an instructor at Harvard Medical School and established his laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1956, he became the Collis P. Huntington Professor of Oncologic Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Reaching the mandatory retirement age in 1979, he left Harvard and continued his research at the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research, in Massachusetts, where his former colleague, Dr. Hoagland, was the director. When the foundation merged with the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1997, Dr. Zamecnik moved his laboratory once again, to Massachusetts General, becoming a senior scientist. He continued to work in his laboratory until several weeks before his death.

Dr. Zamecnik's wife of 69 years, the former Mary Connor, who worked in his laboratory, died in 2005. In addition to his daughter Karen, of Cambridge, who also worked alongside him, survivors include his son, John, of Argentina and Washington; another daughter, Elizabeth Coakley, of Sedgwick, Me.; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

In 1996, Dr. Zamecnik received the Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science "for brilliant and original science that revolutionized biochemistry and spawned new avenues of scientific inquiry." In 1991 he was awarded the National Medal of Science.

Standing Up Together for a Cure for Cancer, "Priceless."

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT

For more than a year, Pearce Quesenberry has had a dream. The 12-year-old girl appeared in the first Stand Up To Cancer show in September 2008, wearing her "in treatment" shirt. At that time, the effects of her intensive therapy for medulloblastoma, the most common, malignant brain tumor in children, were evident. Today, Pearce is out of treatment and doing well, and she isn't shy about telling people of her goal to be in another Stand Up To Cancer show. However, this time she plans to wear a "survivor" shirt.

Pearce got her chance on October 31 in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, at Game Three of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees. She "stood up" with fellow cancer patients from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Andrew, a 16-year-old Yankees' fan from Connecticut who slept all day so he would have the energy for the game; and Breanna, age 7, a bouncing, happy little girl. All three are fighting and surviving cancer. They stood up with their parents and were joined by CBS News Anchor Katie Couric, who used a Sharpie to write her "in memory" shirt for Jay, her husband who died of colon cancer, and Emily, her sister who died of pancreatic cancer; actor and singer Terrence Howard, who was there in memory of "my mom"; Friday Night Lights star Minka Kelly, also there for her mother; U.S. Vice President Joe Biden; and almost 50,000 fans who attended the game.

The crowd endured a long, wet and windy delay before the game began, and they couldn't wait for the "countdown" when the announcement was made that Stand Up To Cancer would do a live shot for the MasterCard "Priceless" TV spot at the end of the second inning. As soon as the Stand Up To Cancer logo was posted on the JumboTron, everyone in the stadium rose to their feet and began to cheer. Phillies and Yankees fans stood together, united in support of a cure for cancer, while Phillies fans waved their rally towels. The roar of the crowd was sustained as the spot unfolded on the JumboTron and aired simultaneously on national TV. The camera zeroed in on the children from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, their faces alight, jumping with excitement and hope. The camera then panned to the sea of people who were, in that moment, united for a cause that has affected them all - who were standing up together for a cure for cancer.

"I want to congratulate Laura Ziskin, her incredibly talented and committed staff, and all of Stand Up To Cancer on creating this beautiful spot and this extraordinary moment. I had goose bumps while the spot was airing and I imagine just about everyone who was at the game or who watched it on TV did as well. It was especially exciting to have this happen in our hometown," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. "This is a remarkable testament to how much Stand Up To Cancer has achieved in such a short amount of time since its launch in May 2008. We are so proud to be the scientific partner for Stand Up To Cancer and to be a part of this important effort that is putting the spotlight on the need for more funding for cancer research."

View the TV spot and related materials, including an interview with Stand Up To Cancer founding member Laura Ziskin:

World Series Game 3 Dedicated to Cancer Research

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Today's World Series game is dedicated to cancer research, with donations from Major League Baseball (MLB) and MasterCard Worldwide that will benefit Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a charitable initiative supporting groundbreaking cancer research. The AACR is the scientific partner of SU2C. MasterCard will donate $1,000 to SU2C for every home run hit in the post season and $1 million if a ball hits the "Hit It Here" sign.

MasterCard and MLB will also air a "Stand Up To Cancer: Priceless" public service announcement during the game. This live in-stadium and televised event is the first time the credit card company is supporting a non-profit effort through its iconic ad campaign. The spot, produced by SU2C founding member Laura Ziskin, will celebrate the powerful emotions of baseball. Fans in the stadium and the viewing audience will be asked to "stand up" to cancer in the live conclusion of the 30-second piece.

"Collaboration is central to Stand Up To Cancer, whether it's within the teams of scientists whose work we fund, in the extraordinary partnerships we have among the people and companies that make up the entertainment community, or in our remarkable relationships with MLB and other generous donors," said Ziskin. "We're utilizing all these resources to build a movement of people excited about helping researchers who are on the cusp of major breakthroughs, but need additional funding.

"The World Series is a major cultural touchstone," Ziskin continued. "To be able to heighten awareness about the importance of supporting cutting-edge cancer research during the World Series, through one of the world's largest, most recognizable and award-winning advertising campaigns, is in one word - priceless. We are enormously grateful to MLB and MasterCard."

In May, SU2C awarded $73.6 million in three-year grants to its first five Dream Team collaborations, comprised of more than 200 researchers from more than 20 leading institutions. On behalf of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR is responsible for administering the grants, which includes distributing the funds to the institutions selected, developing methods of reporting and - in conjunction with the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee - providing scientific oversight.

Stand Up To Cancer's next round of funding is slated to be announced in November.

The AACR Congratulates Member Peter C. Nowell on Winning the Franklin Institute Award

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA - The American Association for Cancer Research congratulates Peter C. Nowell, M.D., for winning the 2010 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, a Franklin Institute Award.

Nowell, a member of the AACR for 52 years, received this prestigious award for his and the late David Hungerford's discovery that alterations to chromosomes can cause cancer and for further research leading to the development of a therapy that now cures 95 percent of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia.

"Dr. Nowell is a pioneer in the field of genetic research. For the past five decades, he has brought pride to Philadelphia and the AACR," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. "His research linking genetics and cancer has informed later significant discoveries in the field."

In 1960, while washing slides with tap water, Nowell observed the cancer cells on the slides began swelling and the abnormal chromosome 22 became visible. Dubbed the Philadelphia chromosome, it is a genetic cause of chronic myelogenous leukemia. His discovery led to the development of Gleevec, which targets the Philadelphia chromosome and has transformed CML treatment.

Established in 1824, the Franklin Institute Awards are among the oldest and most prestigious comprehensive science awards in the world. The awards identify individuals whose great innovation has benefited humanity, advanced science, launched new fields of inquiry and deepened our understanding of the universe.

Nowell is the Gaylord P. and Mary Louise Harnwell emeritus professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 1948 he earned his bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University; in 1952 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, where he later served as the first director of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center - now known as the Abramson Cancer Center. Nowell has won numerous awards, including the Albert Lasker Medical Research Award, The General Motors Cancer Foundation Charles S. Mott Prize and the Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. During his membership with the AACR Nowell served on the Cornelius P. Rhoads Memorial Award Committee, The Society Service Committee, and the editorial board of Cancer Research.

Subscribe to the AACR News RSS Feed

# # #

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 30,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and nearly 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowship and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 16,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Megan Davies
(267) 646-0612
megan.davies@aacr.org

Study: Childhood cancer survivors less likely to marry (CNN Online)

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: October 21, 2009
Source Author: Elizabeth Landau
CNN

Three years ago, Anne Willis mentioned to the man she was dating that she didn't know about her fertility, since she had undergone cancer treatment as a teenager. His response --"Oh, so you don't know if you're going be able to have kids?" -- was off-putting.

"He wasn't trying to mean anything by it, but I felt a little less desirable at that moment," she said.

Willis has generally had only positive experiences talking with potential romantic partners about her cancer history, but knows other survivors who have struggled much more with it.

Research recently published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention found that adults who are childhood cancer survivors are 20 to 25 percent less likely to marry compared with their siblings and the American population. The trend held across all age groups over 25 years old, the authors wrote.

Willis, who directs survivorship programs at the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, was 15 years old when she learned she had Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer that located in the soft tissue outside of her skull. She went through two years of chemotherapy, four surgeries, and six weeks of radiation to eradicate the cancer.

Now 27, she says her cancer is not the reason she's unmarried, but she finds the study results somewhat unsurprising. Surviving cancer means going through treatment as well as dealing with medical issues that continue to arise, and psychological and social issues. Given all of that, sometimes survivors are not able to deal with dating, she said.

"These issues aren't addressed," she said. "There's this incredible opportunity for survivors to get with their health care team and make sure those issues are being discussed, that there's a plan so that they can deal with them, and that resources can be identified," she said.

Analyzing survivor outcomes

Researchers used data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, which encompasses thousands of childhood cancer survivors who are now adults and were treated at 26 institutions in the United States. This study focused on about 9,000 adult survivors of childhood cancer, and nearly 3,000 siblings of participants.

Survivors of childhood cancer were 21 percent more likely to be unmarried than siblings and 25 percent more likely to be unmarried than the U.S. Census population, the researchers found.

"We have some real-life indicators that the life experience of survivors is not where we'd like it to be," said Dr. Nina Kadan-Lottick, assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the study.

The study corroborates what other researchers found among cancer survivors in Britain in a 2007 study, which compared patients with the general population but did not include siblings in the analysis.

In both that study and the new one, younger age when the disease was diagnosed and history of cranial radiation were the most important predictors of never getting married, the study said.

About 80 percent of children with cancer will survive at least five years after their diagnosis, the study said.

Childhood cancer did not seem to be correlated with an increased risk of divorce, the study authors said. Survivors divorced at similar frequencies to siblings and to the U.S. population at large.

Certain cancers were more associated with not marrying than others, the authors found. Patients who had brain tumors as children were 50 percent more likely to never marry, the study found. For leukemia patients, the probability of never marrying was higher for those who received cranial radiation, but not for the ones who received chemotherapy only.

Why childhood cancer survivors may be single

Factors that may have influenced the single status of childhood cancer survivors included short stature, history of tumor recurrence, poor self-reported physical functioning, emotional distress, problems with task efficiency, problems with organization, and problems with memory, the study said. Perceived fertility problems may also factor in, it said.

It's not surprising that short stature would be associated with childhood cancer, said Dr. Donald Durden, research director in the division of hematology/oncology at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center in La Jolla, California.

"When you irradiate a young child's brain, say less than 5 years old, you hit the pituitary gland, which controls growth hormone production," he said.

Some forms of chemotherapy also affect a child's progress through puberty, which in turn might result in short stature, Kadan-Lottick said.

People with short stature have been identified in non-cancer populations as less likely to be married, Kadan-Lottick said. But further research is needed to determine exactly why -- whether it's because people perceive shorter individuals as less attractive, or it's that shorter men and women lack the social skills to overcome their stature, or other reasons, she said.

Cancer treatment -- in particular, cranial radiation -- can also impair cognitive functioning, experts say. Giving chemotherapy directly into spinal fluid can also affect cognitive functioning, as can drugs such as steroids and methotrexate, she said.

Researchers tested participants for their cognitive abilities by administering standardized tests of memory, information processing, and thought organization.

Psychologists say processing speed is important for social relationships, even at the level of having a conversation, she said. That's because people need to understand what their partners are saying in real time and respond in a meaningful way.

"This may also be an indication -- a wider indication -- of being able to get your life in order, so to speak, to live independently, to do things like get married and live your own life," she said.

But researchers did not directly ask participants why they did or did not get married, Kadan-Lottick said.

Willis noted that there is still a stigma against people who have had cancer, and sometimes survivors struggle with when to tell other people about their cancer history -- if at all.

Some may also feel disconnected from others around them, and find comfort in meeting other survivors. Willis recalls a moment when she and a colleague with lung cancer were discussing rashes they'd had because of their respective cancer treatments, and then another co-worker chimed in about a rash from his treatment.

"As we're sitting around talking about our rashes, that was the first time that I actually felt like other people understood what I had gone through," she said.

Managing side effects

Many of the side effects of cancer treatment are amenable to intervention, Kadan-Lottick said. There are ongoing studies to improve cognitive functioning, and computer programs that can teach the brain to process better. More targeted cancer therapies that would reduce side effects are under development, Durden said.

Growth hormones may also help survivors grow taller during puberty, although their use is somewhat controversial, Durden said.

The majority of cancer survivors are not getting specialized survivor care after their treatment ends, she said.

"They perceive the cancer more as an episode in their life, and that they're entirely done, and so they're not really benefiting from the possible interventions or screenings that could be done."

It remains unknown why children may have markedly different side effects from the same cancer therapy, he said. Some come out of radiation therapy with much more severe cognitive problems than others, even though the treatment is the same, he said. Children also respond differently mentally.

"Each of these kids is an individual, and probably some have more psychology trauma from their therapy, from being diagnosed with cancer from an early age, than others, depending on how they were supported," he said.

A Few Seconds for Science: An Op-ed by Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.) (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: October 16, 2009
Source Author: Margaret Foti
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Celebrity-crazed Americans are more likely to know where Brad Pitt spent his last vacation or how Tom DeLay fared on Dancing with the Stars than who won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In fact, a recent Research!America poll showed that most Americans cannot name a single living scientist.

This is beyond unfortunate; it's dangerous. The lack of knowledge and appreciation for science and research, and the dedication of the men and women who conduct it, represents a real threat to this country's long-held status as the world leader in medical science.

In a sad irony, it also coincides with an era in which remarkable progress is being made. Discoveries that will lead to better ways of preventing and treating cancer and other deadly diseases, for example, are on the horizon.

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three extraordinary researchers, Drs. Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak - all Americans working in major American universities.

Blackburn, Greider, and Szostak received the prize, announced last week, for their work defining the role of telomeres in protecting cells against degradation. Telomeres play a critical role in how cells divide and age, and they therefore contribute to our susceptibility to cancer and other diseases.

Although the earliest work on telomeres dates to the early 1930s, the basic knowledge of cell structure and function necessary to understand their importance did not exist until 1978, when Blackburn discovered that the ends of chromosomes are composed of simple repeat DNA sequences - the telomeres.

Shortly thereafter, Blackburn collaborated with Szostak to demonstrate that what she calls "those little blobs at the end of chromosomes" serve as protective caps. Blackburn compares them to the tips of shoelaces; when the tips get worn down, the laces begin to fray.

The next critical piece of the puzzle was supplied by Greider, who discovered the enzyme responsible for restoring telomeres when they are worn down.

This matters because normal cells with worn telomeres become more susceptible to genetic mutations that play a role in cancer. Cancer cells appear to have the capacity to divide infinitely and yet preserve their telomeres, avoiding the programmed death that affects normal cells. Knowing this raises the possibility of developing new treatments for cancer that deprive cancer cells of telomerase, the enzyme that all cells use to restore their telomeres and halt their ability to grow and divide.

This is just one example of the targeted therapies that are the future of cancer medicine. The implications for other diseases and conditions - ranging from cardiovascular disease to chronic stress and inflammation to a number of inherited syndromes - are significant.

This kind of great science doesn't just happen. It begins with a fundamental observation or hypothesis and develops over years into clinical advances that improve our ability to prevent and cure diseases. The gap between the laboratory and the bedside is narrowing, but the process still involves an extraordinary mix of scientific insight, curiosity, hard work, and dedication.

Discoveries that lead to improvements in public health require substantial funding and other resources. Although this may sound like an old refrain, science in this country could become an endangered species in the foreseeable future. Fewer American students are choosing to enter scientific fields, and young men and women who complete years of training frequently become frustrated by the lack of opportunity, turning to other fields at the point in their careers when they could be most productive.

Meanwhile, countries in Asia and Europe are rapidly expanding their commitments to science, pouring billions of dollars into research and technology, and luring top investigators from the United States with tempting offers of long-term support and top-notch facilities.

It's time for Americans to see science for what it is - exciting, dynamic, and vital to our well-being. Rather than trying to get themselves in the spotlight, scientists do the work that leads to breakthroughs that keep our families healthy. Though they do not seek conventional fame, when they receive a small measure of it - as have Blackburn, Greider, and Szostak - the American public should take the opportunity to understand the impact they have on our lives.

Margaret Foti is the CEO of the Philadelphia-based American Association for Cancer Research. The association's president-elect is Elizabeth Blackburn.

The American Association for Cancer Research Congratulates President-Elect on Nobel Prize

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

PHILADELPHIA - The American Association for Cancer Research congratulates its president-elect Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D., and AACR member Carol W. Greider, Ph.D., for winning, along with Jack W. Szostak, Ph.D., the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

"Dr. Blackburn, our President-elect, is a scientific pioneer who, along with AACR member Dr. Greider and Dr. Szostak, is revolutionizing the way we look at biology and translational science," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. "Not only did the discovery of telomeres and telomerase propel cancer science forward on a grand scale, it is also changing the way we explore how to treat other types of disease and how to potentially prolong cell life."

The trio uncovered how chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell division and how they are protected against degradation. The solution is found in the ends of the chromosomes - the telomeres - and in an enzyme that forms them - telomerase. With Szostak, Blackburn discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation.

In 1985, Blackburn and her then-graduate student Greider identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. Their research showed that, in some organisms, such as the single-celled pond dweller Tetrahymena, telomerase continuously replenishes the chromosome's telomeric tips. In humans, however, research showed that telomerase is damped down at certain times in the lives of many types of cells, limiting their ability to self-replenish.

With this discovery, scientists saw the possibility of exploring whether, in humans, the enzyme could be reactivated to prolong cell life to treat age-related diseases, and deactivated to interrupt cancers.

Most normal cells do not divide frequently, therefore, their chromosomes are not at risk of shortening and they do not require high telomerase activity. In contrast, cancer cells have the ability to divide infinitely and yet preserve their telomeres. One explanation became apparent with the finding that cancer cells often have increased telomerase activity. It was, therefore, proposed that cancer might be treated by eradicating telomerase. Several studies are underway in this area, including clinical trials evaluating vaccines directed against cells with elevated telomerase activity.

In recent years, Blackburn and colleagues have investigated the possibility that life stress, the perception of life stress and lifestyle behaviors could take a toll on telomerase and telomeres. They have reported several studies with human participants that suggest a correlation. The findings may offer insight, at the cellular level, into the impact of stress on early onset of age-related diseases.

Blackburn is a co-chair of the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research meeting and will address the subject of "Cellular Responses to Telomerase Perturbations" on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, in Boston.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D., president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research, is the Morris Herzstein professor of biology and physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Stand Up To Cancer, that recently awarded $73.6 million to translational research Dream Teams for projects that could impact the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of cancers in adults and children across ethnicities including, but not limited to, pancreatic, breast, ovarian, cervical, uterine, brain, lung, prostate, rectal and colon, which represents two thirds of all U.S. cancer deaths.

Blackburn is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of London, the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 2002 to 2004, she served on the President's Council on Bioethics and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research. Blackburn has served on the AACR Board of Directors (2006-2009) and as the chair of the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Committee and as senior editor of Molecular Cancer Research.

Blackburn earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Melbourne in Australia. She received her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in England. From 1975 to 1977, Blackburn did her postdoctoral work in molecular and cellular biology at Yale, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.

Carol Greider, Ph.D., the Daniel Nathans professor and director of molecular biology and genetics in the Johns Hopkins Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences, studied at the University of California in Santa Barbara and in Berkeley, where she obtained her doctorate in 1987 with Blackburn as her supervisor.

She was recognized by the Lasker Foundation last year. In 1996, Greider received the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research. She has also won the Katharine Berkan Judd Award, the Louisa Gross Horowitz Prize, the Dickson Prize in Medicine, the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences and the Lila Gruber Cancer Research Award, among other awards. Greider has been a fellow at the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Additional Resources:

Download awardee headshots:
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D.
Carol W. Greider, Ph.D.

Listen to Dr. Blackburn's call with Nobelprize.org

Listen to Dr. Greider's call with Nobelprize.org

Telomerase and Cancer by Elizabeth H. Blackburn
Kirk A. Landon - AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research Lecture
Mol Cancer Res September 2005 3:477-482; doi:10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-05-0147

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Media Contact:
Michele Leiberman
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michele.leiberman@aacr.org

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 30,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and nearly 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowship and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 16,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

AACR Holds News Conference on President Obama's Speech to NIH

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:00:00 GMT

EDITOR'S NOTE: The American Association for Cancer Research hosted a news conference on September 30 at 3:00 p.m. ET. A recording of the teleconference is available at the bottom of this page.

President Barack Obama announced on Sept. 30 that the National Institutes of Health has awarded more than 12,000 Recovery Act grants, totaling $5 billion. This funding represents approximately half of the $10.4 billion allocated to NIH in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and will further research to treat and prevent HIV, cancer and heart disease.

Immediately following the announcement, the American Association for Cancer Research convened a panel to discuss the implications of the funding announcement and the challenges ahead.

Tyler Jacks, Ph.D., president of the American Association for Cancer Research, opened with the following statement:

"In today's speech, the president emphatically reiterated his commitment to supporting science and technology for biomedical research in general and for cancer in particular. President Obama is correct in saying that our leaders have not supported science adequately in the recent past. The overwhelming number of grant applications submitted in response to the stimulus funding is a clear indication that there is no shortage of good ideas in America and that with proper funding, powerful new approaches to understanding and controlling cancer can be brought to bear.

"However, as important as the stimulus funding is, without sustained funding the full potential of this investment will not be realized. For example, President Obama announced the expansion of the Cancer Genome Atlas project, which will now characterize the DNA of as many as 20,000 cancer specimens involving 20 cancer types. Yet this information will only have value if we can fund the research that explains how the alterations in cancer genomes can allow us to treat the cancer more effectively or prevent it from occurring at all. The stimulus funding is indeed a windfall for the research community and it is very much appreciated, but we look to the administration to deliver on its promise to provide increased investment in biomedical research over the long term. Only in this way can we ensure that the United States remains the world's leader in scientific breakthroughs and discovery."

Jacks is president of the American Association for Cancer Research, director of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the David H. Koch professor of biology at MIT, and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Additionally, Jacks serves on the editorial board of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, and is a member of the scientific advisory board for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, as well as many other advisory boards.

Also on the panel were:

Rebecca Riggins, Ph.D., research assistant professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, who is currently working on breast cancer research under a stimulus grant.

David Bernstein, Ph.D., senior science policy analyst at the American Association for Cancer Research Washington D.C. office.

Additional Resources:

Listen to the teleconference:

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Health Roundup: A glance at recent news (The Plain Dealer)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: September 15, 2009
The Plain Dealer

Body mass in younger and older adulthood, and weight gain between these periods of life, may influence a man's risk for prostate cancer. This risk varies among different ethnic populations, according to results of a study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

"The relationship of certain characteristics, such as body size, with cancer risk may vary across ethnic groups due to the combined influence of both genes and lifestyle," said lead researcher Brenda Y. Hernandez of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii.

Hernandez and her colleagues examined this relationship in a multiethnic population, using the Multiethnic Cohort, a longitudinal study of 83,879 men aged 45 to 75 years old established in Hawaii and California from 1993 to 1996.

Out of that group, 5,554 were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Being overweight in older adulthood was associated with increased risk of prostate cancer among white and Native Hawaiian men, but a decreased risk among Japanese men. Excessive weight gain between younger and older adulthood increased the risk of advanced and high-grade prostate cancers in white men and increased the risk of localized and low-grade disease in black men, but decreased the risk of localized prostate cancer in Japanese men.

"Different racial and ethnic populations tend to have differing proportions of fat relative to lean mass and carry their fat mass differently," said Elizabeth A. Platz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. "These differences may be used as a launching point for the next line of research: The nature of the weight gain - amount of fat gained and distribution of the fat gained in association with prostate cancer risk overall, and by stage and grade."

Diabetes Medication May Get New Life as Cancer Treatment (Wall Street Journal)

registration@aacr.org () — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Souce Date: September 14, 2009
Source Author: Ron Winslow
The Wall Street Journal

The drug metformin, a mainstay of diabetes care for 15 years, may have a new life as a cancer treatment, researchers said.

In a study in mice, low doses of the drug, combined with a widely used chemotherapy called doxorubicin, shrank breast-cancer tumors and prevented their recurrence more effectively than chemotherapy alone.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence that metformin, marketed as Glugophase by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and available in generic versions, could be a potent antitumor medicine.

They also lend support to an emerging theory that cancer's ability to survive and resist therapy is regulated by cancer stem cells that drive a tumor's growth and survival.

Chemotherapy is effective against many tumors, said Kevin Struhl, a Harvard Medical School researcher and principal investigator of the study. "The problem is cancer stem cells acquire resistance" to treatment, he said. "They are able to regenerate the tumor and as a result you end up with a relapse."

About 5% to 10% of a tumor's cells are believed to be cancer stem cells, he said.

In the report, being published in the Oct. 1 edition of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, researchers said the combination of metformin and doxorubicin killed both regular cancer cells and cancer stem cells.

In contrast, doxorubicin alone had limited effect on the stem cells.

Mice that grew tumors generated from human breast-cancer cells have remained tumor-free for nearly three months on the combined treatment, while tumors have recurred in those not given the diabetes remedy.

Researchers said the results have potentially broad implications for cancer treatment.

"If we could get some magic bullet to hit that stem-cell population, the thought is we could have more effective treatments," said Raymond DuBois, provost and executive vice president, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

It is too early to tell whether and how metformin might be used to treat cancer patients.

A clinical trial testing metformin alone in early-stage breast-cancer patients, after they have had surgery and chemotherapy to treat their tumors, is being sponsored by the National Cancer Institute of Canada and could begin enrolling patients next year, said Jennifer Ligibel, a breast-cancer doctor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. The idea is to see if metformin is effective in preventing the cancer from recurring. U.S. cancer researchers are participating.

The new findings, she said, suggest that additional trials should evaluate metformin in combination with chemotherapy. She wasn't involved in the current research.

Metformin, which was approved in 1994 to lower blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes, achieved peak sales of $2.3 billion in 2001 before patent expirations opened the market to generic competition.

Several recent studies have observed the drug's potential effects against cancer.

One study from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, for instance, found that diabetic patients treated with metformin were less likely to develop pancreatic cancer than those who weren't taking the drug for blood sugar.

How metformin affects cancer isn't certain, but one possibility is that it deprives tumor cells of sugar.

"Cancer cells are gluttons for glucose," said George Prendergast, president and chief executive officer of Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Wynnewood, Pa. "It is likely that metformin is taking advantage of this gluttony of the cancer cell in order to attack it."

Another possibility is that the drug affects the immune system and helps stave off a tumor's recurrence, Dr. Struhl said.

The study was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Struhl and Harvard Medical School have applied for a patent that would cover a combination of metformin and a lower dose of chemotherapy to treat cancer.

Why Racial Profiling Persists in Medical Research (Time Magazine Online)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: August 22, 2009
Source Author: Catherine Elton
Time Magazine Online

While the rest of the country wrangled over the behavior of police officers in the wake of the Henry Louis Gates arrest last month, some scientists were pulling out their hair over racial profiling of a different kind: that perpetrated by medical researchers. Experts within the research community say a small but stubborn streak of racial profiling has long persisted in the medical literature, borne out in studies that attribute health disparities between blacks and whites not to socioeconomics or access to health care alone but also to genetic differences between the races - a concept that implies that a biological category of race exists.

The controversy resurfaced in July with the publication of a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) in which researchers analyzed more than 19,000 patients who participated in clinical trials involving treatments for a variety of cancers. The paper found that all other factors being equal, black patients had on average a significantly lower cancer survival rate than whites. Given that all patients were participating in the same clinical trials, the authors said, there was no difference in terms of access to care. Researchers said also that even after adjusting for patients' socioeconomic status, the survival gap between black and white patients remained for three of the cancers studied: breast, ovarian and prostate. "There is a considerable difference in the statistics. Something big is going on among people who are getting equal care," says lead author Kathy Albain, a breast and lung cancer specialist at Loyola University's cancer center. That something, the authors concluded, must be some unknown biological or genetic factor that differs by race.

That conclusion, critics quickly responded, was flawed. "Race is a sociological concept, not a biological category," says Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. "But this study brings race into medicine as a biological categorization." According to the Human Genome Project, people are indeed well over 99% identical; at the molecular level race is imperceptible. But even while Albain's and other similar studies don't do much to shift the prevailing medical opinion - that disparities in health are fueled mainly by socioeconomics and access to care - they remind us that antiquated and unscientific ideas about race are alive and well in medical research in America.

To be sure, no one is accusing authors like Albain of racism, and people on both sides of the debate want to save lives. But the treatment of race by some medical researchers continues to create a stir. Lisa Carey, a breast cancer specialist at the University of North Carolina, believes that biological differences may well contribute to differences in health, such as the one Albain found, but that any discussion of race turns automatically contentious. "The idea of differences between races has been fraught with misuse over the years, and not just in medicine. Everyone is leery that it could be misused again," she says. "So we have to be careful how we interpret it, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it."

Every few years, in fact, a new study like Albain's materializes, each following a remarkably similar logic: Researchers identify a disparity in health outcomes (cancer survival or response to treatment, for example) that falls along racial fault lines; investigators then adjust for socioeconomic status, and, when the disparity persists, conclude it must be genetic. That consistent failure of reasoning bemuses Jay Kaufman, a McGill University professor of epidemiology who studies health disparities. "Why are we still doing this study?" he says. "If you are trying to make the argument that [different health outcomes] must be genetic by exhausting other possibilities and saying what is left over must be genes, well, that's never going to work. There are a million things that affect people's lives. If you think it's genes, then measure genes."

For Albain's part, she says race is a surrogate for unknown genes - which, scientists agree, play a significant role in health outcomes. "When we find out what the [genetic] 'it' is, we will be able to test everyone for 'it' and we will find some Caucasians who have it and some blacks who don't and we won't be talking about black and white anymore," she says. Still, geneticists point out that hereditary traits follow ancestral lines, not racial ones. And race in America, as it is socially defined, constitutes such broad categories that it is a crude - arguably useless - proxy for genetics.

Yet such studies insistently conclude that, having controlled for socioeconomics, there must be some unknown biological factor (as opposed to some unknown social or cultural factor) at play, says David Williams, a Harvard professor of public health and African American studies. "The biology is a fall-back black box that many researchers use when they find racial differences," he says. "It is knee-jerk reaction. It is not based on science, but on a deeply held, cultural belief about race that the medical field has a hard time giving up."

This is a uniquely American phenomenon, experts say. In other countries, information about race is usually not available to medical researchers, as it isn't collected in census data or in birth and death certificates. In some countries, such as Canada, medical researchers can choose to ask about race, but in other places - France, for example - researchers have a hard time winning approval for any study that specifically involves participants' race. Meanwhile, in the U.S., not only is racial data ubiquitous, its inclusion is mandated by the government in certain medical studies. The 1994 National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act calls for the reporting of racial differences when analyzing treatment effects in clinical trials.

It is that pattern of categorization that makes possible the approval of drugs like Bidil, a heart failure drug that became the first U.S. medication to be approved and marketed expressly for black people, in 2005. But after approval, a deeper look at the research showed that clinical trials of Bidil - a combination of two generic heart drugs - involved only self-described African Americans, and that the drug was not useful for all blacks and very useful for some whites. In other words, the utility of the first race-based drug was not defined by race at all.

In the wake of the Bidil controversy, a poll of some 600 physicians across the country, conducted by a marketing and research firm, found that 81% of doctors still believed race should be used as a biological basis for diagnosing disease.

In a more recent study, published in Cancer Prevention Research, investigators sought to explain another race-based disparity, that whites survive certain head and neck cancers more often than blacks. There was a biological mechanism at play, the authors found: the presence of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV), which appeared to protect patients with oropharyngeal cancer. HPV-positive patients had a five times higher rate of cancer survival than HPV-negative patients; as it turned out, whites had a nine times higher rate of HPV infection than blacks, which the researchers believed largely explained the difference in survival.

The question is, Why the difference in HPV infections? It could have to do with the fact that young white men practice oral sex more often and earlier - a common way young people acquire HPV - than black men, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So, with this particular cancer, the survival gap may well be attributed to sociocultural differences in sexual habits, says Brawley, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. In the hands of another researcher, he says, perhaps these findings would have been chalked up to some unknown biological difference involving race.

Fundamentally researchers do not dispute the fact that biology - namely genetics - helps determine individual health outcomes. But the practice of categorizing patients by race has yet to further the discovery of significant gene mutations. What's more, say critics, it promotes racial thinking while dismissing the more germane issue of socioeconomics. Indeed, Albain and her coauthors used a single, widely disputed metric in their study - patients' zip codes linked to census tract data - to "adjust" for socioeconomic status. Yet researchers know that people living within one zip code can include the city's wealthiest and poorest residents. And even if zip codes were a trustworthy indicator of income and education, they would still be insufficient to level the socioeconomic playing field. As previous studies have shown, whites have more wealth than blacks at every level of income, and at every level of education whites get more returns on their studies. To close the gap in health outcomes, thus, the key is perhaps not to control for socioeconomic disparities but to try to eliminate them altogether.

Lung Cancer Genetics Unravelled (BBC News)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: August 20, 2009
BBC News

The genetics underpinning a smoker's risk of developing lung cancer have been further unpicked by UK scientists.

Three areas of DNA were found to be linked with lung cancer risk in smokers - two of them influencing the type of cancer which develops.

It supports previous studies which have suggested a family link, even after taking smoking into account, a report in the Cancer Research journal says.

Smoking is responsible for nine out of 10 cases of lung cancer.

The Institute of Cancer Research team compared the DNA of 1,900 lung cancer patients and 1,400 healthy individuals.

Information gathered on areas of genetic risk was then tested further in another 2,000 patients with lung cancer and a similar number of healthy volunteers.

Specific differences associated with lung cancer risk were found on chromosomes 5, 6 and 15.

Those with certain genetic changes on chromosome 5 were more likely to get a type of cancer called adenocarcinoma and the region highlighted on chromosome 6 seemed to influence whether a patient developed adenocarcinoma or another type called squamous cell carcinoma.

On chromosome 15, they pinpointed two independent sites that have a role in whether or not a smoker develops lung cancer.

These areas of the genome contain a family of genes that influence smoking behaviour but also cell growth and cell death.

Current or former smokers who carry one copy of each of these genetic variants increase their risk of lung cancer by 28%.

That increases to 80% in smokers who carry two copies.

Those who had the genetic changes but did not smoke had no increased risk of lung cancer.

Trigger

Study leader Professor Richard Houlston said the findings confirmed earlier research.

"The next step is to dig deeper to pinpoint which gene, or genes in these regions, cause the increased risk of developing lung cancer and how they actually trigger this increase."

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK who partly funded the research, said smoking was responsible for the vast majority of lung cancers.

"This research shows that inherited genetic variation accounts for some of this risk and the type of lung cancer that develops."

She added: "The best thing a smoker can do to reduce their risk of lung cancer, and a range of other life-threatening conditions, is to quit."

Dr Noemi Eiser, honorary medical director of the British Lung Foundation, said: "This research is very interesting as it provides further clues as to why some smokers are more prone to developing certain types of lung cancer.

"We now hope that with more research this discovery will lead to the development of early screening techniques and treatments for lung cancer, which is currently the UK's biggest cancer killer."

Living in U.S. Raises Cancer Risk for Hispanics (WebMD)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: August 6, 2009
Source Author: Kathleen Doheny
WebMD

The risk of cancer for Hispanics increases by 40% when they move to the U.S., according to a new study.

The risks of specific cancers, however, differ widely among the Hispanic subgroups of Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans, the researchers also found.

On the positive side, U.S. Hispanics generally have lower cancer incidence than non-Hispanic U.S. whites, says Paulo Pinheiro, MD, PhD, a researcher in the department of epidemiology and public health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, who led the study.

"On the negative side, they increase their risk when they come here for the majority of the analyzed [in his study] cancers," Pinheiro tells WebMD. The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &Prevention.

For the study, Pinheiro and his colleagues analyzed data from the Florida cancer registry for the years 1999-2001 and the 2000 U.S. Census population data. They also used data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization.

It's been known, Pinheiro says, that Hispanics in the U.S. have a generally lower cancer incidence rate than non-Hispanic U.S. whites, especially for breast, colorectal, and lung cancer, but a higher incidence rate for cancers associated with infections and with lower socioeconomic status, such as cervical, liver, and stomach cancers.

But Pinheiro wanted to "unmask" the variation in cancer occurring in the Hispanic subpopulations of Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and others.

"This is the first time we have actually come up with numbers, with cancer rates for each population," he tells WebMD. "Florida is the perfect place to study a wide spectrum [of Hispanic subpopulations]," he says. "All subgroups are represented in sufficient numbers."

In all, nearly 302,000 cancers were diagnosed in Florida residents during the years studied, 1999 to 2001, and that included more than 30,000 Hispanic people, with 68% of them identified to a specific Hispanic subgroup.

Cancer Rates in U.S. vs. Country of Origin

Pinheiro found good and not-so-good news. "The good news is, for all Latinos, [total] cancer incident rates are still lower than for blacks or whites,'' Pinheiro says.

But cancer risk increases after they come to the U.S., he says, presumably as Hispanics adopt unhealthy U.S. lifestyle habits such as eating fast food too frequently.

Even though many studied were first generation, Hispanics in Florida had at least a 40% increased rate of cancer than Hispanics who lived in their countries of origin, the researchers found.

Then the researchers looked more closely at the subgroups. "Each Latino population has a different cancer profile," Pinheiro says. Among his findings:

Puerto Ricans in the study had the highest rates of cancer overall, followed by Cubans and Mexicans.

Puerto Ricans in general had cancer rates close to that of whites, with a few exceptions. Lung cancer and melanoma in men and women and breast cancer in women were lower in Puerto Ricans than in whites. But Puerto Ricans had high rates of cervical, stomach, and liver cancer, the same as in Hispanic countries. Puerto Rican men had the highest rates for oral cavity and liver cancers of all the Hispanic populations analyzed.

Cubans were comparable with whites in cancer rates, including low rates of cervical and stomach cancers. Cuban men were most afflicted by cancer associated with tobacco, such as lung and larynx, bladder, kidney, and pancreas. Cuban women had the highest rate of colorectal cancer among all women studied.

Mexicans had the lowest cancer incidence rate of all the subgroups. They had especially low rates of prostate, breast, endometrial, and colorectal cancers. But they had higher rates of cancers associated with minorities -- such as stomach, cervical, and liver -- than did whites.

Heritage Protects Hispanics

The researchers' finding "confirms some trends we've been seeing in the last few years -- that different U.S. Hispanic populations groups, such as Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans, have higher incidence rates of certain cancers than they do in their homelands," says Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, director of the Institute for Health Promotion and Research and co-associate director of the Cancer Prevention and Population Studies Research Program at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.

"They also tend to have worse cancer outcomes due to less access to health care and late diagnosis," Ramirez says in a prepared statement.

The study also reflects the reality that Hispanics are not a single ethnic group, but represent several population groups, she says.

Ramirez and Pinheiro agree more research focusing on the Hispanic populations is crucial. About one in three people in the U.S. will be Hispanic by 2050, according to Ramirez. And research is lacking.

Hispanic people who immigrated here, Pinheiro says, should realize that their heritage "can be an advantage if they are able to maintain the protective lifestyle that protects them from cancer."

That probably includes a diet that's not rich in red meat, which has been linked with colorectal cancer, he says, and eating meals prepared at home instead of getting fast food.

Ramirez tells WebMD: "Hispanic patients, no matter what Hispanic population group they belong to, should fully describe their heritage, family history, and health behaviors to their physician or medial professional." That information, she says, will help the health care provider take the patient's background into account to provide the best health care.

Oral Sex Cause of Throat Cancer Rise (WebMD)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: July 29, 2009
Source Author: Salynn Boyles
WebMD

Changing sexual practices have led to a dramatic rise in throat cancer in the United States over the past two decades, and experts say they fear an epidemic of the disease.

The comments were made Wednesday at a news conference held by the American Association for Cancer Research to discuss research into the role of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus ( HPV) in head and neck cancer.

Increasing rates of HPV infection, spread through oral sex, is largely driving the rapid rise in oropharyngeal cancers, which include tumors of the throat, tonsils, and base of the tongue, said Scott Lippman, MD, who chairs the thoracic department at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Studies of oropharyngeal tumor tissue stored 20 years ago show that only around 20% are HPV positive, Lippman said. Today it is estimated that 60% of patients are infected with the virus.

"The percentage of oropharyngeal cancers that are HPV positive is much higher now than it was 20 years ago," he said. "This is a real trend, and that is why there is concern of an epidemic given that fact that oropharyngeal cancer is increasing at an alarming rate."

Changing Face of Throat Cancer

Smoking and alcohol abuse were once considered the only major risk factors for these cancers, but this is no longer the case.

American Cancer Society Chief Medical Officer Otis Brawley, MD, said as many as half of the oropharyngeal cancers diagnosed today appear to be caused by HPV infection.

"Changing sexual practices over the last 20 years, especially as they relate to oral sex, are increasing the rate of head and neck cancers and may be increasing the rates of other cancers as well," he said.

He added that there is some evidence that oral HPV infection is also a risk factor for a type of cancer of the esophagus.

"The paradigm is changing," Lippman said. "The types of patients we are seeing now with oropharyngeal cancers are not the patients we have classically seen who were older, smokers, and have lots of other problems. These are young people, executives, a whole different population."

Oral Sex Not Safe Sex

The experts agreed that it is critical for the public to understand that oral sex doesn't equal safe sex.

The message was unofficially promoted in the early days of the HIV epidemic and it is still widely believed by many, especially teens.

Studies suggest that teens are often unaware of the risks associated with unprotected oral sex, including the transmission of HPV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea.

"There is a huge public health message here," Brawley said.

Hispanics Who Move to U.S. Face Higher Cancer Rates (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org () — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: August 6, 2009
Source Author: Oluwanifemi Mabayoje
New York Times

Hispanics who move to the United States are 40 percent more likely to develop certain cancers than those who remain in their native countries, according to a study from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine that was conducted in Florida, a state with a diverse Hispanic population.

Researchers speculate that one reason for the increase in cancer risk is that immigrants quickly adopt new, less healthy dietary and lifestyle habits, such as increased alcohol consumption, after moving to the United States. It is also possible that some of the increase may be due to more aggressive diagnostic measures in the United States that result in greater cancer detection compared to other countries.

The study analyzed data from the 301,944 cancer cases that were reported to the Florida Cancer Data system between 1999 and 2001. It is being published this week in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Researchers found that after moving to Florida, Cuban-Americans experienced the most dramatic increase in cancer rates, while Mexican-Americans experienced the least. Overall, Puerto Ricans who had moved to Florida had the highest cancer rates, followed by Cuban-Americans, while Mexican-Americans had the lowest.

The differences among the Hispanic groups were somewhat surprising to the researchers. A possible explanation is that "Mexicans in Florida are very recent arrivals. They have had less exposure to the U.S. environment," said Dr. Paulo Pinheiro, deputy director of the Global Research and Evaluation Center at the university and the study's lead researcher.

Cubans who had moved to Florida faced the biggest increases in rates of colorectal, endometrial and prostate cancers compared to those who remained in Cuba. These cancers may be influenced in part by diet, the researchers noted.

Men in all the Hispanic subgroups in the United States were also more likely than the men who remained in their native countries to develop tobacco related cancers like lung cancer. The highest incident of lung cancer among Hispanic men in Florida was observed in Cuban-Americans.

Puerto Ricans who had moved to Florida were more likely to develop alcohol related cancers, such as liver cancer. Although Mexican women overall tend to have the highest rates of cervical cancer, Puerto Rican women were the only subgroup that experienced an increase in cervical cancer risks upon arriving in the United States. Further research will be needed to explain why this occurred.

Despite the observed increase in cancer rates, first-generation Hispanics living in Florida still have lower overall cancer rates than whites or blacks in the state. And for two types of cancer, stomach cancer and, in women, liver cancer, rates decreased. Stomach cancer, the researchers noted, is related to methods of fresh food preservation, salting and vitamin C consumption.

"Beneficial behaviors learned from one's homeland should be preserved," Dr. Pinheiro said, "and there are some lifestyles in the U.S. that probably should not be adopted."

Living in U.S. Raises Cancer Risk for Hispanics, Study Finds

registration@aacr.org () — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: August 6, 2009
Source Author: Anne Ferrer
Bloomberg News

Living in U.S. Raises Cancer Risk for Hispanics, Study Finds

Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Hispanics who move to the U.S. are at greater risk for getting cancer than those living in their countries of origin, whether they're from Mexico, Puerto Rico or Cuba, according to a study.

Cancer rates of Hispanic immigrants living in Florida were 40 percent higher than those of compatriots in their home countries, University of Miami researchers found. Hispanics had overall lower rates of cancer than non-Hispanics, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

More than 30,000 Hispanics were diagnosed with cancer in Florida from 1999 to 2001, the time period analyzed in the study. Greater smoking rates, different reproductive trends in the U.S., such as a higher age of first birth and increased use of hormone therapy, and better access to certain screening tests, may help explain the discrepancy between the Hispanic immigrants and those in their home countries, the study said.

"Changed lifestyles may be cause for changes in risk," said University of Miami researcher Paulo Pinheiro, the study's lead author.

The study is the first in the U.S. to assess cancer rates for Hispanic subpopulations, Pinheiro said. Florida's Hispanic diversity allowed researchers to compare patterns of cancer between Hispanics and non-Hispanics in Florida and Hispanics living in their countries of origins.

The research analyzed 301,944 cancer cases of Florida residents from 1999 to 2001.

Comparative Rates

Puerto Ricans showed the highest cancer rates of all Hispanic groups in Florida with an average of 574.8 cases per 100,000 men and 412.4 cases per 100,000 women. Mexicans had the lowest rates with an average of 376.8 per 100,000 men and 318 per 100,000 women.

Cubans ranked second behind Puerto Ricans with an average of 557.8 cases per 100,000 men and 380.8 per 100,000 women. Cubans had higher rates among the groups of illnesses linked to tobacco, such as lung, bladder and kidney cancers, the report said.

"We always talk about Hispanics as a whole group," Pinheiro said. "But when we separate the different subpopulations, there are significant differences."

The findings support research from the 1980s that compared patterns of cancer in Puerto Rico with Hispanics in New York City. Both studies suggest that U.S. Puerto Ricans are more susceptible to most malignancies, including liver cancer in males and cervical cancer in females, according to today's report.

"It's interesting, because it suggests that there is constancy in the change of patterns," said Pinheiro. "Now we have two findings in two different decades from two different places."

This research may help educate Hispanics on healthier living and lead scientists to research Hispanic subpopulations within the U.S. more often, Pinheiro said.

Findings May Explain Gap in Cancer Survival (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org () — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: August 4, 2009
Source Author: Roni Caryn Rabin
New York Times

Scientists say they have made a discovery that may help explain the racial gap in cancer survival, providing clues to why white patients often outlive blacks even when they have what appear to be the same cancers.

The insights come from research at the University of Maryland into throat cancer and squamous-cell cancers of the head and neck, which have been increasing sharply in recent years, apparently because of the human papillomavirus -- the same sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer and is the target of a vaccine for girls.

The virus can also be spread through oral sex, causing cancer of the throat and tonsils, or oropharyngeal cancer.

The new research builds on earlier work suggesting that throat cancer tumors caused by the virus behave very differently from other throat cancers, and actually respond better to treatment. And the new research suggests that whites are more likely than blacks to have tumors linked to the virus, which may explain the poor outcomes of African-Americans with HPV-negative tumors.

University of Maryland researchers did the study after finding that their white patients with throat cancer were surviving 70 months on average, compared with 25 months for their black patients, even though all were treated at the same hospital.

The racial disparity in survival for oropharyngeal cancers explained most of the gap between blacks and whites for all head and neck cancers, the researchers said.

''We were shocked to see this in our own institution, where more than half of the patients we treat are African-American,'' said Dr. Kevin J. Cullen, director of the Greenebaum Cancer Center at University of Maryland and senior author of the new study, in the September issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

Around the same time, the Maryland researchers were analyzing specimens of head and neck tumors gathered from participants in a treatment trial called the TAX 324 study, to determine how many tumors were linked to HPV.

The results were striking: the TAX 324 patients whose tumors were caused by the virus responded much better to treatment with chemotherapy and radiation. And they were also overwhelmingly white.

While about one-half of the white patients' throat tumors were HPV-positive, only one of the black patients had a tumor caused by the virus, Dr. Cullen said.

''There was no difference in the survival between black and white patients in the TAX 324 trials if you subtracted out the HPV-positive patients,'' he said.

The racial gap has often been explained as a result of late diagnosis among African-Americans, lack of access to care and less aggressive treatment, but experts said that in the case of oropharyngeal cancer, there appeared to be distinct biological differences between the tumors.

This suggests that the racial gap in survival for this particular cancer may trace back to social and cultural differences between blacks and whites, including different sexual practices, experts said.

At a briefing for reporters, leading cancer experts called the new report a landmark paper that would transform the treatment of oropharyngeal cancers and challenge doctors to develop new treatment options for patients with HPV-negative tumors.

Dr. Otis Brawley, medical director of the American Cancer Society, who wrote an editorial accompanying the report, said that changing sexual practices were increasing rates of head and neck cancers, and perhaps others as well.

''There is a huge public health message here,'' he said.

HPV Infection Linked to Survival in Some Head and Neck Cancers (ABC News)

registration@aacr.org () — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: Aug. 1, 2009
Source Author: By Michael Smith
ABC News

In Important Twist, Researchers Find HPV-Related Cancers to Be More Treatable

In what some doctors are calling the most important development in head and neck cancer in decades, researchers have discovered that head and neck cancers caused by the human papillomavirus, otherwise known as HPV, are more survivable than other forms of head and neck cancer.

Having an HPV-positive tumor was associated with significantly longer overall survival in two different studies, according to Dr. Kevin Cullen, director of the Greenebaum Cancer Center of the University of Maryland in Baltimore, and colleagues.

The finding also helps to explain why black Americans with throat cancer, otherwise known as oropharyngeal cancer do worse than whites, the researchers said in the September issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

At a press conference Wednesday, Cullen and other experts told reporters that the finding should change practice. "We are now testing for HPV, which we weren't doing even a few months ago," Cullen said.

HPV testing for patients with throat cancer has implications for both prognosis and treatment, he said.

Overall, Cullen said, blacks are known to have worse outcomes for a type of cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, although the reasons for the differences have not been entirely clear.

"This is the first clue that it may be biologic rather than related to issues of access, insurance or provider attitudes," he said.

The "paradox," Cullen told reporters, is that "HPV may cause some of these cancers, but HPV-positive cancers behave biologically very well -- they are very responsive to chemotherapy and radiation."

He said the virus is not protective, but instead gives rise to cancers that are more vulnerable to treatment with chemotherapy and radiation than are those caused by tobacco and alcohol use.

Research Explains Race Difference in Throat Cancer Survival

The black-white difference is caused by significantly lower rates of oral HPV among blacks, which may be a function of differing sexual practices, Cullen said during the press conference.

Indeed, acquiring an HPV infection through genital sex would tend to protect a person against a subsequent oral infection and vice versa, according to Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

Brawley told reporters that there is some evidence of racial differences in sexual behavior risks, especially among teenagers.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said, has found "distinct preferences" among young whites for oral sex as their initial sexual activity and among black youths for genital sex.

Such a difference in behavior "makes a lot of sense in terms of causation," he said.

In the current study, the researchers first analyzed a retrospective cohort of 106 white and 95 black patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and found that median overall survival was 52.1 months for whites and 23.7 months for blacks.

The difference was due entirely to overall survival in the subgroup with oropharyngeal cancer, where whites had a median overall survival of 69.4 months and blacks just 23.7 months.

The study makes an "extremely important finding that has tremendously important public health implications," according to Dr. Scott Lippman of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, editor of the journal.

"It's the most important development in head and neck cancer that I've seen in the past 30 years," he said.

For doctors, Brawley said, the study "will change how we practice. Everybody will now want to look at their head and neck cancers and analyze them for HPV."

He noted that the study implies that the apparent black-white difference in outcomes is really a difference in who is infected with HPV.

"It's a landmark paper for two reasons," said Dr. Martin Blaser of New York University Langhorne Medical Center, an expert in the links between infectious agents and cancer.

More Clues for Virus-Linked Cancers

First, he said, it clarifies the links between the disease and racial differences in outcomes. But the research also has implications for understanding the biology of cancer and the links with infectious agents, he added.

"This study is important because it helps explain both cancer causation," he said, "and also differences in incidence and outcome."

Viral Infection May Explain Racial Differences in Oral Cancer Death Rates (New York Times)

registration@aacr.org () — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Source Date: July 31, 2009
Source Author: Roni Caryn Rabin
New York Times

African-American patients with head and neck cancers die earlier than whites, and researchers say they have made a breakthrough in understanding the underlying reasons for the racial gap.

After scientists at the University of Maryland noticed that whites treated at their hospital for squamous cell head and neck cancers lived more than twice as long as black patients who received the same care at their hospital, they took a closer look. Further analysis revealed that the gap was almost entirely due to differences in survival among patients with cancer of the throat and tonsils, or oropharyngeal cancer.

The scientists were also involved in analyzing specimens of head and neck tumors taken from participants in a treatment trial called the TAX 324 study, to see how many tumors were linked to the human papillomavirus, the same HPV-16 virus that has been linked to cervical cancer.

The results were striking: they found that patients whose tumors were HPV-positive did much better after treatment than patients who were negative for the virus. Yet while half of the throat cancer patients had HPV-positive tumors, 98 percent of the positive tumors were from white patients, while a vast majority of black patients had HPV-negative tumors.

"There was no difference in the survival between black and white patients in the TAX 324 trials, if you subtracted out the HPV-positive patients," said Dr. Kevin Cullen, the senior author of a paper published online by the journal Cancer Prevention Research. White patients who were HPV-negative fared as poorly as the HPV-negative blacks, he said.

Experts say the challenge for doctors now is to explore new treatments for HPV-negative patients, whether black or white.

Getting Closer to Controlling Cancer

registration@aacr.org (By Robert Weiner, Patricia Berg, and Paulette Garthoff ) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:00:00 GMT

The stimulus legislation signed by President Obama has generated a sense of excitement and opportunity among the 17,000 scientists who will gather in Denver during April 18-22 for the 100th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Cancer still killed 565,000 Americans last year - 18,358 developed cancer in Colorado, and 6,395 died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Medical investigators have welcomed the increase in the NIH (National Institutes of Health) budget to $40 billion from $30 billion, including $8.2 billion for research. Advances against all diseases will benefit.

Cancer researchers have enthusiastically supported President Obama's strong backing for science and cancer research - "seeking a cure for cancer in our time," as he told Congress in February.

A major portion of the new money - $1.2 billion - will go to NIH's National Cancer Institute for its research as well as for outside grant distribution.

While most of the outreach funds will be directed to large, traditional grantees, a small portion ($100-200 million) will go to "challenge" grants for basic innovative research, often conducted at small laboratories.

That is where the excitement begins to unravel a bit, because less than 10 percent of grant applications for small laboratories making novel discoveries are expected to be approved.

From discovering genes activated in breast and prostate cancer, to finding drugs to suppress cancers, to creating new diagnostic tools to locate and prevent the spread of the disease, the basic scientist's mission is a major part of the progress that has reduced cancer mortality rates significantly between 1990 and 2004, avoiding more than a half million deaths.

The word "cancer," in fact, is misunderstood - it encompasses more than 200 diseases, explains Dr. Margaret Foti, AACR's CEO.

Although the death rate has declined two percent a year since 1999, 1,500 Americans a day still die from the disease. Cancer is the nation's number-two killer behind heart disease.

Dr. Foti says that "institutions all over the country are having emergency meetings" on how to apply for a share of the stimulus money and "maximize the opportunity" this moment creates.

Foti, who has spent 27 years running the country's primary cancer research scientists' organization, presses the point that cancer investigators are "right at the threshold of major discoveries" and "basic scientific knowledge is waiting" to be uncovered.

She notes the interlocking relationships among cancers-what she calls "a cascade of genes." Breakthroughs for one will pay off for others. For example, she says that researchers are poised "to extrapolate breast and ovarian cancer findings to other cancers."

The under 10% NCI funding of requested research projects is down from 25 percent a decade ago - and because of new applications the stimulus will not change that.

NIH has seen its budget go down in real terms every year for the past seven, a 14 percent decline. Stimulus money provides a useful two-year increase - and NIH insiders are concerned about what happens after that. Research must not end in two years.

Researchers must be as creative in their funding requests as in their quest for disease cures. If the recent formula holds, grants will still be almost impossible to get. It is necessary for large organizations to receive new funding. The smaller players must also mobilize their work.

Dr. Foti asserts that funds are needed to "keep the lab research engine going, ensure new drugs to get into the clinical-trials pipeline, and support the development of molecular therapies."

There is no substitute for the Federal research catalyst. Mark Hurlbert, the Avon Foundation's senior adviser for grants and partnerships, has noted that for breast cancer alone, $600 million annually has come from NCI before the Stimulus and the Department of Defense has provided $2.2 billion total since 1992, versus Komen $900 million since 1988, Avon $520 million since 1992, Revlon $110 million since 1992.

President Obama has declared April "Cancer Control Month." With the proper mix of funding for institutions large and small and with a commitment to multi-year research, we will be closer to controlling cancer.