Ovarian Cancer Community Joins Forces to Fight Deadliest Gynecologic Cancer. The New Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team Will Launch in 2015.
The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, and the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition Team Up to Fund New Translational Research Ovarian Cancer “Dream Team.”
Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all the gynecologic cancers. Almost 22,000 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014, and more than 14,000 women will lose their lives to the disease. By collaborating to fund an Ovarian Cancer Dream Team, OCRF, OCNA and NOCC, with SU2C, will further research in the field that can lead to new treatments and improved patient outcomes.
Later this month, SU2C, through its science partner the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), will issue a “Call for Ideas” from researchers and scientists worldwide. The selected Dream Team will be announced next spring, with research beginning in July 2015.
“Ovarian Cancer Research Fund has been the leading nonprofit funder of ovarian cancer research for years, and this new collaboration is a wonderful way to mark our 20th anniversary,” said Audra Moran, CEO of Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. “We are excited that the Dream Team grant will continue our long tradition of supporting the most innovative research in the field, while providing scientists with a vital new source of financial support.”
Calaneet Balas, CEO of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, said: “I am so thrilled that our three organizations are coming together to fight the disease we all care so much about. I believe the Ovarian Cancer Dream Team will be paradigm-shifting for our community, and I cannot wait to see what comes from this new initiative. We’re proud of the work the Alliance has done to secure federal research funding on behalf of all women, but the Dream Team gives us new opportunities for collaboration and innovation.”
“We are both proud and excited to join in supporting the Ovarian Cancer Dream Team, the first-ever collaboration of such efforts,” said David Barley, CEO of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. “We are looking forward to being instrumental in furthering ovarian cancer research. The impacts on families and communities continue to make ovarian cancer “More Than a Woman’s Disease®.” By working together we hope to make a difference in the lives of everyone we touch.”
About the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF), founded in 1994, is the oldest and largest charity in the United States funding ovarian cancer research, and ranks third in overall ovarian cancer research funding only after the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Its mission is to fund scientific research that leads to more effective identification, treatment, and ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer, as well as related educational and support initiatives. OCRF has invested nearly $60 million in ovarian cancer research through 217 grants to scientists at 65 leading medical centers in the United States. OCRF continues to take the lead in funding the best and most promising ovarian cancer research while supporting women and their loved ones affected by this terrible disease in our quest to end it. For more information, please visit www.ocrf.org.
About the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance is a powerful voice for everyone touched by ovarian cancer. We connect survivors, women at risk, caregivers, and health providers with the information and resources they need. We ensure that ovarian cancer is a priority for lawmakers and agencies in Washington, DC, and throughout the country. We help our community raise their voices on behalf of every life that has been affected by this disease. For more information, please visit: www.ovariancancer.org
About the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
Since its inception in 1995, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC) has been committed to raising awareness, promoting education, and funding research in support of women, families, and communities touched by ovarian cancer. NOCC is well-established as an important national advocate for patients and families struggling with ovarian cancer. NOCC remains steadfast in its mission to save lives by fighting tirelessly to prevent and cure ovarian cancer, and to improve the quality of life for survivors. For more information, please visit: www.ovarian.org.
About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) and a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry’s resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about cancer prevention as well as progress being made in the fight against the disease. For more information, please visit: www.standup2cancer.org
Veridex, LLC announces a collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital to develop and commercialize a next-generation circulating tumor cell technology for capturing, counting and characterizing tumor cells found in patients’ blood.
Yesterday, Veridex, LLC (Veridex) announced a collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to develop and commercialize a next-generation circulating tumor cell (CTC) technology for capturing, counting and characterizing tumor cells found in patients’ blood. The collaboration will involve Ortho Biotech Oncology Research & Development (ORD), a unit of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development. It focuses on the development of a next-generation system that will enable CTCs to be used both by oncologists as a diagnostic tool for personalizing patient care, as well as by researchers to accelerate and improve the process of drug discovery and development.
The collaboration will rely on the collective scientific, technical, clinical, and commercial expertise between the partners: MGH’s experience in clinical research and novel CTC technologies; the experience of Veridex as the only diagnostics company to have brought CTC technology to the U.S. market as an FDA-cleared in vitro diagnostic (IVD) assay ( “CellSearch® CTC Test”) for capturing and counting the number of tumor cells in the blood to help inform patients and their physicians about prognosis and overall survival in certain types of metastatic cancers; and ORD’s expertise in oncology therapeutics, biomarkers and companion diagnostics. The platform to be developed will be a bench-top system to specifically isolate and explore the biology of rare cells at the protein, RNA and DNA levels.
“This new technology has the potential to facilitate an easy-to-administer, non-invasive blood test that would allow us to count tumor cells, and to characterize the biology of the cells,” said Robert McCormack, Head of Technology Innovation and Strategy, Veridex. “Harnessing the information contained in these cells in an in vitro clinical setting could enable tools to help select treatment and monitor how patients are responding.”
“The role of CTCs in drug discovery and development is growing as new technologies allow us to use CTCs for the first time as templates for novel DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers,” said Nicholas Dracopoli, Vice President, Biomarkers, ORD. “Given the demand for actionable data to guide personalized medicine for patients with cancer, there is a rapidly growing need for advanced, automated non-invasive technologies that can aid in selection of treatment and monitor response throughout the course of their disease.”
Mehmet Toner, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) & Harvard Medical School; Director, MGH BioMicro- ElectroMechanical Systems Resource Center
“The challenging goal of sorting extremely rare circulating tumor cells from blood requires continuous technological, biological and clinical innovation to fully explore the utility of these precious cells in clinical oncology,” said Mehmet Toner, Ph.D., director of the BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems Resource Center in the MGH Center for Engineering in Medicine. “We have developed and continue to develop a broad range of technologies that are evolving what we know about cancer and cancer care. This collaboration is an opportunity to apply our past learning to the advancement of a platform that will ultimately benefit patients with cancer.”
Building on its successful development and evolution of CTC technology, as well as contributions to the body of science in the CTC field, MGH aims to revolutionize how oncologists detect, monitor and potentially treat cancers. The MGH team has already developed two generations of a microfluidic chip capable of capturing CTCs with a high rate of efficiency. However the third generation technology now being developed with the companies is based on a new technological platform and will aim for even higher sensitivity, as well as suitability for broad applications and ready dissemination.
In the above demonstration of the first generation CTC-Chip, circulating tumor cells (fluorescent labeled, shown in white) mixed with blood (not labeled) are captured on nano-scale posts as they flow through the chip. The chip is the size of a microscope slide with 78,000 posts, which are coated with antibodies to epithelial cell adhesion molecules in tumor cells. (Video courtesy of Dr. Sunitha Nagrath, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School)
“This agreement is quite different from the usual academic-industrial agreement because we will be working together to bring new MGH-invented technology from its current, very early stage, through prototype and scale-up, to our ultimate goals of FDA approval and clinical adoption,” says Dr. Toner. “Our innovation team will be dedicated to developing this technology from its basic scientific principles all the way to initial prototyping within the biological research and clinical environments. Veridex has the knowledge required to translate early-stage technology into a product that can be reliably manufactured and meet regulatory requirements.
“Applying data gathered from CTCs to the care of cancer patients is a complex problem, and our strategy is to diversify technological approaches to find the best solutions for specific applications,” Toner adds. “We may find that different technologies work better for diagnosis, for prognosis and for the long-term goal of early detection; so we don’t want to confine ourselves to a single option.” His team is continuing to develop the microfluidic chip technology, with the support of Stand Up to Cancer.
Daniel A. Haber, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Daniel Haber, MD, PhD, director of the MGH Cancer Center, says, “The ability to establish a dedicated MGH research center focused on the intersection of bioengineering, molecular biology and clinical oncology presents an opportunity to develop a next-generation platform that will help us detect, define and monitor cancer cells more effectively – which should make an enormous difference in the lives of so many patients and their families.”
About Circulating Tumor Cells
Circulating tumor cells are cancer cells that have detached from the tumor and are found at extremely low levels in the bloodstream. The value of capturing and counting CTCs is evolving as more research data is gathered about the utility of these markers in monitoring disease progression and potentially guiding personalized cancer therapy.
About Veridex, LLC
Veridex, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, is an organization dedicated to providing physicians with high-value diagnostic oncology products. Veridex’s IVD products may significantly benefit patients by helping physicians make more informed decisions that enable better patient care. Veridex’s Clinical Research Solutions provide tools and services that may be used for the selection, identification and enumeration of targeted rare cells in peripheral blood for the identification of biomarkers, aiding scientists in their search for new, targeted therapies. For more information, visit www.veridex.com.
About Ortho Biotech Oncology Research & Development
Ortho Biotech Oncology Research & Development, a unit of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, is a research and development organization that strives to transform cancer to a preventable, chronic or curable disease by delivering extraordinary and accessible diagnostic and therapeutic solutions that prolong and improve patients’ lives.
About Massachusetts General Hospital
Celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1811, Massachusetts General Hospital is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of more than $600 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, systems biology, transplantation biology and photomedicine. For more information visit http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/.
…[T]here are several PI3K signaling pathway targeting drugs in clinical development for use against ovarian cancer and solid tumors, including GDC-0941, BEZ235, SF1126, XL-147, XL-765, BGT226, and PX-866. The results of two recent medical studies suggest that the use of PI3K-targeted therapies may offer an effective therapeutic approach for patients with advanced-stage and recurrent ovarian cancer, including a generally chemotherapy-resistant histological subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer known as “ovarian clear cell cancer” (OCCC). The targeting of the PI3K pathway in endometrial, ovarian, and breast cancer is also being investigated by a Stand Up To Cancer “Dream Team.” …
In 2004 and 2005, multiple researchers identified mutations in the PIK3CA gene with respect to multiple cancers.[1] The PIK3CA gene encodes the PI3K catalytic subunit p110α. PI3K (phosphoinositide 3- kinase) proteins have been identified in crucial signaling pathways of ovarian cancer cells. PI3Ks are also part of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway which promotes cellular glucose metabolism, proliferation, growth, survival, and invasion and metastasis in many cancers. PIK3CA gene mutations can increase PI3K signaling, thereby activating the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway within cancer cells.
Frequent Mutation of PIK3CA Gene In Recurrent & Advanced Clear Cell Ovarian Cancer
OCCC is one of the five major subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer. OCCC accounts for only 4% to 12% of epithelial ovarian cancer in Western countries and, for unknown reasons, it comprises more than 20% of such cancers in Japan [3,4,5]. OCCC possesses unique clinical features such as a high incidence of stage I disease, a large pelvic mass, an increased incidence of venous thromboembolic complications, and hypercalcemia. It is frequently associated with endometriosis. Compared to serous ovarian cancer, OCCC is relatively resistant to conventional platinum and taxane-based chemotherapy. For these reasons, new effective therapies are desperately needed for OCCC.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) analyzed 97 OCCC tumors for genetic sequence mutations in KRAS (v-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog), BRAF (v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1), PIK3CA (phosphoinositide-3-kinase, catalytic, alpha polypeptide), TP53 (tumor protein p53), PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog), and CTNNB1 (Catenin, Beta-1) as these mutations frequently occur in other major types of ovarian cancers.[6] The samples tested included the following:
18 OCCCs for which affinity-purified tumor cells from fresh specimens were available;
Upon test completion, the researchers discovered that sequence mutations of PIK3CA, TP53, KRAS, PTEN, CTNNB1, and BRAF occurred in 33%, 15%, 7%, 5%, 3%, and 1% of OCCC cases, respectively.
Clear cell carcinoma of the ovary (Photo: Geneva Foundation For Medical Education & Research)
The sequence analysis of the 18 affinity purified OCCC tumors and the 10 OCCC cell lines showed a PIK3CA mutation frequency of 46%. Based upon these findings the researchers concluded that the use of PIK3CA-targeting drugs may offer a more effective therapeutic approach compared with current chemotherapeutic agents for patients with advanced-stage and recurrent OCCC. As noted above, there are several PI3K-targeting drugs in clinical development for use against ovarian cancer and solid tumors.[2]
Notably, one of the researchers involved with this OCCC study is Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Slamon serves as the Director of Clinical/Translational Research, and as Director of the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Slamon is also a professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Executive Vice Chair of Research for UCLA’s Department of Medicine. Dr. Slamon is a co-discoverer of the breast cancer drug Herceptin®. Herceptin is a monoclonal antibody targeted therapy used against HER-2 breast cancer, an aggressive breast cancer subtype that affects 20% to 30% of women with the disease. Herceptin’s development was based, in part, upon the unique genetic profile of HER-2 breast cancer as compared to other forms of breast cancer. Herceptin® revolutionized the treatment of HER-2 postive breast cancer and is recognized worldwide as the standard of care for that subtype of breast cancer. The approach taken by Johns Hopkins and UCLA researchers in this study — the identification of a subtype within a specific form of cancer that may be susceptible to a targeted therapy — bears a striking similarity to the overarching approach taken in the development of Herceptin®.
Ovarian Cancer & Other Solid Tumors With PIK3CA Gene Mutations Respond To PI3K-AKT-mTOR Pathway Inhibitors In Phase I Clinical Testing.
Filip Janku, M.D., Ph.D, a clinical research fellow with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s department of investigational cancer therapeutics, and colleagues conducted a mutational analysis of exon 9 and exon 20 of the PI3KCA gene using DNA from the tumors of patients referred to targeted therapy clinical trials. Patients with PIK3CA mutations were preferably treated whenever possible with regimens utilizing PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway inhibitors.
As part of this study 117 tumor samples were analyzed. PIK3CA mutations were detected in 14 (12%) patients. In tumor types with more than 5 patients tested, PIK3CA mutations were identified in endometrial cancer (43%, 3 out of 7 patients), ovarian cancer (22%, 5 out of 23 patients), squamous head and neck cancer (14%, 1 out of 7 patients), breast cancer (18%, 2 out of 11 patients), and colon cancer (15%, 2 out of 13 patients). No mutations were identified in patients with melanoma or cervical cancer.
Of the 14 patients found to possess PIK3CA mutations, 10 were treated based upon a clinical trial protocol that included a drug targeting the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. A partial response to treatment was experienced by 4 (40%) patients. Although the total number of patients is small, there were 2 (67%) patient responses in 3 endometrial cancer cases, 1 (25%) patient response in 4 ovarian cancer cases, 1 (100%) patient response in 1 breast cancer, and no patient response in 1 colorectal cancer case. Although the total number of study patients is small, the researchers conclude that the response rate appears high (40%) in tumors with PIK3CA mutations treated with PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway inhibitors.
“The implications of this study are twofold,” said Dr. Janku. “We demonstrated that PIK3CA testing is feasible and may contribute to the decision-making process when offering a patient a clinical trial. Although this study suffers from low numbers, the response rate observed in patients treated with inhibitors of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway based on their mutational status was well above what we usually see in phase-1 clinical trials.” “These results are intriguing but at this point should be interpreted with caution,” said Janku. “The promising response rate needs to be confirmed in larger groups of patients. We expect to learn more as this project continues to offer PIK3CA screening to patients considering a phase-1 clinical trial.”
Stand Up 2 Cancer Dream Team: Targeting the PI3K Pathway in Women’s Cancers
The potential importance of the PI3K pathway in the treatment of ovarian cancer is emphasized by the two medical studies above. This issue is also receiving considerable attention from one of the Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C) “Dream Teams,” which is going to evalute the potential for targeting the PI3K pathway in women’s cancer. SU2C assigned $15 million of cancer research funding to this critical issue. The scientists involved in this SU2C Dream Team are the pioneers who discovered the PI3K pathway and validated its role in human cancers, and they will focus on breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers, all of which possess the PI3K mutation.
The leader and co-leaders of the PI3K pathway SU2C team are set forth below.
The specific SU2C Dream Team research goal with respect to targeting the PI3K pathway in women’s cancers is stated as follows:
The PI3K pathway is mutated in more cancer patients than any other, and these mutations are the most frequent events in women’s cancers, making it an attractive molecular target for agents that inhibit these genetic aberrations. If successful, this project will allow clinicians to use biomarkers and imaging techniques to predict which patients will benefit from PI3K pathway inhibitors and lead to the development of therapeutic combinations that will hit multiple targets in the complex pathways that contribute to cancer cell growth. This work will help assure that these therapies are given to patients who will benefit from them, and it will also increase the overall pace of clinical trials targeting PI3K inhibitors.
Based upon the two studies discussed, and the creation and funding of the SU2C Dream Team for the purpose of targeting the PI3K pathway in women’s cancer, the future holds great promise in the battle against ovarian cancer (including OCCC). It is our hope that more clinical study investigators will offer PI3K pathway mutation screening to all ovarian cancer patient volunteers. Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ will continue to monitor the clinical development of PI3K pathway inhibitors, and make our readers aware of all future developments.
2/For open ovarian cancer clinical trials using a PI3K-targeted therapy; CLICK HERE; For open solid tumor clinical trials using a PI3K-targeted therapy, CLICK HERE.
Today, Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ added a new widget to the homepage right sidebar. The widget, provided by SocialVibe.com, allows our sponsor, the TNT Network, to make donations to Stand Up To Cancer, which is our supported cause. Here’s how it works. For each visitor who comes to our website and clicks on the widget to interact with the TNT Network brand, TNT makes a donation on our behalf directly to Stand Up To Cancer. Better yet, it’s all free to Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ and our visitors. It provides you, the visitor, with a way to support cancer research without having to make an actual cash donation.
Today, Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ added a new widget to the homepage right sidebar. The widget, provided by SocialVibe.com, allows our sponsor, the TNT Network, to make donations to Stand Up To Cancer, which is our supported cause. Here’s how it works. For each visitor who comes to our website and clicks on the widget to interact with the TNT Network brand, TNT makes a donation on our behalf directly to Stand Up To Cancer. Better yet, it’s all free to Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ and our visitors. It provides you, the visitor, with a way to support cancer research without having to make an actual cash donation. Please note that Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ does not receive any monetary benefit from SocialVibe or TNT for displaying the widget.
Upon clicking our SocialVibe widget, you will be asked to answer the question “Who’s Your Hero,” and you will be able to view upcoming previews from TNT’s new television series entitled HawthoRNe, which stars Jada Pinkett Smith. Pinkett Smith plays Christina Hawthorne, a compassionate and headstrong Chief Nursing Officer, who leads a group of dedicated nurses at the fictional Richmond Trinity Hospital. Hawthorne is the kind of nurse that you want on your side when you or someone you love is in the hospital. She is the kind of nurse who fights for her patients and does not let them slip through the cracks. When necessary, she takes on doctors and administrators who are overworked, distracted or just unable to see the human being behind the hospital chart.
I chose TNT as the initial Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ sponsor because both of my sisters are dedicated nurses who have spent many years caring for patients being treated in various hospital departments such as the emergency room, operating room, and intensive care unit.
We will change the sponsor from time to time so that our visitors can interact with different brands periodically. We hope that you enjoy interacting with the SocialVibe.com widget while raising money for cancer research.
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s charitable initiative supporting groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated timeframe, has reached a significant milestone, awarding the first round of three-year grants — that total $73.6 million — to five multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research Dream Teams. … Each Dream Team’s project, funded for three years pending satisfactory achievement of stated milestones, is “translational” in nature, geared toward moving science from “bench to bedside” where it can benefit patients as quickly as possible. …
A Dream Team of leading cancer researchers will accelerate development of drugs to attack a mutated [PI3K] molecular pathway that fuels endometrial, breast and ovarian cancers, funded by a three-year $15 million grant awarded today by [SU2C] … Genetic aberrations in the network, known as the PI3K pathway, are found in half of all breast cancer patients, 60 percent of all cases of endometrial cancer and 20 percent of ovarian cancer patients. Other cancers that include a mutationally activated PI3K pathway include melanoma, colon and prostate cancers, brain tumors, and leukemia.
“Stand Up To Cancer (www.standup2cancer.org), a new initiative to raise philanthropic dollars for accelerating ground-breaking research, launches today through an unprecedented collaboration uniting the major television networks, entertainment industry executives, celebrities and prominent leaders in cancer research and patient advocacy. ABC, CBS and NBC will donate one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for a nationally televised fundraising event to air on September 5, 2008 (8:00 pm EDT and PDT), aimed at rallying the public around the goal of ending cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death. … Stand Up To Cancer’s innovative approach to research is designed to eliminate barriers that have traditionally inhibited creativity and collaboration by enabling the best and brightest investigators from leading institutions across the country and internationally to work together. These collaborative “Dream Teams” will pursue the most promising research, accelerating the discovery of new therapies for cancer patients and advancing efforts in cancer prevention research.Stand Up To Cancer monies will also be used for some high-risk, high-impact cancer research proposals, which are often not supported by conventional funding sources.”
“Stand Up To Cancer (www.standup2cancer.org), a new initiative to raise philanthropic dollars for accelerating ground-breaking research, launches today through an unprecedented collaboration uniting the major television networks, entertainment industry executives, celebrities and prominent leaders in cancer research and patient advocacy. ABC, CBS and NBC will donate one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for a nationally televised fundraising event to air on September 5, 2008 (8:00 pm EDT and PDT), aimed at rallying the public around the goal of ending cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death.
‘For people struggling with this disease, or those who will be diagnosed, scientific breakthroughs can be a matter of life or death — literally. We want everyone to know that they can make a difference in this fight,’ said Couric. ‘Television is a notoriously competitive business. For the three major broadcast networks to join forces is a wonderful example of the power of working together, and we’re very grateful to have the opportunity to reach people all over the country through this show.’
‘As a motion picture and television producer, I’ve learned how incredibly powerful these mediums can be in generating public discourse, sometimes almost overnight. Our goal with this initiative and TV show is to ‘tip’ the conversation in this country about cancer – to get people riled up, so they want to do something about the fact that it still takes so many lives,’ said Laura Ziskin, who will produce the September 5th broadcast. Ziskin is a cancer survivor. Her film credits include the Spider-Man trilogy, As Good As It Gets, and Pretty Woman, and she also produced the 74th and 79th Annual Academy Awards.
The Stand Up To Cancer special will feature live performances by legendary recording artists and stars from film and television who will perform as well as present filmed content giving viewers insight into cancer. Various screening tests will be demonstrated in novel and entertaining ways. ‘Katie, Charlie and Brian will report on potentially life-saving research, speaking with both patients and scientists. We hope to entertain you, educate you, move and inspire you,’ Ziskin said.
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and was established by a group of media, entertainment and philanthropic leaders, whose lives have all been affected by cancer in significant ways. Stand Up To Cancer is bringing industry resources — people, as well as mediums such as television and the web — to bear in the fight against cancer as never before.
‘The statistics are staggering,’ Gibson said. ‘Cancer claims one person every minute of every day in the United States. Every year in this country, it takes the lives of more than half a million people…worldwide, cancer kills more than six million people annually. There has been progress on both the research and awareness fronts; as a result, there are over ten million cancer survivors in the US today. More work urgently needs to be done so that more people will survive,’ he said.
‘Not only has cancer touched all of our media organizations in profound ways, but it has touched each of us personally. This extraordinary broadcast will serve a number of purposes – we’ll share vital information with our viewers and hopefully raise funds that are so critical in the fight against this insidious disease,’ said Williams.
New developments in the laboratory are revealing the way cancer begins, progresses and spreads. Stand Up To Cancer is founded on the belief that now, more than ever, there is sufficient knowledge of the basic science of cancer, and that the technologies are finally available to translate this knowledge into real advances in treatment and prevention. Today’s cancer scientists are on the verge of life-saving discoveries. But what they desperately need are the funds required to mount an all-out assault. Stand Up To Cancer is dedicated to providing this much needed new source of cancer research funding.
Co-Chair of the Disney Media Networks and President of the Disney-ABC Television Group Anne Sweeney, CBS Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves, and NBC Universal President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Zucker commented on their companies’ decisions to collaborate.
‘Everyone in our country has been touched by cancer in some way, shape or form. The thought that we could, in one hour of television, make a true difference in the fight against this disease was both exciting and inspiring,’ Sweeney said.
‘Television is a uniquely powerful medium and the networks joining forces offer an unparalleled opportunity to communicate loud and clear that we all have a stake in the fight against cancer,’ said Moonves. ‘Through the unity of broadcasters, entertainers and cancer groups alike, and the giving spirit of the audience at home, this television event has the potential to make a profound impact on our society’s ability to understand and battle this terrible disease.’
‘We’ve gone to the moon and pioneered a technology that revolutionized the way the world communicates. Applying that same innovation and commitment, scientists are on the cusp of making enormous strides in their efforts to combat cancer, but they need additional funding to do that. Through Stand Up To Cancer, and the September 5th broadcast, people all over the country can help,’ said Zucker, who is a cancer survivor.
AN INNOVATIVE RESEARCH MODEL
Stand Up To Cancer’s innovative approach to research is designed to eliminate barriers that have traditionally inhibited creativity and collaboration by enabling the best and brightest investigators from leading institutions across the country and internationally to work together. These collaborative “Dream Teams” will pursue the most promising research, accelerating the discovery of new therapies for cancer patients and advancing efforts in cancer prevention research. Stand Up To Cancer monies will also be used for some high-risk, high-impact cancer research proposals, which are often not supported by conventional funding sources.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will conduct expert scientific review of the research projects and administer funds raised through the initiative under the direction of a Scientific Advisory Committee. Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT chairs the Committee, which includes highly accomplished clinical investigators, senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists. ‘This project has tremendous potential to change the face of cancer research,’ said Sharp. ‘Our goal is to rapidly move new research discoveries out of the lab and into the clinic to save lives from cancer.’
‘I am pleased that AACR is a partner in the Stand Up To Cancer initiative,’ said Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., AACR President and Provost and Executive Vice President at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. ‘Stand Up To Cancer model is distinctive because it emphasizes collaboration among scientists and will accelerate translational research on the verge of breakthroughs as well as provide an additional revenue stream to encourage novel, high-risk proposals that have great potential in making inroads against cancer.’
A Stand Up To Cancer Advocate Advisory Council is being formed, and will include leaders from approximately 25 organizations. Additionally, representatives from the advocacy community will work side-by-side with the scientists on the “Dream Teams,” so the perspectives of the patients and survivors they represent will be integrated into the direction of the research.
INITIATIVE DETAILS
In addition to the nationally televised network fundraising event, other key elements of the initiative include:
• Standup2cancer — With both interactive applications and rich content, the SU2C web site will foster an online community for everyone affected by cancer, utilizing the same approach as the televised special: it will move, educate and even entertain users. Features include: The Constellation: For a dollar donation or more, users can launch a star in honor of anyone who has received a cancer diagnosis. The Stand: An interactive facebook application to illustrate that the ‘cancer community’ encompasses everyone and that we are all connected by this disease. SUTV: Features video segments rich in scientific and research information, as well as ones that confront the personal and human side of cancer’s impact. SU2C Magazine: Offers seven sections of diverse content written by leading voices in every field.
• Public Service Announcement (PSA) Campaign – A series of TV, radio and print PSAs featuring celebrities and members of the general public to mobilize support for the campaign will begin to air and appear in publications soon.
‘I have lost beloved family members and friends to this dreaded disease,’ said Sherry Lansing. ‘Sometimes I feel as if cancer is an epidemic that will never end. But then I am reminded of diseases such as tuberculosis, small pox and polio that used to cause fear… and then I know that just like those other diseases, cancer can and will be defeated, too.’
Major League Baseball was the first donor to contribute to Stand Up To Cancer. ‘This initiative has presented an historic and unique plan to fight this deadly disease, and it is a privilege for me and Major League Baseball to join this magnificent effort,’ said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. ‘We have pledged many of our valuable resources in an attempt to assist in every way we can.’
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the oldest and largest scientific organization in the world focusing on every aspect of high-quality, innovative cancer research. Its reputation for scientific breadth and excellence attracts the premier researchers in the field. By accelerating the growth and spread of new knowledge about cancer, the AACR is on the front lines in the quest for the prevention and cure of cancer.
About the Entertainment Industry Foundation
The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), as a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support programs addressing critical health, education and social issues.
About the Noreen Fraser Foundation
The Noreen Fraser Foundation utilizes film, television and web technologies to raise money as well as to educate and raise awareness about women’s cancers. The funds raised will be used to provide large grants to uniquely qualified cancer researchers.
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Media Contacts:
Ketchum Global Media Network Nicholas Scibetta — 646.935.4067 or 917.873.5299 mobile nicholas.scibetta@ketchum.com
Comment: In 1971, President Nixon “declared war on cancer.” Unfortunately, the technology and science of the 1970’s was simply not advanced enough to accomplish such a goal. The complexities of cancer are many including the following: (i) the area of “cancer” encompasses approximately 200 separate diseases, and (ii) the biological processes that allow cancer to thrive are nearly identical to those that allow a single cell, fertilized embryo to grow into a one trillion cell adult human. If you fast forward to this past decade, it is clear that current day technology and science is capable of achieving the short-term goal of holding cancer in check while pursuing the long-term goal of a cure. Discovery and identification of the human genome (Adobe Reader PDF document) in tandem with the mapping of biological “cellular pathways,” have produced highly successful advanced targeted cancer therapies such as Gleevec® and Herceptin®. The Human Genome Project identified approximately 20,500 genes in the human DNA sequence, and to date, that project fueled – in large part – the discovery of approximately 1,800 “disease genes” (Adobe Reader PDF Document). Our current ability to identify numerous genetic anomalies in cancer cells quickly, simultaneously and cost effectively allows for the targeting of such anomalies through pharmacological drug and/or gene therapy. Super computers allow scientist to generate the extensive bioinformatics necessary to produce complex models and analyze study data involving millions of permutations associated with 20,500 human genes, which hold approximately 3 billion pieces of DNA information. Although in its infancy, the use of “silencing RNA” (siRNA) to turn various genes on or off is making great strides toward controlling cancer in vitro and in vivo.
Human epigentics – another missing piece to the cancer puzzle – is the subject of the Human Epigenome Project, which is being conducted by the Human Epigenome Consortium. The Human Genome Project provided the blueprint for life, but the Human Epigenome Project will tell us how the human genome gets executed, as well as what determines when and where genes are switched on and off. The best example of epigenetics at work is the case of identical twins, where one twin is autistic while the other twin is normal. In this case, the genome DNA sequence of both twins is identical, but something else causes a change. That “something else” is represented by chemical modifications of genes that act as green or red traffic lights, which are superimposed on top of the DNA sequence or genome and tell the genes whether to be active or inactive. The study of these modifications-what they are, how they are laid down, and the processes that they control-is the field of research known as “epigenetics.” An “epigenome” is the description of these chemical modifications across the whole genome, but unlike the genome DNA sequence, each organism has multiple epigenomes-for example, in different cell types-that may change during its lifetime in response to environmental conditions or cues. And, knowing more about the human epigenome may provide clues as to what goes wrong in cancer and other diseases. Human Epigenome Project-Up and Running, Bradbury J.; PLoS Biol 1(3): e82 (2003).
The Stand Up to Cancer paradigm is truly groundbreaking.It is designed to “end run” bureaucratic obstacles to cancer control and cure discoveries. Through world-class private sector philanthropy, the medical, biological, genetic, and translational research necessary to tackle this ambitious goal will be carried out in a fully coordinated effort by the brightest scientific minds in the nation and around the world. Under the Stand Up To Cancer approach there will be accountability for results and oversight to guard against conflicts of interest. If you carefully review the names of those directly or indirectly associated with the Stand Up to Cancer organization, you will discover that they represent those individuals, scientists, and companies that had the greatest impact – through fundraising or science – on cancer therapy developments and discoveries over the past decade. I provide below the Stand Up To Cancer Public Service Announcement video, along with an additional video featuring the Stand Up To Cancer news coverage by CBS. To view additional Stand Up To Cancer videos featuring Katie Couric, Larry David, Sidney Poitier, Robert Bazell, Ben Teller & other celebrities who support the movement, click here.
What Can You Do?: Stand Up To Cancer invites donations in many forms. For a contribution of $1.00 or more, you can “create a star” as part of the Constellation program in the name of a cancer survivor or in memory of a family member or friend who lost the battle to cancer. On a larger scale, you can form a “private” team and request donations from family, friends, and co-workers. Alternatively, if you do not want to form a private team, consider making a donation to the “Choose H*O*P*E*” open team that was formed recently by the H*O*P*E*™ weblog or make a standalone donation. In the future, you will even be able to donate through your cell phone. Through any form of donation, you are making a difference in the fight against cancer!
“Ovarian Cancer Research Fund has been the leading nonprofit funder of ovarian cancer research for years, and this new collaboration is a wonderful way to mark our 20th anniversary,” said Audra Moran, CEO of Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. “We are excited that the Dream Team grant will continue our long tradition of supporting the most innovative research in the field, while providing scientists with a vital new source of financial support.”
Calaneet Balas, CEO of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, said: “I am so thrilled that our three organizations are coming together to fight the disease we all care so much about. I believe the Ovarian Cancer Dream Team will be paradigm-shifting for our community, and I cannot wait to see what comes from this new initiative. We’re proud of the work the Alliance has done to secure federal research funding on behalf of all women, but the Dream Team gives us new opportunities for collaboration and innovation.”
“We are both proud and excited to join in supporting the Ovarian Cancer Dream Team, the first-ever collaboration of such efforts,” said David Barley, CEO of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. “We are looking forward to being instrumental in furthering ovarian cancer research. The impacts on families and communities continue to make ovarian cancer “More Than a Woman’s Disease®.” By working together we hope to make a difference in the lives of everyone we touch.”
Libby's H*O*P*E* 