2010 Funding
2010 Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation Grant Recipients
Staying true to its mission, the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation has awarded nearly $2 million in research grants in support of the most innovative and cutting-edge scientific discovery happening in Lung Cancer research today.
The goal of BJALCF is to increase the inexcusably low survival rate of Lung Cancer by becoming the largest source of non-profit funding dedicated to turning Lung Cancer into a chronic, manageable disease in our lifetimes. To that end, BJALCF works in unison with its scientific review committee to evaluate and approve grant submissions. Only immediate, results-oriented projects or programs promising to catalyze progress through early detection, molecular testing, drug discovery, and patient-focused outcomes are considered. As a lean, but driven organization, we believe it is our responsibility to be sound stewards of our donors’ generosity to ensure we maximize and leverage all of our resources as effectively as possible.
We are pleased to announce that the following researchers are helping us to reach our goal:
Chuong D. Hoang, MD, Assistant Professor, Cardio Thoracic Surgery, Stanford University, School of Medicine
$50,000, Early Detection: through non-invasive methods, January 1-December 31, 2011
By developing a non-invasive early detection method for Lung Cancer, overall survival rates will improve. The goal of this study is to identify specific biomarkers in Lung Cancer most likely to play a role in disease development. To establish the basis for finding suitable Lung Cancer biomarker(s), the researcher is using an advanced research technique known as metabolomic profiling and analyzing the information with his newly-developed data analysis methods called “biomic analysis.” Metabolomics is a tool that permits measurement of many chemical substances or metabolites that form in the human body from normal metabolism. In this case, several unique methodologies have been combined into a comprehensive, integrated analytic approach to arrive at biologically relevant metabolic markers that may identify presence of Lung Cancer: tissue sampling strategy, metabolomic profiling of tumor tissue and blood plasma, and biomic analysis.
Robert C. Doebele, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Denver
$50,000, Molecular Testing: searching for better techniques to indentify the ALK gene in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer patients to improve survival rates, January 1-December 31, 2011
The researchers will search for new techniques to identify the ALK gene mutation for Lung Cancer, which may be equally as good as the current method, but more rapid, less expensive, or more widely available either commercially or within pathology laboratories. They may be more sensitive, picking up true positives that may be missed by the current method, or more specific, avoiding true negatives inappropriately included by the technique. Additionally, alternative ALK detection techniques may offer a greater level of detail that could be clinically relevant in terms of predicting the extent or duration of clinical benefit from the drug Crizotinib, currently used to treat Lung Cancer patients who test positive for the ALK gene. This research has the potential to dramatically alter the routine detection of this important molecular subtype of NSCLC.
David Gandara, MD, Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of California Davis
$50,000, Molecular Testing: personalizing therapy of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in a clinical trial through the concurrent treatment of NSCLC patients and genetically engineered mice, January 1-December 31, 2011
In this innovative “co-clinical” trial with UC Davis, The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) Basic Cancer Center, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) CAPR program, the research strategy involves treating patients with NSCLC and genetically engineered mice which have been implanted with tumor tissue from these patients. The intent is “informative” therapy with results in the mouse being extrapolated back to individual patients. Groups of mice receiving various therapies are evaluated to determine the best therapies and how resistance to therapy develops. In collaboration with NCI CAPR, genetically engineered mice bearing human Lung Cancer-causing genes are also treated, to assist in optimizing therapy with the hopes of improving patient outcomes.
Allan Balmain, PhD, FRSE, University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
$62,500 Early Detection and Molecular Testing: a systems genetic approach towards individual diagnosis and treatment, December 31, 2006-December 31, 2011
As part of a $1.2M BJALCF commitment and pledge, the 2010 funding represents completion of $812,500 to date after continuous progress reports were approved by the Scientific Advisory Board. This research focuses on development of molecular predictors of an individual patient’s prognosis or response to therapy. UCSF has accumulated an invaluable set of tissue samples comprising both normal and tumor samples from hundreds of Lung Cancer patients, with associated clinical follow up data. Genome wide scans in normal DNA from over 500 Lung Cancer patients are being carried out, together with whole genome and gene expression profiling of the gene copy number changes and expression patterns in corresponding tumors from the same patients. In addition, sequencing will be carried out on a panel of genes implicated in lung tumor development or progression to identify activating or inactivating mutations. These different sets of data will be used to develop comprehensive genetic networks for prediction of risk for Lung Cancer. The ultimate objective is to establish a wiring diagram of the Lung Cancer cell—the network of genetic variants, and their expression patterns, that influence an individual’s cancer susceptibility, risk of progression, or response to therapy.
Joel Neal, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Oncology, Stanford University, School of Medicine
$50,000, Molecular Testing: gene sequencing of Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, January 1-December 31, 2011
There is an urgent need for safer and more effective therapies for Lung Cancer. Recently, the discovery of mutations in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) has led to the development of targeted drugs for certain patients. For example, mutations in the epideral growth factor receptor (EGFR) predict for drmatic tumor responses to the drug Erlotinib. Improvements in next‐generation gene sequencing technologies have allowed direct analysis of tumor genetic material in order to map these changes in Lung Cancer, as well as discover new genetic changes in the tumors.
This project aims to establish a novel method to sequence genes that are potentially important in NSCLC from preserved tissues using next‐generation sequencing technology. It is hoped this will lead to improvements in the ability to individualize treatment of patients with Lung Cancer, as well as potentially find new therapeutic targets in Lung Cancer.
$228,000 Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI)
ALCMI was created in 2008 as a partner of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (BJALCF) after being identified as a crucial need by more than 70 of the world’s leading Lung Cancer researchers, clinicians and patients at a BJALCF-sponsored Summit held in late 2007. These thought leaders unanimously concluded that the collection and analysis of tissue and blood samples from Lung Cancer patients are essential to research and to the development of individually tailored (and more effective) therapies.
ALCMI is a comprehensively contracted consortium with shared infrastructures (standardized contracts, data systems and biorepositories) and centrally coordinated scientific planning. ALCMI’s researchers are pooling their knowledge, specimens and data in order to improve the understanding of the molecular bases of Lung Cancer and to accelerate the development and delivery of much more effective, targeted drugs and treatments tailored to individual patients.
ALCMI’s first project, Collaborative Advanced Stage Tissue Lung Cancer Network (CASTLE) launched in November 2010 and is collecting tumor tissues, blood and clinical data from advanced stage Lung Cancer patients. This is a one-of-a-kind resource for investigators around the globe.
CASTLE will provide immediate access to technologies, information and data to treating physicians and community health provider leading to better outcomes for patients via customized treatments–consequently treating the person rather than just the disease. CASTLE is creating a registry of tissue like no other in the world, available not only to investigators in the United States, but worldwide.
For information on 2011 grants and requests for proposals, please contact wells@lungcancerfoundation.org.
For more information on contributing to the research funding, contact sheila@lungcancerfoundation.org.
For more information on ALCMI contact Steven Young at syoung@alcmi.net.
