ThinkCure! Awards $600,000 to Cancer Researchers at City of Hope and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

ThinkCure!, the official charity of the Los Angeles Dodgers announced 12 new seed grants totaling $600,000 to cancer researchers at City of Hope and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The awards will fund the initial phase of cancer studies that offer promising insights into the development and growth of cancer cells as well as overall health outcomes for patients.

Since 2009, ThinkCure! has provided $1.84 million in research grants to City of Hope and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. ThinkCure! is funding eight researchers from City of Hope totaling $400,000 and four investigators from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will receive $200,000.
Previous ThinkCure!-supported research has resulted in greater knowledge about cancer which has led to significant research grants. For example, preliminary findings from a 2009 ThinkCure! seed grant are credited with City of Hope and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles recently receiving a $2.5 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to collaboratively investigate drug resistance in neuroblastoma, a cancer that usually develops in the nervous systems of children five years of age or younger.
In an initial collaborative study made possible by ThinkCure! funding, researchers demonstrated that the interactions between cancer cells and the normal cells in the microenvironment surrounding the tumor are essential for the growth and spread of neuroblastoma. Researchers established that a protein called STAT3 is persistently activated in tumor cells and in the tumor microenvironment. Extending the Thinkcure! supported research, this new NCI grant will fund investigation into the role of STAT3 signaling in bone marrow stromal cells and the inhibition of environment-mediated drug resistance in neuroblastoma.
City of Hope researchers each receiving the new $50,000 grants include: Yanhong Shi, Ph.D., Yuan Chen, Ph.D.; Marcin Kortylewski, Ph.D., Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D., Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., Jacob Berlin, Ph.D., Rahul Jandial, M.D., Ph.D., and Ching-Cheng Chen, Ph.D.

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles researchers each receiving $50,000 grants include: Charles J. Gomer, Ph.D., Anat Erdreich-Epstein, M.D., Ph.D., Rajkumar Venkatramani, M.D., M.S., and Kathleen Ruccione, M.P.H., R.N., F.A.A.N.
“We live in a world in which almost every one of us has been touched by cancer in some way – whether experiencing it directly or through a friend, neighbor or loved one. Our goal in launching ThinkCure! was to help facilitate collaboration between two landmark Los Angeles hospitals and their researchers in order to make a real difference in the search for a cure. This grant money, raised through the collaboration and commitment of not just the ThinkCure! board, but of the greater Los Angeles community, will further that goal and ensure that life-saving research continues to be a priority,” said founder and chairman of ThinkCure! Frank McCourt.
“As scientists and physicians, we must develop new, innovative studies that provide insight into the various aspects of cancer if we are to continue to make progress in curing more patients,” said Stuart Siegel, M.D., director of the Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “ThinkCure! plays an important role in our work by funding the pilot studies that can lead to significant discoveries. We are thankful for the organization’s ongoing support and commitment that provides real hope for children and adults with cancer.”
“We are all grateful that this partnership between ThinkCure!, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and City of Hope is providing important support to a group of talented investigators whose novel research ideas will help to change the treatment for both children and adults with cancer,” said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., chair, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope. “In these times, such funding is even more critical to help us in our quest to cure cancer,” added Forman, the Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.
ThinkCure! Research Funding for 2012:
Eight investigators from City of Hope each will receive $50,000 totaling $400,000 from ThinkCure! for their studies, including:
o Yanhong Shi, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Neurosciences, is developing a new therapy to treat glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumor in children and adults. She has identified a molecule called TLX on the surface of the cell which appears to regulate brain cancer stem cells, and is developing a new gene therapy treatment to prevent these cells from forming malignant tumors.
o Yuan Chen, Ph.D., professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, has been examining SUMO, a protein critical to tumor cell function that contributes to a tumor’s drug resistance. If researchers can block this protein in lymphoma patients, they might make cancer cells more vulnerable to treatments like chemotherapy and radiation.
o Marcin Kortylewski, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Cancer Immunotherapeutics and Tumor Immunology, is working on a drug that blocks STAT3, a protein that helps tumors hide from the immune system and enables them to grow. This gene therapy potentially may help stop STAT3 production and make tumors more sensitive to standard treatments.
o Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D., associate professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, and his colleagues have identified WT1, a gene that is very active in leukemia and other solid tumors. Nakamura will be evaluating WT1 immune response in lymphoma patients, which potentially may lead to the development of a vaccine to target the disease. This work was partially funded by the Tim Nesvig Lymphoma Fellowship and Research Fund.
o Shiuan Chen, Ph.D., professor and director, Division of Tumor Cell Biology, will expand his study of aromatase inhibitors. Aromatase is an enzyme that is crucial to estrogen production. Blocking estrogen can shrink or kill hormone-dependent breast cancers. Unfortunately, these tumors easily build up resistance to aromatase inhibitors. Chen is now focusing on SGK3 – a set of genes that may be the cause of this drug resistance. The goal is to modify SGK3 expression to improve the effectiveness of anti-hormonal therapy.
o Jacob Berlin, Ph. D., assistant professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, is building tiny molecules called nanoparticles that can deliver therapeutic drugs into cancer cells, but not healthy cells. Chemotherapy is adept at killing cancer cells yet it also kills healthy cells, causing severe side effects. Berlin is working on a gold nanoparticle that initially will be tested in breast tumors. The method also should allow researchers to see if the drug is reaching its target.
o Co-principal investigators John Termini, Ph.D., professor in the Division of Molecular Biology, and Rahul Jandial, M.D., Ph.D. , assistant professor in the Division of Neurosurgery, are studying malignant gliomas which are likely to recur after treatment. When they return, these gliomas are even more aggressive, invasive and resistant because they have adapted to a low-oxygen environment. Termini, senior investigator, and Jandial are investigating an enzyme that helps glioma cells work efficiently in this environment.
o Ching-Cheng Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor, Division of Stem Cell and Leukemia Research, is investigating whether disrupting microenvironments – niches or pockets in bone marrow where leukemia cells often develop undetected – also will disrupt the development of leukemia cells. Understanding the cellular and molecular microenvironments will provide useful clues in how cancer forms and thrives. Researchers can use these clues to develop targeted therapies.
Four investigators from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles each will receive $50,000 totaling $200,000 from ThinkCure! for their studies, including:
o Charles J. Gomer, Ph.D., Division of Hematology and Oncology, is studying a promising new treatment for retinoblastoma patients. Retinoblastoma is a cancer that affects the eye and Gomer, along with his colleague, A. Linn Murphree, M.D., are investigating how survivin, a pro-survival molecule, can be induced to maximize treatment and potentially cure patients.
o Anat Erdreich-Epstein, M.D., Ph.D., Division of Pediatrics and Pathology, is investigating how to slow the growth of brain tumors. Her study aims to uncover how a specific gene in the tumor cell can be manipulated to suppress the development and spread of brain cancer. Using the data from the study, Erdreich-Epstein hopes to create more effective therapies for this devastating disease.
o Rajkumar Venkatramani, M.D., M.S., Division of Hematology and Oncology, will be assessing the long-term effects of radiation therapy on pediatric cancer patients. Although current therapies are promising, radiation can damage healthy cells and cause significant adverse effects for cancer survivors. Venkatramani will use the data to propose more targeted approaches to minimize lifelong complications from treatment.
o Kathleen Ruccione, M.P.H., R.N., F.A.A.N., Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, will be studying the long-term effects of blood transfusions on the hearts of pediatric cancer survivors. During treatment, many patients receive red blood cell transfusions that carry extra iron into the body. The iron can be stored in the heart and potentially cause lifelong adverse effects, specifically cardiomyopathy. Ruccione will use imaging studies to identify the rate of iron-related cardiomyopathy in survivors. The results could potentially lead to new cancer treatments that minimize the risk of iron-related disorders.

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