July 17, 2003
Dana-Farber and affiliates garner SPORE grants in myeloma, lung
cancer
Grants from the National Cancer Institute's highly competitive SPORE program have been awarded to Dana-Farber and affiliated institutions of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) to speed research on new treatments for multiple myeloma and lung cancer.
K. Anderson, MD
The first-ever SPORE (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence) in myeloma will be headed by Kenneth Anderson, MD, director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber. The grant to DFCI and a network of collaborating institutions totals nearly $12 million over five years.
A SPORE grant is awarded to a team of scientists, often at several different institutions, to support the translation of basic research discoveries into improved diagnosis and treatment for a specific disease.
B. Johnson, MD
On the lung cancer front, Bruce Johnson, MD, of Medical Oncology participated in a SPORE proposal that received partial funding to study genetic predisposition in young women who develop lung cancer even though they are non-smokers, and to conduct trials of several promising drugs for the disease.
DF/HCC is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center that includes Dana-Farber, four other Harvard-affiliated hospitals, Harvard Medical School (HMS), and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The center now has SPORE projects in place in breast, prostate, skin, and renal cancer. The new awards bring the total to five, plus a partially funded sixth.
Anderson will lead a collaboration of scientists at Dana-Farber, HSPH, and HMS, as well as the Mayo Clinic, Moffett Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and Cornell University. "The overall theme of the program," Anderson says, "is to evaluate novel, targeted therapies and move them more rapidly from the lab to clinical trials to improve patient outcomes."
He adds that the funding will make it possible to "vastly expand" the breadth and scope of translational studies within the Lipper Myeloma Center, including additional hiring of researchers and staff.
The lung cancer SPORE encompasses research at Dana-Farber, Massachusetts General Hospital, the HSPH, and Children's Hospital Boston. The grant provides $1 million per year for five years to support studies of new drugs, including antiangiogenic agents designed to starve tumors by suppressing their blood supply.
Johnson is a co-principal investigator with Judah Folkman, MD, of Children's on a project to test combinations of antiangiogenic drugs with standard chemotherapy. Folkman established the field of angiogenesis research and the concept of controlling cancers by depriving them of blood.
The researchers will also test other promising, novel drugs aimed at molecular control points in cancer cells, including flavopiridol, as a single agent and in combination with gemcitabine.
The study of genetic predisposition to lung cancer was prompted by previous studies showing that 10 percent of people who develop lung cancer have never smoked, and of those, nonsmoking women appear more susceptible than nonsmoking men. The scientists will examine the DNA of such women for differences that might provide insights into why they are more vulnerable to carcinogens in tobacco smoke.
