SU2C: Where Your Money Goes

Posted by su2c on October 7, 2011 5:32 PM

Since our inception in May 2008, Stand Up To Cancer has been driven by our mission to fund groundbreaking cancer research through innovation and collaboration, and to accelerate translational research to get new targeted treatments to patients faster. Our goal is to change the way research is done, and ultimately bring an end to cancer.

Through your generous donations, SU2C proudly launched its first five Scientific Dream Teams. These incredible scientists are leaders across disciplines, institutions and specialties, working together to move their research from bench to bedside to benefit patients more quickly. Combined, these five dream teams have already launched 34 new clinical trials for patients.

In a new video series, we invite you to see where your money goes and to hear about the incredible progress our Dream Teams are making. Your donations are the reason for this progress and it remains SU2C's goal to let you know exactly how your money is contributing to the end of cancer.

Click on the highlighted SU2C Dream Teams below to view their latest progress report videos.

Targeting PI3K in Women's Cancers

Dream Team Leader Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., and Co-Leaders Charles L. Sawyers, M.D. and Gordon B. Mills, M.D., Ph.D.

The PI3K Dream Team is developing clinical techniques that may lead to therapeutic combinations able to hit multiple targets in the complex pathways that contribute to cancer cell growth in a variety of women's cancers, such as breast, ovarian, and endometrial.

In August 2011 the scientists on SU2C's PI3K Dream Team made a significant research finding that was recently published in the online edition of Nature Medicine (Nature Medicine 2011; 17: 1116-1120). These findings could accelerate the development of targeted therapies for treatment-resistant breast cancer.

Bioengineering and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cell Chip

Dream Team Leader Daniel A. Haber, M.D., Ph. D. and Co-Leader Mehmet Toner, Ph. D.

The CTC-Chip Dream Team is using a radically different approach to detecting and isolating Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs), pursuing revolutionary diagnostic and treatment strategy tools. The fundamental technology involved takes advantage of microscopic fluid dynamics to construct a chip with 100 times greater sensitivity than existing technology.

In January 2011 the CTC Chip Team announced that the research underlying their SU2C project became one step closer to being available to the public. This promising new "liquid biopsy" can find a single cancer cell amid one billion in a teaspoon of blood and has the potential to significantly aid in both diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Cutting the Fuel Supply: A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Dream Team Leaders Craig B. Thompson, M.D. and Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D

The Pancreatic Dream Team is attacking the lethal problem of pancreatic cancer with a dual approach: exploring advanced imaging techniques to determine what nutrients pancreatic cancers require to grow and survive; using the results of these tests to design individualized treatment combinations that will cut off the fuel supply to pancreatic tumors with the hope of increasing survival and quality of life for pancreatic cancer patients.

Thus far, the Pancreatic Dream Team has four major clinical trials up and running using several new combination therapy regimens. Results from a previously completed clinical trial showed survival rates of patients with advanced metastatic stage IV pancreatic cancer doubled from 6 months to 12 months.

An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotype

Dream Team Leaders Joe W. Gray, Ph.D. and Dennis Slamon M.D., Ph. D

The Breast Cancer Dream Team has created a fully integrated translational research approach which is rapidly moving toward more effective, less toxic therapies for the three major breast cancer subtypes.

In August 2011, scientists supported in part by the SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team were able to identify many weak points in breast tumor cells. This new research is now published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and has been seen as a starting point for the development of new therapies for breast cancer patients.

Bringing Epigenetic Therapy to the Forefront of Cancer Management

Dream Team Leaders Stephen B. Baylin, M.D. and Peter A. Jones, Ph. D., D.Sc

The Epigenetics Dream Team is delivering on the promise of epigenetic therapy in clinical practice. The team is developing biomarkers that can predict and monitor the efficacy of epigenetic therapies, and conducting clinical trials that will bring epigenetic therapy to the forefront of cancer management.

SU2C's Epigenetics Dream Team has completed the first phase II epigenetic therapy trial in lung cancer. Results from this trial were promising resulting in an improved response rate in patients receiving this treatment. These observations suggest that epigenetic therapy could prime cancers for response to cytotoxic therapy. Trials for both breast and colon cancer patients are underway as well.

New therapies are within our reach, but we need your help to continue to make progress. Let's stand together, and make a difference for the ones we love.