Damon Runyon News

Douglas K. Graham, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ’07-’12), of Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and colleagues, reported that a novel compound called MRX-2843 has shown promise in preclinical studies; it blocked the growth of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, led to a significant level of cancer cell death and more than doubled the median days of survival in laboratory models with a drug-resistant form of the disease. MRX-2843 is effective at targeting cancer cells with activated MERTK protein.

Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ‘08-‘13) of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues, reported an analysis of data from two long-term epidemiologic studies showing that regular use of aspirin significantly reduces the overall risk of cancer. Their findings suggest that the use of aspirin may complement, but not replace, the preventive benefits of colonoscopy and other methods of cancer screening.

Gregory L. Beatty, MD, PhD (Nadia’s Gift Foundation Innovator ’12-’15) and colleagues at the Abramson Cancer Center at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, reported the discovery of how macrophage immune cells can be “re-educated” by an experimental immune therapy (CD40 antibodies) to help break down the scaffolding that surrounds and protects pancreatic cancer from chemotherapy.

Himisha Beltran, MD (Damon Runyon-Gordon Family Clinical Investigator ’13-’16) of Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, and colleagues, used next-generation sequencing technologies to analyze neuroendocrine prostate cancer, an aggressive resistant form of cancer which sometimes develops in certain patients. The researchers examined resistance in samples collected from 81 patients and discovered the distinctive genetic, epigenetic and molecular features that underlie neuroendocrine prostate cancer.

Madhav Dhodapkar, MD (Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator ‘02-‘07) of Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, and colleagues have determined that chronic stimulation of the immune system by lipids made in the context of inflammation underlies the origins of at least a third of all myelomas, a type of cancer affecting plasma cells. The study suggests that newer approaches to lower the levels of these lipids in patients with precursors for myeloma. Potentially, this could be achieved with drugs or lifestyle changes to reduce the levels of lipids to lower the risk of cancer.

Piero D. Dalerba, MD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘16-‘17), of Columbia University Medical Center, New York, and colleagues, have identified a biomarker, the CDX2 gene, that could be used to predict which stage II colon cancer patients may benefit from chemotherapy after surgery to prevent a recurrence of their disease. They found that cancers that do not express the gene have a worse prognosis than those that do. The study was published in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

David G. Kirsch, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator '08-'10, Innovation Award Committee Member) at the Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, and colleagues, have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon's ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The study reports that in 15 patients undergoing surgery for soft-tissue sarcoma or breast cancer, the injectable agent called LUM015, identified cancerous tissue in human patients without adverse effects.

Mark A. Lemmon, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ’97-‘98, Damon Runyon Fellow ’93-’96) of Yale University, New Haven, and colleagues at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reported that a next-generation ALK inhibitor drug, called PF-06463922, shows promise in treating pediatric neuroblastoma. In animal models, it caused rapid and sustained tumor regression and was more effective than the FDA-approved ALK inhibitor crizotinib. This new drug is currently being tested in a phase 1/2 clinical trial of an ALK-driven subtype of lung cancer in adults.

Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD (Damon Runyon-Edward P. Evans Foundation Clinical Investigator ’13-’16) of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, received the 2015 Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement from the American Society of Hematology. Stephen T. Oh, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Doris Duke Foundation Clinical Investigator ’14-’17) of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis received the 2016 ASH Scholar Award for Basic Junior Faculty.

Jihye Yun, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘11-‘13) of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, and a team of collaborators including Christine I. Chio, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘13-‘17), and Jihye Paik, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘06-‘08), have demonstrated that high doses of vitamin C were capable of destroying colon cancer cells carrying common mutations in the KRAS or BRAF genes by suppressing an enzyme necessary to metabolize energy, effectively starving the cells.