Including exciting news about promising treatments and trials.
Cancer didn’t let up during the pandemic. In some ways, it got worse because so many people skipped annual physicals and screenings that could have detected their cancers earlier when they were most treatable.
Despite this setback, the pandemic didn’t slow down the work of the incredible scientists of the Stand Up To Cancer community. At the Scientific Summit that was held in Coronado, California in January, we felt the hope that has inspired our effort ever since we started the initiative in 2008: “This is where the end of cancer begins.” I was one of the nine women who, frustrated by the rate of progress in cancer research at that time, came together to start Stand Up. We thought the key to organizing better prevention strategies, diagnostic tools, and treatment options was clear: teamwork. Stop competing and start collaborating.
SU2C held a summit each year from 2009 through 2020 — just before the pandemic hit the U.S. Then video meetings were held at the height of the pandemic. Finally, last month the 450 members of the SU2C community were able to meet in person again — and the place was buzzing with excitement.
Our 28-member Scientific Advisory Committee is led by MIT Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., who has been spearheading this effort from the beginning. Our “Dream Teams” of scientists and other collaborators had good news: Progress in the fight against cancer is accelerating rapidly. Given that we’ve been at this for just 15 years, the topline numbers alone are remarkable:
· More than 3,000 scientists at more than 200 universities and other institutions in 13 countries are involved in SU2C-funded research, which has contributed to the development of nine new cancer therapies approved by the FDA.
· About 22,000 patients have participated in the more than 270 clinical trials that SU2C-funded scientists have planned, initiated, or completed, with the help of more than 140 patient advocates.
· More than 130 pharmaceutical, biotech, and/or diagnostic companies have collaborated with SU2C research on more than 300 projects.
SU2C has long been at the forefront of immunotherapy, which enables the immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells. When therapies don’t work against certain types of cancer, researchers describe that as “cold.” Immunotherapy is quite effective in treating leukemia, lymphoma, and melanoma, for example, but has largely been “cold” with solid tumors. Now, that’s starting to change.
In a recent clinical trial sponsored in part by SU2C, an immunotherapy was given to rectal cancer patients and the results were astounding: Each of the 14 patients in the trial had their cancer disappear. There was no need for chemo, radiation, or surgery — the cancer just went away.
It’s important to note that this treatment works only in patients possessing a certain genetic mutation. But, get this: Three or four percent of all cancer patients appear to have this mutation, so the treatment could possibly benefit many thousands of people with a whole host of cancers (if the findings are validated in larger clinical trials).
A dazzling example of cutting-edge research comes from the work of Benjamin Greenbaum, Ph.D., and Vinod Balachandran, MD, who are colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York. They may seem an unlikely pair: Dr. Greenbaum’s Ph.D. is in theoretical physics and he brings computational approaches to immunotherapy, while Dr. Balachandran is a surgeon/scientist. But of course, that’s exactly the kind of collaboration SU2C was designed to foster.
They are tackling pancreatic cancer, one of the most difficult to detect early and treat successfully. Even when surgery is performed, the cancer often recurs, so their idea was to create individualized vaccines that can teach the immune system to recognize cancer and hopefully prevent it from coming back. They’re using mRNA, the same approach used to develop the COVID-19 vaccines. Their clinical trial was only the second trial ever to use mRNA to treat cancer.
The results so far are encouraging: The mRNA vaccines have delayed pancreatic cancers from returning in 50 percent of the patients in the trial. The vaccine is not yet clinically approved but given that something like 90 percent of pancreatic cancer patients dies within five years of being diagnosed, it’s really promising.
Carl June, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, is a renowned expert on genetically modifying T-cells, the white blood cell “foot soldiers” of the immune system, and re-introducing them into a patient’s body so they find and attack cancer. At the summit, Dr. June reported on a clinical trial for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. June and his team are trying to understand why some tumors block the blood cells from attacking the cancer. He’s attempting to engineer these T cells manufactured in his lab to override the mechanism that’s blocking them, allowing them to kill the cancer, which would be a hugely exciting breakthrough.
There’s also exciting news for other cancers, including breast, lung, pediatric, prostate, head and neck cancer, melanoma, sarcomas, and HPV-related cancers. And the number of deaths from leukemia, melanoma, and non-small cell lung cancer have dropped rapidly in the last 15 years. Early detection efforts, vaccines, and reduced smoking rates are responsible for some of those positive developments.
Meanwhile, technology is partnering with science to change the face of cancer as we know it. AI and machine learning are now routinely used to analyze massive amounts of data, which in turn helps scientists assess the effectiveness of treatments on patients. From creating human organs from scratch, (aka organoids) to precision surgery (often made possible by robots), technology is helping scientists press the gas and accelerate the strides they’re already making. One of the Vice-chairs of our Scientific Advisory Committee (another Nobel Prize winner!) Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D., eloquently summed it up: “With all the information we get from technologies, we now know the enemy in a way we never did before.”
We’re also examining every aspect of cancer care — including making care more accessible to everyone. The SU2C Health Equity Committee continues to find ways to lower the barriers of access to new treatments for medically underserved communities. This is such an important topic and there is so much room for improvement. I’m so proud that Stand Up is committed to addressing health inequity in our country.
I’m so grateful to the many dedicated scientists and their research staff, funders, patient advocates, and others who are making this progress possible — especially the patients who participate in our clinical trials. To the Scientific Advisory Committee members; colleagues at our scientific partner, The American Association for Cancer Research; all of the SU2C staff, both the science team and others; my fellow co-founders; and everyone in the entertainment community who help us get the word out, I’m sending a big, virtual thank you.
Of course, we still have a long, long way to go. Our dream is that all cancer patients can become long-term survivors. After listening to the scientists at the SU2C Summit, one can’t help but feel that such a goal isn’t an impossible dream — but one that is steadily coming within reach.
If you’re interested in supporting this lifesaving work, please head to StandUpToCancer.Org.
