Researchers at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were recently presented with a $7.5 million grant from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to develop patient-specific cancer therapies.
The five-year grant is part of a larger $67.5 million initiative -- the Specialized Center of Research program -- that aims to accelerate the discovery of treatments for blood-related cancers.
The HUP team, headed by Molecular and Cellular Engineering professor Carl June, will aim to test immune and biological approaches to treat patients with lymphoma and leukemia.
"The grant validates the goal and growth of the Abramson [Family Center Research] Institute and I am really excited," June, a member of the Institute, said.
The HUP team will work for the next five years on developing patient-specific treatments and vaccines.
According to June, the Penn researchers' approach is sufficiently novel, since the pharmaceutical industry has not concerned itself with patient-specific approaches, and therefore falls outside of the research parameters of drug companies.
"Pharmaceutical companies like to focus on what they can develop for everyone and not specific drugs for each individual," June said.
The Penn researchers working under June are working on eight interactive projects that they hope will lead to innovative approaches to treatment and vaccines.
Central to the research is the idea that leukemia and lymphoma are susceptible to immune control. Second, the team hypothesizes that a combination approach of different cell and biological-based treatments are required to treat the disorders.
From looking at preliminary data in a feasibility trial done earlier, the outlook for patient specific therapies "looks promising," June said.
From lab experiments, the team hopes to eventually carry out experiments in humans through trials at HUP and CHOP, for both pediatric and adult patients.
The ultimate goal, like that of the other SCOR centers, is to develop effective therapies for the diseases.
"If we don't hit a home run, hopefully we'll get a good lead," June said.
As a former U.S. Navy Medical Officer, June researched various aspects of the immune system prior to coming to Penn in 1999.
In addition to HUP, two other institutions, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia were awarded with $7.5 million grants this year.
"SCOR is the first major privately funded program that brings together top scientists from around the world to work jointly on developing novel therapies for these deadly cancers," Dwayne Howell, president and CEO of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, said in a statement.
SCOR, which was established in 2000, aims to fund nine different centers -- at a rate of three per year -- to research ways to reduce morbidity and mortality in blood-cancer patients.
Last year, teams at Weill Medical College, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Oregon Health Sciences University were awarded SCOR grants as well.
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