Download BRAIN CANCER TALK ADDRESSES THE FUTURE OF TREATING

Prepared by:
Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy
96 Cummings Point Road
Stamford, Connecticut 06902
203-358-8000 • www.acgtfoundation.org
Contact:
Jenifer Howard 203-273-4246
[email protected]
For Immediate Release
BRAIN CANCER TALK ADDRESSES THE FUTURE
OF TREATING CANCER
Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy Hosted Symposium with Leading Researchers Using
Cell and Gene Therapy to Combat Brain Cancer
(GREENWICH, Conn., February 12, 2010) – Brain cancer is a fearful diagnosis. Unfortunately,
there were an estimated 22,070 new cases of brain and other nervous system cancers
diagnosed in 2009 – that is approximately an eight percent increase in the incidence of brain
cancer since 2005. Of those diagnosed, 48 percent will survive. The most common and deadly
form of brain tumor is called glioblastoma, and currently, glioblastomas are always fatal. This is
the type of brain cancer that killed Senator Edward Kennedy last year. However, there is hope
on the horizon. The Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, the only national non-profit committed
exclusively to cancer gene therapy research, recently hosted an exciting and informative
symposium recently at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, featuring three leading scientists in the
field of brain cancer research -- Robert Martuza, M.D., F.A.C.S., Chief of Neurosurgery at
Massachusetts General Hospital, and William and Elizabeth Sweet Professor of Neuroscience
at Harvard Medical School; Antonio E. Chiocca, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, Department of
Neurological Surgery, Ohio State University Research Foundation; and Miguel Sena-Esteves,
Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Neurology and Gene Therapy Center, University of
Massachusetts Medical School.
A large audience braved freezing temperatures and icy roads to come out and hear the
scientists speak about advances in brain cancer treatment using cell and gene therapy.
Barbara Netter, co-founder of the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, and Greenwich resident,
noted how honored ACGT was to have three distinguished scientists at this event.
“These scientists are truly at the forefront of the science of treating cancer,” noted Barbara
Netter. “There are millions of people that will hopefully one day benefit from their research and
we are excited to see where they take us.”
Ginger Boldt, director of development and strategic planning for ACGT, gave a brief history of
the treatment of cancer, with 50 years of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy as the most
widely used forms of treatment – treatments that often cause collateral damage to the body.
The exciting news about the research being funded by ACGT is that through the platform of cell
and gene therapy, science is using biology and technology to attack the disease, but leave the
rest of the body healthy. This is very exciting news for the medical community and for those
suffering from cancer. ACGT has contributed to 16 clinical trials in the past eight years and its
scientists have published in more than 107 professional scientific journals. The field of gene
therapy is starting to see great strides in treating cancer and other diseases. It was inspiring to
hear of the successes in laboratories currently occurring throughout the world.
Dr. Martuza, who moderated the panel, is a founding member of the ACGT Scientific Advisory
Council and a neurosurgeon. Dr. Martuza noted that every 30 minutes, someone in the United
States is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Of those brain tumors, glioblastomas are 100 percent
fatal with a life expectancy of just 16 months.
Dr. Sena-Esteves, an ACGT Fellow, discussed one approach he and his staff are currently
working on at Massachusetts Medical School to insert a therapeutic gene inside a virus to
transfer gene information into the cancer cells. They have had good results with this method in
animal models. Dr. Sena-Esteves is working on a treatment that will not only kill the current
cancer, but also prevent brain tumors from growing or reappearing after surgery. The trick to
this type of treatment is determining how to turn the vector that attacks the cancer on and off.
The research is currently being studied in brain cancer in dogs and is seeing good results.
Dr. Antonio Chiocca of Ohio State University Medical Center, and an ACGT Fellow, is using
gene therapy and the delivery of a modified gene via a virus injection as well, but Dr. Chiocca is
using a tumor-specific virus that comes from the herpes simplex virus. This virus was found
back in 1991 to be a tumor-specific (tumor-killing) virus that enters specific cells and kills them,
leaving normal cells alone. Dr. Chiocca is currently proposing to do a Phase 1 clinical trial in
humans with this method of treatment. His research has been very successful in the laboratory
and his team has proposed a human clinical trial to the FDA. He and his staff are also working
toward finishing a bioequivalency study and have discussed continuing the trial with the FDA
this year.
Gene therapy is not a new therapy – it was widely researched in the 1990’s, but technology has
just recently caught up to the science to help spur it forward. The resurgence in gene therapy is
due to the development of new technology, the mapping of the human genome, and increased
knowledge of the biology of cancer. Those 3 defining factors, working together, have enabled
gene therapy to move forward. Numerous leading scientists wholeheartedly agree that gene
therapy will be important in treating disease in the future. All cancers are caused by missing or
defective genes, either modified by genetics or our environment, and the best way to treat them
has been to start at the cellular level. The road to scientific advancements and having new
treatments approved, however, is a long one. Funding of the scientific studies and clinical trials
takes millions of dollars; pharmaceutical/biotech companies are needed to partner the
manufacture of the virus delivery system needed for the treatment. The National Institute of
Health (NIH) needs to support more clinical trials and the FDA needs to improve the drug
approval process. To see progress, patients, their families and friends need to get involved. One
way to take action is writing to Congress to ask for increases in the NIH’s funding, so that more
innovative treatments to diseases such as cancer will be discovered. Another is to donate to
non-profits like ACGT where 100 % of all donations go directly to grants for high-level scientists
on the front lines of fighting cancer.
The Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) supports the extraordinary potential offered by
gene and cell-based therapies to accelerate effective and safe treatment of all types of cancer.
Founded in 2001 by Barbara and Edward Netter, it is the only national non-profit organization
committed exclusively to cancer gene and cell therapy research and is identified by the BBB as
an Accredited Charity. One hundred per cent (100%) of all funds raised by ACGT support
medical research, with a separate fund for administrative expenses.
Since its inception in 2001, ACGT has issued approximately $20 million in research grants to 33
ACGT Research Fellows representing such leading research institutions as Harvard Medical
School, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, St. Jude’s Children’s
Hospital, Duke University, The Salk Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Memorial SloanKettering, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Chicago. Identified through a rigorous
selection procedure, the scientists and their research projects address brain, breast,
lymphoma/leukemia, prostate, lung, and ovarian cancer, among others.
###