Dr. Langenau gives Scott Michael Carter Memorial Lectureship

We are excited to welcome MGH cancer researcher, Dr. David Langenau, 4pm on Tuesday May 6 to present the second annual Scott Michael Carter Memorial Lectureship, “Self-renewal mechanisms in T-cell Leukemia and Rhabdomyosarcoma”.  The Knight Cancer Institute seminar series lecture will be held in the OHSU Main Hospital auditorium, room 8B60.  
  
For more information on the Scott Carter Foundation, and Scott's selfless legacy, click here.  
  
Live stream 4pm PST:  click here. 

Patient Groups and Researchers Join Forces to Speed Treatments for Rare Pediatric Brain Tumor

(reposted from here) 

Four Organizations Fund International Research Consortium to Improve Lives of Children Suffering From Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) 

  

January 23, 2012 (Washington, DC, and Bethesda, MD) – Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, The Cure Starts Now Foundation and The Lyla Nsouli Foundation for Children’s Brain Cancer Research today announced their collaborative funding to support groundbreaking research aimed at dramatically improving the lives of children suffering from Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) – one of the most devastating pediatric cancers.  Together, the four organizations have committed $229,000 to support the work of the DIPG Preclinical Consortium, the only international scientific group focused on preclinical development of targeted therapy combinations for DIPG.  The goal of the research is to test and then move the most effective therapy forward to early phase clinical trials in the next 18 – 24 months.

Children with DIPG have a uniformly dismal prognosis with a median survival of 9 months.  A DIPG tumor grows amidst the nerves in the pons (middle) of the brain stem, and therefore cannot be surgically removed. Radiotherapy provides only temporary improvement of symptoms.  No chemotherapy has ever proven effective. Novel therapies are desperately needed. “The scientific community has truly rallied around this cause.  The mandate for a novel therapeutic approach was born in the Children’s Oncology Group brain tumor committee under the bold leadership of Dr. Amar Gajjar.  With the consortium co-leadership of clinical trialist Maryam Fouladi and the accountability to DIPG patients and their family, this program is moving unexpectedly quickly towards its goal,” says Charles Keller, MD, Associate Professor and leader of the Pediatric Cancer Biology Program, Pape' Family Pediatric Research Institute in the Department of Pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University.

“If we succeed, it will be because families that have donated their children’s tumor gave us this opportunity.  We are reminded every day that the cultures we study are parent-directed Legacy Gifts of the most selfless kind from children who current therapy could not save (the brain stem being vital to life; therefore, tumor donation can only occur at autopsy).  What  ABC2 , CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, the Lyla Nsouli Foundation, and The Cure Starts Now have done to make our consortium possible, and so quickly, is unprecedented – and greatly appreciated,” adds Dr. Keller.

The research project entitled, "Rapid Preclinical Development of a Targeted Therapy Combination for DIPG" was launched with initial support from The Cure Starts Now Foundation. Two additional European labs were added to the project with funding from The Lyla Nsouli Foundation for Children’s Brain Cancer Research (based in London, UK).

The funding from ABC2 and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer added a cutting-edge functional genomics component that will prioritize potential new drug targets. “We are proud to support this multi-national team of researchers in their efforts to rapidly develop effective drugs to treat children suffering from DIPG,” said Max Wallace, CEO of ABC2. “By combining forces with our non-profit partners, ABC2 looks forward to leveraging the resources and expertise of all the organizations to improve the lives of children with cancer.”   John Lehr, president and CEO of CureSearch for Children’s Cancer echoed Wallace’s comments saying that “developing new drug targets is an integral step to providing children with DIPG a  better prognosis.  CureSearch is committed to funding research in rare cancer types so that one day, all children will be guaranteed a cure.”

# # #

 

About the DIPG Preclinical Consortium

The multi-national consortium is identifying potentially important biological pathways in DIPGs that are readily targetable with currently available molecularly-targeted agents. In addition, the consortium has successfully grown human DIPG tumors from autopsy materials in the petri dish and has developed mouse models of DIPG – a key resource to functionally testing potential therapies.

Since the number of children with this unfortunate disease is limited, and the number of available targeted agents is quite large, the consortium hypothesizes that it can identify a promising combination of molecularly-targeted agents using functional genomics to prioritize targets. The ultimate goal is to move the most effective single agent or combination therapy forward to early phase clinical trials in the next 18-24 months.

The DIPG Preclinical Consortium team includes:

Charles Keller MD, Kellie Nazemi MD and Nate Selden MD, PhD at Oregon Health & Science University

Oren Becher MD, Duke University Medical Center

Michelle Monje MD, PhD, Stanford University

Maryam Fouladi MD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Cynthia Hawkins, MD, PhD, University of Toronto

Xiao-Nan Li MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine

Dannis G. van Vuurden MD, MSc, & Esther Hulleman, VU Cancer Center Amsterdam

Jacques Grill, Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France

For More Information about the Research Funding Partners:

Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure: www.abc2.org

CureSearch for Children’s Cancer: www.curesearch.org

The Cure Starts Now Foundation: www.curestartsnow.org

The Lyla Nsouli Foundation for Children’s Brain Cancer Research: www.lylansoulifoundation.org

Remembering

A worldwide candlelighting for families that have lost children will be held Sunday at 7pm in every time zone.  For more information,click here.
  

Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Creates Some Buzz on the International Stage

re-posted from the ayavoice

  

Set against Auckland, New Zealand’s backdrop of black sand beaches and ocean for as far as the eyes can see, the 43rd Congress of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) provided experts from 93 countries an opportunity to come together. We’re proud to announce that two of our Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology team members, Sue Lindemulder, MD and Amy Frohnmayer, were in attendance.

“The attention devoted to the AYA-specific concerns at this conference was an indication of the growing interest this field is cultivating. There is a lot of work to do, and it’s energizing to know that the mission of our program is shared by a larger network of providers, researchers, and advocates worldwide.” - Amy Frohnmayer, Research Assistant, AYA Oncology Program

There were multiple and varied sessions dedicated to AYA including five symposia, and the final keynote address. Ms. Frohnmayer presented on the fertility preservation decision-making process of adolescent and young adult women with cancer. Other topics ranged from long-term survivorship and care to the transition from pediatric to adult care, and AYA-specific disease physiology.
It wasn’t all serious business though. The exuberant atmosphere that AYA survivors bring to everything they do undoubtedly livened up the conference as many from Canteen New Zealand were in attendance as volunteers. The fun also included movie night and a screening of Wrong Way to Hope.
They AYA Program also had three posters presented at the conference.
AYA Fellowship
AYA Case Study
AYA Treatment & Survivorship Cohort

Adolescents and young adults with cancer have different needs from other patients. The Knight Cancer Institute is proud to offer Oregon’s only program designed exclusively for people ages 15-39. Our internationally-recognized, award-winning Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology Program is dedicated to ensuring all AYAs with cancer have access to services tailored to their specific needs.

Pediatric Grand Rounds: COG Chair, Dr. Peter Adamson

Dr. Adamson will be giving the Robert C. Neerhout MD lecture on Thursday Nov 3 at 8am in the Doernbecher Children's Hospital Vey Auditorium (11th floor).  His lecture will be entitled, "Childhood Cancer Research: 21st Century Science, 20th Century Clinical Trials."
  
for a stream of the archived lecture, click here.  

Patient access to their own research data?

" Key objectives: Enable patients to obtain their own data back from samples they donate to trials "
  
For more about the Portable Legal Consent Project at Sage Bionetworks, click here.  


update 3/22/2012:  "DNA donor rights affirmed"... see what an NIH working group now says about patients' right to know on incidental findings.  

Dr. Abraham presents at DIPG Conference (NIH)

Last week PCB senior scientist, Dr. Jinu Abraham, presented his invited talk entitled, "Rapid Preclinical development of targeted therapy combination for DIPG" at the DIPG Consensus Conference, which was held October 6-7^th at NIH's Bethesda campus.  A subject of the conference was determining the role of biopsy in the standard of care for this form of brainstem high grade glioma.  Noted to be equally important, however, is the search for a combination of targeted agents that makes this tumor a uniformly survivable condition.  
  

Hemophilia Program Fundraiser

This fundraising event is in cooperation with the Hemophilia Foundation of Oregon and all proceeds are shared.  Funds generated from this event are typically used for program research efforts. 

Please join us on October 16^th.  Admission is $150 per person.  Please also share this invitation with anyone you think might be interested in attending and supporting the Hemophilia Center and the Hemophilia Foundation of Oregon.  RSVP to 503-209-7539 or marita@hemophiliaoregon.org.

Pediatric Cancer Teleconferencing to Anchorage & Medford

Through the The Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2008 (3R01CA133229-4S1), the National Cancer Institute has funded purchase and installation of Video Teleconferencing equipment at two community-based pediatric practices that refer the greatest number of pediatric sarcoma and other childhood cancer patients to OHSU.  These practices are Providence Alaska Medical Center (Anchorage, AK) and Medford MD (Medford, OR).  The new equipment allows two way video conferencing but has also camera capability to use for face to face patient consultation as well. The Alaska site routinely participates in tumor board and a bi-weekly teleconference to review shared patients, and the Medford site uses this resource for general education as well as participating in tumor board and care conferences.  Since the implementation of videoconferencing this year, twelve new pediatric cancer patients from Alaska have been referred for coordinated care or consultation by the OHSU multi-disciplinary physician team.

 

Update: Legacy Gift workshop at COG

This afternoon's workshop on the value of autopsy in finding new treatments was very well received, if not at times slightly tearful in a happy way.  Oncology social worker Caroline Macuiba and PCB researcher Jen Alabran presented results of a 60 family survey of how, if ever, it would be appropriate to discuss the topic of autopsy for donating a tissue from which childhood cancers could be better understood & treated.  Interview participants were from families of children affected with sarcomas, brain tumors, or other pediatric cancers.  Two mothers, Sandy and Kim, who themselves are cancer survivors presented their families experiences with tissue donation after their sons passed away from brainstem gliomas.  Remarkable people, but what they relate is the closure and altruistic value of such gifts.  
  
This study and workshop was funded by NCI in response to the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2008 (3R01CA133229-4S1) in partnership with the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation.  This project's inspiration was the efforts of Nancy Goodman and KidsvCancer.org .  
  
For more information, visit ccurefast.org or email Jen,  alabran (at) ohsu.edu.  

COG Workshop: Overcoming Autopsy Barriers in Pediatric Cancer Research

Providing Hope For Tomorrow's Cures

  

5 pm WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2011

Roswell Room, Atlanta Conference Level, Hyatt Regency Hotel

(runs concurrently with the Children's Oncology Group Meeting)

  

Tumor samples obtained by an autopsy offer a potentially important scientific impact and creates a positive outlet to a grieving family. This workshop addresses the current barriers to obtaining an autopsy consent and provides guidelines on how to overcome these barriers at your institution.

  

Refreshments will be provided.

  

rsvp to Jen Alabran,  alabran (at) ohsu.edu


A joint venture of OHSU PCB and the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation.  For details, click here. 

Stories from the Vineyard - Portland 2011

Stories from the Vineyard is an annual fundraising event held in Portland to support patients and families living in the Pacific Northwest who are diagnosed with sarcoma.  This event is held by the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation and sponsored by NW Natural.  


Saturday, September 17
6 - 10 pm
NW Natural Headquarters
Downtown Portland


For more details, click here.  

Dr. Keller leads team that focuses on the incurable 20 percent in pediatric cancer

[ re-posted from the story in OHSU School of Medicine News by Jennifer Smith ]


08/29/11 Portland, Ore.

Charles Keller, MD, FAAP, knows what he wants. Or rather, he knows what the children and families of those with rare, incurable pediatric cancers want – effective, personalized treatment. The cure rate for childhood cancers as a group is approaching 80 percent. The Pediatric Cancer Biology (PCB) Program in the Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute at OHSU addresses the causes of mortality in the remaining 20 percent of children. Their work is getting noticed – just a year after joining OHSU, research by Dr. Keller and the PCB team have published 16 papers in high-impact scientific journals.


“We’re looking for the quantum leap for the diseases that can’t be cured,” said Dr. Keller, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Sada and Rebecca Tarshis Professor in Pediatric Hematology Oncology.


Hepatoblastoma is one of four diseases of priority for the PCB Program, which Dr. Keller leads; the others include sarcomas, brain stem gliomas and neuroblastoma.


“With the leading researchers we already have and the right recruiting focus, we can create the first-ever U.S. lab to study liver stem cell biology in a focused, results-driven way,” said Dr. Keller.


A number of factors led to Dr. Keller’s vision for a program with a focus on Hepatoblastoma when he joined OHSU in August 2010. He recognized the rich environment for liver stem cell research at OHSU in the Oregon Stem Cell Center, led by Center Director Markus Grompe, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics.


Dr. Keller also recognized the paucity of U.S. labs dedicated to such focused research. Perhaps the best known work on Hepatoblastoma, he said, is found in the lab of Dr. Marie Annick Buendia at the Pasteur Institute in Paris; other notable research is being done in Germany, Thailand, Japan and Australia.


OHSU’s growing focus on molecular-targeted therapy, in particular at the OHSU Knight Cancer Instiute, also attracted Dr. Keller. Conventional treatments – chemotherapy, surgery and radiation – are not generally effective for the most devastating childhood cancers.


The research necessary for personalized therapy requires coordinated efforts on several fronts. The Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative (PPTI), a part of the PCB Program, investigates new drugs for treating childhood cancers. The PCB Program launched the Knight-affiliated Childhood Cancer Registry for Familial and Sporadic Tumors (CCuRe-FAST), a tumor bank and registry, in May which will inform the creation of pediatric personalized cancer therapy. CCuRe-FAST is open to all pediatric cancer patients at Doernbecher and OHSU, and has successfully established 34 primary cell cultures as of mid-August.


Dr. Keller is wasting no time in assembling a team of researchers whose expertise can contribute to a productive understanding of rare childhood cancers in order to create a plan to tackle the diseases. His team comes from all types of backgrounds – he enlists biochemists, biomedical engineers, molecular biologists and electrical engineers – and focuses as much on creativity as on science. For example, they are the first National Cancer Institute affiliate to use genetically-engineered mouse models to study tumor growth and to explore treatment options.


And he’s not stopping yet. “It’s my goal to recruit two additional high caliber investigators in the next five years,” said Dr. Keller. “Two additional labs – one focusing on glioma and one on neuroblastoma biology – would move us significantly closer to finding innovative treatments for pediatric cancers.”


In February, Cancer Cell published a landmark study, in which Dr. Keller and the PCB team discovered the cell of origin for childhood muscle cancer. In March, PCB researchers, led by Jinu Abraham, PhD, identified a promising new approach to overcoming drug resistance in children with an extremely aggressive childhood muscle cancer known as alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. This study was first published online and graced the April cover of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. And as an unexpected result, their laboratory published in June in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that an antibiotic that inactivates a gene responsible for preventing eye cancer in children can actually improve muscle stem cell generation, with implications for muscular dystrophy, but not apparently putting those patients at risk for rhabdomyosarcoma.


Part of the PCB team’s research takes multi-disciplinary science to a new level – a new species, to be exact. The characteristics of osteosarcoma in canines are remarkably similar to the disease’s pattern in humans, although it is naturally occurring and 10 times more frequent in the four-legged species. Teaming up with Oregon State University veterinarian Bernard Seguin, Dr. Keller and colleagues study drug response in dogs and hope to find treatments that translate to human patients.


As a member of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, Dr. Keller works closely with other Knight researchers and supports Knight programs, such as the Knight Seminar Series, which brings experts from across the country to OHSU, with a focus on translational research.


Dr. Keller’s lab, the PCB Program and the PPTI have active blogs, which you can find on the Charles Keller Lab website. The passion and vision Dr. Keller has for his work is evident in person and online. One of his first posts after joining OHSU ended with these words: “Where there is a will, there is a way. Change can be tangible. And we are accountable.”


Pictured above: (top) Dr. Keller and the PCB team, (bottom) Dr. Abraham, Dr. Keller and Elaine Huang, MS, in the lab

Dept of Radiation Medicine - An Essential Partner in Research

The OHSU Department of Radiation Medicine is led by Chairman Dr. Charles Thomas and encumbers a strong heritage in basic and clinical cancer research.  For a list of recent visiting speakers click here or here.  

Pediatric Cancer NanoCourse Participants

Congratulations to NanoCourse graduates Ailin Jiang, Raha Kannan, Marissa Peterson, Victoria Reinke and Teagen Settlemeyer. We are grateful to them for their terrific questions and hard work this month!
  

CureSearch Walk - Portland

On Saturday August 6th families, patients and childhood cancer survivors gathered for the CureSearch for Children's Cancer walk in Sellwood Riverfront Park.  PCB program members Emma, Janelle and Jen were early rising volunteers.  The event was inspiring to see the young childhood cancer patients telling their stories, survivors showing that childhood cancer is an often survivable disease - but also to see the way in which children who have not been so fortunate are remembered and honored (in this case, with a butterfly release).  Speaking were both OHSU Doernbecher Pediatric Hematology/Oncology division chief, Dr. Linda Stork, and OHSU Knight Cancer Institute Director, Dr. Brian Druker.  The event raised more than $36,000 for childhood cancer clinical research nationally and in Portland.  
  
[ right:  Dr. Stacy Nicholson (neuro-oncologist and OHSU Chair of Pediatrics); Linda Stork; DCHF mascot "Dolly" ]

NCI Provocative Questions Workshop

Today the NCI held one of its first "Provocative Questions" workshops off the NIH campus.  Moderated by Harvard faculty Dr. Ed Harlow, thought leaders in cancer research from Seattle and Portland discussed important and often unaddressed cancer biology questions for potential future focus of the National Cancer Institute.  The event was held at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.  Pediatric Oncology was well represented!
  

The New CureSearch.org

CureSearch for Children's Cancer recently launched their exciting and information-rich new website, CureSearch.org.  The website happens to feature exciting recent research at OHSU's Pediatric Cancer Biology Program.  OHSU is also proud to be the only COG/CureSearch Phase I Clinical Trials program in the state of Oregon, making the most newly developed cancer therapies available to the children in Portland, Southwest Washington and the state of Oregon.
 

Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship at OHSU

The Pediatric Hematology Oncology Fellowship program at OHSU is an exciting one with not only an outstanding clinical training experience, but  superb research training as well.  More information about this ACGME-accredited can be seen here, including a video about the childhood cancer program at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital.  You can also contact program director, Dr. Michael Recht, rechtm (at) ohsu.edu .   

Sarcoma Conference in Kyoto

An international conference on sarcoma for surgeon-scientists has been organized this year by Dr. Junya Toguchida as the 44th Annual Musculoskeletal Tumor Meeting of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association.  The science presented by the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) and other Japanese centers and institutions has been outstanding.

  

A key point made during the conference from the Sarcoma Multi-Disciplinary Teams of the United Kingdom is that for best outcomes (and to prevent adverse outcomes) sarcoma care should be centralized to key care facilities with a dedicated team of orthopaedic oncologists, specialized sarcoma pathologists, sarcoma oncologists, radiation oncologists and patient support personnel (2 or greater for each subspecialty).  In Portland, OHSU is proud to be the only such team - and a particularly experienced one for pediatric sarcomas, and the only such program to integrate the most cutting-edge research and Phase I clinical trials made available to Oregon's sarcoma patients.