The Pancreatic Cancer Collective (PCC) invites applications for the Pancreatic Cancer Collective – Computational Approaches to Identifying High Risk Pancreatic Cancer Populations Grant. The Team(s) will develop tools to identify individuals in the general population who are at high risk for pancreatic cancer far earlier than they would otherwise be diagnosed, using information from existing dataset(s) (such as the OptumLabs Data Warehouse*, UK Biobank*, Danish National Patient Registry*, and/or other comparable datasets).

Receiving the Nobel prize is an extraordinary lifetime achievement, but the impact of Dr. Jim Allison’s research can be life-changing for the patients who benefit, as shared in this personal account.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has released an updated guideline for colorectal cancer screening. Among the major guideline changes, the new recommendations say screening should begin at age 45 for people at average risk. Previously, the guideline recommended screening begin at age 50 for people at average risk. Recommendations for screening test options are also part of the guideline changes.

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Charles S. Fuchs, MD, co-leader of the SU2C Colorectal Cancer Dream Team, is also head of a research that recently reported an intriguing finding: people with stage III colon cancer who regularly eat nuts are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who don’t. The study followed 826 participants in a clinical trial for a median of 6.5 years after they were treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Those who regularly consumed at least two, one-ounce servings of nuts each week demonstrated a 42% improvement in disease-free survival and a 57% improvement in overall survival, according to a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Earlier research among patients with colon cancer has indicated that patients are more likely to have poor outcomes when lifestyle factors such as obesity, high carbohydrate diet and lack of exercise increases their insulin resistance or raises blood sugar levels. “These studies support the hypothesis that behaviors that make you less insulin resistant, including eating nuts, seem to improve outcomes in colon cancer,” Fuchs said. “However, we don’t know yet what exactly about nuts is beneficial.” Nuts also might play a positive role by satisfying hunger with less intake of carbohydrates or other foods associated with poor outcomes, Fuchs noted. Dr. Fuchs is director of the Yale Cancer Center and physician-in-chief at the Smilow Cancer Hospital.

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Dr. Janne and the SU2C-American Cancer Society Lung Cancer Dream Team have been focused on treating lung cancer patients with mutant KRAS. In this new publication, they report that a subgroup of patients with mutant KRAS may benefit from drugs called MEK inhibitors, if these patients do not have as much of the non-mutant KRAS protein. This information is helpful in deciding what treatments can be used for certain patients with mutant KRAS.

The Pancreatic Cancer Collective New Therapies Challenge represents a new, focused effort to increase the number of innovative and effective therapies to treat pancreatic cancer by support of pre-clinical and clinical development efforts. The Pancreatic Cancer Collective, a strategic collaboration of the Lustgarten Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer, will support collaborative, multi-disciplinary Teams to investigate novel or repurposed medicines, treatment strategies or technologies that have the potential to significantly impact pancreatic cancer patients in the near term.

For more information on how to apply, please click here.

The Stand Up To Cancer T-Cell Lymphoma Dream Team Translational Research Grant will fund a translational cancer research project focused on T-cell lymphoma that will address critical problems in patient care, including prevention strategies for those at risk, and deliver near-term patient benefit through investigation by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, collaborative Dream Team of expert investigators.

For more information on how to apply, please click here.

Ependymomas are a type of brain tumor that is notoriously difficult to treat. Scientists with the SU2C-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team mapped out the genetic landscape of selected ependymomas to find targets for treatment and reported encouraging preliminary data on the identification of drugs that could have an impact on the tumors. Their report, with Michael D. Taylor, MD, PhD, a principal investigator with the Dream Team, as a senior author, is published in Nature, the highest-ranked journal of general and multidisciplinary science in the world. Our colleagues at the American Association for Cancer Research have prepared the attached Science Update on the paper, discussing its importance in the quest to find treatments for these tumors that occur most often in infants and children. 

Emily Whitehead, the little girl who was first person ever to receive the CAR-T treatment for leukemia, has been named one of the “ten people who mattered this year” by Nature, the world’s most influential journal of multidisciplinary science, marking FDA approval of the treatment, supported by SU2C research. “A young girl’s battle against leukemia inspired a new generation of cancer therapy,” Nature noted. Crystal Mackall, MD, co-leader of the SU2C-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, says the treatment is a “watershed.” Emily’s story is also told in this video from the 2014 SU2C telecast. 

Kara Bernstein, PhD, recipient of a 2016 Innovative Research Grant (IRG) from SU2C, is featured in a story on “Meet Three Women Breaking New Ground in Research” in the Media Planet supplement to USA TODAY on Education and Career News. Dr. Bernstein is at the University of Pittsburgh. She is using her IRG to study factors affecting predisposition to cancer.