In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Jennifer R. Brown, director of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, provided Phase I findings suggesting idelalisib, as a single agent, has the potential to stave off the need for additional treatments for relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL...This is another exciting discovery and early success in precision medicine," said Sandra M. Swain, ASCO president, medical director of the Washington Cancer

and Lee Helman, pediatric oncology branch head of the Molecular Oncology Section at the National Cancer Institute

The primary endpoint of the HCL registration trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), will be the rate of durable complete response in patients treated with a 40 mcg/kg intravenous infusion delivered over 30 minutes on days one, three and five of each 28-day cycle

For instance, a researcher applying for a grant through the National Cancer Institute has a 12 percent chance of funding, and at a few institutes, the chance is less than 10 percent

Last year, the company entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Cancer Institute for the development and commercialization of engineered peripheral blood autologous T-cell therapeutics for the treatment of multiple cancer indications

Evotec AG, of Hamburg, Germany, and the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston disclosed a research collaboration aimed at discovering and commercializing cancer treatments based on epigenetic drug mechanisms

The relationship with AstraZeneca goes all the way back to 2003. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 19, 2003.) At last year's ASCO meeting, researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute presented the results of a double-blind randomized Phase II trial that showed selumetinib plus chemo improved the overall response rate in NSCLC and more than doubled progression-free survival compared to chemo alone as second-line treatment. (See BioWorld Today, June 5, 2012.) Wells Fargo analyst Matthew Andrews

Andrei Gudkov, who is chief scientific officer at Cleveland BioLabs as well as senior vice president of basic science at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the paper's corresponding author, told BioWorld Today that after the fact, "from an engineering perspective, it makes sense" that TLR5 agonists should work in the liver, though he also cheerfully acknowledged the findings were at first surprising to him and his colleagues

ODAC Chairman Mikkael Sekeres, an assistant professor at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, said that as a clinician, he couldn't picture how he would discuss the drug with patients as he'd have to tell them that it might help them live longer without disease progression, but they could die faster

Evotec AG, of Hamburg, Germany, and the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston disclosed a research collaboration aimed at discovering and commercializing cancer treatments based on epigenetic drug mechanisms

The company also is developing AG015, an ActoBiotic that expresses and secretes the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-27 in IBD and celiac disease, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute, meanwhile, have been able to generate a form of iPS cells by removing a single protein from cells, namely, the cell surface receptor CD47, which mediates signaling by the extracellular matrix protein thrombospondin-1

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CPP) is trying out its tumor-blocking approach in colon adenomas by way of a Phase III trial in a collaborative effort with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that will enroll 1,340 survivors

The company also is developing AG015, an ActoBiotic that expresses and secretes the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-27 in IBD and celiac disease, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute

CAR T Cells CAR T cells are engineered T cells that kill B cells and have had some spectacular successes in the treatment of B cell cancers – but also some serious mishaps, including patients who died, or developed anaphylactic shock after treatment. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 12, 2011.) At the conference, researchers from the National Cancer Institute who are developing similar CAR T cells reported they were able to induce complete responses in two patients with pediatric acute lymphoblastic

At a session on the pros and cons of using cancer cell lines, Levi Garraway, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, predicted that "cell culture models are posed for a renaissance...At the session, Jos Jonkers, of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, argued that to understand metastasis and relapse, which are what ultimately kills many patients, cell lines will be inadequate

Stemline Therapeutics Inc., of New York, said an ongoing collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute featuring SL-401, currently in late-stage testing for hematological malignancies such as blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm and acute myeloid leukemia, has shown activity in an additional hematologic malignancy, multiple myeloma, in preclinical models