New opportunities for accelerating the conquest of human cancer

Washington, D.C. – Fifty years ago, the double helical structure of DNA was revealed, ushering in a new era of genetics that promised to radically alter the way medicine is practiced. For much of the last half of the 20th Century, that promise remained largely unfulfilled.

But with the recently announced historic completion of the Human Genome Project, and other advances in molecular biology and proteomics, medical science is about to take its largest leap, probably since the discovery of antibiotics.

The results for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer are expected to be profound. "We are now in a position to rapidly and continuously accelerate the engine of discovery, so we can eliminate suffering and death from cancer by 2015," said Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Director of the National Cancer Institute. "We may not yet be in a position to eliminate cancer entirely," he continued, "but eliminating the burden of the disease by preemption of the process of cancer initiation and progression is a goal within our grasp."

To describe how the genetics revolution -- and other scientific and policy-related issues – are presenting new opportunities to accelerate the conquest of cancer, Dr. Eschenbach will chair a panel of experts, to be held 2:15-4:45 p.m., Friday, July 11, during the opening plenary session of the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, D.C.

In addition to Dr. von Eschenbach, other scientists participating in the session include: Drs. Michael R. Stratton, professor of cancer genetics at The Institute of Cancer Research in London and head of the British Cancer Genome Project; Joan S. Brugge, professor of cell biology with the Harvard Medical School; Joan Massague, chairman of the Cell Biology Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and A. Thomas Look, M.D., Harvard Medical School professor of pediatrics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The panel is expected to describe studies inspired by the genetics revolution, and new molecular insights into the processes that result in cancer. They're also expected to peer into the future, offering a glimpse of how cancer will be tackled in the coming years, based on these new advances.

This work includes:

Identification of genes which, when mutated, predispose individuals for certain cancers. The British Cancer Genome Project, for example, recently identified an oncogene for malignant melanoma. The Project will use the human genome sequence and high-throughput mutation detection techniques to identify other genes critical for the development of human cancers.
Graphic displays showing how signals from cancer cells interact and disrupt the framework of normal tissue growth, resulting in tumor formation. Research in Dr. Brugge's lab at Harvard relies on laboratory-derived three-dimensional cellular models of cultured cells that behave like their counterparts in normal biological systems.
New animal models of human cancer, using transgenic zebrafish created in Dr. Look's lab at the Dana Farber Cancer Center, are helping to identify genes that block and promote the carcinogenic process--and potentially help find new drugs to treat the disease. For example, the laboratory team already has created zebrafish that develop T cell leukemia, which can be used to rapidly screen unknown compounds that might slow progression of the disease.
Investigations of growth factors that, when disrupted, result in formation and spread of tumors. In his lab at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Massague recently uncovered specific gene signatures, regulated by the growth factor TGF-beta, which pointed to increased risk of bone metastases among breast cancer patients.

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Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is a professional society of more than 20,000 laboratory and clinical scientists engaged in cancer research in the United States and more than 60 other countries. AACR's mission is to accelerate the prevention and cure of cancer through research, education, communication and advocacy. Its principal activities include the publication of five major peer-reviewed scientific journals (Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention). AACR's annual meeting attracts more than 12,000 participants who share new and significant discoveries in the cancer field, and the AACR's specialty meetings throughout the year focus on all the important areas of basic, translational and clinical cancer research.

Contact: Warren Froelich/AACR
froelich@aacr.org
215/440-9300

Aimee Frank/Spectrum Science
amf@spectrumscience.com
202/955-6222

In Washington, DC: (7/11-7/14)
Washington Convention Center
202/249-4060

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