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Philadelphia, PA. -- Two scientists whose landmark discoveries in cancer research are leading to fundamentally new ways for molecularly targeting and attacking tumor growth are being honored this year with the prestigious Landon-AACR Prizes for Cancer Research.
The international prizes, offered by the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation and the American Association for Cancer Research, are the largest offered to cancer researchers from a professional society of their peers. Each recipient receives an unrestricted cash award of $200,000 and presents a scientific lecture at the AACR Annual Meeting, held this year from April 5-9 in Toronto, Canada.
This year's winners are:
*Charles J. Sherr, M.D., Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator based at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, who has been awarded the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Research; and
*Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center in Los Angeles, Calif., who has been awarded the Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research.
"We are proud that these two scientists who have made such tremendous contributions to our understanding of cancer are being honored this year with the Landon-AACR Prizes," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., AACR's chief executive officer. "Their exciting work underscores the importance of basic and translational research in accelerating progress against cancer and in bringing its benefits to patients."
Dr. Sherr, Herrick Foundation Chair with the Department of Genetics & Tumor Cell Biology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is being honored for his significant contributions to the understanding of mechanisms of cell growth control and neoplastic transformation, particularly as they relate to the mammalian cell division cycle. His seminal research ultimately led to the discoveries of two major tumor suppressive pathways that, when mutated, result in human cancer. Dr. Sherr's work offers the promise of new therapies designed to make cells more sensitive to the many conventional forms of anti-cancer therapy that act by damaging the DNA of tumor cells.
"Charles Sherr's astonishing series of discoveries has changed the way we view both the mechanics of the cell cycle and the genesis of cancer," said Robert N. Eisenman, Ph.D., and James Roberts, M.D., Ph.D., investigators with the Division of Basic Sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
Added Dr. Sherr: "I was surprised and excited to receive this year's Landon-AACR prize for Basic Science. In essence, this award acknowledges the important contributions of the many postdoctoral fellows, students, and collaborators who have contributed to discoveries in our laboratory. Anyone who has followed my science knows that I share this prize (and much more) with my closest colleague, Dr. Martine F. Roussel.
"This is also an appropriate time to give thanks to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for believing in us and supporting our work, even before it was fashionable." Dr. Sherr, who in 1995 was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, has received many other honors and awards including the Milken Family Medical Foundation Award for Cancer Research, Ernst W. Bertner Award for Cancer Research, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research, and the Pezcoller-AACR International Award for Cancer Research.
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For more than 20 years, Dr. Dennis Slamon has devoted his life to research that has brought about a revolution in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. His laboratory and clinical research led to the development of Herceptin, a breakthrough drug that has been shown to extend the survival of women with a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.
"I am grateful to be honored for this work, because the development of targeted therapies like Herceptin is ushering in a new age in how we treat cancer," said Dr. Slamon. "But the real heroines of this story are the hundreds of women who were brave enough to try this drug in clinical trials."
Added Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition: "Dr. Slamon's passion and persistence in the area of breast cancer and oncogene research resulted in a treatment that has extended the lives of countless breast cancer patients.
"His work in this area continues to be an example of how laboratory research on genetic alterations that lead to cancer can be translated into effective and targeted treatments."
The Landon-AACR Prize is the latest in a long string of awards and honors received by Dr. Slamon. This list includes the University of California, San Diego-Salk Institute Translational Medicine Award; the Public Advocacy Award from the National Breast Cancer Coalition; the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the AACR; the Milken Family Medical Foundation Award for Cancer Research; and the Upjohn Award in Internal Medicine.
The Landon/AACR Prizes in Cancer Research were launched in the summer of 2002 to promote and reward seminal contributions to our understanding of cancer through basic and translational cancer research. These distinguished scientific prizes are designed to bring heightened public attention to landmark achievements in the continuing effort to prevent and cure cancer through quality research.
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is a professional society of more than 19,000 laboratory, translational and clinical scientists engaged in cancer research in the United States, Canada, 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; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics and Molecular Cancer Research). AACR also holds an annual meeting with about 16,000 participants featuring presentations of new and significant discoveries in the cancer field, as well as more than eight specialty meetings involving all of the important areas of basic, translational and clinical cancer research.
The Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation was created through a bequest from Mrs. Landon who willed that her estate be committed to medical research, especially cancer research and research into cancer-related diseases. R. Kirk Landon, son of Kirk A. Landon, serves as chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees. The Foundation accomplishes its mission through a variety of programs and initiatives, the first of which were the Landon-AACR Prizes.
For further information, please contact:
Kim Irwin
Director, Media Relations
UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center
310-206-2805
Kirwin@mednet.ucla
Bonnie Cameron
Manager, Public Relations
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
901-495-4815
bonnie.Cameron@stjude.org