Intractable Pediatric Cancers Dream Team - Stand Up To Cancer

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St. Baldrick’s Foundation–SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team: Immunogenomics to Create New Therapies for High-Risk Childhood Cancers

Grant Term: December 2017–May 2022

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation–SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team is a collaboration among pediatric cancer researchers in the largely disparate disciplines of cancer genomics and immunotherapeutics. The team focuses on developing new, targeted immunotherapeutics―ways to engage the body’s own immune system in the fight against childhood cancers that are the most difficult to cure. This team’s work builds on research done by the first
SU2C–St. Baldrick’s Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, which was initially funded in July 2013.

Supported by:

ABOUT THIS TEAM’S RESEARCH

Medicine needs new classes of therapeutics to improve survival of children with cancer and decrease the potentially life-altering physical, emotional, and financial costs of current therapies. The team uses new technologies in the fields of cancer genomics, epigenetics (the study of mechanisms that alter gene expression), and proteomics (research into proteins and their functions) to discover and validate new targets for immunotherapy.

The team is building new antibodies, antibody–drug combinations, and CAR T cells (tumor-seeking killer cells) to attack these targets. It is developing innovative new immunotherapies, discovering basic mechanisms of effectiveness (or lack thereof) in both antibody and cellular engineering, and devising novel methods to monitor clinical effectiveness and toxicity.

Team members previously opened more than 20 clinical trials and treated nearly 700 pediatric patients with cancers that have resisted treatment. Their work has demonstrated the potency of immunotherapy against acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and the scientists have also made progress against childhood solid cancers.

MEET THE TEAM

The top scientists and researchers on the St. Baldrick’s–SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, which leads them to great insights upon collaboration. Learn more about the St. Baldrick’s–SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team.

Dream Team Members

John M. Maris, MD
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Leader

Crystal L. Mackall, MD
Stanford University Cancer Center
Co-leader

Michael C. Jensen, MD
Seattle Children’s Research Institute
Principal Investigator

Donald W. Parsons, MD
Texas Children’s Cancer Center
Principal Investigator

Paul Sondel, MD
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Principal Investigator

Poul H.B. Sorensen, MD, PhD
BC Cancer Agency
Principal Investigator

Michael D. Taylor, MD
Hospital for Sick Children
Principal Investigator

Kelly Cotter
Cancer Foundation
Advocate

Kevin Reidy
Advocate

Carlos Sandi
Advocate

Kelly Forebauh
Advocate

Melanie Frost Moll
Advocate

Gavin Lindberg
Advocate

Antonia Palmer
Advocate

Patrick Sullivan
Team Finn Foundation
Advocate

Jennifer Baldi
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Project Manager

TEAM PROGRESS UPDATES

Stand Up To Cancer’s research projects are designed to foster collaborative, swift translational research. The hallmarks of these efforts include rigorous application and selection procedures, sufficient funding to allow scientists to focus on the objectives of the grant, and reviews by senior scientists every six months. These reviews help the investigators capitalize on the latest findings, address potential roadblocks, and collaboratively evolve as the science requires. Please click on the link to see summaries of research results so far for the St. Baldrick’s–SU2C Pediatric Cancer Dream Team.

TEAM PROGRESS UPDATES

PUBLICATIONS

Potent Antitumor Efficacy of Anti-GD2 CAR T Cells in H3-K27M+ Diffuse Midline Gliomas
Mount CW, Majzner RG, Sundaresh S, et al (2018)
Nat Med. 24(5):572-579.
TEM8/ANTXR1-Specific CAR T Cells as a Targeted Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Byrd TT, Fousek K, Pignata A, et al (2018)
Cancer Res. 78(2):489-500.
Therapeutic Targeting of Ependymoma as Informed by Oncogenic Enhancer Profiling
Mack SC, Pajtler KW, Chavez L, et al (2018)
Nature. 553(7686):101-105.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell-Mediated Neurotoxicity in Nonhuman Primates
Taraseviciute A, Tkachev V, Ponce R, et al (2018)
Cancer Discov. 8(6):750-763.
A Hematogenous Route for Medulloblastoma Leptomeningeal Metastases
Garzia L, Kijima N, Morrissy AS, et al (2018)
Cell. 172(5):1050-1062.e14.
The VAR2CSA Malaria Protein Efficiently Retrieves Circulating Tumor Cells in an EpCAM-Independent Manner
Agerbæk MØ, Bang-Christensen SR, Yang MH, et al (2018)
Nat Commun. 9(1):3279.
Tumor Antigen Escape from CAR T-cell Therapy
Majzner RG, Mackall CL (2018)
Cancer Discov. 8(10):1219-1226.
Tisagenlecleucel in Children and Young Adults with B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Maude SL, Laetsch TW, Buechner J, et al (2018)
N Engl J Med. 378(5):439-448.
False-Positive Results with Select HIV-1 NAT Methods Following Lentivirus-Based Tisagenlecleucel Therapy
Laetsch TW, Maude SL, Milone MC, et al (2018)
Blood. 131(23):2596-2598.
Toxicity Management After Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy: One Size Does Not Fit 'ALL'
Teachey DT, Bishop MR, Maloney DG, Grupp SA (2018)
Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 15(4):218.
Nonviral RNA Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Modified T Cells in Patients with Hodgkin lymphoma
Svoboda J, Rheingold SR, Gill SI, et al (2018)
Blood. 132(10):1022-1026.
Genetic Mechanisms of Target Antigen Loss in CAR19 Therapy of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Orlando EJ, Han X, Tribouley C, et al (2018)
Nat Med. 24(10):1504-1506.
See MoreLess Publications

CLINICAL TRIALS REFERRALS

Cancer clinical trials allow researchers to study innovative and potentially life-saving new treatments. The goal is to find treatments that are better than what’s currently available, in fact, the therapies offered to today’s cancer patients were almost all studied and made possible by people participating in clinical trials. But many cancer clinical trials don’t get completed because not enough people participate.

At StandUpToCancer.org/ClinicalTrials, you’ll find clinical trial information, answers to common questions, and a free clinical trial finder tool.

LEARN MORE

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