When President Barack Obama called for a national moon shot to end cancer, the MD Anderson community and our patients cheered. For nearly 75 years, cancer has been our priority, and we are heartened to see it elevated to a true national priority.
Annual Report 2015 : Prevention
We’re creating partnerships to detect a deadly cancer earlier
Building on MD Anderson research, a new company named Codiak Biosciences has formed to create therapeutic and diagnostic products using exosomes — small parts of cells that break away and float around the body.
Researchers in Raghu Kalluri’s lab are working on a way to detect pancreatic cancer at an early stage, before it spreads to other organs and becomes too difficult to treat. Photo: Wyatt McSpadden
Long thought to be a kind of trash collection bin for cells, it turns out exosomes are instead one of the main ways cells communicate with each other.
“This makes them medically useful in a number of ways,” says Raghu Kalluri, Ph.D., chair of Cancer Biology at MD Anderson.
Kalluri has found that exosomes from healthy cells can be used to safely deliver drugs to penetrate tumor cells. Building on his discovery, Codiak plans to develop a drug to treat pancreatic cancer, using exosomes as a delivery vehicle.
“This cellular-to cellular-transfer of drugs is a potent and safe delivery system for a number of therapeutic purposes,” Kalluri says.
He’s also discovered a potential method for detecting pancreatic cancer sooner. The secret lies in fragments of DNA, RNA and proteins inside and on the surface of exosomes that are specific to cancer cells. Kalluri discovered one particular protein that has been found to detect pancreatic cancer with 100% accuracy.
Codiak plans to use this protein to develop a diagnostic test that can identify pancreatic cancer in its early stages when it’s still treatable. The disease typically is detected so late that only 6% of patients survive five years after diagnosis.
“It’s a feather in our cap and a real turning point for MD Anderson’s growing collaboration with private industry,” says Ferran Prat, Ph.D., J.D., vice president for Strategic Industry Ventures. “Our ultimate goal is to bring innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions to our patients. The ability to add to our arsenal of cancer-fighting tools is greatly enhanced by ventures like Codiak.”
At MD Anderson, an office to attract, maintain and grow collaborations between the institution and bioscience and pharmaceutical companies was created in 2013.
Strategic Industry Ventures, headed by Ferran Prat, Ph.D., J.D., works with outside companies to look for potential partners that will help advance new biomedical discoveries. Their goal? Get treatments to patients faster.
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To meet a growing demand for clinical, diagnostic and support services, ground was broken in 2013 for The Pavilion, an eight-story, 184,800-square-foot facility connected to the Main Building.
In the face of cancer
It’s a phrase that describes our patients, who, faced with a disease that is unpredictable and unforgiving, remain strong and determined.
It describes our doctors, researchers, educators and staff, who are relentless in their drive to stop a plague that robs us all of friends, family and loved ones.
He took on the mystery of metastasis. Now he’s taking on brain cancer.
Few scientists have devoted as much of their career to understanding how cancer spreads as Isaiah Fidler, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Graduating to big things before returning to MD Anderson
When Joya Chandra, Ph.D., joined the faculty of MD Anderson’s pediatrics department in 2002, she felt an immediate kinship with the researchers, clinicians and, especially, with the students.
Where rivers of research and clinical data converge into one pool
A simple yet unprecedented goal drives the big data efforts of MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program: to have every patient contribute to and benefit from the cancer
center’s research.
Bottom line: Converting discoveries into new treatments at a faster rate
When a clinical trial for a new breast cancer drug launched recently, researchers estimated it would take at least two years to enroll the 20 patients needed to make the trial a success. However, within four months, half the patients had already enrolled — and the drug worked for all 10.
Outsmarting cancer with genetic testing
Teresa Hall’s visit to a gastroenterologist three years ago wasn’t the first time she’d sought help for troubling symptoms.
Are you at high risk for pancreatic cancer?
A new clinic to identify and monitor those at high risk for developing pancreatic cancer continues to expand after opening last year.
Breast cancer screening guidelines aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution
It’s clear that breast cancer screenings save lives. But exactly when women at average risk of developing breast cancer should begin screening is much less clear.
