METHODOLOGYThe Research and Education Newsletter of Houston Methodist
Fall 2016 Houston Methodist receives $9 million federal grant to study the physics of cancer immunotherapy
by Patricia Akinfenwa
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded the Houston Methodist Research Institute a $9 million U54 grant to establish the Center for Immunotherapeutic Transport Oncophysics (CITO), a research center focused on the physics of cancer immunotherapy.
Under the leadership of President and CEO Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., the Houston Methodist Research Institute will be the lead site for the NCI- designated center, which will focus on designing immunotherapies for breast and pancreatic cancers. While several immunotherapies have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the use of immunotherapy to treat these intractable cancers has been less effective.
As a part of this grant, Houston Methodist will partner with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Southwestern to explore physiological changes during cancer progression. Studying the body’s changes, rather than simply focusing on the tumor, will help researchers create more effective and personalized treatments with fewer side effects.
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This $9 million grant is a testament to the “ pioneering work our faculty and researchers are doing to further the emerging field of transport oncophysics. Researchers will one day create more personalized treatments for cancer patients as a result of this work. ” – Marc L. Boom, M.D. President and Chief Executive Officer Houston Methodist Contents Contents
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Cancer is highly heterogeneous which means that no two cancers are the same, even if they are of the same type and in the same stage. In fact, even within a single patient, a tumor is constantly evolving and
Featured News different regions of the tumor might have different characteristics.
Houston Methodist receives This astonishing complexity of cancer has humbled many generations $9 million federal grant to of researchers. study the physics of cancer immunotherapy...... 1 So how can we out think a disease that is constantly changing and evolving? The answer lies in making cancer therapy precise and personal Research Highlights: – tailored to each patient and each tumor. At Houston Methodist, Artificial intelligence expedites precision medicine is an area of intense focus and research. In this breast cancer risk prediction...... 4 issue of Methodology, you will read about how our dedicated team of cancer physicians and researchers Houston Methodist receives are working on precision treatments for cancer. nearly $4 million from U.S. Department of Defense to Houston Methodist has received a $9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to harness combat lethal breast cancer...... 6 the power of the physics of cancer immunotherapy to make it more precise. This award is a recognition Taking discoveries from of our institution's pioneering contributions to the emerging field of transport oncophysics and will bench to bedside and beyond...... 8 support the establishment of a multi-institutional effort called the Center for Immunotherapeutic Transport Oncophysics (CITO) that will be based at Houston Methodist. The center will integrate Education News diverse disciplines like advanced mathematics, biophysics, mechanical engineering, materials Summer program pairs science, oncology and molecular biology to overcome the challenges associated with achieving students with top scientists...... 16 effective targeted immunotherapy for cancer. The grant places us in a select group of 10 centers New GME programs...... 17 in the NCI's Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers (PS-OC) network that includes Johns Hopkins University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Of Interest Rongfu Wang, Ph.D., and Jenny C. Chang, M.D., received $4 million from the Department Awards & accolades...... 18 of Defense to take a triple negative breast cancer immunotherapy into Phase I clinical trials. This The Bricker Award for Science Writing in Medicine...... 18 therapy trains the immune system to safely and selectively target just breast tumor cells without
Upcoming events...... 19 affecting normal tissue. The most lethal form of breast cancer, triple negative breast cancer, is non-responsive to conventional chemotherapy and radiation resulting in high rates of relapse and New faculty members...... 19 mortality. Researchers at Houston Methodist are also designing new tools to improve diagnosis. Confronted by the high rates of false positives with mammograms and the resulting unnecessary biopsies, Stephen T. Wong, Ph.D., P.E., and Chang have developed an artificial intelligence program that can review mammogram data and patient charts to more accurately predict breast cancer risk.
At Houston Methodist, we also realize that taking these exciting new discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic successfully is the ultimate test for any biomedical invention. We have made the bench- to-bedside translation of innovation our primary focus and I invite you to read on and learn more about how our culture, infrastructure, people and resources are making that happen.
Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D. Ernest Cockrell Jr. Presidential Distinguished Chair President and CEO, Houston Methodist Research Institute Director, Institute for Academic Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital Executive Vice President, Houston Methodist Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
Read more online: issuu.com/instituteforacademicmedicine >> CONT. FROM PAGE ONE CITO to focus on more effective, targeted therapies
The multidisciplinary and multi-institutional CITO research The center’s goal is to use research information to personalize team will combine the studies of cancer immunology, immunotherapies for the treatment of breast and pancreatic biotechnology and transport oncophysics (mass transport cancers: topics of the two major center projects. within cancer cells) to reveal how immunotherapy works The first project will determine how nano-dendritic cell vaccines, in cancer patients. Ferrari, the Ernest Cockrell Jr. containing immune cells loaded with nanoparticles, are transported Presidential Distinguished Chair, is considered to be to breast cancers. The second project aims to identify the transport one of the founders of the field of transport oncophysics. barriers keeping immunotherapies from reaching pancreatic tumors.
Many cancer patients do not MAURO FERRARI, Ph.D. “ Ernest Cockrell Jr. Presidential Distinguished Chair President and CEO, Houston Methodist Research Institute respond to immunotherapies, Director, Institute for Academic Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital Executive Vice President, Houston Methodist typically because the drugs HAIFA SHEN, M.D., Ph.D. never reach the cancer cells. Associate Professor of Nanomedicine Houston Methodist The field of transport oncophysics, while still relatively young, will RONGFU WANG, Ph.D. Professor of Inflammation and Epigenetics allow us to understand and over- Director, Center for Inflammation & Epigenetics Houston Methodist come the limitations of cancer
immunotherapies. ARTURAS ZIEMYS, Ph.D. ” Assistant Professor in Nanomedicine – Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D. Houston Methodist President and CEO Houston Methodist Research Institute HOUSTON METHODIST CITO TEAM
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA Columbia University New York, NY Houston Methodist is one among Cornell University Ithaca, NY University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 10 centers in the NCI's Physical
Northwestern University University of Pennsylvania Chicago, IL Philadelphia, PA Sciences-Oncology Centers (PS-OC) Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD network that includes Johns Hopkins
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center University, the Massachusetts & Research Institute Houston Methodist Research Institute Tampa, FL Houston, TX Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
3 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Artificial Intelligence Expedites Breast Cancer Risk Prediction
by Patricia Akinfenwa
Stephen T. Wong, Ph.D. Jenny C. Chang, M.D. Tejal Patel, M.D. Researchers at Houston Methodist have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) software that reliably interprets mammograms, assisting doctors with a quick and accurate prediction of breast cancer risk. According to a new study published in Cancer, the computer software intuitively translates patient charts into diagnostic information at 30 times human speed and with 99 percent accuracy.
The team led by Stephen T. Wong, Ph.D., P.E., John S. Dunn, Sr. Presidential Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, and Jenny C. Chang, M.D., Emily Herrmann Chair in Cancer Research and director of the Houston Methodist Cancer Center, used the AI software to evaluate mammograms and pathology reports of 500 breast cancer patients. The software scanned patient charts, collected diagnostic features and correlated mammogram findings with breast cancer subtype. Clinicians used results, like the expression of tumor proteins, to accurately predict each patient’s probability of breast cancer diagnosis.
4 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
“ This software intelligently reviews millions of records in a short Artificial amount of time, enabling us to determine breast cancer risk
Intelligence more efficiently using a patient’s mammogram.“ This has the potential to decrease unnecessary biopsies.
– Stephen T. Wong, Ph.D. Expedites John S. Dunn, Sr. Presidential Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering Houston Methodist Breast Cancer Risk Prediction