SU2C-funded research to be presented during the AACR Virtual Meeting — April 27-28, 2020

(New York) April 27, 2020 – Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C)-supported research will be presented during the American Association for Cancer Research Annual (AACR) Virtual Meeting 10 from April 27th to 28th.

Work presented by SU2C-funded investigators highlights continued support for developing effective immunotherapy approaches to pediatric and young adult ALL and lung cancer as well as progress in the emerging field of Cancer Interception. Cancer Interception seeks approaches to intervene and stop the formation or progression of early or pre-cancerous conditions.

“Stand Up To Cancer has invested significantly and has made notable contributions in advancing the field of immunotherapy and has pioneered new approaches to cancer diagnostics and treatment, notably through Cancer Interception,” stated SU2C CEO Sung Poblete, PhD, RN. “Not only are we excited about the continuing impact SU2C is making in new immunotherapy approaches to treat refractory ALL in children and young adults and to treat non-small cell lung cancer, but we are making measurable strides in moving cancer interception forward toward clinical practice so we can identify and treat patients at earlier stages to optimize outcomes.”

Tuesday, April 28, VMS.PR01.01. Translational Prevention Studies

10:50-11:00 a.m. (1098) – Mediators of early immune response in bronchial premalignant lesions

Members of the SU2C-LUNGevity Foundation-American Lung Association Lung Cancer Interception Dream Team used gene expression profiling to identify genes that may be responsible for immune suppression or activation in Bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs) which are precursors to lung squamous cell carcinoma. Of 15 candidate genes identified, the GSTP1 gene was found to be upregulated in progressing lesions and negatively correlated with several immune activation pathways. Ultimately, GSTP1 represents a promising new target for immunotherapy of squamous cell lung cancer and may allow for novel early intervention treatments.

Tuesday, April 28, VCTPL05. Adoptive Cell Transfer Therapy

11:05-11:15 a.m. (CT051): Safety and efficacy of CD19/CD22 CAR T cells in children and young adults with relapsed/refractory ALL

Haneen Shalabi, DO, investigator on the St. Baldrick’s Foundation – Stand Up To Cancer Pediatric Cancer Dream Team reports that the team, which has been pioneering dual antigen targeting strategies for CAR T cell therapy, tested a novel humanized bispecific CD19/CD22 CAR T cell construct in patients with relapsed/refractory B ALL seeking to prevent antigen negative escape. In this phase 1 study, CD19/22 CAR was well tolerated and effective in CAR naïve patients, with four of six patients achieving minimal residual disease, negative complete remission. Future plans include exploring an additional dose level, intensifying lymphodepletion for prior CAR patients, and evaluating CAR T-cell product characteristics with outcomes.

1:00-1:10 p.m. (CT056): Durable complete responses to adoptive cell transfer using tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): a phase I trial.

Ben Creelan, MD, clinical lead on the SU2C Catalyst® Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Research Team, led by Scott J. Antonia, MD, PhD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, will be presenting data on durable complete responses in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with manageable toxicity, potentially extending the benefits of adoptive cell transfer seen in melanoma to NSCLC.

Tuesday, April 28, VCTPL02. Early Detection and ctDNA

2:30-2:40 p.m. (CT023): Phylogenetic tracking and minimal residual disease detection using ctDNA in early-stage NSCLC: A lung TRACERx study

Christopher Abbosh, MB, young investigator on the SU2C-LUNGeivity-American Lung Association Lung Cancer Interception Dream Team reports that circulating tumor DNA is an adjuvant biomarker capable of both detecting minimal residual disease following surgery and defining the clonality of relapsing disease. These data pave the way for clinical trials predicated on escalation of adjuvant standard of care in patients who exhibit minimal residual disease following surgery.

Tuesday, April 28, VMS.CL11.01 – Predictive Biomarkers for Immunotherapeutics

3:55-4:05 p.m. (5666) – A noninvasive approach for early prediction of therapeutic benefit from immune checkpoint inhibition for lung cancer.

Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD, co-leader and Ash Alizadeh, MD, investigator on the SU2C-LUNGevity Foundation-American Lung Association Lung Cancer Interception Research Team, and other team members report on the use of circulating tumor DNA to predict which non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients will achieve durable clinical benefit after treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Currently, conventional imaging is often not able to identify which patients will achieve durable clinical benefit. The team was able to demonstrate that pre-treatment circulating tumor DNA and circulating immune profiles can provide accurate, noninvasive, and early forecasting of ultimate outcomes for NSCLC patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

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About Stand Up To Cancer

Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by media and entertainment leaders who utilize these communities’ resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness about cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in the fight against the disease. As of January 2020, more than 1,600 scientists representing more than 180 institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects.

Under the direction of our Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., SU2C operates rigorous competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and ensure collaboration across research programs.

Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., serves as SU2C’s CEO. For more information, visit StandUpToCancer.org.

STAND UP TO CANCER MEDIA CONTACT:

Jane Rubinstein

(516) 993-0708

[email protected]