Voices for Victory Celebrates 10 Years Supporting the V Foundation for Cancer Research’s Mission
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V Foundation Grants
Mokenge P. Malafa, M.D.
Carolyn Sartor, M.D.
Funded by the Jimmy V Women’s Basketball Classic
Gregory Smith, M.D.
Funded by The V Foundation Wine Celebration
Shakeel Modak, M.D. & Brian Kushner, M.D.
Funded by the Dick Vitale Gala in memory of Eddie Livingston
Anti-GD2 monoclonal antibodies are now standard of care for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, but there is little information on their biodistribution and tumor targeting in patients. We are developing a third generation anti-GD2 MoAb humanized 3F8 (hu3F8) for therapy of neuroblastoma. This proposed study will use a small dose of radioactive hu3F8 to determine its distribution and targeting using PET imaging which can provide sophisticated and quantitative data. This information will be critical in refining current dosing regimens for hu3F8 and improve the design of future clinical studies. Moreover, if specific tumor targeting can be demonstrated, as study of radioactive hu3F8 for therapy of patients with poor-prognosis neuroblastoma will be initiated.
Peter D. Adams, Ph.D.
Carrolee Barlow, M.D., Ph.D.
Phang-Lang Chen, Ph.D.
Chin Chiang, Ph.D.
Victor van Berkel, M.D., Ph.D.
Funded by the Louisville Friends of V
Lung cancer is responsible for more cancer deaths each year than breast, colon, and prostate cancer combined. Part of the problem resides in the lack of symptoms associated with lung cancer – many patients already have advanced disease on presentation. Currently, the best method for identifying lung cancer involves computed tomography (CT scans) of the chest; while this has been demonstrated to improve cancer mortality by identifying earlier stage cancers, it also identifies multiple nodules within the lungs that are not malignant. In an effort to more precisely diagnose early stage lung cancer in at risk individuals, our group has turned to breath analysis. Human breath contains thousands of compounds from atomic hydrogen to complex biological molecules. Recently a class of organic compounds known as carbonyls have been associated with lung cancer. Our research group has devised a simple method to extract and measure these compounds from a single breath. We have identified four specific cancer markers among these compounds – the chance of having cancer increases with the number of elevated cancer markers identified in the patient’s breath. The proposed project seeks to determine if breath analysis is as effective as CT scan in screening for lung cancer by comparing the two methods in the same patients. We will also study patients after a cancer has been resected to determine if recurrence of cancer can be effectively detected by breath analysis relative to CT scanning.
