$11.5 Million Awarded for Melanoma Research

SPORE Grant Spurs Study of Fastest Growing Cancer

An $11.5 million grant has been awarded to scientists to expedite research for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and fastest growing cancer in the United States.

The Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant, presented to M. D. Anderson researchers recently, is the first such grant awarded exclusively for melanoma research. Funded by the National Cancer Institute, SPORE grants are focused on translational research, projects aimed at moving findings from the lab to the patient more quickly.

Considering the seriousness of the disease, the award gives scientists a much-needed boost, says Elizabeth Grimm, Ph.D., professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Experimental Therapeutics and director of the SPORE grant.

Grant funds numerous projects

"Melanoma in its most advanced form is as deadly as brain, lung and pancreatic cancers, with 80% of patients dying within five years," Grimm says. "We have come so far with basic science and technology advancements with melanoma research. The missing link to get these findings to the patient is this next step - preclinical and early research.

"There's a huge collection of ideas that need to be expedited. With the SPORE's translational emphasis, clinician-scientists and laboratory scientists are able to truly partner together for the sake of getting these findings directly to the patient."

The SPORE grant will fund research that involves:

• Developing a vaccine from a patient's own tumor in the laboratory and then returning it to the patient as treatment
• Predicting the likelihood of melanoma recurrence from the patient's DNA repair enzymes - information that will lead to better screening and prevention strategies
• Identifying the genes that regulate the body's immune response to melanoma in the hope of controlling and enhancing immune response
• Determining which patient's tumors will resist treatment by identifying molecular markers and creating a means to turn off these markers
• Blocking melanoma tumor growth factors in patients by using specially designed antibodies

Scientists hopeful projects will make a difference

Melanoma is a life-threatening disease with poor survival rates when caught in advanced stages, experts say. The cancer is expected to be diagnosed in 55,100 people in the United States in 2004, and nearly 8,000 people are expected to die, according to the American Cancer Society.

"We hope to make a difference in the lives of those patients and develop means to control the tumor growth, allowing patients to live with their cancer if not completely eliminating it," Grimm says. "One approach in our SPORE is to study new ways of modulating the immune response to melanoma. We are developing procedures to provide enhanced immune therapies such as through vaccines and novel cytokines. We also are exploring mechanisms to overcome the tumor-derived suppression of immunity."

In addition to funding key research projects, the SPORE grant also will fund M. D. Anderson's Melanoma Tissue Bank and provide biostatistics and administrative support. The award is one of nine SPORE Grants received by M. D. Anderson.