Websites we like!

Here is a list of websites that have caught our attention - they will begin appearing on our sidebar, so be sure to come back and see what gets added!

Site name	Why we like it	shares data with clinicaltrails.gov?
Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium	The PBTC’s goal is to find “superior treatment strategies for children with brain cancers”	yes
New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy	NANT wants to “develop and test new therapies that will be targeted specifically to neuroblastoma cells”	yes
Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia and Lymphoma	TACL “was established to provide a means for carrying out early studies of new drugs in children with recurrent leukemia or lymphoma”	yes
Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Investigators’ Consortium	POETIC “promotes the early clinical development of promising therapies for the treatment of children, adolescents and young adults with cancer and related disorders.”	yes
DrugPath	DrugPath aims to provide a free online resource for academic researchers that details developmental drugs in industry in order to accelerate the application of these drugs.	n/a
The Broad-Novartis Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia	The CCLE’s goal is to develop a comprehensive and detailed bank of information of human cancer cell for public use.	n/a

The Long Road to Immunotherapy

Be sure to check out the recent publication by Elaine from the PPTI and the Keller lab about the trials and tribulations of immunotherapies in cancer in Pediatric Blood and Cancer!

Welcome, Melanie!

The St. Baldrick’sFoundation funds childhood cancer research grants throughout the United States and may be best known for their lighthearted fundraising efforts where donors get to shave their heads in solidarity with cancer patients!   The money goes to research labs, first year medical students, new doctors, young researchers and clinical trials amongst many other things.  We are fortunate this year to have a medical student participate in our lab work through collaboration with the Department of Pediatrics Summer Internship Program directed by Dr. Amy Skinner under the auspices of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Summer Fellowship.  

Melanie Jackson is a (soon-to-be) second year medical student here at Oregon Health and Science University with basic research experience in skeletal biology.  Her primary goal is a career in academic medicine where she will create a much needed link between research findings and clinical practice. 

Words from Charles

One would like to think that tangibly better treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma and other childhood cancers can be found in a matter of years, instead of tens of years. Finding new treatments starts with research, perhaps even a new research approach to identifying effective new treatments. The Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative (at the Pediatric Cancer Biology Program, Pape' Family Pediatric Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University) focuses on finding molecules in childhood cancers that can be directly turned off or on by drugs so that the tumor stops growing. Behind our novel approach is the use of genetically-engineered mice. Our Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative uses mice modified from before birth so that at a certain age, and in a certain tissue, the same mutations found in a child’s cancer are activated in the mouse. These special mouse models of childhood cancer can be used to test a treatment to see whether the tumor growth and spread (metastasis) can be reversed. The specific aspect of these mice having normal immune systems is a real plus, too, because white blood cells play an important role in how tumors evolve and respond to therapy.

CMTRA Conference

A lot of things have been going on and keeping up with them all on the blog has been a challenge, as I’m sure you’ve noticed! 

Recently Elaine was sent to the 2011 MolecularTherapeutics of Cancer Research Conference where she got the chance to hear top scientists discuss cutting edge research at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA.  Talks covered topics ranging from the challenges of gaining government approval for clinical research to the minute details of manipulating signaling pathways in novel ways to treat a wide variety of cancers.  Participants came from both industry and academia to discuss the near and long-ranging future of molecular therapeutics. 

Tools for Pediatric Cancer Drug Discovery

Finding a cure for cancer means knowing what drugs are available and how they are currently performing on the market.  There are any number of sources for this information including personal networking, publications and databases of current research aims and goals.  Drugpath.org is an online database that lists cancer drugs that are currently being developed.  The drugs are listed by a variety of characteristics that allows scientists to search for particulars that are relevant to their interests. 

The database is maintained by a research team of faculty and students at Texas Tech University System and collaborates with the National Center for Integrative Biomedical Informatics (NCIBI).  Both researchers and members of industry can join in order to maximize exposure to new drugs and new applications for both groups. 

Valuing our Colleagues

As we mentioned last time, the core of the PPTI is the mouse colony.  Thanks to the hard work and diligence of the laboratory animal technicians of OHSU’s Department of Comparative Medicine, we know that our mice will always have the best care any one of them could ask for.  While we rely on the talented and dedicated staff as a whole, we would like to take the time during International Laboratory Animal Technician Week to thank the two primary caregivers of our rooms.

Larry Belle manages our barrier room where we keep the bulk of our mouse colony.  His attention to detail means that we can maintain complex mouse strains without any worries.  Larry’s sense of humor makes the trials of such a full room much more fun than they have a right to be!

Freian Valbuena has only recently been introduced to our mice in a more conventional room.  These experimental mice form the backbone of our data collection and are critical to Keller lab members and PPTI projects alike.  Freian’s great communication skills have made the establishment of this room smooth and problem free.  We are looking forward to getting to know him better.