New Hope Arises for Pediatric Cancer Patients

Terry Fry, Lia Gore, and Amanda Winters. These three remarkable researchers reached a childhood cancer milestone in April 2021. The power of research was amplified very recently by these three and they will continue to make a difference in the future.

The researchers came from the University of Colorado Cancer Center and are part of a group of over 200 researchers nationwide. Their work was recognized and awarded with the Team Science Award from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). This Team Science Award is a huge honor, an award that acknowledges and rewards the individual researchers from various fields who make the effort to solve a scientific challenge in an innovative and successful way. The award looks for those researchers whose strengths and knowledge fortify each other.

The mission of the AACR is to simply stop and cure cancer through research, education, communication, collaboration, science policy and advocacy, and funding for cancer research. Any people who help reach this mission are nominated with the chance to win this honorable award, including the three researchers from UC.

These researchers coincide with the St. Baldrick's Foundation Stand Up To Cancer Pediatric Cancer Dream Team. As part of this team, they help to build and create new immunotherapy approaches for high-risk childhood cancers. This work along with the collaboration of over 200 researchers nationwide has led to a variety of successes: the 319 published articles, 44 patent applications, the cause of approximately $118 million in extra grant funding, the establishment of a fresh pediatric clinical trials network, and the treatment of over 1,113 kids through early-phase clinical studies.

One of the researchers Terry Fry said that he has been extremely privileged to be working with this Cancer Dream Team since its start. He is also a professional in CAR T-cell therapy, which is a way in which the cells of a cancer patient are extracted, modified, and vitalized to discover and fight off cancer after being placed back into the patient’s body. Fry and his protege M. Eric Kohler are working to create CAR T-cells for various cancers. This work remains remarkable, paving the way for new hope.

However, the ground-breaking research that won the Team Science Award focuses on immunotherapy approaches. Amanda Winters’s research is associated with a kind of blood cancer known as acute myeloid leukemia. The research consists of the process to locate and target a disease that still takes its toll even after therapy. Winters can utilize digital PCR to find any acute myeloid leukemia gene mutations in order to recognize persistent disease down to solely one leukemia cell. The work is pertinent to finding a solution to lingering diseases that stay after therapy or treatment, a solution needed to save many children who suffer from cancers like acute myeloid leukemia.

Winters states that “when all of us are focused on developing better therapies for children with cancer, we can accomplish much more than any of us can alone. The AACR Team Science Award is a recognition of the successful outcome of these collaborations." In this aspect, teamwork proves to be, in retrospect, dreamwork.

Finally Lisa Gore’s research also surrounds immunotherapies that target leukemia cells. Gore is the co-director of the CU Cancer Center's Developmental Therapeutics Program. She has already shown tremendous success with her developing trials for childhood cancer through the utilization of monoclonal antibodies. Her work in combination with the other two researchers shows profound hope for the future of perdritaic cancer patients.

Overall, it is never just one person who carries an entire team. The heart of a team remains with everyone who is part of that team. In fact, a team can only reach full potential once every player or researcher uses 100% of their ability or knowledge. Similarly, the St. Baldrick's Foundation Stand Up To Cancer Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, consisting of over 200 researchers, will be unstoppable as time continues.

These three CU researchers are just the beginning. Once every researcher reaches full potential, then the scientific world will be fully advanced with new opportunities and guidance overflowing from the roots. Hope will fuel the motivation for not only these researches but also for these children.

Sources

https://www.aacr.org/about-the-aacr/

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210623/Three-CU-researchers-recognized-for-contributions-to-immunotherapy-in-childhood-cancer.aspx