Annual Report 2007 3-24-08.pdf - Moffitt Cancer Center

Immunotherapy Research May Lead To Cure
“Melanoma is one of the few human tumors to be immunogenic to the immune system,” explains
Dr. Mulé, who has sat on the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Counselors. “In other words,
the human immune system ‘sees’ melanoma better than it sees other human tumors, yet allows the
tumor to continue to grow. That’s why we believe that immunotherapy may hold a key to curing
melanoma. That’s also why we need a broad approach and additional researchers to better understand
the genetics and biology of melanoma.”
New investigators recruited by
the CMRC will supplement the existing
drug development and immunology
programs and will augment the current
clinical strength in medicine, surgery,
dermatology and pathology.
“Moffitt has the distinction of
being a free-standing, consensus institution
as opposed to being a top-down,
autocratic institution,” says Dr. Weber.
“The climate here already fosters innovation
and collaboration. Under the
CMRC umbrella, increased resources
will help us to do better what we do
already, and do more of it.”
The Comprehensive Melanoma Research Center is stimulating
the translation of scientific findings to the clinic. Here Moffitt
researcher Hiroshi Komine, M.D., views melanoma cells.
Research Vision Intensifies As Momentum Builds
In the fight against melanoma,
the path from “bench to bedside” often
starts with a small, first step –– a
research idea that matures into a new
chemical compound that appears to
have activity against melanoma cells.
Along that path, patients volunteer for
clinical trials hoping to benefit from new
treatments and also hoping to benefit
those who come after them. Scientists
working in laboratories and the people
who come to Moffitt for treatment are
allies as each puts his or her hopes
and hard work into bringing new treatments
to those who need it. Working
together, we are creating momentum
against this challenging disease. Goals
of the CMRC are to develop:
• Successful strategies leading to
new drugs and immune therapies
for melanoma.
• New screening assays for
melanoma.
• New diagnostic tests for melanoma.
• New insights into the genetic
and biochemical events that lead
to melanoma.
• New molecular targets for
treatment.
• A more complete understanding
of the genetic abnormalities
characteristic of melanoma.
• New drugs.
• New and better uses for current
drugs.
Minimally Invasive Procedure
Uses Current Drugs
One example of a better way to use
an existing drug in the treatment of
melanoma is the work of Jonathan Zager,
M.D. A surgical oncologist specializing in
melanoma and sarcoma and a recent
arrival at Moffitt, Dr. Zager brought with
him a minimally invasive technique called
“isolated limb infusion,” or ILI, to treat
recurrent melanoma or melanoma
metastases in the extremities.
The procedure uses a heated
chemotherapy delivered directly to the
site of the affected extremity by means
of a thin catheter inserted into a main
artery of a patient’s leg. The patient is
under a general anesthesia during the
30-minute treatment.
Afterward,
the patient stays
in the hospital
for a few days’
observation and
then goes home,
returning later for
a positron-emission
tomography Grace Bernard
(PET) scan.
Dr. Zager reports that complications
are less than with other, more invasive
techniques to treat recurrent melanoma
in the extremities, and that overall
patients have shown up to a 70 percent
response rate.
Grace Bernard, 83, of Port St. Lucie,
Florida, who was diagnosed with
melanoma in her thumb, then her wrist
and arm, made the trip to Tampa to see
Dr. Zager. The great-grandmother of two,
who had several surgeries on her arm
prior to undergoing ILI, says acquaintances
ask her why she goes all the way
to Tampa to be treated instead of being
treated closer to home.
10 MOFFITT CANCER CENTER