lung Cancer Out loud - Moores Cancer Center - UC San Diego

Pathways
Fall 2008
University of California, San Diego | Moores UCSD Cancer Center
Nano-Tumors: Researchers Look at Tiny Particles
to Solve Big Problems
In This Issue
Message from the Director
Dennis A. Carson, M.D.
p a g e 2
News Briefs
p a g e 4
Donors Make the Difference
Hope for a Cure Foundation
p a g e 5
News of Note
Cancer Center and the Community
Gorder Walk
p a g e 5
Events
p a g e 6
For now, David Cheresh, Ph.D., wants nothing more than to use the tiny microscopic particles
called nanoparticles to cut the legs off cancerous tumors, stopping them in their tracks. But
Cheresh isn’t planning to use nanotechnology to develop new cancer drugs. He’s hoping to make
the old drugs even better.
Cheresh is Professor of Pathology and
Associate Director of Translational
Research at the Moores UCSD Cancer
Center. He also co-leads a project
supported by a five-year federal grant
through the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) to study nanotechnology
and cancer. Led by UC San
Diego, the $20-million NCIfunded
public-private
consortium—one of only
eight such NCI-backed
programs in the nation—is
now in its third year.
The consortium, or NANO-TUMOR
Center, explores the potential uses of
nanotechnology in detecting, imaging, and
treating cancer. It brings together UCSD
physicians, engineers, chemists, and
biologists with colleagues from the
Burnham Institute for Medical Research
and University of California campuses at
Irvine, Riverside, and Santa Barbara, in
addition to various industry partners.
Nanoparticle research is an exciting area of
intense scientific study from a wide variety
of applications in biomedical, optical, and
electronic fields. Nanoparticles range from
one to 100 nanometers (one “nano” is one
millionth of a millimeter) in size. Their
tiny size makes them excellent candidates
to take on the fight against cancer at
the molecular level. Nanoparticles with
particular shapes may even have names like
nanospears, nanotubes, or nanoreefs.
Cheresh and his colleagues are using
nanoparticles to target and home in on
tumor cells with payloads of killer drugs.
At the same time, he’s also trying to stop
cancer in its tracks before it can move or
metastasize to other areas of the body.
c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 2
Pathways is a publication of the
Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
Executive Editor: Pam Werner
Contributors: Steve Benowitz, Rachel
de la Vega, Regan Olsson, Gretchen
Pelletier, Jennilyn Tan, Tammy Traudt
Please contact us if you wish to have your
name removed from our mailing list.
Comments are also welcome.
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Lung Cancer
Out Loud
Frustrated doesn’t begin to describe how Lyudmila
Bazhenova, M.D., a Moores USCD Cancer Center
oncologist, feels about where the United States stands in
lung cancer research.
Given the tremendous strides that researchers have made
in other cancers, Bazhenova is one of many researchers
who is baffled why lung cancer receives so little attention,
particularly since it is the most lethal of all cancers for men
and women.
By receiving less attention, lung cancer receives less federal
funding for research, with notable consequences. Compare
c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 3

Message from the Director
s the Moores UCSD Cancer Center continues to
expand our services and develop a far greater reach
in the community, the Cancer Center is also undergoing
some growing pains, not unlike the city of San Diego.
While we continue to see more patients than ever before,
and have recently recruited several new physicians, we
still need more resources to meet the increasing demands
placed on us by the community for patient services. We
see this as a mark of our success, but also a continuing
challenge for the future.
Our newest faculty brings impressive credentials. Ithaar Derweesh, M.D., for
example, who recently joined us from Tennessee, is a urologic oncologist who
specializes in minimally invasive surgery techniques to treat, among other
diseases, kidney cancer. As a scientist, Derweesh will be involved in testing the
latest drugs to find innovative ways to combat kidney cancer, which is on the
rise in this country.
Moores Cancer Center physician-scientists continue to make substantial
advancements in clinical research and have a number of outstanding clinical
studies that are exploring the latest in potential therapeutic advances. Our
oncologists are hoping to slow the progression of advanced lung cancer by
treating patients with a novel kind of cancer vaccine designed to both pump
up immunity while tricking the cancer into turning off its immune systemsuppressing
activities. Leukemia researchers are examining the use of gene
therapy for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. In only one year, a
unique partnership between industry and academia has led to human clinical
trials of a new drug for a rare class of blood diseases called myeloproliferative
disorders (MPD).
The latter partnership and our ongoing efforts to establish relationships
with local and regional biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are
additional indications of how connected we are to the San Diego community.
We’re breaking down barriers and increasing collaborations. We’re finding
new ways for industry and academia, historically sometimes worlds apart, to
work together. The traditional barriers such as scientific secrecy, liability, and
intellectual property rights are slowly being overcome. A recent symposium at
the Cancer Center was aimed at fostering and strengthening the ties between
scientists in the laboratory and experts at pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies to develop new, potentially valuable drugs against cancer. The
Cancer Center’s role as an incubator of new ideas and research directions, as
well as in evaluating promising new treatments and technologies, is vital for
the benefit of our patients. As always, this is our focus—to get the newest,
most effective therapies out of the laboratory and to our patients’ bedsides.
Sincerely,
A
Nano-Tumor Research
c o n t i n u e d f r o m f r o n t c o v e r
His focus on starving tumors by shutting off
their blood supply has led to new insights into
understanding how tumors form and behave.
Without a blood supply, tumors have no way
to grow.
Cheresh and his group recently developed a new
treatment strategy using tiny “smart bombs”
made of nanoparticles to target the spread of
cancer with anti-cancer drugs. This summer
they reported in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences that a nanoparticle carrying
a payload of chemotherapy drugs can specifically
target proteins found on certain tumor blood
vessels. The nanoparticle/drug combination
didn’t have much impact on primary tumors,
but it stopped pancreatic and kidney cancers
from spreading in mice. As a result, the
researchers needed lower amounts of dangerous
drugs to stop the cancer from growing, and
there was less damage to nearby normal tissue.
It’s only the beginning, says Cheresh. “We’re
building new particles that we think will be
scalable for potential human use.”
Cancer Center Project Scientist and
immunologist Davorka Messmer, Ph.D., hopes
to use nanotechnology to help the immune
system recognize and kill tumor cells, rather
than rely on drugs. She and her team are
developing a vaccine using nanoparticles that
attracts the immune system to the cancer and
revs it up. But it hasn’t been easy. “Even if you
successfully immunize, the tumor suppresses the
immune response,” she explains. “We have to
do a two-pronged approach. You’re pumping the
gas pedal on the immune response, but it won’t
be enough unless you take off the brakes—the
immune suppression from the cancer.”
While the research is in its early stages, Messmer
is hopeful.
“Eventually, we would like to have particles
that don’t have to be tailored to the patient, but
can be a general vaccine and with which the
immune system can take care of the tumor,” she
says. “Such a vaccine might be used to prevent a
cancer from returning.”
Dennis A. Carson, M.D.
Director, Moores UCSD Cancer Center
Chugai Pharmaceutical Chair in Cancer
Associate Dean, UCSD Health Sciences
2
c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 3

Lung Cancer
c o n t i n u e d f r o m f r o n t c o v e r
Other NANO-TUMOR center projects
include:
• Developing “mother ships” that can
home in on tumors and deliver smaller
particles that could carry out a variety
of jobs, including imaging tumors and
releasing drugs
• Creating nanoparticles that will
clump in tumors and enable imaging
and treatments
• Studying nanoparticles that monitor
genetic changes in cancer cells over time
• Using nanotechnology to develop
detection and monitoring systems for
signs of cancer, and to follow the paths
of drugs in the bloodstream.
With two years left on the grant, Cheresh
still has big plans. He and his team would
like to use nanotechnology to package and
target drugs more specifically to tumors,
since some hit a range of targets in the
body, not all of which are cancer. The
same strategy, he says, could work for
combinations of agents.
He notes that his team is using imaging
to see within hours whether a particle
hits its target. “We’ve combined
bioengineering, biochemistry, and biology
with an engineering approach that involves
designing a device that allows us to image
blood vessels in real time,” he says.
Cheresh is confident of nanotechnology’s
potential. “I think in the next five to 10
years, we will begin to see the real impact of
nanotechnology in cancer and medicine.”
five-year relative survival rates for women
in 1975 and in 2000: for breast cancer,
the rate went from 75 percent survival
to 90 percent; for colorectal cancer, it
went from 50 percent to 65 percent; but
for lung cancer, the rate went from 15
percent to 18 percent.
“This disease needs more advocates,”
says Bazhenova, whose clinical practice
concentrates on lung cancer patients,
with a focus on women and non-smokers.
Bazhenova oversees cooperative group
trials and designs and implements clinical
investigations at the Moores Cancer Center.
“We should learn from breast cancer
patients, physicians, and researchers how
to successfully raise awareness,” says
Bazhenova. “There is a big stigma with
lung cancer connected with smoking,
yet 60 percent of our patients have never
smoked or quit.”
“That’s the very first thing out of
someone’s mouth when you tell them
you have lung cancer: ‘Did you smoke’”
says Sheila Inman, one of Bazhenova’s
patients. “It’s a way of asking, ‘Did you
do this to yourself’”
Another patient, Mary Lebkuecher, was
one of the 1,308 new lung cancer cases
diagnosed in San Diego County in 2006,
and she is among the 20 percent of lung
cancer patients who has never smoked.
After a poor prognosis, Mary sought
Bazhenova for a second opinion. “My
first doctor gave me six months to live,
so when I met with Dr. B for a second
opinion I was desperate,” she says. “But
she gave me hope. And today it’s been a
year since my diagnosis,” says Mary.
Although she didn’t qualify for
participation in a clinical trial, Mary
is still experiencing the value of
academic medicine via Bazhenova’s
experience as a clinician, researcher,
and teacher. Bazhenova placed Mary on
the drug Tarceva and treated her with
chemotherapy and radiation.
Both
Mary and
Sheila were
astonished
when they
received a lung
cancer diagnosis, particularly since they
lead healthy and active lives. “I’m only
the second person in my family who has
been diagnosed with cancer, and I have a
large family,” says Sheila Inman. Sheila’s
cancer was discovered because of a blood
clot in her leg. “I went back and looked
at a pamphlet I’d received a couple years
ago when I had my first clot, and there
it was: blood clots can be a symptom of
lung cancer.” As a non-smoker, it never
occurred to her to connect the two.
The next shock for these women was
the comparative lack of research and
treatments.
“Initially you just assume it’s like a lot of
cancers,” says Sheila. “We were hoping
there would be options, and it could be
cured or managed. It’s just shocking.”
Shocking, yes. According to the American
Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading
cause of cancer death, and more people
die from lung cancer than of colon,
breast, and prostate cancers combined.
Lung cancer is also the leading cancer
killer of women in the United States,
claiming nearly twice as many lives as
breast cancer. Nearly 20 percent of these
deaths are in women who have never
smoked. In fact, women who have never
smoked are at greater risk for lung cancer
than men who have never smoked. This is
why more research is desperately needed.
Meanwhile, Mary Lebkuecher and Sheila
Inman aren’t waiting. They’re fighting
lung cancer with the most targeted
treatments available at the Moores
Cancer Center. And with Bazhenova’s
encouragement, they’re talking about
lung cancer.
3

News Briefs
2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Shared by Moores UCSD Cancer Center Member
Roger Tsien, Ph.D.
A rendering of GFP and
a peptide.
UC San Diego researcher and Moores UCSD Cancer Center
member Roger Tsien, Ph.D., will share the 2008 Nobel Prize
in Chemistry with Osamu Shimomura of the Marine
Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and Boston University
School of Medicine and Martin Chalfie of Columbia
University in New York. The scientists are being honored for
the discovery of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and for their
work to design and create glowing molecules that enter cells
and light up their inner workings.
Tsien, Professor of Pharmacology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry
and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, has
dedicated his career to the development and application of
fluorescent protein probes that enable scientists to monitor
how cells work. He and his collaborators have engineered dyes
that can get inside cells leading to new opportunities to
monitor and image various processes in cells, including tracking
when and where genes are turned on and off. Such fluorescent
proteins have potentially wide-ranging uses in neurobiology
and cancer. Most recently, Tsien has begun to build on this
work to develop a novel way to image and possibly even deliver specially targeted
drugs to cancer tumors, and is trying to translate these approaches to the clinic.
Longboard & Luau Raises Half a Million For Cancer Research
The surf was up at the August 24 “Luau and Longboard Invitational” near the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography pier, in La Jolla where guests, surfing legends, scientists,
business leaders, and cancer patients and survivors came together to celebrate 15 years
of surfin’ for a cure. Thanks to Title Sponsor Pfizer La Jolla and Gold Sponsor
Genentech Oceanside, this year’s event raised more than half a million dollars for
cancer research for the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. In total, the Luau has raised
more than $3 million.
The event highlight was the presentation of the Rell Sunn “Queen of Makaha” Award,
which was established in memory of Sunn, a Hawaiian surfer and longtime Luau and
Longboard Invitational supporter who lost her battle to breast cancer. Each year, the
award is given to an individual for his or her dedication to helping others in the fight
against cancer in ways that
embody the true “aloha” spirit.
This year’s recipient was Doris A.
Howell, M.D., Founder of San
Diego Hospice and namesake of
the palliative and supportive care
service at the Moores Cancer
Center. Howell was recognized
for her selfless devotion to the
care of others, especially those
whose lives have been affected by
cancer.
Surf Legend Rusty Preisendorfer with Title Sponsor, “Team Pfizer.”
4
“Everything is Possible
Celebration”
Seany Foundation Raises Funds
for Ewing’s Sarcoma Research
Amy & Mitch Robins with Dyan & Barry Abrams.
On August 3, the Moores UCSD Cancer
Center lobby and the Ben and Sheri
Kelts Bamboo Court were transformed
into a magical sunflower garden for the
“Everything is Possible Celebration.” Amy
and Mitch Robins, founders of the Seany
Foundation, coordinated and underwrote
this special evening, which included unique
silent and live auction items, including a
private dinner prepared by executive chef
Jeffrey Strauss of Pamplemousse Grill.
The Seany Foundation is named after the
Robins’ beloved son Sean, who lost his
battle to Ewing’s sarcoma in November
2006. The celebration raised more than
$75,000 for the Sean Lewis Robins
Endowed Research Fund at the Moores
Cancer Center. As Mitch said, “This is
what Sean would have wanted.”
i n v i tat i o n t o j o i n t h e
Health Sciences Associates
You are personally invited to join the UC
San Diego Health Sciences Associates. The
Health Sciences Associates is a new recognition
program that recognizes our most generous
donors who make annual leadership gifts of
$1,000 or more to one or more areas within
Health Sciences. Associates are vital to
sustaining excellence in quality patient care,
exceptional education, valuable research, and
ongoing service to the community.
To learn more, visit http://hsassociates.ucsd.edu, or call
(619) 543-3473.

Hope for a Cure Foundation
“Doing research is like searching for a door
in a dark room,” Jean Wang, Ph.D., told
the gathering at the Hope for a Cure
Foundation’s annual fundraiser. “Your gift
of the digital imaging system is like a light
that helps us find the door!”
Wang, Professor and Associate Director of
Basic Research at the Moores UCSD
Cancer Center, described how the research
equipment donated by the Hope for a Cure
Foundation would help her lab identify
new drug targets to improve cancer
chemotherapy.
The Hope for a Cure Foundation purchases
equipment for local cancer research
institutes—equipment not covered by
grants and individual donations.
Board members Eva Borgstrom, Olga
Fisher, Maryjo Highland, Dee Jerge, and
Pam Xitco volunteer their time and
expertise to keep overhead at an absolute
minimum. All the funds raised stay in San
Diego to advance programs already in place.
The Foundation has made a difference to
Researchers Jean Wang, Ph.D., and
Shun J. Lee with Foundation board members
Olga Fisher, Maryjo Highland, Eva Borgstrom,
Pam Xitco, and Dee Jerge.
other Moores Cancer Center
physicians. Anne Wallace, M.D.,
recently received powerful equipment
that records and maps the duct wall of
breast cancer patients.
J. Kellogg “Kelly” Parsons, M.D.,
received new equipment to assist in his
research into the links between diet and
prostate cancer. The new fluoroscopic
unit will help Parsons analyze dietary
compounds important for cancer
prevention and control.
An investment you can count on…
News of Note
Taking the Cancer Center to
the Community
Lynn and Richard Gordon with Catriona Jamieson,
M.D., Ph.D.
A unique summer gathering brought both
awareness and knowledge about cancer
stem cell research to friends and family who
gathered at the home of Moores UCSD
Cancer Center Board member Lynn and
Richard Gordon. The Gordons introduced
their friends to Catriona Jamieson, M.D.,
Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Director of
Stem Cell Research at the Moores Cancer
Center, who provided insightful information
on her stem cell research and collaborations
with fellow researchers over coffee and
dessert. Guests spoke personally with
Jamieson, who enjoyed the opportunity to
meet members of our community.
When you create a charitable gift annuity
with the UC San Diego Foundation, you
invest not only in the University but your
future as well.
A charitable gift annuity with the
Foundation provides you certain benefits
on your investment, including: a charitable
income tax deduction; fixed annuity
payments for life; and the satisfaction that
your gift will eventually help the Moores
UCSD Cancer Center fulfill its vision to
translate promising scientific discoveries into
new and better treatments for our patients.
There are plenty of uncertain investments—
but a gift annuity with UC San Diego isn’t
one of them. And that’s one reason so many
of our friends participate in this program.
For a simple, no-obligation illustration to
Sample Gift Annuity Payment Rates
Selected Rates for
One Person
Selected Rates for Two
Persons of the Same Age
Age Rate Ages Rate
65 5.7% 65/65 5.4%
70 6.1 70/70 5.6
75 6.7 75/75 6.0
80 7.6 80/80 6.6
85 8.9 85/85 7.4
90+ 10.5 90/90 8.7
For illustrative purposes only. Please contact us
for current rates benefits and rates for other ages.
show you how a gift annuity can work for
you, please contact Geoff Graham, Director
of Development, in our Office of Planned
Giving at (858) 534-2249, or e-mail
gcgraham@ucsd.edu. And visit our Web site
at www.plannedgiving.ucsd.edu.
5
Gorder 5k Walk Hits the
Million Dollar Mark
The 15th Annual Bruce Gorder UCSD 5K
Walk for Melanoma held on Saturday,
October 11, brought supporters of all ages
together to raise money and awareness for
melanoma research at
the Moores UCSD
Cancer Center.
Honorary chair for the
Walk and emcee Bill
Griffith from Channel
10 News welcomed
registrants. Participants
enjoyed a route that
wound through the campus amid its fragrant
eucalyptus trees and the Stuart Art Collection.
c o n t i n u e d o n b a c k p a g e

News of Note
c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 5
The event, established by Cancer Center
board member Charles “Chuck” F. Gorder,
Sr., has raised more than $1 million dollars
since 1992. It honors Chuck’s son, Bruce,
who lost his battle against melanoma at the
age of 37. Chuck and his wife Rhona have
served as event chairs for many years.
“The Melanoma Walk is important to my
family,” said Chuck. “Our hope has always
been that the funds raised from this event
will help fight the battle against cancer, so
that in the future, families won’t have to
lose a loved one.”
Events
Thursday, January 29, 2009
“Doctor-Patient Communication”
Speaker: Lidia Schapira, M.D.
Moores UCSD Cancer Center, Goldberg Auditorium
6:00 - 8:00 PM
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Faculty Ambassador Event
“Understanding Lung Cancer”
Speaker: Lyudmila Bazhenova, M.D.
Moores UCSD Cancer Center, Goldberg Auditorium
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 16, 2009
28th Annual Celebrity Chefs Cook Gala
Epicurean Elegance
Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina
6:00 – 11:00 PM
Community Event Partners
The Moores UCSD Cancer Center is grateful to
our community event partners: individuals and
organizations who host fundraising events to
benefit cancer research.
Interested in Planning an Event
Please contact Tammy Traudt at (858)822-1390
or ttraudt@ucsd.edu.
Helping You
Get Connected!
General information
(858) 534-7600
New patients
(858) 822-6100 or
toll-free (866) 773-2703
Clinical trials
(858) 822-5354
If you are a physician
(888) 822-8741
Charitable donations
(858) 822-0175
Web site
www.cancer.ucsd.edu
Volunteer Services
(619) 543-6370
Moores UCSD Cancer Center
President of the Board
Rudolph Rehm
cancer center
board of directors
J. Samuel Armstrong, IV
Gordon P. Boerner
Marilynn Boesky
Carol Littlejohn Chang
Howard I. Cohen
William T. Comer, Ph.D.
Daniel J. Gatto
Frank M. Goldberg
Charles F. Gorder, Sr., Esq.
Lynn Gordon
Donald W. Grimm
Jerome S. Katzin, Esq.
Jeffrey Lipinsky
Cinda K. Lucas
Henry L. Nordhoff
John W. Otterson, II
Justin Renaudin, M.D.
Mary Rand Taylor
Carol Vassiliadis
ex officio members
Marye Anne Fox, Ph.D.
David A. Brenner, M.D.
Debra Neuman
Wayne Bardwell, Ph.D.
Suzanne Agarwal
John Kay
Jessica Yingling
directors emeritus
Joany Mosher
Anne Otterson
Director
Dennis A. Carson, M.D.
Deputy Director
Research Operations
Thomas J. Kipps, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Director
Oncology Services
Barbara A. Parker, M.D.
Associate Director
Administration
Ira S. Goodman
Director of Development
Pamela M. Werner, CFRE
Pathways
fall 2008
University of California, San Diego | Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center
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