This Week in Pediatric Oncology: Recent Episodes
Solving Kids' Cancer
Solving Kids' Cancer explores new advances in childhood cancer with host Dr. Timothy Cripe from Nationwide Children's Hospital
In this episode Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel are joined by FDA's Dr. Nicole Drezner, pediatric oncologist and the Deputy Division Director of the Division of Oncology 2 who led the FDA review and publication on the approval of DFMO. Listen in on the discussion surrounding the historic approval of DFMO, the first ever oncology drug approved in the setting to prevent relapse using an external control instead of randomization.
Dr. Luca Szalontay, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, discusses the work of Columbia's Initiative for Drug Delivery Innovation which is exploring new treatments for pediatric brain tumors utilizing Convection Enhanced Delivery and Focused Ultrasound. This initiative has launched a new clinical trial using Focused Ultrasound for patients with progressive diffuse midline glioma (DMG)
WATCH THE VIDEO WEBCAST HERE: https://youtu.be/ACFprGG10M0
In this episode, our host, Dr. Timothy Cripe from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, is joined by Dr. Seth Rotz - pediatric hematologist/oncologist and the Director of the Fertility Preservation Program at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Listen in as they discuss Dr. Rotz’s career & specialty in fertility preservation for cancer patients: how he got into the field, what was needed to start the program, & the process and risks associated with oncofertility.
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Listen in as our hosts, Dr. Tim Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Al Gustafson, from The Swifty Foundation, and Dr. Angela Waanders, from Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, to discuss the "Gift from a Child" program. This program is led by The Swifty Foundation & helps advocate and educate about post mortem pediatric brain tissue donations. Al & Dr. Waanders discuss the genesis of the program, what the program entails, as well as the benefits of tissue donations to empowering research.
To learn more about "Gift from a Child", please visit: https://www.giftfromachild.org/
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Listen in & join the TWiPO team in this special live recorded episode. Our host, Dr. Tim Cripe, along with his Nationwide Children’s Hospital colleagues, Dr. Ryan Roberts, Dr. Elaine Mardis & Dr. Katherine Miller, are joined by Dr. Trevor Pugh, who is a clinical laboratory geneticist from the University of Toronto in Canada. Tune in as they all discuss Dr. Pugh’s specialty in genomics & his recent work regarding the early identification of cancers in patients with Li Fraumeni Syndrome.
To learn more about this study, visit https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.07.22280848v1.full.pdf
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Join our host, Dr. Timothy Cripe from Nationwide Children's Hospital, as he’s joined with Dr. Jim Geller from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to discuss his expertise in pediatric liver cancer - hepatoblastoma. In this episode, we are also specially joined by Kelly & Jessica Woolwine as they tell their story of how they navigated the hepatoblastoma landscape to seek treatment for their daughter, Charlotte.
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Our host, Dr. Timothy Cripe from Nationwide Children's Hospital, is joined by Dr. Martin McCabe from the University of Manchester to discuss the results of the rEECur trial. The rEECur trial is an international randomized trial conducted on recurrent and primary refractory Ewing sarcoma patients. Dr. McCabe leads a discussion on the genesis of rEECur, what it entailed & what was learned from conducting this trial.
To learn more about this trial, please visit https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/study-identifies-best-treatment-for-rare-childhood-cancer/
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Tune in as our host, Dr. Brenda Weigel from the University of Minnesota, is joined by Dr. Garrett Brodeur to discuss his expertise in genetic predispositions in childhood cancer. Dr. Brodeur is the Director of the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) - and listen in as he discusses his journey leading up to cancer predisposition, what the program entails, as well as the process of screening & surveillance protocols.
To learn more about this program, please visit https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/hereditary-cancer-predisposition-program
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This Week in Pediatric Oncology #105 - January 3, 2023
Happy New Year from the TWiPO team! We are opening up this new year with an episode on building a pediatric cancer disease community. Our host, Dr. Timothy Cripe from Nationwide Children's Hospital, with special co-host, Donna Ludwinski from Solving Kids' Cancer, is joined by Ann Graham - Executive Director & Founder of MIB Agents. Listen in as they discuss Ann's personal cancer journey, how it spearheaded her own advocacy efforts, starting MIB Agents & their role in advocating within the childhood cancer research landscape.
To learn more about MIB Agents, you can visit https://www.mibagents.org/
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This Week in Pediatric Oncology #104 - December 13, 2022
In this episode, Dr. Timothy Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Dr. Joshua Schiffman - CEO & Co-Founder of PEEL Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Schiffman’s own personal childhood cancer journey paved his way into the pediatric cancer field. Listen in as he discusses the formation of PEEL, their research work utilizing nanoparticles & nanotechnology, and the opportunities/challenges that are in PEEL’s future.
To learn more about PEEL Therapeutics, Inc, please visit https://peeltx.com/
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This Week in Pediatric Oncology #103 - November 30, 2022
Join us as our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Dr. Roger Packer from Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC. Dr. Packer is the Senior Vice President of the Center for Neurosciences and Behavioral Medicine at Children’s National, which is introducing a low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) therapy. Listen in as Dr. Packer discusses what LIFU is and the exciting new techniques and technologies behind it.
To learn more, you can visit https://childrensnational.org/news-and-events/childrens-newsroom/2022/a-pediatric-brain-tumor-first-opening-the-blood-brain-barrier-to-deliver-targeted-therapies
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This Week in Pediatric Oncology #102 - November 10, 2022
Tune in as our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined again by Dr. Douglas Hawkins - who is the current Chair of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). They discuss in depth the findings of a presented published paper regarding the inequities of childhood cancer outcomes based on external socioeconomic factors such as neighborhood and household poverty.
To read the full paper, visit https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC7936051&blobtype=pdf
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Tune in as our hosts, Dr. Tim Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Dr. Will Parsons who is the Co-Director of the Brain Tumor Program at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, TX. In this episode, Dr. Parsons discusses the background & purpose behind the NCI Pediatric MATCH Trial, the current status of the trial itself, and how the data can be used to benefit investigations moving forward.
To learn more about the Pediatric MATCH Trial, you can go to https://childrensoncologygroup.org/pediatricmatch
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Happy 100th Episode to the This Week in Pediatric Oncology Podcast! In this special milestone episode, our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Scott Kennedy & Donna Ludwinski from Solving Kids' Cancer to reminisce on the history & creation of TWiPO and talk about their favorite podcast episodes from over the years.
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Tune in as our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Dr. Samuel Volchenboum who is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics from the University of Chicago. Dr. Volchenboum spearheaded an international effort through two data platforms called the Pediatric Cancer Data Commons (PCDC) & GEARBOx (Genomic Eligibility Algorithm at Relapse for Better Outcomes). Listen in as he explains the importance behind these two platforms, as well as the challenges and barriers to data collaboration.
To learn more about the Pediatric Cancer Data Commons, you can visit http://commons.cri.uchicago.edu
To learn more about GEARBOx, you can visit http://gearbox.pedscommons.org
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Listen in as our host, Dr. Timothy Cripe, is joined by Dr. Jonathan Finlay to discuss his acclaimed & reputable career within the pediatric cancer landscape. Dr. Finlay reflects on his distinguished journey including how he got into pediatric immunology, how the field has evolved throughout his medical career, his views on exciting technologies & strategies, and how his personal experience as a patient influenced his position and mindset as a physician.
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Listen in as our host, Dr. Brenda Weigel from the University of Minnesota, is joined by Dr. Robbie Majzner - an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Stanford University's School of Medicine. Dr. Majzner goes into great detail about his recent clinical trial on GD2-CAR T cell therapy for H3K27M-mutated Diffuse Midline Gliomas - the findings, the process, and what the future holds. You can read more about Dr. Majzner's study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04489-4
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Listen in as our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Dr. Kristopher Bosse: an attending physician in the Division of Oncology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Bosse discusses his latest project that focuses on GPC2 Directed Immunotherapy, including what makes it a better target, the benefits & challenges of selecting new targets, as well as the strategy & applicability of the immunotherapy towards solid tumors.
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Hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined Solving Kids’ Cancer’s patient advocates, Nick Bird & Donna Ludwinski. Nick & Donna, along with other patient advocates, recently published a groundbreaking report, “When Innovation and Commercialization Collide: A Patient Advocate View in Neuroblastoma“. Listen in as they discuss the importance of advocacy and being the voice of cancer patients and their families, and how all stakeholders (i.e. academia, advocates, and big pharma) can collaborate and advance treatment options for pediatric cancer patients.
You can read their full paper here: https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.21.01916?bid=123546590&cid=DM9111
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In this episode, our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Dr. Wayne Furman. Dr. Furman recently retired from the Department of Oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. Prior to his retirement, Dr. Furman had a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on his Phase II trial using hu14.18K322A in newly diagnosed high-risk neuroblastoma pediatric patients. Listen in as he discusses the results of this trial & the future of neuroblastoma treatments.
You can read his full paper here: https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JCO.21.01375?journalCode=jco
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Tune in as our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, meet with Dr. Rimas Orentas - the Scientific Director of Caring Cross & a Professor from Seattle Children's Hospital. In this episode, Dr. Orentas discusses his expertise in cellular gene therapy - the accessibility, production, testing, and the importance of diversity and inclusion amongst research subjects.
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Hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, meet with Dr. Elias Sayour from the University of Florida. While many are familiar with mRNA due to its COVID-19 vaccine application, Dr. Sayour discusses mRNA within the pediatric brain tumor landscape - including preclinical work, its delivery & distribution, as well as promising future opportunities for pediatric cancer patients.
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Hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined by Dr. Mariella Filbin from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Filbin discusses her expertise within DIPG including transcriptomics and epigenomics, as well as what is on the horizon for research - both challenging and exciting advances.
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Listen in as our hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined in this episode by Dr. Lisa Diller from Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dr. Diller discusses the possibilities of genetic testing for pediatric cancer predisposition syndromes in newborn screening programs, but with uncertain benefits and costs. She recently authored a paper exploring mathematical modeling of a screening program for cost and benefit.
You can read her full paper here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33767345/
----more----EXCERPT: We developed a simulation model to evaluate universal screening for a CPS panel. Cohorts of US newborns were simulated under universal screening versus usual care. Using data from clinical studies, ClinVar, and gnomAD, the presence of pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants in RET, RB1, TP53, DICER1, SUFU, PTCH1, SMARCB1, WT1, APC, ALK, and PHOX2B were assigned at birth. Newborns with identified variants underwent guideline surveillance. Survival benefit was modeled via reductions in advanced disease, cancer deaths, and treatment-related late mortality, assuming 100% adherence.
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Hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, are joined in this episode by Dr. Andras Heczey from Texas Children's Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. Listen in as they discuss Dr. Heczey's expertise & research in utilizing Natural Killer (NK) T-cells for pediatric immunotherapy treatment and the process of doing so.
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Tune in to the latest TWiPO episode as hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel, meet with Prof. Andy Pearson and Prof. Lou Chesler to discuss the ACCELERATE forums; Prof. Pearson & Prof. Chesler played pivotal roles in the start of the ALKi Pediatric Strategy Forum. Listen in as they discuss their experiences from the very first meeting, how topics are chosen, and the importance of bringing together key people from different industries. The ACCELERATE international platform provides a transparent forum to discuss and address, in a timely fashion, overarching issues in the development of innovative anticancer medicines for children and adolescents with cancer.
To learn more about ACCELERATE, please visit: https://www.accelerate-platform.org/
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Hosts Dr. Timothy Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel are joined by Dr. Samuel Blackman to discuss biotech solutions for pediatric cancer drug development. Dr. Blackman is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Day One Biopharmaceuticals located in South San Francisco, CA. Tune in as Dr. Blackman discusses his career journey, the origins of Day One, and the challenges in pediatric cancer drug development today.
To learn more about Day One Biopharmaceuticals, go to https://dayonebio.com/.
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As Brain Tumor Awareness Month draws to a close, we bring you a new TWIPO episode on the subject. Hosts Dr. Timothy Cripe & Dr. Brenda Weigel are joined by Dr. Gregory Friedman from the University of Alabama in Birmingham to discuss his recently published paper “Oncolytic HSV-1 G207 Immunovirotherapy for Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas.” Listen in as Dr. Friedman discusses the findings of this phase 1 clinical trial and the progress of oncolytic virotherapy in pediatric brain tumors.
You can access the abstract to Dr. Friedman's paper here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33838625/
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In recognition of Brain Tumor Awareness Month, TWIPO hosts Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel are joined by Dr. Stergios Zacharoulis of Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), where he initiated a novel drug delivery program for pediatric brain tumors. Listen in as Dr. Zacharoulis discusses different delivery methodologies being explored and developed that bypass the blood brain barrier.
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WATCH THE VIDEO WEBCAST HERE: https://youtu.be/R_GyqL36_dg
Hosts Dr. Tim Cripe and Dr. Brenda Weigel met with Dr. Gilles Vassal and Patricia Blanc on the ACCELERATE Platform: Innovation for Children and Adolescents with Cancer. Dr. Gilles Vassal is the head of Clinical Research at Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France & he is also the Chair for the ACCELERATE Steering Committee. Patricia Blanc is the President & Founder of the Imagine for Margo Foundation and serves as a Patient Advocate for ACCELERATE. Listen in to hear how the ACCELERATE platform came to be & the advances they are making within the childhood cancer research landscape. The ACCELERATE international platform provides a transparent forum to discuss and address, in a timely fashion, overarching issues in the development of innovative anticancer medicines for children and adolescents with cancer.
To learn more about ACCELERATE, please visit: https://www.accelerate-platform.org/
WATCH THE VIDEO WEBCAST HERE: https://youtu.be/io13HbVwtbI
Hosts Tim Cripe and Brenda Weigel welcome Dr. Chris Dandoy, from Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and parent advocate, Sarah Moore, to discuss the current research on TA-TMA and the implications for children undergoing stem cell transplant (SCT) for pediatric cancers, notably tandem SCTs for high-risk neuroblastoma.
Dr. Dandoy is Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and this episode discussion focused on four recently published papers by Dr. Dandoy describing effects, incidence, risk factors, screening, and treatment of this serious complication of transplants. Sarah Moore also shared her perspective as a mother to a child who recently underwent tandem SCT for high-risk neuroblastoma, and has been active in parent forums discussing the incidence and implications of TA-TMA and sharing evidence-based information.
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Host Tim Cripe welcomes his new Co-Host, Dr. Brenda Weigel, to reflect on her career, leadership, and focus areas since her last interview on TWiPO in 2017. Dr. Weigel is the Director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Minnesota's Cancer Center, Chair of Developmental Therapeutics in the COG, and Chair of the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN) for the NCI.
She is at the epi-center for getting new drugs into the clinic for children with cancer and shares her perspective on the impact of the game-changing RACE Act that was implemented in 2020. She weighs in on prioritization of same-class drugs, evolving clinical trial design for small patient populations, and the increasing need for international collaboration in conducting clinical trials. She also discusses the importance of quality-of-life assessments and patient-reported outcomes and shares the efforts ongoing in the US and EU regulatory landscape to advance drug development for children with cancer.
WATCH THE VIDEO WEBCAST HERE: https://youtu.be/TwBmCwq3gJc
This week was International Brain Tumor Awareness Week & we're closing out the week with this engaging discussion. TWIPO Host, Dr. Timothy Cripe, met with Dr. Michael Taylor, from SickKids in Toronto, Canada, and Dr. Nabil Ahmed, from Texas Children's Hospital, to discuss their recently published paper on a novel immunotherapy approach for children with metastatic medulloblastoma and ependymoma.
You can read their full paper here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32341580/
WATCH THE VIDEO WEBCAST HERE: https://youtu.be/p7rMXwAu3qA
This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWIPO) - our host, Timothy Cripe, MD, meets with the new Chair of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), Douglas Hawkins, MD, to discuss the future of the pediatric cancer research landscape.
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You can now watch TWIPO podcasts on our YouTube Channel! Watch this episode here & subscribe: https://youtu.be/p7rMXwAu3qA
• How is the pandemic changing current cancer care services? • What is the current state of open clinical trials and how will new, near-term trials be affected? • What is the impact on emerging new therapies and translational research? • Are there any silver linings to all of this for childhood cancer research?
These answers and more are discussed in this special episode for cancer families where leaders from COG, the NCI and the pharmaceutical industry lead a community discussion about the pandemic's impact on all aspects of pediatric cancer research including clinical trials and standard cancer care services, followed by Q&A with questions from families and attendees.
We are joined by: - Peter Adamson, MD – former Chair, Children's Oncology Group (COG) and current Global Head, Oncology Development & Pediatric Innovation, Sanofi
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Mark Kieran, MD, PhD – Pediatric Clinical Trial Lead, Bristol Myers Squibb
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Jeffery J. Auletta, MD - Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program and the Host Defense and Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases Program at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
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Carol Thiele, Ph.D, Deputy Chief, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Pediatric Oncology Branch
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Prof. Pamela Kearns President, European Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOPE), Director of Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit
Moderated by: Timothy P. Cripe, MD, PhD – Chief of Hematology and Oncology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Hosted by: Solving Kids' Cancer US & UK, and Max Cure Foundation
Experts from the medical community will update us on our progress to-date and what to expect in the coming weeks and months. Also, parents from a New York family both diagnosed with COVID-19 will share their family’s current story/experience and important insights from the frontline.
Please join this timely webinar to hear expert opinions, real-life descriptions, ask questions, and share information on:
• Progress on containing and treating the virus • Could viruses like COVID-19 be the new normal? • Medical services to pediatric cancer patients – how much of a delay right now? • Clinical research trials for cancer and other diseases on hold – impact to getting new treatments developed • Sharing a personal story: Real life with COVID-19 from a family’s perspective in New York
Q&A to follow
Guest Speakers: • Timothy P. Cripe, MD, PhD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology, Nationwide Children’s Hospital • Jeffery J. Auletta, MD, Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program and Host Defense and Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases – Nationwide Children’s Hospital • New York couple diagnosed with COVID-19 at home with their family
As our world faces the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, it’s vital that we address key topics important to children & families in the Pediatric Cancer Community
Please listen to this informative webinar to hear from experts, ask questions, and share information on: - An overview of COVID-19 pandemic: Fact versus fiction - COVID-19: What are the risks to immunocompromised patients? - Impact of COVID-19 on care and clinical research
Expert Discussion Leaders: Timothy P. Cripe, MD, PhD – Chief of Hematology and Oncology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Jeffery J. Auletta, MD - Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program and the Host Defense and Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases Program at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
This audio was taken from a webinar, to watch the full video with resources click here: https://vimeo.com/400382067
Guest host Dr. Ryan Roberts welcomes Rebecca Johnson and Becca Jacobsen to a conversation about the benefits and contributions of AYA (Adolescent/Young Adult) psycho-social support programs which serve the needs and challenges within this demographic of cancer patients and survivors.
Host, Dr. Timothy Cripe from Nationwide Children's Hospital, along with co-host - Dr. Nilay Shah, are joined by Dr. Robert Wechsler-Reya from Sanford Burnham Prebys in San Diego, CA. They discuss Dr. Wechsler-Reya's work including the process, benefits, and limitations of tumor models in mice, as well as research behind the humanized mouse model. They also discuss immune evasion - how one tumor type can grow in the presence of an immune system, while another one cannot. Listen in to learn more.
Please send questions and comments to TWiPO@solvingkidscancer.org.
TWIPO Host Tim Cripe, alongside co-hosts Ryan Roberts and Lisa Humphrey, engage in an insightful conversation with guest Abby Rosenberg, Director, Palliative Care and Resilience Research at Seattle Children's Research Institute.
Rosenberg, with Seattle Children’s colleague, Yi-Frazier, developed a promising systematic intervention program called PRISM (Promoting Resilience in Stress Management) for teens and young adults to better equip them with skills to manage their stress after a cancer diagnosis. PRISM has undergone pilot/feasibility studies and has received NIH funding for further study. Listen in to learn more.
Please send questions and comments to TWiPO@solvingkidscancer.org.
Host, Dr. Timothy Cripe from Nationwide Children's Hospital, along with his co-hosts - Dr. Ryan Roberts, Dr. Nilay Shah, Dr. Keri Streby, and Dr. Mark Ranalli, interview Dr. Peter Adamson from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Adamson was previously interviewed back in 2011, in Podcast #9, and they discuss the progress that has been made since then. Dr. Adamson goes on to talk about private-public partnerships, families' impact on the field, the drug shortage problem, and much more. Tune in to this podcast to learn more about all of these interesting topics.
Hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe, Dr. Keri Steby, Dr. Ryan Roberts, and Dr. Jonathan Finlay from Nationwide Children's Hospital are joined by Dr. Eugene Hwang, who is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C. Dr. Hwang discusses his work with immunotherapy and pseudo-progression, as well as explains the basics of a solid tumor clinical trial he created in conjunction with Dr. Catherine Bollard. Listen in to learn more.
Host, Dr. Timothy Cripe, from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio had the honor of interviewing Nancy Goodman, Founder and Executive Director of Kids v. Cancer in Washington DC.
Dr. Joshua Rubin, from Washington University, discusses his research done of gender differences to cancer that go beyond hormonal differences
Dr. Shields discusses his research on cigarettes and the effects of e-cigarettes among its users, the youth, and the economy.
Host Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Nilay Shah, from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, is joined by Dr. Dean Lee to discuss their experience with T-cell CARs (Chimeric Antigen Receptors).
Hosts Dr. Nilay Shah, Dr. Ryan Roberts, and Dr. Keri Streby from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, sit down with Dr. Mitchell Cairo to discuss his experiences within the pediatric cancer research sector.
Host Dr. Ryan Roberts, from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, is joined by Dr. Rani George to discuss her experience with studying neuroblastoma and how she got involved in the field of oncology. George discusses her thoughts on what is needed to progress pediatric cancer research - including relapse biopsies, understanding the biology, and, of course, funding. As Dr. Roberts says, what we need is, "...more time, more patience, and more funding." Please send questions and comments to TWiPO@solvingkidscancer.org
In this podcast, co-Hosts Dr. Robyn Dennis and Dr. Ryan Roberts had the honor of interviewing Dr. Brenda Weigel, Director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Weigel discusses her “serendipitous” background story of how she became involved in childhood oncology, as well as talks about the challenges the field faces with managing new cancer therapies. But, despite the challenges, she is hopeful that we are moving away from chemotherapy treatments into an era of cancer therapies that “hopefully, has the potential to cure the cancers and improve the quality of life”.
It’s an exciting time to be part of the childhood cancer research community, and this interview was focused on career advice for those interested in childhood oncology and research. The availability of genomic profiling of tumors, targeted agents and the development of new immunotherapies are increasing the opportunities available to patients today. This lively discussion addresses the importance of preclinical data, predictive biomarker studies and the measurement of responses, with specific references to Dr. Wagner’s experience with studying irinotecan. Dr. Wagner also answered questions about radiomics and how this imaging trend can provide more insights for enhanced radiology reporting.
Please send questions and comments to TWiPO@solvingkidscancer.org
Co-Hosts Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Randal Olshefski (Nationwide Children's Hospital), interview Dr. Javier Blanco, Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at SUNY Buffalo, about the late effects of chemotherapy. In this podcast, the participants discuss the role that chemotherapy, such as doxorubicin and other anthracycline drugs, often play in increasing cardio-toxicity.
TWiPO hosts and cohosts interview Dr. Uri Tabori about the challenges that are unique to pediatric brain tumors, and how preventative treatment and early diagnosis can be largely beneficial.
TWIPO hosts and cohosts interview Dr. Matthew Breen, NC State Veterinary Medicine, to explore the question "Can dogs teach us new tricks when it comes to cancer treatment?"
TWIPO hosts and cohosts interview Dr. Joshua Mendell, UT Southwestern Medical Center, who shares his knowledge with regard to the relationship between innate RNA biology and how it influences human disease.
Host Dr. Timothy Cripe and co-Host Nilay Shah interview Dr. Sajid Qureshi, a professor of Pediatric Oncology at the Tata Memorial Center, Mumbai, India. Dr. Qureshi is an Executive Committee Member of the International Society of Pediatric Surgical Oncology (IPSO). In this episode Dr. Qureshi provides a fascinating, first-hand glimpse into the successes and challenges of delivering quality care to larger, as well as remote, pediatric cancer populations. The episode concludes with Dr. Qureshi's thoughts on how international research collaboration could provide access to relapsed children worldwide.
TWiPO Host Dr. Timothy Cripe, with co-hosts Dr. Nilay Shah and Dr. Bhuvana Setty welcome Dr. Damon Reed, Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Program at Moffitt Cancer Center and Leader of the Pediatric Cancer Foundation's pediatric phase I consortium, the Sunshine Project. Dr. Reed shares his view points on how we can improve and accelerate the current trajectory with regard to pediatric therapy development.
TWIPO hosts Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children's Hospital) along with guest host Dr. Ryan Roberts (Nationwide Children's Hospital), interview Dr. Elizabeth Lawlor who is a Professor of Pediatric Oncology at University of Michigan and the Director of the Cancer Biology Training Program at University of Michigan Health System. Dr. Lawlor, a Ewing Sarcoma specialist, discusses new approaches to the cellular eco-system of tumors and provides commentary on the growing landscape for women in science.
On today's podcast, TWIPO host Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and co-host Dr. Ryan Roberts (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) interview Dr. Mark Hatley (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital). Dr. Hatley discusses how he got into the field of Biological Chemistry in Oncology. Also Dr. Hatley gives an indepth explaination about his research in G-Proteins.
On this episode of TWiPO podcast Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and co-host, Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Keri A. Streby (Nationwide Children's Hospital) interview Dr. Chrystal Louis (Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine.) Dr. Louis talks to the hosts about her role in both the academic and industry side of oncology.
On today's TWiPO Podcast host Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and co-host, Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) interview Dr. Kim Kramer (Pediatric Oncologist of Memorial Sloan Kettering.) In this interview they discuss a new cutting edge therapy for treating brain tumors, which involves targeting the tumor intravenously just like any other tumor.
On today's podcast TWiPO host Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and co-hosts, Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) Interview Dr. Linda McAllister-Lucas (Chief of Service, Hematology/Oncology of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In their discussion Dr. McAllister-Lucas talks about her research on MALT1 Lymphoma and how this research could advance the field of oncology
On this TWiPO episode hosts, Dr. Timothy Cripe and Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) interview Dr. James Geller (Medical Director at Kidney and Liver Tumors Program, Co-Medical Director at Retinoblastoma Program, Associate Director at Global Cancer Programs, Associate Professor at UC Department of Pediatrics.) Dr. James Geller was one of the original TWiPO members back in 2010. Today Dr. Geller talks about the battle to get access to potential drugs (Ex. Lorvotuzumab [IMGN901]) that can be beneficial to treating pediatric cancers.
This week in pediatric oncology TWiPO hosts Dr. Timothy Cripe, Robyn Dennis, MD, Dr. Nilay Shah interview Dr. Gregory Armstrong (Associate Professor in the Department of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee health science center, Associate member of in the department of epidemiology in cancer control in Saint Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Director of CNS tumor after completion of therapy clinic at Saint Jude). Dr. Armstrong and hosts discuss the Childhood Cancer Survival Study (CCSS) and the advancements we have made in the field of oncology. Along with problems that they are working to solve.
In this most recent TWiPO podcast hosted by Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), he interviews Dr. Jonathan Finlay (Program Director of Neuro-Oncology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital) about sparked in research interest in brain tumors. One of Dr. Finlay’s mentors, helped launch a new treatment, which was able to rescue a proportion of newly diagnosed children who failed conventional chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. That novel treatment is now a growing method of treating medulloblastoma.
TWiPO host Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and TWiPO co-host Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) interview Robin Norris, MD, who is a pediatric oncologist and the Director of the Pediatric Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. Dr. Norris discusses the struggles that adolescents and young adult with cancer face and discusses her involvement in creating an antibody against TEM-1 in order to stop the metastasis of tumors.
TWiPO host Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) interviews Dr. Michael D. Hogarty, MD, an attending physician in the Division of Oncology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Hogarty recalls his efforts in finding a new way of tackling neuroblastoma by sending 17,000 tumor samples around the world. In this short interview, he discusses his current work in the lab, which involves testing the MYC gene found in children with high-risk neuroblastoma.
TWiPo co-hosts Dr. Keri Stretby (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) interview Hiroyuki Shimada, MD, PhD, Professor of Clinical Pathology at the Children’s Hospital of Lost Angeles. Dr. Shimada developed the Shimada neuroblastoma classification system for neuroblastoma, which was the basis of The International Neuroblastoma Pathology Classification and now The International Neuroblastoma Risk Group classification system.
TWiPO host Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) interviewed Susan L. Cohn, MD, a Professor of Pediatrics, Dean of Clinical Research at the University of Chicago at the ANR meeting in Cologne, Germany last year for this episode of This Week in Pediatric Oncology. Dr. Cohn is a highly respected expert in pediatric cancers and blood diseases. She is a leading authority on neuroblastoma and actively researching several aspects of neuroblastoma. Her research has received generous support from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Shaw and Dr. Cohn discuss the future of neuroblastoma research and clinical trial design to create more effective treatment options for children with high-risk disease.
In the most recent episode of This Week in Pediatric Oncology, co-hosts Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), and Dr. Lionel Chow (Cincinnati Children’s) discuss the promising results of a study published in the July issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology among children with an aggressive brain tumor after receiving immunotherapy. To see a summary of the study, click here.
In the most recent episode of This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, co-hosts Dr. Keri Stretby (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), caught up with Professor Michelle Haber (Executive Director at Children’s Cancer Institute in Australia and Professor Andrew Pearson of the Cancer Research UK. In this 26-minute podcast, both researchers discuss the future of neuroblastoma, specifically looking at precision medicine, the role of gene sequencing and the role of international collaboration to bring new therapies into the clinic.
New York, NY -- In the most recent episode of This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, co-hosts Dr. Edwin Horwitz (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's Hospital), interview Dr. Carl E. Allen, (Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers) about his research in a rare pediatric blood disorder known as Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH).
Dr. Allen is Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology-Oncology - Baylor College of Medicine, and the Co-Director of the Histiocytosis and Lymphoma Programs at Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers. His primary research is focused on the clinical and biologic aspects of LCH. Along with Dr. Kenneth McClain, Dr. Carl Allen has developed the largest Histiocytosis Center in the world. Dr. Allen has developed gene expression and proteomic strategies to analyze the identity and function of the cells that cause LCH. The ultimate goal of these experiments is to identify genes, proteins, and pathways that may be used to diagnose and cure patients with LCH. These experiments may also provide insight into dendritic cell biology and tumor immunology.
In this 20-minute episode, Dr. Allen gives an overview of LCH, as well as treatment and the future of LCH research.
New York – This Week in Pediatric Oncology presents the third and final interview from the recent Advances in Neuroblastoma Research meeting, which was held in Cologne, Germany, in May. Co-hosts Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Keri Stretby (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) talk with Frank Berthold, ANR2014 Local Chairman, to discuss meeting highlights in the short, 18-minute interview.
New York – This Week in Pediatric Oncology presents the second in a series of interviews from the recent Advances in Neuroblastoma Research meeting, which was held in Cologne, Germany, in May. Co-hosts Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Keri Stretby (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) discuss MIBG therapy in treating children with high-risk neuroblastoma with Dr. Kate Matthay (UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital) and Dr. Gregory Yanik (C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan). In this 45-minute interview, both Drs. Matthay and Yanik, who have conducted extensive research in MIBG throughout their long careers, share their perspectives on what’s going on in the field now and opportunities to improve the therapy in the future.
New York – This Week in Pediatric Oncology presents the first of a series of interviews from the recent Advances in Neuroblastoma Research meeting, which was held in Cologne, Germany, in May. Co-hosts Dr. Nilay Shah (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Keri Stretby (Nationwide Children’s Hospital) caught up with two pediatric oncologists who’ve made significant advances in neuroblastoma research. In this 25-minute interview, Dr. Robert Seeger (Children's Hospital of Los Angeles) and Dr. Garrett Brodeur (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) discuss how the discovery of the MYCN gene 30 years ago has helped scientists better understand neuroblastoma and impacted treatment options.
New York, NY -- In the most recent episode of This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, co-hosts Dr. Timothy Cripe (Nationwide Children's Hospital), Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's Hospital), Dr. Andy Kolb (A.I. Dupont) and Dr. Lionel Chow (Cincinatti Children's) discuss two recent papers on the declining mortality rate in childhood and adolescent cancers and a pre-clinical study using CAR123 T-cells.
Saar Gill, Sarah K. Tasian, Marco Ruella, Olga Shestova, Yong Li, David L. Porter, Martin Carroll, Gwenn Danet-Desnoyers, John Scholler, Stephan A. Grupp, Carl H. June, and Michael Kalos. Preclinical targeting of human acute myeloid leukemia and myeloablation using chimeric antigen receptor–modified T cells. Blood. 2014, 10, April. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24596416
March 11, 2014
New York, NY -- This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, announced that John Goldberg, MD, from The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, is a featured guest on its most recent episode. In this episode, Dr. Golberg talks about the challenges of phase I pediatric cancer clinical trials with hosts Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's Hospital), Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's Hospital), and Mark Ranalli, MD (Nationwide Children's Hospital).
Dr. Goldberg is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and the Director of the Pediatric Oncology Early Phase Clinical Trials Program at The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University of Miami.
February 26, 2014
New York, NY -- This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, announced that Patrick Brown, MD, from The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, is a featured guest on its most recent episode. In this episode, Dr. Brown talks about treating infant leukemia and the challenges of doing clinical trials in this patient population with hosts Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's Hospital) and Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's Hospital).
Dr. Brown is the Director, Pediatric Leukemia and Lymphoma Program and Associate Professor of Oncology and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
January 27, 2014
New York, NY -- This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, announced that Kathleen Neville,MD, from Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, is a featured guest on its most recent episode. In this episode, Dr. Kathleen Neville talks about the challenges of drug development in pediatric cancer with with host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's Hospital).
Kathleen Neville is the Director of Experimental Therapeutics in the pediatric cancer program at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the division of pediatric clinical pharmacology, medical toxicology and hematology-oncology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. She is also the chair of the education committee of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and a consultant on FDA pediatric advisory committee, and serves on the FDA Pediatric Oncology Subcommittee of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee.
December 02, 2013
New York, NY -- This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, announced that Robert Johnson, PhD, is a featured guest on its most recent episode, In this episode, Dr. Johnson speaks with host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's Hospital) and co-hosts Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's Hospital and Dr. Lionel Chow (Cincinatti Children's) about the third most common type of brain tumor in children, ependymomas.
Robert A. Johnson, PhD, is a principal investigator at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The primary focus of the Johnson laboratory is the development of novel therapies for the treatment of ependymoma, the third most common pediatric brain tumor, by identifying and targeting the genetic changes responsible for the formation of the disease.
November 14, 2013
New York, NY -- This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, announced that Nancy Ratner, PhD, is a featured guest on its most recent episode, In this episode, Dr. Ratner speaks with host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's Hospital) and co-host Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's Hospital).
Dr. Ratner is interested in understanding mechanisms of peripheral nerve tumor (neurofibroma) formation in Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a common inherited disorder in which children are predisposed to cancer of the nervous system, to learning problems, bone disorders, and other cancers. She identified EGFR as a potential therapeutic target in NF1 peripheral nerve tumorigenesis, and has developed cell culture and mouse models of NF1 nerve tumorigenesis. Her laboratory has also used analysis of gene expression to identify critical genes in neurofibroma and their malignant derivatives, MPNST.
Dr. Ratner is currently a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Cincinnati, and the program leader for Cancer Biology and Neural Tumors Program in the Cancer and Blood Disorders Institute where she holds the Beatrice C. Lampkin Endowed Chair in Cancer Biology and serves as PI of the NINDS P50 “Cincinnati Center in NF Research.”
October 31, 2013
New York, NY—This Week in Pediatric Oncology (TWiPO), the first podcast focusing on pediatric cancer research, announced that Gavin Lindberg is a featured guest on its most recent episode, entitled Effective Advocacy. In this episode, Mr. Lindberg speaks with host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), and co-host Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), about his work to increase funding for childhood cancer research.
Mr. Lindberg is the President and Co-Founder of The Evan’s Victory Against Neuroblastoma (EVAN) Foundation, which was established in memory of his only child Evan Lindberg. Evan bravely battled neuroblastoma for four years before passing away at the age of 7 in 2010. The Foundation funds research aimed at fostering new therapies for children with neuroblastoma, and sponsors patient-wellness programs for childhood cancer patients enduring long and difficult stays in the hospital.
While his son was in treatment, Mr. Lindberg served as the founding president of the Band of Parents, an organization that raised over $1 million to develop a new humanized antibody for neuroblastoma currently used at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City. Mr. Lindberg and his wife Wendy also work to increase awareness of neuroblastoma among policymakers in Washington, DC and have successfully advanced new opportunities for federal support of neuroblastoma research within the Department of Defense.
October 18, 2013
Eric Kodish, MD, is a featured guest on the recent episode of This Week in Pediatric Oncology. In this episode, Dr. Kodish speaks with host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), and co-host Dr. Andy Kolb (AI DuPont), about informed consent and ethics surrounding childhood cancer clinical trials.
October 03, 2013
Dr. Joseph Neglia (University of Minnesota) is nationally and internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of childhood cancer long-term effects. He is the featured guest in this week's podcast episode, and answers questions from host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), and co-hosts Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), Dr. Andy Kolb (AI DuPont), and Donna Ludwinski (Solving Kids’ Cancer), about late effects and the risk of secondary cancers among childhood cancer survivors.
September 19, 2013
Recently, several published papers have discussed the risk of cancer among family members of children with cancer. TWIPO host Dr. Timothy Cripe and fellow co-host Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's) break down the topic of familial cancer risk with certified genetic counselor Elizabeth Varga (Nationwide Children's) and Donna Ludwinski (Solving Kids' Cancer) and what families should take away from these studies.
September 05, 2013
New revelations in DNA damage and cell repair mechanisms in childhood cancer may help scientists identify the underlying cause of pediatric solid tumors and lead to the development of new therapies. Dr. Peter Houghton (Nationwide Children's) speaks with TWIPO host Dr. Timothy Cripe and fellow co-hosts Dr. Lionel Chow (Cincinatti Children's) and Dr. Robyn Dennis (Nationwide Children's) about his recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the mTOR pathway and role of ATM.
August 15, 2013
TWIPO host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's) and co-hosts speak with Vickie Buenger from Texas A&M University about her role as a childhood cancer advocate. A founding member of the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer, Buenger discusses the organization's principles and future projects to bring the childhood cancer community together.
August 01, 2013
In this new episode, host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's) and co-host Dr. Jeffrey Auletta (Nationwide Children's) interview Solving Kids' Cancer co-founder and Executive Director Scott Kennedy and co-director of research programs Donna Ludwinski. Both Scott and Donna share their personal stories that led them to Solving Kids' Cancer and their shared passion to improve survival for children with the deadliest childhood cancers through research advocacy.
May 07, 2012
In this interesting episode, host Dr. Tim Cripe (Nationwide Children's) and co-hosts Dr. Lionel Chow (Cincinnati Children's), Dr. Andy Kolb (AI DuPont), and Donna Ludwinski (Solving Kids' Cancer) quiz Dr Paul Sondel and Dr. Ken DeSantes (both from University of Wisconsin - Madison) on NK cells and the implications of KIR/KIR-ligand mismatch (killer immunoglobulin-like receptor) with regard to immunotherapy treatment of neuroblastoma.
References:
Delgado DC, Hank JA, Kolesar J, Lorentzen D, et al. Genotypes of NK cell KIR receptors, their ligands, and Fcγ receptors in the response of neuroblastoma patients to Hu14.18-IL2 immunotherapy. Cancer Res. 2010 Dec 1;70(23):9554-61. Epub 2010 Oct 8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2999644/
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Venstrom JM, Zheng J, Noor N, Danis KE, et al. KIR and HLA genotypes are associated with disease progression and survival following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for high-risk neuroblastoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2009 Dec 1;15(23):7330-4. Epub 2009 Nov 24. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2788079/
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Alderson KL, Sondel PM. Clinical cancer therapy by NK cells via antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2011;2011:379123. Epub 2011 May 24. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3110303/
April 05, 2012
Host Dr. Tim Cripe welcomes back co-host Dr. Lionel Chow to discuss somatic mutations in pediatric brain tumors. After recapping the consensus paper on molecular subgroups in medulloblastoma discussed in TWiPO episode 22 (Brain Tumor Round Robin) Dr Chow highlights the significance of the driver mutations in histone H3.3 in pediatric glioblastoma. Results of whole exome sequencing have shown that significantly more somatic mutations are present in adult tumors compared to pediatric tumors. This difference might suggest a reason for better success rates in pediatric tumors and possibly more escape mechanisms in adult tumors. Dr. Chow also discusses a paper published by the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital–Washington University collaboration) on somatic histone H3 alterations in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). The findings are significant in showing that this mutation is present in 36% of non-brain stem gliomas and in 78% of brain stem gliomas, but in none of the other pediatric tumor types.
Please send comments and questions to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
Papers discussed:
Taylor MD, Northcott PA, Korshunov A, et al. Molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma: the current consensus. Acta Neuropathol. 2012 Apr;123(4):465-72. Epub 2011 Dec 2.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3306779/
Schwartzentruber J, Korshunov A, Liu XY, Jones DT, et al. Driver mutations in histone H3.3 and chromatin remodelling genes in paediatric glioblastoma. Nature. 2012 Jan 29;482(7384):226-31. doi: 10.1038/nature10833. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22286061
Wu G, Broniscer A, McEachron TA, Lu C, Paugh BS, et al. Somatic histone H3 alterations in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas and non-brainstem glioblastomas. Nat Genet. 2012 Jan 29;44(3):251-3. doi: 10.1038/ng.1102. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22286216
March 06, 2012
Dr. Tim Cripe welcomes Dr. Andy Kolb from AI DuPont in this episode of TWiPO, and special guest Dr. Andromachi Scaradavou, the Medical Director of New York Blood Center's National Cord Blood Program.
NYBC is the world's oldest and largest public cord blood bank, and collects, processes, tests and stores cord blood that mothers donate shortly after birth. The cord blood is for children and adults with no related donor available who need a hematopoietic stem cell transplant for life-threatening illnesses. More than 60,000 units are stored at NYBC and more than 4500 units have been provided for transplants worldwide. The variety of ethic groups represented is much higher in cord blood banking than in bone marrow donor programs. The percentage of use is climbing significantly for pediatric transplants partly because of the small dose required.
Discussants cover many aspects of this fascinating subject: background and uses of cord blood, logistics of collecting, processing, storing, and selecting units for transplants, as well as the advantages and challenges currently faced in this field. For more on NYBC seehttp://www.nationalcordbloodprogram.org/
We welcome all questions or comments at twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
January 26, 2012
In 2011 there were over 1300 new articles published on neuroblastoma in the medical literature.
Join Dr. Tim Cripe and his co-host Dr. Lars Wagner in a fast-paced, in-depth, and comprehensive survey of 18 of the most important papers on neuroblastoma published in 2011. Dr. Cripe and Dr Wagner explore and discuss the compelling evidence reported on a variety of topics, including epidemiology, risk stratification, clinical trials, ALK mutation and expression, new targets, and genetics.
All of the papers discussed are listed HERE with links to PubMed.
Please send all comments and questions to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
December 05, 2011
Join Dr. Tim Cripe and his co-host Dr. Lionel Chow for a fast-paced, in-depth, and comprehensive survey of 15 important recent papers on pediatric brain tumor research, addressing medulloblastoma, ependymomas, and gliomas. Dr. Cripe and Dr. Chow explore and discuss the compelling evidence reported on a variety of topics, including viral causes and therapeutic implications, biomarkers, genomics, proteomics, targets, classification, risk stratification, treatment side-effects, proton-beam radiation therapy, and results of recent clinical trials.
This robust review of current research includes all of the following papers [click link], listed by timed location in the podcast.
Please send all comments and questions to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
November 29, 2011
Dr. Tim Cripe and co-hosts Dr. Maureen O'Brien and Dr. Raj Nagarajan interview a pediatric hematology/oncology legend, Dr. Beatrice Lampkin, who served as Director of Cincinnati Children's Division of Hematology/Oncology in the 1970’s. This enlightening and inspiring discussion explores her career and her contributions to leukemia therapy and the challenges she faced as an early leader in the field as a female. She describes her experience with polio, paralysis from the neck down, crutches for mobility, and later, her confinement to a wheelchair. Revealing another era in communications with parents and patients in the 1960s and 1970s, she explains how parents were advised to use the term "anemia" to describe their child's condition rather than "leukemia" to to explain why the child would require periodic blood transfusions, in order to prevent shunning by friends and family. Dr. Lampkin also shares her satisfaction in following the earliest survivors of pediatric cancer she treated who are now in their 40s and 50s.
As if all that isn't inspiring enough, she describes her busy retirement in which she continues to teach the Cincinnati Children's Hospital fellows how to examine blood and bone marrow smears under the microscope and her work in the founding of the GLAD House (http://www.gladhouse.org/), a sanctuary to help drug-addicted youth get off the streets.
Please send all comments and questions to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org.
November 15, 2011
Today’s episode features an impressive lineup for a hot topic. Host Dr. Tim Cripe warns: “If your blood isn’t boiling by the end, you weren't listening.” Hear Tim and co-host Dr. Lionel Chow discuss pediatric cancer research funding with guests Dr. C. Patrick (Pat) Reynolds, Dr. E. Anders (Andy) Kolb, and parent Joe McDonough.
Dr. Pat Reynolds puts government spending on the number one disease killer of children in the US in perspective, comparing the tiny $200M spent on pediatric cancer research to the foreign aid budget of $22B (less than 1%). For example, $1.6B goes to Egypt alone. The COG budget is a mere $46M. The DOD budget is $700B. See his slides here. Dr. Lionel Chow mentions an enlightening fact – private donations to St Jude exceed $600M per year, on top of the givers’ paying taxes. This is 3 times the entire NCI budget for pediatric cancer research for all institutions in the US.
Spending per Person Years Life Lost is compared for childhood cancers and adult cancers, see graph here.
Dr. C Patrick Reynolds is Director, Cancer Center and Professor of Cell Biology & Biochemistry, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock TX. Dr. E Anders Kolb is the Director of Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, and Head of the Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory at Nemours Biomedical Research, Wilmington, DE. Joe McDonough is father to Andrew, and founder of The Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation, raising money for families and research.
Please send comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
October 30, 2011
Several just-published papers in the literature relate to recent podcast episodes, and host Dr. Tim Cripe and co-host Dr. Lionel Chow review these interesting developments.
0:55 Hedgehog Signaling: Recent papers discussing this pathway in neuroblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma are discussed, with implications for treatment in these tumor types with itraconozole.
6:40 Cell phone and brain tumor risk: The controversy concerning criticism by the Environmental Health Trust of a study showing that cell phone use does not increase risk of brain tumors in children is explored.
Accelerated approval of cancer drugs by the FDA and implications for pediatric cancers.
15:30 Brentuximab for two types of lymphoma
21:20 Vemurafenib for melanoma
28:30 Crizotinib for non-small cell lung cancer (and potential use in neuroblastoma)
42:30 Response to email regarding personalized medicine TWiPO episode #17 and lab blog for Dr Charles Keller at OHSU
References:
Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2011 Dec 1;57(6):930-8. doi: 10.1002/pbc.23174. Hedgehog pathway activity in pediatric embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and undifferentiated sarcoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.
Int J Oncol. 2011 Oct;39(4):899-906. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2011.1076. Pharmacological inhibition of the Hedgehog pathway preventshuman rhabdomyosarcoma cell growth.
Cancer Lett. 2011 Nov 28;310(2):222-31. Inhibition of the sonic hedgehog pathway by cyplopaminereduces the CD133+/CD15+ cell compartment and the in vitrotumorigenic capability of neuroblastoma cells.
Cell Phone Study Was Flawed, Say Some Experts by Roxanne Nelson Medscape Oncology News.
The JNCI Study by Aydin et al on Risk of Childhood Brain Cancer from Cellphone Use Reveals Serious Health Problems, Environmental Health Trust.
N Engl J Med. 2010 Nov 4;363(19):1812-21. Brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) for relapsed CD30-positive lymphomas.
FDA Approves Brentuximab for Two Lymphomas By: ELIZABETH MECHCATIE, Oncology Report Digital Network.
Clin Cancer Res. 2011 Oct 15;17(20):6428-36. Brentuximab Vedotin (SGN-35).
FDA Approves Vemurafenib for Advanced Melanoma. By: JANE SALODOF MACNEIL, Oncology Report Digital Network.
N Engl J Med. 2011 Jun 30;364(26):2507-16. Improved survival with vemurafenib in melanoma with BRAFV600E mutation.
N Engl J Med. 2011 Jun 30;364(26):2547-8. Been there, not done that--melanoma in the age of molecular therapy. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21639809
Biochem J. 2011 Aug 15. Activating ALK mutations found in neuroblastoma are inhibited by Crizotinib and NVP-TAE684.
N Engl J Med. 2010 Oct 28;363(18):1693-703. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibition in non-small-cell lung cancer.
Nature. 2007 Aug 2;448(7153):561-6. Epub 2007 Jul 11. Identification of the transforming EML4-ALK fusion gene in non-small-cell lung cancer.
Science. 1994 Mar 4;263(5151):1281-4. Fusion of a kinase gene, ALK, to a nucleolar protein gene, NPM, in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
October 18, 2011
Host Dr. Tim Cripe and co-host Dr. Lionel Chow welcome special guest Dr. Jeff Toretsky on TWiPO to discuss his clinical and research interest in Ewing's sarcoma. Dr. Toretsky explains the challenges of developing a clinical grade drug from a small molecule for a specific target such as EWS-FLI1. The small market for a disease like Ewing's creates formidable hurdles for researchers, yet Dr. Toretsky is driven on by the question "If I don't do this, who will?" (17:54 mins)
Dr. Jeff Toretsky is Professor of Oncology and Pediatrics at Georgetown University. He graduated with BS in Biochemistry from University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, and recieved his MD from University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. He completed fellowship training at the NCI Pediatric Branch.
Please send any questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
October 13, 2011
Host Dr. Tim Cripe and co-hosts Dr. Lars Wagner and Dr. Lionel Chow welcome guest Dr. Giselle Sholler on this episode of TWiPO. Dr. Sholler gives the background to her current research interest in neuroblastoma, and describes her nifurtimox trials and how she formed the Neuroblastoma and Medulloblastoma Translational Research Consortium (NMTRC). The physicians also discuss the specifics of the personalized medicine feasibility trial now open for neuroblastoma.
Dr. Sholler is a Pediatric Oncologist with Spectrum Health Medical Group, Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital, and directs the Pediatric Oncology Therapeutic Discovery Clinic. She is also Co-Director of the VARI/TGen Pediatric Oncology Research Program, and Associate Professor of the Neuroblastoma Translational Research Laboratory at Van Andel Research Institute. She has a faculty appointment within Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, and continues as adjunct faculty at University of Vermont. Dr. Sholler is also a Guest Researcher in the Pediatric Oncology Branch at the NCI.
References:
J Clin Oncol. 2010 Nov 20;28(33):4877-83. Epub 2010 Oct 4. Pilot study using molecular profiling of patients' tumors to find potential targets and select treatments for their refractory cancers.
Science 16 Sept 2011: Vol. 333 no. 6049 pp. 1569-1571. Pushing the Envelope in Neuroblastoma Therapy
Mol Cancer Ther August 2011 10; 1311. A Pilot Clinical Study of Treatment Guided by Personalized Tumorgrafts in Patients with Advanced Cancer
October 07, 2011
Dr. Tim Cripe and co-hosts Dr. Lionel Chow and Dr. Lars Wagner welcome special guest Dr. Stephen Lessnick for an in-depth discussion on the progress to date in understanding the genetics of Ewing's sarcoma. The challenges of interpreting the gene expression data as well as the ethics of collecting tumor specimens for research purposes are also explored. Dr.Stephen Lessnick is a Professor of Pediatrics and Oncological Sciences at the University of Utah, where he also serves as an Attending Physician in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, UT. He received his PhD in Molecular Biology from UCLA in 1994, and his MD from UCLA in 1996, followed by a residency at Children's Hospital in Boston, and a fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital. Currently, Dr. Lessnick is the Director of the Center for Children's Cancer Research at Huntsman Cancer Institute, a Jon and Karen Huntsman Presidential Professor in Cancer Research at the University of Utah, and is the Vice Chair for Biology of the Bone Tumor Committee in the Children's Oncology Group. Please send questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
September 28, 2011
Join host Dr. Tim Cripe with his co-hosts Drs. Jim Geller, Lionel Chow, and Lars Wagner in a robust discussion with special guest Dr. Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp on the implications of DICER1, rare tumor registries, and difficult issues surrounding genetic counseling.
Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Pathology and Pulmonary Biology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Her research is focused on pediatric and adult lung diseases, including cancer. She seeks to determine the molecular mechanisms underlying Rb/p16, p53, and Dicer1 pathway function in lung development and the pathogenesis of lung disease. Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp holds a PhD in Developmental Biology, Developmental Biology and an MD from University of Cincinnati.
Papers discussed:
DICER1 syndrome: clarifying the diagnosis, clinical features and management implications of a pleiotropic tumour predisposition syndrome. J Med Genet. 2011 Apr;48(4):273-8.
Extending the Phenotypes Associated with DICER1 Mutations. Hum Mutat. 2011 Aug 31. doi: 10.1002/humu.21600.
Ovarian sex cord-stromal tumors, pleuropulmonary blastoma and DICER1 mutations: a report from the International Pleuropulmonary Blastoma Registry. Gynecol Oncol. 2011 Aug;122(2):246-50.
Please send questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
August 24, 2011
In this enlightening interview with Dr. Kate Matthay, a reknown leader in the neuroblastoma research community, host Dr. Tim Cripe draws out the inspiration for her early interest in medicine and why her career grew with a focus on neuroblastoma. Dr. Matthay explains the history and challenges of clinical research for neuroblastoma:
10:00 challenges in planning and conducting the CCG-3891 double randomized trial questioning the need for transplant and cis-retinoic acid
15:00 discussion of the COG-A3973 trial questioning the need for purged stem cells
15:50 rationale for the COG-ANBL0532 single versus tandem transplant trial
16:13 discussion of the COG-ANBL0032 ch14.18 with cytokines trial
18:00 MIBG COG pilot trial
22:00 work with SIOP and NB protocol development for children in Morocco (N Africa)
Please send any questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
August 19, 2011
Host Dr. Tim Cripe and co-hosts Dr. Lionel Chow and Dr. Jim Geller discuss updates to previous TWiPO episodes reporting on recent press coverage and publications of BiTE antibodies and modified T-cell approaches, and then discuss recent studies on birth defects, birth order, and cell phone use and possible link to risk of childhood cancers.
N Engl J Med. 2011 Aug 10. Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Modified T Cells in Chronic Lymphoid Leukemia.
Sci Transl Med 10 August 2011: T Cells with Chimeric Antigen Receptors Have Potent Antitumor Effects and Can Establish Memory in Patients with Advanced Leukemia; Vol. 3, Issue 95, p. 95ra73
7:40 Decitabine upregulation of NY-ESO-1 and MAGE family expression in NB. MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, and NY-ESO-1 can be upregulated on neuroblastoma cells to facilitate cytotoxic-T lymphocyte-mediated tumor cell killing, K Lucas
9:50 Discussion of Rosenberg paper on immunotherapy in solid tumors; Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2011 Aug 2. doi: 10.1038/nrclinonc.2011.116. Cell transfer immunotherapy for metastatic solid cancer-what clinicians need to know. Rosenberg SA
13:00 Birth anomolies in CNS pediatric tumors
29:00 Absolute risk is small; will this lead to genome-wide association studies?
31:51 Birth order and risk of pediatric cancers
42:30 Mobile phone use and incidence of pediatric CNS tumors.
46:47 Listener question about time elapse of planning clinical trials to opening.
Please send any comments or questions to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
August 05, 2011
Host Dr. Tim Cripe and co-host Maureen O’Brien discuss recent papers on immunotherapy and DNA sequencing studies revealing new potential targets in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
1:45 min. Results on use of BiTE antibody (Bi-specific T-cell engaging) blinatumomab in adults with lymphoma and leukemia:
Exp Cell Res. 2011 May 15;317(9):1255-60. Epub 2011 Mar 16. Immunomodulatory therapy of cancer with T cell-engaging BiTE antibody blinatumomab
J Clin Oncol. 2011 Jun 20;29(18):2493-8. Epub 2011 May 16. Targeted therapy with the T-cell-engaging antibody blinatumomab of chemotherapy-refractory minimal residual disease in B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients results in high response rate and prolonged leukemia-free survival.
Use of blinatumomab in pediatrics was recently reported in Germany, and an international phase I/II trial for pediatrics is due to begin accruing this year.
Leukemia. 2011 Jan;25(1):181-4. Epub 2010 Oct 14. Complete remission after blinatumomab-induced donor T-cell activation in three pediatric patients with post-transplant relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
23:00 min. Recent findings from the TARGET Initiative (Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments) http://target.cancer.gov/
Through NIH's TARGET initiative, scientists sequenced 120 candidate genes in 187 high-risk childhood B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemias (HR B-ALL) and normal tissues and combined the results with data from previous studies using microarry and gene copy number studies. Sorting through this massive amount of information revealed a high frequency of recurrent genetic alterations in several specific cancer signaling pathways. The information appears to be useful to stratify these patients into subcategories, some of whom do much better than others. These data highlight potential new therapeutic targets in certain subsets of childhood ALL.
Blood. 2010 Dec 2;116(23):4874-84. Epub 2010 Aug 10. Identification of novel cluster groups in pediatric high-risk B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia with gene expression profiling: correlation with genome-wide DNA copy number alterations, clinical characteristics, and outcome
Blood. 2011 Jun 16. [Epub ahead of print] Key pathways are frequently mutated in high risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a report from theChildren's Oncology Group
Please send all questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
July 12, 2011
In this eleventh episode of "This Week in Pediatric Oncology" hosts Dr. Tim Cripe and Dr. Lars Wagner discuss with guest Dr. Brian Weiss (Cincinnati Children's Hospital) the implications of the recent results comparing two chemotherapy combinations for transplant regimens in children with high-risk neuroblastoma in Europe. The BuMel (busulfan, melphalan) regimen resulted in better survival and lower toxicity than CEM (carboplatin, etoposide, melphalan), a regimen used for transplant in the COG for a decade.
This SIOP trial was one of the plenary presentations at ASCO in June 2011. In this lively and informative discussion, Dr. Brian Weiss explains the COG response to these results due to the difference in induction regimens. The BuMel regimen will be used in the upcoming MIBG frontline pilot that Dr. Weiss is leading as principal investigator.
Dr. Weiss and TWiPO hosts also discussed the recent paper Safety and efficacy of tandem (131) I-metaiodobenzylguanidine infusions in relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma authored by Johnson et al in Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2011 Apr 14
Please send questions and comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
July 07, 2011
"This Week in Pediatric Oncology" podcast host Dr. Tim Cripe interviewed Dr. Robert Seeger from CHLA (Children's Hospital of Los Angeles) about his contributions to improvements in treating neuroblastoma as well as his vision for future advances.
Dr. Seeger's career has been remarkable in that he began with an interest in immunotherapy and neuroblastoma as an intriguing model for this approach, and has consequently been involved in every major advance in treating neuroblastoma, including the pivotal 1984 discovery of the first-everamplification of an oncogene for any cancer – MYCN and the 1985 demonstration that MCYN could be used to predict survival. Authoring over 180 publications, Dr. Seeger has made a significant contribution to every step toward developing better therapies for neuroblastoma, including induction therapy, myeloablative therapy, immunotherapy with anti-GD2 antibody and cytokines, maintenance therapy with retinoids, and most recently, work in tumor microenvironment and developing reproducible biomarkers for detecting minimal residual disease. At the beginning of Dr. Seeger’s career, survival for high-risk neuroblastoma was abysmal at about 5%, and now survival is about 45%. Dr Seeger has been a leader in the NANT consortium (New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy) and involved in planning the early phase clinical trials conducted by this 15-member consortium.
When questioned about current challenges in his research, Dr. Seeger mentioned the increased regulatory burdens associated with developing new treatments, and also discussed the need for preclinical (mouse) models that are predictive and well-validated. Dr Seeger believes that improvements can be made in functional imaging, including developing pharmacodynamic markers to detect impact of therapy on tumor.
Dr. Seeger is Professor and Division Head for Basic and Translational Research at Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children's Hospital Los Angeles/USC School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA. His research interests are neuroblastoma risk assessment by gene expression profiling at diagnosis; evaluating response to treatment by quantifying rare neuroblastoma cells in blood and bone marrow; immunotherapy of neuroblastoma (natural killer cells, anti-tumor antibodies, tumor associated macrophages). Dr. Seeger is a reviewer for several high-impact oncology journals, and is a member of the COG NB steering committee. He earned his MD at Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine in Portland and completed pediatric internship and residency at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis. Additionally, Dr. Seeger obtained research fellowship training at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the ICRF Tumor Immunology Unit at University College London, UK.
Please email questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
June 16, 2011
Host Dr. Tim Cripe of "This Week in Pediatric Oncology" podcast interviews Dr. Peter Adamson, new Chair of the Children's Oncology Group (COG). Co-hosts for this episode are Dr. Jim Geller, Dr. Raj Nagarajan, and Dr. Lionel Chow. This conversation includes Dr. Adamson's background and interest in pediatric oncology, and openly addresses the much-needed advances in drug development for pediatric tumors that are distinct from adult tumors. On the heels of the remarkable ch14.18 development story in neuroblastoma, Dr. Adamson explains the need for a "virtual" drug company that consists of a public-private partnership to develop drugs in a similar narrow venue, which is underway.
Reference:
Making Better Drugs for Children with Cancer. Institute of Medicine Consensus Report. Peter C. Adamson, Susan L. Weiner, Joseph V. Simone, and Hellen Gelband, Editors. April 18, 2005http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2005/Making-Better-Drugs-for-Children-with-Cancer.aspx
Please send questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
June 09, 2011
An oncolytic virus for a common childhood brain tumor
In this eighth episode of "This Week in Pediatric Oncology" podcast hosts Dr. Tim Cripe, Dr. Lars Wagner and Dr. Lionel Chow discuss a recent publication by researchers at Baylor/Texas Children's in Houston that shows remarkable results of Seneca Valley virus SVV-001 on orthotopic mouse models of medulloblastoma.
The TWiPO hosts raise many interesting points about this research and highlight the strengths as well as limitations of this work. This exciting research provides new evidence of promise for oncolytic virus therapy for childhood tumors.
For more information about oncolytic virus trials for pediatric cancers, see a recent webinar "Oncolytic Virotherapy for Pediatric Solid Tumors" presented by the principal investigators of five clinical trials in children and sponsored by Solving Kids' Cancer.
The article discussed in this episode can be found here:
A single intravenous injection of oncolytic picornavirus SVV-001 eliminates medulloblastomas in primary tumor-based orthotopic xenograft mouse models. Yu L, Baxter PA, et al. Neuro Oncol. 2011 Jan;13(1):14-27. Epub 2010 Nov 12.
Another related article by the same group:
Treatment of invasive retinoblastoma in a murine model using an oncolytic picornavirus. Wadhwa L, Hurwitz MY, et al. Cancer Res. 2007 Nov 15;67(22):10653-6. [fulltext]
Please send questions or comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
June 02, 2011
In this seventh episode of "This Week in Pediatric Oncology" TWiPO podcast, host Dr. Tim Cripe interviews Dr. E. Anders Kolb and Dr. Andrew Napper from Nemours in Wilmington, Delaware.
This informative discussion covers the strategies, scope, and challenges of target discovery, drug development, and preclinical testing for pediatric cancers, a complex process that has been accelerated by high throughput screening technology that has only recently become available in academic settings.
Dr. Kolb is the Director of Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, and Head of the Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory at Nemours Biomedical Research. He is also a Principal Investigator in the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Program (PPTP), a comprehensive program to systematically evaluate new agents against childhood solid tumor and leukemia models.
Dr. Andrew Napper joined the research team at the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research (NCCCR) in 2009 to establish its High Throughput Screening and Drug Discovery Laboratory. Dr. Napper came to Nemours from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the Director of High Throughput Screening for the Penn Center for Molecular Discovery, one of the original ten centers established as part of the National Institutes of Health’s Roadmap initiative to discover drugs for neglected diseases.
For more information on this program and technology:
Lab Offer Hope for Kids with Cancer, Wilmington News Journal (8/24/09)
Academic screening goes high-throughput, Nature Methods 7, 787–792 (2010)
Please send questions and comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
May 26, 2011
In this sixth episode of TWiPO, Dr. Tim Cripe interviews Dr. Archie Bleyer about his career and research interest in improving survival rates in adolescents and young adults (AYA) affected by cancer.
Dr. Bleyer is the Medical Director of , Clinical Research at St. Charles Cancer Care in Bend, Oregon and a Clinical Research Professor at Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland. He also is a Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Senior Advisor of the Aflac/CureSearch Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Research, and founding member of the LiveStrong Young Adult Alliance.
Dr. Bleyer chaired the Children’s Cancer Group for 10 years, then the world's largest pediatric cancer research organization, and the Department and Division of Pediatrics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He was the American Cancer Society Professor of Clinical Oncology and in charge of the cancer curriculum in the University of Washington School of Medicine. During the past three decades, Dr. Bleyer was awarded research grants totaling more than $75 million as a principal investigator from the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, and the Leukemia Society of America. His research has been published in more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and books.
This is an inspiring and enlightening discussion of the progress and challenges of the past 3 decades of treating children and young adults with cancer, and an optimistic view of future improvements in survival, quality of life, and reducing late effects in survivors. Listeners are welcome to send thoughts and comments to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org
May 19, 2011
Discussion of the role of hedgehog signaling and repositioning of drugs for pediatric cancers such as anti-fungal drug itraconazole
In this fifth episode, hosts Dr. Tim Cripe and Dr. Maureen O'Brien discuss the role of targeting of hedgehog signaling in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and the use of drugs designed for other uses -- designed for other uses -- such as itraconazole, an anti-fungal drug found to suppress hedgehog signaling -- as a possible treatment for medulloblastoma.
1:20 feedback and comments on previous TWiPO episode
2:58 Hedgehog-responsive candidate cell of origin for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma; (fulltext) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 March 15; 108(11): 4453–4458
9:22 Itraconazole, a commonly used antifungal that inhibits Hedgehog pathway activity and cancer growth. Cancer Cell. 2010 Apr 13;17(4):388-99.
May 08, 2011
In this fourth episode of TWiPO host Dr. Tim Cripe and co-host Dr. Jim Geller discuss updates after two recent meetings and then discuss an exciting paper just published on "Tumor regression in patients with metastatic synovial cell sarcoma and melanoma using genetically engineered lymphocytes reactive with NY-ESO-1" J Clin Oncol. 2011 Mar 1;29(7):917-24. Epub 2011 Jan 31. by Paul Robbins and colleagues at the NCI.
1:23 Conference on oncolytic viruses (see recent http://vimeo.com/20002455 webinar on pediatric trials).
7:28 Conference on DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) at Cincinnati Children's; discussion on biology, new tumor models, and genetic profiling.
12:50 Discussion on adoptive immunotherapy using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in patients with metastatic melanoma and synovial cell sarcoma.
28:28 Listener email questions and answers. (send emails to twipo@solvingkidscancer.org)
April 25, 2011
In this third episode, host Tim Cripe, MD, PhD, asks his co-hosts to discuss two recent papers that provide new information about genetic predisposition to increased toxicity to vincristine in some children, and the results of a phase II study using a combination therapy (irinotecan and temozolomide) in relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma.
1:24 Maureen O'Brien, MD discusses "Increased risk of vincristine neurotoxicity associated with low CYP3A5 expression genotype in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia" in Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2011 Mar;56(3):361-7. doi: 10.1002/pbc.22845. Epub 2010 Nov 11.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21225912
22:10 Lars Wagner, MD discusses "Phase II study of irinotecan and temozolomide in children with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma: a Children's Oncology Group study" from J Clin Oncol. 2011 Jan 10;29(2):208-13. Epub 2010 Nov 29. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21115869
April 13, 2011
In this second episode of TWiPO, host Dr. Tim Cripe interviews Dr. Gregory Reaman about his career in pediatric oncology, leadership of the COG, challenges, and expectations for the future.
April 11, 2011
Solving Kids' Cancer is sponsoring a free podcast series for researchers, clinicians, advocates, and others focusing on pediatric cancer research, hosted by physician-scientist Dr. Timothy Cripe and colleagues at Cincinnati Children's. Podcasts will be published 2 to 4 times per month with discussions on new publications, clinical trials, interviews with thought leaders, and more.
This first episode is a discussion among the pediatric oncologists about the recently published paper in Journal of Clinical Oncology "Outcomes for Children and Adolescents With Cancer: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century" (J Clin Oncol 28:2625-2634)