2016 Annual Report - University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center by UChicago Medicine Community Benefit Report

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY

Near and Far

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Table of Contents Letter from the Director

Local 2 COMPASS Tackles Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health Disparities CARES Program Aims to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in Cook County Epigenetics and Prostate Cancer Disparities Expanding Our Reach Religious Beliefs and Cancer Screening and Treatment Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities (OCECD) Supportive Oncology Local by the Numbers

3 4 6 7 8 10 12 13

National 14 Genomic Data Commons Immunotherapy and the Microbiome Childhood Cancer Survivors and Second Malignancies National Leadership in Clinical Trials Thyroid Cancer Survivors and Quality of Life National by the Numbers

15 17 18 20 22 23

Global 24 Breast Cancer Risk in Women of African Descent Developing Targeted Cancer Therapies Through Collaboration Arsenic Exposure and Cancer Risk in Bangladesh International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Global by the Numbers

25 27 28 30 31

UChicago 32 By the Numbers 33 Spotlight on Hematological Malignancies 36 Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Grants 43 New Cancer Center Members 44 Our Team of Experts 46 The University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation 48 Leadership 52 Credits 52

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Letter from the Director Cancer has a global impact — it affects communities in every city, in every country, on every continent. From our home in Hyde Park to communities in Nigeria, patients are facing cancer diagnoses and treatments every day. A universal mission to end cancer unites us all. But, though we all wage the same fight, each population is unique. And, our researchers are traveling beyond the confines of our campus into local communities and other countries to better understand how environment, lifestyle and genetics impact risk. This growing understanding is leading to better prevention strategies and targeted treatments. In the past year, local, national, and global collaborations and initiatives have led to even greater progress in cancer research at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. In this report, we showcase examples of innovation and discovery at home and abroad. We also highlight research in hematological malignancies (blood cancers), where UChicago researchers, like the late Dr. Janet D. Rowley, set the stage for today’s advances. Here in Chicago, our Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities (OCECD) is continuing to build community partnerships, while encouraging cancer education and screening among the city’s diverse populations. These relationships are fostering more participation in clinical trials and fueling a better understanding of health disparities. Nationally, Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative has inspired researchers, patients, survivors and legislators to come together to accelerate research. Here at

UChicago, the launch of the National Cancer Institute’s Genomic Data Commons has sparked a national discussion about the need for open access to cancer research data. The dialogue has just begun, and we can’t wait to see where it takes us. Beyond the borders of the U.S., our researchers are breaking down barriers of culture and language to better understand how cancer manifests in people of all race, gender and ethnicity. From Bangladesh to Japan, these international efforts are leading to collaborations at other academic institutions and laying a foundation for a research landscape where we can all work together toward a cure. This work would not be possible without your continued philanthropy through the University of Chicago Campaign: Inquiry and Impact and the Janet D. Rowley Discovery Fund. We are thankful for all our supporters, near and far, who make this important work possible.

Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, has been the director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center for 12 years and studied under Janet D. Rowley, MD.

With sincere gratitude,

Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD Arthur and Marian Edelstein Professor of Medicine Director, the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center 1

Local We are proud to call Chicago home, and strive to have a positive impact on the communities we serve through relevant cancer research and key partnerships. 2

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COMPASS Tackles Chicago’s Health Disparities Scientists have known for some time that ethnicity is inherently linked to health. Research has shown that some racial and ethnic subgroups are more prone to certain diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. In Chicago, these disparities in disease incidence and mortality are higher than in other major cities, and the Chicago Multiethnic Prevention and Surveillance Study (COMPASS) at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center aims to understand why. Through the efforts of a multidisciplinary team, COMPASS will recruit 100,000 Chicago residents over the next five years to study the lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors that impact health and chronic disease. So far, close to 3,000 residents have enrolled. Eligible participants complete an in-depth interview, provide blood and urine samples for scientific analysis, and agree to complete follow-up questionnaires every 2–3 years. The study is led by Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, Louis Block Professor of Public Health Sciences, Medicine, and Human Genetics, and associate director for population research at the Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Once we know and understand what leads to the development of disease and the underlying biological processes, we are in a better position to identify prevention and treatment solutions,” Ahsan said.

COMPASS was launched in 2012 with the generous support of the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Women’s Board, and the Board provided a $100,000 gift this year. Specifically, this gift will allow COMPASS researchers to investigate the role of the bacteria in a person’s mouth in the development of head and neck, and lung cancers. Using the saliva samples from approximately 1,500 participants, the oral microbiome will be analyzed using a robust technology (called microbial 16S rRNA sequencing) and compared to data on known risk factors such as tobacco use and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection.

A STUDY OF 100,000 CHICAGO RESIDENTS WILL LOOK AT THE LIFESTYLE, ENVIRONMENTAL AND GENETIC FACTORS THAT IMPACT HEALTH AND CHRONIC DISEASE.

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CARES Program Aims to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in Cook County Microscopic view of the most common type of colorectal cancer called adenocarcinoma.

Last fall, the University of Chicago Medicineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Center for Asian Health Equity and the Comprehensive Cancer Center received a $3.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase colorectal cancer screenings in Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cook County. The grant led to the formation of Cook County CARES (Colorectal Cancer Alliance to Reinforce and Enhance Screening), a partnership between the university and local community health organizations.

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Dr. Karen Kim attends the public launch for the Center for Asian Health Equity at the Newberry Library.

“Our short-term goals are to decrease disparities, increase colorectal cancer prevention and early-stage colorectal cancer detection, and increase timely and effective treatment for colorectal cancer,” said the Center’s director Karen Kim, MD, professor of medicine. “Our long-term goals are to decrease disparities in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in Cook County.” Kim also serves as director for the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities (OCECD), and has been committed to tackling health disparities in Chicago for nearly two decades. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. when men and women are combined, yet it can be prevented or detected at an early stage through screening. “Among African Americans, death from colorectal cancer is twice that of other populations, while screening rates are lowest among Asian Americans,” Kim said. “Cook County CARES aims to address these disparities through education and targeted screening.”

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. In a recent study1, Kim and colleagues found that the colorectal cancer screening rates, at 30%, were much lower among foreignborn Asian Americans in Chicago than the national average for the general population (59%). This work underscores how Cook County CARES, and more broadly the Center for Asian Health Equity, will fill an important gap in addressing cancer screening and prevention in this population.

1 Kim et al., J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 2:473-80, 2015.

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Epigenetics and Prostate Cancer Disparities In the U.S. and in our community, there are pronounced racial disparities in prostate cancer incidence. AfricanAmerican men are more likely to be diagnosed and die from prostate cancer than European-American men, but the causes of these differences are poorly understood. Donald Vander Griend, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, and Brandon Pierce, PhD, assistant professor of public health sciences, are teaming up to uncover the molecular basis for some of these differences. The research team was recently awarded a grant from the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program to compare specific DNA marks (called methylation patterns) in prostate tumors Rendering of DNA structure with epigenetic marks (methylated cytosine residues). CREDIT: CHRISTOPH BLOCK

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from African Americans and European Americans. These marks control gene expression and, therefore, cell and tissue function, and their identification will assist in developing ethnicity-specific biomarkers for prostate cancer. Thus far, the team has collected tissues from more than 50 patients and have begun the analysis of genomewide DNA methylation patterns.

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UChicago Medicine leaders break ground at new Orland Park location.

Expanding Our Reach This year, the University of Chicago Medicine set forth plans to offer our communities new locations and build a new dedicated cancer hospital. The University of Chicago Medicine entered into an agreement to bring its cancer care, academic specialists and array of clinical trials to the Little Company of Mary Hospital (LCMH) and Health Care Centers in Evergreen Park. UChicago Medicine’s Compre hensive Cancer Center at LCMH will offer inpatient and outpatient services, including an infusion center, radiation therapy, specialty clinic services and clinical trials. UChicago Medicine also broke ground on its 108,000-square-foot, four-story ambulatory health care facility in Orland Park. The facility, at 143rd Street and LaGrange Road, will be UChicago Medicine’s largest off-site location when it opens in late 2016, and will include oncology services.

In May, the Illinois Health Facilities and Serv ices Review Board unanimously approved the University of Chicago Medicine’s application to expand access to emergency, adult trauma and specialty care on the South Side. Part of the plan will be to redevelop Mitchell Hospital into a facility dedicated to cancer, which disproportionately affects people on the South Side. This will allow relocation of patients with cancer to a dedicated hospital, opening up the Center for Care and Discovery to other critical patients undergoing surgery and other life-saving procedures.

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Religious Beliefs and Cancer Screening and Treatment The impact of religious beliefs on how individuals across racial, ethnic and cultural groups view cancer prevention and treatment is poorly understood, but it has significant implications for cancer care in the Chicagoland community. Our physician scientists are exploring this issue through innovative partnerships with community and religious organizations. Dr. Aasim Padela leads the Initiative on Islam and Medicine at UChicago.

For example, the University of Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Initiative on Islam and Medicine aims to lead dialogue around the relationship between Islamic tradition and biomedicine. Initiative director Aasim Padela, MD, assistant professor of medicine, addresses how religion impacts the health behaviors and outcomes of American Muslims. In a recent study1, Padela examined how religious beliefs influenced whether or not American Muslim women are screened for breast cancer through mammography. For the study, Padela and his team recruited participants from Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Muslim population using a community-engagement approach. They conducted focus-group interviews with women over the age of 40 from nine area mosques to learn about mammography experiences and beliefs, cancer beliefs and preventative health practices. The researchers found that religious beliefs shaped screening decisions across the ethnic/racial diversity of Muslim women. Those who felt a duty to God to take care of their bodies were more likely to get a mammogram. And, whether people feel that

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God or individuals control health, illness and survival also informed decision making.

were more likely to feel that God was in control of their cancer than whites.

Blase Polite, MD, associate professor of medicine, and colleagues James Dignam, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences, Olufunmilayo Olopade, MBBS, Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, and Christopher Daugherty, MD, professor of medicine, recently published findings addressing how psychosocial and religious beliefs differ in a diverse racial and socioeconomic urban cancer population2. Even after adjusting for income and education, the team found that African Americans

Collectively, this work highlights the importance of a nuanced understanding of how race and socioeconomic factors contribute to cancer disparities as efforts to reduce these disparities in our community are developed and implemented.

1 Padela et al., Psychooncology [Epub ahead of print] 2016. 2 Polite et al., J Racial Ethn Health Disparities [Epub ahead of print] 2016.

African Americans were more likely to feel that God was in control of their cancer than whites.

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Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities (OCECD) The goal of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities (OCECD), led by Karen Kim, MD, professor of medicine, and Nita Lee, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics/gynecology, is to reduce cancer disparities in Chicago and the South Side through community-engaged research, advocacy, education and programming. An OCECD volunteer helps a community member at the annual Chinatown Health Fair.

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Among the highlights of the OCECD’s activities in 2016 are: • The OCECD launched “A Walk Through the Cure” (ocecd.uchicago.edu), an online experiential learning program to familiarize community members with the diagnostic, treatment and survivorship services available at the University of Chicago Medicine. The goal of the program is to increase breast health care in minority populations by addressing barriers to screening, including fear, lack of familiarity, and inexperience and distrust of the healthcare system. Through this virtual portal, participants gain firsthand experience of care provided in the Comprehensive Cancer Center’s procedural rooms for mammography, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. This program, supported by funding from the Exelon Corporation, has been

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DONOR SPOTLIGHT

Live Like Katie Works Toward a Cure When asked to name one item on his bucket list, Scott Vogg’s answer is an ambitious one: “Help cure cancer.” Vogg lost his wife Katie to cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) in 2011, and established the Live Like Katie (LLK) Foundation the next year to honor Katie’s memory and to work toward a cure.

The OCECD participates in the 2015 Greater Roseland Breast Health Consortium Summit.

The LLK Foundation holds an annual LLK-Palooza fundraising event to support the research of Katie’s Cancer Research Fund (OCRF). As one successfully implemented with Asian, doctor Daniel Catenacci, MD, assisof four national sites, this novel peerAfrican-American, and Hispanic/Latino tant professor of medicine, who is to-peer mentoring program is for all communities through culturally and lininvestigating new targeted therapies gynecologic cancer survivors. Survivors guistically tailored information. for gastrointestinal malignancies, undergo formalized training in mentoring, including cholangiocarcinoma. Since • The OCECD celebrated the 4th anniversupport and advocacy, and are matched their launch in first 2012,Chinese LLK haslanguageraised sary of the with women who are newly diagnosed. more than $400,000. specific cancer support group in Illinois. Mentors provide social support, informaGrowing from seven active members tion and guidance to patients, and both “Katie’s tragedy serves not as an to 26, the group meets bi-monthly and mentors and patients have access to event I’m attempting to undo, but provides support for cancer survivors programming on wellness, quality of rather as a sign, a message, a comand their family members. life and survivorship. For the past two mitment to do what I can so that othyears, the program has been supported ers don’t have go through what • Through theto establishment of the by a community partnership with the my Partnership kids and I had go through,” fortoHealthier Asians, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance’s saidOCECD Vogg, who also team recently joined colresearch conducted (OCRFA) Ovarian Cycle event in the orectal University of Chicago Cancer cancer screening education sesBannockburn, IL. Research Foundation’s Board of sions at partner community organizations. Trustees, where were he serves as take trea-home free Participants able to • University of Chicago Medicine and surer andtest continues advocate stool kits for to screening at for the end of Pritzker School of Medicine students cancer researchand funding. the session, the returned kits were celebrated Asian Heritage Month by tested at the University of Chicago. During providing health education and ser“Katie was all about helping others,” each education session, participants had vices to a group of South Asian Muslim he said. “Fighting cancer for others the opportunity to ask gastroenterolowomen, including immigrants from India, is my way of honoring the meaning gist Dr. Karen Kim, professor of medicine Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. behind the Foundation we estaband OCECD director, questions to inform The event was organized and sponsored lished by ‘Living Like Katie’ and decision making. Of the 250 participants, by the Center for Asian Health Equity doing what I can to help others.” 61 percent were screened—a significantly (CAHE) and the Office of Community higher compliance rate than the general Engagement and Cancer Disparities Asian-American population in the U.S. (OCECD), in partnership with the Muslim Women Resource Center in Chicago. • The University of Chicago Woman More than 40 South Asian Muslim women to Woman (WTW) Program is a attended the event. patient-centered initiative established in 2014 through a grant from the Ovarian

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Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities (OCECD) PATIENT SPOTLIGHT

Breast Cancer Treatment Close to Home

A nurse for almost 40 years, Therese Galvan understands the critical importance of finding the right place to get care and treatment. So when a lump she discovered in her left breast was found to be malignant, she turned to the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

The goal of the University of Chicago Medicine For the 60-year-old Mokena resiComprehensive Cancer Center’s Office of Community dent and mother of four, being able Engagement and Cancer Disparities (OCECD), led by to have surgery, radiation, physical therapy andNita follow-up visits and Karen Kim, MD, professor of medicine, and Lee, consultations close to home made MD, assistant professor of obstetrics/gynecology, is to her cancer treatment and recovery less stressful. But South Galvan said it was reduce cancer disparities in Chicago and the Side the expert medical care she received through community-engaged research, advocacy, that made the real difference. education and programming. “Having doctors from the University An OCECD volunteer helps a community member at the annual Chinatown Health Fair.

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of Chicago Medicine on my case was a big plus to me,” said Galvan. Among the highlights of the OCECD’s activities in 2016 are: Her treatment team included Reza Gamagami, MD, a surgeon • The OCECD launched “A Walk Through at Silver Cross, along with medithe Cure” (ocecd.uchicago.edu), an cal oncologistlearning Sunil Narula, MD, to and online experiential program Anne McCall, MD, medical director familiarize community members with of radiation oncology. treatthe diagnostic, treatmentGalvan’s and survivorment plan included twoUniversity lumpectomy ship services available at the surgeries to remove much of the of Chicago Medicine. The as goal of the tumor asincrease possible,breast followed by care program is to health radiation therapy. by addressing in minority populations barriers to screening, including fear, lack “During my treatment, I got to of familiarity, and inexperience and dismeet so many other women, some trust of the healthcare system. Through of whom were traveling really far this virtual portal, participants gain firstto get to Silver Cross,” she said. hand experience of care provided in the “They were thrilled with the service Comprehensive Cancer Center’s procethey’d received.” dural rooms for mammography, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. This program, supported by funding from the Exelon Corporation, has been

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The OCECD participates in the 2015 Greater Roseland Breast Health Consortium Summit.

successfully implemented with Asian, African-American, and Hispanic/Latino communities through culturally and linguistically tailored information. • The OCECD celebrated the 4th anniversary of the first Chinese languagespecific cancer support group in Illinois. Growing from seven active members to 26, the group meets bi-monthly and provides support for cancer survivors and their family members.

Cancer Research Fund (OCRF). As one of four national sites, this novel peerto-peer mentoring program is for all gynecologic cancer survivors. Survivors undergo formalized training in mentoring, support and advocacy, and are matched with women who are newly diagnosed. Mentors provide social support, information and guidance to patients, and both mentors and patients have access to programming on wellness, quality of life and survivorship. For the past two years, the program has been supported by a community partnership with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance’s (OCRFA) Ovarian Cycle event in Bannockburn, IL.

• Through the establishment of the Partnership for Healthier Asians, the OCECD research team conducted colorectal cancer screening education sessions at partner community organizations. Participants were able to take home free • University of Chicago Medicine and stool test kits for screening at the end of Pritzker School of Medicine students the session, and the returned kits were celebrated Asian Heritage Month by tested at the University of Chicago. During providing health education and sereach education session, participants had vices to a group of South Asian Muslim the opportunity to ask gastroenterolowomen, including immigrants from India, gist Dr. Karen Kim, professor of medicine Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. and OCECD director, questions to inform The event was organized and sponsored decision making. Of the 250 participants, by the Center for Asian Health Equity 61 percent were screened—a significantly (CAHE) and the Office of Community higher compliance rate than the general Engagement and Cancer Disparities Asian-American population in the U.S. (OCECD), in partnership with the Muslim Women Resource Center in Chicago. • The University of Chicago Woman More than 40 South Asian Muslim women to Woman (WTW) Program is a attended the event. patient-centered initiative established in 2014 through a grant from the Ovarian

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From left to right: Dean Dr. Kenneth Polonsky, Dr. Chris Daugherty, Dr. Anjuli Nayak, Coleman Foundation President & CEO Michael W. Hennessy, and UChicago Medicine President Sharon Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keefe.

Supportive Oncology This summer, the University of Chicago Medicine opened the Coleman Foundation Supportive Oncology Outpatient Care Suite on the 6th floor of the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine (DCAM). The Suite provides an inviting and comfortÂ ing space for patients and their loved ones to receive supportive services during and after cancer treatment, including physical/ occupational therapy, nutrition, psychology, social work, a resource library, and more. The Suite was made possible by philanthropic support from the Coleman Foundation. 12

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Local by the Numbers Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rich cultural and ethnic diversity is one of its greatest strengths, but with such diversity come health challenges unique to a large urban population. We are addressing cancer disparities by expanding access to care and designing research studies centered on the needs of Chicagoans.

2016 The year the UChicago cyclotron and research facility for producing radiolabeled imaging components opened, the only of its kind in Illinois.

#1 #2 #3

$400K

R AN K I N G O F COO K CO U NT Y I N CO LO R EC TAL C AN C ER I N CI D EN C E AM O N G ALL CO U NTI E S I N I LLI N O IS*

The amount the Live Like Katie Foundation has raised since its launch in 2012

100,000

2.7M

TOTAL CHICAGO POPULATION

997 patients enrolled on therapeutic cancer clinical trials at UChicagoMed in 2015

32.9% Black 31.7% non-Hispanic 28.9% Hispanic/Latino White 5.5% Asian 1% other**

Recruitment goal for participants in Chicago Multiethnic Prevention and Surveillance Study (COMPASS)

40%

88%

higher breast cancer mortality rate in African-American women in Chicago than white women

OF OUR ANNUAL NEW CANCER PATIENTS COME FROM ILLINOIS COUNTIES

a reduction from 68% in 2003***

TH E U N IVERS IT Y O F C H I C AG O M ED I CI N E CO M PR EH EN S IVE C AN C ER C ENTER IS 1 O F 2 N CI - D E S I G NATED CO M PR EH EN S IVE C AN C ER C ENTERS I N I LLI N O IS

* Cook County CARES website - http://asianhealth.uchicago.edu/our-research/community-engaged-research/) ** U.S. 2010 Census *** Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force 2014 Report

National Initiatives and research efforts launched at the University of Chicago have had a lasting national impact, stimulating discovery and progress toward a cure. 14

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Genomic Data Commons On June 6, Vice President Joe Biden visited campus to launch the National Cancer Instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Genomic Data Commons (GDC), built and housed at the University of Chicago. The GDC contains 4.1 million megabytes of data from approximately 14,500 individuals along with a powerful new set of tools developed to enable researchers to find and access the exact data they need to accelerate their research. The GDC immediately became the largest repository of standardized cancer genomic data ever assembled, and is a one-of-a-kind resource to support national cancer research efforts. Cancers are complex diseases caused by a spectrum of genetic alterations that differ

in each individual. To understand cancers and how to treat them with the latest therapies, vast amounts of data are increasingly needed. Yet, making use of these data remains an almost overwhelming challenge. Data files may be hundreds of gigabytes in size, and analysis can take days or weeks. And, having data isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough; it also needs to be accessible. Just over two years ago, Robert Grossman, PhD, professor of medicine, undertook this ambitious project with the aim of

4.1 MILLION MEGABYTES OF DATA ARE CONTAINED IN THE GDC

Jeremiah Savage, Dr. Ken Onel, Vice President Biden, and Dr. Robert Grossman at the Genomic Data Commons.

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transforming cancer research by breaking down the silos of genomic data and replacing them with a national resource to power discovery. Funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and aligned with the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Grossman rapidly assembled a talented technical team of 25 programmers, developers, systems engineers and bioinformaticians to tackle the first big challenge: build the largest standardized set of cancer genomics data ever assembled. The resulting Genomic Data Commons

WASHINGTON D.C.

On June 29, the Comprehensive Cancer Center co-hosted a regional Cancer Moonshot Summit with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network concurrent with Vice President Bidenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cancer Moonshot Summit in Washington D.C. The Summit brought patients, researchers, philanthropists, legislators, community organizations, and advocates together to brainstorm around the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. 16

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holds all legacy data and will receive all future cancer genomic data generated by NCI-funded projects. Open access data for health research and to support clinical decisions will speed discovery, improve treatment, and reduce costs. The Comprehensive Cancer Center and the GDC are playing critical roles in ushering in data-driven research and precision treatment for cancer, both key concepts in the Vice Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national Cancer Moonshot initiative.

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Immunotherapy and the Microbiome The class of cancer immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors have had a dramatic impact on the treatment of several tumor types, including melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancers, and others. These drugs help the immune system mount an attack by deactivating molecules that cancer cells use to avoid detection. But only a minority of patients—one-third or less—have a vigorous response to checkpoint inhibitors, and cancer researchers have wondered why so few benefit. Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators are national leaders in addressing this important question. A team of researchers led by Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pathology, and including Eugene Chang, MD, Martin Boyer Professor of Medicine, Marisa Alegre, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and Bana Jabri, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, have shown that a person’s gut bacteria (microbiome) may be an important part of the answer. By introducing a particular strain of bacteria called Bifidobacterium into the digestive tracts of mice with melanoma, Gajewski and his colleagues were able to boost the ability of the animals’ immune systems to attack tumor cells. The combination of oral doses of the bacteria and injections with a checkpoint inhibitor, called anti-PD-L1 antibody, nearly abolished tumor outgrowth.

The study1 garnered attention in the research community, and Gajewski has teamed up with Evelo Therapeutics, Inc. to develop a microbiome-based cancer therapy. Gajewski’s research is supported in part by funding from the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Associates Board and Women’s Board.

1 Sivan et al., Science 350:1084-9, 2015.

Fluorescence microscope image of metastatic melanoma cells. CREDIT: JULIO C. VALENCIA/ NCI CENTER FOR CANCER RESEARCH

“The field has recently recognized close connections between the gut microbiome and the immune system,” Gajewski said. “This finding provides a novel way to exploit that connection, to improve immunotherapy by selectively modulating intestinal bacteria.”

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Childhood Cancer Survivors and Second Malignancies Tara Henderson, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and director of UChicago’s Childhood Cancer Survivors Center has emerged as a leader in survivorship research and has helped shape the clinical management of childhood cancer survivors. A national repository of data on survivors of childhood cancer called the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), housed at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, has transformed scientists’ understanding of the risk for second cancers. In a recent study1 using the CCSS database, Henderson and a team of researchers from institutions across the U.S. found that women who survived cancer when they were children are four times more likely to develop early breast cancer as adults than those who did not have cancer as a child, even if they never received radiation therapy to the chest. Eighty-five percent of the Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a natural killer cell from a human donor. CREDIT: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

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increase was caused by two specific cancer types: sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissues, and leukemia, a cancer of the blood. The women in this study who survived childhood sarcoma were 5.3 times more likely than average to have a breast cancer diagnosis; women treated for childhood leukemia were 4.1 times more likely. “Two classes of chemotherapy, anthracyclines and alkylators, appear to be associated with this increase,” Henderson said. Both of these medications are used to treat many kinds of cancer. They work by causing genetic damage to cancer cells, but they

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Dr. Tara Henderson and patient Elizabeth Noreen, who battled bone cancer as a child.

are toxic to normal cells as well, particularly those that divide frequently, such as bone marrow and the cells that line the gastrointestinal tract. Many of these agents are also carcinogenic, or known to cause cancer. In this study, women exposed to high doses of alkylator or anthracycline chemotherapy as children were almost 10 times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their 20s, 30s or early 40s than women who have never been diagnosed or treated for cancer. The researchers encourage women who were treated for cancer as children to have regular screenings for any complications of earlier treatment, including heart and lung disease as well as cancer.

Women who survived childhood sarcoma were 5.3 times more likely to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

1 Henderson et al., J Clin Oncol 34:910-8, 2016.

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National Leadership in Clinical Trials The Comprehensive Cancer Center plays a leading role in conducting national, multicenter cancer clinical trials. Clinical trials are research studies involving patients. Researchers design clinical trials to safely test new drugs, devices, vaccines, or ways of using known treatments. Here are just a few examples of ongoing clinical trials: • Hedy Kindler, MD, professor of medicine, is the principal investigator on a grant from the National Cancer Institute in which the University of Chicago serves as a National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Lead Academic Participating Site. This support provides mechanisms for robust patient accrual to trials across the NCTN and across all tumor sites. • Continuing previous pioneering UChicago research on oligometastases (spread of cancer to a limited number of regions), Steven Chmura, MD, PhD, associate professor of radiation and cellular oncology, is the national lead investigator on NRG-BR001. This is the first cooperative 20

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group phase I trial to test whether you can treat up to four sites of disease simultaneously with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Building on this work, Chmura is also the national lead investigator on NRG-BR002, which is the first cooperative group randomized trial in breast cancer to determine whether treating oligometastases directly with SBRT and/or surgery results in an improvement in 5-year overall survival. • Jason Luke, MD, assistant professor of medicine, is leading a multi-institutional study asking if the addition of another immunotherapy agent (ipilimumab) to the anti-PD1 agent pembrolizumab is safe

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antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, scientists collect immune cells from the patient’s own blood and modify them so they can recognize a specific protein (antigen) on tumor cells. The engineered CAR T cells are then grown in the millions and infused back into the patient. Once inside, the cells multiply and, because they can recognize the antigen, seek out and destroy cancer cells. For patients suffering from relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or other B-cell malignancies, CAR T-cell therapies may give doctors who have exhausted traditional chemotherapies another tool to use.

and demonstrates activity in advanced melanoma patients after initial anti-PDL1 treatment. This study is being run via the Personalized Cancer Care Consortium (PCCC), which is composed of five academic and community-based cancer clinics and hospitals in the Chicago Metro area and Central Illinois, as well as a robust network of over 17 academic centers nationwide that participate in individual trials. The PCCC has been supported by the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Women’s Board. • Rita Nanda, MD, assistant professor of medicine, is leading a multi-institutional study via the PCCC building on the extensive research on the role of the glucocorticoid receptor done by Suzanne Conzen, MD, professor of medicine. This study is testing whether the addition of mifepristone (a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist) to the chemotherapy Abraxane demonstrates activity in triple-negative breast cancer patients.

• The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox is one of three study sites in the U.S. participating in a clinical trial to determine whether an investigational DNA cancer vaccine (INO-3112) is safe and can stimulate the immune systems of women with inoperable, recurrent or progressive/ persistent cervical cancer to attack malignant cells. Yasmin Hasan, MD, assistant professor of radiation and cellular oncology directs the study.

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• Michael Bishop, MD, professor of medicine, is leading several CAR T-cell immunotherapy trials at the Comprehensive Cancer Center. To engineer chimeric

997

PATIENTS ENROLLED IN THERAPEUTIC CLINICAL TRIALS BY DISEASE SITE IN 2015

87 te ta Pr os

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TOTAL PATIENTS ENROLLED IN THERAPEUTIC CLINICAL TRIALS

NATIONAL

Thyroid Cancer Survivors and Quality of Life Thyroid cancer has consistently good survival outcomes, leading some doctors to label it a “good cancer.” But, Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers found that thyroid cancer diagnosis and treatment can result in decreased quality of life, and better tools are needed to help patients navigate survivorship.

THYROID CANCER SURVIVORS, MOST OF WHICH WERE FEMALE, REPORTED WORSE QUALITY OF LIFE THAN SURVIVORS OF OTHER CANCER TYPES.

Researchers Raymon Grogan, MD, assistant professor of surgery, Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, Louis Block Professor of Public Health Sciences, Medicine, and Human Genetics, and Briseis Aschebrook-Kilfoy, PhD, research associate-assistant professor of public health sciences, launched the multicenter North American Thyroid Cancer Survivorship Study (NATCSS) to identify factors that influence the quality of life for thyroid cancer patients, with the goal of improving tools and interventions for these individuals. Beginning in October 2013, they recruited 1,174 thyroid cancer survivors—89.9 percent female with an average age of 48—from across the U.S. and Canada. Using the City of Hope’s Quality of Life thyroid tool,

Microscopic view of thyroid cancer cells. CREDIT: NICOLE CIPRIANI, MD

a questionnaire that assesses physical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being on a 0–10 scale, the research team measured patient-reported quality of life. In an initial set of findings from the NATCSS1, researchers found that thyroid cancer survivors reported worse quality of life, with an average of 5.56 out of 10, than the mean quality of life score of 6.75 reported by survivors of other cancer types (including colorectal and breast) that have poorer prognoses and more invasive treatments. “The goal of this study is to turn it into a longterm, longitudinal cohort,” said Grogan, who hopes to develop a tool that physicians can use to assess the psychological well-being of thyroid cancer survivors. The study demonstrates the importance of studying survivorship, and providing support services for patients during and after treatment. To learn more about the NATCSS study, visit natcss.uchicago.edu.

1 Aschebrook-Kilfoy et al., Thyroid 25:1313-21, 2015. 22

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

NATIONAL

National by the Numbers

DONOR SPOTLIGHT

Memory The launch of the of National Husband Cancer Moonshot initiative has united the nation in the fight against cancer, and we are at the front lines each day. National statistics demonstrate the need for increased funding, collaboration, &andFather Inspires Gift open access to data that we hope the Moonshot will inspire. The doctors Don Ullman consulted offered little hope. Decades earlier he’d been treated for cancer in his nasal cavity. Now it was back with a vengeance. “He was given three months to live, told to go home and write his will,” recalled Don’s wife Marilyn. That was before he found his way U toC UChicago. H I C AG O IS O N E O F 30

1 in 2

AVER AG E LIFETIME RISK OF DE VELOPING CANCER FOR MALES IN U. S .**

$173B

U. S . I N S TITUTI O N S S ELEC TED

Here, Don’s physicians, A Steam LE ADof AC AD EM I C including Daniel Haraf, MD, PARTI C I PATI N G S ITE S professor FO R TH E N C Iand ’ S NATI O NALoncology, C LI N I C AL of radiation cellular TR IAL S N E T WO R K and Elizabeth Blair, MD, professor of surgery, administered intensive radiation to Don’s tumor along with chemotherapy. The regimen gave Don, who passed away in 2013, four more years—time to welcome five grandchildren the world.RISK AVER AGinto E LIFETIME OF DE VELOPING CANCER The experience left a deep impresFOR FEMALES IN U. S .** sion on the Ullmans, and in 2015 they committed a substantial sum to the Comprehensive Cancer Center to establish the Ullman Scholarship in Cancer Immunology and Ullman Fund in Cancer Immunology, supporting the University’s work in immunotherapy.

Projected total cost of cancer care in the U.S. in 2020*

1 in 3

For Don’s son Justin, the gift is an extension of his long-standing advocacy for cancer research through MO E T H A NCancer the University ofRChicago Research Foundation. “UChicago is a world-class institution,” he said. “For us, this is a horse race and at the finish line is aMILLION cure; we’re betting on the University of Chicago to get us there.” Cancer survivors in the U.S. are expected to exceed 20 million by 2026***

4,620

Approximate number of cancer cases diagnosed every day in the U.S.

NUMBER OF NCI-DESIGNATED COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTERS IN 2016

14,000 G ENOMIC DATASETS ARE AVAIL ABLE FOR RESE ARCHERS THROUG H THE G DC

$60 million National research funding awarded to UChicago cancer faculty

* Mariotto et al., J Natl Cancer Inst 103:117-128, 2011 ** http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerbasics/lifetime-probability-of-developing-or-dying-from-cancer *** American Cancer Society. Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Facts & Figures 2016-2017. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2016

NATIONAL

Thyroid Cancer Survivors and Quality of Life

PATIENT SPOTLIGHT

A New Lease on Life After George Winke received a bladder cancer diagnosis, his local urology team wanted to perform surgery right away, and recommended removal of the bladder and placement of an external urostomy bag.

Winke and his wife decided to get Thyroid cancer has consistently good survival outcomes, a second opinion at the University of Chicagocancer.” Medicine, andBut, met with leading some doctors to label it a “good Peter O’Donnell, MD, assistant Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers found that professor of medicine, and Gary Steinberg,can MD, Bruce and Beth thyroid cancer diagnosis and treatment result in White Family Professor of Surgery. decreased quality of life, and better tools are needed Steinberg serves as chairman of the to help patients navigate survivorship. Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network’s

THYROID CANCER SURVIVORS, MOST OF WHICH WERE FEMALE, REPORTED WORSE QUALITY OF LIFE THAN SURVIVORS OF OTHER CANCER TYPES.

Microscopic view of thyroid cancer cells. CREDIT: NICOLE CIPRIANI, MD

(BCAN) Scientific Advisory Board, and is a national leader in clinical Researchers Raymon Grogan, MD, assistant a questionnaire that assesses physical, psytrials and innovative surgical proceprofessor of surgery, Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, chological, social and spiritual well-being on dures.the Heresearch offered Winke an alternaLouis Block Professor of Public Health a 0–10 scale, team measured tive surgical option that would allow Sciences, Medicine, and Human Genetics, patient-reported quality of life. him to maintain urinary function 1 and Briseis Aschebrook-Kilfoy, PhD, research In an initial set of findings from the NATCSS , called an orthotopic neobladder. associate-assistant professor of public health researchers found that thyroid cancer surThe surgery involves removing the sciences, launched the multicenter North vivors reported worse quality of life, with patient’s cancerous bladder, and American Thyroid Cancer Survivorship an average of 5.56 out of 10, than the mean replacing it with a new bladder Study (NATCSS) to identify factors that quality of life score of 6.75 reported by constructed out of a portion of influence the quality of life for thyroid cancer survivors of other cancer types (includthe patient’s small intestine. patients, with the goal of improving tools ing colorectal and breast) that have poorer and interventions for these individuals. Since his diagnosis and successful prognoses and more invasive treatments. surgery, Winke has been an active Beginning in October 2013, they recruited “The goal of this study is to turn it into a longparticipant in the AMP UP! Chicago 1,174 thyroid cancer survivors—89.9 percent term, longitudinal cohort,” said Grogan, who BCAN awareness walk. This year, female with an average age of 48—from hopes to develop a tool that physicians can Steinberg served as captain of across the U.S. and Canada. Using the City use to assess the psychological well-being the Comprehensive Cancer of Hope’s Quality of Life thyroid tool, of thyroid cancer survivors. Center’s team. The study demonstrates the importance “I think I can confidently say I’m of studying survivorship, and providing out of the woods now,” Winke support services for patients during and said. “There are so many out there after treatment. who just found out that they’re is very study, satisfying To learn diagnosed, more aboutand the it NATCSS to know that I can help others out.” visit natcss.uchicago.edu.

1 Aschebrook-Kilfoy et al., Thyroid 25:1313-21, 2015. 22

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

NATIONAL

National by the Numbers The launch of the National Cancer Moonshot initiative has united the nation in the fight against cancer, and we are at the front lines each day. National statistics demonstrate the need for increased funding, collaboration, and open access to data that we hope the Moonshot will inspire.

1 in 2

AVER AG E LIFETIME RISK OF DE VELOPING CANCER FOR MALES IN U. S .**

$173B

U C H I C AG O IS O N E O F 30 U. S . I N S TITUTI O N S S ELEC TED A S LE AD AC AD EM I C PARTI C I PATI N G S ITE S FO R TH E N C I â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S NATI O NAL C LI N I C AL TR IAL S N E T WO R K

Projected total cost of cancer care in the U.S. in 2020*

1 in 3

AVER AG E LIFETIME RISK OF DE VELOPING CANCER FOR FEMALES IN U. S .**

4,620

Approximate number of cancer cases diagnosed every day in the U.S.

MORE THAN

MILLION

NUMBER OF NCI-DESIGNATED COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTERS IN 2016

Cancer survivors in the U.S. are expected to exceed 20 million by 2026***

14,000 G ENOMIC DATASETS ARE AVAIL ABLE FOR RESE ARCHERS THROUG H THE G DC

$60 million National research funding awarded to UChicago cancer faculty

Global Our researchers are traveling abroad to foster collaboration and gain a better understanding of how cancer impacts communities across the globe. 24

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

GLOBAL

Breast Cancer Risk in Women of African Descent It is well known that women of African ancestry are more likely to die from breast cancer. Olufunmilayo Olopade, MBBS, an international leader in cancer genetics, wants to understand why. Research has shown that high-risk genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2 are important, but Olopade, the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, believes there are other genetic variants at play. From Nigeria herself, Olopade, who also serves as Associate Dean for Global Health, has identified breast cancer mutations in African families that

are distinct from those found in Caucasians, transforming screening and treatment in Africa and beyond. Her research team also made the seminal discovery that the majority of African women diagnosed with breast cancer have triple-negative tumors, a type of breast cancer that is aggressive and hard to treat.

Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade with community members in Nigeria.

GLOBAL

MicroRNAs could be used to assess a person’s risk and could also be potential drug targets, particularly among women of African descent. In a recent study,1 Olopade and a team led by Dezheng Huo, MD, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences, examined the role of microRNAs in breast cancer risk among women of African ancestry. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules involved in several biological processes, like gene expression, as well as a number of diseases including cancer. In this multicenter and international project, the research team analyzed genetic information from the ROOT consortium— a cohort with 3,686 participants of African ancestry from Nigeria, Barbados and four sites in the U.S.—and the African American Breast Cancer consortium—a cohort of 5,984 African Americans from nine case-control studies. Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade and colleagues in Nigeria.

Samples were analyzed using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) genotyping, a way to measure genetic variations among individuals, specifically individual changes in DNA building blocks (nucleotides) at specific locations in the genome. The researchers identified four SNPs in microRNA genes or sequences that were consistently linked with breast cancer risk. They also identified two SNPs in participants with estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer that increased breast cancer susceptibility. Cancers that are ER-negative do not typically respond to hormone therapies because they lack hormone receptors, making them more difficult to treat. This study indicates that microRNAs could be used to assess a person’s risk and could also be potential drug targets, particularly among women of African descent. More broadly, this work underscores the promise of newly identified genetic and biological factors that contribute to global cancer disparities.

1 Qian et al., Human Genetics 135:1145-59, 2016. 26

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

GLOBAL

Developing Targeted Cancer Therapies Through Collaboration Yusuke Nakamura, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, is an internationally renowned geneticist who established a distinguished career in Japan before joining the University of Chicago. He continues to collaborate with Japanese colleagues, working to understand the biological factors at play in ovarian cancer. Nakamura and colleagues recently published a study1 that evaluated the role of T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) in ovarian cancer. A protein kinase is a type of enzyme that modifies other proteins as a way to transmit signals through cells. Kinase enzymes are frequently overactive in cancer cells, and blocking them can stop the cells from growing. Drugs called kinase inhibitors are being used to treat many different types of cancers. But, in order to develop these drugs, researchers must first identify the kinase enzyme responsible for a type of cancerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth. Nakamura and colleagues aimed to understand the role TOPK plays in ovarian cancer, an aggressive cancer frequently

DRUGS CALLED KINASE INHIBITORS ARE BEING USED TO TREAT MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF CANCERS.

associated with poor outcomes, and whether it might be a potential drug target. The researchers examined TOPK expression by analyzing 163 ovarian cancer tissue samples, and tested the effect of TOPK inhibitors (OTS514 and OTS964) synthesized in Japan on ovarian cancer cells that were cultured from patient samples. They found that high TOPK expression is strongly associated with poor prognosis in ovarian cancer patients, and TOPK inhibitors (OTS514 and OTS964) inhibited cell growth significantly. The study shows the important role TOPK plays in ovarian cancer progression, opening the door for clinical trials and potential application of this targeted therapy. Based on other work from Nakamuraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team, TOPK inhibitors are currently being tested in clinical trials for other cancers at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Yusuke Nakamura is leading efforts to develop novel cancer therapies.

1 Ikeda et al., Clin Cancer Res [Epub ahead of print] 2016. 27

GLOBAL

Arsenic Exposure and Cancer Risk in Bangladesh Leading cancer epidemiologists at UChicago are aiming to understand how chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water has led to long-term health problems, including skin cancer, in people who live in Bangladesh. Carcinogens are toxic substances that have the potential to cause cancer. Inorganic arsenic is one carcinogen that is present in our air, soil and water. In certain places in the world, like South America and Asia, there are higher levels of arsenic. Habibul Ahsan, 28

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

MBBS, Louis Block Professor of Public Health Sciences, Medicine, and Human Genetics, and Brandon Pierce, PhD, assistant professor of public health sciences, are researching the impacts of arsenic on health.

GLOBAL

To collect data, Ahsan established the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS) more than a decade ago, and has recruited a cohort of more than 30,000 people to participate in research. In a recent study1, Ahsan and colleagues analyzed urine samples from 4,794 Bangladeshi HEALS participants to investigate how arsenic is metabolized (processed) by the body. The researchers measured urinary arsenic concentration, assessed pre-malignant skin lesions, and extracted and analyzed DNA samples, while taking into account each person’s lifestyle. They then used a sophisticated statistical approach to establish two distinct “metabolic phenotypes,” which they called PC1 and PC2. A phenotype is a set of observable characteristics based on a person’s genomic makeup and environmental exposures. In this case, they wanted to determine how people with different phenotypes metabolize, or break down, arsenic in their body. They found that the people in the first group (PC1) were better able to chemically break down inorganic arsenic through a biological process called methylation. The PC1 group had more females, non-smokers, and individuals with higher body mass index (BMI), lower arsenic exposure and no skin lesions. In contrast, individuals in the PC2 group were more likely male, older, current

Gender plays an important role in someone’s ability to metabolize arsenic. and former smokers, and had lower BMI, higher arsenic exposure and a presence of skin lesions. This analysis helped the researchers determine that the longer a person is exposed to arsenic, the harder it is for them to process the chemical, leading to more skin lesions and increased risk for skin cancer. In addition, gender plays an important role in someone’s ability to metabolize arsenic. The HEALS cohort will continue to provide important insights into how environmental factors can increase cancer risk.

1 Jansen et al., Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 25:381-90, 2016.

Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade and Dr. Habibul Ahsan in Bangladesh. 29

GLOBAL

International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Neuroblastoma is a rare type of pediatric cancer that originates in the nerve cells found in an embryo or fetus, usually affects children younger than 10 years, and is responsible for more deaths than any other pediatric cancer. Molecular tools have been developed in recent years to categorize patients into low, moderate and high risk for advanced disease, and help optimize treatments. Central to these advances is the establishment of the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) Task Force, a group of neuroblastoma experts from across the globe who developed a database of patient data for analysis and standardization of risk classification and treatment.

Dr. Susan Cohn is a pioneer in international neuroblastoma research efforts.

Susan Cohn, MD, professor of pediatrics and chief of the section of pediatric hematology/oncology, has played a leading role in the INRG Task Force since it was established in 2004. Her efforts to foster cooperative multi-institutional trials, develop biobanks to facilitate translational research and create this international consortium were recognized this year when she was awarded the American Society of Clinical Oncology Pediatric Oncology Award. In a recent example of this work1, a team including Cohn and Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics, used the INRG database to look at patients with stage 4 neuroblastoma to determine if survival is affected by where the cancer has metastasized (spread) to. They analyzed data from 2,250 patients with stage

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

AGGRESSIVE THERAPY PROVIDED MAXIMUM BENEFIT IN PATIENTS WITH THE GREATEST EXTENT OF CANCER SPREAD.

4 disease treated from 1990 to 2002, and determined that involvement of bone marrow, bone, lung, and central nervous system was associated with worse outcomes. For patients 18 months or younger, involvement of the liver had the greatest impact on survival. In addition, these predictive associations were eliminated in patients treated with stem cell transplantation, suggesting that this aggressive therapy provided maximum benefit in patients with the greatest extent of cancer spread.

1 Morgenstern et al., Eur J Cancer 65:1-10, 2016.

GLOBAL

Global by the Numbers

DONOR SPOTLIGHT

A Cancer Gifthasfor a global Discovery impact. It knows no geographic boundaries. Researchers are coming together across the

globe to foster collaborations that will help us develop new treatment strategies and shape our understanding Joan and Paul Rubschlager’s conof the factors that impact risk. Together, we hope to alleviate the global cancer burden. nection to the University of Chicago happened over a loaf of bread; an 18-pound loaf to be exact. The Chicago couple, who for years ran the family business Rubschlager Baking Corporation, donated one of those loaves to a UCCRF Women’s Board gala more than two decades ago.

11.5%

$107 B

But, their support of the GLOBAL SPENDING ON Comprehensive Cancer Center runs CANCER MEDICATIONS much deeper. They are both cancer INfamily 2015*doctor survivors. Paul’s discovered an enlarged spleen, which turned out to be lymphoma. And Joan, despite not having her first colonoscopy until she was 63, survived colon cancer. “We’re both here because someone did research on cancer many years ago,” said Joan. “So, sometime in the future, somebody’s going to benefit by what we do.” ONLY 5%–10% OF ALL The Rubschlagers recently made CANCERS ARE THOUG HT a $1 million gift to the Janet D. TO BE REL ATED TO Rowley Discovery Fund, which AN INHERITED G ENE supports the most compelling ideas M UTATION** in cancer research and honors the late Dr. Rowley, whose pioneering discoveries in cancer genetics at UChicago ushered in the current era of genome-guided research and treatment.

5% to 10%

“We knew Janet pretty well,” said Joan. “And we just thought she was such a magnificent person that when we heard about the fund, we knew we really needed to support it.” NUMBER OF OVERSEAS CAMPUSES HELD BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

2014

2015

rise in global spending on cancer medications from 2014–2015*

UChicago fellowships awarded to trainees conducting global research

22 M 50%

of cancer could be avoided through prevention strategies***

worldwide new cancer cases expected in the next two decades***

90%

8.2 M CANCER-RELATED DEATHS WORLDWIDE IN 2012***

of families with both breast and ovarian cancer carry genetic mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2****

* http://www.imshealth.com/en/thought-leadership/ims-institute/reports/global-oncology-trend-report-a-review-of-2015-and-outlook-to-2020 **http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/geneticsandcancer/understanding-genetic-testing-for-cancer *** Stewart BW, Wild CP, editors (2014). World Cancer Report 2014. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer ****http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/genetics/brca-fact-sheet

GLOBAL

International Neuroblastoma Risk Group

PATIENT SPOTLIGHT

An Equestrian Rides to Recovery Well into his 50s, Ali Alkhamiri showed no signs of slowing down. As general manager of the busy Dubai Equestrian Club and father to a newborn son, he lived an active life, riding horses and jogging regularly.

Then, one day, a horrific that pain ran Neuroblastoma is a rare type of pediatric cancer through his bones. Suddenly, he originates in the nerve cells found couldn’t in an sleep embryo or fetus, or function. usually affects children younger than 10 years, and is Local doctors told him he had anemia and advised himpediatric to seek out a blood responsible for more deaths than any other disease specialist. The search led him cancer. Molecular tools have beentodeveloped in recent Todd Zimmerman, MD, associate professor of medicine,and who diagyears to categorize patients into low, moderate high nosed him with multiple myeloma, risk for advanced disease, and help optimize treatments. a cancer of the plasma cells. Central to these advances is the establishment of the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) Task Force, a group of neuroblastoma experts from across the globe who developed a database of patient data for analysis and standardization of risk classification and treatment.

Dr. Susan Cohn is a pioneer in international neuroblastoma research efforts.

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

“I had to fight this,” recalls Ali, who immediately took a leave of absence AGGRESSIVE PROVIDED from workTHERAPY and returned to Chicago MAXIMUM BENEFIT IN PATIENTS for chemotherapy. Zimmerman WITH THE GREATEST EXTENT quickly realized his patient would CANCER SPREAD. be OF an ideal candidate for stem cell transplantation, a specialty of the University of Chicago Medicine. For Ali, that expertise made all the 4 disease treated from 1990 to 2002, and difference. Following a successful determined that involvement of bone martransplant, he spent eight months row, bone, lung, and central nervous system recovering in Chicago, where he was associated with worse outcomes. relied on UChicago to oversee all his accommodations, transport and For patients 18 months or younger, involveneeds. “They, too, areon ment oftranslation the liver had the greatest impact family tothese me,” predictive he says. Today, survival.like In addition, assois back home in Dubai, filling his ciationsAli were eliminated patients treated pain-free days with fatherhood, with stem cell transplantation, suggesting and riding. that thiswork aggressive therapy provided maximum benefit in patients with the greatest extent of cancer spread.

1 Morgenstern et al., Eur J Cancer 65:1-10, 2016.

GLOBAL

Global by the Numbers Cancer has a global impact. It knows no geographic boundaries. Researchers are coming together across the globe to foster collaborations that will help us develop new treatment strategies and shape our understanding of the factors that impact risk. Together, we hope to alleviate the global cancer burden.

11.5%

$107 B GLOBAL SPENDING ON CANCER MEDICATIONS IN 2015*

5% to 10%

ONLY 5%–10% OF ALL CANCERS ARE THOUG HT TO BE REL ATED TO AN INHERITED G ENE M UTATION**

8 NUMBER OF OVERSEAS CAMPUSES HELD BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

2014

2015

rise in global spending on cancer medications from 2014–2015*

UChicago fellowships awarded to trainees conducting global research

22 M 50%

of cancer could be avoided through prevention strategies***

worldwide new cancer cases expected in the next two decades***

90%

8.2 M CANCER-RELATED DEATHS WORLDWIDE IN 2012***

of families with both breast and ovarian cancer carry genetic mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2****

UChicago Tackling cancer is a team effort. At our Center, scientists, doctors, philanthropists, and support staff collaborate to provide the best possible care for our patients. Together, we can #AnswerCancer. 32

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

UCHICAGO

By the Numbers The Cancer Registry reports on patients who were newly diagnosed and/or received their first course of treatment for cancer progression or recurrent disease at the University of Chicago Medicine. The total number of patients seen with cancer, including all consult visits, is higher than presented here.

Patient Demographics 2015 CANCER CASES BY RACE / ETHNICITY

1,400

1,334

1,300

1,066

1,200

Black

TOTAL PATIENTS

Spanish/Hispanic/Latino

148

1,000

Asian/Pacific Islander

845

Unknown

900

American Indian/ Aleutian/Eskimo

800

2,839 White

700

600

466

NUMBER OF PATIENTS

4,327

1,100

993

232

500

400

American Indian/Aleutian/Eskimo

Unknown

Asian/Pacific Islander

Spanish/Hispanic/Latino

254

200

131

100

Black

White +

–8 80

–7 9 70

–6 60

–5

9 50

–4 40

–3 9 30

–2 9 19

–1 8

0 0

300

AGE RANGE

UCHICAGO

Patient Geographics 2015 PATIENT RESIDENCE AT DIAGNOSIS

Europe CYPRUS 1 GREECE 3 ITALY 1 ROMANIA 1 SWITZERLAND 1

North America USA 4301

Asia

CANADA 2

CHINA 3

PUERTO RICO 2

SAUDI ARABIA 3 LEBANON 1

Africa NIGERIA 1

South America

VENEZUELA 1 COLUMBIA 1

QTAR 1 RUSSIA 1 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1 TURKEY 1

PATIENTS ARE FROM OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

CHILE 1

849

PATIENTS ARE FROM OTHER STATES

Non-Illinois States AR 2, AZ 3, AK 1, CA 14, CO 2, CT 1, DC 4, DE 1, FL 7, GA 2, HI 3, IA 10, ID 1, IN 619, KS 1, KY 3, LA 1, MA 1, MD 1, MI 68, MN 6, MO 5, MS 5, NE 1, NJ 1, NV 1, NY 6, OH 9, OR 2, PA 1, SC 1, TN 1, TX 4, UT 1, VA 4, WA 1, WI 52, WV 1

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

3,452

PATIENTS ARE FROM ILLINOIS

UCHICAGO

Cancer Incidence by Type 2015 CANCER CASES BY SITE

Newly Diagnosed

Recurrent/ Progressive Disease

Total

% of Total

Digestive System

641

116

757

17.5%

Male Genital System

513

608

14%

Breast

450

523

12%

Urinary System

343

434

10%

Respiratory System

345

409

9.5%

Female Genital System

216

276

6.4%

Oral Cavity, Pharynx, and Larynx

190

226

5.2%

Endocrine System*

154

184

4.3%

Lymphoma

132

179

4.1%

Leukemia

142

175

Brain & Other Nervous System**

112

138

3.2%

Skin

116

2.7%

Myeloma

102

2.4%

Mesothelioma

1.6%

Soft Tissue

1.3%

Bones and Joints

0.9%

Eye and Orbit

0.3%

Kaposi Sarcoma

0.3%

Miscellaneous***

0.2%

Other Heme, MDS, Lymphoprolifertive Disorders

0.1%

3,541

786

4,327

100

Primary Site

Total

* Includes benign pituitary adenomas ** Includes benign neoplasms *** Includes blood dyscrasias, myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative disorders and cancers with other histology/primary site designations

Spotlight on Hematological Malignancies From across the globe to our own backyard, Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists and physicians are leading breakthroughs in our understanding of blood cancers and transforming how we treat patients with these diseases. Cancers that originate in blood-forming tissue, such as bone marrow, or in cells of the immune system, including B and T cells, are categorized as hematological malignancies (also commonly called blood or liquid

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

cancers). Examples include leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, and there are distinct molecular and histological subtypes of each. The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer has a

UCHICAGO

rich history of identifying the cytogenetic abnorÂmalities (chromosome changes) and histopathologies (microscopic appearances) associated with different forms of hematological malignancies, including the groundbreaking work of the late Janet D. Rowley, MD, James Vardiman, MD, professor emeritus of pathology, and Harvey Golomb, MD, professor of medicine. This tradition continues with fundamental discoveries in the biology of normal blood cell development and mechanisms of tumor development, translation of these findings from the bench into the clinic, and innovative clinical trials to shape current approaches to care.

Familial Hematological Malignancies For decades, scientists did not fully understand that some families have an inherited predisposition to develop hematological malignancies. Physician scientists at the Comprehensive Cancer Center have played a central role in changing that.

Familial cancers make up approximately five to ten percent of all cancers, and they are caused by an abnormal (or mutated) gene that is passed along from generation to generation. Hallmarks of familial cancers include a predictable pattern of specific cancers in the family and disease onset at a young age. Therefore, knowing that a mutation exists and taking appropriate surveillance and preventive measures are important. A team led by Lucy Godley, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, and Jane Churpek, MD, assistant professor of medicine and

Familial cancers make up approximately five to ten percent of all cancers. 37

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Dr. Lucy Godley with leukemia patient Mica Witt.

co-director of the Comprehensive Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic, has created a clinical program in which families are tested for known germline mutations and spearheaded a robust research program to identify new gene alterations that confer a high risk of developing cancer. The success of the clinical testing program, only one of two in the country, is due to the strong partnership between Godley/ Churpekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clinical team, the Constitutional Cytogenetics and Cytogenomics Laboratory in the Department of Pathology (led by Carrie Fitzpatrick, PhD) and the Genetic Services Laboratory (directed by Soma Das, PhD). Through this partnership, an efficient pipeline has been generated, taking patient skin samples through next-generation sequencing (to detect gene sequence mutations) and microarray screening (to detect chromosomal rearrangements). Samples from more than 500 families with suspected inherited hematological malignancies have been collected thus far from around the nation and world. And, Godley and Churpekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research program has reached international prominence. 38

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

Samples from more than 500 families with suspected inherited hematological malignancies have been collected thus far from around the nation and world. Through collaborative research efforts, the team has published the identification of several novel gene mutations associated with familial thrombocytopenia, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and leukemia, including alterations in RUNX1, ETV6, DDX41, and ANKRD26. The Godley/Churpek team is likely to identify even more syndromes in the near future.

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This work is particularly important, because it is transforming how these patients are evaluated and treated, which will hopefully result in improved outcomes. Unlike patients without familial risk, patients with an identified mutation will now receive a stem cell transplant from a related donor known to lack the familial mutation or from a matched unrelated donor. Long-time, generous support for these efforts has come from the Cancer Research Foundation (CRF) and other philanthropy. In addition, Godley was recently awarded the Fletcher Scholar Award from the CRF to investigate the role of mutations in the CHEK2 gene in inherited hematological malignancies.

Biobank Supports Lymphoma Research In 2013, UChicago Medicine opened the Lymphoma Biobank, led by Sonali Smith, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of the University of Chicago Medicine Lymphoma Program, to give researchers access to a library of biological samples from lymphoma patients. The goal: use the blood, tissue and urine to help researchers better study the different types of lymphoma, a form of cancer originating in a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes.

SMITH’S TEAM HAS ENROLLED MORE THAN 800 PATIENTS TO CONTRIBUTE SAMPLES TO THE LYMPHOMA BIOBANK.

Many subtypes of lymphoma are very aggressive, hard-to-treat, or incurable with current treatments. And it’s alarmingly

By the Numbers: Hematological Malignancies 2015 HEME CANCER CASES BY AGE & TYPE

150

Other Heme/MDS/Lymphoproliferative Disorders

Other Leukemias

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Myeloma

Hodgkin Lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

135 117

120

NUMBER OF PATIENTS

20 3

–8 80

–7 9 70

–6 60

–5

9 50

–4 40

–3 9 30

–2 9 19

–1 8

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“If we’re able to bank these samples and study them properly, perhaps we can get down to the best personalized approach for that person.”

will also be able to help explain why certain people develop lymphoma in the first place, since epidemiological data—including age, gender, race, and diet—is also being collected. The biobank has also become a tool for lymphoma researchers across UChicago Medicine—and beyond—to better understand the disease, with the goal of developing new clinical trials. The Biobank was built thanks to support from Family Video, the country’s largest video and game rental store, which holds the annual Round It Up for Lymphoma campaign and has raised about $5.8 million to support UChicago Medicine, Smith, and the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

The InterLymph Consortium prevalent: every seven minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with a form of lymphoma. “If we’re able to bank these samples and study them properly, perhaps we can get down to the best personalized approach for that person,” said Smith. Since the biobank was established, Smith’s team has enrolled more than 800 patients, and received 471 blood and tissue samples from 230 biopsies. Smith hopes the biobank

Fluorescence in situ hybridization with a whole chromosome paint is used in research to identify chromosomal abnormalities in leukemia cells. CREDIT: LE BEAU LAB

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

The International Lymphoma Epidemiology (InterLymph) Consortium, formed in 2001, is an open scientific forum for epidemiologic research in Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The Consortium comprises international investigators who pool data across studies or otherwise undertake collaborative research. Consortium member Brian Chiu, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences, recently collaborated on an InterLymph study1 that examined the link between occupation and risk of NHL, a type of blood cancer that affects immune cells called lymphocytes. Studies have shown a correlation between NHL and certain environmental factors— exposure to pesticides and solvents, for example. And, scientists have hypothesized that certain occupations put people at risk due to exposure to dust, metals and even sunlight. But, results have not been consistent across studies. The researchers conducted a pooled analysis of 10,046 cases and 12,025 controls from 10 NHL studies participating in the InterLymph Consortium. Chiu and his team found that farming, hairdressing, and textile industry-related exposures may

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Dr. Pete Savage studies how immune cells elicit a response to cancer.

contribute to NHL risk, as well as employment as painters, printers, wood workers, metal workers, medical workers, electrical workers, and cleaners. Employment as “women’s hairdressers” was associated with NHL subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), whereas textile workers showed increased risk for peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). Overall, this information will be used to better assess NHL risk in specific population groups, and provide the rationale to identify the specific chemicals or exposures that cause increased risk.

in mice with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common type of acute leukemia seen in adults2. STING—short for STimulator of INterferon Genes—plays a central role in detecting threats, such as viral infections or cancer. STING is activated when DNA turns up in the wrong place, inside the cell but outside the nucleus. When it encounters such misplaced DNA, STING induces the production of an immune stimulant, interferon-beta, as well as other chemical signals that recruit components of the immune system to manage the threat, such as leukemia-specific killer T cells.

A protein known as STING plays a crucial role in the immune system’s ability to “sense” cancer by recognizing and responding to DNA from tumor cells. Injection of compounds that activate the STING pathway directly into solid tumors in mice has been shown to result in very potent antitumor immune responses.

The researchers found that mice with established AML were rarely able to launch an effective immune response against the disease. But, when the researchers exposed mice with AML to DMXAA (5,6-dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid), a molecule that activates STING, the immune system responded aggressively, culminating in the activation of highly potent, cancer-cell killing T cells.

Justin Kline, MD, assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues found that by injecting substances that mimic tumor DNA into the bloodstream, they could stimulate STING to provoke a life-extending immune response

This is the first demonstration that activating the STING pathway could be effective not only in solid, localized tumors, but also in widely disseminated “liquid” cancers, such as leukemia.

Advances in Immunotherapy

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Cost-Effectiveness of Leukemia Treatment Cancer treatment in the U.S., especially new targeted and personalized therapies, often comes with great financial burden. Several Comprehensive Cancer Center members, including Rena Conti, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics and public health sciences, are investigating the drivers of cancer costs and the most economical ways to treat patients without sacrificing quality of care. In a recent study3, Conti and colleagues analyzed the cost-effectiveness of treating patients who have chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CML-CP) with generic imatinib (when it becomes available this year) before switching to other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), dasatinib or nilotinib. TKIs block the action of enzymes called tyrosine kinases, which play an important role in many cell functions, like growth and division. These enzymes can become overactive or build up in some types of cancer cells, and blocking them can stop the cells from growing. Imatinib was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2001. Since its approval two “second-generation” TKIs, called dasatinib and nilotinib, have come on the market. The newer TKIs have been shown to provide a slightly higher level of clinical response than imatinib, but there is no difference in five-year overall outcomes between the three TKIs. The price of imatinib is expected to decline once it loses patent protection, whereas the cost of other TKIs will remain high.

Cancer treatment in the U.S. often comes with great financial burden. 42

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

Conti and her team compared the costeffectiveness of first-line treatment with generic imatinib to first-line treatment with the physician’s TKI of choice. The researchers found that the “imatinib-first” approach resulted in a savings of $88,343 to payers (insurers or employers) over five years, a savings that could be passed along to patients.

1 ’t Mannetje et al., Environ Health Perspect 124:396-405, 2016. 2 Curran et al., Cell Reports 15:2357-66, 2016. 3 Paduala et al., J Natl Cancer Inst 108: djw003, 2016.

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Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Grants Campaign Awarded Helps to Members (as of August 31, 2016) DONOR SPOTLIGHT

Establish Biobank $75M

When Keith Hoogland, president of Family Video, launched the chain’s $70M annual Round It Up for Lymphoma campaign in 2012, he predicted they’d raise about half a$65M million dollars.

$4,891,030

OTHER PEER-REVIEWED PROJECTS (46 Projects)

At the end of the 17-day campaign, $60M which every customer was during asked at the register to round up their purchase to the nearest dollar $55M and donate the change to support lymphoma research, they had raised almost $50M $1 million. Family Video, the country’s largest video and game rental store with approximately 780 $45M across North America, has stores now raised about $5.8 million total. The University of Chicago Medicine $40M has been a grateful beneficiary of those funds for the past four $35M years—specifically Sonali Smith, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of UChicago’s Lymphoma $30M Program. The funds have allowed Smith to launch the Lymphoma $25M Biobank at UChicago to collect tissue specimens from patients with lymphoma, along with information $20M about their diet, lifestyle, and other factors that could play a role in the cancer’s growth. $15M

$19,431,653

NCI PEER-REVIEWED PROJECTS (85 Projects)

$45,810,210

OTHER NIH PEER-REVIEWED PROJECTS (195 Projects)

“I feel like we’re just getting started,” Hoogland says. “Through the $10M Biobank, we’re collecting more and more information about patients, and we’ll be able to get more insight $5M into who gets lymphoma and why.” $0

$70,132,893 TOTAL OF PEER-REVIEWED PROJECT DIRECT COSTS (326 PROJECTS)

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Cancer treatment in the U.S. often comes with great financial burden. 42

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

PATIENT SPOTLIGHT

Fighting Lymphoma with Immunotherapy For a year, a physician had told Clayton Harris that the painful lump on his neck was just an infection. But the lump got bigger—almost as big as a golf ball—and more painful. Harris wanted a second opinion. A needle biopsy at the University of Chicago Medicine confirmed what Harris had suspected: it was a tumor. Follow-up tests showed it was follicular lymphoma that had spread widely to the lymph nodes. Elizabeth Blair, MD, professor of surgery, removed the lump and connected Harris with Sonali Smith, MD, associate professor of medicine, who enrolled Harris in a clinical trial of an immunotherapy called ofatumumab. Harris did great in the trial. The drug induced a partial response, which meant stable disease for the next months. This treatment Conti and her18team compared the cost- was followed by chemotherapy. effectiveness of first-line treatment with generic imatinib to first-line treatment For his part, Harris stays focused with the physician’s TKI of choice. The on the present. “I have a beautiful researchers found that the “imatinib-first” wife, two wonderful boys,” he said. approach resulted in a savings of $88,343 “I try to keep it moving. I’ll worry to payers (insurers or employers) over five about other things when I need to. years, a savings that could be passed For the moment, getting better for along to patients. them is what I’m concentrating on.” And, after four of the planned six doses of chemotherapy, he is now in remission.

1 ’t Mannetje et al., Environ Health Perspect 124:396-405, 2016. 2 Curran et al., Cell Reports 15:2357-66, 2016. 3 Paduala et al., J Natl Cancer Inst 108: djw003, 2016.

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Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Grants Awarded to Members (as of August 31, 2016) $75M

$70M

$4,891,030

OTHER PEER-REVIEWED PROJECTS (46 Projects)

$65M

$60M

$19,431,653

$55M

NCI PEER-REVIEWED PROJECTS (85 Projects)

$50M

$45M

$40M

$35M

$30M

$45,810,210

$25M

OTHER NIH PEER-REVIEWED PROJECTS (195 Projects)

$20M

$15M

$10M

$5M

$70,132,893 TOTAL OF PEER-REVIEWED PROJECT DIRECT COSTS (326 PROJECTS)

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New Cancer Center Members We added 13 new researchers to our team. Farah Abdulla, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine

Jun Huang, PhD Assistant Professor of Molecular Engineering

Research Interests: cutaneous T-cell and B-cell lymphomas

Research Interests: immune function and tumor immunotherapy

Nishant Agrawal, MD Professor of Surgery

Elizabeth Hyjek, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Pathology

Research Interests: head and neck oncology, biomarkers and diagnostics

Lev Becker, PhD Assistant Professor of the Ben May Department for Cancer Research

Research Interests: hematopathology and immunohistochemistry

Zejuan Li, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Human Genetics

Research Interests: tumor macrophages

Research Interests: genetics, epigenetics and technology development

Bryan Dickinson, PhD Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Raymond Moellering, PhD Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Research Interests: synthetic biology approaches for cancer treatment

Research Interests: development of novel cancer therapeutics

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

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Jyoti Patel, MD Professor of Medicine Research Interests: personalized therapy for lung cancer

Kiran Turaga, MD Associate Professor of Surgery Research Interests: oligometastasis treatment and cancer care cost-effectiveness

Akash Patnaik, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine

Girish Venkataraman, MD Assistant Professor of Pathology

Research Interests: genitourinary and prostate cancer therapeutics

Research Interests: prognostic biomarkers for Hodgkin lymphoma

Alex Ruthenburg, PhD Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology Research Interests: chromatin biochemistry and structure and epigenetics

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Our Team of Experts Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer Program Leaders Suzanne Conzen, MD and Kay Macleod, PhD Nishant Agrawal, MD Lev Becker, PhD

Y. Lynn Wang, MD, PhD Amittha Wickrema, PhD

Yingming Zhao, PhD

Todd Zimmerman, MD

Hematopoiesis and Hematological Malignancies

Immunology and Cancer Program Leaders Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD and Peter Savage, PhD

Suzanne Conzen, MD

Program Leaders Wendy Stock, MD, and Lucy Godley, MD, PhD

Bryan Dickinson, PhD

Farah Abdulla, MD

Wei Du, PhD

Maria-Luisa Alegre, MD, PhD

John Anastasi, MD

Albert Bendelac, MD, PhD Anita Chong, PhD

Eric Beyer, MD, PhD

Erin Adams, PhD

Nickolai Dulin, PhD

Andrew Artz, MD

Geoffrey Greene, PhD

Beverly Baron, MD

Tong-Chuan He, MD, PhD

Marcus Clark, MD

Michael Bishop, MD

Yu Ying He, PhD

Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD

Jason Cheng, MD, PhD

Akira Imamoto, PhD

Tatyana Golovkina, PhD

Jane Churpek, MD

Jessica Kandel, MD

Jun Huang, PhD

Kenneth Cohen, MD

Shohei Koide, PhD*

Seungmin Hwang, PhD

Stephen Kron, MD, PhD

John Cunningham, MBBCh, MSc

Bruce Lahn, PhD

Jill de Jong, MD, PhD

Justin Kline, MD

Deborah Lang, PhD*

Larissa Furtado, MD*

Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD

Lucy Godley, MD, PhD

Anning Lin, PhD

Fotini Gounari, PhD, DSc

Hue Luu, MD

Sandeep Gurbuxani, MBBS, PhD

Kay Macleod, PhD Raymond Moellering, PhD Marcelo Nobrega, MD, PhD Tao Pan, PhD Glenn Randall, PhD Ilaria Rebay, PhD Carrie Rinker-Schaeffer, PhD Bernard Roizman, ScD Marsha Rosner, PhD Benoit Roux, PhD Alex Ruthenburg, PhD Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD* Michael Spiotto, MD, PhD Wei-Jen Tang, PhD Donald Vander Griend, PhD Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD Kevin White, PhD

Chung-I Wu, PhD Xiaoyang Wu, PhD

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

Elizabeth Hyjek, MD, PhD Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD Barbara Kee, PhD Richard Larson, MD Michelle Le Beau, PhD Zejuan Li, MD, PhD Hongtao Liu, MD, PhD

Bana Jabri, MD, PhD James LaBelle, MD, PhD Maciej Lesniak, MD* Peter Savage, PhD Hans Schreiber, MD, PhD Anne Sperling, PhD Ursula Storb, MD* Melody Swartz, PhD Patrick Wilson, PhD

Pharmacogenomics and Experimental Therapeutics

Jennifer McNeer, MD

Program Leaders Walter Stadler, MD, and M. Eileen Dolan, PhD

Susana Marino, MD, PhD Megan McNerney, MD, PhD

Douglas Bishop, PhD

Olatoyosi Odenike, MD

Elizabeth Blair, MD

Kenan Onel, MD, PhD*

Daniel Catenacci, MD

Sonali Smith, MD

David Chang, MD

Wendy Stock, MD

Steven Chmura, MD, PhD

Michael Thirman, MD

Susan Cohn, MD

Girish Venkataraman, MD

Philip Connell, MD

James Vardiman, MD (emeritus)

M. Eileen Dolan, PhD

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Scott Eggener, MD Mark Ferguson, MD Gini Fleming, MD Olwen Hahn, MD Daniel Haraf, MD John Hart, MD Rex Haydon, MD, PhD Chuan He, PhD Philip Hoffman, MD R. Stephanie Huang, PhD Edwin Kaplan, MD Theodore Karrison, PhD Hedy Kindler, MD Wenbin Lin, PhD Marcy List, PhD Jason Luke, MD Michael Maitland, MD, PhD* Chadi Nabhan, MD* Yusuke Nakamura, MD, PhD Rita Nanda, MD Peter Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donnell, MD Jyoti Patel, MD Akash Patnaik, MD, PhD Louis Portugal, MD Mitchell Posner, MD Mark Ratain, MD Kevin Roggin, MD Jeremy Segal, MD, PhD

Advanced Imaging Program Leaders Greg Karczmar, PhD, and Aytekin Oto, MD Hiroyuki Abe, MD Hania Al-Hallaq, PhD Daniel Appelbaum, MD Samuel Armato, PhD Issam Awad, MD Bulent Aydogan, PhD Chin-Tu Chen, PhD Abraham Dachman, MD Maryellen Giger, PhD Howard Halpern, MD, PhD Yulei Jiang, PhD Chien-Min Kao, PhD Gregory Karczmar, PhD Vani Konda, MD Anthony Kossiakoff, PhD Patrick La Riviere, PhD Stanley Liauw, MD Heber MacMahon, MB, BCh Aytekin Oto, MD Xiaochun Pan, PhD Charles Pelizzari, PhD Yonglin Pu, MD, PhD Steffen Sammet, MD, PhD

William Green, PhD Raymon Grogan, MD Yasmin Hasan, MD Donald Hedeker, PhD Tara Henderson, MD Susan Hong, MD Dezheng Huo, MD, PhD Neil Hyman, MD Nora Jaskowiak, MD Karen Kim, MD Andrea King, PhD Sonia Kupfer, MD Nita Lee, MD, MPH Yan Chun Li, PhD Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD Mark Lingen, DDS, PhD Martha McClintock, PhD Daniel McGehee, PhD David Meltzer, MD, PhD Olufunmilayo Olopade, MBBS Aasim Padela, MD, MSc Joel Pekow, MD Brandon Pierce, PhD Blase Polite, MD Iris Romero, MD David Rubin, MD Fabrice Smieliauskas, PhD Irving Waxman, MD

Cancer Prevention and Control

Not Aligned Yoav Gilad, PhD

Walter Stadler, MD

Program Leaders Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, MMedSc, and Andrea King, PhD

Gary Steinberg, MD

Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, MMedSc

Harvey Golomb, MD

Russell Szmulewitz, MD

Marc Bissonnette, MD

Robert Grossman, PhD

Kiran Turaga, MD

Eugene Chang, MD

Thomas Krausz, MD

Victoria Villaflor, MD*

Brian Chiu, PhD

Anthony Montag, MD

Everett Vokes, MD

Rena Conti, PhD

Julian Solway, MD

Ralph Weichselbaum, MD

William Dale, MD, PhD

Tanguy Seiwert, MD Arieh Shalhav, MD Manish Sharma, MD David Song, MD

S. Diane Yamada, MD

Christopher Daugherty, MD

Bakhtiar Yamini, MD

Jonas de Souza, MD

Chun-Su Yuan, MD, PhD

Harriet de Wit, PhD

Richard Baron, MD Benjamin Glick, PhD

*Members during some of the reporting period, but have since retired or left the organization.

Anna Di Rienzo, PhD James Dignam, PhD David Grdina, PhD

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The University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Board of Trustees

Women’s Board

President Margaret Benjamin

The UCCRF Women’s Board was established in 1947 and has allocated more than $16 million in funding for cancer research at UChicago. The Women’s Board invests in innovative experimentation, enabling UChicago scientists to pursue promising avenues of investigation that would otherwise remain unexplored. In 2016, the Board allocated $900,000 to support the following efforts:

Vice President Thomas J. Duckworth Treasurer Scott Vogg Secretary Justin Ullman

• Team Science Research

Board of Trustees

• Ben May Department for Cancer Research

James N. Bay, Jr

• Janet D. Rowley Discovery Fund

Linda B. Coleman

• Human Tissue Resource Center

Kim Duchossois

• Oral Microbiome and Cancer Risk Research

Wende L. Fox John Gigerich Terri Kingdom

• Committee on Cancer Biology • Personalized Cancer Treatments Research

Michelle McBride

• Genetics of Chemotherapy-induced Side Effects Project

Kristi Nuelle

• Novel Cyclotron-Based Radiotracers for Cancer Research Project

Lori Ovitz Natalie Platt Virginia Thomas, MD Suzanne Zaccone Honorary Trustees John R. Atchison Merle Goldblatt Cohen Seymour A. Cohen Ronald L. Duitsman Stanford J. Goldblatt Gwen Klein Leonard H. Lavin Ruth Ann Gillis McGuinnis J. Clifford Moos Barton Tretheway

President Kristi Nuelle

Marketing & Communications Karen Riley McEniry

Special Advisor Laura Werner

Board of Trustees Liaison Ms. Linda Burns Coleman

First Vice President Diane Hutchinson Reilly

Sustaining Member Liaison Kathy Kompare

Second Vice President Mrs. Christopher M. Murphy

Annual Appeal Chair Mrs. Andrew H. Slimmon

Treasurer Mrs. J. Michael Luttig

Benefit Chairs Cynthia Chereskin

Program Chair Jennifer Rhind

Barbara Sessions

Future Planning Chair Robin Josephs Nominating Chair Cynthia Chereskin

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

Hunter Derby Chair Margaret Benjamin Members at Large of the Executive Committee Annette R. Carroll

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Annemette B. Clausen

Ms. Susan Florence

Mrs. J. Mikesell Thomas

Nancy D. Clemens

Mrs. David W. Fox

Ms. Nancy Voss

Whitley Bouma Herbert

Mrs. Thomas T. Hall

Mrs. William Wardrop

Nichole Niemann

Mrs. Charles C. Harrold III

Ms. Alice Williams-Verhoeven

Members Mrs. William Adams IV Mrs. John R. Atchison Mrs. Brayton Bunn Alley Neelum Amin Mrs. Alexander Anagnost Mrs. Helena Appleton Mrs. James Brady Terry M. Brumfield Ms. Wendy Chronister Mrs. Gregory Chun Ruth A. Colby Mrs. Robert Conrad Mrs. Ann H. Cox Mrs. Benjamin Cox Mrs. Michael Crane Mrs. J. Michael Crouch Mrs. Richard W. Cusack Mrs. Andrew Da Miano Becky Davidson Mrs. David W. Devonshire Mrs. W. Brinkley Dickerson Jr. Mrs. James F. Dugan Marie E. Dzanis Mrs. Donald Eugenio Penny Feuerstein Linda A. Finkel Suzette Flood

Mrs. Steven S. Helms Lesli K. Henderson Mrs. William J. Hokin Blaine Kinney Johnson Ms. Josephine Krug-Schulte Mrs. McKay McKinnon Leslie Breed McLean Mrs. Edward J. Miller Elissa Morgante Yoko Kusama Mosher Mrs. David Nuelle Mrs. Stuart Oran Ms. Jody Oshita-Bajor Meredith Parrish Ms. M. Bliss Packer Mrs. Kirby Pearson Katherine E. Peck Mrs. Heber Pierce Jill Gosden Pollock Mrs. Lawrence D. Ryan Mrs. Frank C. Schell III Mrs. James H. Schink Julie Simmons Mrs. Gerald D. Skoning Janie Song Cia Souleles Nancy Lazzara Stevens Evonne Taylor

Sustaining Members Allison Bacon Mrs. James N. Bay Dr. Geraldine Balut Coleman Mrs. John Derse Mrs. Jeffrey Diermeier Mrs. Edward Gillette Mrs. Gustav Horschke Mrs. Donald Horwitz Mrs. Robert D. Kimball III Mrs. Robert Kramer Mrs. Donald Levinson Mrs. Michael McGuinnis Ms. Sandra Reese Mrs. John C. Stone Jennifer Kamp Tretheway Honorary Members Mrs. Walter E. Auch Mrs. Wendy Becker-Payton Mrs. Robert R. Bell Mrs. Sharon Brix Mrs. Seymour A. Cohen Mrs. Margaret Laun-Knauf Mrs. Arthur E. MacQuilkin Ms. Cynthia Reusche Mrs. Charles W. Tallent Mrs. Charles Walgreen III 49

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Auxiliary Board

Ann Mohn

The UCCRF Auxiliary Board comprises 30 women who actively work toward raising funds for selected research doctors. Each doctor receives funds for three years. Currently, the Auxiliary Board is serving a commitment to support the research of Megan McNerney, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology, Blase Polite, MD, associate professor of medicine, and Mark Applebaum, MD, clinical instructor of pediatrics. Since its inception, the Auxiliary Board has raised almost $3 million for cancer research.

Barb Sheridan Julie Sullivan Midge Wegener Pamela Weller Sustaining Members Maggie Flanagan Betty Ann Manganaro Linda McCann

President Beth Aldrich

Active Members

Kathy McCarthy

Liz Brandt

Joann McKibben

Financial Liaison April Krydynski

Stephanie Cohen

Cathy Pratt

Lydia Deleo

Kari Roever

Secretary Lisa Hoffman

Margo Frost

Magda Springuel

Jan Gaines

Patti Tyska

Foundation Liaison Terri Kingdom

Laura Glick

Benefit Chairs Lisa Maatman

Nancy Gupta

Carolyn Rutstein

Debbie Goldstine Georgia Heisinger Laurie Baker Lawlor

Auction Chair Pamela Westin

Cathy MacKinnon

Reservation Chair Jackie Bossu

Debbie Madlener

Annette Hickman Publicity Membership Chair Wendy Schultz

Jane Shekman

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

Linda MacClennan Jennifer McCarty Beth Mercola

Honorary Members Cheri Allen Barbara Devlin Susan Fraley Darlene Landsittel Carol Lynnes Patsy McCurdy Barbara Schmolze Sharon Ubben Chris Youngberg

UCHICAGO

Funding is the heartbeat of so many scientific endeavors.

Associates Board The UCCRF Associates Board is composed primarily of young philanthropists committed to the fight against cancer. Although it is the UCCRFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest board, the Associates Board has already made significant contributions to advance cancer research at the University of Chicago. Since its inception, the Associates Board has provided more than $495,000 in funding to underwrite mesothelioma and immunology research. President Natalie Platt

Taylor DeHaven

Vice President Jack Wheeler

Brian Fehr

Secretary Kelly Connor

Without generous philanthropic support from donors, our researchers would not be a ble to pursue discovery and their most innovative ideas. Your annual gifts help us launch clinical trials, unlock molecular mysteries, acquire new technologies, and design better therapies. We cannot thank you enough for continuing to support the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, and for choosing to play an important role in the future of cancer research.

Annie Dunleavy David Freiman Nichole Gideon Suzanne Griffin

Treasurer Kim Pressling-Curtis

Chris Murphy

Active Members

Ryan Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary

Laura Klement Anderson

Hillary Sargent

Kristen Atchison

PJ Targun

Briana Brandt

Justin Ullman

Margaux Harrold

Darcy Bonner

Michael Watson

Katherine Crouch

Steve Ward

Mallory DeHaven

Stephanie Werner Timothy Wombacher

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Leadership Michelle Le Beau, PhD Director; Arthur and Marian Edelstein Professor of Medicine Marcy List, PhD Associate Director for Administration; Scientific Director, Cancer Clinical Trials Office Walter Stadler, MD Deputy Director; Chief, Section of Hematology/Oncology; Fred C. Buffet Professor of Medicine and Surgery Habibul Ahsan, MBBS, MMedSc Associate Director for Population Research; Louis Block Professor of Health Studies, Medicine, and Human Genetics M. Eileen Dolan, PhD Associate Director for Education; Professor of Medicine

Geoffrey Greene, PhD Associate Director for Basic Sciences; Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor and Chair, Ben May Department for Cancer Research; Co-Director, Ludwig Center for Metastasis Research Karen Kim, MD Director for the Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Disparities; Professor of Medicine; Dean for Faculty Affairs, Biological Sciences Division; Director, Center for Asian Health Equity Mark Ratain, MD Associate Director for Clinical Sciences; Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine; Director, Center for Personalized Therapeutics

Crystal Senesac, MBA Director for Marketing and Communications Rajan Gopalakrishnan, MS Director for Informatics Kathleen Goss, PhD Senior Science Writer and Director for Strategic Partnerships Sumati Murli, PhD* Director for Clinical Research Operations; Technical Director for Cancer Clinical Trials Office Maria Reyes, MBA Business Manager *No longer with the University

FOR MORE INFORMATION Call: 1-773-702-6180 cancer.uchicago.edu

Mary Ellen Connellan, MA Executive Director for the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation

Credits Executive Editor Crystal Senesac

Eileen Norris

David Christopher

Stephen Phillips

Rob Kozloff

Zach Thomas

Jean Lachat

Design Pivot Design, Inc., Chicago, Illinois

Andrew Nelles

Burns Photography

Tanya Cochran

Printing G Thomas Partners LLC, Lemont, Illinois

John Easton

Photography

Ruthie Kott

Robert Carl

Managing Editor and Writer Bethany Hubbard Scientific Writer Kathleen Goss, PhD Contributing Writers Kim Coady

William Sullivan Nancy Wong Fig Media/Dan Rest Lab of James Vardiman, MD

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 1140 Chicago, IL 60637-1470

CANCER CARE AND DISCOVERY NEAR AND FAR

Janet D. Rowley, MD, (1925–2013), was a pioneer in cancer genetics, first discovering the genetic link to certain types of leukemia. Her discovery led to the development of Gleevec (imatinib), a drug that has saved thousands of lives. For her many accomplishments, Rowley received the Presidential Medal of Freedom among many other awards and honors.

We have great ideas. Many of today’s most promising ideas in cancer research are never pursued. Too often, the resources needed to move them forward aren’t available. The vast majority of philanthropic cancer research funding is directed by donors to specific programs, cancers, and research initiatives. Even for federal funding, an idea, no matter how great, is insufficient. It must be accompanied by significant preliminary research to qualify for consideration. The Janet D. Rowley Discovery Fund at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center is giving opportunity to great ideas—the visionary theories that lead to breakthrough discoveries like those of Janet D. Rowley.

You can move great ideas forward with a gift to the Janet D. Rowley Discovery Fund. Venture investing gives Comprehensive Cancer Center leadership the ability to fund the most compelling ideas with the greatest potential for return-on-investment, and to align funding with our aspirations for cancer discovery and care.

To make your gift to the Janet D. Rowley Discovery Fund, visit donatetocancer.uchicago.edu

Providing the gift of venture investing in the name of a legend. For more information and to learn about becoming a Janet D. Rowley Discovery Fund Visionary, please contact us at 773-772-6565 or RowleyFund@bsd.uchicago.edu.

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A Cancer Center Designated by the National Cancer Institute

5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 1140 Chicago, IL 60637-1470 C A N C E R . U C H I C AG O. E D U