The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care
Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work. — Daniel H. Burnham, American architect and city planner
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Together, We Are Making Cancer History®
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or 70 years, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has made big plans. We have made plans to change the way cancer is diagnosed and treated, and to emphasize the importance of prevention and early detection. We have made plans to personalize therapies based on the unique genetic characteristics of each patient’s tumor, and to study how treatment is delivered in order to bring better value. Most important, we have made plans to conquer cancer. Through seven decades of big plans — and big accomplishments — donors like you have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with MD Anderson. In 1941, a generous gift from the estate of Monroe Dunaway Anderson gave rise to our fledgling institution. Today, with your support, MD Anderson is the nation’s leading cancer hospital and a powerful force in the global effort to transform cancer care. And thanks to you, MD Anderson has fulfilled a landmark $1.2 billion fundraising effort, Making Cancer History®: The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care. Raising more than $1.2 billion is certainly a big idea. But time after time, you, our donors, have shown that the bigger, bolder and more promising the idea, the more strongly you support it. The challenge of this campaign, met despite a severe economic downturn, was to build interest, excitement and support for all aspects of personalized care. You recognized the tremendous potential of this approach. You embraced the notion that personalized cancer care is more than surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Personalized care draws on insights from the basic sciences and biostatistics, creating a flow of information between scientists and clinicians. Personalized care translates new ideas into individualized treatments, including prevention and early detection strategies for every patient at MD Anderson. Personalized care addresses the needs of cancer survivors and streamlines the complex care delivery systems that can benefit entire populations. You welcomed the opportunity to help MD Anderson realize our big plans. With your support, we have: • Created five institutes that promote cross-disciplinary collaborations and increase efficiency through shared resources.
The MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors played a vital leadership role in the successful completion of the campaign. Fiscal Year 2012 BOV officers are, from left, Ernest Cockrell, immediate past chair; Harry J. Longwell, chair elect; Nancy B. Loeffler, chair; Melvyn N. Klein, vice chair and membership and board development chair.
The Campaign by the Numbers Original dates: September 2006 - August 2012 Actual dates: September 2006 - August 2011 $1.2 billion: Goal More than $1.215 billion: Money raised 630,000: Number of donors worldwide 172: Gifts of more than $1 million 6: Gifts of more than $10 million 3: Gifts of more than $50 million • Strengthened MD Anderson’s endowments with an additional $100 million in principal. • Advanced new research programs that show great promise but receive little funding from grant agencies. We are proud of this progress and eager to demonstrate how, through your generosity and your belief in MD Anderson’s bold mission, you have turned big plans into big achievements. Thank you for Making Cancer History®. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 5
Uncovering the Basic Biology of Cancer
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ersonalized cancer care is rooted in basic science laboratories where researchers explore the complex interactions of genes, molecules, proteins and cells — the essential elements of life. Our scientists seek answers to fundamental questions about biology and disease. And their discoveries are the genesis for new, targeted therapies. With your support, MD Anderson’s Institute for Basic Science is advancing our understanding of cancer and helping to translate this research into individualized, safer and more effective treatments. Headed by Vice President for Basic Research Mien-Chie Hung, Ph.D., the institute encompasses seven centers of excellence, with each center concentrating on a specific aspect of cancer development: biological pathways, biomolecular structure and function, cancer epigenetics, environmental and molecular carcinogenesis, genetics and genomics, inflammation and cancer, and stem cell and developmental biology. Each area holds incredible promise for research breakthroughs. By partnering with MD Anderson, you help our scientists discover integral pieces of the cancer puzzle. The more we understand the basic mechanisms of the disease, the better we can speed new prevention and treatment options to patients. Plus, advances in basic science can ultimately impact every type of cancer in every patient, from the senior with advanced prostate cancer to the toddler with acute leukemia. Your support of Making Cancer History®: The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care has enabled researchers in the Institute for Basic Science to make progress on several fronts. Dihua Yu, M.D., Ph.D., is helping cancer patients by making a good drug more effective. She has identified multiple molecular pathways and genetic mutations that occur in a specific type of breast cancer called HER2-positive. The drug Herceptin® can successfully treat this cancer, but only in about 30 percent of patients who have the HER2 mutation. “More than half of patients with HER2-positive tumors do not respond to Herceptin alone,” says Dr. Yu, recognizing that multiple harmful mutations were at play. To improve the drug’s effectiveness, it must be paired with other drugs that target other pathways and mutations. Toward that end, she pinpointed two inhibitors of the PI3k pathway that increase Herceptin’s response rate. This led to a clinical trial of
6 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Vice President for Basic Research Mien-Chie Hung (right) leads the Institute for Basic Science.
Advances in basic science can ultimately impact every type of cancer in every patient, from the senior with advanced prostate cancer to the toddler with acute leukemia. combined therapies that significantly helped patients whose breast cancer had not previously responded to Herceptin alone. Michelle Barton, Ph.D., is working to keep a well-known tumorsuppressing gene, p53, functioning properly. She discovered a protein (TRIM24) that silences p53 and could be a target for therapy. Tumor-suppressor genes protect our bodies from cancer by preventing cells from multiplying out of control. Known as the “guardian angel gene,” p53 is a critically important tumor suppressor; if it fails, the risk for developing cancer goes up dramatically. Dr. Barton’s team has found TRIM24 causes p53 to
Basic science research is the foundation for the treatment advances that save patients’ lives.
fail, which allows normal breast cells to multiply rapidly and can lead to breast cancer. TRIM24 is noteworthy because it activates estrogen, and 70 percent of breast cancer patients have estrogendriven tumors. “If you were to eliminate or inactivate TRIM24,” proposes Dr. Barton, “you could restart p53 function and decrease estrogen in breast cancer cells.” A better understanding of normal cell development will help scientists grasp how cancer cells develop. Helping to hasten this understanding, Edward T.H. Yeh, M.D., has uncovered two proteins — SENP2 and SUMO — that play key roles in regulating heart tissue development in embryonic mice. SENP2 activates specific genes and allows for healthy heart development, while SUMO represses heart tissue development and leads to the mouse embryo’s death. “Our study focused on the regulation of these two heart-related genes, but many other genes are regulated in this way,” says Dr. Yeh. “By understanding how development unfolds, we can better control the process.” Additionally, his work may help scientists better understand and address the heart damage caused by some cancer therapies.
Dr. Dihua Yu is making a good drug more effective for breast cancer patients.
Your support of MD Anderson researchers in the Institute for Basic Science is laying the foundation for personalized cancer care by revealing the molecular mechanisms that drive the many forms of the disease. This insight is essential as we strive to offer our patients the best chance of successful treatment. Through your support of the institute, you are helping give our patients that best chance. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 7
Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment Save Lives
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ersonalized cancer care is incomplete without first exploring the possibilities of prevention. Progress against cancer must involve cancer risk assessment and prevention through the evaluation of genetic history and environmental factors. Ernest T. Hawk, M.D., vice president and head of MD Anderson’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, champions the important role of cancer prevention research and practice. Today, thanks to very generous gifts from the Dan L. Duncan Family Foundation, this field of study has been propelled to the forefront through the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment. MD Anderson faculty already have made significant progress by discovering ways to reduce the risks of breast, cervical, colon and other cancers with screenings, genetic testing, vaccinations, lifestyle changes, chemoprevention and other means. These breakthroughs become reality because of donors like you who understand that prevention is the best way to defeat cancer. Under Dr. Hawk’s direction, the Duncan Family Institute amplifies discoveries through the collaboration of experts from many disciplines, including epidemiology, behavioral science, biochemistry, molecular biology, computer and information science, and clinical science. Thanks to philanthropic funds that created the Center for Translational and Public Health Genomics, Center Director Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., is learning how certain cancers develop, what a patient’s prognosis will be and how to best manage that patient before a malignant cell ever develops. By bridging the gap between epidemiologic discoveries and their translation into clinical and public health applications, Dr. Wu is helping those at elevated risk for cancer and the general population. The rapid development of new high-throughput biomedical technologies that generate genomic information at an unprecedented pace makes major breakthroughs in personalized cancer risk prediction and prevention possible. Using translational genomics capabilities, the center’s faculty assess multiple layers of information, including epidemiologic, genomic and clinical data, across the continuum of cancer development and care.
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Event-related brain potentials will help MD Anderson researchers measure emotional responses to the thought of smoking.
Why do some people feel the urge to smoke a cigarette immediately after a meal? Francesco Versace, Ph.D., is trying to answer that question. He is studying the role emotional processes play in smoking addiction and relapse. Recipient of a Duncan Family Institute Fellowship, Dr. Versace explores various theoretical models, experimental designs and measurement techniques developed within the field of affective neuroscience to shed light on the behavior of smokers. Dr. Versace and colleagues are evaluating attentional and emotional processes in the presence of cigarette-related and other motivating cues by using eventrelated brain potentials (ERP), a measured brain response that is directly the result of a thought or perception. These ERP assessments occur before an attempt to quit smoking as well as after smoking cessation. The study is evaluating pharmacological smoking cessation aids and their effects on emotional processes. Through this research, it may be possible to better understand tobacco addiction and relapse, and thus develop better interventions to help people stop smoking. Interactions between carcinogens in tobacco and genetic traits have been linked to lung cancer in laboratory research. However, many of the specifics of these interactions remain a mystery. Yuanqing Ye, Ph.D., is examining the genes that potentially
Investigators in the Duncan Family Institute rely on laboratory research, as well as lifestyle and environmental modifications, to explore cancer prevention science.
The rapid development of new high-throughput biomedical technologies that generate genomic information at an unprecedented pace makes major breakthroughs in personalized cancer risk prediction and prevention possible. play important roles in lung cancer and many other diseases and biological processes. As he seeks to identify people at greatest risk of developing a malignancy, his findings could uncover previously unknown causes of lung cancer and lead to new techniques to prevent this disease. MD Anderson’s e-Health Technology Core is exploring the potential of preventing cancer through lifestyle changes. The innovative e-health program uses the latest communication technologies — from smart phones to iPads — to speed and streamline the exchange of information between researchers and study participants. Lorna McNeill, Ph.D., winner of the 2011 Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence, is using smart phones to track the social and environmental resources and life priorities that influence how people start and maintain an exercise program.
Participants in her iMove study complete assessments, entering information in real-time on mobile devices, allowing researchers to get feedback from participants “in the moment” rather than rely on recall. The Department of Health Disparities Research has partnered with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to establish the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded “Latinos Contra el Cancer” community networks program. This initiative aims to reduce cancer-related health disparities among Texas Latinos, who account for 9.1 million state residents. Department Chair David Wetter, Ph.D., and his team are reaching out to the Latino community throughout the state to deliver evidence-based cancer prevention policies and interventions that will reduce cancer risk related to smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity — the three leading behavioral risk factors for cancer. Such life-changing programs and research in cancer prevention would not be possible without philanthropic support. The generosity of donors like you fuels important discoveries and their translation into real-world changes that reduce cancer risk. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 9
Diverse Research Aimed at Early Cancer Detection
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or those cancers that we cannot prevent, the next best strategy is to detect the disease in its earliest, most treatable stages. This is why the Red and Charline McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer is so important — it advances genetic and molecular research to develop new diagnostic tests and therapies that will detect cancers before they can spread to other organs or become more aggressive. For our patients, this means we will find and treat their cancers sooner, when the disease is most vulnerable to targeted therapies. For our donors, it means your support is saving lives and sparing patients from the harsh regimens required to treat many advanced cancers. Made possible by a generous gift from the McCombs family to our South Campus Research Initiative, the McCombs Institute was the first of MD Anderson’s five institutes and is a model for the other four — proving the wisdom of creating multidisciplinary collaborations to focus on a single aspect of the cancer problem. The institute comprises seven centers of excellence: • Metastasis Research Center • Center for Cancer Immunology Research • Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Center • for Molecular Markers • Proton Therapy Center • Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research (CABIR) • Center for Targeted Therapy • Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNAs Each center has outstanding leaders and an anchor research department, plus faculty from other departments who share a commitment to its specific research focus. Each center shares specialized equipment and resources. And each has a goal of bringing the fruits of collaborative science to the clinic. Donor support for the McCombs Institute propels some of MD Anderson’s most diverse research. In CABIR, for example, Wai Hoi “Gary” Wong, Ph.D., knows that better imaging technologies benefit patients through closer monitoring of treatments, more accurate selection of personalized therapies and reduced need for invasive exploratory surgeries. Both positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) are critical to cancer research and patient care.
10 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Proton therapy can target a patient’s tumor with sub-millimeter precision while sparing nearby healthy tissues and minimizing side effects.
Dr. Wong has built a new micro-PET/CT instrument that allows greater resolution in imaging small animals than do commercial micro-PET/CT units. He is using his model to develop a human clinical PET imaging system that will have greater sensitivity and resolution than comparable systems currently available.
Project T9 will uncover new biomarkers, improving early detection so those at highest risk for cancer will stand out from the crowd.
The ambitious and far-reaching Project T9 is aimed at uncovering molecular biomarkers — the genetic traits that have gone awry to cause cancer and which can be used to develop new diagnostic tests and guide treatment. In the Center for Cancer Immunology Research, a gift from the prestigious W.M. Keck Foundation, is bolstering cancer vaccine advancements. MD Anderson investigators are exploring why most tumor vaccines induce only a fleeting tumor-specific immune response in patients. Researchers suspect that tumors corrupt immune system cells known as regulatory T cells (Tregs) to stifle the body’s natural defenses against cancer. By uncovering the molecular mechanisms within tumors that regulate the generation and function of Tregs, we may be able to develop more
effective tumor vaccines that eliminate corrupted Tregs or block their function. Perhaps one of MD Anderson’s most ambitious and far-reaching initiatives is taking place in the Kleberg Center. Project T9 (Ten Thousand Tumors, Ten Thousand Tests, Ten Thousand Treatments), led by the center’s co-directors, Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D., and Stanley Hamilton, M.D., is aimed at uncovering molecular biomarkers — the genetic traits that have gone awry to cause cancer and which can be used to develop new diagnostic tests and guide treatment. Only a cancer center with MD Anderson’s large patient population, robust research program and generous donor support could undertake such an endeavor. With your help, this and many other initiatives in the McCombs Institute will bring us closer to conquering cancer. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 11
The faculty and staff of MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital are dedicated to helping young patients like Madison Taylor, seen here with her mother Heather and her father Pat.
Play therapy helps children overcome some of the fear of cancer treatment.
Dr. Laurence Cooper has modified the immune system to attack leukemia and lymphoma cells.
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Unique Approaches to Treating Childhood Cancers
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o matter what your age, six or 66, a cancer diagnosis is devastating. But our youngest patients face a unique set of challenges that require our best ideas, sharpest focus and deepest compassion. With your support, MD Anderson is ensuring pediatric patients benefit from advances in personalized cancer care. Precisely tailored therapies mean more effective treatment of cancers, fewer and better tolerated side effects for young patients, a lower risk of developing secondary cancers in adulthood and improved quality of life. Childhood cancers are statistically rare, but they claim more young lives in America than asthma, AIDS, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and congenital defects combined. And while advances in the treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia, lymphomas and Wilms’ tumor have increased overall survival to 80 percent, cure rates for myeloid leukemia, sarcomas and brain tumors have not improved in more than 20 years. There is reason for optimism though, and you play a key role. Bolstered by your support of our campaign, MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital is accelerating the pace of progress for young cancer patients. For example, gifts from donors like you have opened up an especially promising avenue of research aimed at boosting the patient’s immune system to combat leukemia and lymphoma. Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., has engineered a way to genetically alter T cells, which activate the body’s immune response, to seek and destroy cancerous cells but spare healthy cells. Using a gene transfer approach, Dr. Cooper introduces an immunoreceptor into the T cells to direct their aggression to a panel of tumor-cell types. Some of these genetically modified T cells are specific to a receptor found in B cell leukemia and lymphoma. The T cells race to the B cell cancers and kill them as if they were viral or bacterial invaders. Based on these findings, Dr. Cooper has launched a clinical trial to infuse tumor-specific T cells in young patients with B cell leukemia or lymphoma. Your support also has led to the identification of a molecular signaling pathway that, when blocked, significantly reduces the dangerous metastatic spread of pediatric bone cancer. In a preclinical study in mice, Dennis Hughes, M.D., Ph.D., found that blocking a specific pathway in bone tumors dramatically
A young patient applies a bandage to her doll during MD Anderson’s annual play therapy day in March 2011.
decreases the spread of those tumors to the lungs — a critical finding because pediatric bone cancers, such as osteosarcoma, almost always metastasize to the lungs. “We are encouraged to keep investigating the entire metastasis process so we can find additional therapies and targets to prevent cancer from spreading and growing,” says Dr. Hughes. Another MD Anderson breakthrough is the adaptation of a surgical procedure for pediatric patients with rare abdominal tumors. Known as heated chemotherapy, the procedure is designed to eliminate an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma called desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Andrea HayesJordan, M.D., begins by removing hundreds of tumors from the young patient’s abdominal cavity. Then she introduces chemotherapy, heated to approximately 105° Fahrenheit, which courses through the abdominal cavity while the patient lies on a cooling blanket to maintain a safe body temperature. The heated chemotherapy helps to kill any microscopic tumor cells that remain after the debulking surgery. “In the past, these patients were told there was nothing else to be done,” says Dr. HayesJordan, “but now we can add months and often years to the lives of these young patients.” Adding quantity — and quality — to the lives of our pediatric patients is what MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital is all about. And the support of donors like you is helping the institution ensure these youngsters not only survive but flourish. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 13
Leading the World in Personalized Cancer Therapy
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he Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy is at the heart of Making Cancer History®: The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care. This institute, with the help of record-breaking donor support, is bringing together research advances from the Institute for Basic Science, the Duncan Family Institute and the McCombs Institute to directly improve patient care. The Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy represents the future of cancer care. It was made possible by a grant from the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation — the most generous grant MD Anderson has ever received. For a growing number of cancer types, we can take a small sample of the patient’s tumor, analyze it, identify which genes are malfunctioning to cause the malignancy and then prescribe a course of therapy that targets those errant genes. This approach, driven by individual tumor characteristics, requires a staggering amount of work and expertise from MD Anderson’s faculty and staff. It also requires major infrastructure and resources. And that is where you have made a real difference for the Khalifa Institute and, ultimately, for cancer patients everywhere. The Khalifa Institute is fostering numerous, important research advances that can save lives. For example, colon cancer is one of the deadliest forms of malignancy, and its treatment often leaves survivors with severely compromised quality of life. Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., has developed a group of clinical trials called “Assessment of Targeted Therapies Against Colorectal Cancer” (ATTACC) to speed the identification of personalized therapies that help patients whose colorectal cancers have specific traits. Based on genetic analysis of the tumor, Dr. Kopetz assigns each patient to the trial drug with the greatest potential to treat the cancer. If the patient’s tumor does not respond, he or she is moved to a different arm of the trial for further therapy. For patients with ovarian cancer, Anil Sood, M.D., and Robert Coleman, M.D., have devised a therapy using a technique known as RNA interference (RNAi). This approach packages small bits of RNA into a nanoparticle drug delivery system to interfere with malfunctioning genes and repair the genes that have gone awry. The first target for RNAi therapy is a protein called EphA2, which plays a role in several cancer-related processes. In preclinical studies of mice, Drs. Sood and Coleman have shown that using 14 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
At the helm of the institute, John Mendelsohn, M.D., right, and Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D., are providing the research and administrative leadership to consolidate thousands of moving parts into one cohesive effort. Dr. Mendelsohn’s 15-year presidency at MD Anderson, from which he stepped down in fall 2011, uniquely suits him for this role.
RNAi to target EphA2 results in improved treatment with no treatment-specific toxicity. They hope to demonstrate in clinical trials that this therapy is safe and effective in humans. Patients with head and neck cancers are benefiting from new approaches that address the disfigurement and loss of function (such as swallowing or speaking) that can result from treatment. Building on the knowledge that human papilloma virus (HPV) is associated with head and neck cancers and can affect treatment outcomes, Lauren Byers, M.D., John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D., and Chris Holsinger, M.D., have identified a genetic signature in HPV that may help determine which patients are at highest risk for cancer recurrence. This information, gleaned from a simple blood test, may help determine if a patient is at low risk for recurrence and can be spared the effects of aggressive treatment regimens, or if a patient is at high risk and should be monitored more closely for recurrence. In each of the preceding research examples, the feasibility of personalized cancer therapy rests on MD Anderson’s ability to
The home of the Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Building for Personalized Cancer Care, is slated to open in 2014.
procure and analyze biological samples quickly and accurately. Your charitable support also enabled MD Anderson to establish the Molecular Targets and Markers Testing Facility (MTMTF) in the Khalifa Institute. This laboratory will play a key role in developing new biomarker assays for use in clinical trials. Already, faculty in the MTMTF have created eight new clinical assays to detect mutations in many types of cancer, and they are diligently working to design assays that can detect biomarkers in blood, sparing patients from invasive, sometimes painful biopsies. A completely unique resource to MD Anderson, the facility is a model for cancer centers across the nation and around the world. As you can see, personalized cancer care requires coordination of complex efforts, streamlined research and clinical infrastructure, and immense resources. And donors like you have responded enthusiastically to the call for support. Your generosity makes a real difference to MD Anderson’s faculty and staff and to the patients and families we serve.
The New Home for Personalized Care The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation grant has made possible a brand new facility that will house the institution’s next generation of pathology laboratories, as well as a new pancreatic cancer research center. Slated for completion in the fall of 2014, the Zayed Building for Personalized Cancer Care will be a stateof-the-art, 12-story facility with four towers and more than 600,000 square feet of usable space. Each floor will include two research laboratory wings designed along an exterior public corridor that maximizes laboratory flexibility to meet new and evolving technology needs. The laboratory wings will be joined by two adjacent office wings and a centrally located core space with shared resources, thereby encouraging strong multidisciplinary interaction. One can only imagine the number of discoveries that will be made in these laboratories and their importance in Making Cancer History®. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 15
Delivering the Model for Effective Cancer Care
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n response to our nation’s focus on health care and a renewed drive to stabilize rising medical costs, MD Anderson leadership created the Institute for Cancer Care Excellence (ICCE) in December 2008. Rather than a singular focus on an individual patient, the institute endeavors to show how personalized treatment can be delivered cost effectively to entire populations. The ICCE bridges the worlds of clinical operations, research and finance to study how science can improve cancer care. Your support is making this possible. Led by an executive committee that includes Thomas Burke, M.D.; Thomas Feeley, M.D.; and Ernest Hawk, M.D., and under the direction of Heidi Albright, the ICCE is working to deliver improved value to cancer patients and individuals at risk for cancer throughout the cycle of care, including prevention, treatment and survivorship. To accomplish this mission, the institute has assembled a cadre of collaborators, including Michael Porter, Ph.D., the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard Business School. Dr. Porter is a proponent of the “value proposition” in health care and serves as an adviser to the ICCE.
The Institute for Cancer Care Excellence works to provide value in the complex relationship between outcomes and cost.
For patients, the most important question is, “If I’m treated at MD Anderson, what are my chances for survival?” The ICCE, with help from donors like you, is attempting to answer this question. “We all have some very tough choices ahead with our health care system,” says Dr. Feeley. “We have to start developing the data and show that we provide value with our approach to cancer care or demonstrate how we can provide better value. Value reflects the complex relationship between outcomes and cost.” Under the new health care reform law, the government is in the process of developing outcome metrics that cancer centers will be required to report starting in 2014. The ICCE is already compiling reporting data that will exceed these federal mandates to benefit health care consumers wanting the best quality and safest care. Developing and studying meaningful treatment outcomes and safety data provides patients the opportunity to have access to detailed and substantive data on their particular diseases. One of the first projects the institute initiated was to track outcomes for patients being treated at MD Anderson’s Head and 16 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dr. Thomas Feeley is helping cancer patients answer their most pressing question: If I go to MD Anderson, what are my survival chances?
Neck Center. Randal S. Weber, M.D., and Ehab Hanna, M.D., have partnered with ICCE researchers to determine what outcomes are important to MD Anderson patients. Drs. Weber and Hanna have established outcome measures that include survival, disease state, the length of treatment time, short- and
From left, Randal S. Weber, M.D., Rachel Tanner, R.N., Ehab Hanna, M.D., and Charlie Coffey, M.D., fellow, are working with the ICCE to establish outcome measures for patients visiting MD Anderson’s Head and Neck Center.
Rather than a singular focus on an individual patient, the ICCE endeavors to show how personalized treatment can be delivered cost effectively to entire populations. long-term complications and quality-of-life measures such as the ability to speak and swallow normally after treatment. The second phase of this study analyzed cost data for specific treatments based on disease site, clinical stage and treatment sequence. The overall goal is to correlate outcomes to cost and streamline the process, increase the value of care provided, and enhance efficiencies for patients, faculty and staff. Based on this study, the ICCE is helping several other clinics establish their own evaluations, including those for patients with breast, prostate, gynecologic and lung cancers, as well as sarcoma.
ICCE executive committee member Ronald Walters, M.D., says, “We need clinicians to be involved in the institute because it’s their work, their care, their patients. All this data and information can lead to an informed patient who can make the best choice for value-based cancer care. MD Anderson can be in a better position to protect our standard of care because we have the data to show that our approach is money well spent.” In the midst of much uncertainty regarding the future of health care, the ICCE will help guide MD Anderson in the coming years. We know that the institution saves lives and is the leading cancer hospital in the world — the challenge will be proving that we can maintain those standards while remaining a cost-effective choice for payers. Value and accountability will become more critical to health care consumers under the new federal guidelines. With your support, the institute is helping ensure a future in which MD Anderson continues to be a beacon for cancer patients around the world. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 17
Supporting the Next Generation of Cancer Pioneers
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D Anderson is world famous for groundbreaking research and compassionate clinical care, but education is an invaluable mission area as well. The institution trains more than 3,500 clinical residents, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduates each year. Training the next generation of cancer specialists is an integral component of MD Anderson’s mission — and was a campaign priority. Through Making Cancer History®: The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care, the institution developed a plan to raise $100 million in education and endowment funding, so that students receive every opportunity to pursue successful careers in academic cancer care and research. The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences A collaboration among MD Anderson, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the Virginia Harris Cockrell Cancer Research Center-Science Park and the Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences and Technology, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) awards master’s or doctoral degrees in 23 areas of study. Students are immersed in a unique environment where cutting-edge basic science research can be translated directly into clinical care, diagnosis and prevention of cancer and other diseases. Since the school’s founding in 1963, more than 2,000 scientists have trained at the GSBS, placing the institution in the top quarter of health sciences graduate schools in the United States. The School of Health Professions The School of Health Professions plays a crucial role in preparing trained health care professionals in areas experiencing significant shortages nationwide. Vacancy rates for key laboratory positions are at an all-time high, and the lack of trained lab personnel has been shown to lower the quality of patient care. The School of Health Professions offers bachelor’s degrees in eight areas of laboratory science, radiation therapy and imaging technology. The school is committed to setting the standard for world-class didactic and clinical instruction; students enter the job market scoring in the top 25 percent on national certification exams. Donor support is helping the school meet current and 18 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Provost and Executive Vice President Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., (right, pictured with Wei Zhang, Ph.D.) says “I can’t think of a better investment in cancer research than providing funding support for education and training at MD Anderson. The impact of your gift will be felt for decades and, in all likelihood, save countless lives.”
MD Anderson trains more than 3,500 clinical residents, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduates annually. Training the next generation of cancer specialists is an integral component of MD Anderson’s mission. future needs of health care professions; instill a professional code of conduct that demonstrates the highest regard for human dignity and life; and emphasize the value of lifelong learning. The Odyssey Program Each year, MD Anderson invites graduates of top doctoral programs from a broad variety of disciplines to compete in a rigorous, peer-reviewed evaluation of their scientific achievements and potential. These graduates are willing to undergo this intense scrutiny for the chance to participate in the prestigious Odyssey Program. While more than 40 potential fellows apply annually, only a few are chosen.
position can be daunting. To help some of the most promising fellows transition successfully, the institution created the Advanced Scholars Program to offer an extra year of study in MD Anderson’s laboratories. This critical fourth year of training protects the new investigators’ research time and provides a unique opportunity to build experience and confidence. After completing the additional year of training, these clinicianinvestigators are better prepared to establish their own research programs, compete successfully for external grant funding and provide greater hope for their patients through novel ideas translated from the laboratory to the clinic. The Physician-Scientist Program Physician-scientists are important members of any research hospital’s staff. These dedicated individuals, serve as conduits between the clinic and the laboratory by directing research and translating its application to patients. The PhysicianScientist Program at MD Anderson supports the laboratory time of its participants and assigns them both a research mentor and a clinical mentor from among the institution’s senior faculty.
School of Health Professions students Sileshi Mandefro (left) and Chinemerem Ojiaku are part of the next generation of highly sought skilled health care workers.
The Odyssey Program funds fellows exploring novel research ideas while paired with an MD Anderson faculty mentor. The resulting collaborations have been extremely productive. As testament to the program’s success, Odyssey fellows’ research is frequently published in leading scientific journals. In fact, Odyssey fellows appear as authors in approximately one-third of the articles generated by MD Anderson — a highly impressive tally, particularly given that these fellows represent a mere 5 percent of the total number of postdoctoral fellows at MD Anderson. The Advanced Scholars Program For young investigators finishing their fellowships and launching their careers, the jump to an independently funded research
Your generous philanthropy provides salary and support for a period of three years (with the possibility of a two-year extension). By enabling these selected physicians to spend 80 percent of their time in the laboratory and 20 percent in a clinical setting, the program offers a realistic chance for them to accumulate enough experience, ideas and data to secure independent research support from the National Cancer Institute (for which they must apply in their third year of the program) or a Young Investigator Award from the American Cancer Society. Despite constraints in federal funding, the PhysicianScientist Program has helped 80 percent of its scholars achieve this goal. Endowments: Powerful Investments An important objective of Making Cancer History®: The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care was to increase MD Anderson’s total endowments. Many donors stepped up to establish fellowships, professorships, chairs, distinguished chairs, distinguished university chairs and other endowed funds. The principals of these gifts are invested to produce distributions to advance research priorities and help train future generations of physicians and scientists. To those donors who used the campaign as an opportunity to create an endowment, we thank you for your powerful investment in the continued excellence of MD Anderson. w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 19
PATIENT SUCCESS STORY
Research Through Philanthropy Impacts Patient Care
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was only days pregnant when I first felt the lump.” With that chilling discovery in May 2008, Jessica Denton began a journey that changed her life. Concerned by the appearance of the lump in her breast, Jessica visited her primary care physician, who ordered an ultrasound. It came back inconclusive. Her doctor attributed the lump to a blocked milk duct and told Jessica not to worry and enjoy her pregnancy. For seven months, Jessica continued her rapidly changing life as a first-time expectant mother. Her first few months of pregnancy were relatively easy. However, Jessica could not shake the feeling that there was something wrong as the mass in her breast continued to grow. At a checkup with her obstetrician in December, Jessica mentioned the lump. Her doctor immediately ordered a biopsy and discovered that Jessica had a fast-growing breast cancer. Jessica Denton with daughter Avery and husband Eric.
“Some people say that the news [of a cancer diagnosis] leaves them numb. But for me, it was like getting punched in the stomach,” Jessica recalls of her initial reaction. She knew that her best chance, and the best chance for her unborn baby, was to seek treatment at MD Anderson. She came under the care of Jennifer Litton, M.D. At MD Anderson, Jessica found oncology experts who could properly care for her while protecting the health of her baby. She also found a community of other mothers who had been through breast cancer treatment while pregnant. “Dr. Litton introduced me to other women who had gone through it and this was invaluable. There was real positivity.” Jessica bonded with these women who answered her questions and eased her worried mind. Jessica underwent a single round of chemotherapy a month before giving birth. While there is a natural fear that a chemotherapy regimen can harm the developing fetus, studies conducted at MD Anderson show that after the first trimester, the risk of birth defects in babies born while their mothers are undergoing cancer treatment are no greater than that of the general population. Following her daughter’s birth, Jessica continued chemotherapy treatments followed by surgery and radiation. Today, Jessica is the proud mother of two-year-old Avery. Both are healthy and happy. Jessica juggles a busy career along with caring for a precocious toddler. However, she finds the time to return 20 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
the kindness that was extended to her by occasionally counseling expectant mothers who are being treated for cancer. She has also worked to advance breast cancer awareness. Patients like Jessica underscore the importance of advancing research at MD Anderson through philanthropy. A few short decades ago, an expectant mother such as Jessica would have faced the impossible choice of delaying treatment or possibly losing her baby. Now, she can be safely treated for breast cancer without compromising her health or the health of her unborn baby. Diagnosis becoming more common A breast cancer diagnosis during pregnancy is becoming more common. According to one study, the incidence of pregnancyassociated breast cancer, which includes a diagnosis during pregnancy as well as for up to one year after birth, increased from 16 to 37.4 per 100,000 deliveries in the four decades between 1963 and 2003. Researchers speculate that this may be due to many women delaying pregnancy until later, at the same time that a woman’s risk of breast cancer begins to increase. Also, as in Jessica’s case, pregnant women have a greater likelihood that their breast cancer tumors may be overlooked in traditional mammograms and ultrasound tests because breast tissue becomes more dense during pregnancy, often masking the growing mass.
PEDIATRIC PATIENT EXCELS
A Young Donor Helps Kids Stay Connected
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ach person who gives to MD Anderson does so for his or her own reasons. For 15-year-old Caitlyn Mortus, a high school sophomore from Katy, Texas, empathy is a strong driving force behind her philanthropy. Nearly three years ago, when Caitlyn had just turned 13, she was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma following a nagging soccer injury. Caitlyn came to MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital for her treatment. Her chemotherapy regimen was difficult, but Caitlyn fought her way through. She underwent five rounds of chemotherapy — one round per month with each round of treatment requiring a week-long stay in the hospital. Even though the chemotherapy was physically draining, the loneliness she faced was the real challenge. Caitlyn missed the last eight weeks of her seventh-grade year. “Over the summer, I couldn’t go swimming or have friends over because my blood count was low,” she says. For a highly social teenager, the isolation that came with her treatment was exceptionally difficult. Then Caitlyn received a netbook computer. Immediately, whether at home or during her stays at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital, she was able to reconnect with her friends and extended family via Facebook and Skype. That personal connection, hearing and reading the well wishes and good thoughts of those whom she couldn’t visit, was helpful to Caitlyn’s healing process. “The computer gave me comfort,” she says. “I could talk with my friends and family, and that was such a help.” “After my treatment, a family friend gave me some money and asked me how I could do some good with it,” says Caitlyn. She thought of the friends she had made at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital, some of whom needed to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles for treatment. Caitlyn says that though she only lives 45 minutes from the hospital, the separation from loved ones during her treatment made it feel like she was on the other side of the country. She empathized with those who must go through treatment much farther from home and the comfort of friends and family. Caitlyn and her family founded Keep Kids Connected (www. keepkidsconnected.org) to provide netbook computers to children undergoing cancer treatment. In two years, the foundation has
Caitlyn Mortus (front, left) celebrates at the Camp A.O.K. prom with Kierra Hill (front, right), Moises Flores (back, left) and Joshua DeFusto (back, right). The prom concludes the one-week summer camp for MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital patients and their siblings.
raised enough money through spaghetti dinners, raffles, personal and corporate donations as well as sponsorships to give away 125 laptops to pediatric cancer patients. In addition, the foundation has raised more than $10,000 for MD Anderson in direct research support. For Caitlyn, the best part of giving is personally delivering the computers and knowing that she is making a difference. “For us, it’s a little thing, but to the patients, it means the world,” says Caitlyn. The kids immediately perk up when they see the computers. “It makes our day knowing that we’ve made their day. I remember those bad days in the hospital, and I can relate to these kids. I know how they feel.” w w w. m d a n d e r s o n . o r g / g i ft s 21
Campaign Leadership Honorary Campaign Co-Chairs George and Barbara Bush Campaign Chairman Harry J. Longwell Special Advisory Committee Members Dan L. Duncan* L. Lowry Mays David H. Koch Red McCombs Charles A. LeMaistre, M.D. T. Boone Pickens
Campaign Executive Committee Members Judy Ley Allen Melvyn N. Klein Thomas W. Burke, M.D. Leon J. Leach Ernest H. Cockrell Nancy B. Loeffler Gus H. Comiskey Jr. John Mendelsohn, M.D. Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D. Kit T. Moncrief G. Steven Farris William A. Monteleone Jr.* Terry M. Giles Patrick B. Mulvey
W. Robert Nichols III Gene Rainbolt Ali A. Saberioon Marc J. Shapiro Steven H. Wasserman
Campaign Cabinet Members Paul F. Barnhart Jr. Lawrence E. Bathgate II Clarence P. Cazalot Jr. S. Stacy Eastland Richard T. Farmer Dillon J. Ferguson John F. Fort III Wayne Gibbens F. O’Neil Griffin
David M. Grimes II Charles E. Hurwitz Glenda R. Kane William Kyte Neda Ladjevardian Mary V. Lester Rodney H. Margolis Stacie McDavid Allen A. Meyer
Steven L. Miller Bill Montgomery Pamela K. Onstead Paul F. Oreffice Federico Sada Charles W. Tate Mac Tichenor Jr. Herbert D. Weitzman *indicates deceased
Photo credits: Page 3, F. Carter Smith; Page 4, Bill Olive; Page 5, John Everett; Page 6, Wyatt McSpadden; Page 7 top, composite photo by Kellye Sanford from John Smallwood photos; bottom, Wyatt McSpadden; Page 8, photo by F. Carter Smith; Page 9, Barry Smith; Page 10, F. Carter Smith; Page 11, photo illustration by Kellye Sanford from Istockphoto image; Page 12 top, Mike Hulsey; bottom left, Erin McCormick; bottom right, Karen Hensley; Page 13, Sara Farris; Page 14, F. Carter Smith; Page 15, rendering courtesy of HDR, Inc.; Page 16 top, Istockphoto; bottom, John Everett; Page 17, John Everett; Page 18, F. Carter Smith; Page 19, Barry Smith; Page 20, courtesy of Jessica Denton; Page 21, Terry Foss.
Development Office – Unit 705 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center P.O. Box 301439 Houston, Texas 77230-1439 713-792-3450 800-525-5841 www.mdanderson.org/gifts For information on patient programs and services, askMDAnderson: 1-877-MDA-6789 www.mdanderson.org/ask