TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 6 14 14 T he fight for a cure for cancer is always in the national spotlight, but it received a celebrity boost recently when billionaire Sean Parker, famous for his entrepreneurial roles at Napster and Facebook, gave $250 million to bring together hundreds of the country's top cancer scientists, clinicians and indus- try partners to form the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. One of the six centers involved is The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. James P. Allison, Ph.D., chairman of the department of immu- nology, director of the immunotherapy platform and co-director of the David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers at MD Anderson, and well-known for his pioneering work in immu- notherapy, is leading the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at MD Anderson. In addition to MD Anderson, the Parker Institute includes more than 40 laboratories at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City; Stanford University School of Medicine; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, San Francisco; and the University of Pennsylvania. All of these institutions were chosen to collaborate on the development of immune therapies for cancer that could be translated into patient treatments. Each of the research centers gets a portion of the $250 million, as well as access to the latest technology and clinical resources. "We are at an inflection point in cancer research, and now is the time to maximize immunotherapy's unique potential to transform all cancers into manage- able diseases, saving millions of lives," Parker, pres- ident of The Parker Foundation, said in a statement. "We believe that the creation of a new funding and research model can overcome many of the obstacles that currently prevent research breakthroughs, and Collaborating on a Cancer Cure MD Anderson is among six top-notch cancer research centers working to speed up the development of cancer treatments with help from billionaire Sean Parker the Parker Institute is positioned to broadly dissemi- nate discoveries and, most importantly, more rapidly deliver treatments to patients." Allison learned about Parker about four years ago when he was the team leader for a successful applica- tion for a Dream Team grant from Stand Up to Cancer, the Cancer Research Institute and the American Association for Cancer Research. His team's research involves the immune checkpoint blockade. Specific inhibitory molecules called checkpoints on People who have been treating melanoma for years when we didn't have drugs that work, say 'Wow, 22 percent, that's incredible,' but looking at it from the other side, what about the 80 percent or the 50 percent who aren't responding even when you give both drugs? — JAMES P. ALLISON, PH.D. Chairman of the Department of Immunology, Director of the Immunotherapy Platform and Co-Director of David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers at MD Anderson James P. Allison, Ph.D., well-known for his pioneering work in immunotherapy, is leading the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at MD Anderson. Credit: MD Anderson Cancer Center B y C h r i s t i n e H a l l T lymphocytes, commonly known as T-cells, keep T-cells from killing cancer cells. Blocking those check- points frees the T-cells to attack. Meanwhile, Parker had already given a lot of money to cancer research, and had been interested in immunotherapy for many years, Allison said. Also seeking a grant was a team from UCLA that was not only interested in Allison's research, but also cancer-targeting T-cell therapies, called CAR-Ts (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell), and adoptive cell transfer approaches to immunotherapy. "The original grant we received was for $6 million, but Sean put up another $4 million to merge our two teams, bringing it to $10 million," Allison said. "It was really successful, and a really good thing." Allison found Parker to be incredibly well-informed about the science, so it wasn't a surprise when Allison heard that he was creating the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and wanted MD Anderson to be a part of it.

• Cover