CaP CURE The Association for Cure of Cancer of the Prostate

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CaP CUREThe Association for Cure of Cancer of
the Prostate

• Howard R. Soule, Ph.D.
• Presentation for the Institute of Medicine
• February 18, 2003
• Washington, D.C.

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Who We Are What We Do

• Founded by Michael Milken in 1993
• 501(c)(3) Unique as MFF pays overhead
• Goal To eliminate prostate cancer as a health
  risk to men and their families
• Increase funding for all medical science
• Increase funding for cancer research
• Increase funding for prostate cancer research

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About Prostate Cancer

• Most frequently diagnosed non-skin cancer in men
  (200,000 per year)
• Second leading cause of cancer death in males
  (30,000 per year)
• Treatments for localized prostate cancer are
  reasonably adequate
• Surgery, radiation
• Hormonal manipulations for advanced disease have
  limited duration of efficacy
• Beyond hormonal therapy, no effective treatment

CaP CURE Focus
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Research Programs CaP CURE Competitive Awards

• Venture-style funding
• Traditional sources of funding find many CaP CURE
  projects too risky
• Simple procedure for application
• Rapid turn around from application to award
• Ablate bureaucracy!
• Since 1993, awarded 656 competitive awards
• 66.5 million

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CaP CURE Competitive AwardsExamples of Success

• PSMA, prostate-specific membrane antigen
• Monoclonal antibody
• Discovered and developed by Neil Bander, M.D.
  Cornell Medical School
• Licensed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals
• Zometa, a 3rd generation bisphosphonate
• Studied by Matthew Smith, M.D., Ph.D. Mass
  General
• Demonstrated reduction of skeletal events
• Developed by Novartis and approved for advanced
  CaP

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Research Programs CaP CURE Nutrition Project

• Established credibility of nutrition in CaP
• Funded early randomized trials
• Established positions on wellness
• Funding centered at UCLA and MSKCC
• 2.3 million awarded

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Research Programs CaP CURE Nutrition Project

• Produced a Nutrition Monograph
• Provided to patients and their families
• Edited by David Heber and Moshe Shike
• Produced two Taste for Living Cookbooks
• Established nutrition as a wellness component

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Prostate cancer has the strongest familial link
of all cancers (Janet Stanford, 2002)
Source Carter, Bova, et al., Hereditary
Prostate Cancer Epidemiological and Clinical
Features, Journal of Urology, Sept. 1993.
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Research Programs Gene and Family Study
Consortium

• 5 10 of prostate cancer cases clusters in
  families
• 1995 -1996 established a consortium led by Dr.
  Lee Hood
• University of Washington
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
• Washington University
• UCLA
• Mike Milken and Lee Hood on Larry King Live
• Recruited 400 families with multiply affected 1st
  degree relatives
• Family history, personal history, blood samples
• Lab studies to determine genetic similarities

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Research Programs Gene and Family Study
Consortium

• Largest family collection in the world
• No genes but important regions identified
• Aggregated data with other programs
• Potential targets for prostate cancer map to a
  familial-associated loci
• Samples continue to be studied with improved
  technology
• 10.8 million awarded

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Research Programs CaP CURE Therapy Consortium

• Established 1995 - 1996
• Centers participate based on productivity and
  status in the field
• Unrestricted awards
• We get window on progress and influence on what
  is studied
• Dream Team Tumor Board

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Research Programs CaP CURE Therapy Consortium

• Current Membership
• Cedars-Sinai LA David Agus
• UCSF Eric Small
• University of Wisconsin George Wilding
• University of Michigan Ken Pienta
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Philip Kantoff
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Howard Scher
• M.D. Anderson Chris Logothetis
• Johns Hopkins Mario Eisenberger Mike
  Carducci Bill Nelson

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CaP CURE Therapy ConsortiumAchievements

• Established chemotherapy as standard care
• Established new lines of hormonal manipulation
• Sets standard for SPORE clinical programs
• Collaboration
• Stringency of drug selection for development
• Protocol, Process and Procedure
• Sets standards for EARLY tactical development in
  advanced prostate cancer for industry (dozens of
  drugs in development)
• Expert trialists influence industry
• Determines most interesting targets and high
  potential drugs
• UNCOOPERATIVE cooperative group!
• 16.8 million funded

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Research Programs Young Investigator Awards

• Identified brightest early career basic
  scientists, urologists and medical oncologists
  planning a research career in prostate cancer
• Fund three years _at_ 50,000 per year
• Funding relieves some pressure for gaining
  funding at the most difficult time in a career
• Have funded 25 for a total of 3.75 million
• Notable recipients
• David Agus, M.D. now research director at
  Cedars Prostate Cancer Center
• June Chan, Ph.D. now tenure track
  epidemiologist at UCSF

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Summary

• 1,000 awards
• Over 120 million funded
• Established supreme scientific credibility
• Major centers highly evolved
• NCI up tick in funding has been productive
• Continue what works (Optimal at 16 million/yr)

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New Activities

• Clinical trial design for advanced prostate
  cancer
• Initiative 1 National Dialog on Cancer
• Initiative 2 Rising PSA working group
• Clinical trial informatics solution
• Initiative 1 Trial platforms for MSKCC, DFCI,
  UCSF
• Companies identified
• Demos in next few weeks
• Leveraging SPORE
• Initiative 2 License NCI code produced for CaP
  CURE clinical trial informatics system
• Creating a drugs in development for prostate
  cancer database (Erin Mayer)