Jon Chung PhD

Dr. Jon Chung
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

HEDGEHOG PATHWAY TARGETED THERAPEUTICS FOR METASTATIC COLORECTAL CANCER

Dr. Jon Chung is studying alternatives to the traditional Hedgehog signaling pathway in colon cancer cells.  He is exploring crosstalk within the cell between the Hedgehog and Wnt pathways and screening for drugs that block both pathways at the same time, potentially stopping cancer development.

He is also looking at how Hedgehog interacts with DNA damage pathways — research that could lead to treatment that would destroy metastatic cancer cells.

From Dr. Chung’s research proposal:

The Hedgehog signaling pathway has recently emerged as another key player in colorectal carcinogenesis and this pathway is progressively activated during metastasis.  The switch to Hedgehog pathway activation that occurs as tumors metastasize presents an opportunity for developing therapies for metastatic colorectal cancer.  My project will focus on targeting the Hedgehog pathway.

Hedgehog is a gene that is critical to the development of the human embryo.  Signals controlled by the gene direct cells to express themselves as different parts of the body with different functions.  When Hedgehog expression isn’t normal, its changes can lead to cancer, particularly cancer that spreads to distant sites (metastasizes).

Recently, drugs to treat colorectal cancer that directly inhibit the Hedgehog pathway have been disappointing. Dr. Chung is taking a new and different look at Hedgehog signals, particularly when they interact with other important colorectal cancer pathways.

Dr. Chung is a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Radiation Oncology & Molecular Radiation Sciences.

He attended the University of Cambridge where he received his BA and MSci degrees in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) in 2002. In 2006, he completed his PhD at the University of Manchester. After finishing his PhD, he started postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Fred Bunz at Johns Hopkins where he has been investigating DNA damage checkpoint and p53 responses in colorectal cancer cells.

Dr. Chung has published research in:

• PLoS Genetics, Cdk2 Is Required for p53-Independent G2/M Checkpoint Control,February 6, 2010, e1000863.
• Cell Cycle: Checkpoint bypass and cell viability, Volume 9, Issue 11, February 26, 2010.

Please help support innovative research like Jon Chung’s with a gift to the Lisa Fund.

Researchers compared progression-free survival between patients who got either FOLFOX or FOLFIRI chemotherapy with Avastin and a group who got the same chemo regimen with GDC-0449. There was no difference

GDC-0449 was being developed by Genentech in collaboration with Curis.

Hopes for the new treatment were raised at ASCO earlier this month where reports showed no increased side effects with the new combination.

Researchers thought that blocking the Hedgehog gene on the surface of cancer cells would stop a series of signalling events in a pathway inside the cell leading to cell death and lengthening the time until cancer began to grow again.

Hedgehog is involved in embryonic development, particularly in growth of limbs. It was first observed in fruit flies where mutations led to many spiky extra legs making the curled up fly look like a hedgehog. You can watch a video of how it works.

Read the news release from Curis.

Disclosure: C3 has received funding from Genentech in the form of unrestricted educational grants. C3 has ultimate control over website content.