Dr. Jeffery Chou is a medical oncology fellow in the Program in Immunology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Early in his research career as an undergraduate student, he studied the use of radiolabeled anti-CEA antibodies as therapy for colorectal cancer at the City of Hope which fostered in him an interest for colorectal cancer immunotherapy.  He joined the lab of Dr. Edus H. Warren at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to study the immunobiology of colorectal cancer and develop adoptive T cell therapy against colorectal cancer. His project “Epigenetic modulation of colorectal cancer stem cells for immunotherapy” is sponsored by the 2009 AACR/C3 Colorectal Cancer Coalition fellows grant in memory of Lisa Dubow and provides pre-clinical evidence supporting the combination of the epigenetic drug decitabine and T cell therapy against the cancer-testis antigen NY-ESO-1 to treat colorectal cancer. He has also received awards from ASCO and the Cancer Research Institute to support his work.

Dr. Chou spoke to C3 Advocates about the research he has been doing into treatments for late stage colorectal cancer using funding he received from the C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition’s Lisa Fund Grant.

Laura Seeff, M.D., is the acting branch chief for the Comprehensive Cancer Control Branch in the Division of Cancer Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prior to taking on this position in October 2009, she was CDC’s associate director for Colorectal Cancer Programs and the medical director of the agency’s new Colorectal Cancer Control Program.

Dr. Seeff provided an overview of the successful CDC colorectal screening program.  The program began as a pilot program in 5 sites, and has been expanded to 26 sites.  It is the model for legislation (H.R. 1189) introduced by Representative Kay Granger (R-TX) which would put in place a national screening and treatment program for colorectal cancer similar to what we currently have in place for breast and cervical cancer.  According to conservative estimates, the legislation would save thousands of lives a year and save Medicare billions.

Dr. Donna Kimbark joined the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs in 2002 as Grants Manager for the Breast Cancer Research Program. In 2008, Dr Kimbark became the Program Manager for the new Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program. Her areas of expertise include cancer therapeutics, pharmacology, proteomics, and lay participation in the scientific processes.

Dr. Kimbark provided advocates with an overview of how the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research program functions and the types of research that has been funded in the past through this important program.

Dr. Jeffrey Chou

Jeffrey Chou, M.D.,Ph.D., is the recipient of the 2009 AACR-Colorectal Cancer Coalition Fellows Grant in memory of Lisa Dubow.

Dr. Chou, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center at the University of Washington in Seattle, will study how to make colorectal cancer stem cells more vulnerable to the body’s immune system.

The award will be made at the AACR’s 100th Annual Meeting in Denver.  Funds for the grant were raised by C3 through the Lisa Fund. Donations to the fund are targeted for research to develop treatments for patients with late-stage colorectal cancer.

Dr. Chou will be working with both cell cultures and mice to see if the drug decitabine will make colorectal cancer stem cells respond to immunotherapy.  He has identified a protein that is specific to cancer which can be recognized as foreign by the immune system.  Once recognized, the cancer/testis antigen NY-ESO-1 elicits a strong immune response that can kill cancer stem cells.

During his research, Dr. Chou will be trying to find out

• If decitabine increases NY-ESO-1 in colorectal cancer stem cells,
• If treating those cells with decitabine and immunotherapy and transplanting them in mice prevents their growing into cancer, and
• If decitabine and immunotherapy can destroy existing colorectal cancer tumors in mice or slow their growth.

Dr. Chou says,

Results from my proposed studies may potentially provide pre-clinical data supporting a novel therapy using a combination of decitabine and immunotherapy for metastatic CRC. I am honored by and grateful for the generous support provided by AACR, C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition, and the Lisa Fund, and I would like to thank my mentor Dr. Edus Warren, who has been invaluable in fostering my development as a cancer researcher.

AACR Fellows Grants are made to young researchers to encourage their scientific work in cancer:

The Fellows Grants support innovative research by a meritorious young investigator by presenting the Fellow with research funds to pursue an independent line of investigation within the context of his/her current Fellowship placement. By allowing a Fellow to acquire the equipment and supplies needed to pursue a new direction in his/her research program, the Fellows Grant assists the Fellow in developing preliminary data to support a future project or investigating a new technique that otherwise would not be possible in the absence of this funding.

Lisa Dubow

Lisa Dubow, who died in 2007, credited her nine years of survival with advanced colorectal cancer to cutting edge research and participation in clinical trials.

Before her death she worked with C3 to create the Lisa Fund to focus on better treatment for metastatic disease.  Lisa asked that we not forget about her and other patients battling the hard-to-treat late-stage cancer that had already gotten worse on standard treatments.

Your donation to the Lisa Fund is an investment in colorectal cancer research. Help us assist other researchers looking for better treatments and a cure for colorectal cancer by making a donation to the Lisa Fund today.