With tens of thousands of Americans diagnosed with brain cancer every year, it is more important than ever to devise new and more effective treatments that will better treat or even cure the disease, experts say.
That's why nearly 175 of the nation's leading brain tumor and biotech industry experts assembled at Weill Cornell Medical College June 7 for the second annual Brain Tumor Biotech Summit. The summit, sponsored by the Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center and Voices Against Brain Cancer, sought to establish collaborations that would accelerate the discovery of and promote funding for the latest emerging therapies.
"Regardless of our backgrounds, our shared vision and purpose was to bridge the gap between basic and clinical science," said Dr. John Boockvar, chair of the summit, director of the Brain Tumor Research Group, professor of neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and a neurosurgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "It often takes decades to realize discoveries from bench to bedside when it needs to be a few years. This dynamic meeting advanced collaborations vital to accelerating the translation of new scientific findings into novel therapeutics that can be delivered rapidly to our patients."
More than 23,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with brain or spinal tumors this year and more than 14,000 patients will succumb to their disease, according to the American Cancer Society. With the patient median survival rate of 15 months, experts say there is a crucial need to identify more effective treatments for brain tumors that will not only extend life, but also lead to potential cures.
But with federal research grants falling victim to budget cuts — hastened by sequestration — it's become vital for researchers to obtain private funding to supplement their government grants.
The one-day summit brought together leading scientists and clinicians, biotech industry, venture capital firms, finance, non-profit foundations and pharmaceutical companies to highlight the latest advances in vaccine treatments, nanotechnology, stem cell biology, angiogenesis, gene therapy, targeted therapeutics and novel medical devices in the hopes of sparking interest and generating funding to bring these ideas from bench to bedside.
"It's vital that academic medical centers and industry forge collaborations that will drive translation and lead to new treatments and cures for the most intractable diseases," said Larry Schlossman, managing director of BioPharma Alliances and Research Collaborations at Weill Cornell, which actively promotes collaborative research between Weill Cornell researchers and the life sciences industry. "The Brain Tumor Biotech Summit is just one example of how Weill Cornell is helping to catalyze and unleash entrepreneurship at Weill Cornell Medical College and foster our innovation ecosystem."
The summit featured more than 30 lectures and panel discussions on topics technical and informational, from "Targeting Glioma Stem Cells in the Glioma Stem Cell Niche" to "How to Get Your Research Noticed? Lessons from the Investment Experts." CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo was the special guest speaker who spoke on, "Innovation in the Changing World Economy."
"We were delighted to welcome such a spectacular group of scientists and biotech innovators who generously shared their ideas and made important new connections that will help our central nervous system community advance cures for brain tumors," said Dr. Philip E. Stieg, professor and chairman of neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and neurosurgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Researchers, clinicians and representatives from industry gather at Weill Cornell for the second annual Brain Tumor Biotech Summit
Summit organizers also bestowed the inaugural Biotech Young Innovator Award to Dr. Constantinos Hadjipanayis, chief of neurosurgery at Emory University Hospital Midtown and director of the Brain Tumor Nanotechnology Laboratory at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. The award, which carried a cash prize, was established to recognize young investigators whose research represents the latest cutting-edge innovations, Dr. Boockvar said.
"I was very surprised and obviously honored to be recognized as the inaugural award winner," Dr. Hadjipanayis said. "I think it was a really great meeting that brought together various investigators focused on finding ways to treat brain cancer as well as industry. It not only allowed us to put our heads together to find new and better treatments, but also find new ways to support our efforts. Achieving that support is crucial to translating great ideas into clinical trials and getting patients new therapies to treat their tumors."
In a special award lecture, Dr. Hadjipanayis presented his research on the use of antibodies attached to nanoparticles in treating brain tumors. Using iron oxide nanoparticles that are seen clearly on MRIs, Dr. Hadjipanayis tested the efficacy of nanoparticles bound to the antibody cetuximab in treating malignant brain tumors. The result: The bound nanoparticle and antibody were more therapeutic than the antibody alone, more effectively killing cancer cells.
Dr. Hadjipanayis is amid writing grant applications to start moving this new experimental drug to clinical trials. He hoped he could make some crucial connections at the summit this year.
And that is why neurosurgeons at Weill Cornell first established the summit last year: to move innovative ideas from test tube to patient bedside.
"The key reason why we started this last year was that we recognized the fact that there was poor communication between industry, venture capitalists and scientists," Dr. Stieg said.
"We felt strongly that communication amongst those three groups would be beneficial to an eventual cure for malignant brain tumors and glioblastoma," he continued, referencing the most aggressive form of brain tumors in humans. "We created the summit to bring those groups together and try to facilitate communication and enhance collaboration."
Not only did last year's summit garner positive response, organizers said, but it also achieved its goal. Dr. Boockvar and his laboratory established relationships with a biopharmaceutical company, a clinical-stage company and others to test new compounds and antibodies that could have implications for brain cancer.
This year's summit built off that success, Dr. Boockvar said. In one case, he said a pediatric oncology investigator invited to the summit arranged tentative support in the range of millions of dollars from a health care life sciences-focused hedge fund. In another, the nonprofit and co-sponsor Voices Against Cancer agreed to fund a small biotech company's clinical trial. Lastly, a health care biotech firm and neuro-oncology researcher are in the process of forming a strategic partnership.
"The feedback I've already gotten is tremendous," Dr. Boockvar said." More importantly, the patients are the most appreciative of our collaborative efforts."