Personalized Medicine, Clinical Trials, and New Anticancer Treatments
January 27, 5pm-6:15pm
Zoom Audio/Video (Login Information in Registration Confirmation)
It is a truly remarkable time for developing new treatments for cancer. Increasing understanding of cancer biology and the ability to design new drugs to target abnormalities present in cancer has resulted in a number of novel anticancer drugs being approved by the FDA. There are now drugs that either block specific genetic changes in cancer, modulate the immune system, or represent ways to selectively deliver high doses of chemotherapies to the tumor with acceptable safety profiles. These “new drugs” go through very rigorous testing in the laboratory, and only if they meet certain criteria as anticancer agents, are they brought forward to clinical trials. Early-phase trials are used to test new treatments for cancer while ensuring the highest standards of patient safety. Based on findings in tumor samples and patient characteristics we can now better select new treatments which have a higher likelihood to help patients, a process referred to as ‘personalized medicine’. During this talk we will discuss the concept of personalized medicine, phases of clinical trials, and development of new anticancer treatments.
There will be a Q&A segment after the presentation.
About the Presenters:
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Upon completing her medical degree from Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi, India, Dr. Shivaani Kummar moved to the United States to train in Internal Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Following this, Dr. Kummar pursued fellowship training at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Medical Oncology and Hematology, which culminated in a faculty position at Yale University, New Haven CT. After spending four years as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center, she moved back to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH, where she developed a clinical research program in novel cancer therapeutics. In 2011, she became Head of Early Clinical Trials Development in the Office of the Director, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, NCI. Dr. Kummar moved to Stanford University in 2015 as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Phase I Clinical Research and Translational Oncology Programs. In July 2020, she joined Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) as Division Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology, co-Director of the Center of Experimental Therapeutics, DeArmond Endowed Chair of Cancer Research, and Associate Director for Clinical and Translational Research, Knight Cancer Institute, OHSU. Her research interests focus on developing novel therapies for cancer. She specializes in conducting pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic driven first-in-human trials tailored to make early, informed decisions regarding the suitability of novel molecular agents for further clinical investigation. Dr. Kummar is the principal investigator of numerous early phase trials, member of NIH grant review committees and national and international scientific committees
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Dr. Tanja Pejovic is a Professor of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). She is a trained clinician-scientist, with a background in cytogenetic and molecular genetics of ovarian cancer. Dr. Pejovic's PhD thesis entitled “Cytogenetic Analysis of Ovarian Tumors” was, at the time, the largest series of cytogenetically characterized ovarian cancers. As part of Felix Mitelman’s research group, in Lund, Sweden, she was the first to describe recurrent cytogenetic changes, such as the 19p13+ marker chromosome and the deletion of 11p13-15 in epithelial ovarian cancer, as well as trisomy 12 in benign ovarian tumors. At OHSU, Dr. Pejovic maintains a prospective ovarian tissue and blood bank (Oregon Ovarian Cancer Registry), accompanied by a clinical database, unique in the state with over 500 participants. It is a research bank of ovarian tissue specimens accompanied by extensive clinical and outcome data to help further elucidate the mechanisms by which ovarian cancers progress. OOCR is recognized as a major contributor to the international consortium OCAC (Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium), Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 (CIMBA) and Ovarian Tumor Tissue Association (OTTA).
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