Dr. Weeks’ Comment: The standard of care for cancer patients is pathetic because it attacks the benign cancer TUMOR cell while making the lethal cancer STEM cell “more numerous and more virulent”. Oncology leaders like Prof. Max Wicha, M.D, is on record as warning “Chemotherapy and radiation make your cancer worse.” Now, finally after I have lectured on the need to address the cancer STEM cell for the past 8 years the research is focusing on this important target.
“…“The ability to test and predict which chemotherapy or targeted agent is most effective against a patient’s own cancer stem cells in KIYATEC’s expansion platform has the potential to powerfully inform oncologist’s clinical decision making and positively impact patient outcomes…”
SCRA Technology Ventures Company Kiyatec
Awarded $1.725 Million To Advance Cancer Stem
Cell Expansion
10/23/2015 10:51:24 AM
NCI Contract Funds Development of Novel Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) Expansion Technology and Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) Models
GREENVILLE, S.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SCRA Technology Ventures’ SC Launch company KIYATEC announced today an award of a Fast Track Phase I and Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Contract for $1.725M from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), one of the 27 institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The overall goal of the contract is to develop culture systems which can grow and maintain the rare population of malignant cells referred to by some as cancer stem cells, which are believed to lead to therapy resistance, relapse and death from metastatic disease. KIYATEC’s focus is small cell lung cancer (SCLC), one of the deadliest forms of cancer today with little advancement in treatments in 4 decades.
“A recognized barrier to improved patient outcomes in SCLC is that is relatively rare and there is limited tissue available for personalized medicine or research,” said Howland E. Crosswell, MD, KIYATEC Chief Medical Officer and Principle Investigator of the project. “If we are successful in isolating and expanding these rare cells from patient tumors, they may be an invaluable, renewable resource for identifying novel patient treatment strategies and developing better therapies, such as targeted kinase inhibitors, checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive T cell therapy or vaccines. These promising options are not currently available for patients with small cell lung cancer, but, with this work, we hope to change that.” Tessa DesRochers, Ph.D., KIYATEC’s Scientific Director is the contract’s Co-Principal Investigator.
“The ability to test and predict which chemotherapy or targeted agent is most effective against a patient’s own cancer stem cells in KIYATEC’s expansion platform has the potential to powerfully inform oncologist’s clinical decision making and positively impact patient outcomes,” said Matt Gevaert, KIYATEC’s CEO.
KIYATEC’s success in this project would expand the number of options oncologists have to more effectively fight cancer alongside their patients.
“We are excited to be partnering with KIYATEC again on this project,” said Jeff Edenfield, MD, Medical Director of Greenville Health System’s Institute for Translational Oncology Research. “Small cell lung cancer, and other rare, aggressive cancers like it, is a very difficult cancer to study and treat, so applying promising technologies like KIYATEC’s to advance knowledge of the biology and to expand treatment options for these patients would be a major step forward.”
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