Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) recently announced that an international team of experts will take a new approach to fighting gastric cancer. The SU2C Gastric Cancer Interception Research Team: Early Detection and Interception of Diffuse and Intestinal Gastric Cancer was introduced at the SU2C Scientific Summit 2020. The $3 million research team will be funded over 3 years and is supported by grants from the Cless Family Foundation and Sara & Jeff Schottenstein Family Charitable Fund.
Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, Institute Professor, David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research of MIT, and Nobel Laureate will serve as Chair of SU2C’s Scientific Advisory Committee. Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Cancer Epidemiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, will serve as leader of the SU2C Gastric Cancer Interception Research Team. The co-leader is Sandra Ryeom, PhD, Associate Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. The team features researchers from the University of Chicago, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Samsung Medical Center (Seoul, South Korea).
Focus of Research
The research team will conduct intensive studies to identify biomarkers such as particular bits of DNA and cells that are shed from the tumor that circulate in the blood system and indicate the presence of gastric cancer. Techniques to be explored include a tiny, pill-sized camera that can be swallowed by a patient without sedation, Dr. Chan said. This camera can provide detailed images of the lining of the stomach to identify abnormal areas that might be precancerous. Once validated in clinical trials, the techniques will help doctors detect precancerous lesions in populations at high risk.
The team will be the sixth SU2C team focusing on cancer interception. Earlier teams focused on cancers of the lung and pancreas and on multiple myeloma.
Key Team Members and Patient Advocates
- Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital, Team Leader
- Sandra Ryeom, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Co-Leader
- Daniel Catenacci, MD, University of Chicago, Principal
- Jeeyun Lee, MD, Samsung Medical Center, Principal
- Yanghee Woo, MD, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Principal
- Sam Yoon, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Principal
- Marina Magicheva-Gupta, Massachusetts General Hospital, Project Manager
- Aki Agata Smith, Stomach Cancer Awareness Network, Patient Advocate
- Marisa Ajdelman, Stomach Cancer Awareness Network Patient Advocate.
