Latest news with #MichelleMonje
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Parker Institute Showcases Breakthroughs in Immunotherapy at ASCO 2025 as CEO Dr. Karen Knudsen Receives Prestigious Honor
Glioblastoma survival extends to 14.6 months; dual-target CAR T shrinks tumors in 85% of patients—milestone results among 50+ presentations across the PICI Network CHICAGO, May 29, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the global oncology community gathers for the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (May 30–June 3), the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is demonstrating how bold science, accelerated through collaborative networks, can drive meaningful progress where patients need it most. At a pivotal moment when scientific breakthroughs in immunotherapy are arriving alongside heightened pressure for faster, smarter impact, PICI's integrated model shows how to compress timelines from discovery to patient care. PICI's presence spans more than 50 presentations including 16 oral sessions, 30+ poster sessions, 10 e-papers and a featured clinical science symposium. This volume reflects not only the strength of the PICI network but also a unique ability to support promising work early and help carry it across the finish line, from foundational discoveries to practice-changing trials. Glioblastoma Breakthroughs: New Hope for Cancer's Most Formidable Challenge After decades of limited progress in glioblastoma, where median survival has hovered around one year, multiple PICI-supported teams are reporting clinical responses that suggest the field may be turning a corner. These advances demonstrate how collaboration, persistence and innovation can converge on even the most intractable problems: Stanford Medicine researchers achieved median overall survival of 14.6 months in recurrent glioblastoma patients using B7H3 CAR T cells delivered directly to the brain via dual Ommaya reservoirs. The Phase 1 study established a recommended Phase 2 dose and demonstrated manageable inflammation using IL-1 blockade, offering a tangible advance in a cancer where meaningful clinical progress has long remained elusive. (Crystal Mackall, MD, Director of the PICI Center at Stanford; Michelle Monje, MD, PhD — Abstract #2018) University of Pennsylvania investigators reported tumor shrinkage in 85% of evaluable patients using bivalent CAR T-cell therapy targeting EGFR and IL13Rα2 in recurrent glioblastoma. Delivered into the cerebroventricular space without lymphodepletion, the engineered T cells persisted in cerebrospinal fluid and blood for up to one year, marking an encouraging step toward sustained response and long-term disease management. (Carl June, MD, Director of the PICI Center at Penn; Donald O'Rourke, MD — Abstract #102) UCSF and Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers identified more than 700 glioma-specific, splice-derived neoantigens using the SNIPP antigen discovery platform. These targets elicited CD8+ T-cell responses in vitro and many were conserved across tumors, opening the door to scalable, potentially off-the-shelf TCR-based therapies. (Hideho Okada, MD, PhD, UCSF — Abstract #2519) Leadership Recognition: PICI CEO Receives ASCO's Highest Honor Dr. Karen Knudsen, PICI's CEO, will receive the Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award during ASCO's opening session, recognizing a career spent building bridges from bench to patient and helping reshape how academic institutions, nonprofits and companies move from insight to implementation. Saturday, May 31, 9:45 AM–12:00 PM CDT, Room N - Hall B1 Dr. Knudsen will also join Endpoints News for a live discussion on research acceleration, regulatory pace and how PICI's model aligns research, policy and investment with the realities facing patients today. Wednesday, June 4, 10:35 AM CDT, Endpoints Stage Network-Wide Impact: Where Discovery Meets Delivery PICI-supported science appears across the ASCO agenda, tackling critical questions in high-burden cancers through studies connected by a framework that enables speed, coordination and clinical relevance. These presentations reflect a hallmark of the PICI approach: compressing the distance between new insight and patient impact, often turning early-stage ideas into clinical action within just a few years. Melanoma Advances DREAMseq Final Results: Optimal treatment sequencing in BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma (Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell; Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, UCLA — Abstract #9506) Quadruple Immunotherapy: IL-6 blockade combined with checkpoint inhibitors in advanced melanoma (F. Stephen Hodi, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #9510) Neoadjuvant Strategy: Pembrolizumab in clinical stage IIB/C melanoma (Alexander Huang, MD, University of Pennsylvania — Abstract #9502) Prostate Cancer Innovation COMRADE Trial: Olaparib plus radium-223 in castration-resistant prostate cancer with bone metastases (Eliezer Van Allen, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #5007) C3NIRA Trial: Triplet chemo-immunotherapy induction followed by PARP inhibitor maintenance (Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD, MD Anderson — Abstract #5008) Breast and Lung Cancer Precision Strategies NeoSTAR Trial: Response-guided neoadjuvant sacituzumab govitecan plus pembrolizumab in early triple-negative breast cancer (Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #511) ADRIATIC Correlatives: Genomic analysis of long-term responders in limited-stage small cell lung cancer (David Barbie, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #8014) Translational Platforms INCIPIENT Trial: CARv3-TEAM-E immunological correlates in recurrent glioblastoma (Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital — Abstract #2008) BRCA1/2 DNA Vaccines: Plasmid-based immunotherapy platform with and without IL-12 (Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, University of Pennsylvania — Abstract #10505) About the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) accelerates breakthrough immune therapies from discovery to patient impact through a collaborative network of the nation's top cancer centers. Founded in 2016 through the vision of Sean Parker, PICI unites leading institutions in a translational engine built for speed, coordination and clinical relevance. Unlike traditional research models, PICI goes beyond discovery by actively advancing promising innovations through clinical testing, company formation, incubation and commercialization. PICI supports high-risk, high-reward science with shared goals, data and infrastructure, helping compress timelines from laboratory discovery to patient access. The institute has supported more than 1,000 investigators across its network and created a portfolio of 17 biotech ventures with over $4 billion in raised capital. By integrating scientific excellence with entrepreneurial execution, PICI is reimagining how cures are made and accelerating their path to the people who need them most. Learn more at Follow #PICIatASCO for updates throughout the meeting. View source version on Contacts Media Contact: Eric McKeebyHead of Communications & MarketingParker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy(646) 522-4605emckeeby@
Business Wire
4 days ago
- Health
- Business Wire
Parker Institute Showcases Breakthroughs in Immunotherapy at ASCO 2025 as CEO Dr. Karen Knudsen Receives Prestigious Honor
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the global oncology community gathers for the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (May 30–June 3), the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is demonstrating how bold science, accelerated through collaborative networks, can drive meaningful progress where patients need it most. At a pivotal moment when scientific breakthroughs in immunotherapy are arriving alongside heightened pressure for faster, smarter impact, PICI's integrated model shows how to compress timelines from discovery to patient care. PICI's presence spans more than 50 presentations including 16 oral sessions, 30+ poster sessions, 10 e-papers and a featured clinical science symposium. This volume reflects not only the strength of the PICI network but also a unique ability to support promising work early and help carry it across the finish line, from foundational discoveries to practice-changing trials. Glioblastoma Breakthroughs: New Hope for Cancer's Most Formidable Challenge After decades of limited progress in glioblastoma, where median survival has hovered around one year, multiple PICI-supported teams are reporting clinical responses that suggest the field may be turning a corner. These advances demonstrate how collaboration, persistence and innovation can converge on even the most intractable problems: Stanford Medicine researchers achieved median overall survival of 14.6 months in recurrent glioblastoma patients using B7H3 CAR T cells delivered directly to the brain via dual Ommaya reservoirs. The Phase 1 study established a recommended Phase 2 dose and demonstrated manageable inflammation using IL-1 blockade, offering a tangible advance in a cancer where meaningful clinical progress has long remained elusive. (Crystal Mackall, MD, Director of the PICI Center at Stanford; Michelle Monje, MD, PhD — Abstract #2018) University of Pennsylvania investigators reported tumor shrinkage in 85% of evaluable patients using bivalent CAR T-cell therapy targeting EGFR and IL13Rα2 in recurrent glioblastoma. Delivered into the cerebroventricular space without lymphodepletion, the engineered T cells persisted in cerebrospinal fluid and blood for up to one year, marking an encouraging step toward sustained response and long-term disease management. (Carl June, MD, Director of the PICI Center at Penn; Donald O'Rourke, MD — Abstract #102) UCSF and Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers identified more than 700 glioma-specific, splice-derived neoantigens using the SNIPP antigen discovery platform. These targets elicited CD8+ T-cell responses in vitro and many were conserved across tumors, opening the door to scalable, potentially off-the-shelf TCR-based therapies. (Hideho Okada, MD, PhD, UCSF — Abstract #2519) Leadership Recognition: PICI CEO Receives ASCO's Highest Honor Dr. Karen Knudsen, PICI's CEO, will receive the Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award during ASCO's opening session, recognizing a career spent building bridges from bench to patient and helping reshape how academic institutions, nonprofits and companies move from insight to implementation. Saturday, May 31, 9:45 AM–12:00 PM CDT, Room N - Hall B1 Dr. Knudsen will also join Endpoints News for a live discussion on research acceleration, regulatory pace and how PICI's model aligns research, policy and investment with the realities facing patients today. Wednesday, June 4, 10:35 AM CDT, Endpoints Stage Network-Wide Impact: Where Discovery Meets Delivery PICI-supported science appears across the ASCO agenda, tackling critical questions in high-burden cancers through studies connected by a framework that enables speed, coordination and clinical relevance. These presentations reflect a hallmark of the PICI approach: compressing the distance between new insight and patient impact, often turning early-stage ideas into clinical action within just a few years. Melanoma Advances DREAMseq Final Results: Optimal treatment sequencing in BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma (Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell; Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, UCLA — Abstract #9506) Quadruple Immunotherapy: IL-6 blockade combined with checkpoint inhibitors in advanced melanoma (F. Stephen Hodi, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #9510) Neoadjuvant Strategy: Pembrolizumab in clinical stage IIB/C melanoma (Alexander Huang, MD, University of Pennsylvania — Abstract #9502) Prostate Cancer Innovation COMRADE Trial: Olaparib plus radium-223 in castration-resistant prostate cancer with bone metastases (Eliezer Van Allen, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #5007) C3NIRA Trial: Triplet chemo-immunotherapy induction followed by PARP inhibitor maintenance (Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD, MD Anderson — Abstract #5008) Breast and Lung Cancer Precision Strategies NeoSTAR Trial: Response-guided neoadjuvant sacituzumab govitecan plus pembrolizumab in early triple-negative breast cancer (Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #511) ADRIATIC Correlatives: Genomic analysis of long-term responders in limited-stage small cell lung cancer (David Barbie, MD, Dana-Farber — Abstract #8014) Translational Platforms INCIPIENT Trial: CARv3-TEAM-E immunological correlates in recurrent glioblastoma (Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital — Abstract #2008) BRCA1/2 DNA Vaccines: Plasmid-based immunotherapy platform with and without IL-12 (Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, University of Pennsylvania — Abstract #10505) About the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) accelerates breakthrough immune therapies from discovery to patient impact through a collaborative network of the nation's top cancer centers. Founded in 2016 through the vision of Sean Parker, PICI unites leading institutions in a translational engine built for speed, coordination and clinical relevance. Unlike traditional research models, PICI goes beyond discovery by actively advancing promising innovations through clinical testing, company formation, incubation and commercialization. PICI supports high-risk, high-reward science with shared goals, data and infrastructure, helping compress timelines from laboratory discovery to patient access. The institute has supported more than 1,000 investigators across its network and created a portfolio of 17 biotech ventures with over $4 billion in raised capital. By integrating scientific excellence with entrepreneurial execution, PICI is reimagining how cures are made and accelerating their path to the people who need them most. Learn more at Follow #PICIatASCO for updates throughout the meeting.
Korea Herald
4 days ago
- Health
- Korea Herald
The Brain Prize: HM The King of Denmark presents prestigious prize to US and German scientists for seminal discoveries in brain cancer
Two pioneering scientists received The Brain Prize 2025 for their discoveries that open an entirely new way of thinking about and understanding brain cancers, and the potential strategies to treat them. COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- HM King Frederik of Denmark presented neuroscientists, Professors Michelle Monje (USA) and Frank Winkler (Germany), with their Brain Prize medals and a diploma at a ceremony in Copenhagen Wednesday evening. The Brain Prize is the world's largest award for outstanding contributions to neuroscience worth EUR 1.3 million. During the ceremony, HM The King gave a speech praising the two prize recipients for their discoveries: "Your achievements in cancer neuroscience are truly extraordinary. You are an inspiration not only to your peers, but to generations of scientists yet to come. Thanks to your tireless efforts, there is hope that one day all types of brain cancer can be cured." Monje and Winkler have made transformative discoveries by showing that the everyday activity that takes place in the brain drives the development of cancers within it. Recent studies further show that the influence of the nervous system is not only limited to tumours in the brain, but also tumours throughout the body. These remarkable findings have laid the foundation for an entirely new field of research called 'Cancer Neuroscience' that represents a paradigm shift in the understanding of these cancers, and which offers vital new opportunities for treatment. New treatments are critical since cancers that arise in the brain, particularly the ones known as gliomas, are extraordinarily difficult to treat, and are the leading cause of brain tumour-related deaths in both children and adults. The Brain Prize has been awarded every year since 2011 by the Lundbeck Foundation. The celebration takes place in Copenhagen, and this year 360 invited guests attended. Guests of honor were the prize winners and their families, as well as patron of the prize, HM The King of Denmark. The Brain Prize 2025 is awarded to: Michelle Monje MD, PhD, the Milan Gambhir Professor of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Stanford Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and Frank Winkler, MD, Professor of Experimental Neuro-Oncology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg University Hospital, Department of Neurology, and German Cancer Research Center for: Pioneering Cancer Neuroscience: disease-driving interactions between the brain and brain tumours. MORE INFO A portrait film about the 2025 Brain Prize winners and their science (10 min.) is available at alongside various additional information on the prize.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
'Brain fog' after CAR-T? Stanford report links cancer therapy to troubling brain side effects
A groundbreaking cancer treatment , known as CAR-T cell therapy, which has been celebrated for its transformative impact on how we treat aggressive cancers, is now coming under critical examination. Recent research from Stanford University indicates that this innovative immunotherapy might be associated with subtle yet troubling cognitive complications, specifically a phenomenon often referred to as ' brain fog .' Brain fog encompasses a range of symptoms, including forgetfulness, confusion, and difficulty maintaining focus, all of which can significantly impact a patient's quality of life. The double-edged sword: CAR-T therapy CAR-T cell therapy, or Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy, has revolutionized cancer care by empowering a patient's immune system to target and eliminate cancer cells. This treatment has brought renewed hope to individuals suffering from aggressive forms of blood cancers and even some solid tumors. However, emerging evidence suggests that the benefits of this therapy may come at a neurological price. The study, spearheaded by Stanford researchers, revealed that even without chemotherapy or direct brain cancer involvement, CAR-T therapy can lead to mild cognitive impairment in some patients. Unraveling the mechanisms of brain fog The findings, published in the prestigious journal 'Cell', focused on experiments involving mice that had tumors localized in various sites: some in the brain, others that had metastasized to the brain, and some confined to other areas like bone or skin. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo The researchers conducted a series of cognitive tests before and after the mice underwent CAR-T treatment. Remarkably, cognitive impairment was observed across almost all groups, with the sole exception being the mice with bone cancer, which provoked a minimal immune response outside of the targeted cancer-fighting effects. What is brain fog? Brain fog is a term used to describe a range of cognitive symptoms that make it difficult to think clearly, focus, and concentrate. It's often characterized by a feeling of mental sluggishness, confusion, and difficulty recalling information or finding the right words. While not a medical condition itself, brain fog can be a symptom of various underlying causes, including stress, lack of sleep, certain illnesses, or medications. Dr. Michelle Monje, the study's lead investigator and a pediatric neuro-oncologist at Stanford Medicine, articulated the duality of CAR-T therapy's effects: 'While CAR-T cell therapy holds enormous promise, resulting in long-term survival for patients with aggressive cancers who would otherwise face a dire outcome, it is crucial that we critically assess all potential long-term effects — including the newly uncovered cognitive impairments — to ensure survivors achieve the best possible quality of life. ' The role of microglia: the brain's immune sentinels Central to the development of brain fog following CAR-T therapy appears to be microglia, the specialized immune cells that inhabit the brain. The activation of these microglial cells during CAR-T treatment seems to be a key player in the onset of cognitive disturbances, paralleling pathways observed in patients recovering from chemotherapy or respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 and influenza. The independent emergence of cognitive symptoms without the involvement of traditional chemotherapy or other common cancer treatments suggests that CAR-T therapy alone may be capable of inducing these side effects. A ray of hope for recovery Despite the implications of these findings, there remains optimism in the research community. The study also pinpointed potential therapeutic avenues aimed at reversing the cognitive impairments linked to CAR-T therapy. By targeting the inflammatory pathways associated with microglial activation, researchers hope to develop new pharmacological interventions that could mitigate or even prevent brain fog in patients recovering from cancer. As noted by the researchers, 'Innovative therapies that facilitate mental recovery post-immunotherapy could substantially enhance the overall quality of life for survivors.' The bottom line: As CAR-T cell therapy gains traction and becomes an integral part of the oncology landscape, these revelations emphasize the necessity of monitoring not just the survival rates but also the long-term cognitive well-being of patients undergoing this treatment. While CAR-T therapy remains a monumental achievement in cancer care, it introduces new dimensions that healthcare providers and researchers must address — ensuring that patients do not merely survive longer, but also thrive in their post-treatment lives. Sonali Bendre opens up about dealing with after-effects of cancer therapy: I experienced brain fog and couldn't remember things as much in my personal life One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
