You're sparking hope for cancer patients!
When you support Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center through events like Empire State Ride, you’re supporting an institution at the forefront of innovative cancer care, advancing science and expanding treatments options. Those advances influence the way we treat all kinds of cancer everywhere, making your impact worldwide.
Advances influence how we treat cancer everywhere, making your impact worldwide
Why Roswell Park?
What you might not know is that Roswell Park is one of only 4% of cancer centers that hold comprehensive status from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). During its annual Core Grant renewal, Roswell Park was designated “exceptional” by the NCI, underscoring the center’s commitment to exceptional patient care and working toward a cancer-free tomorrow. That commitment trickles down to the work Roswell Park does to drive breakthroughs in cancer research with the potential to become the next standard of care, everywhere.
Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs is how we’re driving this mission forward.
Roswell Park is one of only 4% of cancer centers that hold comprehensive status
What is Cell Therapy?
Immunotherapy has changed the way we treat cancer by taking full advantage of the innate genius of the immune system. Cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy, is an evolving and expanding field that offers great promise for patients and their loved ones.
Cell therapy uses cells, sometimes gene-engineered, to work with a patient’s immune system to stop cancer growth and kill existing cancer cells. This therapeutic approach is quickly becoming an option for a greater range of cancer types, in many cases allowing patients to move away from treatments like chemotherapies which can have harsh side effects.
Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs: Phase I ✅
Thanks to donor support through events like Empire State Ride, Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs has set the foundation for innovation at Roswell Park in the field of cellular therapy. In phase I, this campaign focused on hiring the right talent and building the right infrastructure to manufacture cells in house. By doing so, Roswell Park has improved patient access to cell and gene therapies while increasing capacity to fuel clinical trials in pursuit of effective, less invasive treatments for all types of cancer.
Now, Roswell Park is uniquely positioned to become a global destination for innovative cancer care.
An All-Star Team
Roswell Park has assembled a team of industry leaders to execute the innovative work that needs to be done in cell therapy and immunotherapy, ensuring your contributions are making the maximum impact for the future of cancer care. Led by Deputy Director Renier Brentjens, MD, PhD, The Katherine Anne Gioia Endowed Chair in Cancer Medicine, and a 2024 Empire State Rider, this team is working seamlessly to bring innovative therapies from bench (lab) to bedside (patients).
The Right Infrastructure
2024 marked a historic year in Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center history — the opening of 14 new state-of-the-art clean rooms as part of the Roswell Park GMP Engineering & Cell Manufacturing (GEM) Facility. The new clean rooms, paired with four pre-existing clean rooms, position Roswell Park as a global leader in the field of cell and gene therapy. In fact, the facility is the first of only two cell and gene therapy hubs in New York.
Cells, a cornerstone of cell therapy, can now be manufactured in house, opening a world of possibilities for cancer treatment for both solid tumors and blood cancers. Donors have been essential in bringing this goal to life.
Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs: Phase II 🟢🚦
With the right team and infrastructure in place, Roswell Park is now equipped to launch several promising new clinical trials. Current cell therapy clinical trials are seeing an improvement in survival rates for patients with blood cancers. With those achievements in mind, Roswell Park researchers are now shifting focus to using recent discoveries to study chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy on solid tumors. CAR T-cell therapy is a type of cell therapy that re-engineers a patient’s own disease-fighting immune T cells against their specific cancer.
Using CAR T cells to treat solid tumors remains challenging, because many patients either do not respond or their cancer returns after treatment. Researchers are now working to improve CAR T-cell design to help the cells work better and last longer in the body. Four clinical trials for these cancers are in very early stages and could bring about groundbreaking changes to the way we treat cancer. Donations to Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs through events like Empire State Ride keep these trials moving forward.
Current Clinical Trials Underway Thanks to Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs
Small Cell Lung and Prostate Cancer
Dr. Brentjens' lab has developed next-generation CAR T cells that are enhanced to secrete immune-activating signals that boost their ability to fight cancer. These modified CAR T cells have shown improved tumor control in laboratory models of aggressive solid cancers, including lung and prostate. Based on these promising results, this clinical trial will test these new CAR T cells in patients with chemotherapy-resistant small cell lung cancer and neuroendocrine prostate cancer, which can have prognoses of only months.
Pancreatic Cancer
The pancreatic cancer CAR T-cell therapy trial will combine targeting of both tumor cells and cancer-supporting cells called fibroblasts. Fibroblasts function like a castle’s moat, preventing optimal T-cell function against tumor cells. T cells are additionally armored with cytokines that increase their functionality within the tumor. Researchers are currently optimizing this therapy in the laboratory in preparation for treatment in patients.
Adult and Pediatric Sarcoma
Treatment options for cancer patients with bone sarcomas are limited, and the prognosis is poor. A new study involves a novel dual-armored, dual-targeted strategy to overcome limitations in the use of CAR T-cell therapy for sarcoma patients. This new strategy will use specific immune modulating proteins to reprogram immunosuppressive myeloid cells and stimulate anti-tumor T cells. This will boost a patient’s immune response against the tumor. Results will ultimately shape the future of CAR T-cell therapy for other solid tumors.
Ovarian Cancer
This early-phase clinical trial is testing a new form of cell therapy for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, which has no cure and minimal treatment options. Researchers will use a patient's own immune cells, genetically modified in a lab to recognize and attack cancer. These cells will also be able to release IL-18, a molecule that boosts the immune response, to make treatment more powerful and longer-lasting. Patients will receive therapy through a standard IV infusion and a second infusion in the abdomen to reach cancer that has spread in the belly and maximize the T cells’ ability to find and destroy tumors. Researchers hope to determine the safest dose, understand how the treatment behaves in the body, monitor how the tumor responds and learn how and why the therapy may or may not work in each patient.
If you are interested in taking your support of Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs to the next level, contact the fundraising team at EmpireStateRide@roswellpark.org.
Check out why these riders support Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs
Maria Coccia-Bourgeois
Terry Bourgeois
