The Keller Laboratory at cc-TDI

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

KENS TV Coverage (muscle stem cells)

We sincerely thank Wendy Rigby of KENS Channel 5 for her coverage of our recent muscle stem cell publication. It was thoughtful of Wendy and her camerman, Richard, to have included so much of our team in the story. To see the local video, click here. For the CBS national link, click here.

[ to right: Mandy with mus musculus (a house mouse) ]

Monday, April 6, 2009

Lor Randall visits GCCRI

It was our pleasure to host our colleague and collaborator, Dr. Lor Randall, who visited UTHSCSA to give an Orthopaedic Surgery Grand Rounds presentation entitled, "Sarcomatology: A Transdisciplinary Approach". An orthopedic oncologist and researcher himself, Lor is the Director of the Huntsman Cancer Institute Sarcoma Service - and our frequent collaborator and good friend. We appreciate his time to visit with us to share his recent work.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Rally Foundation funds PPTI Study

We are grateful to the Rally Foundation for a recent grant in the amount of $17,076 which will fund testing of one novel therapeutic compound for medulloblastoma and another for rhabdomyosarcoma in our genetically-engineered mouse models. The Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research is a non-profit organization, which through volunteers across the country, aims to raise awareness and funds specifically for childhood cancer research to find better treatments and cures for childhood cancers.

These awards fromt he Rally Foundation are in honor of Matthew Butterfield and in memory of Coleman Larson.

[ This blog entry is also mirrored at the Rally Foundation blog site. ]

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Koichi's paper to be Highlighted in Cancer Research

We've just been informed that Koichi's paper has been selected for the Highlights section of the upcoming issue of Cancer Research. Congratulations, Koichi!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

Please see our discussion about eggs for cancer research at the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation blog site, http://lemonadeblog.com/2009/03/back-to-future-incredible-egg.html.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Bench to Bedside

We're excited to share that Charles has been appointed as a full time member of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee. This committee designs clinical and translational trials for rhabdomyosarcoma and other soft tissue sarcomas. This appointment follows other COG activities in recent years including ad hoc participation in the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee since 2001. Also, Charles has also been an awardee of the COG Young Investigator Award (2001) and a recipient of the COG Translational Research Award (2001-2002). The results of the latter are published as a COG report entitled, "Rhabdomyosarcomas utilize developmental, myogenic growth factors for disease advantage". This study was the foundation upon which our more recent from-the-bench-towards-bedside efforts have been focused. Our lab looks forward to being able to contribute more to clinical and translational trial design as new, molecularly-targeted drugs become available to pediatric patients.

Collaborator Andrew Brack visits GCCRI

Friend and collaborator, Dr. Andrew S. Brack, gave a terrific seminar presentation at GCCRI today. Andrew is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Regenerative Medicine at MGH, as well as a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. A recent trainee of our other valued colleague, Dr. Thomas A. Rando at Stanford, Andrew has established a productive independent laboratory of his own and is a young rising star in the muscle biology field. As ever, the cross-pollination between muscle cancer biologists and muscle biologists leads to interesting conversations, novel ideas, and new outlooks on ways to treat muscle cancer. We are grateful to Andrew for making the trip to San Antonio and giving such a great seminar on satellite cell (muscle stem cell) renewal.

[ PICTURED: Andrew (left) with Koichi (right) at the Alamo ]

You Can Participate in our Novel Therapeutics Studies !

One would like to think that tangibly better treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma and other childhood cancers can be found in a matter of years, instead of tens of years. Finding new treatments starts with research, perhaps even a new research approach to identifying effective new treatments. The Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute focuses on finding molecules in childhood cancers that can be directly turned off or on by drugs so that the tumor stops growing. Behind our novel approach is the use of genetically-engineered mice. Our Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative uses mice modified from before birth so that at a certain age, and in a certain tissue, the same mutations found in a child’s cancer are activated in the mouse. These special mouse models of childhood cancer can be used to test a treatment to see whether the tumor growth and spread (metastasis) can be reversed. The specific aspect of these mice having normal immune systems is a real plus, too, because white blood cells play an important role in how tumors evolve and respond to therapy.

Our program is designed around community participation. Through the Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute, you can contribute directly to this grass-roots initiative. Donations through small gifts or grants will assist in studying compounds that may be effective in treating such childhood cancers as alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, or medulloblastoma (the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma model was featured by Dr. Keller's long time collaborator and former mentor, 2007 Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi, in his Nobel Prize lecture {see 16 minutes onward}.)

For additional information regarding supporting this program please contact Charles Keller at charles@cc-tdi.org. Results obtained through these studies will be shared with the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, as well as the Children’s Oncology Group, which designs clinical trials for childhood cancer.