I finally felt as if I could take a deep breath. The CCSG was in, I had submitted (or participated in) three RC2 proposals, and I had submitted a non-competing administrative R01 supplement. And then I went to ASCO.
As you know ASCO has become a huge meeting, dwarfed only by the pharma-related meetings that surround it. In fact, many ASCO attendees struggle to even make it to the scientific sessions. According to a cab driver I spoke with, whenever ASCO is held, it is the busiest week of the year in Orlando (I repeat – in Orlando!). However, instead of feeling overwhelmed, I was struck by the amazing opportunities there are to make important contributions to the field of cancer research. So many clinical trials were presented, yet few would qualify as high-quality experiments in the eyes of a rigorous scientist. After all, we humans belong to an outbred species, possess free will, and object to incessant sampling of tumors and normal organs to help our doctors learn about new treatments. This is our field’s great challenge, and Lombardi’s opportunity to make a real difference is embedded in that challenge.
So, what is that opportunity? I believe that some answers will arise from the identification of new targets or pathways and the testing of new drugs and treatment strategies. However, we rarely know how to maximize therapy with existing drugs, even when those drugs target molecular drivers of the malignancies. For example, trastuzumab works as a single agent in only about a third of women with previously untreated HER2/neu overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. I believe that well designed clinical trials that rigorously examine pharmacodynamic endpoints can identify potentially responsive patients, and can yield molecular insights that drive research and improve patient care. There is no reason why the Lombardi scientific and clinical research community can’t assume a leadership role in this dynamic environment. Even though I have seen enough RC1 and RC2 grants to last me for quite some time, I look forward to helping Lombardi to address the “Grand Opportunity” and “Challenge” of revolutionizing clinical trial design, devising and implementing innovative biomarker analyses and integrating the information to drive future discoveries.
For those of you who would like to learn more about targeted therapies, the NCI has produced a web tutorial for health professionals called, “Understanding Targeted Therapies for Cancer.” You can access it on the NCI’s website.