Philadelphia--For the second year in a row, The Wistar Institute medical research laboratory of Daniela Santoli, Ph.D., has been awarded a Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation grant. The $20,000 award will support continued research on TALL-104 cells, which show promise in the treatment of breast cancer.
According to Lisa Brownstein, President of the Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation, this grant allows the Foundation "to be involved in a small way in research and clinical trials for new treatments and perhaps a cure for breast cancer. We feel that this funding is an important part of our commitment to the women of our community."
The Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation was established in memory of Linda Creed, a songwriter and former resident of the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia, who died in 1986 of breast cancer. The group is dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer and provides support for those research efforts that seem most promising.
In pre-clinical studies using pets volunteered by desperate owners, TALL-104 "killer" cells successfully caused the regression and disappearance of tumors without producing side effects or damaging normal tissues. Over the past 12 months, they also were tested in Phase I clinical trials on children with leukemias and solid tumors, and on women with breast cancer. The trials demonstrated that high doses of TALL-104 cells can be administered without toxicity to patients.
Although these early phase trials were not designed to test the anti-tumor efficacy of TALL-104 cells, encouraging preliminary evidence indicates their ability to induce a reduction of tumor load.
Dr. Santoli and her research team are currently planning a Phase I-II trial to identify the kinds of tumors most responsive to TALL-104 cells, and to test treatment regimens that would be most beneficial to patients. They also are looking at ways of increasing the cells' ability to target specific tumors.
The Phase I clin
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Contact: Diana Cutshall
dcutshall@wista.wistar.upenn.edu
215-898-3716
The Wistar Institute
7-Dec-1998