E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, receives his second research grant from foundation.
STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 13, 2024 — Thanks to a second $500,000 grant from Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT), scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA) are continuing to develop a highly promising oncolytic virus approach to treat people with the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma.
ACGT is awarding the grant to E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, the Chair of the Brigham and Women’s Department of Neurosurgery and Co-Director of the Institute for the Neurosciences. Dr. Chiocca is an ACGT Research Fellow and a member of the ACGT Scientific Advisory Council.
Dr. Chiocca is a pioneer in using oncolytic virus therapies for aggressive brain tumors such as glioblastoma, which is diagnosed in approximately 15,000 people in the United States each year. Glioblastoma is the most common type of primary brain tumor – a tumor that starts in the brain – and the average survival is an estimated 8 months.
The grant supports Dr. Chiocca’s continuing work to develop oncolytic virus therapies for glioblastoma. Oncolytic viruses are modified versions of viruses engineered to infect cancer cells while ignoring healthy cells. The viruses cause the cells to break apart and die, and importantly stimulate a reaction from the patient’s immune system.
“Oncolytic viruses are really good at causing an inflamed environment around the tumor,” Dr. Chiocca says. “So we changed the microenvironment for glioblastoma from one that’s immunosuppressed to one that’s inflamed and immuno-activated. Once you inject these viruses, you get an amazing amount of T cells and other immune cells migrating to the tumor.”
Dr. Chiocca received a grant from ACGT in 2007 to develop an oncolytic virus for glioblastoma. This therapy has progressed to a first-in-human phase 1 clinical trial at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The trial is demonstrating promising early results, which were published in Nature, including an improved average survival for people with glioblastoma. The phase 1 clinical trial continues to recruit patients.
Dr. Chiocca and his colleagues are using what they have learned about the first ACGT-funded oncolytic virus – including how the virus’ activity in the tumor activates an immune response against the cancer – to develop a modified virus with the potential to infect cancer cells more effectively while causing fewer side effects for patients. This latest grant from ACGT allows Dr. Chiocca to run IND-enabling studies that could lead to another much-needed clinical trial for people with glioblastoma.
“Funding from ACGT during this part of our process of developing the oncolytic virus is so critical and will allow us to bring the therapy to patients soon,” Dr. Chiocca says. “ACGT is funding the science that can then lead to breakthrough clinical trials.”
“Dr. Chiocca is an esteemed brain tumor scientist and has already used funding from ACGT to show the potential of oncolytic viruses against glioblastoma, which is one of the most difficult cancers to treat,” says Kevin Honeycutt, ACGT chief executive officer and president. “This latest proposal from Dr. Chiocca is an exciting opportunity to build on past successes linked to ACGT funding and continue the momentum in developing a potentially curative cell and gene therapy for people with aggressive brain tumors.”
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Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT)
For more than 20 years, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) has funded scientific research to bring innovative treatment options using cancer cell and gene therapy to people living with deadly cancers. These treatments continue to save the lives of many blood cancer patients and offer new hope to all people diagnosed with cancer. Founded by Barbara and Edward Netter after their daughter-in-law’s devastating death from breast cancer, ACGT funds talented visionaries whose scientific advancements are driving the development of groundbreaking treatments for glioblastoma, melanoma, sarcoma, ovarian, lung, prostate, pediatric and pancreatic cancers.
100% of all public funds raised by Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy directly support research and programs. For more information, visit acgtfoundation.org, call (203) 358-5055, or join the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
