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Creating Drugs to Fight Cancer

Cancer: Creating novel anti-metastatic drugs for treating cancer

The incidence of cancer continues to increase. In 2010, 207,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected. The Weiss lab is interested in understanding why cancer cells metastasize and have developed procedures to grow cancer stem cells and endothelial cells in a three-dimensional culture that mimics the growth of both metastatic cancer cells and the new blood vessels that feed their growth in the human body. This platform has led to an integrated program for accelerating the discovery of new therapeutic monoclonal antibodies that can prevent cancer cell growth and metastasis, which is what leads to untimely death.

“This is a perfect example of an approach that would not be suitable for traditional funding—it’s a great idea but just needed the experimental traction that could only be obtained through innovative funding.”

—Dr. David Dudley (collaborator with Dr. Weiss on this project)