Accelerating the Path to Cures

Breakthroughs in the lab matter most when they reach patients. Our 2022 strategic plan measures this through “therapeutic trial enrollment,” or treatment trial participation: the number of people who join new treatment studies that could become standards of care. This year, 418 people enrolled in therapeutic trials led by MCC doctors. And 33 of the trials open this year were designed and led by our own researchers, including 9 testing new treatments and 24 answering other research questions. This is a sign that ideas born in our own labs are reaching patients. And, through the Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network, 65 trials are now open or in development across 16 locations statewide—from the Twin Cities to the Iron Range to Mankato, and countless cities in between. That means a patient in Greater Minnesota can access the same cutting-edge research as someone who lives closer to Minneapolis. 

In order to reach a breakthrough for some of these tough-to-treat cancers, our scientists have to explore some bold ideas. This year, MCC research led by Dr. Masato Yamamoto drew international attention for an early-phase clinical trial of a virus specifically engineered to seek out and destroy pancreatic cancer cells while simultaneously rallying the body’s immune system. Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers precisely because its dense tumors resist conventional therapies; early findings from the trial’s first participants showed that their tumors stopped growing, a meaningful signal of hope for a cancer that has long resisted conventional treatment.

MCC scientists are also reprogramming the immune system itself. A team including Drs. Martin Felices and Jeffrey Miller, MCC’s director, developed a precision genome-editing platform that turns natural killer (NK) cells into programmable cancer-fighting cells, equipped with built-in genetic circuits that help them better target tumors, survive harsh tumor environments, and even activate in the low-oxygen conditions found inside tumors. In some experiments, the team successfully inserted new genetic instructions into nearly nine out of ten cells, a substantial leap forward. Plus, the platform can scale to produce billions of edited cells that are compatible with clinical manufacturing. These engineered cells showed improved ability to eliminate lymphoma, leukemia, and ovarian cancer in laboratory models. 

This is what the path to cures looks like: bold science, rigorous testing, and a relentless focus on the patient. From viral therapies to programmable immune cells, MCC is working to ensure that today’s experimental ideas become tomorrow’s standard of care.