Recently, a number of donors to the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC) met at Sanford-Burnham’s La Jolla campus to learn about how the science they supported at SKCC has advanced. Two years ago, when SKCC shut its doors, Sanford-Burnham hired a number of investigators who now continue their work in our NCI-designated Cancer Center.

At the event, CEO Dr. John Reed described work by two SKCC researchers who have thrived at Sanford-Burnham: Dr. Charles Spruck and Dr. Wanda Reynolds.

Dr. Spruck has developed a way to directly quantify enzymatic activities inside cancer cells. The technique has several advantages over current methods, including sensitivity, reproducibility and rapidity, and has potential wide-spread application in proteomics and cancer research. Dr. Spruck noted that Sanford-Burnham’s affiliations with several hospitals has been invaluable to his work:

“This has allowed us to explore the possible application of our technology to early detection of cancers and identification of novel biomarkers that could be used by clinicians to determine whether a cancer will respond to chemotherapy or progress to life-threatening metastatic disease.”

Dr. Reynolds investigates the role an enzyme called myeloperoxidase (MPO) plays in breast cancer. MPO is a normal part of our immune system, where it helps destroy invading microbes. The Reynolds lab has found that a genetic mutation in the human MPO gene causes it to be aberrantly expressed, contributing to disease.

“There have been some clear advantages to working at Sanford-Burnham. One advantage is the greater number and diversity of investigators, which has led to several new collaborations for our group. Another benefit is the impressive array of core facilities, such as the histology/microscopy core and the screening facility that we are using to identify small-molecule therapeutics. These core facilities and new interactions have accelerated our progress, allowing us to obtain funding for a breast cancer study that began at SKCC.”

For more on cancer research at Sanford-Burnham, check out these recent Beaker blog posts:
Got MELK?
Early Steps in Melanoma Development
Stem Cells and Brain Tumors
New Insights into Children’s Health
Reining in Melanoma with MicroRNA