Red Card Cancer at Johns Hopkins Ushering in a New Era of Cancer Medicine
The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center is ushering in a new era of cancer medicine. Progress that could not even be imagined a decade ago is now being realized in our laboratories and our clinics. We are transforming cancer medicine away from a model in which we see patients for the first time when they begin experiencing symptoms to one that detects, manages, and many times eradicates cancers before patients even know they have them. This work is being driven by our pioneering discoveries in cancer genetics and epigenetics. The Kimmel Cancer Center is leading the way in developing tests that detect cellular alterations that identify cancers, predict which therapies a cancer will respond to, and monitors cancers for recurrence. Our scientists have led the world in deciphering the genetic and epigenetic cause of cancer, and now they are developing the technologies that will allow these discoveries to be routinely used to make clinical decisions about how best to treat cancers, not just at Johns Hopkins, but also at cancer centers around the country and around the world.
Getting the Right Treatments to the Right Patients at the Right Time Through Personalized Cancer Medicine
Within the next few years, all cancer patients at the Kimmel Cancer Center will have their tumors analyzed to reveal the unique combination of molecular and cellular alterations driving their cancers. Targeting these alterations will improve treatment outcomes, thwart cancers before they develop, and slash the cost of drug discovery.
How is Red Card Cancer Helping?
Red Card Cancer is supporting the investigation of how we may find new uses for existing medicines. Our understanding of the genetics of cancers allows for us to screen different drugs for activity in different cancers with a level of sensitivity unavailable till recently. What this means for patients is that we can look at thousands of FDA approved medications which may have activity in killing specific types of cancers. Using this platform drastically reduces the expense of drug discovery and cost of therapy and early results tell us that we are on to something. Recently, our labs have identified a common cardiac drug used many years ago has shown promise in killing prostate cancer cells. As we continue to screen drugs against cancer’s genetic blueprints, we hope to find many more medicines which have activity in more cancers.
Your support of Red Card Cancer is keeping our promise towards progress in finding a cure for cancer. Thank you.