by Tom Wilemon
Satya Das, MD, has been awarded a $300,000 grant for a two-year period by the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation. The grant supports his research combining the targeted therapy cabozantinib and the glutamiase inhibitor CB-839 in a clinical trial to assess the synergy of these antitumor treatments on small intestine and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor patients.
The grant was one of 12 projects the foundation recently funded. In total, the grants amounted to $3.5 million.
Neuroendocrine tumors require the expansion of new blood vessels in order to grow and spread. Two of the new grants explore new therapies that target developing tumor blood vessels.
Das, assistant professor of Medicine, and colleagues at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center will explore the potential efficacy of a combination therapy testing cabozantinib, a drug known to affect the formation of new blood vessels, with an experimental drug called CB-839.
“We can see real momentum in this new round of grants. We hope the discoveries from these projects will lead to improved treatment options for patients,” said Elyse Gellerman, chief executive officer of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation.
The foundation has invested $26 million in research over the past 15 years. An estimated 171,000 Americans are living with neuroendocrine tumors.
