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Source: Deep Dive Science
Author: Zhou Chen
Guide
"We only focus on cancer and have seen all kinds of intractable diseases. Our doctors treat more rare cancers in a day than most doctors see in their lifetimes." MD Anderson Cancer Center has this to say when it introduces itself on its website.
If it was some big talk from other institutes, but if it was MD Anderson, it would seem very reasonable.
In this year's "America's Best Hospitals" rankings, MD Anderson once again ranked first in the oncology hospital rankings, and for nearly a decade, it has been number one almost every year.
The MD Anderson logo is also very interesting, that is, it crosses out the word "cancer" with a slash, which shows MD Anderson's ambition to fight cancer.
In 2016, the Obama administration launched the cancer moon program, and MD Anderson launched the program back in 2012. Why is MD Anderson always one step ahead in cancer research?
01
Clinical trials of cancer vaccine IMGS-001 were initiated
At the end of October 2023, Anderson, MD at the University of Texas, officially launched a Phase 1a/1b trial of IMGS-001 in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.
IMGS-001 is a new anti-cancer drug developed by ImmunoGenesis, an American biotechnology company, which is a bispecific PD-L1/PD-L2 antibody drug designed to target tumors that are resistant, incurable, and immune rejection with existing immunotherapies.
Why was the trial of IMGS-001 conducted at MD Anderson? This may have something to do with MD Anderson's absolute authority in the field of cancer. In U.S. News & World Report's tumor rankings, MD Anderson has been at the top of the list for many years.
In 2022, MD Anderson opened 1,680 clinical trials, and 22 drugs were approved by the FDA. 02
MD Anderson's ambitious founding history
MD Anderson is located at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, which is the largest medical center in the world.
The creation of MD Anderson was closely related to one person, and that was Monroe Dunaway Anderson.
Anderson was born in 1873, the son of a bank president. Growing up, Anderson and his family worked together in the cotton business and soon amassed a fortune. In 1936, Anderson created the charitable foundation that bears his name and provided the foundation with about $300,000 in start-up capital.
When Anderson died in 1939, the Foundation received a massive sum of $19 million. In fact, the MD Anderson Foundation does not have a clear charter for what to do with this huge fund. However, the trustees of this fund have a strong vision to use it for health care.
In 1941, the Texas government approved a request from the University of Texas to establish a cancer research and treatment hospital somewhere in the state and allocated $500,000 for the program, without specifying where it would be built.
The University of Texas negotiated with the Anderson Foundation and agreed that if the hospital were to be built in Houston and named after the foundation's donors, the Anderson Foundation could provide an additional $500,000. After that, the University of Texas established MD Anderson Cancer Research Hospital based on the Texas State Cancer Hospital and the Department of Cancer Research.
Since then, MD Anderson Cancer Research Hospital has undergone several name changes:
1941: Established by the Texas Legislature, formerly known as the Texas State Cancer Hospital and Division of Cancer Research.
1942: Changed its name to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Research Hospital in recognition of the support of the MD Anderson Foundation.
1955: Changed name to University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital and Houston Cancer Institute.
1972: The reorganization of the University of Texas System led to the creation of the University of Texas System Cancer Center, including hospitals and research institutes in Houston and Science Park in Smithville.
In 1946, the research hospital welcomed its first full-time president, Randolph Lee Clark.
Jonathan Rhodes and Lee Clark (right)
At that time, MD Anderson Cancer Research Hospital was just starting out, and during the war years, the cost and supplies of the American research institute were extremely short, so the development of the research hospital was limited and difficult. When Clark took office, he was determined to develop the research hospital into "the first cancer hospital in the American university system" with limited resources. In a letter to his friend Randolph Fields, he mentioned the idea of building a cancer hospital:
"There are three main objectives: educational, therapeutic and research activities related to cancer diseases. These goals are the theme of the entire enterprise and the tone of each department's functions."
It can be said that Clark worked hard all his life to achieve these three goals, and he worked here for 32 years until his retirement in 1978; It was then led by Charles M. Charles A. LeMaistre and John Mendelsohn took over.
It wasn't until 2011 that the arrival of fourth president, Ronald DePinho, took MD Anderson's cancer research in a whole new direction, and under his leadership, MD Anderson launched an ambitious cancer "Moon Shots" program. 03
Why is MD Anderson a pioneer in global cancer research?
Currently, MD Anderson has 23,040 employees, including 1,870 faculty members. MD Anderson's current leadership, the fifth president, Peter Anderson, is the fifth president. W· Peter W.T. Pisters, who is known as a cancer surgeon, researcher, professor, and hospital administrator.
MD Anderson also has a wealth of financial resources, one of the most important being the Texas Cancer Prevention Institute (CPRIT). In fiscal year 2022, MD Anderson received more than $32 million in funding from CPRIT for research, recruitment, and training.
In addition, MD Anderson received a grant from the National Cancer Institute's Research Excellence Program (SPORE) for research in 9 areas, including endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, gastrointestinal cancer, brain cancer, leukemia cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma.
"Fight cancer" is a very significant label of MD Anderson, it can be said that MD Anderson is an out-and-out pioneer in cancer research and treatment, and even in the logo design, MD Anderson deliberately crossed out the word "cancer".
In 1971, the National Cancer Act was enacted in the United States, designating the first three comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, and MD Anderson was one of them; Currently, the National Cancer Institute has designated 53 comprehensive cancer centers, and MD Anderson is one of them.
In addition, in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals 2023-2024" poll, MD Anderson was ranked No. 1 in cancer care. Since the ranking began in 1990, the institution has been ranked in the top two in the national ranking for cancer care every year, and for nearly a decade, almost every year.
The reason why we have achieved such a high reputation in the field of cancer is because of MD Anderson's pioneering spirit in cancer.
In 2016, the Obama administration launched the Cancer Moon Program, advocating $195 million for cancer research, and in 2022, the Biden administration followed suit, pledging to reduce cancer mortality by 50% over the next 25 years.
As early as 2012, the prescient MD Anderson's fourth principal, Ronald DePinho, led MD Anderson to start the "Moon Shots" program.
De Pinho (center) signed the 21st Century Healing Act into law in Washington, D.C., December 2016
This program aims to reduce the mortality and incidence of cancer. Initially, MD Anderson planned to invest $3 billion in the project with the slogan: "Cancer ends here." Make cancer preventable, visible, treatable, and even forgotten.
In fact, the program has also yielded good results:
In October 2014, researchers proposed a new algorithm to increase the success rate of ovarian tumor resection to 80%; In August 2016, early treatment biopsy predicted response to melanoma immunotherapy; In October 2016, the first starvation cancer cell drug developed by IACS entered clinical trials; In February 2020, CD19 CAR NK cells achieved a high response in hematologic cancers.
In addition to medical trials, MD Anderson has also achieved a legal and proposed increase in public health indicators: in May 2019, Texas raised the age of tobacco sales to 21, which is also an important outcome of MD Anderson's cancer moonshot program.
Although the $3 billion investment is not enough to keep MD Anderson from achieving the ultimate goal of "eliminating cancer", this plan has undoubtedly promoted research in the field of cancer and contributed to the attention of cancer in the community. Subsequently, the Biden administration once again proposed a cancer moon landing plan, which may be somewhat guided by MD Anderson's plan.
In terms of clinical trials, in 2022, MD Anderson conducted 1,680 clinical trials, with a total of 10,074 patients participating in clinical trials, 116 patents obtained, research funding of up to $1.1 billion, and 22 drugs tested at the center were approved by the FDA.
It can be said that the "Cancer Moonshot" is a microcosm of MD Anderson's cancer research and treatment, and it is this pioneering spirit and concern for human health and safety that will create the peak of MD Anderson's cancer field.
Resources
1、Best Hospitals | U.S. News Hospital Rankings and Ratings.U.S. News & World Report.2、Dosing Begins in Phase 1a/1b Study of IMGS in R/R Solid Tumors.. targeted Oncology.3、Randolph Lee Clark.wikipedia.4、MD Anderson Cancer Center.wikipedia.