For Immediate Use
March 21, 2000
Kim Irwin ([email protected])
(310) 206-2805
Kambra McConnel ([email protected])
(310) 206-3769
DR. DENNIS SLAMON OF UCLA'S JONSSON CANCER CENTER TO BE HONORED FOR HIS WORK TO BATTLE BREAST CANCER, WINS TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH AWARD
Dr. Dennis Slamon, whose research led to the development of the drug Herceptin, will be honored Tuesday (March 21) in San Diego for his work leading to the breakthrough breast cancer treatment.
Slamon is co-recipient of the 1999 University of California, San Diego-Salk Institute Translational Medicine Award for his "meritorious service as an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the field of antibody therapy for human cancer."
South San Francisco-based pharmaceutical company Genentech Inc., the manufacturer of Herceptin, is the other recipient of the award.
Slamon, who directs the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, was the primary force behind the development of Herceptin during 12 years of discovery and development research in his lab and clinic. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the drug in 1998 for use against advanced breast cancer. Slamon now is investigating whether Herceptin is effective in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.
Development of Herceptin has been cited as the first triumph in an emerging wave of new, more effective therapies designed to fight cancer at its genetic roots. Slamon, for the first time, proved the theory that if researchers could figure out what was broken in a cancer cell, they could fix it.
Dr. Kenneth R. Chien, director of the UCSD-Salk Institute, said Slamon's research represents "a pivotal advance in biologically targeted therapy."
The awards ceremony will be held Tuesday night at the new Scripps Institute of Oceanography Birch Aquarium on the UCSD campus. Slamon will receive a commemorative medal and a $10,000 award as part of the Translational Medicine Award. Prior to the ceremony, the UCSD-Salk Institute will hold a daylong symposium to highlight advances in molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, genetics and bioengineering.
Also being honored Tuesday is paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve, who will receive the UCSD-Salk Institute Service Award for his efforts to heighten public and congressional awareness of the need for research to advance human health.
The development of Herceptin marks the high point of Slamon's life's work to date. His research established the relationship between a gene called HER-2/neu and a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer. That discovery led to Herceptin, which can help up to 30 percent of women (60,000 cases) each year who develop breast cancer.
Slamon said much of the credit for Herceptin should go to the women who volunteered to take the experimental drug during worldwide clinical trials.
"They are the real heroines of this story," said Slamon, who continues to research new treatments for breast and ovarian cancers. "I am grateful to be honored for this work, because the development of targeted therapies like Herceptin ushers in a new age in how we treat cancer."
In addition to conducting the initial research that led to Herceptin, Slamon also served as principal investigator for the worldwide phase III clinical trials, the final round of testing prior to FDA approval.
Judith C. Gasson, scientist and director of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, said Slamon has "magnificently blended the art of healing with scientific discovery."
"His scientific achievements go beyond their impact on breast cancer, and prove the principle that if we can identify the genetic alterations in cancer, we can develop effective targeted therapies and save lives," Gasson said. "I think we can now say that we are seeing the beginning of the end of the war on cancer."
The Translational Medicine Award is the latest in a series of honors collected by Slamon for his work on Herceptin.
In October 1998, Slamon was honored by the National Breast Cancer Coalition, receiving the prestigious Public Advocacy Award. In January 1999, he received the Albert B. Sabin Heroes of Science Award from Americans for Medical Progress. At the American Association for Cancer Research conference in April 1999, Slamon received the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award. In June, the Women of Los Angeles honored him with a 1999 Highlight Award for his work. And in September 1999, GQ magazine and General Motors honored Slamon as one of five "Men for the Cure."
Other honors Slamon has won include the Milken Family Medical Foundation Award for Cancer Research, the Upjohn Award in Internal Medicine and the Outstanding Young Investigator Award.
In addition to serving as director of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, Slamon is a Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Executive Vice Chair for Research for UCLA's Department of Medicine. He recently was appointed to head up the medical advisory board for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, a fund-raising organization started by NBC "Today" show host Katie Couric, who lost her husband two years ago to colon cancer.
Because of his groundbreaking work, Slamon is invited to speak at conferences worldwide. His papers have been published in such medical journals as Science, Cancer Research, Oncogene, The New England Journal of Medicine and The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Slamon lives in Woodland Hills, Calif., with his wife and two children.
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For more information about UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, its people and resources, visit our site on the World Wide Web at http://www.cancer.mednet.ucla.edu.
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