Quick Facts:
Grantee Institution: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
2023 Researcher: Dr. Glenn J. Hanna
Lab: The Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers
Research Focus: Head and Neck Cancers
Grant: $75,000
Grant Information
The Brave Like Gabe Foundation is thrilled to make a new grant to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute which will focus on head and neck cancers, specifically Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, the cancer Gabe Grunewald was diagnosed with.
Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is among the most common malignant salivary gland tumors with a propensity for late distant metastatic spread. While there are no approved therapies for ACC in the recurrent, metastatic setting, an open question remains about whether current treatments for advanced ACC impact long-term outcomes in an era of more targeted or locally ablative options.
Dr. Hanna, Director of the Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is conducting an incredible clinical trial using implantable microdevices. The device will deliver microdoses of multiple cancer therapeutic agents in a live tumor and then subsequently removed and analyzed to evaluate drug response. Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, a rare salivary gland cancer, is an optimal disease for this clinical trial and research.
Funding from the Brave Like Gabe Foundation will establish a novel method for evaluating multiple therapeutic compounds among ACC tumors with the goal of understanding drug mechanisms of action and nominating one or more combinatorial drug regimens suitable for future clinical trial exploration. This study also seeks to characterize inter-tumoral heterogeneity of drug response and resistance between individual patients to better design future clinical trials focused on risk stratifying patients with ACC. In a disease where no FDA approved therapy options exist in the advanced disease setting, this project could establish a technology ripe for therapeutic personalization and drug discovery to improve patient outcomes, and for the first time enable genotype-phenotype correlations across a large number of therapies from a relatively small patient cohort.
Dr. Glenn J. Hanna, MD
“Many rare head and neck cancers lack standard or FDA-approved therapies for managing advanced or metastatic disease. Our center addresses a pressing need to integrate both clinical and translational research efforts to improve outcomes for patients with the most challenging and complex head and neck cancer diagnoses – a group who have historically been underserved when it comes to options in their care.”
Dr. Hanna is the Director of the Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers and newly named Director of the Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation (CCTI). Dr. Hanna’s research includes early phase clinical trials in head and neck oncology and immunotherapy for head and neck cancers.
The Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers is among the first dedicated centers caring for patients with salivary and rare head and neck cancers, and conducting research and clinical trials to develop ever more effective treatments. One of the cancers that this program specializes in developing personalized and targeted therapies for is Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma.