Feb. 18, 2016 – The Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s took yet another bold step in its fight against pediatric cancer by uniting with Cancer Moonshot 2020. CHOC is one of 10 founding members of a national pediatrics consortium announced at a press conference on Feb. 18, 2016, and dedicated to accelerating cancer cures through immunotherapy. All partners will seek to apply the most comprehensive cancer molecular diagnostic testing available, and leverage proven and promising combination immunotherapies and clinical trials. Real time data sharing is designed to accelerate clinical learning for all consortium members.
“The Pediatric Cancer Moonshot 2020 will attempt to cure all the numerous types of pediatric cancer with the least toxicity by harnessing patients’ own immune systems and using the tumors’ unique genomic mutations to create individualized cancer vaccines,” explains Dr. Leonard Sender, medical director, Hyundai Cancer Institute.
Dr. Sender has positioned CHOC a leader in the field of innovative genomic medicine techniques. In addition to being designated a Caris Center of Excellence for its commitment to precision medicine, CHOC is a participant in the California Kids Cancer Comparison, bringing the benefit of big data bioinformatics to its patients. And, CHOC recently enrolled its first patient in a multi-center clinical study for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with investigational immunotherapy.
“CHOC has studied whole genome sequencing for several years, and our team recognizes its value to clinical decision making. Now, with the availability of the next generation of molecular diagnostics, we are excited by the acceleration of knowledge that this system will provide and are honored to be a founding member of such an important initiative,” says Dr. Sender.
Three major drivers of the Cancer Moonshot 2020 Pediatrics Consortium are:
1. The recognition that cancer is caused by any one of a multiple number of genetic mutations, with thousands of molecular alterations presenting within each pediatric cancer patient. Consortium members and their patients will benefit from the most comprehensive molecular diagnosis in the market today.
2. The significant fragmentation across the healthcare ecosystem. More specifically, pharmaceutical drug development often occurs in silos with limited ability to share clinical information. Consortium members recognize that collaboration across medical and scientific communities will help remove barriers to accelerated progress in the war on pediatric cancer.
3. The lack of a comprehensive data sharing system, including participation by pharmaceutical companies, for individual children cancer centers. Consortium members will have access to Cancer Moonshot 2020’s national, robust and scaled cloud infrastructure enabling the ability to share data in real time and provide access to breakthrough knowledge.
In addition to CHOC, founding members of the Cancer Moonshot 2020 Pediatrics Consortium are:
• Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital
• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
• Duke Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine
• Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center
• Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital
• Phoenix Children’s Hospital
• Sanford Health
