2021, 2022 and 2023 MKCCR Funds Awarded

2023—Dr. Paolo Goffredo, Colon and Rectal Surgery, Medical School

Dr. Goffredo was awarded a grant for a study of the role of polyp location in surveillance time intervals of colorectal cancer screening.

2023—Dr. Subree Subramanian, PhD, Department of Surgery, Medical School

Dr. Subree Subramanian was awarded an additional grant for continuing study targeting CEP55 to overcome immune evasion in colorectal cancer.

2022—Dr. Subree Subramanian was awarded a grant for the study of the role of CEP55 in colorectal cancer immune evasion.

Cancer immunotherapies, specifically immune checkpoint blockade therapy, have dramatically changed how we treat colorectal cancer patients with microsatellite instable type tumors. However, the majority (>85%) are characterized by microsatellite stable type tumors, referred to as immune “cold” tumors, that do not respond to immune checkpoint blockade treatment. By increasing tumor-specific T cell (immune cells that kill the cancer cells) infiltration in these cold tumors, existing immune checkpoint clockade treatments such as anti-PD1 can be applied to all colorectal cancer patients. We have found that the gene CEP55 (a gene implicated in T cell function) is overexpressed in colorectal cancer and is inversely proportional to the T cell infiltration into tumors. This study aims to make clear the functional role of CEP55 in T cell dysfunction, which might be driving immune evasion in colorectal cancer.

2021—Christopher Larocca, MD

Nearly half of all patients with colorectal cancer will develop metastatic disease at some point during their disease course and many of these individuals will not be candidates for standard treatment options.  The Mezin-Koats Colon Cancer Research Award provides key funds to facilitate the development of a novel virotherapy-based treatment regimen for metastatic colorectal cancers.  Our group has generated an oncolytic adenovirus expressing the sodium iodide symporter [NIS] (a transgene capable of facilitating both real-time bioimaging and radiotherapy) and are working to develop this vector as a novel diagnostic and treatment platform for metastatic colorectal cancer.  The funds from this award support experiments to identify the optimal adenovirus structure to maximize the imaging capabilities of this platform.

-CHRISTOPHER LAROCCA, MD

Assistant Professor, Division of Surgical Oncology

MKCCR Funds also awarded

The Legacy cohort provides a unique opportunity to study risk factors for early onset colorectal cancer, and understand the biologic drivers for it. With the Mezin-Koats funds we study a subset of the Legacy cohort participants with metabolic measurements and a colonoscopy. We then use longitudinal data already collected to support our NIH proposal for a full scale study of biologic drivers for early onset colorectal cancer.

- Aasma Shaukat

  Physician at UMN