The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is deeply concerned that the Administration’s recent actions are threatening the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its lifesaving mission to accelerate progress for patients with cancer and the hundreds of other diseases that afflict millions of Americans.

CAI grants awarded to Gregory Beatty, MD, PhD, Dung Le, MD, and Kevin Soares, MD 

UNIONDALE, N.Y., February 7, 2025 — The Lustgarten Foundation has announced three new Dr. Robert F. Vizza Lustgarten Clinical Accelerator Initiative (CAI) grants awarded to Gregory Beatty, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology-Oncology) at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine for his study “Combinatorial myeloid activation as immunotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer,” Dung Le, MD, Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for her study “NC410 and FOLFIRINOX in Combination with Anti-PD-1 with and without Anti-CTLA-4 for Treatment Naive Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer,” and Kevin C. Soares, MD, Assistant Attending Surgeon of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) for his study “A Pilot Study of Neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX and ELI-002 7P with or without Anti-PD-1 Checkpoint Blockade in Borderline and Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.” Lustgarten’s CAI speeds the translation of basic research into the clinic by supporting novel, science-driven clinical trials.  

“We extend our gratitude to the Lustgarten Foundation for their generosity,” said Dr. Beatty. “In this study, we will explore innovative approaches to activate the immune system to recognize and attack pancreatic cancer cells, giving patients hope for improved treatment options and outcomes.”

Beatty’s team will test a new combination immunotherapy approach bringing together two drugs, one targeting CD40 and the other targeting Dectin-1, to activate the immune system against pancreatic cancer. Encouraging results from laboratory experiments and early human trials suggest that this combination may improve outcomes for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The study will enroll 50 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer to receive the drug combination, monitor tumor growth and safety, and analyze how the treatment impacts the immune system and tumor environment. The team will analyze blood and tumor samples to reveal how the treatment affects the immune system and tumor environment, identify why some patients respond better, and guide personalized pancreatic cancer therapies. 

The Clinical Accelerator Initiative produces highly collaborative clinical trials with innovative, science-driven, efficient designs, using a Lustgarten-developed process based on real-time peer-review feedback. Trials funded through the CAI deeply focus on translational analysis to rapidly further our understanding of disease biology and treatment mechanisms. These “smarter” clinical trials generate large volumes of data that scientists use to help inform and improve current and future clinical trials and expedite new treatments.  

“Funding from the Lustgarten Foundation will allow us to more rapidly advance our understanding of pancreatic cancer immunology,” said Dr. Le. “In this case, we are developing novel immune regulation strategies in combination with other immune stimulatory approaches and standard chemotherapy to better understand how to use novel strategies with our current most effective therapies.” 

Le and team are investigating the efficacy of immunotherapy combinations with a FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy backbone in controlling metastatic pancreatic cancer and stimulating the immune system to recognize cancer cells. NC410, a fusion protein, targets tumor collagen to release immune cells suppressed by collagen-LAIR-1 interactions, enhancing their ability to fight cancer. This study will enroll 20 patients in two treatment arms combining FOLFIRINOX, NC410, and checkpoint inhibitors (nivolumab with or without ipilimumab). The primary goal is to assess the safety and immune effects of these combinations in metastatic pancreatic cancer. 

Cancer immunotherapy is the use of the immune system to prevent or treat cancer. Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, it is a type of treatment that boosts the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer. It uses substances made by the body or in a laboratory to improve or restore immune system function. Through this therapy, the immune system is guided to attack and kill the cancer cells. Immunotherapy has been very successful in treating other types of cancer, which is why pancreatic cancer experts believe it has promise.  

“Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly lethal with an overall relative 5-year survival rate at just 13%,” said Dr. Soares. “Thanks to the Lustgarten Foundation’s support, we will evaluate whether a pancreas cancer vaccine in combination with standard chemotherapy can produce an immune response against pancreatic cancer – an approach that remains an unmet need for PDAC.”

Soares, along with co-investigator Eileen O’Reilly, Professor of Medicine, Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, are leading a multi-institutional trial that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of ELI-002 7P, an anti-KRAS vaccine, combined with chemotherapy, with or without anti-PD-1 therapy, in 20 patients with resectable or borderline resectable PDAC. Mutated KRAS, a gene that produces a protein involved in regulating cell division and growth, is found in 90% of pancreatic cancers and is considered a critical driver of pancreatic cancer. Patients will receive treatment before surgery and for 18 months after, with blood and tissue samples collected to assess immune responses and tumor changes. They will compare the immunogenicity between the groups with and without anti-PD1, as well as correlate immune responses and clinical outcomes. Data from this study will also be analyzed by a team assembled through a collaboration between the Lustgarten Foundation and Break Through Cancer’s Demystifying Pancreatic Cancer Therapies TeamLab, which is dedicated to investigating how the pancreatic cancer tumor microenvironment helps malignant cells survive chemotherapy and immunotherapy.  

Learn more about the Lustgarten Foundation’s Dr. Robert F. Vizza Lustgarten Clinical Accelerator Initiative (CAI) HERE. 

Lustgarten now supports 12 active CAI grants, investing nearly $20M in these “smarter” clinical trials. Learn more about funded trials in Research Matters, our annual publication that showcases our progress, and HERE.

On Friday, January 10th, leading cancer research experts convened for a workshop focused on Solving the Early Detection and Diagnosis of Recalcitrant Cancers. The event, jointly hosted by the Lustgarten Foundation, the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), showcased how partnership drives progress in addressing critical gaps in cancer research, particularly in early detection—a frontier that holds promising life-saving potential.

A Powerful Alignment
For 26 years, Lustgarten has championed advancements in pancreatic cancer research, specifically focusing on early detection and interception, therapeutic development, and personalized treatment efforts. Guided by a commitment to collaboration, Lustgarten fosters information sharing as a critical driver of progress—a value shared by both AACR and the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.  

During early discussions, the Lustgarten Foundation and the Mark Foundation realized their alignment in prioritizing early detection research. While Lustgarten maintained a pancreatic cancer focus, the Mark Foundation, which actively partners with scientists to accelerate research that redefines the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, expanded the scope to include other cancer types. As plans for a workshop began to take shape, AACR, the first and largest organization dedicated to conquering cancer, was invited to the table, adding its expertise and extensive network to the initiative. This collaboration first materialized with a smaller meeting in June 2024, bringing researchers together to brainstorm and lay the groundwork for the January event. 

Addressing Key Challenges in Early Detection 
The Early Detection Workshop assembled experts from diverse fields to discuss some of the most pressing issues in cancer research. Participants were split into groups, each focusing their discussions on:

1. New Methods to Detect Pre-Invasive Cancers: Researchers presented innovative technologies and approaches for detecting cancers before progression to invasive stages.
2. Multi-Modality Early Detection: This group explored how combining methods could improve detection in individuals at high risk for cancer. 
3. Clinical Trial Design and Regulatory Strategy: Challenges in designing effective and ethical trials for early detection technologies were discussed, alongside strategies for navigating regulatory and economic hurdles.
4. Interception and Early Intervention Therapies: Participants examined therapies aimed at halting cancer progression at the earliest possible stage. 

New and existing technologies, improving clinical trial frameworks, and ensuring real-world applicability of laboratory innovations were key discussion topics. The emphasis was on creating sustainable and scalable solutions that could address the lack of effective early detection across various cancer types, including pancreatic, ovarian, and brain cancers. 

A Spirit of Collaboration
Workshop chairs and group leaders including world-renowned researchers such as David Tuveson, MD, PhD, Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center and the Chief Scientist for the Lustgarten Foundation, Elaine Mardis, PhD, co-executive director of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Charles Swanton, MBPhD, FCRP, FMedSci, FAACR, FRS, Deputy Clinical Director of the Francis Crick Institute, and Luis Diaz, MD, Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The event attracted participation from major organizations interested in early detection beyond the three sponsoring organizations, including representation from Break Through Cancer, Stand Up to Cancer, NIH, the American Cancer Society, GRAIL, Exact Sciences, and more.

The diversity of expertise underscores the collaborative spirit of the initiative. Each participant brought a unique perspective, fostering cross-disciplinary discussions that will shape the future of early detection research. 

A Promising Path Forward
As a leader in cancer research, the Lustgarten Foundation prioritizes uniting like-minded organizations to overcome barriers and advance progress in treating some of the most challenging cancer types, including pancreatic cancer. Collaboration among researchers and funders is essential to improving patient outcomes and realizing a shared vision of a future with cancer cures. Progress in early detection not only brings us closer to curing cancer but to preventing it altogether. 

UNIONDALE, N.Y., January 9, 2025 — The Lustgarten Foundation announced a new grant today, awarded to Nina Steele, PhD, and Howard Crawford, PhD, of the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center at Henry Ford Health.

The scope of previous research to understand variations in the underlying biology of patients with pancreatic cancer has been limited and has not sufficiently addressed historically under-represented patients, including Black African Americans.

Based in Detroit, where 77% of the population identifies as Black or African American, Henry Ford Health is nationally recognized for its commitment to inclusive research endeavors that address healthcare disparities, develop new treatments, and identify ways to prevent and understand disease.

Dr. Steele and Dr. Crawford, who respectively serve as Assistant Scientist and Scientific Director at the Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center, will lead an important research project titled “Mapping Stromal Evolution and Immune Suppression in the First Racially Diverse Human Pancreatic Cancer Spatial Genome Atlas.”  The studywill address the current deficiency of existing databases where Black African American representation is only 2%.

The research will build on Dr. Steele’s recently published single-cell atlas, which compiled data from more than 200 patients with pancreatic cancer. Only 4 of the samples in the atlas were contributed by Black African American patients.

“The striking lack of representation in pancreatic cancer databases is unacceptable,” said Dr. Steele, an expert in state-of-the-art single cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses. “This study takes a transformative first step to close this gap and provides a valuable resource for the cancer community. Thank you to the Lustgarten Foundation for supporting this grant and prioritizing diversity within patient data.”

The researchers will analyze tissue from pancreatic tumors before treatment and after treatment to understand the biology that drives tumor growth, response, and resistance to treatment and what causes different responses in different patients.

“The tools used to study pancreatic cancer, including cell models and genomic data, are most often taken from studies of White patients, making it impossible to extrapolate this information and apply the findings to non-White patients,” said Dr. Crawford, whose previous Lustgarten-funded work analyzed existing tumor samples to determine if genomic and cellular differences could account for the higher rates and poorer outcomes of pancreatic cancer in Black African Americans.

This new body of research will include sequencing data from 75 Black African American and 75 White patients. Approximately 80% of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed when the disease is already metastatic, and thus longitudinal patient-matched tissue samples are extremely rare.

The collaborative Steele and Crawford teams have already identified many genes expressed differently in Black African American patients versus White patients.

Dr. Steele’s team screened over 3000 pancreatic cancer patients in their de-identified database and identified tissue samples within their cohort in Detroit (26 total, 8 from Black African American individuals) representing different stages of disease presentation, including at diagnosis, after surgery, and after the cancer has spread, and will study how the tumor microenvironment changes in the same patient over time. Collectively, the research from this newly generated diverse atlas and unique longitudinal cohort will provide essential molecular data from a racially diverse pancreatic cancer patient population.

“The Lustgarten Foundation is dedicated to advancing the best science to transform pancreatic cancer into a curable disease for every patient population,” said Linda Tantawi, Lustgarten Foundation CEO. “Through ground-breaking research like Drs. Steele and Crawford’s, we hope to increase our understanding of the biological mechanisms contributing to pancreatic cancer in racially diverse groups and provide more hope, and more treatment options, to patients across all backgrounds.” The Lustgarten Foundation recognizes that solving the complex problem of pancreatic cancer requires a diversity of thought, education, training, background, and experience of the scientists investigating the disease, as well as diversity within patient data and those participating in clinical studies. Learn more about the Lustgarten Foundation’s other research initiatives focused on equity, diversity, and accessibility, the Career Development Awards Honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Robert Lewis, and the Lustgarten Equity, Accessibility, and Diversity (LEAD) Grant Program.

WATCH – Get the latest insights into groundbreaking advancements and the exciting road ahead in pancreatic cancer research.

Dr. David Slavin

In September 2017, Dr. David Slavin, then a 54-year-old Chiropractor from Long Island, started experiencing stomach pain and just didn’t feel right, and he feared the worst. His maternal grandmother and his paternal grandparents passed away from pancreatic cancer and, despite no inheritable genetic mutations identified that would’ve increased his risk of getting the disease, he was terrified of a similar fate. 

He immediately saw his gastroenterologist, who ordered multiple tests. “I was alone in my office reading the test results, and my entire world crumbled when I saw the diagnosis: stage 4 pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to my liver, shoulder blade, and pelvis,” David remembers. “I was used to being the caregiver for everyone else, and I couldn’t focus on myself. I just kept thinking about having to tell my wife and our children, and how devastating this diagnosis would be for them.” At the time, David’s daughter, Hunter, was a first-year college student, and his son, Cooper, was in high school.

David’s medical team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center prescribed a rigorous course of chemotherapy consisting of 5FU and irinotecan and remained reassuring, positive, and hopeful throughout his treatment. He was relieved that his only side effects from the chemotherapy were foot neuropathy and fatigue. However, at one point the fatigue was so intense that he had to stop working.

When David started chemotherapy, his CA 19-9, which serves as a pancreatic cancer tumor marker in the blood, was 44,000; normal is considered 0-37 units per milliliter. Two months after chemotherapy began, his CA 19-9 dropped to 11,000 and then continued to decrease significantly after every chemotherapy treatment. “I’m in that one half of one percent that responds so well to chemotherapy,”David shared, grateful for, and humbled by, this bright spot in a such a life-changing diagnosis.

“While I was first going through treatment, I got the phone number of someone a couple of years older than me who was also a pancreatic cancer patient and who had gone through a complicated Whipple surgery. It helped me to learn that I wasn’t alone in confronting this disease,” David recalls. “Today, I get so much personal joy from sharing my story and giving hope to other patients and their families.” 

Now, seven years since his diagnosis, David is incredibly thankful to be a survivor. He still considers getting treatment for pancreatic cancer his most important job and plans his life around it. He accepts that it’s his “new normal” to have one difficult week while receiving therapy, followed by two better weeks off therapy. He is back to treating his Chiropractic patients three days a week and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen—a hobby that his family absolutely appreciates. Most importantly, his CA 19-9 levels are within normal limits, and he currently has no evidence of disease. “There was nothing better than hearing the doctor call my pancreas ‘unremarkable’ on my most recent scan!”

“I want to have an impact on patients’ treatment plans in 20 years, and I want all patients to know there is hope for not just surviving, but thriving, like I am,” David affirms. That’s why when Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center asks for permission to take extra blood for research during his scheduled blood draws, he always consents. He hopes that an analysis of his bloodwork will point to new directions in research and that scientists can apply their learnings to help even more patients achieve a similar life-saving response to chemotherapy.

Years before he had pancreatic cancer, David had heard of the Lustgarten Foundation through a few of his patients, who worked for Cablevision Systems Corporation. Cablevision had helped establish the Lustgarten Foundation in memory of Marc Lustgarten, a Cablevision executive who passed away from the disease. He was also interested in the Foundation’s research efforts, given the history of pancreatic cancer on both sides of his family. His team—Slavin Strong—has been a fixture at the Long Island Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research for the past three years, and every year family, friends, and even some of his patients participate to honor and celebrate him, living by the motto on their team t-shirts: In this family no one fights alone.

“My favorite part of the Walk is seeing familiar faces, year after year, and it’s been so encouraging to meet other survivors, including some who are 15 and 17 years out from diagnosis.” In fact, one year David was a featured speaker at the Walk, inspiring thousands of Long Islanders in the pancreatic cancer community with his story. He has raised close to $15,000 for the Foundation’s research program to date, from the Walks and from softball tournaments and other fundraisers his closest friends have organized on his behalf. He credits Rachel, his wife of 27 years, with being his fearless advocate. She has handled his disease and the constant, selfless challenges of being a caregiver with determination, strength, and grace.

When David was first diagnosed, he didn’t know how many more life milestones he would celebrate with his family. He has since seen his son graduate from college and start a successful career in Manhattan. Following his diagnosis, he also could not stop thinking about his daughter and how much he wanted and needed to be there to walk her down the aisle and share a father-daughter dance at her wedding one day. Now, David’s daughter is engaged and getting married next fall, and he already has his speech prepared! He has faith that his days of survivorship will continue, thanks to the love and support of his devoted family and friends and the cutting-edge pancreatic cancer research organizations like the Lustgarten Foundation are spearheading. “Thank you to the donors who do so much so selflessly for the benefit of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer. Patients and survivors like me wouldn’t be where we are in fighting this disease if it wasn’t for their continued generosity.”

It is with a heavy heart that we remember the life of valiant Lustgarten Foundation advocate, friend, and honorary chairman of our Corporate Advisory Board, President Jimmy Carter, 39^th President of the United States, following his passing on Sunday, December 29^th, 2024.  

President Carter lent his strength and voice to champion the urgent need for the advancement of pancreatic cancer research. He was a remarkable man who remained active in public life until his passing. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Carter Center, the embodiment of his commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. He left an indelible mark on this country and the world and will be greatly missed.  

Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time. 

It is with profound sadness that we honor the life and legacy of Charles Dolan, Co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Lustgarten Foundation, following his passing on Saturday, December 28^th, at 98 years old.

Charles Dolan was a visionary leader, philanthropist, and steadfast advocate for pancreatic cancer research. His dedication to the Lustgarten Foundation was profoundly personal, born from his cherished friendship with Marc Lustgarten. When Marc faced a pancreatic cancer diagnosis at just 51 years old, Charles, Marc, along with Cablevision Chief Executive James L. Dolan, had a vision for supporting pancreatic cancer research, leading to better outcomes for patients. Together, they established the Lustgarten Foundation, which now stands as a global leader in the industry.

Charles, a trailblazer in the telecommunications sector and a respected community leader, used his business expertise to drive transformative contributions to the Foundation. His enduring legacy is one of perseverance, hope, and an unyielding belief in the power of science to change lives.

Charles Dolan’s passion and vision continue to guide our work and inspire the broader pancreatic cancer community. He touched countless lives with his compassion and leadership, leaving an indelible mark on the world.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones during this difficult time.