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to Summer 2001 HOPE Newsletter Contents
FOR THE STEHLIN
FOUNDATION,
2000 was a banner year, and 2001
holds the potential to exceed
even the successes of 2000.
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Rubitecan
In 2000, after years of ground-breaking research and fruitful
clinical trials, and in partnership with SuperGen and Abbot
Labs, Stehlin saw 9-NC, now called “Rubitecan,”
take giant strides towards FDA Approval as a prescribable
drug in the public marketplace. “Data from clinical trials
continues to fortify our belief that rubitecan will be a ‘franchise
compound,’” declares Dr. Joseph Rubinfeld, chairman
and CEO of SuperGen. “In addition to pancreatic cancer,
rubitecan has shown anticancer activity against hematological
malignancies and numerous tumors, including ovarian, lung,
breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers.” “This
is the first time,” adds Foundation Director Bobby Anderson,
“that a Houston cancer research laboratory has successfully
taken a drug all the way from the initial discovery process
through the research and patenting process, and then into
the public marketplace. Everyone associated with the Stehlin
Foundation is to be congratulated for playing a part in this
extraordinary moment. Untold lives will be touched and possibly
saved by the success of 9-Nitro Camptothecin.”
Friends’
Gala
The 20th Anniversary Friends of the Stehlin Foundation Gala
raised more donations than any other year … $1,030,000.
Please see the related feature in this issue of the newsletter.
The Year
of the Volunteer
2000 could well be termed the “year of the volunteer,”
except that the Stehlin Foundation recognizes that every year
is the year of the volunteer. The continued success of the
Stehlin Foundation rests on two main foundations … the
volunteers and donors, and the scientists’ abilities
to produce ground-breaking work such as
9NC. From hot sauce festivals and golf games, to bowling and
racing, to fun runs and galas, volunteers are the heart and
soul of the Foundation. Thank you for making 2000 an incredible
year.
The Camptothecins:
Unfolding Their Anticancer Potential
A new book, The Camptothecins: Unfolding Their Anticancer
Potential, edited by Drs. Liehr and Giovanella, in collaboration
with Dr. Claire Verschraegen, M.D. Anderson Hospital, has
been published. The book is drawn from a collection of research
papers
contributed at a conference on camptothecins sponsored by
the Stehlin Foundation.
“The success of 9NC and the Stehlin Foundation has generated
a huge amount of interest in camptothecins,” says Bobby
Anderson. “Camptothecin has such enormous potential that
laboratories all over the world are racing to develop new
camptothecin derivatives. Not only is Stehlin honored to have
brought 9NC successfully into the marketplace, we are striving
to maintain our position as a pioneer in the field. We are
grateful to every donor to the Stehlin Foundation for helping
us succeed.”
CZ-112
CZ-112, a pro-drug compound synthesized from camptothecin,
shows a marked gender discrimination for the female mouse
in laboratory tests. Scientists at the Stehlin Foundation
are pursuing exciting and significant work with CZ-112. The
term “gender discrimination” means that the drug
is less toxic for female mice. Since the
drug is less toxic, female mice can tolerate much higher levels
of the active drug in their system. “We are terribly
excited about CZ-112,” says Dr. Joachim Liehr, “because
it holds the possibility of being a superb treatment for breast,
ovarian
and uterus cancers.”
Laboratory
Renovations
In 2000, St. Joseph’s Hospital generously underwrote
extensive refurbishing of part of the Stehlin laboratory on
Chenevert. This is part of a body of ongoing work at Stehlin,
which began several years ago with a new chemistry lab. In
an unconnected update, the homes of the famous Stehlin “nude
mice” have also been refurbished this year, due to the
discontinuation of the manufacture of the filter caps monitoring
airflow. The new computerized system, which pushes filtered
air through the modules, is marked by significantly higher
costs. The cost for each individual module, which house from
one to three mice, has gone from $90 to $300 a module. (Material
costs only – these figures do not include the time and
labor of laboratory support personnel).
New Website
The Stehlin Foundation has a new website rolling out in mid-May
of 2001. Doug Coil began work on this project in 2000, canvassing
staff and volunteers for the best information and functionality
requests for the new website. A sitemap was developed
in-house, providing for multi-level functionality in the site.
Programming and updated graphics work has been underway throughout
the winter, and the new site will debut at the beginning of
April. Visit Stehlin online at www.stehlin.org.
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