City of Hope, Duarte, California – Combining Science with Soul to Create Miracles at a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer Institute – An Interview with the Provost and Chief Scientific Officer of City of Hope, Steven T. Rosen, M.D.
Author: Gail S. Thornton, M.A.
Co-Editor: The VOICES of Patients, Hospital CEOs, HealthCare Providers, Caregivers and Families: Personal Experience with Critical Care and Invasive Medical Procedures
City of Hope (https://www.cityofhope.org/homepage), a world leader in the research and treatment of cancer, diabetes, and other serious diseases, is an independent, biomedical research institution and comprehensive cancer center committed to researching, treating and preventing cancer, with an equal commitment to curing and preventing diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is one of only 47 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute.
City of Hope possesses flexibility that larger institutions typically lack. Innovative concepts move quickly from the laboratory to patient trials — and then to market, where they benefit patients around the world.
As a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, their research and treatment protocols advance care throughout the nation. They are also part of ORIEN (Oncology Research Information Exchange Network), the world’s largest cancer research collaboration devoted to precision medicine. And they continue to receive the highest level of accreditation by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer for their exceptional level of cancer care.
As an innovator, City of Hope is a pioneer in bone marrow and stem cell transplants with one of the largest and most successful of its kind in the world. Other examples of its leadership and innovation include,
- Numerous breakthrough cancer drugs, including Herceptin, Rituxan, Erbitux, and Avastin, are based on technology pioneered by City of Hope and are saving lives worldwide.
- To date, City of Hope surgeons have performed more than 10,000 robotic procedures for prostate, kidney, colon, liver, bladder, gynecologic, oral and other cancers.
- They are a national leader in islet cell transplantation, which has the potential to reverse type 1 diabetes, and also provide islet cells for research at other institutions throughout the U.S.
- Millions of people with diabetes benefit from synthetic human insulin, developed through research conducted at City of Hope.
- Their scientists are pioneering the application of blood stem cell transplants to treat patients with HIV- and AIDS related lymphoma. Using a new form of gene therapy, their researchers achieved the first long-term persistence of anti-HIV genes in patients with AIDS-related lymphoma — a treatment that may ultimately cure lymphoma and HIV/AIDS.
Additionally, City of Hope has three on-campus manufacturing facilities producing biologic and chemical compounds to good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.
City of Hope launched its Alpha Clinic, thanks to an $8 million, five-year grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The award is part of CIRM’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinics program, which aims to create one-stop centers for clinical trials focused on stem cell treatments for currently incurable diseases. The Alpha Clinics Network is already running 35 different clinical trials involving hundreds of patients, 17 of which are being conducted at City of Hope. Current clinical trials include transplants of blood stem cells modified to treat patients with AIDS and lymphoma, neural stem cells to deliver drugs directly to cancers hiding in the brain, and T cell immunotherapy trials.
Located just northeast of Los Angeles, landscaped gardens and open spaces surround City of Hope’s leading-edge medical and research facilities at its main campus in Duarte, California. City of Hope also has 14 community practice clinics throughout Southern California.
Image SOURCE: Photographs courtesy of City of Hope, Duarte, California. Interior and exterior photos of the City of Hope, including Dr. Steven T. Rosen and his team.
Below is my interview with the Provost and Chief Scientific Officer of City of Hope, Steven T. Rosen, M.D., which occurred in April, 2017.
What sets City of Hope apart from other hospitals and research centers?
Dr. Rosen: City of Hope offers a unique blend of compassionate care and research innovation that simply can’t be found anywhere else.
We’re more than a medical center, and more than a research facility. We take the most compassionate patient-focused care available, combine it with today’s leading-edge medical advances, and infuse both with a quest to deliver better outcomes.
I’m proud to say that we’re known for rapidly translating scientific research into new treatments and cures, and that our technology has led to the development of four of the most widely used cancer-fighting drugs, Herceptin (trastuzumab), Avastin (bevacizumab), Erbitux (cetuximab), and Rituxin (rituximab).
City of Hope is a family. Our special team of experts treats the whole person and the family, not just a body, or a case or a disease. In fact, some of our patients have shared their stories of success. It is gratifying for me and our many health professionals to be able to make a positive difference in their lives.
Eleven years ago, Los Angeles firefighter Gus Perez was facing a battle far greater than any he’d ever known. He was diagnosed with CML (chronic myelogenous leukemia). Gus began receiving the drug Gleevec, which put him into remission. Given the drug’s success, he almost resigned himself to staying on it, yet was drawn to another option: undergoing a bone marrow transplant at City of Hope. “I went to my favorite ocean spot,” Gus recalls. “I put on my wetsuit, like I’ve done thousands of times, and paddled out. Every wave was special because I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be back. And I remember getting out of the water and counting the steps to my car, thinking, ‘I’m going to beat this. I’m going to retrace those steps.’ And I’m happy to say I was able to do it.” Gus and his family recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of his bone marrow transplant. “City of Hope is more than just medical treatment,” Gus says. “They have to put you back together from the ground up. And to me, that’s truly a miracle.”
As an active 14-year-old, Nicole Schulz loved cheerleading and hanging out with her friends. Then her whole world changed. Nicole learned that her fatigue and other symptoms weren’t “just the flu,” but the effects of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), an aggressive disease that rendered her bone marrow 97 percent cancerous. Nicole spent the next three and a half months at City of Hope, fighting the cancer with a daily regimen of chemotherapy and blood and platelet transfusions. “It put me into remission,” Nicole says. “But I wasn’t cured. And I wanted a cure.” Fortunately, Nicole was a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. Her malfunctioning marrow cells would be replaced with healthy marrow from a matching unrelated donor. “I never gave up — and neither did City of Hope,” Nicole says. After two bone marrow transplants and tremendous perseverance, Nicole is back to living the life she once knew and quickly making up for lost time.
When Jim Murphy’s doctor called and asked to see him on Christmas Eve, Jim knew it wasn’t going to be good news. And he was right. “The diagnosis was esophageal cancer,” Jim says. “Once they tell you that, there’s nothing you can do but formulate your action plan.” Jim would need to undergo chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to remove the tumor from his esophagus. It would require taking two-thirds of his esophagus and a third of his stomach. Despite the intense treatment, Jim was determined to keep his life as normal as possible. Throughout his chemotherapy and radiation therapy, he never missed a day of work, even riding his mountain bike to and from City of Hope to take his treatments. “I needed to show myself one victory after another,” Jim says. “I know City of Hope appreciated the fact that I was fighting as hard as they were.” Now cancer-free for several years, Jim credits City of Hope with giving him the best chance to fight his disease. “What really impressed me was that the research was right there at City of Hope. If they have something experimental, it goes from the researcher, right to the doctor and right to you. It’s the ultimate weapon — doctors reaching out for researchers, researchers reaching out for doctors. And the patient wins.”
City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation, diabetes and breakthrough cancer drugs based on technology developed at the institution. How are you transforming the future of health care by turning science into a practical benefit for patients?
Dr. Rosen: This is a distinctive place where brilliant research moves rapidly from concept to cure. That’s what we do—we speed breakthroughs in the lab to benefit patients in the clinic
Many know us for our leadership in fighting cancer, but fighting cancer is only part of our story. For decades, we’ve been making history in the fight against diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses that can be just as dangerous, and shattering, to patients and their families.
Every year, we conduct 400+ clinical trials, enrolling 6,000+ patients; hold 300+ patents and submit nearly 30 applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for investigational new drugs; and offer comprehensive assistance for patients and their families, including patient education, support groups, social resources, mind-body therapies and patient navigators.
We also translate breakthrough laboratory findings into real, lifesaving treatments and cures, and manufacture them at three on-campus facilities. Our goal is to get patients the treatments they need as fast as humanly possible.
We are in the race to save lives – and win. In our research efforts, we are teaching immune cells to attack tumors and Don J. Diamond [Ph.D.], Vincent Chung, [M.D.], and other City of Hope researchers launched a clinical trial seeking ways to effectively activate a patient’s own immune system to fight his or her cancer. The team is combining an immune-boosting vaccine with a drug that inhibits tumor cells’ ability to grow — to encourage immune cells to attack and eliminate tumors such as non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, triple-negative breast cancer, renal cell carcinoma and many other cancer types.
City of Hope’s Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute is committed to developing a cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D) within six years, fueled by a $50 million funding program led by the Wanek family. Research is already underway to unlock the immune system’s role in diabetes, including T cell modulation and stem cell-based therapies that may reverse the autoimmune attack on islet cells in the pancreas, which is the cause of T1D. City of Hope’s Bart Roep [Ph.D.], previously worked at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, where he was instrumental in launching a phase 1 clinical trial for a vaccine that aims to spur the immune system to fight, and possibly cure, T1D. Plans are developing for a larger, phase 2 trial to launch in the future at City of Hope.
What makes your recent alliance with Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) different from other efforts in precision medicine around the country and within our Government to identify treatments for cancer?
Dr. Rosen: Precision medicine is the future of cancer care. Since former Vice President’s Joe Biden’s Moonshot Cancer program was launched to achieve 10 years of progress in preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer, within five years, federal cancer funding has been prioritized to address these aims.
City of Hope and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have formed an alliance to fast-track the future of precision medicine for patients. Our clinical leadership as a comprehensive cancer center combined with TGen’s leadership in molecular cancer research will propel us to the forefront of precision medicine and is further evidence of our momentum in transforming the future of health.
In fact, most recently scientists at TGen have identified a potent compound in the fight for an improved treatment against glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and deadly type of adult brain cancer. This research could represent a breakthrough for us to find an effective long-term treatment. The compound prevents glioblastoma from spreading, and leaves cancer vulnerable to chemotherapy and radiation. Aurintricarboxylic Acid (ATA) is a chemical compound that in laboratory tests was shown to block the chemical cascade that otherwise allows glioblastoma cells to invade normal brain tissue and resist both chemo and radiation therapy.
The goal is to accelerate the speed at which we advance research discoveries into the clinic to benefit patients worldwide.
As a prestigious Comprehensive Cancer Center, City of Hope was named this year as one of the top 20 cancer centers for the past 10 years. How do you achieve that designation year after year? And what specific collaborations, clinical trials and multidisciplinary research programs are under way that offer benefits to patients?
Dr. Rosen: It’s simple – we achieve this through the compassion, commitment and excellence of the City of Hope family, which includes our world-class physicians, staff, supporters and donors.
We look to find the best and brightest professionals and bring them to City of Hope to work with our amazing staff on research, treatments and cures that not only change people’s lives, but also change the world.
We also have a community of forward-looking, incredibly generous and deeply committed supporters and donors. People who get it. People who share our vision. People who take their capacity for business success and apply it to helping others. They provide the fuel that drives us forward, enabling us to do great things.
City of Hope has a long track record of research breakthroughs and is constantly working to turn novel scientific research into the most advanced medical services.
Right now, we have a number of collaborative programs underway, including: Our alliance with TGen to make precision medicine a reality for patients, The Wanek Family Project to Cure Type 1 Diabetes, and Immunotherapy and CAR-T cell therapy clinical trials, which aim to fight against brain tumors and blood cancers.
More specifically, our research team led by Hua Yu, [Ph.D.] and Andreas Herrmann, [Ph.D.], developed a drug to address the way in which cancer uses the STAT3 protein to “corrupt” the immune system. The drug, CpG-STAT3 siRNA, halts the protein’s ability to “talk” to the immune system. It blocks cancer cell growth while sending a message to surrounding immune cells to destroy a tumor, and it may also enhance the effectiveness of other immunotherapies, such as T-cell therapy.
We could also see a functional cure for HIV in the next 5 to 10 years. Gene therapy pioneer, John A. Zaia, [M.D.], the Aaron D. Miller and Edith Miller Chair in Gene Therapy, the director of the Center for Gene Therapy within City of Hope’s Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute, as well as principal director of our Alpha Clinic, and researchers are building on knowledge gained from the case of the so-called “Berlin patient” whose HIV infection vanished after receiving a stem cell transplant for treatment of leukemia. The donor’s CCR5 gene, HIV’s typical pathway into the body, had a mutation that blocked the virus. The team launched a clinical trial that used a zinc finger nuclease to “cut out” the CCR5 gene, leaving HIV with no place to go. Their goal: to someday deliver a one-time treatment that produces a lifetime change. Integral to the first-in-human trials are the nurses who understand the study protocols, potential side effects and symptoms.
Would you share some of the current science under way on breakthrough cures for cancer?
Dr. Rosen: We are achieving promising results in many innovative approaches – gene therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and all aspects of precision medicine. We are also forging new partnerships and collaboration agreements around the world.
Let me share with you a few examples of our cutting-edge science.
City of Hope researchers identified a promising new strategy for dealing with PDAC, an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. The bacterial-based therapy homes to tumors and provokes an extremely effective tumor-killing response.
Teams at City of Hope are working to load nanoparticles with small snippets of DNA molecules that can stimulate the immune system to attack tumor cells in the brain. This innovative approach can overcome the blood-brain barrier, which blocks many drugs from reaching the tumor site.
A pioneer in islet cell transplantation for the treatment of diabetes, City of Hope conducted a clinical trial to refine its transplantation protocol. Because this new protocol includes an ATG (antithymoglobulin) induction, the immune system will not harm the transplant. The immune-suppression strategy used in the trial is considered a significant improvement over the protocol used in previous islet cell transplant trials.
City of Hope physicians and scientists joined a multinational team in reporting the success of a phase II clinical trial of a novel drug against essential thrombocythemia (ET). ET patients make too many platelets (cells essential for blood clotting), which puts them at risk for abnormal clotting and bleeding. All 18 patients treated with the drug, imetelstat, exhibited decreased platelet levels, and 16 showed normalized blood cell counts.
Researchers found that the CMVPepVax vaccine — developed at City of Hope to boost cellular immunity against cytomegalovirus (CMV) — is safe and effective in stem cell transplant recipients. Building on this discovery, City of Hope and Fortress Biotech formed a company to develop two vaccines, PepVax and Triplex, against CMV, a life-threatening illness in people who have weakened or underdeveloped immune systems such as cancer patients and developing fetuses. The vaccines are the subjects of multisite clinical trials. These City of Hope vaccines could open the door to a new way of protecting cancer patients from CMV, a devastating infection that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
In what ways does the initial vision of Samuel H. Golter impact the work you are doing today? What does the tagline – “The Miracle of Science with Soul” – mean?
Dr. Rosen: 100+ years ago, Samuel Golter, one of the founders of City of Hope said: “There is no profit in curing the body if in the process we destroy the soul.” For decades, City of Hope has lived by this credo, providing a comprehensive, compassionate and research-based treatment approach.
“The Miracle of Science with Soul” refers to the lives that we save by uniting science and research with compassionate care.
“Miracle” represents what people with cancer and other deadly diseases say they want most of all.
“Science” speaks to the many innovations we’ve pioneered, which demonstrate that medical miracles happen here.
“Soul” represents our compassionate care. We’re an untraditional health system — and our people, culture and campus reflect this.
Can you please describe how City of Hope has evolved throughout its 100-year history from a tuberculosis sanitorium into a world-class research-centered institution?
Dr. Rosen: City of Hope is a leading comprehensive cancer center and independent biomedical research institution. Over the years, our discoveries have changed the lives of millions of patients around the world.
We pioneered the research leading to the first synthetic insulin and the technology behind numerous cancer-fighting drugs, including Herceptin (trastuzumab), Avasatin (bevacizumab), Erbitux (cetuximab), and Rituxin (rituximab).
As previously mentioned, we hold 300+ patents, have numerous potential therapies in the pipeline at any given time, and treat 1,000+ patients a year in therapeutic clinical trials.
These numbers reflect our commitment to innovation and rapid translation of science into therapies to benefit patients.
We are home to Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, the first of only five Beckman Research Institutes established by funding from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. It is responsible for fundamentally expanding the world’s understanding of how biology affects diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes.
Recognizing our team’s accomplishments in cancer research, treatment, patient care, education and prevention, the National Cancer Institute has designated City of Hope as a comprehensive cancer center. This is an honor reserved for only 47 institutions nationwide. Our five Cancer Center Research Programs run the gamut from basic and translational studies, to Phase I and II clinical protocols and follow-up studies in survivorship and symptom management.
City of Hope’s Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute offers a broad diabetes and endocrinology program combining groundbreaking research, unique treatments and comprehensive education to help people with diabetes and other endocrine diseases live longer, better lives.
Our dedicated, multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals at the Hematologic Malignancies & Stem Cell Institute combine innovative research discoveries with superior clinical treatments to improve outcomes for patients with hematologic cancers.
Working closely with the City of Hope comprehensive cancer center’s Developmental Cancer Therapeutics Program and other cancer centers, the Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research multidisciplinary program includes basic, translational and clinical research and fosters collaborations among scientists and clinicians.
City of Hope’s Radiation Oncology Department is on the forefront of improving patient care, and our staff is constantly studying new research technologies, clinical trials and treatment methods that can lead to better outcomes and quality of life for our patients.
What attracted you to City of Hope? And how do you define success in your present role as provost and CSO?
Dr. Rosen: Helping cancer patients and their families gives me a sense of purpose. I encourage everyone to find a passion and find an organization that fits their passion. City of Hope is a special place. What we do is bigger than ourselves.
I define success as finding cures and helping patients live stronger, better lives. I am focused on leading a diverse team of scientists, clinicians and administrative leaders committed to discovering breakthroughs and specialized therapies.
Image SOURCE: Photograph of Provost and Chief Scientific Officer Steven T. Rosen, M.D., courtesy of City of Hope, Duarte, California.
Steven T. Rosen, M.D.
Provost and Chief Scientific Officer
City of Hope
Duarte, California
Steven T. Rosen, M.D., is provost and chief scientific officer for City of Hope and a member of City of Hope’s Executive Team. He also is director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center and holds the Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director’s Distinguished Chair, and he is director of Beckman Research Institute (BRI) and the Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences.
Dr. Rosen sets the scientific direction of City of Hope, shaping the research and educational vision for the biomedical research, treatment and education institution. Working closely and collaboratively with City of Hope’s scientists, clinicians and administrative leaders, he develops strategies that contribute to the organization’s mission.
As director of BRI, he works with faculty across the institution to help shape and direct the scientific vision for BRI while leading the vital basic and translational research that is fundamental to our strategic plan and mission. He focuses on opportunities for expanding and integrating our research initiatives; recruiting and leading talented scientists; helping our talented researchers achieve national and international recognition; and promoting our national standing as a premier scientific organization.
Prior to joining City of Hope, Dr. Rosen was the Genevieve Teuton Professor of Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. He served for 24 years as director of Northwestern’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Under his leadership, the center received continuous National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding beginning in 1993 and built nationally recognized programs in laboratory sciences, clinical investigations, translational research and cancer prevention and control. The center attained comprehensive status in 1997.
Dr. Rosen has published more than 400 original reports, editorials, books and book chapters. His research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America and Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
Dr. Rosen also has served as an adviser for several of these organizations and on the external advisory boards of more than a dozen NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. He is the current editor-in-chief of the textbook series “Cancer Treatment & Research.”
Recognized as one of the Best Doctors in America, Dr. Rosen is a recipient of the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Man of Distinction Award from the Israel Cancer Research Fund. He earned his bachelor’s degree and medical degree with distinction from Northwestern University from which he also earned the Alumni Merit Award, and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.
Editor’s Note:
We would like to thank Mary-Fran Faraji, David Caouette, and Chantal Roshetar of the Communications and Public Affairs department at the City of Hope, for the gracious help and invaluable support they provided during this interview.
REFERENCE/SOURCE
The City of Hope (https://www.cityofhope.org/homepage), Duarte, California.
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