Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research

Check out this great interview with grantee Dr. Daniel Herranz of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey! He discusses why his lab chose to focus on T-ALL, how they approached their study, and what they found. Keep up the impressive work Dr. Herranz! https://www.newswise.com//exploring-a-new-therapeutic-stra

Scientists have revealed how to modify CRISPR’s basic architecture to extend its reach beyond the genome and into the epigenome proteins and small molecules that latch onto DNA and control when and where genes are switched on or off. Researchers developed the novel CRISPR-based tool called CRISPRoff which allows scientists to switch off almost any gene in human cells without making a single edit to the genetic code. According to the team, because the epigenome plays a ce...ntral role in many diseases, from viral infection to cancer, the CRISPRoff technology may one day lead to powerful epigenetic therapies. Since this approach does not involve any DNA edits, it is likely to be safer than conventional CRISPR therapeutics, which have been known to cause unwanted and potentially harmful changes to the genome. Though genetic and cellular therapies are the future of medicine, there are potential safety concerns around permanently changing the genome, which is why we are trying to come up with other ways to use CRISPR to treat disease, said Professor and Gabrielle's Angels grantee Luke Gilbert, co-senior author of the new paper.

When researchers from Penn Medicine (including two of our grantees, Dr. Marco Ruella and Dr. Saar Gill!) found that many patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with the investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy targeting the CD22 antigen didn't respond, they went back to the drawing board to determine why. They discovered that less is more when it comes to the length of what is known as the single-chain variable fragmentthe linker that bridges the two halves of the receptor that allows CAR T cells to latch onto tumor cells and attack them. Read more about this fascinating discovery and the impact it could have for CAR T cell treatments below! https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-car-cells.html

Now live on Charitybuzz: bid now on a 30-minute virtual meeting with legendary hit maker Clive Davis! @clivejdavis will give advice on three music demos via Zoom. Bid now on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity now! https://www.charitybuzz.com//auction-clive-davis-will-list

For people whose lymphoma has recurred, there were encouraging findings about a new drug combination featured at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting. Matthew Matasar, a Memorial Sloan Kettering medical oncologist and hematologist, presented the trial results of a new treatment for indolent B cell lymphoma. It' so promising to see new treatments developing that maximize effectiveness and minimize risks! https://www.mskcc.org//new-drug-combination-helps-people-l

We are thrilled to announce that an anonymous donor has just given a gift of $250,000 to our Angel Anniversary Fund! This brings our total fundraising to $551,464! We are over halfway to our goal of $1M but we need your help to get there...will you consider a donation of any amount to help us get closer to a cure? https://gabriellesangels.org/angel-anniversary-fund-donati/