JOINT OPENERS. No, not that kind of joint.

At the Welburn gourd farm

She turned these things into works of art

 

I find this both interesting and encouraging.  I am fighting my way through one small part of the Hutch group’s SPORE application.  As you may know, SPORE is short for Special Program on Research Excellence.   A successful SPORE application equates to a large amount of money (from NIH), for a long period of time.  We had a SPORE, which ran out, and our first attempt at a renewal was rejected.  This is something of a “Hail Mary” touchdown pass.  If we get it, we thrive; if not, we probably cease to exist.

The thicket of technical terms I am bushwhacking through concerns a way to enhance the efficacy of standard chemotherapy in ovarian cancer.  It seems that the cells comprising a solid tumor adhere tightly to one-another, thus making it difficult for chemo drugs to penetrate.  Our group has fashioned a “Joint-Opener” (JO), which transiently pries the cancer cells apart, thus allowing even large-molecule drugs to enter more efficiently.  Works in mice, including mice given human tumors.  Works in monkeys.  Doesn’t seem to have any great toxicity (in fact, none at all).  A cure it definitely is not, but it is progress.  The way I look at it, in this business we take what we can get.