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Funding Personalized Cancer Treatment

When his wife Emilene was fighting lung cancer, Sumner Brown of Phoenix , Ariz. , developed a close relationship with Duke assistant professor of medical oncology Anil Potti, MD. Potti, who has a joint appointment in Duke's Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy (IGSP), was conducting promising research to help physicians treat lung and other cancers with greater precision. Potti used genomic profiling to characterize individual tumor cells and then tracked their response to different chemotherapy drugs. He found that certain molecular characteristics determine which cancer cells will respond to one chemotherapy drug over another.

Although Mrs. Brown lost her battle with cancer in December 2006, her husband hopes his gift of $600,000 will benefit others fighting cancer. The Emilene Brown Genomic Cancer Research Fund will fund Potti's research, now in human clinical trials for lung, breast, and ovarian cancer, as well as the work of young investigators in his lab who are studying the mechanisms of cancer initiation and progression.

“I am very appreciative of my friendship with Mr. Brown and the continued relationship between him and the IGSP,” said Potti. “This funding will help advance our understanding of genomics related to cancer and should help us save many lives each year.”