Pediatric oncology leaders, Arizona Sen. John McCain and other state officials announced Thursday that Arizona will be the first state to support Cancer MoonShot 2020, a government and private research initiative seeking to accelerate immunotherapy cancer treatment.
Cancer MoonShot 2020 also launched its MoonShot 2020 Pediatrics coalition Thursday, involving Phoenix Children’s Hospital and nine other pediatric institutes from across the country, which will participate in a national data sharing program that will accelerate clinical development of the next generation of immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy uses analysis of the patient’s genes to figure out the correct form of treatment for the patient through a vaccine, and has been a promising form of cancer treatment.
Members in the coalition will seek to apply the newest immunotherapy diagnostic testing available, using promising treatments and clinical trials.
Cancer MoonShot 2020 plans to test these new therapies in 20,000 cancer patients with differing stages in 20 tumor types within the next 36 months.
A great deal of cancer research is being conducted in silos, said Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder and CEO of NantWorks. MoonShot 2020 hopes to create a collaborative effort where information on cancer research, and on patients’ outcomes is shared between all researchers, he said.
The collaboration will happen between the government, pharmaceutical companies, academic and research institutes, oncologists and insurance companies.
These new efforts will provide participating organizations access to a national cloud infrastructure where data on cancer research can be shared in real time, so everyone has access to breakthrough knowledge immediately.
These efforts will accelerate clinical trial and drug development for children and cancer patients.
Founding members of MoonShot 2020 Pediatrics Consortium include:
- Phoenix Children’s Hospital
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
- Children’s Hospital of Orange County
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
- Duke Department of Pediatrics
- Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center
- Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah and Intermountain Primary Children’t Hospital
- Sanford Health
Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Arizona State University will be on the cutting edge of pediatric cancer research, McCain said.
“(Cancer MoonShot 2020) has assembled a coalition with literally the best in the nation to attack this terrible disease,” he added.
