$8 Million Awarded to Cancer Dream Team by American Association for Cancer Research

Wake Forest Baptist Health is one of four institutions chosen by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to be part of a “Dream Team” of top scientists focused on finding therapies for T-cell lymphoma, a rare cancer of the blood and immune system. 

The AACR has awarded $8 million to the team, made up of physicians and researchers from Wake Forest Baptist, Baylor College of Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The team will be using chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to trigger the immune system to both attack and destroy cancerous cells.

Read the entire news release.

“We must develop better treatments for those with T-cell lymphomas,” said Dr. Zanetta Lamar, assistant professor of hematology and oncology at Wake Forest Baptist Health and one of the scientists in the Dream Team. “Although treatments are available, many patients who achieve remission will experience a relapse. In addition, there is no consensus for treatment for those patients with recurrent or difficult-to-treat disease.”

“The awarding of this grant to Wake Forest Baptist’s Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators recognizes their exceptional talent and dedication,” said Dr. Boris Pasche, chair of cancer biology and director of Wake Forest Baptist’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. “This award will focus on near-term clinical applications, which will provide cutting edge therapeutic options to our patients.”