
Darren Carpizo, MD, PhD
Many cancer drug discoveries derived from academic research never make it to commercial development and fall prey to the valley of death. Our BCRF funding has served as a bridge over this valley in providing key funding in the early development phase of our program. The potential pool of breast cancer patients that would benefit from this new targeted therapy is large.
Associate Professor of Surgery
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Areas of Focus: Tumor Biology
Co-Investigator: Shridar Ganesan, MD, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey
CURRENT RESEARCH
Goal:
To identify novel anti-cancer drugs for aggressive breast cancers, such as triple negative and BRCA-driven breast cancers.
Impact:
Many cancers develop mutations in a tumor suppressor gene called TP53. In its normal form, TP53 prevents cancer formation by forcing cells with unrepairable DNA damage to self-destruct, thereby preventing the cell from dividing and passing the damaged DNA to new cells. When TP53 becomes mutated, this protection goes away allowing these cells to divide and form tumors. Drs. Carpizo and Ganesan have developed a class of drugs called zinc metallochaperones (ZMCs) that can restore the normal activity of mutated TP53. Their work may lead to new, targeted approaches for very aggressive breast cancers.
What’s next:
The team continues to conduct laboratory tests of ZMCs. This year they will test it in combination with other therapies including chemotherapy and radiation, which are standard treatment for patients with TNBC.
People who have inherited mutations in the BRCA gene have a high risk of developing breast cancer. Most BRCA breast cancers tend to be of the triple negative (TNBC) subtype, which is particularly aggressive and lacks approved targeted therapies. Drs. Carpizo and Ganesan have identified a new class of anti-cancer drugs called zinc metallochaperones (ZMCs) that target tumors with mutations in TP53, a potent suppressor of tumor growth, and are currently testing its efficacy in laboratory studies
BIO
Darren Carpizo, MD, PhD, is a surgical oncologist specializing in the management of hepato-biliary and pancreatic cancers. Seventy-five percent of his time is devoted to laboratory research in the area of Developmental Therapeutics in both the basic and translational science arenas. Dr. Carpizo’s laboratory recently made a significant contribution to the field of p53 targeted drug development by identifying a lead compound that reactivates mutant p53. He is currently leading a multi-disciplinary group of investigators studying the mechanism of the mutant p53 reactivating drug which including biochemists, structural biologists and medicinal chemists. He is also leading a translational clinical trial to understand the mechanism of action of Hedgehog inhibitors in patients with surgically resectable pancreatic cancer.