Open-source cancer research
-
0:00 - 0:04I moved to Boston 10 years ago, from Chicago,
-
0:04 - 0:07with an interest in cancer and in chemistry.
-
0:07 - 0:10You might know that chemistry is the science of making molecules --
-
0:10 - 0:14or to my taste, new drugs for cancer.
-
0:14 - 0:17And you might also know that, for science and medicine,
-
0:17 - 0:20Boston is a bit of a candy store.
-
0:20 - 0:23You can't roll a stop sign in Cambridge
-
0:23 - 0:25without hitting a graduate student.
-
0:25 - 0:27The bar is called the Miracle of Science.
-
0:27 - 0:31The billboards say "Lab Space Available."
-
0:31 - 0:33And it's fair to say that in these 10 years,
-
0:33 - 0:36we've witnessed absolutely the start
-
0:36 - 0:39of a scientific revolution -- that of genome medicine.
-
0:39 - 0:41We know more about the patients that enter our clinic now
-
0:41 - 0:43than ever before.
-
0:43 - 0:45And we're able, finally, to answer the question
-
0:45 - 0:48that's been so pressing for so many years:
-
0:48 - 0:51why do I have cancer?
-
0:51 - 0:53This information is also pretty staggering.
-
0:53 - 0:55You might know that,
-
0:55 - 0:57so far in just the dawn of this revolution,
-
0:57 - 1:00we know that there are perhaps 40,000 unique mutations
-
1:00 - 1:03affecting more than 10,000 genes,
-
1:03 - 1:05and that there are 500 of these genes
-
1:05 - 1:07that are bona-fide drivers,
-
1:07 - 1:09causes of cancer.
-
1:09 - 1:11Yet comparatively,
-
1:11 - 1:14we have about a dozen targeted medications.
-
1:14 - 1:17And this inadequacy of cancer medicine
-
1:17 - 1:19really hit home when my father was diagnosed
-
1:19 - 1:22with pancreatic cancer.
-
1:22 - 1:24We didn't fly him to Boston.
-
1:24 - 1:26We didn't sequence his genome.
-
1:26 - 1:28It's been known for decades
-
1:28 - 1:30what causes this malignancy.
-
1:30 - 1:32It's three proteins --
-
1:32 - 1:35Ras, Myc and P53.
-
1:35 - 1:38This is old information we've known since about the 80s,
-
1:38 - 1:40yet there's no medicine I can prescribe
-
1:40 - 1:42to a patient with this
-
1:42 - 1:44or any of the numerous solid tumors
-
1:44 - 1:46caused by these three horsemen
-
1:46 - 1:49of the apocalypse that is cancer.
-
1:49 - 1:52There's no Ras, no Myc, no P53 drug.
-
1:52 - 1:54And you might fairly ask: why is that?
-
1:54 - 1:57And the very unsatisfying, yet scientific, answer
-
1:57 - 1:59is it's too hard.
-
1:59 - 2:01That for whatever reason,
-
2:01 - 2:04these three proteins have entered a space in the language of our field
-
2:04 - 2:06that's called the undruggable genome --
-
2:06 - 2:08which is like calling a computer unsurfable
-
2:08 - 2:10or the Moon unwalkable.
-
2:10 - 2:12It's a horrible term of trade.
-
2:12 - 2:14But what it means
-
2:14 - 2:16is that we fail to identify a greasy pocket in these proteins,
-
2:16 - 2:19into which we, like molecular locksmiths,
-
2:19 - 2:22can fashion an active, small, organic molecule
-
2:22 - 2:24or drug substance.
-
2:24 - 2:26Now as I was training in clinical medicine
-
2:26 - 2:28and hematology and oncology
-
2:28 - 2:30and stem cell transplantation,
-
2:30 - 2:32what we had instead,
-
2:32 - 2:35cascading through the regulatory network at the FDA,
-
2:35 - 2:37were these substances --
-
2:37 - 2:39arsenic, thalidomide
-
2:39 - 2:41and this chemical derivative
-
2:41 - 2:43of nitrogen mustard gas.
-
2:43 - 2:46And this is the 21st century.
-
2:46 - 2:48And so, I guess you'd say, dissatisfied
-
2:48 - 2:50with the performance and quality of these medicines,
-
2:50 - 2:53I went back to school in chemistry
-
2:53 - 2:55with the idea
-
2:55 - 2:58that perhaps by learning the trade of discovery chemistry
-
2:58 - 3:01and approaching it in the context of this brave new world
-
3:01 - 3:03of the open-source,
-
3:03 - 3:05the crowd-source,
-
3:05 - 3:08the collaborative network that we have access to within academia,
-
3:08 - 3:10that we might more quickly
-
3:10 - 3:12bring powerful and targeted therapies
-
3:12 - 3:14to our patients.
-
3:14 - 3:17And so please consider this a work in progress,
-
3:17 - 3:19but I'd like to tell you today a story
-
3:19 - 3:21about a very rare cancer
-
3:21 - 3:23called midline carcinoma,
-
3:23 - 3:25about the protein target,
-
3:25 - 3:27the undruggable protein target that causes this cancer,
-
3:27 - 3:29called BRD4,
-
3:29 - 3:31and about a molecule
-
3:31 - 3:33developed at my lab at Dana Farber Cancer Institute
-
3:33 - 3:36called JQ1, which we affectionately named for Jun Qi,
-
3:36 - 3:39the chemist that made this molecule.
-
3:39 - 3:42Now BRD4 is an interesting protein.
-
3:42 - 3:45You might ask yourself, with all the things cancer's trying to do to kill our patient,
-
3:45 - 3:47how does it remember it's cancer?
-
3:47 - 3:49When it winds up its genome,
-
3:49 - 3:51divides into two cells and unwinds again,
-
3:51 - 3:53why does it not turn into an eye, into a liver,
-
3:53 - 3:56as it has all the genes necessary to do this?
-
3:56 - 3:58It remembers that it's cancer.
-
3:58 - 4:01And the reason is that cancer, like every cell in the body,
-
4:01 - 4:03places little molecular bookmarks,
-
4:03 - 4:05little Post-it notes,
-
4:05 - 4:08that remind the cell "I'm cancer; I should keep growing."
-
4:08 - 4:10And those Post-it notes
-
4:10 - 4:12involve this and other proteins of its class --
-
4:12 - 4:14so-called bromodomains.
-
4:14 - 4:17So we developed an idea, a rationale,
-
4:17 - 4:19that perhaps, if we made a molecule
-
4:19 - 4:21that prevented the Post-it note from sticking
-
4:21 - 4:23by entering into the little pocket
-
4:23 - 4:25at the base of this spinning protein,
-
4:25 - 4:27then maybe we could convince cancer cells,
-
4:27 - 4:30certainly those addicted to this BRD4 protein,
-
4:30 - 4:32that they're not cancer.
-
4:32 - 4:34And so we started to work on this problem.
-
4:34 - 4:36We developed libraries of compounds
-
4:36 - 4:39and eventually arrived at this and similar substances
-
4:39 - 4:41called JQ1.
-
4:41 - 4:43Now not being a drug company,
-
4:43 - 4:46we could do certain things, we had certain flexibilities,
-
4:46 - 4:49that I respect that a pharmaceutical industry doesn't have.
-
4:49 - 4:51We just started mailing it to our friends.
-
4:51 - 4:53I have a small lab.
-
4:53 - 4:55We thought we'd just send it to people and see how the molecule behaves.
-
4:55 - 4:57And we sent it to Oxford, England
-
4:57 - 5:00where a group of talented crystallographers provided this picture,
-
5:00 - 5:02which helped us understand
-
5:02 - 5:05exactly how this molecule is so potent for this protein target.
-
5:05 - 5:07It's what we call a perfect fit
-
5:07 - 5:09of shape complimentarity, or hand in glove.
-
5:09 - 5:11Now this is a very rare cancer,
-
5:11 - 5:13this BRD4-addicted cancer.
-
5:13 - 5:16And so we worked with samples of material
-
5:16 - 5:19that were collected by young pathologists at Brigham Women's Hospital.
-
5:19 - 5:22And as we treated these cells with this molecule,
-
5:22 - 5:24we observed something really striking.
-
5:24 - 5:26The cancer cells,
-
5:26 - 5:28small, round and rapidly dividing,
-
5:28 - 5:30grew these arms and extensions.
-
5:30 - 5:32They were changing shape.
-
5:32 - 5:34In effect, the cancer cell
-
5:34 - 5:36was forgetting it was cancer
-
5:36 - 5:39and becoming a normal cell.
-
5:39 - 5:42This got us very excited.
-
5:42 - 5:45The next step would be to put this molecule into mice.
-
5:45 - 5:48The only problem was there's no mouse model of this rare cancer.
-
5:48 - 5:51And so at the time that we were doing this research,
-
5:51 - 5:54I was caring for a 29 year-old firefighter from Connecticut
-
5:54 - 5:57who was very much at the end of life
-
5:57 - 5:59with this incurable cancer.
-
5:59 - 6:01This BRD4-addicted cancer
-
6:01 - 6:03was growing throughout his left lung,
-
6:03 - 6:05and he had a chest tube in that was draining little bits of debris.
-
6:05 - 6:07And every nursing shift
-
6:07 - 6:09we would throw this material out.
-
6:09 - 6:11And so we approached this patient
-
6:11 - 6:13and asked if he would collaborate with us.
-
6:13 - 6:17Could we take this precious and rare cancerous material
-
6:17 - 6:19from this chest tube
-
6:19 - 6:21and drive it across town and put it into mice
-
6:21 - 6:23and try to do a clinical trial
-
6:23 - 6:25and stage it with a prototype drug?
-
6:25 - 6:28Well that would be impossible and, rightly, illegal to do in humans.
-
6:28 - 6:31And he obliged us.
-
6:31 - 6:33At the Lurie Family Center for Animal Imaging,
-
6:33 - 6:36my colleague, Andrew Kung, grew this cancer successfully in mice
-
6:36 - 6:38without ever touching plastic.
-
6:38 - 6:41And you can see this PET scan of a mouse -- what we call a pet PET.
-
6:41 - 6:43The cancer is growing
-
6:43 - 6:46as this red, huge mass in the hind limb of this animal.
-
6:46 - 6:48And as we treat it with our compound,
-
6:48 - 6:50this addiction to sugar,
-
6:50 - 6:52this rapid growth, faded.
-
6:52 - 6:54And on the animal on the right,
-
6:54 - 6:57you see that the cancer was responding.
-
6:57 - 6:59We've completed now clinical trials
-
6:59 - 7:01in four mouse models of this disease.
-
7:01 - 7:03And every time, we see the same thing.
-
7:03 - 7:05The mice with this cancer that get the drug live,
-
7:05 - 7:08and the ones that don't rapidly perish.
-
7:10 - 7:12So we started to wonder,
-
7:12 - 7:14what would a drug company do at this point?
-
7:14 - 7:16Well they probably would keep this a secret
-
7:16 - 7:18until they turn a prototype drug
-
7:18 - 7:20into an active pharmaceutical substance.
-
7:20 - 7:22And so we did just the opposite.
-
7:22 - 7:24We published a paper
-
7:24 - 7:26that described this finding
-
7:26 - 7:28at the earliest prototype stage.
-
7:28 - 7:31We gave the world the chemical identity of this molecule,
-
7:31 - 7:33typically a secret in our discipline.
-
7:33 - 7:35We told people exactly how to make it.
-
7:35 - 7:37We gave them our email address,
-
7:37 - 7:39suggesting that, if they write us,
-
7:39 - 7:41we'll send them a free molecule.
-
7:41 - 7:43We basically tried to create
-
7:43 - 7:45the most competitive environment for our lab as possible.
-
7:45 - 7:47And this was, unfortunately, successful.
-
7:47 - 7:49(Laughter)
-
7:49 - 7:51Because now when we've shared this molecule,
-
7:51 - 7:53just since December of last year,
-
7:53 - 7:55with 40 laboratories in the United States
-
7:55 - 7:57and 30 more in Europe --
-
7:57 - 7:59many of them pharmaceutical companies
-
7:59 - 8:01seeking now to enter this space,
-
8:01 - 8:03to target this rare cancer
-
8:03 - 8:05that, thankfully right now,
-
8:05 - 8:07is quite desirable to study in that industry.
-
8:09 - 8:12But the science that's coming back from all of these laboratories
-
8:12 - 8:14about the use of this molecule
-
8:14 - 8:16has provided us insights
-
8:16 - 8:18that we might not have had on our own.
-
8:18 - 8:20Leukemia cells treated with this compound
-
8:20 - 8:23turn into normal white blood cells.
-
8:23 - 8:25Mice with multiple myeloma,
-
8:25 - 8:28an incurable malignancy of the bone marrow,
-
8:28 - 8:30respond dramatically
-
8:30 - 8:32to the treatment with this drug.
-
8:32 - 8:34You might know that fat has memory.
-
8:34 - 8:38Nice to be able to demonstrate that for you.
-
8:38 - 8:40And in fact, this molecule
-
8:40 - 8:43prevents this adipocyte, this fat stem cell,
-
8:43 - 8:46from remembering how to make fat
-
8:46 - 8:48such that mice on a high fat diet,
-
8:48 - 8:51like the folks in my hometown of Chicago,
-
8:51 - 8:53fail to develop fatty liver,
-
8:53 - 8:56which is a major medical problem.
-
8:56 - 8:58What this research taught us --
-
8:58 - 9:00not just my lab, but our institute,
-
9:00 - 9:02and Harvard Medical School more generally --
-
9:02 - 9:04is that we have unique resources in academia
-
9:04 - 9:06for drug discovery --
-
9:06 - 9:08that our center
-
9:08 - 9:10that has tested perhaps more cancer molecules in a scientific way
-
9:10 - 9:12than any other,
-
9:12 - 9:14never made one of its own.
-
9:14 - 9:16For all the reasons you see listed here,
-
9:16 - 9:19we think there's a great opportunity for academic centers
-
9:19 - 9:22to participate in this earliest, conceptually-tricky
-
9:22 - 9:25and creative discipline
-
9:25 - 9:27of prototype drug discovery.
-
9:29 - 9:31So what next?
-
9:31 - 9:33We have this molecule, but it's not a pill yet.
-
9:33 - 9:36It's not orally available.
-
9:36 - 9:39We need to fix it, so that we can deliver it to our patients.
-
9:39 - 9:41And everyone in the lab,
-
9:41 - 9:43especially following the interaction with these patients,
-
9:43 - 9:45feels quite compelled
-
9:45 - 9:47to deliver a drug substance based on this molecule.
-
9:47 - 9:49It's here where I have to say
-
9:49 - 9:51that we could use your help and your insights,
-
9:51 - 9:53your collaborative participation.
-
9:53 - 9:55Unlike a drug company,
-
9:55 - 9:58we don't have a pipeline that we can deposit these molecules into.
-
9:58 - 10:01We don't have a team of salespeople and marketeers
-
10:01 - 10:04that can tell us how to position this drug against the other.
-
10:04 - 10:06What we do have is the flexibility of an academic center
-
10:06 - 10:09to work with competent, motivated,
-
10:09 - 10:12enthusiastic, hopefully well-funded people
-
10:12 - 10:14to carry these molecules forward into the clinic
-
10:14 - 10:16while preserving our ability
-
10:16 - 10:19to share the prototype drug worldwide.
-
10:19 - 10:21This molecule will soon leave our benches
-
10:21 - 10:23and go into a small startup company
-
10:23 - 10:25called Tensha Therapeutics.
-
10:25 - 10:28And really this is the fourth of these molecules
-
10:28 - 10:31to kind of graduate from our little pipeline of drug discovery,
-
10:31 - 10:34two of which -- a topical drug
-
10:34 - 10:37for lymphoma of the skin,
-
10:37 - 10:40an oral substance for the treatment of multiple myeloma --
-
10:40 - 10:42will actually come to the bedside
-
10:42 - 10:44for first clinical trial in July of this year.
-
10:44 - 10:47For us, a major and exciting milestone.
-
10:48 - 10:50I want to leave you with just two ideas.
-
10:50 - 10:52The first is
-
10:52 - 10:55if anything is unique about this research,
-
10:55 - 10:57it's less the science than the strategy --
-
10:57 - 10:59that this for us was a social experiment,
-
10:59 - 11:02an experiment in what would happen
-
11:02 - 11:05if we were as open and honest
-
11:05 - 11:07at the earliest phase of discovery chemistry research
-
11:07 - 11:09as we could be.
-
11:09 - 11:11This string of letters and numbers
-
11:11 - 11:13and symbols and parentheses
-
11:13 - 11:15that can be texted, I suppose,
-
11:15 - 11:17or Twittered worldwide,
-
11:17 - 11:20is the chemical identity of our pro compound.
-
11:20 - 11:22It's the information that we most need
-
11:22 - 11:24from pharmaceutical companies,
-
11:24 - 11:26the information
-
11:26 - 11:29on how these early prototype drugs might work.
-
11:29 - 11:32Yet this information is largely a secret.
-
11:32 - 11:34And so we seek really
-
11:34 - 11:36to download from the amazing successes
-
11:36 - 11:39of the computer science industry two principles:
-
11:39 - 11:42that of opensource and that of crowdsourcing
-
11:42 - 11:46to quickly, responsibly
-
11:46 - 11:49accelerate the delivery of targeted therapeutics
-
11:49 - 11:51to patients with cancer.
-
11:51 - 11:54Now the business model involves all of you.
-
11:54 - 11:56This research is funded by the public.
-
11:56 - 11:58It's funded by foundations.
-
11:58 - 12:00And one thing I've learned in Boston
-
12:00 - 12:02is that you people will do anything for cancer -- and I love that.
-
12:02 - 12:05You bike across the state. You walk up and down the river.
-
12:05 - 12:07(Laughter)
-
12:07 - 12:09I've never seen really anywhere
-
12:09 - 12:11this unique support
-
12:11 - 12:13for cancer research.
-
12:13 - 12:15And so I want to thank you
-
12:15 - 12:18for your participation, your collaboration
-
12:18 - 12:21and most of all for your confidence in our ideas.
-
12:21 - 12:26(Applause)
- Title:
- Open-source cancer research
- Speaker:
- Jay Bradner
- Description:
-
How does cancer know it's cancer? At Jay Bradner's lab, they found a molecule that might hold the answer, JQ1 -- and instead of patenting JQ1, they published their findings and mailed samples to 40 other labs to work on. An inspiring look at the open-source future of medical research.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:27
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Open-source cancer research | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Open-source cancer research | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Open-source cancer research | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Open-source cancer research | ||
TED edited English subtitles for Open-source cancer research | ||
TED added a translation |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 6/3/2016.
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 6/3/2016.