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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Melanoma

Award Number: P50CA221703
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/16/2019
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2025

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Melanoma - Overall: Project Summary/Abstract Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, with an increasing incidence and mortality, and a 5-year survival rate less than 20% for patients with metastatic disease. Several recent landmark genomic and immunologic studies have generated important new insights into the pathogenesis, drivers, and regulators of this disease, translating into the approval of both targeted and immune therapies for patients with metastatic disease. While targeted therapies have achieved high response rates, they are generally transient; likewise, immunotherapies bring about dramatic, long-term, complete responses but only in a subset of patients and often with serious toxicities. Despite the progress that has been made, several key challenges remain to maximizing the clinical benefit of immunotherapy: 1) poorly understood markers and mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy, and a lack of effective strategies to overcome them; 2) limited experience or efficacy in patients with central nervous system involvement, a common metastatic site and cause of death for melanoma and other cancers; and 3) lack of any benefit from single-agent immunotherapies in patients with non-cutaneous melanomas, particularly the uveal melanoma subtype. The central hypothesis of this SPORE proposal is that an integrated analysis of immune and molecular features in patients with advanced melanoma will improve our understanding of response and resistance to immunotherapy, and lead to more effective treatments. To test this hypothesis, we will focus on the most critical unmet needs of melanoma patients, building on current immunotherapeutic strategies and developing our own novel concepts to identify more effective treatment options by pursuing the following specific aims: • Address resistance to the PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor through inhibition of the PI3K pathway in PTEN- null metastatic melanoma patients (Project 1). • Determine the clinical utility of PD-1 blockade using nivolumab administered intrathecally in metastatic melanoma patients with leptomeningeal disease (Project 2). • Evaluate a new therapeutic strategy for uveal melanoma that uses adoptive cell therapy to target an immunogenic epitope of melanosomal transport protein SLC45A2 (Project 3). Three cores (Administrative Core, Clinical Database, Tissue Resource, and Translational Pathology Core [Core 2] and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core [Core 3]) provide specialized services to support our SPORE investigators and their proposed research studies. Together, these three projects and cores and our Developmental Research and Career Enhancement Programs will provide a comprehensive attack on critical unmet needs for patients battling these deadly manifestations of melanoma, and pave the way for other cancers with limited therapeutic options.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2023	THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, A COMPONENT OF THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS SYSTEM	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	5	6/4/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $2,070,386 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	001	5	6/23/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$2,070,386
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	002	5	8/23/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2023	2022	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	4	3/9/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $2,070,386

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $2,058,691 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	001	4	8/15/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$2,013,893
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	002	4	9/22/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$44,798
2022	2021	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER, THE	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	3	11/3/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $2,058,691

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $1,943,851 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M D ANDERSON CANCER CENTER	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD UNIT 207	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	001	3	6/2/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,943,851
2021	2020	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M D ANDERSON CANCER CENTER	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD UNIT 207	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	2	12/14/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $1,943,851

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $2,127,987 )
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M D ANDERSON CANCER CENTER	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD UNIT 207	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	2	7/2/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$2,127,987
														Subtotal = $2,127,987

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $2,083,190 )
2019	2019	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M D ANDERSON CANCER CENTER	1515 HOLCOMBE BLVD UNIT 207	HOUSTON	TX	77030	HARRIS	USA	Cancer Centers Support Grants	000	1	7/16/2019	NEW	$2,083,190
														Subtotal = $2,083,190

Grand Total All Awards = $10,284,105

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Melanoma

Award Number: P50CA221703

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/16/2019

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2025

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