The Hasan Program Project

Themes and Integration

A central theme of the Program is the mechanism-based integration of PDT and optical imaging with other treatment modalities to provide, in its most ambitious form, patient-customized therapy. Molecular signatures of cancer are characterized by abnormal levels of specific molecules, such as receptors and proteins (synthesis and/or secretion) at the transcriptional or post-translational levels. Inhibitors of specific molecular pathways are emerging as promising cancer therapies and are viewed as suppressors of cellular or vascular growth and proliferation. These biological therapies are often cytostatic in nature and resistance to them ensues over time. The underlying thesis of this Program is that the best results in cancer treatment may be achieved by rational, mechanism-based combinations of cytotoxic therapies, such as PDT with biologic therapies, by which each modality augments the other. The augmentation may come from the modalities affecting different molecular targets or from the first modality priming the tumor cells for attack by the second. The augmentation may also come from phenotype alteration favoring PDT as a consequence of molecular manipulation such as differentiation.

The diagram above illustrates a simple representation of the integration of the Cores and Projects. The scientific theme of molecular mechanisms and response manipulation, combined with PDT and imaging, provides a commonality for all of the Projects. The Cores will provide one of the several integration mechanisms in the Program.