Advances in Cancer Research

The Tew laboratory maintains an interest in using redox pathways as a platform to develop therapeutic strategies through drug discovery/development and biomarker identification. We interrogate how reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) impact cancer cells and develop novel drugs that impact on glutathione based pathways. Our research efforts have been integral to studies that have identified glutathione S-transferases (GST) as important in drug resistance, catalytic detoxification and as arbiters of kinase-mediated cell signaling events. In addition, we have been instrumental in defining how GSTP contributes to the process by which cells respond to ROS by selective addition of glutathione to specific protein clusters, so called S-glutathionylation. Each of these research areas has had broad impact on a number of cancer disciplines. Moreover, we have also been seminally involved in the Phase I to III clinical testing of three oncology drugs, Telcyta, Telintra and NOV-002. Other ongoing translational efforts have produced two ongoing clinical trials to measure the effectiveness of serum S-glutathionylated serine proteinase inhibitors as possible biomarkers for exposure to hydrogen peroxide mouthwashes and radiation.

Paul B. Fisher, MPh, PhD, FNAI, Professor and Chairman, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Director, VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine Thelma Newmeyer Corman Chair in Cancer Research in the VCU Massey Cancer Center, VCU, School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, and Emeritus Professor, Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY. Dr. Fisher is among the top 10% of NIH funded investigators over the past 35-years, published approximately 625 papers and reviews, and has 55 issued patents. He pioneered novel gene/discovery approaches (subtraction hybridization), developed innovative therapeutic approaches (Cancer Terminator Viruses), presented numerous named and distinguished lectures, founded several start-up companies, was Virginia Outstanding Scientist of 2014 and elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2018. Dr. Fisher is a prominent nationally and internationally recognized cancer research scientist focusing on understanding the molecular and biochemical basis of cancer development and progression to metastasis and using this garnered information to develop innovative approaches for diagnosing and treating cancer. He discovered and patented novel genes and gene promoters relevant to cancer growth control, differentiation and apoptosis. His discoveries include the first cloning of p21 (CDK inhibitor), human polynucleotide phosphorylase, mda-9/syntenin (a pro-metastatic gene), mda-5 and mda-7/IL-24, which has shown promising clinical activity in Phase I/II clinical trials in patients with advanced cancers. Dr. Fisher alsohas a documented track record as a successful seasoned entrepreneur. He was Founder and Director of GenQuest Incorporated, a functional genomics company, which merged with Corixa Corporation in 1998, traded on NASDAQ and was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2006. He discovered the cancer-specific PEG-Prom, which is the core technology of Cancer Targeting Systems (CTS, Inc.), a Virginia/Maryland-based company (at Johns Hopkins Medical Center) focusing on imaging and therapy (“theranostics”) of metastatic cancer (2014) by Drs. Fisher and Martin G. Pomper. He co-founded InVaMet Therapeutics (IVMT) and InterLeukin Combinatorial Therapies (ILCT) with Dr. Webster K. Cavenee (UCSD) (2017/2018).