AACR Announces New Editor-in-Chief for Clinical Cancer Research

PHILADEPHIA - The American Association for Cancer Research announces the appointment of Kenneth C. Anderson, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as the Editor-in-Chief of its highly reputed oncology journal Clinical Cancer Research. Anderson is the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, as well as Chief of the Division of Hematologic Neoplasia and Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Anderson will succeed William N. Hait, M.D., Ph.D., current President of the AACR, as Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Cancer Research, and will commence his editorship in the Fall of 2007. During Hait’s term as Editor-in-Chief, Anderson served as a Senior Editor for the journal.

“On behalf of all the members of AACR and the cancer research community at large, I would like to express our deep appreciation to Dr. Anderson for accepting this very important post,” said AACR CEO Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.). “Dr. Anderson is a world-renowned clinical and translational scientist, lauded for his extraordinary accomplishments in hematological malignancies and also for his broad knowledge of solid tumors.”

“Clearly he is the ideal individual to be the Editor-in-Chief of this important peer-reviewed journal, which is devoted to the publication of the most important studies in translational research and cancer medicine,” Foti said. “We look forward to working with Dr. Anderson to bring the findings published in this journal rapidly to the benefit of cancer patients around the world.”

Anderson was the first to develop reagents targeting plasma cells and to utilize his panel of monoclonal antibodies to characterize heterogeneity between and within B-cell malignancies. His model of normal and malignant B-cell differentiation was used internationally to supplement the histopathologic diagnosis of B-cell malignancies. Moreover, he utilized these myeloma reactive antibodies both for immunotherapy and in transplantation strategies that aided in establishing the role of high dose therapy in myeloma.

He developed both laboratory systems and animal models to identify mechanisms whereby myeloma cells migrate and localize within the bone marrow milieu. His group specifically defined the role of cytokines in the autocrine and paracrine growth and survival of multiple myeloma cells in this microenvironment. These fundamental studies have both enhanced our understanding of myeloma pathogenesis and provided several novel targets for drug discovery and development with notable examples including cell surface molecules/receptors, molecular chaperones, signaling cascades, and cytokines.

His most pioneering work has provided a new framework for targeting the symbiotic heterotypic interactions between the tumor cell and its microenvironment to overcome drug resistance and improve patient outcome in myeloma. He has developed animal models and validated the in vivo anti-tumor activity of novel agents both directly and in the bone marrow milieu. Most importantly, he has spearheaded clinical trials that have yielded durable responses with these novel therapies, even in patients with relapsed refractory myeloma. This framework now serves as a model for target identification, drug validation, and rapid translation from the laboratory to the clinic.

He has carried out correlative gene profiling, proteomic, and signaling studies in tumor cell samples from patients treated on clinical trials with novel agents. These studies have led to new insights into the in vivo mechanisms of sensitivity versus resistance to novel agents. They provide the rationale for selection of patients most likely to respond. This body of work establishes the framework for the design of combination therapy strategies that enhance sensitivity and even overcome resistance in myeloma cells. Finally, the insights achieved through these studies illuminate strategies for the development of next generation, more potent, selective, and less toxic novel targeted therapeutics.

Anderson earned his B.A from Boston University and an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also holds an M.A. degree from Harvard University. In 2007, Anderson was the recipient of the prestigious AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Award for Cancer Research in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to advances in translational and clinical research in multiple myeloma, which have established a new treatment paradigm for progress in cancer drug development and improved patient care. Throughout his career, Anderson has received many honors, including the Kraft Family Professorship of Medicine, Harvard Medical School (2002), the Waldenstrom’s Award for outstanding contributions to the field of multiple myeloma (2003), the Johnson and Johnson Focused Giving Award for Setting New Directions in Science and Technology (2004), and the Robert A Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award, International Myeloma Foundation (2005). Further, he has served on many committees for the AACR, and will serve as Chairperson of the ASH-AACR Workshop on “PI3 Kinase as a Common Pathway in Hematological and Other Malignancies” to be held in the Spring of 2008.

Clinical Cancer Research publishes original articles describing clinical research on the cellular and molecular characterization, prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of human cancer. Its focus is on innovative clinical research and translational research that bridges the laboratory and the clinic. Clinical Cancer Research is especially interested in clinical trials evaluating new treatments for cancer; research on molecular abnormalities that predict incidence, response to therapy, and outcome; and laboratory studies of new drugs and biological agents that will lead to clinical trials in patients.