Overview
Since ACCRF was founded in December 2005, a vibrant community of researchers, supported by patients, has sprung into action. Investigators have worked together across academia, government agencies and private industry to move forward the various projects within the Research Agenda. A collaborative spirit has been evident as specimens, models and data have been shared in a manner seldom seen in scientific research. The results have been remarkable as shown in the table below:
ACC Research Progress Since ACCRF’s Inception
2005 2012 Biobanking Limited Repositories with hundreds of frozen tumor specimens Cell Lines Multiple invalid models Misidentifications discovered; valid models in development Animal Models None 17 mouse xenografts developed; progress in transgenic models Genomics Sporadic reports of translocations - Discovery of recurrent t(6;9) and MYB-NFIB fusion gene
- Investigation of fusion prevalence, variants and downstream targets
- Exome sequencing, CGH, methylation, gene expression and phosphorylation studies on same samples
Preclinical Drug Screens None in valid models - Open xenograft platform for academia and industry
- 30 approved and 20 novel compounds screened in xenografts
- High-throughput screening in zebrafish
Mobilizing Patients Limited Tissue donations, clinical trial accrual and $7 million in donations NIH Commitments Negligible Over $20MM for salivary gland tumor research (NIDCR) Download ACC Research Progress Since ACCRF’s Inception The ultimate goal of a cure has not yet been reached. However, basic and translational research projects are unearthing important molecular targets that are responsible for the development of ACC. And the rational pursuit of those molecular targets is raising the quality and promise of clinical trials for ACC patients. Momentum is clearly building. With the continued support of the ACC patient community, ACC researchers will continue to make enormous strides.
