Caring for Carcinoid Foundation Gives Grant to Stanford Researcher

STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seung Kim, PhD, associate professor of developmental biology at Stanford University School of Medicine, has received a two-year, $250,000 grant from the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation.

Kim intends to develop a mouse model of the incurable disease. From this model he hopes to study the genetics and physiology of carcinoid tumors with the eventual goal of testing drugs to block tumor growth.

“Support from the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation will accelerate our laboratory’s effort to understand the molecular and cellular basis for carcinoid,” Kim said.

Carcinoid is a rare cancer of the endocrine system, with tumors forming in the colon, stomach, appendix, lungs, small intestine and rectum. There are currently no effective therapies for the roughly 12,000 patients diagnosed with carcinoid tumors every year.

The Caring for Carcinoid Foundation is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for carcinoid cancer. All fundraising proceeds go directly to research in carcinoid and related neuroendocrine cancers. The foundation also provides up-to-date information to patients, doctors and researchers through its Web site (www.caringforcarcinoid.org), newsletters and discussion forums.

Kim and his lab members intend to activate an oncogene dubbed Tag in the tissues where carcinoid tumors normally occur. With the ability to activate or deactivate the gene, he hopes to regulate the timing of when the tumors form and allow his team to dissect the physiology of the tumors. Kim said the work could help identify molecules that regulate the tumors and test drugs that inhibit those molecules.

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions — Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. For more information, please visit the Web site of the medical center’s Office of Communication & Public Affairs at http://mednews.stanford.edu.