Before his untimely death three years ago from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Paul Allen was a major force in philanthropy around the world, and in his home state of Washington. His legacy continues, of course, through the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, funded out of the billions he amassed as co-founder of Microsoft and driving programs in ocean and climate science, biosciences, and other topics. The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, the multi-faceted Allen Institute, and his private company Vulcan, Inc., all continue to channel resources toward solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems.
One thing that defined Allen’s philanthropy was an appetite for risk, always funding work on the leading edge of a given topic. We’re now seeing yet another example of this unfold as a result of a big cancer research gift made shortly after his passing. A $20 million bequest from Allen’s personal estate went to Swedish Health Services, a top Seattle-area health system that had provided specialized care to Allen during his years-long battle with lymphoma.
Nothing much was said about the gift until recently, when the Swedish Health System—a familiar presence in the greater Seattle community through its five regional hospitals and numerous primary care and specialty clinics—announced the opening of its new Paul G. Allen Research Center at Swedish Cancer Institute, made possible with that $20 million gift.
The new center will focus on novel, data-driven approaches to cancer research that analyze tremendous quantities of genetic and clinical information about cancer and how patients respond to therapies. This so-called “multi-omics” approach employs methods to identify the DNA mutations and changes in gene expressions of cancer cells that scientists believe are key to understanding how cancer works and how to treat and prevent it. Researchers consider it a paradigm shift in the study and treatment of cancer—a shift that has already led to the development of important new molecularly targeted therapies for leukemia, lung and breast cancer, and others that have extended lives and lessened the toxicity of some treatments.
This new front in cancer research requires the ability to collect and crunch massive amounts of data, explained Sara Jo Grethlein, executive medical director of Swedish Cancer Institute. “Cancer medicine is evolving incredibly quickly.”
The Paul G. Allen Research Center at Swedish will now be able to contribute to this research through work at new labs enabled by the Allen estate’s gift. Researchers can collect and analyze detailed information about the cancer’s DNA, and about the differences in the biology of individual patients, seeking to better predict which treatments will have the best success for any given patient.
Scientists hope multi-omics research will lead to new and effective targeted therapies that provide patients more hope with fewer debilitating side effects. “If we can understand the patient and the tumor, we may be able to truly personalize treatment,” Grethlein said. “The finer the understanding, the more specific the treatment. And data is underpinning everything.”
The drug that first proved out the concept of molecularly targeted therapy was the leukemia drug imatinib, also known by the brand name Gleevac, which targeted a specific mutation to slow or stop the growth of certain cancer cells. The same molecularly targeted approach has led to the development of newer pills to treat lung cancer that are less toxic than the previous generations of chemotherapy, while leading to improvements in patient survival.
The new Allen center’s goal is three-fold, said Grethlein: to learn more about how cancer forms and grows, to identify and develop treatments that harness patients’ own immune systems to treat the cancer, and finally, to prevent and detect cancer early. Swedish will also work to expand cancer screening among traditionally underserved communities to better ensure equitable access to the latest cancer care and science.
So why did Swedish wait three years to talk about the Allen gift and the research center it enabled? According to Grethlein, it took that amount of time to pull together the necessary parts, personnel and laboratory resources. While Allen has made some donations to the Swedish organization, the cancer center gift was the first that was truly transformational for the health system. “This gift enables us to compete in an arena we couldn’t have done otherwise,” Grethlein said.
