The Dartmouth
1/5/2015

Geisel School of Medicine pharmacology and toxicology professor Michael Spinella is being awarded a $250,000 two-year grant by the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to support his research, which could lead to a treatment for testicular cancer that is more effective and less toxic than current treatment options. Spinella is among five researchers across the country receiving a 2014 Reach Grant from the foundation, which gives the grants to move childhood cancer research from the lab to the clinic.

Spinella’s work in testicular germ cell tumors suggests that because of a unique feature of testicular cancer, the cancer could be killed with a certain drug class, DNA methylation inhibitors. Lab results show that doses 1,000 times lower than those needed to treat lung or breast cancers will kill testicular cancer cells. Testicular cancer cells resistant to other drugs are responding to the treatment, Spinella said.

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