Cutting-edge Wayne State cancer research accelerated by award from RevitaLash Cosmetics

"If you're wondering where to invest in the fight against cancer - especially pancreatic cancer - that's going to make a difference, it's Dr. Azmi's lab at Karmanos Cancer Institute," said Michael Brinkenhoff, M.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Athena Cosmetics, Inc. - RevitaLash Cosmetics.

Dr. Brinkenhoff created the original RevitaLash eyelash serum in 2006 to help his wife and RevitaLash Cosmetics co-founder, Gayle, feel more beautiful amid chemotherapy breast cancer treatments. Since then, the company has raised more than $14 million for cancer research and patient care delivered, in part, through a research award established in memory of Gayle, who passed away in 2013.

Asfar Azmi, Ph.D. is director of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Initiative at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor of Oncology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. In February, his lab received the RevitaLash Cosmetics's Gayle Brinkenhoff Excellence in Cancer Research Award, which provided $250,000 to investigate how drugs inhibiting cancerous growth in two cellular components (KRAS and PCNA) may be more effective when administered together.

KRAS genes direct cells to grow and multiply but can form tumors causing some of the deadliest cancers when they mutate. PCNA is a ring-shaped clamp protein in cells that regulates DNA replication, repair and chromatin biology. Until recently, both were considered "undruggable" research targets by most of the pharmacological community.

Thanks to persistent investment in translational research, that understanding is changing. Dr. Azmi's lab was one of the first to successfully study KRAS inhibitors against tumors. AOH1996, a pioneering PCNA inhibitor showing promise in phase one trials, may be their perfect complement.

Developed by Linda Malkas, Ph.D. at the City of Hope cancer research center, a Karmanos partner supported by RevitaLash Cosmetics, AOH1996 honors Anna Olivia Healy, who was born in 1996 and died from cancer eight years later. Her parents' $25,000 gift kick-started Dr. Malkas' research demonstrating PCNAs are, in fact, druggable. Healy and Gayle's families honor their loved ones' legacies by helping make lifesaving research possible.

Revolutionary research

Preclinical data from Dr. Azmi's lab indicates that AOH1996 enhances the efficacy of KRAS inhibitors. Current treatments sometimes slow pancreatic tumor growth, but the effects are often temporary. Dr. Azmi hopes that next-generation combinations, including AOH1996 and the pan-RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib, will join forces to deliver stronger and longer-lasting benefits for patients.

Dr. Brinkenhoff shared RevitaLash Cosmetic's excitement to support Dr. Azmi's groundbreaking research and see the lab move toward clinical trials.

"Dr. Azmi's group is focused on understanding the mechanisms of resistance to KRAS inhibitors. He is one of the world's leading experts in this area," he said. "His team is really enthused because they understand the preclinical data, see the potential and realize they might be on the edge of making a lifesaving, lasting difference in the world."

Dr. Brinkenhoff explained that the research could improve anticancer treatments while reducing standard-of-care dosing considerably, lowering the toxicity patients must endure.

"If you can develop a drug that reduces the side effects and improves the efficacy, you've hit a holy grail and made a big difference in people's lives," he said.

Dr. Azmi said he appreciates that RevitaLash Cosmetics understands the value of translational research.

"Moving concepts forward from labs to clinical trials where therapies can be tested in humans requires significant investment like the incredible support we're receiving from RevitaLash Cosmetics," he said. "It will accelerate our work and hopefully produce more effective treatments that start faster and stay effective longer, which is critical for people with pancreatic cancer, which progresses quickly without symptoms and has a very low survival rate.

"Research advances into areas long considered undruggable like KRAS could only have been possible with philanthropic support," Dr. Azmi added. "The more investment translational cancer research receives, the sooner better therapies can be developed and lives extended."

Hope prevails

Dr. Brinkenhoff and Dr. Azmi met while on a conference call with Dr. Malkas. They hit it off discussing the possibilities of AOH1996 and KRAS inhibitors.

"Dr. Azmi's lab uses all the latest high-tech methods, robotics, and tools like artificial intelligence and spatial technology to accomplish our mission, but I was most impressed with his dedicated and devoted staff," Dr. Brinkenhoff said following a lab tour. "Dr. Azmi is deeply intelligent, kind, thoughtful and patient. He's a tremendous educator and guide for young scientists who want to make a difference in the world."

Dariel Sidney, Gayle Brinkenhoff's daughter and Athena Cosmetics, Inc. - RevitaLash Cosmetics' vice president of global philanthropy, was encouraged by the researchers' enthusiasm despite the difficulty of pancreatic cancer studies.

"I was struck by the energy and optimism Dr. Azmi's team has about their research. That is not common in labs studying pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously deadly," Sidney said. "That's part of why this project gives me so much hope. There's immense potential in Dr. Azmi's research, and that's why our grants to Karmanos Cancer Institute and City of Hope are our two largest to date."

RevitaLash Cosmetic's investment in revolutionary research embodies Gayle's passion for bringing people together to make a difference.

"Giving back is the reason our company was created in the first place," Sidney said. "Mom used to make friends at the chemo center and hand out RevitaLash Cosmetics products to people finishing their treatment. That first foray into philanthropy has grown into the many ways we're supporting cancer research and patient care today, using proceeds from the purchase of every product. She would be proud of what we're doing and so excited to see what Dr. Azmi's lab discovers."

Dr. Brinkenhoff recalled how Gayle advised people fighting cancer to persevere with a hopeful perspective and not let their diagnosis define them. Through her courageous 25-year battle with metastatic breast cancer, she exemplified that it is possible to live a full, meaningful, passionate life, even in the face of a fatal diagnosis.

"She would say, 'This is not the end - this is part of your journey. There's a light at the end of the tunnel and another side. You get to be a survivor and not just survive but prevail,'" he said. "Prevailing doesn't mean you'll live forever; it means you've overcome the sense that you've been defeated."

Wayne State University School of Medicine works in partnership with Karmanos physicians and scientists as they dedicate themselves to researching the cancer breakthroughs of tomorrow. Please consider making a gift today to help accelerate treatments from the laboratory to patient bedside - defining new standards of care and improving survivorship. Contact Kelley Denk, senior major gift officer, Wayne State University School of Medicine, for more information by emailing [email protected] or calling 313-577-0355.