Published by Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology
“A transcriptomics approach to expand therapeutic options and optimize clinical trials in oncology” Published by Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology

WINning together

WIN was formed on the premise that we can accomplish more together than each organization can achieve working alone. We aim to improve cancer patients’ survival and quality of life. View WIN's history and unique attributes:

WIN represents a global collaboration of cancer centers, life science and biotech organizations, pharmaceutical and technology companies and not-for-profit organizations.
The Worldwide Innovative Networking (WIN) Consortium in personalized cancer medicine was initiated in 2010 with leadership from leading cancer centers worldwide. WIN is a non-profit, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris.

WIN was created to accelerate the pace and reduce the cost of translating novel cancer treatments to the bedside by developing and applying, through worldwide clinical trials and research projects, the most promising advances in genomic-based cancer research. WIN aims to initiate research projects each year in a global consortium guided by an independent scientific advisory board.

WIN now includes 31 institutional members. These stakeholders have come together from all parts of the world to address the challenge of increasing the efficacy of cancer diagnostics and therapeutics by understanding the genetics and biology of each individual’s tumor and accounting for genetic differences across diverse populations—from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Australia.

Our goal is to significantly improve outcomes for patients around the globe. We aim to increase the number of patients worldwide that have access to innovative, global clinical trials in the area of genomic-based cancer therapeutics. Global diversity and inclusion of all stakeholders is WIN’s most important and differentiating asset.
WIN is comprised of organizations representing all stakeholders in personalized cancer medicine.
WIN enables cross-sector collaborations designed to accelerate the speed and efficacy with which breakthroughs in personalized cancer medicine can be realized and brought to patients worldwide.

Our members include leading academic, pharmaceutical, life science, not-for-profit, health, patient advocacy and IT organizations.
Our members include 24 leading academic centers representing 18 countries and five continents, enabling coordinated studies with a global patient population.
The response to a genetically-targeted therapy can vary due to differences in ethnicity and environment. WIN's global studies are designed to identify and account for this variability, enhancing the speed and efficacy with which novel discoveries can be made and brought to patients around the world.

WIN prioritizes cross-sector interaction designed to enhance learning across and between continents and healthcare sectors.
WIN Symposia, held annually, brings together hundreds of leaders representing all stakeholders from around the world in a forum designed to promote the exchange of ideas and information.

Clinical trials, projects and publications

WIN members collaboratively design and carry out global studies designed to achieve breakthroughs for patients worldwide. Our distinguished Scientific Advisory Board oversees WIN studies. Current trials include:

“Digital Display Precision Predictor: the prototype of a global biomarker model to guide treatments with targeted therapy and predict progression-free survival”
WIN's article “Digital Display Precision Predictor: the prototype of a global biomarker model to guide treatments with targeted therapy and predict progression-free survival” published by NPJ Precision Oncology, a Nature Research journal.
SPRING 01 (Survival Prolongation by Rationale Innovative Genomics) proof of concept trial is the first trial exploring the tri-therapy strategy in first line of advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), following the historical success of this approach in AIDS and tuberculosis for which only tri-therapy demonstrated long term efficacy.
The WIN SPRING trial was conducted in the USA, France, Spain, Luxembourg and Israel in the following cancer centers: University of California - San Diego's Moores Cancer Center, Avera Cancer Center (Sioux Falls, Arizona), Institut Curie (Paris), Centre Léon Bérard (Lyon), Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (Barcelona), Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (Luxembourg), and Chaim Sheba Medical Center (Israel).

The trial was sponsored by the WIN Consortium and funded by ARC Fondation for cancer research (France). The drugs were donated by Pfizer Inc.
Published in Nature Medicine, results of WINTHER, the first study pioneered by the WIN Consortium.
Published in Nature Medicine, results of WINTHER, the first study pioneered by the WIN Consortium.

Genomic and transcriptomic profiling expands precision cancer medicine: the WINTHER trial - shows that RNA profiling together with DNA testing matches more patients with advanced cancer to personalized therapies than DNA profiling for tumor mutations alone.

WIN is currently planning innovative global clinical trials that represent the next generation of studies focused on lung cancer.
European funded trials WINTHER EU FP7 funded and CHEMORES EU FP6 funded established foundations for WIN future global strategy for lung cancer currently under development.

The concept underlying the new strategy is developed in the following publications:

People leadership

WIN leaders are selected for their contributions and commitment to making effective, personalized cancer medicine a reality for patients around the world. They guide WIN's strategic, operational, and scientific direction.

Organization Photo

Organization

The WIN Consortium is organized in the following groups who collectively work together to achieve WIN's common goals

Richard L. Schilsky Photo
Chairman, WIN Consortium
Richard L. Schilsky

Chairman, WIN Consortium; Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago; past President and former Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer (ASCO) (USA)

Josep Tabernero Photo
Vice Chairman, WIN Consortium
Josep Tabernero

Vice Chairman, WIN Consortium; Head, Medical Oncology Department, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (HUVH); Director, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology, VHIO (Spain)

Razelle Kurzrock Photo
Chief Medical Officer, Executive Committee, Equal Opportunity and Diversity Officer, WIN Consortium
Razelle Kurzrock

Chief Medical Officer, WIN Consortium; Professor of Medicine, Associate Director, Clinical Research, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Endowed Chair of Precision Oncology (USA)

Vladimir Lazar Photo
Chief Scientific and Operating Officer, WIN Consortium
Vladimir Lazar

Chief Scientific and Operating Officer, WIN Consortium

Catherine Bresson Photo
Director, Operational Team, WIN Consortium
Catherine Bresson

Director, Operational Team, WIN Consortium


Our members

WIN members include 31 leading organizations representing all stakeholders in personalized cancer medicine covering 19 countries and 5 continents. Our shared vision is delivering the promise of effective, personalized cancer medicine to patients worldwide.


WIN Symposia

WIN Symposia, held annually, gathers leaders representing a breadth of stakeholders from around the world to learn, share, and collaborate. Visit http://www.winsymposium.org for registration and additional information.

WIN 2022 Symposium logotype

WIN 2022 Symposium

October 29, 2022 - October 30, 2022

The WIN 2022 Symposium ‘Integrating Genomics and Transcriptomics to Reshape Precision Oncology: A WINning Strategy’ took place on 29-30 October, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain.

We had an exciting line-up of prominent speakers and panel discussion and our 1st international molecular board!

For further information, please visit our dedicated symposium website https://www.winsymposium.org!

 

Partnership JIPO and WIN logotype

Partnership JIPO and WIN

December 03, 2021 - December 03, 2022

JIPO and WIN will cross-promote both organization’s activities throughout the year, including the WIN 2022 Symposium in Barcelona, Spain, October 29-30, 2022. Abstracts selected for presentation at the WIN meeting will be published in JIPO as a Conference Proceeding.

JIPO Editorial Fellow, Dr. Khalid Jazieh, will be interviewing members of WIN Leadership to highlight the collaboration and upcoming activities. Drs. Razelle Kurzrock, Vladimir Lazar, and Richard L. Schilsky will be interviewed. These interviews will be published on the JIPO YouTube channel in the coming weeks.

Dr. Vladimir Lazar, Chief Scientific and Operating Officer of WIN, has been appointed to the JIPO Editorial Board to represent WIN Leadership. Dr. Lazar plans to contribute an editorial to the Journal in 2022. Dr. Kurzrock has published four articles in JIPO in 2019 and 2020.

WIN 2019 Symposium logotype

WIN 2019 Symposium

June 23, 2019 - June 24, 2019

The 11th edition of the WIN Symposia ‘WINnovation and Global Deployment of Precision Oncology’ took place in Paris, France on 23-24 June 2019.

Highlights and further information on the event, WIN 2019 can be found on our dedicated website at https://www.winsymposium.org/


What people are saying

What people are saying
"WIN is an unique, global, translational clinical research organization with a bold vision to bring cutting edge science and technology to the cure of cancer worldwide. It is a privilege to help guide the organization as Chairman." Richard L. Schilsky, WIN Chairman
What people are saying
"Achieving much needed major clinical breakthroughs in cancer treatment requires bold thinking and action, a can do attitude and winning spirit, and close collaboration of stakeholders and contributors with diverse background and expertise. All this is epitomized by WIN." Vladimir Lazar, Chief Scientific and Operating Officer
What people are saying
Exploring Precision Oncology - Interview with Dr. Razelle Kurzrock, Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Sewanti Limaye at WIN 2022 Symposium  (To view the video, click on the arrow above for the next screen) JIPO and WIN Consortium
play

The global network will facilitate collaboration between members to accelerate the discovery and development of innovative cancer therapies
Abu Dhabi: Burjeel Holdings, a leading healthcare provider in the MENA region, has announced that its flagship Burjeel Medical City was selected for membership in the Worldwide Innovative Networking in Personalized Cancer Medicine (WIN) Consortium. This achievement marks another significant milestone for the healthcare provider as it continues to expand its network and expertise in the field of oncology and further strengthen its position as a pioneer in personalized cancer medicine in the United Arab Emirates and the wider region. Burjeel Medical City has now become the first member from the UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council countries to join the prestigious network and will work as an accelerator to foster further regional collaborations in WIN programs and projects.

The WIN Consortium is a globally renowned network of over 30 elite organizations from the Americas, EU, and Asia specializing in cancer care and research. These represent various stakeholders involved in the patient journey and personalized cancer care. The primary objective of the consortium is to improve cancer patients’ survival and quality of life by relying on genetically informed healthcare and accelerating the discovery and development of highly specialized cancer therapies.

The membership in the WIN Consortium is a significant milestone for Burjeel Medical City, which aims to become the regional hub for cancer care, consistently accelerating research and innovation initiatives. By joining this exclusive network of experts, the hospital has reinforced its commitment to developing targeted cancer therapeutics, aligning strategically with WIN's mission.

View the full article here: Download pdf
Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology: A transcriptomics approach to expand therapeutic options and optimize clinical trials in oncology
Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology
March 31, 2023

Abstract
Background:
The current model of clinical drug development in oncology displays major limitations due to a high attrition rate in patient enrollment in early phase trials and a high failure rate of drugs in phase III studies.

Objective:
Integrating transcriptomics for selection of patients has the potential to achieve enhanced speed and efficacy of precision oncology trials for any targeted therapies or immunotherapies.

Methods:
Relative gene expression level in the metastasis and normal organ-matched tissues from the WINTHER database was used to estimate in silico the potential clinical benefit of specific treatments in a variety of metastatic solid tumors.

Results:
As example, high mRNA expression in tumor tissue compared to analogous normal tissue of c-MET and its ligand HGF correlated in silico with shorter overall survival (OS;p < 0.0001) and may constitute an independent prognostic marker for outcome of patients with metastatic solid tumors, suggesting a strategy to identify patients most likely to benefit from MET-targeted treatments. The prognostic value of gene expression of several immune therapy targets (PD-L1, CTLA4, TIM3, TIGIT, LAG3, TLR4) was investigated in non-small-cell lung cancers and colorectal cancers (CRCs) and may be useful to optimize the development of their inhibitors, and opening new avenues such as use of anti-TLR4 in treatment of patients with metastatic CRC.

Conclusion:
This in silico approach is expected to dramatically decrease the attrition of patient enrollment and to simultaneously increase the speed and detection of early signs of efficacy. The model may significantly contribute to lower toxicities. Altogether, our model aims to overcome the limits of current approaches.

Keywords: analogous normal tissue biopsies, clinical trials, oncology, transcriptomics, tumor biopsies

View the full article here: Download pdf
Exploring Precision Oncology - Interview with Dr. Razelle Kurzrock, Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Sewanti Limaye at WIN 2022 Symposium 
https://youtu.be/Uxicpg6Fb98
Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology: Comorbidity between lung cancer and COVID-19 pneumonia: role of immunoregulatory gene transcripts in high ACE2-expressing normal lung
SAGE Journals: Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology:
October 3, 2022

Abstract:
Background: SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) elicits a T-cell antigen-mediated immune response of variable efficacy. To understand this variability, we explored transcriptomic expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor) and of immunoregulatory genes in normal lung tissues from patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods:
This study used the transcriptomic and the clinical data for NSCLC patients generated during the CHEMORES study [n = 123 primary resected (early-stage) NSCLC] and the WINTHER clinical trial (n = 32 metastatic NSCLC).

Results:
We identified patient subgroups with high and low ACE2 expression (p = 1.55 × 10−19) in normal lung tissue, presumed to be at higher and lower risk, respectively, of developing severe COVID-19 should they become infected. ACE2 transcript expression in normal lung tissues (but not in tumor tissue) of patients with NSCLC was higher in individuals with more advanced disease. High-ACE2 expressors had significantly higher levels of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells but with presumably impaired function by high Thymocyte Selection-Associated High Mobility Group Box Protein TOX (TOX) expression. In addition, immune checkpoint-related molecules – PD-L1, CTLA-4, PD-1, and TIGIT – are more highly expressed in normal (but not tumor) lung tissues; these molecules might dampen immune response to either viruses or cancer. Importantly, however, high inducible T-cell co-stimulator (ICOS), which can amplify immune and cytokine reactivity, significantly correlated with high ACE2 expression in univariable analysis of normal lung (but not lung tumor tissue).

Conclusions:
We report a normal lung immune-tolerant state that may explain a potential comorbidity risk between two diseases – NSCLC and susceptibility to COVID-19 pneumonia.

Further, a NSCLC patient subgroup has normal lung tissue expressing high ACE2 and high ICOS transcripts, the latter potentially promoting a hyperimmune response, and possibly leading to severe COVID-19 pulmonary compromise.

Keywords: ACE2 expression, cancer, COVID-19, normal lung, transcriptomics

View the full article here: Download pdf

Ther Adv Med Oncol
2022, Vol.14:1-15
DOI: 10.1177/
17588359221133893
Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions