Yablans Cancer Research Fund
Nuclear Medicine
Cornell Medical Center
c/o Stanley J Goldsmith, MD
525 East 68th St
New York, NY 10021

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A History of the Yablans Nuclear Medicine Research Fund

The Yablans Nuclear Medicine Research Fund had it’s origins at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York in 1994 when Gerry Yablans provided a donation of $30,000 in memory of his mother, Lily Yablans, who had been diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer. Other friends contributed also, most notably Larry Steinberg. In total, approximately $50,000 was received initially.

These funds were applied to research in thyroid cancer under the direction of Stanley J. Goldsmith, MD, who at that time was Clinical Director of Nuclear Medicine at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Specifically, the funds supported the salary of a research fellow, a Ph.D. from Bombay, India, who had been developing antisera to Thyroglobulin, a substance made by normal and malignant thyroid tissue that appears in the blood of patients with thyroid cancer and serves as a “marker” of the disease. During the year, this research fellow under the direction of Dr. Goldsmith examined thyroid tissue and blood from patients with thyroid cancer and other thyroid disease to investigate whether the thyroglobulin was different in the various disorders. The results demonstrated that there were subtle differences related to the way the tumor tissue reacted with the protein. This work was selected for presentation at the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine in 1995. Submission of a manuscript has been delayed pending some additional studies that have been delayed when the project was terminated with the fellow returning to India and Dr. Goldsmith moved on to the position of Director of Nuclear Medicine at the New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in 1995. There were no residual funds.

 At the New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center, rather than continue in the direction of examining tumor products, a research program was initiated by Dr. Goldsmith to address improved diagnosis and therapy of a variety of tumors using radioactive materials based on the model of thyroid cancer. Gerry Yablans supported these efforts with donations of $40,000-100,000 a year to the Yablans Research Fund established at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. In 1999, to provide greater continuity, he committed to an initial program of $100,000 per year for 3 years.

The Yablans Research Fund has been applied to these two major research problems: improving the diagnosis, and the treatment of cancer using radioactive material.

The principle effort in improving diagnosis has been in developing a PET [positron emission tomography] imaging center. With this equipment, physicians are able to observe increased tumor metabolism in a variety of tumors including melanoma, lymphoma, lung, colon, breast, esophogus, thyroid and other tumors. The Division of Nuclear Medicine has already made major observations on the use of this technology to diagnose and manage patients with lymphoma. Several significant studies have been published to date in respected medical journals including Clinical Lymphoma, the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Radiologic Clinics of North America and Seminars in CT, MRI and Ultrasound.

In treatment, we have a complex program to improve techniques to deliver radiation selectively to tumor when it cannot be removed surgically or treated with conventional radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

1. We have used monoclonal antibodies to treat patients with lymphoma. These antibodies have been developed by commercial sources but have not yet been released. The results have been presented at the national meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and the American Society of Hematology. Our research team has been able to access and evaluate these agents because of the critical mass that we were able to achieve with the assistance of the Yablans Fund.

2. We are currently evaluating an antibody developed at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University for the treatment of Prostate Cancer. Although the optimal dose has not yet been identified, the work has been recognized by a number of major agencies and societies. A manuscript was recently accepted by the prestigious publication Cancer Research.

3. Perhaps the most novel area of investigation has been the evaluation of radioactive compounds that mimic natural substances that are able to find receptors on certain tumors. Initially, these receptors were observed only on certain rare tumors such as carcinoid tumors, islet cell tumors and rare forms of thyroid carcinoma. More recently, these receptors have been found in melanoma, lymphoma, lung cancer and perhaps adenocarcinoma in general. This work has been presented at a number of national and international symposia and meetings.

The $100,000/year from the Yablans Nuclear Medicine Research Fund has supplied partial support for a clinical fellow [MD] and a research fellow [Ph.D.] both of whom have since joined our faculty as Assistant Professors. Their salaries continue to be supported in part by the Yablans Funds. It would not have been possible to perform the work to date without this support.

The activities supported by the Yablans Fund have been recognized by the larger cancer research and nuclear medicine communities in the form of papers accepted at national and international meetings as well as the awarding of additional research grant funds. Recently, these research activities have generated additional support from government and scientific society grants.

In essence, although the program has expanded considerably, the Yablans Fund support has provided the foundation for the research described. Continued support by the Fund will permit this effort to continue and will provide continuity independent of the vagaries of other sources of support. 

August 7, 2000