Lost in Translation: When Promising Cancer Science Gets Stuck in the "Valley of Death"
- Pablo G.
- Aug 22
- 4 min read
I’ve always been fascinated by the disconnect between what we know can work and what patients actually get access to. Last week, I shared examples of promising cancer research that may never reach the people who need it most—not because the science is bad, but because of the valley of death: the space between discovery and real-world care where good ideas stall over funding gaps, operational roadblocks, and slow knowledge transfer.
The encouraging part: there’s a growing shift toward open-access platforms, collaborative trial design, and real-world evidence (RWE) that’s beginning to bridge these gaps faster than before.
Here are the examples that got me digging deeper 👇
🧠 Metabolic Targeting in Glioblastoma: When Speed Matters Most
Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the deadliest cancers, with most patients surviving <15 months. There’s fascinating work on metabolic vulnerabilities—disrupting how cancer cells generate energy—that many patients never hear about.
WP1234 (a modified sugar) suppresses GBM cell viability by targeting glycolysis—the pathway tumors use to produce energy (PMCID: PMC11897528; PMCID: PMC11772265).
Dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL) (plant-derived) reduces GBM proliferation by rewiring aerobic glycolysis via PKM2 and is being evaluated in recurrent GBM trials (PMCID: PMC11897528).
Devimistat (CPI-613) targets TCA cycle enzymes and shows encouraging preclinical/early signals (PMCID: PMC11772265).
What’s changing: instead of isolated single-arm studies, teams are using master protocol designs that test multiple treatments against the same disease—an approach championed by the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative—which can shave years off development.
💊 Repurposed Drugs: Where Real-World Evidence Changes the Workflow
Fluoxetine (Prozac) crosses the blood–brain barrier and can disrupt lipid metabolism in GBM (lysosomal stress mechanisms) (Stanford Medicine). Using RWE from EHRs, researchers observed longer survival in GBM patients on standard therapy who also received fluoxetine, prompting targeted trials:
FLIRT at Duke (NCT05634707): fluoxetine + temozolomide in recurrent glioma (Duke trial page; ClinicalTrials.gov).
A UCLA study exploring fluoxetine’s impact on colorectal tumor immune cells before surgery (UCLA trial page).
Metformin is a useful counterexample. Early observational signals were exciting, but large randomized trials (e.g., adjuvant breast cancer) showed no disease-free survival benefit—a reminder that time-related bias can mislead and that robust frameworks are needed to separate real signals from noise (British Journal of Cancer review; Diabetes Care viewpoint).
🎯 GD2 CAR T-Cells: Breakthroughs, Then Scale
Early trials of GD2 CAR T-cells for pediatric/young-adult diffuse midline gliomas show remarkable responses (neurological improvement, tumor shrinkage, occasional complete responses) at some centres (NCI Cancer Currents; Nature). Parallel efforts report GD2 expression in a high proportion of medulloblastoma tumors, with preclinical efficacy of CAR.GD2 T cells (PMCID: PMC11145172; PubMed).
What’s accelerating access: protocol sharing and multi-site collaborative networks (e.g., Children’s Oncology Group, Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium) that move from single-site breakthroughs to coordinated studies more quickly.
📊 Personalized Metabolomic Profiling: From Lab Capability to Clinic Reality
Metabolomics—analyzing small molecules in blood/tissue—can identify signatures that predict diagnosis, toxicity, or response. ML models have reached AUC ~0.96 in lung cancer diagnosis using plasma metabolites (Scientific Reports). Historically, this stayed lab-bound due to proprietary methods.
The shift: open-source analytical platforms and standardized protocols, plus shared datasets (e.g., MetaboLights, GNPS) that help smaller centers adopt methods without rebuilding everything in-house (Nature review; PMC: Metabolomics in oncology; Editorial; TCR).
🌐 The New Models: Open Access, Collaboration, and RWE
Three approaches are actively shrinking timelines:
Open-access platforms for protocols, datasets, and methods
Collaborative trial designs (e.g., master protocols, networks)
RWE that surfaces promising options earlier and helps target trials
🇨🇦 Canadian Leaders in the New Model
CanREValue Collaboration — a CIHR-funded, pan-Canadian framework to apply RWE for cancer drug decisions; multi-province studies have demonstrated feasibility at scale (overview; methods paper; patient engagement; data WG report).
3CTN (Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network) — 50+ centers, 160+ active trials, >40k patients recruited; quality tools and the CRAFT hub-and-spoke model bring trials to rural communities (OICR page; About 3CTN; Home; CRAFT).
CanPath — a $6.2M cloud-based trusted research environment enabling secure analysis across data from 330k+ Canadians (OICR news).
CLIC (Canadian-Led Immunotherapies in Cancer) — first Canada-manufactured CAR-T trial; exploring approaches that may improve affordability and access (OHRI program).
Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network — shared data platforms and collaborative precision-medicine protocols across consortia (MOHCCN).
Open-access policy ecosystem — Canadian Cancer Society (since 2009) and Tri-Agency mandates increase public availability of research outputs (CCS policy; Tri-Agency OA).
BC Cancer × Roche PREDiCT — co-creating RWE frameworks to inform sustainable reimbursement for personalized treatments (BCCRC news).
🛠 Connecting the Dots
The valley of death isn’t disappearing—but it’s getting narrower when information sharing and collaborative designare built in:
GBM metabolism: master protocols help test multiple candidates in parallel.
Repurposed drugs: RWE guides smarter, faster trial designs—and filters false positives.
GD2 CAR T: networks convert breakthroughs into multi-site access.
Metabolomics: open platforms + standards move tools from labs into clinics.
Traditional drug development assumes isolated discovery and sequential validation. What if the default shifts to knowledge sharing, collaborative protocols, and RWE loops?
The infrastructure is emerging: open platforms, standardized methods, trusted research environments, and coordinated networks. The next step is applying that same connectivity to patient-facing information and bedside decision-making.
👀 Next, I’ll explore one question: How do we make this clinical knowledge more accessible, visible, and actionable; not just for researchers, but for patients and the people supporting them?
Research supported by primary sources, peer-reviewed literature, and tools like SciSpace, NotebookLM, Perplexity, and ChatGPT for data gathering and synthesis. Not medical advice. - References on request.
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