MD Anderson Research Team
Updates from Dr. Campbell
2025
Stomp Out Cancer turns 5 this year. In honor of Dan Hund and his legacy of battling a 1 in a million cancer, adrenocortical cancer (ACC). Dan, like many diagnosed with ACC, was in the prime of his life. He faced a cancer that had spread to his spine on diagnosis and received extensive chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy in his 18-month fight. Mouhammed Habra (endocrinology), Jeff Lee (surgical oncology), and I were his primary team at MD Anderson. Dan loved sports and a “sneakerhead” coming to clinic each time in a different pair of exotic shoes, mostly Air Jordans. I know Dan would love this event and would find it hilarious that others would win his size 12 shoes. He would also love the simplicity of entering a March madness bracket and all the luck that is required to win. Adrenal cancer is a rare, but devastating cancer. It impacts between 600-800 Americans per year. It affects nearly all age ranges including children all the way to patients in their 8th or 9th decade of life. It is more common in women than men. It can produce devastating amounts of hormone production including cortisol, which remains that hardest form for us to treat. Research in rare cancers is challenging and our goal is to ensure that we learn as much as possible from each patient we treat. Partnering with the Stomp Out Cancer and Hund family has afforded us the ability to study adrenal cancer, rare tumors, and bone metastases (cancer that has spread to bone) in ways that otherwise would not have been possible. Last year, 2024, saw the Stomp Out Cancer support our mission in a profound way. On November 22nd-November 23rd Stomp Out Cancer supported the 9th International Adrenal Cancer Symposium in Houston, TX. Mouhammed, Jeff, and I hosted Investigators from nearly all major United States hospitals focused on adrenal cancer as well as colleagues from Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico attended. Importantly many patients and caregivers attended as well. Tom Hund provided a touching tribute to Dan and highlighted the Stomp Out Cancer Event. We had sessions focused on adrenal cancer laboratory research, highlights from clinical trials including our efforts with immunotherapy and targeted therapy, upcoming clinical trials, and a session highlighting the patient and caregiver experience. In the evening of November 22nd, we hosted a dinner at MD Anderson’s Texas Medical Center 3 which is a beautiful new venue that brings together academics and industry partners. Highlights from this night included great food, drinks, a mariachi band, and bonds formed that are only created through breaking bread in person (pictures included). The result of the meeting was a renewed urgency in findings better options to study and treat patients with adrenal cancer. Many opportunities for collaboration have been launched and these efforts will undoubtedly result in a profound impact for the ACC community. At present, 5 postdoctoral fellows are focused on efforts in adrenal cancer or bone metastases affiliated with Stomp Out Cancer. The postdoctoral fellows are either physician that have graduated medical school and are performing research prior to entering into a medical residency or are PhDs who are using the opportunity prior to having their independent laboratory. Dr Stefan Maksimovic, Dr Vania Balderrama Brondani, Dr. Feyza Yaylaci, Dr Brenda Chahla, and Dr Tom Heyman are our current post-doctoral fellows. Dr Maksimovic is completing his third year with us in the laboratory of Dr Eleonora Dondossola and has focused on understanding bone metastases and how drugs like cabozantinib work within the bone. He published his efforts in Cancer Research Communications last year. He is currently applying for a medicine residency and is planning on pursuing oncology. This experience has cemented his passion for science. Dr Balderrama Brondani has become a key lynch pin for us in the study of adrenal cancer. She has worked carefully with Dr Habra ensuring that we learn from every patient who receives treatment at MD Anderson for adrenal cancer. She has taken a lead role in virtually every project in adrenal cancer and has published multiple efforts. Dr. Yaylaci is evaluating the role of combining targeted therapy with immunotherapy in adrenal cancer with plans to submit and publish this work over the coming 3 months. Dr Chahla has also been very productive with us exploring the role of interventional procedures in adrenal cancer (published) and is currently planning to publish our full clinical trial of pembrolizumab (immunotherapy) in adrenal cancer. Dr Heyman is planning to use adrenal cancer cell lines, perform experiments in mice, and study banked tumors from patients that will allow us to better understand how to shut off cortisol production, improve immunotherapy response, and search for new targets for new treatment approaches. All of these individuals have had the opportunity to advance their careers because of the Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund. Stefan “I would like to wholeheartedly thank Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund for their passion and time invested to provide us opportunity to work on many aspects of rare cancers. This fellowship has allowed me to learn, thrive and express my curiosity as young physician scientist trying to fight cancer in basic and translational research. Having such an incredible and continuous support is an absolute advantage for fighting battles against adrenal and other cancer. I am honored to be a member of this team! “ Vania “I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund for their generous support in funding my research position. Your support has been instrumental in allowing me to pursue my research goals and make significant progress in the study of adrenal cancer (ACC), shaping ACC care and improving the quality of life for patients. The resources and opportunities provided through your funding have enabled me to focus on my work with renewed motivation and dedication. Thank you once again for your invaluable support. “ Feyza “I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund for their time, generosity, and unwavering support in funding projects that bring hope to adrenal cancer patients. It is an honor to be part of this incredible team—one that is innovative, supportive, and deeply compassionate. The shared values between the Hund Family and our team have been truly inspiring, and their support made it possible for me to relocate and pursue my passion for research. With this dedication, I am hopeful that advancements in ACC will continue to make a meaningful impact.“ Brenda “I am truly grateful to Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund for their generous support, which has given me the opportunity to conduct meaningful research at MD Anderson. This opportunity has allowed me to explore new treatment options for ACC, driving my work forward and contributing to progress in the field. This experience has helped me grow as a researcher and reinforced my commitment to advancing cancer treatment. The resources and guidance I have received have been invaluable in shaping my career in medicine, allowing me to think critically and push the boundaries of current knowledge. I am excited to continue building on these findings, with the hope of making a lasting impact in oncology. “ Tom “I am deeply grateful to Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund for their continuous dedication to supporting cancer research and for playing a key role in advancing pioneering work in the field. Their support has allowed me to focus my research on Adrenocortical Carcinoma (ACC). With their commitment, I am filled with hope that our ongoing efforts will continue to make meaningful progress in the fight against ACC.” In 2024, the Dondossola Bone Metastases Laboratory had an incredible year. We finished our second year of a Department of Defense supported grant to study kidney cancer bone metastases. We have successfully performed single cell sequencing on bone metastases from 30 patients to date allowing for us to investigate how the immune system is co-mingling with cancer cells and bone cells. Stefan published his major work “Antiangiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors have differential efficacy in clear cell renal cell carcinoma with bone metastases”. This year we plan to start the first study in patients with kidney cancer bone metastases to understand how therapy impacts both bone and non-bone tumors, complemented by studies in mouse models of renal cell carcinoma bone metastases to gain further insight into their molecular determinants of response. We hope to enroll our first patient by late summer. By leveraging the extensive clinical resources available at MD Anderson, including patient-derived data and samples, we decided to expand our model systems to investigate metastatic ACC and its response to treatment, which is understudied. Connecting with leaders in the field at the 9th International Adrenal Cancer Symposium was critical for us in navigating the complexity of this disease, finding valuable partners, and laying the foundation for our future studies.
2024
2023
2022
2021
Honoring the amazing spirit and legacy of Dan Hund, I can’t be more proud and grateful to be a part of Stomp Out Cancer. Dan was diagnosed with Adrenocortical Cancer (ACC) in his 30s and underwent extensive chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) in our attempt to prolong his life. Dan went through his journey with the help of his amazing family Tom, Judy, Vicki and Abby, and his very large network of friends and co-workers. He possessed an amazing love for life, travel, adventure, and sports, becoming a dear friend along the way. We both shared a love for the Chicago Bears, college football, and college basketball. With the support of his great friend Barry Church, Dan amassed an incredible collection of sneakers. I know he is proud of this event and his legacy of pursuing a better way to help others with rare cancers and those suffering from cancer that has spread to the bones. With the help of the Stomp Out Cancer Event and the Hund Family Fund, every dollar raised has gone to support research missives that I directly oversee. ACC starts in the adrenal gland, which are hormonal producing organs that are found just above the kidneys. ACC is commonly referred to as a 1 in a million cancer. Somewhere between 400-600 patients are diagnosed annually in the United States. Every individual patient diagnosed with a rare tumor, their family, and their community are impacted just as profoundly as those diagnosed with the more common cancers. Given the rarity of ACC, studies are hard to perform and require a collective, worldwide effort to make progress. At MDACC we see annually approximately 15% of all patients diagnosed with ACC in the US and gives us the responsibility to find better ways to treat this cancer. Through the amazing support of the Stomp Out Cancer Event and the Hund family Fund, Dr. Mouhammed Habra (Dan’s endocrinologist and my partner for all ACC research) and I have been able to hire laboratory technicians, purchase equipment and supplies, support the next generation of ACC/rare tumor researchers (pictured below Dr Vania Balderrama Brondani, post-doctoral fellow), and perform important studies that otherwise would be impossible. An example of the impact of this funding was seen in our presentation of a clinical trial with Cabozantinib (Cabo) in the treatment of ACC (my ugly mug pictured below). Cabo is a pill-based therapy that helps block the ability of cancer to utilize blood vessels to grow and targets important pathways that ACC uses to help itself survive and grow faster. While other treatments like Cabo had studied in ACC previously, no previous therapy had shown a strong signal of benefit. I had a chance to present our study of 19 patients enrolled at MD Anderson Cancer Center at an international conference called ESMO last September. The Stomp Out Cancer and Hund Family Fund helped us do a deep dive into why some patients had benefit while in others it was less effective. The results of our study are leading to the next wave of studies with Cabo to confirm our results and expand on what we have learned to date. This year we are launching the world’s largest study in ACC using the body’s immune system to fight adrenal cancer. In this study we are planning to use the combination of mitotane (a hormonal agent targeting adrenal cells) with pembrolizumab (Keytruda™), a drug that has shown promise in two initial studies, to treat 50 patients with ACC. While we are receiving the drugs with support of our pharmaceutical partners, all cost of the study and the deep science is being provided through the Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund. A second focus of research with help of the Stomp Out Cancer Event and the Hund family Fund is bone metastases. Dan’s cancer was initially discovered after he had slipped hurting his back. Imaging found that he had a tumor that had caused a bone in his spine to collapse, and the biopsy of this tumor is what found the ACC. During Dan’s treatment, the tumors in his bone caused significant hardship for him. Many cancers spread to the bone which can cause patients to suffer from pain, fractures, and reduction in the ability to walk. I have helped build a team of surgeons, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, endocrinologists, immunologists, and scientists (including funding Dr Stefan Maksimovic a post-doctoral fellow pictured below) who are all passionate about finding better solutions for patients with bone metastases. Our group has been awarded with a Department of Defense Grant to explore how the immune system interacts with bone metastases. My partner Dr Eleonora Dondossola has been awarded a state of Texas funded CPRIT grant to mathematically model how each cell in bone tumors interacts with others. Our goal is to develop more effective therapies for all patients with debilitating bone metastases. Thank you all for your support and thank you Hund family for continuing this amazing event!
Honoring the amazing spirit and legacy of Dan Hund, I can’t be more proud and grateful to be a part of Stomp Out Cancer. Dan was diagnosed with Adrenocortical Cancer (ACC) in his 30s and underwent extensive chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) in our attempt to prolong his life. Dan went through his journey with the help of his amazing family Tom, Judy, Vicki and Abby, and his very large network of friends and co-workers. He possessed an amazing love for life, travel, adventure, and sports, becoming a dear friend along the way. We both shared a love for the Chicago Bears, college football, and college basketball. With the support of his great friend Barry Church, Dan amassed an incredible collection of sneakers. I know he is proud of this event and his legacy of pursuing a better way to help others with rare cancers and those suffering from cancer that has spread to the bones. With the help of the Stomp Out Cancer Event and the Hund Family Fund, every dollar raised has gone to support research missives that I directly oversee. ACC starts in the adrenal gland, which are hormonal producing organs that are found just above the kidneys. ACC is commonly referred to as a 1 in a million cancer. Somewhere between 400-600 patients are diagnosed annually in the United States. Every individual patient diagnosed with a rare tumor, their family, and their community are impacted just as profoundly as those diagnosed with the more common cancers. Given the rarity of ACC, studies are hard to perform and require a collective, worldwide effort to make progress. At MDACC we see annually approximately 15% of all patients diagnosed with ACC in the US and gives us the responsibility to find better ways to treat this cancer. Through the amazing support of the Stomp Out Cancer Event and the Hund family Fund, Dr. Mouhammed Habra (Dan’s endocrinologist and my partner for all ACC research) and I have been able to hire laboratory technicians, purchase equipment and supplies, support the next generation of ACC/rare tumor researchers (pictured below Dr Vania Balderrama Brondani, post-doctoral fellow), and perform important studies that otherwise would be impossible. An example of the impact of this funding was seen in our presentation of a clinical trial with Cabozantinib (Cabo) in the treatment of ACC (my ugly mug pictured below). Cabo is a pill-based therapy that helps block the ability of cancer to utilize blood vessels to grow and targets important pathways that ACC uses to help itself survive and grow faster. While other treatments like Cabo had studied in ACC previously, no previous therapy had shown a strong signal of benefit. I had a chance to present our study of 19 patients enrolled at MD Anderson Cancer Center at an international conference called ESMO last September. The Stomp Out Cancer and Hund Family Fund helped us do a deep dive into why some patients had benefit while in others it was less effective. The results of our study are leading to the next wave of studies with Cabo to confirm our results and expand on what we have learned to date. This year we are launching the world’s largest study in ACC using the body’s immune system to fight adrenal cancer. In this study we are planning to use the combination of mitotane (a hormonal agent targeting adrenal cells) with pembrolizumab (Keytruda™), a drug that has shown promise in two initial studies, to treat 50 patients with ACC. While we are receiving the drugs with support of our pharmaceutical partners, all cost of the study and the deep science is being provided through the Stomp Out Cancer and the Hund Family Fund. A second focus of research with help of the Stomp Out Cancer Event and the Hund family Fund is bone metastases. Dan’s cancer was initially discovered after he had slipped hurting his back. Imaging found that he had a tumor that had caused a bone in his spine to collapse, and the biopsy of this tumor is what found the ACC. During Dan’s treatment, the tumors in his bone caused significant hardship for him. Many cancers spread to the bone which can cause patients to suffer from pain, fractures, and reduction in the ability to walk. I have helped build a team of surgeons, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, endocrinologists, immunologists, and scientists (including funding Dr Stefan Maksimovic a post-doctoral fellow pictured below) who are all passionate about finding better solutions for patients with bone metastases. Our group has been awarded with a Department of Defense Grant to explore how the immune system interacts with bone metastases. My partner Dr Eleonora Dondossola has been awarded a state of Texas funded CPRIT grant to mathematically model how each cell in bone tumors interacts with others. Our goal is to develop more effective therapies for all patients with debilitating bone metastases. Thank you all for your support and thank you Hund family for continuing this amazing event!
Greetings, Dan Hund first met me in 2018 when he traveled to MD Anderson Cancer Center with his father, Tom. Dan was 33 years old, in the absolute prime of his life, and had recently been diagnosed with stage IV metastatic adrenal cancer. A slip on the stairs at his parent’s home led eventually to an MRI that revealed cancer involving his spine. Despite being in pain and clearly terrified with what he was facing, Dan and I instantly bonded over our love of sports. It turned out Tom and Dan were both long suffering Chicago Bears fans too and we commiserated over another failed year. Over the next 18 months I guided Dan on his journey to his fight his cancer. He saw me in clinic 17 times and with each trip, his family accompanied him. He went through a long course of chemotherapy, an extensive surgery, radiation, interventional procedures on his spine, and experimental therapy on his journey to fight this cancer. During all of this, Dan never lost his humor, his faith, or his love of life. I asked Dan to reach out to other patients diagnosed with this cancer and he always extended himself with warmth, humor, and humility. Like so many patients diagnosed with metastatic cancer, Dan’s body eventually succumbed to this terrible disease in April of 2020 at the age of 35. However, Dan’s spirit continues to live on, inspiring my team of dedicated clinicians and cancer researchers to find better ways of preventing, detecting, and treating adrenal cancer and other rare cancers. With the tremendous generosity of Tom, Judy, and Dan Hund, the Dan Hund fund was established. The inaugural Stomp Out Cancer Fundraiser in 2021 was an incredible success. With support from the Dan Hund Fund, we have completed one clinical trial, are set to open a front-line immunotherapy based clinical trial in summer of 2022, have hired a post-doctoral fellow dedicated to Adrenal cancer research, and have dedicated scientists performing cutting edge research. Adrenal cancer is considered a one in a million cancer, but for each patient diagnosed it is his or her cancer. Most oncologists will encounter this cancer once or twice in their career. At MD Anderson we see on average one new patient per week. The incredible patient volume allows my team the opportunity to perform research that otherwise would be extremely slow or impossible. Dan’s journey was not only his journey. It impacted his family, friends, Church family, the Vaquero golf community, work colleagues, and many others. We invite you to participate in the Stomp Out Cancer event for 2022 and help us find better solutions for our current and future patients with rare cancers. Matt Campbell
Dan first came to me as a patient in November of 2018. During our first encounter we bonded over our love of sports including our mutual curse of being die hard Chicago Bears fans. Every appointment Dan was joined by his dad who served as his friend, companion, and ultimate patient advocate. Dan fought his cancer like a champion receiving more chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and surgery than one person should ever have to bear. He did this with incredible will power, hope, and support from his family and friends. While Dan passed away last April, the cancer was never able to take his beautiful spirit and soul. I have been given the privilege and honor of caring for many patients with adrenal cancer. The adrenal glands are small organs that rest just above the kidneys. They produce important hormones that help us maintain blood pressure and survive major stresses to the body. Adrenal cancer is very rare, considered a one in a million cancer, however for Dan and others, it is his or her cancer. Treatment is an incredible challenge and my team is desperately seeking better therapy options. Through the tremendous generosity of Dan and the Hund family I have been provided philanthropic support that is funding groundbreaking research in adrenal cancer. All funds are designed to study adrenal cancer and help support young physicians/scientists committed to finding a better way to fight this malignancy. Examples include clinical trials to test new therapies that otherwise would be impossible to conduct, developing adrenal cancer models to help us understand which treatments are most effective in each individual patient, and helping us connect with institutions around the world to learn from each patient diagnosed with this terrible cancer. I can’t express in words the gratitude that I have for your consideration to help us with our mission to STOMP OUT adrenal cancer to honor Dan. Matt Campbell MD PS: As I die hard college basketball fan I look forward to winning the first pair of shoes!