Improving the Lives of People with Cancer

Human cancers are the sole focus of research at the CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation. With this unique emphasis, the Foundation develops new investigational drugs and novel therapies that improve the prognoses for thousands of cancer patients.

Under the direction of the Foundation’s renowned laboratory director, Dr. Beppino Giovanella, discoveries in the lab are translated to point-of-care patient applications. Stehlin’s potent anticancer drug CZ48 currently is in Phase I human trials, a long and expensive process to determine the drug’s safety and efficacy in human cancer patients. Learn more about CZ48 and other Current Research Projects.

CZ48 is among the latest in a long history of Foundation innovations and breakthroughs. Stehlin researchers were instrumental in the development of Herceptin®, a drug widely-used in the fight against breast cancer. Dr. Giovanella pioneered the development and use of the immuno-suppressed “nude” mouse in cancer research. Stehlin scientists demonstrated the selective sensitivity of cancer cells to heat, and Dr. Stehlin pioneered the combination of heat and chemotherapy (hyperthermic perfusion) to treat patients with advanced melanomas of the arms and legs.  Learn more about Foundation Achievements.

In 2011, the work of the dedicated Stehlin researchers was rewarded with the Foundation’s move to a new state-of-the-art 27,000 square foot laboratory. The facility almost doubles the space dedicated to research and boasts the latest equipment and technologies.  Learn more about the Laboratory.

With the support and involvement of generous individuals, private foundations, and corporate partners, Stehlin researchers continue leading the fight to find a cure.