Author: lymphomaprogram

Located on the Upper East Side of New York City, the Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medical College/NewYork Presbyterian Hospital is internationally recognized for our efforts to enable patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin disease and related disorders to have the best possible clinical outcome, including cure when possible.

New Drug Combination Displays Promise for the Treatment of Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that primarily affects elderly patients. Due to the age of these patients and associated medical conditions, they are often less able to tolerate chemotherapy regimens. Still those patients who are eligible for chemotherapy frequently relapse, and require further treatment. However, clinicians in the Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medicine recently published results from a clinical trial that combined the non-chemotherapy alternatives of lenalidomide and rituximab as an initial treatment for patients with MCL.

These findings were published online Nov. 4 and in the Nov. 5 print issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. They demonstrate that the combination of lenalidomide and rituximab provides an effective alternative to chemotherapy for MCL patients. Over 90% of patients enrolled in the trial responded to the therapy, with long term outcomes at the 2 year mark remaining steady in 85% of patients. During treatment patients maintained a high quality of life and were able to participate in daily activities like work, travel, and standard social activities.

The lead author of the study Dr. Jia Ruan an associate professor of clinical medicine and a member of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. She commented on the results,

 “For patients, their quality of life was preserved or improved, and that’s a huge step up from regular chemotherapy…With this frontline treatment, we were able to achieve a very high quality and durable response rate without needing to use chemotherapy. It’s very meaningful for the patients who have always been told that their disease is without a cure.”

She continued on the benefits of this  treatment combination when compared to other treatments,

“Conventional, intensive treatment may be out of reach or undesirable for many MCL patients, who often receive less intensive or palliative care that is of limited benefit. This inspired us to look for a less toxic, biological option with novel drugs that could be easily administered and more widely applicable.”

The senior author of the study Dr. John Leonard, a professor of medicine, the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine, associate dean for clinical research, and associate director of clinical trials at the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine commented on the trial,

“I’m inspired by the fact that patients are enthusiastic about this approach. I’m also excited that lymphoma physicians are thinking out of the box, that many in the community now think that a non-chemotherapy-based paradigm with novel agents is something important to take forward and more broadly assess.”

Clinical trials like this exemplify the bench to bedside approach taken in the Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medicine. Look to this space for future updates on MCL, and treatment with this new combination. A listing of available clinical trials for MCL can be found on our Joint Clinical Trials website.

New Findings May Play Role in Development of Future DLBCL Treatments

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine led by Dr. Olivier Elemento, recently published results announcing the discovery of thousands of new genes from human samples of lymphoma. Known as IncRNAs these genes produce long non-coding RNAs and are involved in gene regulation. The IncRNAs appear to control whether other genes make proteins. The discovery of these genes could underline the processes of gene regulation that drives lymphomas, while in the future leading to possible targets for new  diffuse large B-cell lymphoma therapies.

“These genes produce long non-coding RNAs, known as lncRNAs. Unlike RNA that produces proteins that enable the body to do its work, the lncRNA appear to switch on — or off — other genes that make proteins, researchers say. They counted 2,632 different forms of these unusual RNA molecules. They also found a substantial number of the same or similar lncRNAs in canine lymphoma.”

The study’s senior author, Dr. Olivier Elemento commented,

“While we don’t know precisely what these molecules are doing, the fact that the majority — about two-thirds — of the long non-coding RNAs we found are expressed exclusively in lymphoma, and that many are found in both human and dog lymphoma, tells us that they are likely playing fundamental roles in this cancer…”

Findings like these exemplify the bench to bedside approach in the Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medicine. Look to this space for future updates on this topic and other advances in the treatment of lymphoma. A full listing of available clinical trials for DLBCL lymphoma can be found on our Joint Clinical Trials website.

Dr. Richard Furman Describes Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Treatment Regimens

In this Onc Live video, Dr. Richard Furman, Director of the CLL Research Center describes the chemotherapy regimens available to patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. (DLBCL)

A list of DLBCL trials at Weill Cornell Medicine is available on the Joint Clinical Trials website.