Category: Research Publications

A Road Map for Discovery and Translation in Lymphoma

In August 2014 the American Society of Hematology (ASH) organized the inaugural Meeting on Lymphoma Biology. The meeting’s Steering Committee was tasked with recommending a road map for future priorities in lymphoma discovery and translation. After identifying roadblocks that limit research they made recommendations on how to supersede them in the future. According to their recommendations:

The road map is based on the fundamental goal of extending effective treatment to all patients with lymphoma. Achieving that goal with maximum efficiency and expedience will require a broad and collaborative effort between researchers, patients, funding agencies, pharma, and advocacy groups.

Among the members of the distinguished committee, Weill Cornell Medical College was represented by Lymphoma Program Director, Dr. John P. Leonard and Dr. Ari Melnick, Chair of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center.

World Health Organization Says Herbicide May Cause Non-Hodgkin Lmyphoma

Glysophosate is a herbicide with the highest production volume of all herbicides. In the United States it is currently marketed under the trade name Roundup, and use has increased with the introduction of genetically modified crops resistant to glysophosate. Recently experts from the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization met and assessed the carcinogenicity of different herbicides. In glysophosate they found an increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma:

Case-control studies of occupational exposure in the USA,14 Canada,6 and Sweden7 reported increased risks for non-Hodgkin lymphoma that persisted after adjustment for other pesticides. The AHS cohort did not show a significantly increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In male CD-1 mice, glyphosate induced a positive trend in the incidence of a rare tumour, renal tubule carcinoma. A second study reported a positive trend for haemangiosarcoma in male mice.15 Glyphosate increased pancreatic islet-cell adenoma in male rats in two studies. A glyphosate formulation promoted skin tumours in an initiation-promotion study in mice.

Glyphosate has been detected in the blood and urine of agricultural workers, indicating absorption…Glyphosate and glyphosate formulations induced DNA and chromosomal damage in mammals, and in human and animal cells in vitro. One study reported increases in blood markers of chromosomal damage (micronuclei) in residents of several communities after spraying of glyphosate formulations.16 Bacterial mutagenesis tests were negative. Glyphosate, glyphosate formulations, and AMPA induced oxidative stress in rodents and in vitro. The Working Group classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

We will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available and update guidelines accordingly.

Ibrutinib Demonstrates Continued Efficacy for CLL Patients at 3 Year Follow-up

Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy ibrutinib (Imbruvica), an oral inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, has as treatment for patients with CLL. This has led to its approval by the FDA for previously treated patients with CLL and patients with CLL who have deletion 17p regardless of prior therapy. In a paper published online in Blood, a group of investigators, including Richard R. Furman, published long term follow up results from the original phase II studies of ibrutinib in patients with CLL. The paper presents results from a median three-year follow-up of 132 treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory symptomatic patients with CLL or SLL, receiving single agent ibrutinib. Longer treatment with ibrutinib was associated with improvement in response quality, durable remissions, and with diminishing toxicity and adverse side effects. For the treatment naïve group of patients, the 30 month progression free survival was 96%. For the relapsed refractory patients, the 30 month PFS was 69%, with disease progression being seen primarily in the patients with relapsed del(17)(p13.1) and/or del(11)(q22.3) disease. Findings from this study provide further evidence that ibrutinib is an effective and well tolerated long-term treatment for patients with CLL.

A full listing of available CLL trials at WCMC can be found here. Please look to this space for further developments about ibrutinib and CLL trials.