Researchers Develop New Method to Test Lymphoma Treatments

Researchers from Cornell Ithaca and Weill Cornell Medicine recently published a new study describing how organoids offer a realistic model to test new lymphoma treatments. A organoid is a tissue culture that mimics the environment where different lymphomas are found. The use of organoids could offer insights as to why some lymphoma treatments are more effective than others. As Dr. Ari Melnick explained:

“This is a game-changing technology for the field of lymphoma,” Melnick said. “These organoids allow us to better understand the complex architecture of lymphomas and how that informs the way we treat the disease – what drugs we should use and for whom, and how they interact with each other. This is a fundamental advance; no one in the world has the technology to treat patients in this way.” 

Research into lymphoma organoids are part of the P.A.Th. (Progressive Assessment of Therapeutics) program, an inter-campus collaboration between Cornell Ithaca and Weill Cornell Medicine that seeks to better translate the treatment of lymphoma patients.

Dr. Richard Furman Discusses CLL/SLL Treatments with Lymphoma Research Foundation

Recently, CLL Program Director, Dr. Richard Furman discussed CLL/SLL treatment options with the Lymphoma Research Foundation. On the topic of future treatments Dr. Furman spoke about the exciting treatment options in the future:

“This is a critical time for treatment in CLL because we are witnessing a change in treatment paradigms. We are for the first time seeing the opportunity to move completely away from a dependence on chemotherapy. These new treatments are highly effective and well tolerated. Three new treatments that have recently been approved include ibrutinib, idelalisib and obinutuzumab. There are also two second-generation BTK inhibitors that work similar to ibrutinib and are well tolerated that are in the pipeline,” Dr. Furman said. Regarding the new agents, Dr. Furman makes it clear. “Not only are they preferable because they are better tolerated but because they are also far more effective. Going forward, there is an eye toward not only short term toxicities, but also long- term health. As we continue to identify new agents, the possibility of living a long and full life with minimal toxicity is real for CLL/SLL patients, which is exciting.”

The new treatments for CLL/SLL are currently open in clinical trials. You can follow the link to our clinical trials website to see which trials are available for CLL/SLL.

Q & A with Dr. Peter Martin on High Dose Cytarabine for Mantle Cell Lymphoma Patients

In a recent interview with Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology, Dr. Peter Martin answered questions about the use of high dose cytarabine for patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

H&O How much does high-dose cytarabine improve patient outcome?

PM I do not think that has been very well defined. Not all of these data have sufficient long-term follow-up to comment on overall survival outcomes. Historically, patients were given R-CHOP followed by ASCT. The MCL-2 trial, published by Geisler and colleagues, added high-dose cytarabine and rituximab, and found that the outcomes were far superior in terms of progression-free survival and overall survival. However, these outcomes may not be solely due to high-dose cytarabine. Other explanations include the addition of rituximab, other changes in supportive care, and better pathology. Cytarabine may be part of that story, but it may not be the whole story.

The better trial to evaluate the potential role of cytarabine is the MCL Younger Trial that I mentioned earlier, which is a phase 3 trial published by Hermine and colleagues that compared 6 cycles of R-CHOP vs the R-CHOP/R-DHAP regimen. In this trial, the addition of R-DHAP seemed to reduce the risk of disease progression by approximately 30%. The study also found that the R-CHOP/R-DHAP regimen prepared people for ASCT better than R-CHOP alone.

A transcript of the full interview can be read here.