Tag: cancer clinical trials

LAM-002A: What You Should Know about this Agent for B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

What is LAM-002A?  

LAM-002A is an oral selective kinase inhibitor currently undergoing Phase I trials for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These trials seek to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of LAM-002A. Before investigation of LAM-002A in patients with lymphoma, it was studied and found to be safe in patients with psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Crohn’s disease.

How does LAM-002 work?

Also known as apilimod dimesylate, LAM-002 is a potent and highly selective PIKfyve kinase inhibitor. It is the first compound in this class.  Kinases are proteins that modify cell functions. Lymphomas can arise from overactive or high levels of kinases. LAM-002 disrupts the normal activity of this particular kinase, which can lead to death of cancer cells.

What are the side effects?

In previous studies of patients with psoriasis, RA and Crohn’s disease, LAM-002 was well tolerated, with most side effects assessed as mild in severity. The most frequent side effects included headaches, upper respiratory tract infection, and nausea. To date all available nonclinical and clinical data support the safety profile of LAM-002A in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

How can you access LAM-002A?

LAM-002A is available through a recently opened Phase I trial for men and women with previously-treated B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medicine.

A full list of trials open at WCM for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma is available on our Joint Clinical Trials website.

Dr. John Leonard Discusses the Top Lymphoma Studies from ASH15

In this video from Targeted Oncology, Lymphoma Program Director, Dr. John Leonard discusses the top lymphoma studies presented during the 57th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Orlando, Florida.

In addition to this video, Dr. Leonard also continued his now annual tradition of picking 10 noteworthy lymphoma abstracts released before the meeting in his #LeonardList. As he explained the criteria for picking abstracts on the list:

“I scan all the lymphoma-related abstracts, focusing less on the biology and more on the therapy. I look at both oral and poster abstracts because I think people might miss posters that are of interest and worth highlighting. And I focus on ideas I think are either practice changing, or intriguing, or ‘out of the box,’ that people might otherwise not see.”

 

Dr. Lisa Roth and the Treatment of Burkitt Lymphoma

The Meyer Cancer Center recently profiled Dr. Lisa Roth and the far-reaching impact of her work in finding new targeted therapies to treat young patients with Burkitt lymphoma. Burkitt’s is an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that is often fatal. Finding alternative therapy options is important because,

“As many as 85 percent of children with Burkitt lymphoma respond well to treatment. Their tumors grow incredibly fast – doubling in size in a matter of days – but also shrink incredibly fast when blasted with high-dose chemotherapy. In order to ensure the tumors don’t return, they undergo intensive sustained treatment that generally lasts from 4-8 months.”

“For those who don’t respond, however, or for those whose disease returns despite the treatment, the survival rate is below 20 percent. And success is often tempered by immediate and long-term side effects, including cardiovascular problems, infertility and secondary malignancies.”

“We do very well, curing the majority of patients; the problem is the amount of chemotherapy needed to get to that cure rate is substantial,” Roth said. “As our patients are surviving longer and longer, we are beginning to see the toll the treatments are taking long-term.”

To this end Dr. Roth has received funding from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to investigate PU-H71 a promising new therapy which kills Burkitt lymphoma cells by attacking a protein required for suvival.

Besides her work in finding new options to treat Burkitt lymphoma, Dr. Roth is building an adolescent and young adult lymphoma program at Weill Cornell Medicine. The program will focus on the needs of patients who don’t squarely fit into either the pediatric or adult categories for treatment. It will also specifically address the needs of young adult patients like fertility.

Look to this space for more information about the adolescent and young adult lymphoma program at Weill Cornell Medicine.

If you are interested in making an appointment with Dr. Roth and the adolescent and young adults lymphoma program you can call her at 646-962-2068