Tag: cancer treatment

Clinical Trials or Standard Treatment? Understanding Options for Blood Cancers

On March 18, 2015 Lymphoma Program Director, Dr. John Leonard presented a brief program with the LLS entitled, “Clinical Trials or Standard Treatment? Understanding Options for Blood Cancer“. The program covered:

  • The role of clinical trials in blood cancer treatment
  • How clinical trials are designed.
  • How to determine the best treatment options for patients
  • Talking to your healthcare team about treatment options

An audio recording of the presentation is available along with program slides and and a transcript of the presentation.

REDLAMP 4: Circulating Tumor DNA & CT Monitoring for Untreated DLBCL – A Correlative Biomarker Study

First-line chemotherapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is given with curative intent, but is not always effective. In this video, Dr. Peter Martin discusses the implications of a recently published study in Lancet Oncology, which aimed to discover whether a blood test capable of detecting circulating tumor DNA might predict treatment success or failure. In the future, blood tests may be added to, or even replace, current standard surveillance methods like CT scans or PET scans.

Previous #REDLAMP entries can be viewed on our Youtube channel.

We encourage you to follow the Lymphoma Program on Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook where we will highlight new videos are about research publications as they are released. We also welcome your feedback, suggestions and questions about this project. If you have other questions about our lymphoma program or clinical trials or would like to see one of our lymphoma specialists, please contact us at 646-962-2074.

FDA Grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to Venetoclax for Patients with Relapsed/Refractory CLL with 17p Deletion

Earlier today the FDA granted the Breakthrough Therapy Designation to venetoclax (ABT-199). Venetoclax was awarded this designation for the treatment of relapsed or refractory CLL in previously treated patients with 17p deletion. Venetoclax is an inhibitor of the B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) protein.

The Breakthrough Therapy Designation is intended to expedite the development and review of drugs for life-threatening conditions, based on preliminary clinical evidence. A full list of targeted treatments that have received FDA approval for the treatment of lymphoma can be found here.

Currently the Lymphoma Program has several phase 2 trials open to accrual for ABT-199 as a treatment for CLL patients. Dr. Richard Furman is the principal investigator for both trials:

Phase 2 Open-Label Study of the Efficacy and Safety of ABT-199 (GDC-0199) in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Subjects with Relapse or Refractory to B-cell Receptor Signaling Pathway Inhibitor Therapy

Phase 2 Open-Label Study of the Efficacy of ABT-199 in Subjects with Relapsed or Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Harboring the 17p Deletion

A full listing of available CLL trials can be found here. Look to this space for more information regarding developments for the treatment of CLL.