Tag: John Allan MD

2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is the world’s largest professional society serving clinicians and scientists who work to conquer blood diseases. The ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition brings together over 25,000 hematology professionals from around the world to discuss the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood, bone marrow, and immunologic, hemostatic and vascular systems.

This year, the ASH Meeting celebrated its 60th anniversary in San Diego, CA. As always, our team was proud to contribute new lymphoma discoveries for presentation at the meeting. Here are some research highlights from our team.

Dr. John Leonard led a global phase III clinical trial comparing the efficacy and safety of combined lenalidomide plus rituximab versus rituximab alone in people with previously treated indolent lymphoma, including follicular and marginal zone lymphoma. Results demonstrating lenalidomide-rituximab as an important new treatment option for this patient population.

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Dr. Richard Furman and colleagues found that at follow-up of up to seven years, ibrutinib demonstrated sustained activity in both first line and relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients.

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Dr. Peter Martin led a study examining the safety and efficacy of CC-486, also known as oral azacitidine, plus R-CHOP chemotherapy in people with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

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Using a combination of human, animal, and cell line data, Jude Phillip, PhD, of the Leandro Cerchietti Research Lab, and colleagues found that the internal architecture of lymphomas present important insights into disease progression.

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Dr. John Allan presented a preliminary update of an ongoing first-in-human study of vecabrutinib in patients with advanced B-cell malignancies.

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Dr. Sarah Rutherford reported data that may support the elimination of bone marrow biopsies in follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma clinical trials.

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Dr. Richard Furman and colleagues found that venetoclax is well tolerated and produces high levels of response in previously treated Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia patients.

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We are proud of our team’s continued commitment to advancing the overall understanding of lymphoma and improving clinical outcomes and quality of life for all those affected by the disease.

Targeting the Cellular Metabolism and Survival Mechanisms in CLL and Richter’s Syndrome

john-allan-mdBy John Allan M.D.

The survival of tumor cells is dependent on the tumor cells maintaining a normal interaction with the healthy microenvironment. An increasingly important strategy in the treatment of CLL is to develop new therapies that do not necessarily attack the cancerous cells themselves, but instead attack the molecular processes that allow the cancerous cells to function and thrive in the microenvironment. One potential target for treating CLL is the protein complex NF-kB, which controls important cell functions including the regulation of cell death, cell survival, and cell proliferation. If NF- kB function can be inhibited then CLL can be more easily treated.

The purpose of this recent study presented at the 2016 ASH meeting was to test the efficacy of the newly developed NF-bK inhibitor IT901 in the treatment of CLL and its aggressive transformation Richter’s Syndrome (RS).  RS is a transformation that occurs within 5-10% of CLL’s and turns the disease into a fast growing diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The treatment of RS currently represents an unmet therapeutic need.

Results from this study were confirmed in a mouse xenograft model for people with CLL and in cell samples obtained from people with RS. In both models the use of IT901 was characterized by decrease in tumor growth and Researchers found that IT901 induced death in cancerous cells within 24 hours of treatment with a minimal impact on normal B-cells.

Researchers concluded that IT901 is effective in rapidly blocking NF-kB activity by decreasing the functions that allow the cell to flourish in the microenvironment. The results from this study are encouraging and point to a potential new treatment option for patients with CLL and RS.

Dr. John Allan Describes a Clinical Trial for Patients with B-Cell Malignancies

In this video Dr. John Allan describes the benefits of a recently opened clinical trial for men and women with CD20+ B-cell malignancies, including B-NHL and CLL.

If you’re interested in participating in this trial please call 212-746-2919 for more information. A full listing of B-cell malignancy trials at Weill Cornell Medicine can be found on the Joint Clinical Trials website.

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