A Blog from the Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian
John Leonard, MD, the Director of the Weill Cornell Lymphoma Program, is featured in Westchester Magazine’s “Top 8 Leaders in Westchester County in 2013.”
Dr. Leonard is the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Associate Dean for Clinical Research, Weill Cornell Medical College.
Click the image below to read the article.
In laboratory experiments, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have demonstrated that the cancer fighting effects of Velcade (bortezomib) and PD 0332991 were exponentially multiplied when used together in their laboratory studies on multiple myeloma tumor cells.
The normal cellular growth cycle is derailed in cancer. Uncontrolled growth and multiplication is often the result. The researchers found that PD 0332991 stops the cellular cycle in a vulnerable moment, leaving the cancer cell wide open for cellular destruction by Velcade.
The study, published online last month by the journal Blood, is the first to show that precise timing of therapies that target a cancer cell’s cycle — the life phases leading to its division and replication — disables key survival genes, resulting in cell death. The drug that delivers the weakening jab at the cell cycle is the experimental agent PD 0332991, which allows Velcade, a proteasome inhibitor already approved for use in myeloma and lymphoma, to land the final defeating blow at lower than normal doses.
Dr. Selina Chen-Kiang, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College was the lead scientist on the study. In an interview Dr. Chen-Kiang said:
“Because robust functioning of the cell cycle is crucial to cancer growth and survival, this mechanism-based strategy could theoretically be used against many kinds of cancers.”
The same combination is being tested in patients with mantle cell lymphoma in a Weill Cornell investigator-initiated study led by Dr. John Leonard. Click here for more information about the mantle cell lymphoma study.
The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) has announced the election of John Leonard, MD, as the chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Leonard is the associate dean for clinical research at Weill Cornell Medical College, vice chairman for clinical research in the Department of Medicine, and the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology. He also serves as clinical director of the Weill Cornell Lymphoma Program, attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and is associate director for Clinical Research of the Weill Cornell Cancer Center.
Dr. Leonard’s two-year term as Chair began July 1, 2012.
Comprised of the world’s leading lymphoma researchers and oncologists, the Scientific Advisory Board formulates the LRF research portfolio, seeking out the most innovative and promising lymphoma research projects for support. The board reviews grant proposals and makes recommendations regarding research priorities and funding to the Foundation Board of Directors. The board also evaluates the progress of on-going research projects and guides the direction of the Foundation’s research programs.
New Developments in Lymphoma 