Tag: lymphoma cancer

REDLAMP – Review of Emerging Data for Lymphoma Patients – “Video Journal Club” Launched by Weill Cornell Lymphoma Program

Red Lamp logoThe Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medical College, Meyer Cancer Center, and NewYork-Presbyterian is pleased to announce the initiation of a novel program to better inform patients and families dealing with lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and related disorders.

We will be presenting regular (roughly weekly) video programs where faculty briefly (3-5 minutes) review a new research publication that is important for lymphoma patients to learn about in terms that are understandable and relevant. The topics will be selected by our expert lymphoma faculty based on their importance to the field and our desire to make sure that lymphoma patients learn about new developments in a timely fashion.

The program will be named “REDLAMP” – Review of Emerging Data for Lymphoma Patients. Beyond the acronym, RED is also a nod to the colors of Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University and NewYork-Presbyterian (and blood cancers in general), while “LAMP” references our desire to “shine light” on important information for patients.

Our first video can be found below:

You can follow Lymphoma Program Director John Leonard @JohnPLeonardMD.

We encourage you to follow us 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.

Palbociclib and One Researcher’s Resolve

Palbociclib is a selective CDK4/6 inhibitor approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with breast cancer. Currently it’s being tested in phase I trials for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma. The use of palbociclib as a cancer treatment was championed by Selina Chen-Kiang, PhD., professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology, and a key collaborator with the Lymphoma Program. Palbociclib is currently considered one of the next big things in cancer treatment. But:

“..it’s old news for Selina Chen-Kiang, Ph.D…who has been a cheerleader for palbociclib for the past decade. In fact, her relentless effort helped resurrect the drug after it was shelved by an uninterested pharmaceutical company, and her initial findings inspired the clinical trials that paved the path for its accelerated approval.”    

“Chen-Kiang is renowned for her research in immunology and hematological malignancies. A molecular biologist by training, she first got swept into myeloma and lymphoma research while studying how antibody-secreting plasma cells were generated from B cells. Unlike solid tissue, normal immune cells can be isolated at different stages from mice and humans, making them the perfect model to study her primary passion: cell cycle control of immunity.”

Today Dr. Chen-Kiang’s dogged inquiry into the potential of palbociclib has the potential to help cancer patients. Her resolve exemplifies the bench portion of our bench to bedside approach at the Meyer Cancer Center. Palbociclib is currently undergoing phase I investigator-initiated trials, sponsored by the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the National Cancer Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College. The principle investigator is Dr. Peter Martin. You can listen to him explain explain the benefits of this recently initiated trial:

A Road Map for Discovery and Translation in Lymphoma

In August 2014 the American Society of Hematology (ASH) organized the inaugural Meeting on Lymphoma Biology. The meeting’s Steering Committee was tasked with recommending a road map for future priorities in lymphoma discovery and translation. After identifying roadblocks that limit research they made recommendations on how to supersede them in the future. According to their recommendations:

The road map is based on the fundamental goal of extending effective treatment to all patients with lymphoma. Achieving that goal with maximum efficiency and expedience will require a broad and collaborative effort between researchers, patients, funding agencies, pharma, and advocacy groups.

Among the members of the distinguished committee, Weill Cornell Medical College was represented by Lymphoma Program Director, Dr. John P. Leonard and Dr. Ari Melnick, Chair of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center.