Tag: Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Among Recipients of $50 Million Stem Cell Research Grant

The Starr Foundation is is making a $50 million gift in support of the Tri-Institutional Stem Cell Initiative (Tri-SCI), which was established through a grant from the Foundation in 2005. The new gift is awarded to the original Tri-SCI members — Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University. The grant will support and enhance collaborative, pioneering stem cell research at the three adjacent Manhattan campuses. The laboratories are investigating the properties of embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to differentiate into any cell type in the body, and adult stem cells, which are found in various tissues and can give rise to specific cell types. These studies are opening new avenues for understanding a range of health conditions, including developmental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

Click here to read the full press report on the grant.

OncLive: Dr. John Leonard Discusses What’s New in DLBCL Treatment

At the 16th Annual International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, Dr. John Leonard, the director of the Lymphoma Program at Weill Cornell Medical College, discussed several novel therapies currently under investigation for DLBCL. Today OncLive published an article, “Beyond R-CHOP-21: What’s New in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma” summarizing Dr. Leonard’s discussion.

“The current standard for patients with advanced diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is R-CHOP-21 (21-day rituximab-cyclophosphamidedoxorubicin- vincristine-prednisone). However, while this regimen cures approximately two-thirds of patients, a significant fraction of patients will still relapse, and the prognosis for these patients is poor.”

Approaches being evaluated include substituting an alternate chemotherapy regimen for CHOP in combination with rituximab; R-EPOCH (rituximabetoposide- prednisone-vincristine-doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide); and adding a new agent to R-CHOP-21.

Click here to read the full article in in OncLive.

Study of CAL-101 in Patients With Indolent B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Update: this study is closed to enrollment. 

The Weill Cornell Lymphoma Program is enrolling patients in a clinical trial testing the experimental drug CAL-101. The study evaluates the efficacy and safety of CAL-101 in patients with previously treated indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (iNHL) that is refractory both to rituximab and to alkylating-agent-containing chemotherapy. The principal investigator at Weill Cornell is Dr. Peter Martin.

All cells in the body receive signals to grow and survive, but sometimes these signals can get out of control, causing too much cell growth. When cell growth gets out of control, cancers like iNHL can develop. CAL-101 blocks some of the cell functions that cause iNHL to grow and survive. By blocking these functions, CAL-101 may reduce or prevent iNHL from growing and surviving. Results from earlier studies suggest that CAL-101 may help control iNHL.

This is a clinical trial for people with the following types of B-cell indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL):

  • follicular lymphoma
  • small lymphocytic lymphoma
  • lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma
  • marginal zone lymphoma

Study participants must have received at least 2 different prior treatments for iNHL, and at some point during prior therapy they must have received rituximab and a type of chemotherapy called an alkylating agent.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether the investigational drug CAL-101 is safe and effective for treating people with iNHL once their iNHL has become too difficult to control with available therapies.

CAL-101 is a tablet. Study participants will take CAL-101 twice per day. Participants will be seen for study visits:

  • every 2 weeks for the first 12 weeks of study treatment
  • every 4 weeks until Week 24
  • every 6 weeks until Week 48
  • every 12 weeks until the end of the study

For more information, please call June Greenberg, RN at (212) 746-2651 or email June at jdg2002@med.cornell.edu.