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CAR-T Immunotherapy Showing Positive Results
This week, positive data from a Kite Pharma CAR-T immunotherapy clinical trial was released showing that more than one-third of refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients in the study showed no signs of the disease after six months.
Since 2015, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has been funding this study through its collaboration with Kite Pharma, a biotechnology company focused on immunotherapy.
Powerful Partnerships are Helping to Save Lives
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has helped millions impacted by cancer throughout their almost 70-year history. But the fight against blood cancers cannot be won without support.
Achieving the Impossible: What’s ahead in 2018?
We’ve just concluded one of the most historic years on record in terms of new therapy approvals for blood cancers. In all, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 18 therapies to treat patients with blood cancers, including some entirely new agents and some new uses for already approved drugs.
3 Things You Might Like to Know About Being Newly Diagnosed
A cancer diagnosis is a pivotal moment in a person’s lifetime.
From that point forward, it’s a part of who you are. It shapes how you think about the world—through the lens of your diagnosis and what’s important to you.
Novel Immunotherapy Combinations in Relapsed, Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
We are evaluating two parallel clinical trials with synergistic immunotherapies in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), including 1) tafasitamab and lenalidomide and 2) glofitamab and lenalidomide. We will investigate how these treatments impact the MCL immune microenvironment and mediate anti-tumor immune responses, and will correlate these changes with outcome. Our goal is to develop safe, effective, and "off-the-shelf" immunotherapies to improve outcomes for patients with relapsed, refractory MCL.Delineation of the molecular heterogeneity underlying treatment failure in follicular lymphoma
A proportion of follicular lymphoma patients will experience early treatment failure and premature death. We will delineate the molecular features that underlie treatment failure from a recent randomized trial (BIONIC) & Canadian cohort via 3 aims: 1) confirm the prognostic significance of prior reported biomarkers (eg, m7-FLIPI, etc); 2) establish the genetic taxonomy of FL via integrated genomic analyses and consensus clustering; and 3) determine the prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA.Detection and treatment of Adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma in the premalignant stage.
Clonally expanded T cells carrying somatic mutations circulate in the premalignant phase of Adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). We will develop capture-sequencing of recurrent ATL-driver mutations for use as a diagnostic tool for the detection/characterization of ATL-like clones in individuals with high risk of ATL, and, in an aligned clinical study, we will test whether a novel monoclonal antibody (targeting C-C chemokine receptor 4) can eradicate these high-risk cells.LLS Activates to Accelerate Cures
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) continually advocates for laws and policies to ensure that patients have access to lifesaving treatments. Our latest win came this summer when the U.S. House of Representatives approved the 21st Century Cures Act.
This bill, which is proof of LLS’s impact and would make a big difference for blood cancer patients, is now on Congress’ “to do” list.
Discovery and therapeutic targeting of novel mechanisms driving Double Hit Lymphomas
Double-hit lymphoma (DHL) is an aggressive form of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) defined by co-occuring MYC and BCL2 rearrangements. DHL has been linked to very poor outcomes when treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy. Effective treatments to prevent treatment failure remain a critical unmet need. This proposal will develop novel, mechanism-based therapeutic regimens for DHL that overcome chemotherapy resistance and defective immune surveillance to improve outcomes.Just Diagnosed? LLS Can Help
Finding out you have blood cancer can bring on a whirlwind of emotions and a plethora of questions. No one expects to get such a diagnosis and there isn’t anything you can do to prepare.
Regardless of how you came to your diagnosis, most people report not having absorbed a lot of information after hearing the word “cancer." The vocabulary may seem like a foreign language, and the need for support can be tremendous.
Autologous CD22 CAR T cell Therapy for the Treatment of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
CD19 targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies (CAR19) are effective treatments for patients with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), however, the majority of these patients will relapse. We have now evaluated a CD22 targeting CAR T cell therapy (CAR22) in patients who have large B cell lymphoma who have relapsed after CAR19 therapy and found that this therapy is both safe and effective resulting in a high rate of durable complete responses.Development of mutant GTPase-specific degraders for peripheral T cell lymphoma treatment
This project aims to develop targeted therapies against peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL), a diverse group of aggressive blood cancers with poor clinical outcomes. This project is tightly relevant to cancer control and treatment, promising to advance our understanding on how blood cancers initiate and progress, and lead to new therapeutics for the treatment of peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL). We will develop targeted therapeutics to engage an oncogenic RHOA GTPase mutant to treat PTCL and other types of tumors with similar genetic backgrounds.Exploiting escape from Y-inactivation as a synthetic dependency in MYC-driven lymphoma
As a lymphoma develops it expresses genes that are normally silenced to convey a survival advantage. When these genes are on the X or Y (sex chromosomes) they may present a gender-specific therapeutic target. We have identified a gene (DDX3X in females or DDX3Y in males) that is reactivated in lymphomas such that the lymphomas cannot survive if this gene is removed. This project will develop new ways to inhibit DDX3X and Y as a novel treatment for poor-risk and aggressive lymphoma.Rituximab
is FDA approved for the treatment of:
Investigating the role of CREBBP mutations and epigenetic crosstalk in B-cell lymphoma
We seek to understand the genetic and epigenetic etiology of B-cell lymphoma and how deregulation of normal epigenetic programs perturb developmental programs and immune interactions. We approach this using a variety of genomic technologies to interrogate primary human tumors, CRISPR-engineered cell lines, patient-derived xenograft models and transgenic mouse models with different genetic lesions.Unraveling the mechanisms of immune checkpoint dysfunction in cutaneous T cell lymphoma
Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a disfiguring, incurable malignancy profoundly affecting patients’ appearances, quality of life, and relationships. Standard treatments only benefit 30% of patients with limited duration. Rather than focusing on the tumor alone, we target the adjacent tumor microenvironment, which nourishes tumor growth. We have begun a clinical trial of durvalumab, which is an inhibitor of the checkpoint protein receptor PD-L1. We are currently investigating how immune checkpoint proteins together with the immune booster lenalidomide affect CTCL growth.Exploiting tumor-immune dynamics to inform curative combination therapy for follicular lymphoma
Follicular lymphoma is a common form of blood cancer, affecting 15,000 new patients annually in the United States, but it remains incurable with conventional treatments. Bispecific antibodies represent a new class of therapies that engage the immune system to attack lymphoma cells and have shown promising effectiveness in inducing remissions in patients with this disease, but even they are unlikely to be curative.A Day in LLS History
On October 20, 1944, Robert “Robbie” Roesler de Villiers was only 16 years old when he died from leukemia. Robbie’s parents, Rudolph and Antoinette, were stricken with grief and frustrated by the lack of effective treatments for what was then considered a hopeless disease.
After five years of mourning their son, they started a fundraising and education organization in his name. The Robert Roesler de Villiers Foundation had only a few volunteers and a tiny budget.
Lenalidomide
Lenalidomide is FDA approved to treat patients with:
Spatial architecture and malignant cell characterization of nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma
Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma is recognized as a disease entity in a spectrum of related diseases, including T-cell rich B-cell lymphoma. Although treatments are generally effective, a subset of patients suffers from lymphoma progression and aggressive disease transformations. Here, we propose to analyze clonal evolution of tumor cells and describe the spatial architecture of tissues with the goal to improve molecular classification and develop novel therapeutic approaches.NBA Rookie Honors Late Coach by Donating Car to LLS
Thanks to Karl-Anthony Towns, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) will be getting a brand new Kia!
The NBA awarded the 2015-16 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award to Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves on May 16 by handing him keys to a brand new Sorento CUV.
Blood Cancer Survivors Find Special Meaning and Connection as Employee Champions of LLS Light the Night Events
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is proud of our continuing partnership with Gilead and Kite Oncology as the National Presenting Sponsor of Celebration and Community at Light The Night events across the U.S. helping bring people together and raise critical funds to support patients and their families.
From Fighting Fires to Fighting for His Life: One Firefighter’s Journey with Cancer
In late 2014, Eric Wirtz, a firefighter for the Boston Fire Department, lost his 64-year-old mother to pancreatic cancer. During that time he had been experiencing pain in his lower right back and hip area and frequent bouts of flu-like symptoms. Eric says that overall he “just did not feel too good.” Little did he know he was about to face his own battle with cancer. Tests of Eric’s lower abdominal area revealed a large tumor that were inflamed lymph nodes in his hip area.