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Belantamab mafodotin-blmf

Belantamab mafodotin-blmf is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least 4 prior therapies including an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, a proteasome inhibitor, and an immunomodulatory agent.

This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trial(s).


 

The Fruits of Our Funding

Advances in cancer research seem to be occurring at dizzying speed these days.

Targeting GCK as a novel and selective therapeutic strategy against RAS mutated Multiple Myeloma

RAS/MAPK mutations are the key drivers in MM, which occurs in 50% of newly diagnosed and higher in relapsed MM patients. However, RAS remains undruggable in MM. We found that RAS mutation MM growth is highly dependent on germinal center kinase(GCK). The goal of this project is to develop small molecule inhibitors against GCK with the expected outcome to provide novel treatments for relapsed/refractory and especially multi-drug resistant MM with RAS mutation, as well as other B-cell malignancies.

Idecabtagene vicleucel

Idecabtagene vicleuce is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after two or more prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.

How Surviving Cancer Gave me a Second Birthday

Birthdays are a time for celebration as we become one year older, wiser, and more mature. For cancer survivors, we carry with us another date that symbolizes even more. This is our second birthday. Similar to an actual birthday, this day often carries feelings of even more nostalgia and remembrance. However, it can also grip us with feelings of dread, anxiety, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). No matter how far along we are in our journey through survivorship, our second birthday pulls at us to stop and compassionately remember all that we’ve been through. 

Advances in Cancer Research and Treatment in 2020

Progress in new cancer treatments is accelerating so rapidly that the standard of care for many cancer patients is changing right before our very eyes.

Since 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a remarkable 53 therapies just to treat patients with blood cancers, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has helped advance 46 of these treatments.

I have no reason to believe the next few years won’t be as productive and groundbreaking as the last few. With that, here are some of my predictions for 2020:

Charlene

Meet the Researcher: Charlene Liao, PhD

Our “Meet the Researcher” series on The LLS Blog shares what our outstanding LLS-funded researchers are working on, the incredible impact they’re making in the fight against blood cancers, and what inspires their efforts to find better treatments and cures.

 

Improving targeted adoptive cell therapy of myeloma

Dr. Madhav Dhodapkar, M.D., of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, leads a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary LLS Specialized Center of Research team focused on advancing new immunotherapies for patients with multiple myeloma. Their goal is to improve the effectiveness of CAR T-cell immunotherapy, which engineers the patient’s T cells to find and kill cancer cells. The CAR-T they are studying targets a protein called BCMA found on the surface of all myeloma cells.
Mollie sitting next to a body of water

Where Blood Cancer Meets Nature: Why This Scholarship Recipient Is Saving the Earth

When we think about the future, a lot can feel uncertain—especially as a teenager or young adult (AYA) with blood cancer.  

We get it.  

Daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj

Generic name Daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj Brand name(s), other common name(s) Darzalex FasproTM Drug type   Monoclonal antibody  How the drug is given Injection, for subcutaneous use Indications and Usage

Darzalex FasproTM is a combination of daratumumab, a CD38-directed cytolytic antibody, and hyaluronidase, an endoglycosidase, and is FDA approved for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma:

Systematic multiomic profiling of tumor and immune cells for non invasive detection of early myeloma

Multiple myeloma remains largely incurable and there is consensus that the pathway to cure cancer involves treating patients earlier. Thus, there is an unmet need to develop methods for early detection of pre-malignant disease and to help tailoring treatment for patients with smoldering myeloma. We aim to develop new methods for minimally invasive characterization of patients with smoldering myeloma in order to treat disease causation instead of symptomatology and increase curability rates.
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Improving Blood Cancer Survival Takes More than New Drug Discovery

In my years as a practicing hematologist-oncologist and now as chief medical officer of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), I’ve met many blood cancer patients who worry about how they’ll afford their treatment on top of day-to-day expenses like rent and groceries. LLS offers financial assistance for qualifying blood cancer patients and families

Targeting acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 to remodel obesity-evoked inflammatory microenvironment in myeloma

Our proposal aims to develop a novel strategy to improve therapeutic efficacy for patients with multiple myeloma by remodeling obesity-induced inflammatory microenvironment. We hypothesize that acetyl-CoA synthetase 2, which is stimulated by obesity, enhances inflammatory cytokine production from myeloma cells, leading to an inflammatory niche where anti-tumor function of CD8+ T cells is dampened, and tumor growth is promoted. Our study will be the first to explore a novel insight for how obesity impacts the interaction between myeloma cells and microenvironment.