Meet a Texas Researcher Funded by You

Dr. Helen Heslop is one of more than a dozen Texas researchers currently being funded by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).  Heslop and her team work out of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and has been granted more than $6 million through 2018 in the form of an LLS SCOR grant. Below she describes her project and its potential impact on the treatment of blood cancers.

"One of the central goals of modern cancer therapy is to develop treatments that effectively kill tumor cells while sparing normal tissues. Harnessing T cells from the patient`s own immune system appears to offer one of the best strategies to achieve this result. The clinical potential of T-cell-based immunotherapy has been demonstrated many times in the laboratory and in patients with certain virus-linked cancers, but translation of these findings to the bedside has not been easy. Investigators in this SCOR, who pioneered the adoption of T-cell immunotherapy for lymphoma, now propose to translate this early success to additional blood malignancies, including multiple myeloma and acute leukemia and propose four projects designed to test novel approaches to cancer immunotherapy. PROJECT 1 asks whether banked, or “off-the-shelf,” T-cell preparations can be used successfully to treat virus-related lymphomas. PROJECT 2 will use a novel oral vaccine as a delivery system for proteins common in multiple myeloma cells, in order to stimulate more robust T-cell responses against this cancer. PROJECT 3 has modified T cells to express an artificial receptor, called a CAR, and is testing whether this addition will improve the precision of T-cell targeting of multiple myeloma. Finally, in PROJECT 4 the intent is to eradicate residual leukemia cells with T cells that have been stimulated with four different leukemia-related antigens. In all instances, the research projects are expected to interact with each other on a regular basis, so that the achievements of any single project should be greatly enhanced. Ultimately, the information generated by this SCOR proposal is expected to lead to more effective, and potentially curative, treatments for patients with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma."

The Marshall A. Lichtman Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) program is LLS' most ambitious research opportunity.  This innovative program supports interdisciplinary research across at least three independent research projects that are integrated and supported by scientific core laboratories.

2013 Annual Report: The Blood Cancer Research Partnership

The 2013 Annual Report for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has been released.  In this series of blogs, a number of key advancements and developments will be highlighted.  This report is an in-depth look at how your fundraising dollars are being spent and the medical breakthroughs and partnerships you are so crucial in creating.

This unprecedented Blood Cancer Research Partnership will bring clinical trials to patients where they live and address one of the primary bottlenecks to new cancer therapies: the need for more patients to take part in trials.

LLS committed funding to Valor Biotherapeutics, LLC, a joint venture between ImmunGene and Caliber companies, to develop a novel protein therapeutic that may improve outcomes for many patients with indolent lymphomas who do not respond to standard therapy with Rituxan.  Valor's biotherapeutic is produced by fusing lymphoma-seeking antibodies to tumor-cell-killing proteins in a single, genetically engineered molecule.

The APL Project:  LLS initiated a project with Anand Jillella, MD, Chief of Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at Emory University, to reduce the mortality rates for patients diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) by providing community oncologists/hematologists with a simple, optimized treatment protocol for the care of newly diagnosed patients with APL, a rare molecular subtype of acute myeloid leukemia.

LLS partnered with Affimed Therapeutics AG to co-fund a phase 2 trial of a novel multi-targeted anitbody in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients for whom currently available treatments have failed.  This therapeutic is directed against two different molecules, CD30 and CD16A, to bring cancer-killing immune cells directly to the HL cells.  It is a first-in-class immunotherapy designed to treat HL patients and patients with other CD30-positive malignancies.

2013 Annual Report: Venture Philanthopy

The 2013 Annual Report for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has been released.  In this series of blogs, a number of key advancements and developments will be highlighted.  This report is an in-depth look at how your fundraising dollars are being spent and the medical breakthroughs and partnerships you are so crucial in creating.

LLS provides the seed money to encourage innovative research in areas of unmet medical need.  This high-risk, high-reward strategy is helping save lives through partnerships with universities and biotechnology companies, giving critical support to research and advancing therapies that might otherwise go undeveloped.

In fiscal year 2013, LLS venture philanthropy leadership was underscored when three LLS Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP) partners saw major business transactions that made headlines.

In 2011, LLS partnered with Epizyme to drive the early development of a DOT1L-targeted therapy for patients with mixed lineage leukemia.  In fiscal year 2013, the importance of this project was recognized by a $90 million licensing partnership with Celgene Corporation and a subsequent Epizyme initial public offering (IPO) in May.

In 2010, LLS entered a partnership with Onconovoa Therapeutics, Inc. to support a phase 3 clinical trial testing rigosertib, a novel mutli-kinase inhibitory agent in the treatment of high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes.  In fiscal year 2013, the importance of the project was recognized by a $50 million licensing partnership with Baxter International Inc. and a subsequent IPO by Onconova.  This IPO, in July 2013, raised almost $78 million, which will support continued development of rigosertib.

In 2011, LLS partnered with Acetylon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to accelerate the development of novel treatment for multiple myeloma.  The innovative nature of this project was recognized in fiscal year 2013 when Celgene Corporation signed a $100 million agreement to further develop Acetylon's group of HDAC6-selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors.In each case above, large pharmaceutical companies and the public markets recognized the promise of new therapies being supported by LLS by making significant additional investments. 

These investments enable our biotechnology partners to overcome risk thresholds and move promising new treatments forward.

BREAKING NEWS: LLS Funding Delivers Breakthrough Treatment for CLL

When a new therapy, funded by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), receives Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval with a "breakthrough therapy designation," it signals the kind of progress that represents our goal for patients since our founding 65 years ago - new, effective treatments.

That's why we're pleased to announce FDA approval of ibrutinib (Imbruvica™), the LLS-funded therapy for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This easy-to-take pill - that targets the cancer - may allow CLL patients to avoid the adverse effects of standard chemotherapy. John C. Byrd, MD, of the Ohio State University, is a world-renowned CLL expert who leads the LLS-funded team that has been instrumental in advancing ibrutinib for CLL and credits LLS funding for making this FDA approval possible.

This past November the FDA also approved ibrutinib to treat patients with mantle cell lymphoma, and it is proving to be a significant advance for patients with this blood cancer.

LLS depends on funding from people like you who want to make a difference in the lives of people with blood cancer. Ibrutinib is proof of how your support helps advance new therapies that save more lives not someday, but today. Read the full story about ibrutinib.

2013 Annual Report: Groundbreaking Partnerships

The 2013 Annual Report for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has been released.  In this series of blogs, a number of key advancements and developments will be highlighted.  This report is an in-depth look at how your fundraising dollars are being spent and the medical breakthroughs and partnerships you are so crucial in creating.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is well positioned to align the key players in the ecosystem of cancer innovation.  This has led to new and groundbreaking partnerships:

LLS's Therapy Acceleration Program added many new partners from the biopharmaceutical industry and academic institutions.  One of the most important was the Knight cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).  The Beat AML initiative, led by Brian Druker, MD, includes major technology companies like Intel, which provides big data computing technology, and Illumina, which provides advanced genetic sequencing.  The goal is to identify the many mutations that drive acute myeloid leukemia and identify drugs that can target these mutations.

In July 2013, LLS announced a partnership with John Hopkins University School of Medicine to advance a novel immunotherapy for patients with poor prognosis myeloma.  Under the leadership of Ivan Borrello, MD, researchers are testing a method using immune system T-cells that are specifically trained to recognize and kill myeloma cells.  The approach shows promise for patients with other blood cancers as well.

In June 2013, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute joined LLS to establish clinical testing of innovative blood cancer therapies in community oncology settings across the country.

Mission Monday: Texas Researcher Wins Major LLS Grant

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) today announced it has awarded four new grants through its prestigious Marshall A. Lichtman Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) research initiative, bringing the program's total funding to $285 million since its inception in 2000.

Helen E. Heslop, MD, at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX is one of four recipients of this grant. Heslop and her team of 11 colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, will expand upon previous success in mobilizing the immune system to control blood cancers by attempting to define safer, simpler, and more effective immunotherapies for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and multiple myeloma (MM). They will investigate if naturally occurring "off the shelf" cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), also known as killer T cells, can be as effective under some circumstances as engineered T cells against lymphoma. In addition, they will devise ways to augment the effectiveness of CTLs in MM and optimize strategies to isolate and expand CTLs against ALL. This research is significant because immunotherapies may produce better responses in patients compared with existing therapies. Beyond that, there is a need to reduce the complexity and cost in order to make such therapy accessible to more patients. 

The innovative SCOR program funds teams of researchers representing different disciplines and engaged in collaborative efforts to discover new approaches to treat patients with blood cancers. Each team will each receive $1.25 million a year for five years, for a total of $6.25 million. 

Mission Monday: Meet a LLS-Funded Researcher in Texas

Helen Heslop, M.D. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) spends millions of dollars every year supporting the work of the best and brightest blood cancer researchers around the world. Today we introduce you to Helen Heslop, M.D. of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.  Dr. Heslop's work has been sponsored by LLS since 2009. Her focus is on manipulating cells to keep them from becoming resistant to anticancer drugs and below she describes a current joint project that is showing great promise.

"Chemotherapy for lymphoma often cures the disease, but the intensive drug treatments that destroy lymphoma cells also kill normal cells, resulting in serious side effects. Another problem with standard treatment is that the lymphoma cells can become resistant to one or more of the anticancer drugs, so that the disease can come back. One way to avoid these complications is to use the patient’s own immunity to target lymphoma cells while sparing healthy tissues and organs. Investigators in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine have found that a particular kind of immune cell called the cytotoxic T lymphocytes, or CTLs - can be manipuiated to effectively treat for some types of lymphoma related to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). They now plan to modify their successful treatment strategies so that they will apply to patients with other types of lymphoma. Drs Cliona Rooney and Helen Heslop will improve treatments for the types of Hodgkin and other lymphomas associated with EBV by re-focusing the CTLs onto two EBV-derived structures on the tumor cell surface. They will also give patients an antibody that will remove many of the cells and molecules that stop the CTLs working at tumor sites. They will also engineer the CTLs cells so that they will become able to recognize a structure that is present on the tumor cells of almost all patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, not just those whose disease is associated with EBV. This approach is based on studies by Dr Malcolm Brenner, who has shown that CTLs for lymphoma can be redirected to tumors by changing the targeting-molecules they express on their surface. Dr Brenner will test this approach in lymphoma patients whose cells express a structure called CD19. He will also test the idea that changing other CTL surface molecules will allow cells to evade the body`s defenses against self-directed immune responses and kill larger numbers of lymphoma cells. Finally, Dr Si-Yi Chen has discovered that the action of an unusual protein called suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) can be switched-off to allow a different type of immune cell called a dendritic cell to provide stronger stimulation of CTLs. If switching-off SOCS1 improves CTL killing of lymphoma cells in mice, this strategy will be tested in patients, by giving a dendritic cell vaccine. These investigators are creating a collaborative research environment that will yield better results that would be expected from a single laboratory working in isolation. Their long-term goal is to advance cure rates in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin Iymphomas without the side effects typically seen with conventional treatments, and ultimately to extend the benefits of CTL therapy to other blood cancers."

Mission Monday: Meet an LLS-funded Researcher in Texas

Kala Kamdar, M.D.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) spends millions of dollars every year supporting the work of the best and brightest blood cancer researchers around the world.

Today we introduce you to Kala Kamdar, M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.  Dr. Kamdar's work has been sponsored by LLS since 2011. Her focus has been on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the long term effects of current cancer treatments.  Below she describes her current project that is showing great promise.

"Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in childhood. Remarkable advances in therapy have resulted in a cure rate of approximately 80%. However, many long-term survivors of childhood ALL face chronic health problems related to exposure to chemotherapy and radiation at a young age. Specifically, long-term survivors of ALL are at an increased risk for excessive weight gain and heart disease, compared to the general population. It is not clear why some long-term survivors of childhood ALL are at a higher risk for obesity than other survivors who received the same treatment. Genetic differences may explain why some children respond differently to certain treatments than others, both in terms of effectiveness and side effects of therapy. We propose that some children may have genetic susceptibility to obesity after receiving chemotherapy and cranial irradiation for ALL. We will examine the role of genetic variation in the development of treatment-related obesity in 1,200 long-term survivors of childhood ALL enrolled in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. We will investigate whether differences in the genetic make-up of these survivors can predict why some children develop overweight/obesity (BMI 25) after ALL treatment whereas others do not. We will also evaluate whether gender, age, and ALL treatment differences influence the relationship between genetics and obesity. Our findings from this first study will be validated in an independent study of 400 ALL survivors who are followed at Texas Children’s Hospital. If we can identify which children with ALL are at risk for excessive weight gain based on genetics, we may develop early interventions to prevent this important side effect of therapy and optimize the lifelong health of these children."

Mission Monday: LLS Featured as Leader in Venture Philanthropy and Sceince

In April, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) was invited to participate in the 2013 Milken Institute Global Conference, where some of the world's most extraordinary people gather to explore solutions to today's most pressing challenges in business, health, government, and education. Speakers included former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Vice President Al Gore, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).

Louis DeGennaro, PhD, LLS Chief Mission Officer, joined venture capitalists, pharmaceutical and biotech executives and board members from Faster Cures at three different panel discussions to explore funding options for advancing innovative research. He participated in discussions about why high risk long-term investments are needed to turn medical innovation into new therapies, the two different pathways within the LLS Therapy Acceleration Program, and funding options to support cutting-edge research.

Many participants at the conference expressed their appreciation and support for LLS research. Executive director of Faster Cures Margaret Anderson said, "LLS has been transforming the blood cancer space," while NIH Director Dr Francis Collins conveyed a similar sentiment, "LLS is doing great science. We are so proud of our National Center for Advancing Translational Science partnership with you."