MMRF RESEARCHER SPOTLIGHT
Shaji Kumar, MD – Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
D
r. Kumar of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, currently
serves as co-chair of the Multiple Myeloma Research
Consortium (MMRC). We asked him to tell us what
inspired him to join the field of multiple myeloma, and his vision
for the future of the MMRC.
Why did you specialize in multiple myeloma?
Doing residency and hematology oncology training at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, MN, you cannot escape getting interested in myeloma. When you
get to hear from and interact with the giants in the field, such as Professor Bob
Kyle, you naturally get attracted to the area. The clinical spectrum and volume
of myeloma and related disorders that we see at the Mayo Clinic is unparalleled
and gives you a unique opportunity to develop your research skills and the best
environment to make a mark.
What is special about the way the MMRC operates?
It is a unique approach to teamwork and brings together like-minded individuals
and institutions, whose major goal is to bring novel treatments to patients as
quickly as possible. It is a novel platform that allows all of us to bring forward
our ideas, get honest feedback, and implement our ideas in the most effective
fashion. Our strength is in numbers, both the number of physicians and researchers
involved in vetting an idea and also in terms of the numbers of patients we
can reach out to. The MMRC model provides access to the latest cutting edge
treatment approaches through the clinical trials we do in the consortium.
“
“
[The MMRC] is a unique approach to teamwork
and brings together like-minded individuals
and institutions... to bring novel treatments to
patients as quickly as possible.
What will the MMRC be doing next?
– Shaji Kumar, MD
The themes in the coming years are going to be precision medicine,
immunotherapy treatment approaches, and early intervention. MMRC is well
poised to take a leadership position in these areas, and they will be our focus
during the next two to five years. We are in the process of developing the
MyDRUG trial (MYeloma-Determining Drug Regimens Using Genomics); this
is going to be a novel clinical approach to matching genomic aberrations for a
specific patient to a treatment that may uniquely help that individual.
What is your long-term goal for the MMRC?
The long-term goal is to help cure this disease through innovative research and
clinical trials.
ACCEL E RATO R • S U M M ER 2017
CLINICAL TRIAL SPOTLIGHT
Dr. Kumar is dedicated to
finding better treatment
options for high-risk patients.
He is currently leading a
Phase I/II precision medicine
trial designed for high-risk
relapsed MM patients who
have been confirmed as
having 17p deletion and
who have had at least one
prior line of therapy. Patients
will receive Idasanutlin,
an MDM2 inhibitor, in
combination with Ninlaro (a
proteasome inhibitor) and
Dexamethasone. Idasanutlin
is thought to act by activating
TP53, a protein that stops
the growth of cancer cells.
The study is designed to
examine the side effects
and best dose of this drug
combination and to also
measure how well it works in
multiple myeloma patients.
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