I M M U N O T H E R A P Y
Making Strides
with
Immunotherapy
Approaches
I
MMUNOTHERAPY AIMS TO HARNESS the power of a patient’s own immune system to identify
and attack cancer cells. The MMRF is working to rapidly advance the understanding of novel
immunotherapy approaches by conducting and funding innovative research to quickly and safely
bring the most promising treatments into the clinic.
Examining cancer cell–host cell communication
T
he MMRF has been at the forefront of precision medicine
and is moving forward to analyze the interaction between
cancer cells and different types of immune cells from the
patient. Using banked patient tissues, including blood and bone
marrow from MMRF’s CoMMpass Study, cutting edge immune
monitoring tests can be performed to examine the relationship
between immune markers and patient responses to therapy.
Ultimately, this approach can reveal novel immune biomarkers
associated with clinical outcomes.
MMRF funding supports promising
immunotherapy research
Stephen Forman, MD, of City of Hope is conducting preclinical
testing of different types of CAR T cells engineered to target
myeloma cells in combination with immunomodulatory drugs
such as Revlimid, to explore combination approaches of immune
oncology drugs that could rapidly advance to the clinic.
To learn more or identify possible clinical trials, visit:
MMRFCommunityGateway.org
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Bin Liu, PhD, of the University of California San Francisco
is studying novel antibody-drug conjugates that target and kill
myeloma cells, ultimately leading to a new type of antibody
approach for clinical development.
The MMRF is supporting clinical research conducted in
Dr. David Avigan’s laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center to understand patients’ immune cell responses who
are enrolled in the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials
Network dendritic vaccine trial. This nationwide trial in newly
diagnosed patients is evaluating personalized vaccines made
with a patient’s own myeloma cells and dendritic cells to elicit a
targeted immune response against the tumor.
In collaboration with the Cancer Research Institute and
Ludwig Cancer Institute, the MMRF is supporting a Phase I trial
testing two immune checkpoint antibodies — tremelimumab and
Durvalumab — that work by reducing immune suppression and
allowing a patient’s T cells to recognize and attack myeloma cells.
The antibodies are being tested in conjunction with autologous
stem cell transplants in relapsed patients, and the trial is being
conducted by investigators Hearn Cho, MD, PhD, from Mount
Sinai and Alexander Lesokhin, MD, from Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center.
T H E M M R F.ORG