Experts on the front lines of blood cancer see hope for cures

Blood cancer: With more than 100 variants, blood cancers represent some of the rarest and most difficult cancers to treat. They account for about 10% of cancers diagnosed in the United States. Blood cancers include leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is building one of the country’s top research and treatment centers. Here are news tips from Sylvester experts for Blood Cancer Awareness Month in September.  director of the Sylvester Myeloma Research Institute, a program he launched, and co-leader of the Translational and Clinical Oncology Program. He previously served as chief of Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and, prior to that, as chief of the myeloma program at the National Cancer Institute. He has led NCI review committees and written drug use guidelines for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

“Multiple myeloma is not a death sentence anymore. Patients are living longer and longer with better quality of life because of access to new immunotherapies,” such as daratumumab, isatuximab, teclistamab, elranatamab, talquetamab, cilta-cel, ide-cel, and others, Landgren said.

 He added:

• Increasingly, multiple myeloma is being managed like a chronic disease, such as hypertension, diabetes or HIV.

• Many patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma today will live the same life span as a person without the disease.

• Multiple myeloma prevalence is surging due to an aging population in the U.S.

• Today, there are 35,000 multiple myeloma patients in the U.S., yet 200,000 survivors.

• Florida is among the states with the highest rates of new multiple myeloma diagnoses in the U.S.

• Sylvester’s myeloma program is on pace to become one of the top three in the country.

Damian Green, M.D., is chief of Sylvester’s Division of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy and assistant director of translational research. The unit specializes in stem cell transplants, CAR T-cell therapy and other forms of immunotherapy to treat patients with blood cancer. He has developed new approaches to improve stem cell transplant and immunotherapy in his lab and has brought these treatments to patients through first-in-human clinical trials. He recently joined Sylvester after extensive blood cancer research and practice experience at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

“We are rapidly accelerating ways to effectively treat and cure cancers for patients who were without options only a few years ago. Donor stem cell transplantation was the first successful form of immunotherapy, and we are now leveraging the discoveries made over four decades to harness the power of the immune system in ways that promise to benefit many more patients,” Green said.

He added:

• In seven years, six CAR T-cell drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and more are on the way.

• Early clinical trials conducted at Sylvester resulted in approval of new immunotherapy drugs and we continue to offer patients treatments using breakthrough therapies.

• At Sylvester, we are focused on making the recent advances in immunotherapy for blood cancers more durable.

• Cancer treatment breakthroughs in a diverse populace like Miami promise the greatest impact for patients everywhere.

Craig Moskowitz, M.D., an internationally recognized leader in lymphoma clinical research and treatment, is physician-in-chief for the Oncology Service Line at Sylvester. His research improves outcomes of patients with poor-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and Hodgkin lymphoma, and he develops strategies to optimize treatment of newly diagnosed DLBCL patients. He works across all Sylvester departments to improve care of cancer patients and standardize patient care. He also leads the implementation of clinical research trials at Sylvester.

“The era of traditional chemotherapy is winding down. If you look at what’s being approved by the FDA – the new drugs and immunotherapies that manipulate the T-cell and pills that target genetic abnormalities – more patients are being cured up front, and less patients are relapsing. That’s been the biggest dramatic change,” Moskowitz said.

He added:

• Sophisticated imaging technology at Sylvester results in better diagnoses that lead to better treatment.

• Increasingly, experts can diagnose the molecular and genetic structure of blood cancers, leading to precise treatments.

• Sylvester has an extensive research program for adolescents and young adults in lymphoma.

• About 150 Sylvester lymphoma patients are in clinical trials this year, more than most cancer centers in the country. Three-quarters of the patients are Hispanic.

Mikkael Sekeres, M.D., M.S., is chief of the Division of Hematology at Sylvester. He chaired the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA, American Society of Hematology committees, and medical advisory boards of patient advocacy groups. Sylvester has dozens of clinical trials for cancer of the blood and bone marrow, including three led by physicians that resulted in FDA approval of blood cancer drugs within the past two years. His research undergirds the guidelines for treatments used around the world. He is a prolific writer; he wrote a column for The New York Times, is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post and has written many books.

“The diagnosis for blood and bone marrow cancers is wrong about 20% of the time. These are relatively rare and very complicated cancers, so it requires a lot of diagnostic expertise and care,” Sekeres said.

He added:

• Blood cancers are rare, deadly and often misdiagnosed. 

• Cancer isn’t a single diagnosis, so there’s no single treatment.

• Go to a center with specialists for your type of blood or bone marrow cancer.

• A person’s superpower is understanding health and acting for one's health.

• Sylvester’s precision diagnostics, research and clinical trials today will become standards of care tomorrow. Newswise/SP