Multiple Myeloma Leadership Transition | |
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The Tisch Cancer Institute and the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology are pleased to announce the appointment of Samir Parekh, MBBS, as the new Section Head of Multiple Myeloma (MM) in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Director of the Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma at The Tisch Cancer Institute, effective September 1. In these roles, Dr. Parekh will be responsible for advancing MM across basic and translational research and overseeing the clinical enterprise throughout the Mount Sinai Health System.
Dr. Parekh succeeds Sundar Jagannath, MBBS, who has led MM since joining Mount Sinai in 2010. With the continued growth of MM, Dr. Jagannath—a world-renowned expert in research and treatment of MM—will take on the position of Network Director. As such, he will focus on expanding MM clinical operations and clinical research within the Health System as well as with other institutional collaborators such as the Valley Health System.
Full Announcement
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On July 30, the Mount Sinai Mammovan reached its 1,000th breast cancer screening event in New York City. Since its launch in 2018, the Mammovan, under the leadership of Laurie Margolies, MD, has traveled throughout the city’s diverse neighborhoods, performing over 10,000 screenings.
Read about the July 30 celebration, which took place across from the Dubin Breast Center by Central Park, and watch a video featuring a patient who benefited from the Mammovan’s services.
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John Levine, MD, MS, was awarded a competing renewal of his UG1 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in support of the Mount Sinai Core Clinical Consortium for the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN). The Mount Sinai Core Clinical Consortium combines three large blood and marrow transplant (BMT) centers (Mount Sinai, Vanderbilt, and the Mayo Clinic) with a strong track record of productivity within the BMT CTN. The consortium provides scientific leadership to the BMT CTN, accomplishes high accrual to BMT CTN clinical trials for stem cell transplantation and cellular immunotherapy, and enrolls large numbers of under-represented minorities in the trials. Additionally, the consortium has extensive expertise in transplant for non-malignant blood diseases (especially sickle cell disease), and a highly innovative, biomarker-based approach to graft versus host disease (GVHD), the principal complication of allogeneic BMT.
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Hanna Irie, MD, PhD, was awarded an American Cancer Society Extramural Discovery Science Accelerator Award to continue her collaborative work with Jian Jin, PhD, and Elisa Port, MD. The project is focused on the development of a novel therapeutic targeting PTK6 oncogene to combat aggressive triple-negative breast cancer and other drug-resistant breast cancer subtypes. The award will support commercial development of these novel compounds for clinical translation.
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Elvin Wagenblast, PhD, was awarded an R01 from the NCI for “Overcoming Therapy Resistance in Fusion Oncoprotein Driven Pediatric Leukemia.” NUP98-NSD1 fusion-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a poor prognostic subtype in children and is frequently associated with co-occurring mutations in the transcription factor WT1. This project aims to dissect the mechanisms of action of the fusion oncoprotein NUP98-NSD1, investigate WT1's role in therapy resistance, and identify novel therapeutic targets for childhood AML.
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A new investigator-initiated clinical trial—A Phase 1b/2 Trial of Lamivudine in the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory Solid Tumors Progression on Anti-PD-(L) Blockade—is now open to patient enrollment. Thomas Marron, MD, PhD, is the trial investigator. Disease sites include kidney, liver, lung, bladder, and skin; The Mount Sinai Hospital (main campus) is the participating location.
Primary Objectives:
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Phase 1b—determine the safety and tolerability of lamivudine with continued PD-(L)1 blockade for patients with relapsed/refractory metastatic solid tumors that have progressed on standard PD-(L)1 blockade.
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Phase 2—determine the effect of adding lamivudine to PD-(L)1 blocking agents in patients with relapsed/refractory solid tumors that have progressed on prior PD-(L)1 agents.
NCT06494579/24-00614
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NNNew Treatment: Gene TherapyewewN | |
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The Mount Sinai Hospital became an authorized treatment site for gene therapy in February and is now ready to treat patients. Under the leadership of Uroosa Ibrahim, MD, gene therapy treatment at Mount Sinai features two products from bluebird bio: lovotibeglogene autotemcel (Lyfgenia) for sickle cell disease, and betibeglogene autotemcel (Zynteglo) for transfusion dependent beta thalassemia. Gene therapy is a one-time treatment that has the potential to resolve vaso-occlusive events in patients with sickle cell disease and achieve transfusion independence in patients with beta thalassemia. These products add to our robust commercial and investigational portfolio and our strong research enterprise that is setting standards for safe and optimal care.
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Navneet Dogra, PhD; Tzu-Yi Chen, PhD; Edgar Gonzalez-Kozlova, PhD; Rebecca Miceli, PhD; Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD, PhD; Ashutosh Tewari, MD; Bojan Losic, PhD; Gustavo Stolovitzky, PhD
Extracellular vesicles carry transcriptional 'dark matter' revealing tissue-specific information
Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. 2024 Aug. PMID: 39148266
This research by Drs. Dogra and Gonzalez-Kozlova and colleagues shows that blood- and urine-derived extracellular vesicles can inform molecular processes specific to tissue such as prostate cancer or liver cancer. This provides an exciting opportunity to identify complex tumors by surveying blood samples (i.e., liquid biopsy) as an alternative to circulating tumor cell technologies used in conjunction with more complex and infection-prone biopsy procedures.
Press Release
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Robert Fisher, PhD, and colleagues
Structural basis of Cdk7 activation by dual T-loop phosphorylation
Nature Communications. 2024 Aug 3. PMID: 39097586
With the emergence of Cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (Cdk7) as a potential vulnerability in cancer cells, a deeper understanding of its regulators might yield additional therapeutic opportunities. In this study, Dr. Fisher and colleagues determine the structure of the doubly phosphorylated CDK-activating kinase (CAK) complex and uncover a previously unrecognized requirement for dual T-loop phosphorylation to stimulate activity towards the transcriptional substrates RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and SPT5. They identify key residues of all three CAK subunits that underlie this effect and define the contribution of dual T-loop phosphorylation to ternary complex stability. In human colon cancer cells, Cdk7 T-loop phosphorylation is a two-step process in which phospho-S164 appears to be a prerequisite for T170 phosphorylation, revealing unexpected complexity in the regulation of Cdk7 activity in vivo.
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Avi Ma’ayan, PhD; Pei Wang, PhD, and colleagues
Multiomics2Targets identifies targets from cancer cohorts profiled with transcriptomics, proteomics, and phosphoproteomics
Cell Reports Methods. 2024 Aug 19. PMID: 39127042
“Finding targets and driver cell signaling pathways that are uniquely activated in tumors while absent from normal tissues and cell types remains a significant challenge. In addition, identifying targets by analyzing transcriptomics does not ensure that the targets are also expressed and are active at the proteome level. Furthermore, heterogeneity within the tumor, across patients of the same cancer type, and across cancers underscores the need for subtype-specific personalized target identification. The Multiomics2Targets workflow addresses some of these challenges by combining phosphoproteomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics with comprehensive background knowledge databases and algorithms to identify safer targets for cancer subtypes and individual patients.”
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Alaina Kessler, MD, MPH; Rima Patel, MD; Emily Gallagher, MD, PhD; Tianxiang Sheng, MS; Damodara Mendu, PhD; Amy Tiersten, MD; Paula Klein, MD; Aarti Bhardwaj, MD; Anapama Goel, MD; Joseph Sparano, MD; Theresa Shao, MD; Julie Fasano, MD
Monitoring of estradiol levels in premenopausal women receiving adjuvant abemaciclib and ovarian function suppression
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2024 Aug 7. PMID: 39110275
Approximately 15% of women who receive ovarian function suppression (OFS) as adjuvant treatment for high-risk, localized hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer may have inadequate estradiol suppression which can require therapeutic modification when used in combination with an aromatase inhibitor. This study examined discrepancies in estradiol levels using Abbott Alinity chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay compared to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Findings suggest the likely interference of abemaciclib with the Abbott Alinity immunoassay which may lead to unnecessary treatment changes and support the recommendation that the LC–MS/MS assay be used when monitoring estradiol levels in patients receiving abemaciclib concurrently with OFS.
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May-Lucie Meyer, PhD ; Fred R Hirsch, MD, PhD, and colleagues
New promises and challenges in the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer
Lancet. 2024 Aug 6. PMID: 39121882
Drs. Meyer and Hirsh and colleagues provide an update on treating non-small cell lung cancer, noting major progress thanks to the identification of specific genes present in nearly half of patients and the development of immunotherapy. Research continues to explore new methods to destroy cancer cells, including chemotherapies coupled with antibodies and the amplification of the immune response with cell therapies and cancer vaccines. However, challenges persist, including resistance development, treatment toxicity, high costs, under-representation of minorities in trials, and limited access to diagnostics and treatments, especially in developing countries.
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Lung Cancer 50 Year History Book 50 L | |
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Four Mount Sinai cancer physicians were featured in Newsweek videos:
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Upcoming Presentations and Events | |
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The Tisch Cancer Institute Community Outreach
and Engagement Retreat
A workshop focused on collaboration between research programs and the community to reduce cancer burden and promote equity in cancer care
September 30, 11 am–2 pm
Davis Auditorium
Program
Registration
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Nodal Meeting
September 11, 4:30 pm
Hess, Room 5-101
Bridget Marcellino, MD, PhD
“CHIPping Away at Leukemia and Beyond”
The Nodal meetings are designed to foster interdisciplinary interactions and collaboration between CCI, CI, CM and CPC members, leading to the development of multi-PI and program-project grants.
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Press Office - Cancer Coverage | |
Diego M. Ortiz Quintero has joined Mount Sina’s Department of Marketing and Communications and Press Office team as Director of Public Affairs and Media, with a specific focus on cancer. Please contact Diego directly at deigo.ortizquientero@mountsinai.org or 201-572-5703 with breaking news and high impact news that might be appropriate for media coverage, such as pending FDA drug/device approvals, studies/trial results being published in high-impact journals, significant presentations at major conferences, and patient stories. | |
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Do you have news for the next issue of TCI Connections?
Please send to Janet.Aronson@mountsinai.org.
Remember to share breaking news and high impact news that might be appropriate for media coverage with Diego Ortiz Quintero in the Press Office. This may include pending FDA drug/device approvals, studies/trial results being published in high-impact journals, and patient stories. The more lead time you can give Diego, the better—ideally, four weeks or when a paper is accepted by the journal. Embargoes will always be honored and news will only be released with your approval. Contact Diego at deigo.ortizquintero@mountsinai.org or 201-572-5703.
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Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director
Janet Aronson , Editor
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