Article
Oncology
Rayan Kaedbey, Nicholas Forward, Laurie H. Sehn, Mona Shafey, Sarah Doucette, Christine Chen
Summary: Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a slowly progressing B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma with no definitive standard of care. Treatment goals include symptom relief, slowing disease progression, preventing organ damage, and maintaining quality of life. Bendamustine-rituximab and Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor therapy are considered preferred treatments.
Review
Cell Biology
Javier Munoz, Jonas Paludo, Shayna Sarosiek, Jorge J. Castillo
Summary: Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma that can impact a patient's quality of life. There are safe and effective treatment options, including Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors like zanubrutinib. This review summarizes the properties, safety, and efficacy of zanubrutinib, and explores the health economic and outcomes research associated with treating WM.
Review
Oncology
Shayna Sarosiek, Steven P. Treon, Jorge J. Castillo
Summary: There are multiple treatment options available for Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia patients, including chemotherapy, monoclonal antibodies, proteasome inhibitors, and covalent Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors. Treatment decisions should be personalized based on the patient's clinical presentation, genetic profile, and treatment preferences. While ibrutinib monotherapy is favored in certain genetic subtypes, other options like chemoimmunotherapy or proteasome inhibitor-based regimens should also be considered.
CURRENT TREATMENT OPTIONS IN ONCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Hematology
Antonio Sacco, Cinzia Federico, Arianna Giacomini, Cinzia Caprio, Federica Maccarinelli, Katia Todoerti, Vanessa Favasuli, Antonella Anastasia, Marina Motta, Domenico Russo, Giuseppe Rossi, Nicole Bozza, Riccardo Castelli, Antonino Neri, Roberto Ronca, Chiara Cattaneo, Alessandra Tucci, Marco Mor, Marco Presta, Aldo M. Roccaro
Summary: NSC12 effectively inhibits FGFR signaling and the activation of MYD88, BTK, SYK, and HCK pathways in WM cells, and also suppresses NF-kappa B cascades, resulting in blocked cell growth, induced apoptosis, and halted signaling pathways including MAPK, JAK/STAT3, and PI3K-Akt.
Article
Oncology
Jorge J. Castillo, John N. Allan, Tanya Siddiqi, Ranjana H. Advani, Kirsten Meid, Carly Leventoff, Timothy P. White, Catherine A. Flynn, Shayna Sarosiek, Andrew R. Branagan, Maria G. Demos, Maria L. Guerrera, Amanda Kofides, Xia Liu, Manit Munshi, Nicholas Tsakmaklis, Lian Xu, Guang Yang, Christopher J. Patterson, Zachary R. Hunter, Matthew S. Davids, Richard R. Furman, Steven P. Treon
Summary: Venetoclax demonstrates safety and efficacy in previously treated WM patients, including those who previously received BTKis. CXCR4 mutation status does not affect treatment response.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Oncology
Shayna Sarosiek, David Sermer, Andrew R. Branagan, Steven P. Treon, Jorge J. Castillo
Summary: The development of BTK inhibitors has revolutionized the treatment of WM, with high overall response rates. The newer BTK inhibitors, such as acalabrutinib and zanubrutinib, have shown improved side effect profiles and are potential treatment options. Individual patient preferences, comorbidities, and molecular profiles should be taken into consideration when selecting BTK inhibitors for treatment.
EXPERT REVIEW OF ANTICANCER THERAPY
(2022)
Review
Hematology
Christopher N. Grimont, Natalia E. Castillo Almeida, Morie A. Gertz
Summary: WM is a rare lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, with treatment focusing on reducing symptoms and complications. Therapy options include rituximab-alkylator, proteasome inhibitors, and Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors, with genetic status being key for tailoring treatment. Advancements in B cell and cytokine signaling pathways have led to novel therapeutic strategies and promising clinical trials for WM-directed therapy.
ACTA HAEMATOLOGICA
(2021)
Review
Oncology
Francesco Piazza, Veronica Di Paolo, Greta Scapinello, Sabrina Manni, Livio Trentin, Luigi Quintieri
Summary: LPL is a rare subtype of B cell-derived non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by abnormal growth of transformed clonal lymphoplasmacytes and plasma cells. Despite progress in therapy, LPL is almost invariably incurable and exhibits a propensity towards development of therapy resistance. This review aims to describe the clinical and pathobiological features of LPL and analyze the mechanisms of drug resistance in this disease.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Oncology
Donald C. Moore
Summary: Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors have shown significant clinical activity in the treatment of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, with high overall response rates and durable responses in both treatment naive and relapsed/refractory patient populations.
JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY PHARMACY PRACTICE
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Alan Alfano, Jin Xu, Xi Yang, Dhanraj Deshmukh, Yun Qiu
Summary: Tubulin is a vital component of the cytoskeleton and plays crucial roles in cellular signaling, maintenance, and division. Increased expression of TUBB3, a type of beta-tubulin primarily found in neural cells, is associated with taxane resistance and poor prognosis. Here, we discovered that TUBB3 is phosphorylated at Tyrosine 340 (Y340) by c-Src in prostate cancer cells. Phosphorylation at Y340 regulates TUBB3 protein stability and subcellular localization. Inhibition of SRC kinase activity affects spindle stability in mitotic cells due to the lack of TUBB3 Y340 phosphorylation. Understanding the posttranslational regulation of TUBB3 could serve as potential biomarkers for disease recurrence and treatment failure.
Article
Hematology
Joshua N. Gustine, Shayna Sarosiek, Catherine A. Flynn, Kirsten Meid, Carly Leventoff, Timothy White, Maria Luisa Guerrera, Lian Xu, Amanda Kofides, Nicholas Tsakmaklis, Manit Munshi, Maria Demos, Christopher J. Patterson, Xia Liu, Guang Yang, Zachary R. Hunter, Andrew R. Branagan, Steven P. Treon, Jorge J. Castillo
Summary: Continuation of ibrutinib until subsequent treatment is associated with improved disease control and clinical outcomes in patients with acquired resistance to ibrutinib monotherapy for Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia.
Editorial Material
Hematology
Ibrahim Tohidi-Esfahani, Judith Trotman
Summary: Ibrutinib has revolutionized the treatment landscape for Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia (WM) with its powerful responses, though it often requires dose reduction due to adverse events. However, the impact of reduced dosing on outcomes remains uncertain. Sarosiek and colleagues conducted a large retrospective study, which provides valuable data demonstrating that dose reduction effectively manages adverse events and can potentially achieve equivalent or better outcomes compared to patients without dose reductions.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ava J. Boutilier, Lina Huang, Sherine F. Elsawa
Summary: This review explores avenues of tumor progression and targeted drug therapy that have been investigated in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia and related B-cell lymphomas.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Salvatore Rizza, Luca Di Leo, Chiara Pecorari, Paola Giglio, Fiorella Faienza, Costanza Montagna, Emiliano Maiani, Michele Puglia, Francesca M. Bosisio, Trine Skov Petersen, Lin Lin, Vendela Rissler, Juan Salamanca Viloria, Yonglun Luo, Elena Papaleo, Daniela De Zio, Blagoy Blagoev, Giuseppe Filomeni
Summary: Nitric oxide (NO) production in the tumor microenvironment contributes to cancer development. This study reveals that S-nitrosylation, a post-translational modification mediated by NO, plays a role in sustaining tumorigenesis. The enzyme GSNOR, which deactivates S-nitrosylation, is found to be hypo-expressed in various human malignancies. GSNOR deficiency leads to S-nitrosylation of focal adhesion kinase 1 (FAK1), enhancing its autophosphorylation and promoting cancer cell survival in suspension. GSNOR-deficient tumor models are highly sensitive to FAK1 inhibitors, suggesting GSNOR as a potential therapeutic target.
Review
Hematology
Simone A. Brysland, M. Gohar Maqbool, Dipti Talaulikar, Elizabeth E. Gardiner
Summary: Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare and incurable B cell lymphoma that often leads to symptoms such as anemia, bleeding, and neurological symptoms. The bleeding phenotype in WM is complex and may involve factors such as platelet dysfunction, hyperviscosity, abnormal hematopoiesis, cryoglobulinemia, and amyloidosis. Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms behind bleeding is important for clinical decision-making and treatment management.
THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS
(2022)
Article
Hematology
Antonio Sacco, Cinzia Federico, Arianna Giacomini, Cinzia Caprio, Federica Maccarinelli, Katia Todoerti, Vanessa Favasuli, Antonella Anastasia, Marina Motta, Domenico Russo, Giuseppe Rossi, Nicole Bozza, Riccardo Castelli, Antonino Neri, Roberto Ronca, Chiara Cattaneo, Alessandra Tucci, Marco Mor, Marco Presta, Aldo M. Roccaro
Summary: NSC12 effectively inhibits FGFR signaling and the activation of MYD88, BTK, SYK, and HCK pathways in WM cells, and also suppresses NF-kappa B cascades, resulting in blocked cell growth, induced apoptosis, and halted signaling pathways including MAPK, JAK/STAT3, and PI3K-Akt.
Article
Hematology
Yu Jia Shen, Yuji Mishima, Jiantao Shi, Romanos Sklavenitis-Pistofidis, Robert A. Redd, Michele Moschetta, Salomon Manier, Aldo M. Roccaro, Antonio Sacco, Yu-Tzu Tai, Francois Mercier, Yawara Kawano, Nang Kham Su, Brianna Berrios, John G. Doench, David E. Root, Franziska Michor, David T. Scadden, Irene M. Ghobrial
Summary: Clonal evolution plays a key role in tumor progression, dissemination, and relapse in multiple myeloma (MM). By developing a clone-tracking system, researchers studied clonal behavior in the bone marrow microenvironment, identifying specific clones able to adapt and colonize distant sites. RNA sequencing revealed a progression signature in MM tumor cells, leading to the prediction of 28 master regulators, with HMGA1 and PA2G4 validated as key players in MM progression and dissemination, impacting cell functions like proliferation, migration, and adhesion. This study successfully replicates key characteristics of human MM disease progression and suggests potential therapeutic targets.
Article
Hematology
Steven P. Treon, Kirsten Meid, Zachary R. Hunter, Catherine A. Flynn, Shayna R. Sarosiek, Carly R. Leventoff, Timothy P. White, Yang Cao, Aldo M. Roccaro, Antonio Sacco, Maria G. Demos, Maria Luisa Guerrera, Amanda Kofides, Xia Liu, Lian Xu, Christopher J. Patterson, Manit Munshi, Nicholas Tsakmaklis, Guang Yang, Irene M. Ghobrial, Andrew R. Branagan, Jorge J. Castillo
Summary: The study examined the combination of CXCR4-antagonist ulocuplumab and ibrutinib in treating WM patients, demonstrating promising clinical efficacy and survival outcomes.
Article
Hematology
Antonio Sacco, Cinzia Federico, Katia Todoerti, Bachisio Ziccheddu, Valentina Palermo, Arianna Giacomini, Cosetta Ravelli, Federica Maccarinelli, Giada Bianchi, Angelo Belotti, Rossella Ribolla, Vanessa Favasuli, Alexey S. Revenko, A. Robert Macleod, Brandon Willis, Hongbo Cai, Joana Hauser, Claire Rooney, Sophie E. Willis, Philip Lloyd Martin, Anna Staniszewska, Helen Ambrose, Lyndsey Hanson, Chiara Cattaneo, Alessandra Tucci, Giuseppe Rossi, Roberto Ronca, Antonino Neri, Stefania Mitola, Niccolo Bolli, Marco Presta, Michele Moschetta, Sarah Ross, Aldo M. Roccaro
Summary: Alterations in KRAS are the most recurring somatic variants in multiple myeloma, and the use of AZD4785 effectively downregulates KRAS and inhibits tumor cell growth, indicating that KRAS is a driver and therapeutic target in multiple myeloma.
Review
Oncology
Vanessa Desantis, Antonio Giovanni Solimando, Ilaria Saltarella, Antonio Sacco, Viviana Giustini, Marta Bento, Aurelia Lamanuzzi, Assunta Melaccio, Maria Antonia Frassanito, Angelo Paradiso, Monica Montagnani, Angelo Vacca, Aldo M. Roccaro
Summary: Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematological malignancy characterized by a process that starts from asymptomatic MGUS and progresses to active MM. The identification of early and non-invasive markers for disease progression is actively researched. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a significant role as potential diagnostic biomarkers in predicting the clinical transition from MGUS/SMM status to MM.
Article
Hematology
Cirino Botta, Catarina Maia, Juan-Jose Garces, Rosalinda Termini, Cristina Perez, Irene Manrique, Leire Burgos, Aintzane Zabaleta, Diego Alignani, Sarai Sarvide, Juana Merino, Noemi Puig, Maria-Teresa Cedena, Marco Rossi, Pierfrancesco Tassone, Massimo Gentile, Pierpaolo Correale, Ivan Borrello, Evangelos Terpos, Tomas Jelinek, Artur Paiva, Aldo Roccaro, Hartmut Goldschmidt, Herve Avet-Loiseau, Laura Rosinol, Maria-Victoria Mateos, Joaquin Martinez-Lopez, Juan-Jose Lahuerta, Joan Blade, Jesus F. San-Miguel, Bruno Paiva
Summary: Large-scale immune monitoring is increasingly used in clinical trials, but manual interpretation of multidimensional data poses challenges. FlowCT is a semi-automated workspace that can analyze large datasets, including preprocessing, normalization, dimensionality reduction, clustering, and predictive modeling tools.
Editorial Material
Cell Biology
Michela Colombo, Ruggiero Norfo, Giada Bianchi, Aldo M. Roccaro
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Rosalinda Termini, David Zihala, Evangelos Terpos, Albert Perez-Montana, Tomas Jelinek, Marc Raab, Niels Weinhold, Elias K. Mai, Anna Luise Grab, Jill Corre, Francois Vergez, Antonio Sacco, Marco Chiarini, Viviana Giustini, Alessandra Tucci, Sara Rodriguez, Cristina Moreno, Cristina Perez, Catarina Maia, Esperanza Martin-Sanchez, Camilla Guerrero, Cirino Botta, Juan-Jose Garces, Aitziber Lopez, Luis-Esteban Tamariz-Amador, Felipe Prosper, Joan Bargay, Maria-Elena Cabezudo, Enrique M. Ocio, Roman Hajek, Joaquin Martinez-Lopez, Fernando Solano, Rebeca Iglesias, Artur Paiva, Catarina Geraldes, Helena Vitoria, Clara Gomez, Felipe De Arriba, Heinz Ludwig, Antoni Garcia-Guinon, Maria Casanova, Adrian Alegre, Valentin Cabanas, Maialen Sirvent, Albert Oriol, Javier de la Rubia, Jose-Angel Hernandez-Rivas, Luis Palomera, Maria Sarasa, Pablo Rios, Noemi Puig, Maria-Victoria Mateos, Juan Flores-Montero, Alberto Orfao, Hartmut Goldschmidt, Herve Avet-Loiseau, Aldo M. Roccaro, Jesus F. San-Miguel, Bruno Paiva
Summary: This study suggests that measuring circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood is more accurate than bone marrow plasma cells (BM PCs) for assessing tumor burden in smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM). Combining the 20/2/0.015 model with an immune risk score based on specific immune cell percentages allows for better risk stratification of SMM patients.
CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Hematology
Antonio Sacco, Vanessa Desantis, Jon Celay, Viviana Giustini, Fabio Rigali, Francesco D. Savino, Michele Cea, Debora Soncini, Antonia Cagnetta, Antonio G. Solimando, Deborah D'Aliberti, Silvia Spinelli, Daniele Ramazzotti, Camillo Almici, Katia Todoerti, Antonino Neri, Antonella Anastasia, Alessandra Tucci, Marina Motta, Marco Chiarini, Yawara Kawano, Jose A. Martinez-Climent, Rocco Piazza, Aldo M. Roccaro
Summary: Recent investigations have shown that Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) exhibits an increased number of regulatory T cells (Tregs), and Tregs derived from patients with WM have a peculiar mRNA signature and functional phenotype. WM cells trigger significantly higher induction, expansion, and proliferation of Tregs compared to normal cells, especially in the context of CXCR4(C1013G)-mutated WM cells. CD40/CD40-ligand interaction is identified as an important axis supporting the interaction between WM cells and Tregs.
Editorial Material
Hematology
Antonio Sacco, Aldo M. Roccaro
Summary: In this study, it is shown that cyclin-dependent kinase-7 (CDK7) affects the oncogenic programming of multiple myeloma (MM) cells through modulation of MYC and E2F transcription factors. The authors demonstrate that inhibiting CDK7 counteracts E2F activity, resulting in reduced CDKs-retinoblastoma (Rb) axis and inhibition of MYC-regulated metabolic signatures. Therefore, CDK7 inhibition is a promising therapeutic target for MM.
Article
Oncology
Giada Bianchi, Peter G. Czarnecki, Matthew Ho, Aldo M. Roccaro, Antonio Sacco, Yawara Kawano, Annamaria Gulla, Anil Aktas Samur, Tianzeng Chen, Kenneth Wen, Yu-Tzu Tai, Maria Moscvin, Xinchen Wu, Gulden Camci-Unal, Matteo C. Da Via, Niccolo' Bolli, Tomasz Sewastianik, Ruben D. Carrasco, Irene M. Ghobrial, Kenneth C. Anderson
Summary: ROBO1 plays a vital role in promoting the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma, as its knockout affects tumor growth and dissemination in mouse models. The cleaved C-terminus of ROBO1 supports myeloma proliferation.
BLOOD CANCER DISCOVERY
(2021)