Atlantic Health System cancer expert presents posters at American Society of Hematology 64th annual meeting
Four of the five posters presented by Mohamad Cherry, MD demonstrated the value of (CAR) T-cell therapy for the treatment of blood cancers
MORRISTOWN, NJ (Morris County) – Atlantic Health System’s Mohamad Cherry, MD, Medical Director, Hematology/Oncology and Medical Director, Atlantic Cellular Therapy Program, recently presented several co-authored studies at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 64th annual meeting, the world’s pre-eminent gathering of clinicians and researches focused on blood diseases.
The studies demonstrated the powerful impact new strategies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, can have on the treatment of blood cancers.
Two of the poster presentations evaluated luxeptinib, an oral medicine targeting the cellular mutations FLT3 and BTK, which are involved in the growth and development of leukemia and lymphoma.
The first poster presented a phase 1a/b dose escalation study of luxeptinib in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with the primary objective to assess the safety and tolerability of luxeptinib, and determine the recommended phase 2 dose. This study concluded that luxeptinib was well tolerated at increasing dose levels up to 900 mg, twice daily over multiple cycles; without evidence of having reached the maximum tolerated dose.
A second phase 1a/b dose escalation study of luxeptinib was also conducted in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. This study concluded that luxeptinib has a favorable safety profile in patients treated with 150 mg to 900 mg, twice daily over multiple cycles. Many patients who participated in the study received their treatment at Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center, one of only seven sites across the U.S. participating in the trial. Both trials will continue enrolling patients.
“We were very pleased to present insights that highlight the promise of luxeptinib as an agent for combating cancer, with some of the patients achieving complete remission with minimal residual disease (MRD) negative status,” said Dr. Cherry. “In treating these cancers, MRD negative status is the most powerful possible response, meaning that these patients achieved the best outcome from the experimental treatment.”
Additional posters presented by Dr. Cherry highlighted data around chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which leverages the body’s T-lymphocyte immune cells, altering them in a lab, empowering them to find, target and destroy cancer cells.
Those posters demonstrated data around treating patients with Lisocabtagene Maraleucel (Liso-cel) who are diagnosed with relapsed or refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). One of the posters presented positive results from a phase 2 study, which yielded an overall response rate of 83%, meaning that almost six out of seven patients treated had their tumors shrink significantly, if not totally resolve.
“This is a remarkable statistic, as the best historic chemotherapy, in comparison, achieves only a 33% response rate in the same patient population” Dr. Cherry said. “Our team is excited to be involved in this groundbreaking work exploring (CAR) T-cell therapy, which may someday replace older drugs and treatments.”
Dr. Cherry is a physician with Atlantic Hematology Oncology at the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center-Morristown Medical Center campus and the medical director of Atlantic Cellular Therapy, a program dedicated to investigating the next generation of (CAR) T and other cellular based treatments for cancer.
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