THE J. BENJAMIN
ECKENHOFF FUND FOR RESEARCH IN HEMATOLOGY
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the western world in adults. We have continued our efforts to build a robust clinical trials infrastructure and are now able to offer clinical trial options for most patients who require treatment for hematologic cancers including CLL. Our second, parallel effort has focused on expanding the number of clinical trials offered for CLL patients and developing correlative research programs.
Our major trial is the FCCam trial for previously untreated patients and includes patients who have excess mutations in the immunoglobulin gene. By intervening earlier, we hope to prevent the acquisition of additional genetic abnormalities that contribute to progression of leukemia. We also have a large number of clinical trials for CLL that have either recently opened or are in development. These are designed for patients with recurrent disease or those with disease unresponsive to traditional therapies. They include an exciting trial using lenalidomide, an oral drug that is very effective for other hematologic cancers and has shown promising activity in CLL. We are in great need of new oral therapies that are well tolerated, particularly for elderly patients.
Another trial just beginning at Stanford is exploring the use of a targeted therapy, dasatinib, for patients with CLL. Protocols under development include early phase clinical trials targeting other mechanisms thought to be important in allowing CLL cells to survive. Finally, we have a first-in-man study with an oral drug, AVN-944, that “starves” cancer cells. This is an ongoing trial for a variety of blood cancers including the acute leukemias.
The J. Benjamin Eckenhoff Fund for Research in Hematology has supported work by researchers in the Department of Hematology at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California since inception in 1994.
