ADH 2014: Dr. Sharman on Cell Death in CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia), a patient meeting, a newsletter and iwCLL

Friends,

This week on the CLL Society website, in our Conference coverage section, we share the second part of an interview from ASH 2014 with Dr. Jeff Sharman with a discussion of the life and death pressures on our B cells and how that relates to ABT-199. We also cover the latest research on idelalisib and rituximab, and what research in general is still needed.

I'm heading off to the International Workshop on CLL in Sydney, Australia today and will be attending sessions and doing interviews while I'm there. I'll be posting new information upon my return. Stay tuned. We are also co-sponsoring a small patient meeting with Lymphoma Australia.

Also, we will be sending out our inaugural newsletter, the CLL Tribune at the end of September. Don't miss this special collection of research news, basic CLL information, fun facts and a wealth of wisdom and shared experiences from our fellow patients. If you are receiving this information through a CLL Society Alert email, you are already signed up to receive it. If you are reading this through another source, sign up to receive it here.

For those of you in the Seattle area, we just became aware of a patient meeting that will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2015 starting at 9:30 AM at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel. Two CLL patients will be sharing their personal stories, and Dr. John Pagel from the Swedish Hospital will be providing a talk on the basics of CLL. You can call 844-482-6815 to register. Complimentary breakfast and parking are provided and you are welcome to bring a guest. You can view the flyer for the event here.
Stay strong.

We are all this together

Brian Koffman

Volunteer Medical Director of the CLL Society

http://cllsociety.org
http://bkoffman.blogspot.com

ASH 2014: Dr. Jeff Sharman Discusses the Biology of the CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) Cells

I am posting here the video and comments that can also be found on the CLL Society website.

In the first of a two-part interview recorded at the 2014 American Society of Hematology annual meeting with Dr. Jeff Sharman, an important CLL researcher and helpful blogger (see http://www.cll-nhl.com), we take a step back and listen as Dr. Sharman explains how our increased understanding of the biology and lifecycle of the CLL cell has resulted in the breakthrough therapies we are enjoying today.

Take Away Points:

• Unlike some cancers, CLL is not driven by one particular activating mutation.
• B cell receptor signaling is an important driver of CLL proliferation.
• The behavior and biology of the CLL cells inside the lymph nodes and the bone marrow is very different than that of the same cells in the blood stream.
• CLL cells grow in the nodes and the bone marrow, not the blood stream.
• The differences between the biology of the cells in and out of the blood stream have profound implications for therapy.
• About 1% of our CLL cells are born and die each day.

Introduction

Dr. Sharman is a good educator and takes the time to carefully explain what is happening in the lifecycle of our cancer cells.

My more colorful and simplistic analogy comes at the end of the presentation.

Here is the video:

Brian Koffman

8/24/15

XV iwCLL 2013: Interview with Dr. Castro on the Biology of CLL

My long time friend and crusader, Dr. Januario Castro, who works with Dr. Kipps at UCSD, besides caring for CLL and transplant patients, is doing important research into the basic biology of CLL.

He covers some of the novel bench science presented at the first morning in Cologne, Germany for iwCLL 2013.

Before you dismiss this as not being clinically relevant, I humbly suggest you that spend the ten minutes to listen to Dr. Castro making the biology easily accessed and digested. More than that, he points out some of the lingering challenges still facing CLL therapy.

Without this basic research on cancer cell biology, we could not have the amazing progress we have seen in the last few years. As Dr. Jeff Sharman said in a prior interview, the therapies explode when you crack the biology. Without the novel understandings of what is happening in CLL, we would be still be talking only about old school chemotherapy.

In this interview, first Dr. Castro is honest about what we know and don't know about clonal evolution. Next he outlines what was a recurrent theme at the conference, the important regulatory role of very small pieces of RNA called micro or mRNA. Turns out that much of our DNA is busy doing much more than just making proteins. Finally he talks about his own research that he presented on the versatility of the CLL cell, and how he hope to limit its options.



Thanks, Dr. Castro.

So much to share. I will be revisiting some of these same themes to expose some of the controversy and different takes on the same data.

 Stay tuned. A total of ten doctors interviewed over the three days.