The Research United to CURE FL Awards program was launched in 2024. This program is co-funded and run in partnership with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and the Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI). A total of $2.25 million has been awarded to three promising research projects for FL.
This 2024 program combines the shared mission and efforts of three leading global blood cancer foundations. Together we are united to support and drive scientific innovation and accelerate clinical trials in FL, bringing more effective therapies and, ultimately, a cure for FL closer to reality.
Read more about the launch of the 2024 program here.
Exploiting tumor-immune dynamics to inform curative combination therapy for follicular lymphoma.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers are analyzing lymphoma cells and their microenvironment (the ecosystem surrounding the cells) from patients undergoing treatment with bispecific antibodies, which are powerful immune-based therapies, across multiple clinical trials. Their goal is to identify how some lymphoma cells evade the immune system and develop resistance. Understanding these resistance mechanisms may expose vulnerabilities within the lymphoma cells that can be exploited by novel combination treatments, leading to improved, and potentially curative, approaches for patients with FL.
Next-gen targeted therapy in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and transformed follicular lymphoma (tFL).
Dr. Park’s team has developed an innovative strategy to improve specificity of drugs for treatment of blood cancer. Most drugs aim to target cancer-specific processes but enter other cells causing “off-target” side effects. The Wake Forest team’s approach to significantly improve drugs’ cancer selectivity involves two-steps: use of high-precision pre-targeted nanoparticles designed to deliver drugs only to the cancer, and design of specific protein-degrading chimeric molecules (PROTACs) that target a cancer-specific protein. They will use mantle cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma as their test models, if successful, this cutting-edge technique has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment by enhancing drug potency and precision, offering hope for improved outcomes in patients with challenging forms of lymphoma.
Bispecific antibody-based frontline therapy for follicular lymphoma.
With this award, Dr. Armand and team are clinically investigating the efficacy of a novel form of immunotherapy, a new bispecific antibody, as an initial (first-line) treatment for FL patients. The investigators aim to identify biomarkers to predict how patients will respond to and tolerate bispecific antibody treatment in the absence of first-line chemotherapy. Given the slow-growing nature of most cases of FL at diagnosis, developing more personalized and optimized first-line treatments without the toxic side effects of chemotherapy would be of great benefit for FL patients.
Hear more from grantee Dr Murakami about his research project.
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If you want to find out more about the FLF and any of our research programs, please contact us at info@theflf.org.
