North American Mantle Cell Lymphoma Project
Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL), is a mature B cell lymphoma characterized by cyclin D abnormalities, predominantly t(11;14) (q13;q32) translocation. There is a wide variation in clinical presentation and outcome for patients with MCL. Although patients are often sensitive to therapy at first, relapses are frequent and most patients eventually are not able to be cured with conventional treatment. The North American Mantle Cell Lymphoma Project (NAMCLP) strives to enhance the clinical management of MCL in the era of immunochemotherapy and targeted therapies. At present, our collaborative network consists of 23 participating institutions across North America. To date, we have amassed a comprehensive dataset of nearly 700 documented MCL cases treated with immunotherapy or BTK inhibitors. Our ultimate objective is not just to expand this data repository, but to leverage it to enable multi-faceted research that tackles the critical issues faced in MCL clinical practice. Our collective endeavor aims to yield insights that could influence future therapeutic strategies and improve patient outcomes.
Principal Investigator: Julie M. Vose, M.D., MBA; Chengfeng Bi, M.D., Ph.D.; Javeed Iqbal, Ph.D.
Key research areas include:
- Upgraded prognostic models for MCL patients with the integration of clinical and pathological features.
- Genetic characterization and genetic subcategorization of MCL.
- Biomarkers associated with response to front-line and second-line therapies.
- Novel therapy identification, especially those related to the key-driver oncogenes.
- Application of artificial intelligence in assisting
New Prognostic Indexes for Better Risk Evaluation of MCL.
The objective of this study is to establish a new stratification method with a higher prediction power on the outcomes in the immunochemotherapy era. Through the synthetical analysis of various baseline clinical, laboratory, and pathological parameters, we have established a set of prognostic indexes that functions not only from the general perspective but also in an age-defined manner. These novel models are currently validated in multiple external cohorts of MCL patients. We name this stratification method the North American MCL Prognostic Indexes (NAMPIs), which can be accessed and applied at this link.
Genetic Subcategorization and Characterization of MCL
This study aims to further delineate MCL from the genetic level, and based on that, establish a clinically applicable method for subgrouping MCL patients. So far, we have performed deep sequencing analysis in a large cohort of MCL cases. We are currently characterizing the molecular features associated with the key drivers by multi-omics analysis.
Development of Animal Models Recapitulating the Major Genetic Characteristics of MCL
To better understand the significance of the key drivers in MCL development as well as provide research models for therapeutic study based on genetic subcategorization, we have established several transgenic mouse strains recapitulating the genetic characteristics of MCL, which developed tumors under certain conditions. We are now characterizing the tumors and will update the results soon.
University of Nebraska Medical Center
University of Calgary
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Duke University Medical Center
Mayo Clinic
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
Intermountain Medical Center
University of Rochester Medical Center
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Stanford Cancer Institute
Weill Cornell Medical College
John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack at the University Medical Center
University of Michigan Medical School
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Colorado
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - University Health Network
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
University of Chicago
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
University of Minnesota