Two NCI grants will support innovative studies of acute myeloid leukemia

Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two five-year grants totaling more than $6 million from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will help The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) researchers and colleagues at other institutions better understand acute myeloid leukemia (AML) genetics and the role of inflammation in regulating immune response to this disease.

The two NCI grants include research to better understand the following:

The genetic and genomic contributors of AML
Ann-Kathrin Eisfeld, MD, assistant professor of hematology at Ohio State and director of the Clara D. Bloomfield Center for Leukemia Outcomes Research at the OSUCCC – James, and Elaine Mardis, PhD, professor of pediatrics at Ohio State and co-leader of the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCC – James, are the principal investigators for a $3.43 million grant. The grant will help researchers delineate genetic and genomic contributors that are currently missing in clinical risk-stratification tools and in the growing landscape of potential druggable and disease-modifying targets for AML.

“This project combines the strength of the resources of the Bloomfield Center at Ohio State with the cutting-edge genomics and analytics capabilities at the Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital,” said Mardis. “Together, we are redefining AML genomics-directed treatment for diverse and often underserved patient populations to achieve best outcomes.”

Also on this study is principal investigator Leighton Grimes, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and co-leader of the Program in Hematologic Malignancies of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute.

The role of inflammation in regulating immune response to AML
Eisfeld also is a principal investigator for a $2.85 million grant study that she and colleagues believe will provide, for the first time, information to help clinicians better target aberrant inflammation as an immune response in patients with AML, the most common form of acute leukemia in adults.

“Inflammation and the role of the immune system is an emerging topic in all cancer types, including AML,” said Eisfeld. “This study will help us understand how inflammation shapes the clinical and molecular phenotypes of patients, including first insights how we might be able to best target inflammation and overcome its adverse effects.”

Iannis Aifantis, PhD, chair of Pathology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, is the lead investigator for this study.

To learn more about AML research and patient cancer care at the OSUCCC – James, visit cancer.osu.edu.

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