Targeting Mdm2 in Lymphoma

Abstract

Our proposal focuses on lymphoma, a blood cancer. The goal of this proposal is to investigate a novel approach to eliminate lymphoma cells and particularly difficult to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cells. Military Service personnel, their family members, and Veterans develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. Exposures to specific chemicals and radiation that military Service members and Veterans may have experienced increase the risk of developing this deadly malignancy. Five-year survival from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is only approximately 70%, which is much lower than the survival rate for individuals with prostate or breast cancers. These statistics indicate much more research and new treatments are needed for lymphoma to improve survival rates. Our proposed project, which stems from a paradigm-shifting discovery we recently made, will use a novel, innovative approach that includes generating and testing new compounds to target and degrade a specific protein called Mdm2 in lymphoma cells, causing their death. Our approach should also cause the death of lymphoma cells that contain mutations in a gene that make them resistant to many current therapies and that reduces patient survival. Completion of the research proposed will result in increased understanding of the role of Mdm2 in human lymphoma cell survival, optimized compounds that target Mdm2, and pre-clinical tests with the compounds on human lymphoma cells. The long-term goal of these studies is to have an improved, more effective treatment approach for non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, and particularly those lymphomas that are resistant to current therapies.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Jul 16, 2019
Source ID
W81XWH1910212

Entities

People

  • Christine Eischen

Organizations

  • Thomas Jefferson University
  • United States Army

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Immunology
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Oncology (Cancer Research).