The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) recently announced three efforts, including two partnerships, to advance groundbreaking research and patient support, reinforcing its leadership in continuing efforts to find cures and new therapies for people living with blood cancers.
These undertakings, according to a press release, are:
• Findings from more than 100 LLS-funded researchers are being presented at the 57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference in Orlando, Florida. This year’s meeting, which runs through Dec. 8, includes over 20,000 world leaders in blood cancer research.
The LLS-funded research at ASH spans the spectrum of blood cancers, from arena leukemia to lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and showcases groundbreaking work oriented to providing new therapies — including immunotherapies, targeted therapies and ever more personalized approaches to treatment. The LLS was host of an opening satellite symposium titled “Molecularly Targeted Therapies for Hematologic Malignancies.“
“With more than 1.1 million Americans living with or in remission from a blood cancer, and someone diagnosed with a blood cancer every three minutes, we are at a pivotal moment in our quest to change the cancer landscape,” said Louis J. DeGennaro, president and CEO of LLS. “The annual ASH meeting provides the most significant platform for LLS to share its work to advance cures and treatments. LLS has invested more than $1 billion in our 66-year history and we are seeing the impact of the fruits of our labor.”
• A collaboration with Pfizer on the company’s $3 million scholarship to advance innovative research projects and support educational programs for blood cancer patients and caregivers.
The Pfizer scholarship intends to elevate the science of therapeutic innovation for hematological diseases and provide the cancer community with better understanding of their complexity. This partnership will explore a wide range of therapies that leverage select pathways and mechanisms of action to address acute and chronic leukemias, myeloproliferative disorders, myeloma and lymphoma. It will also support educational programs. Pfizer, the LLS noted in its release, has already contributed to treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and is now advancing toward therapies for acute leukemias.
“We are confident that this partnership with LLS, an organization with a longstanding history of supporting cutting-edge research for blood cancer, will bring us closer to our common goal of combating these diseases and finding cures,” said Liz Barrett, global president and general manager of Pfizer Oncology. “Pfizer is honored to be a part of such an important initiative and is committed to funding research that improves lives for patients with blood cancers.”
• LLS and Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research, a non-profit organization headquartered in Switzerland and focused on patient-centered cancer research, are kicking off an inaugural partnership with $1.8 million in competitive research grants to advance immunotherapy treatments.
The LLS and the Rising Tide Foundation (RTFCCR) launched the international grant competition to fund science research into breakthrough immunotherapies for blood cancer. A call for proposals opened on Dec. 3, 2015, and research applications, with a letter of intent, will continue to be accepted until Jan. 25, 2016. Three winners of a $600,000 total grant prize for promising research with a high potential for patient impact will be announced by June 30, 2016. More information on Rising Tide research funding is available here.
“The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society funds research across the continuum, from basic laboratory research to clinical trials; often we act as the convener of collaborations with industry, government, academia and medical centers, to help accelerate therapies through the development pipeline,” DeGennaro, the LLS president, said. “The advances showcased this week at ASH, and our latest partnerships with influential organizations in the cancer space are further testament to the impact we are having in helping patients live better, longer lives.”
