Hematologists, hematologist/oncologists, bone marrow transplant specialists and other blood cancer experts at Rush all share a commitment to exploring every available path toward the best possible outcomes. Last year this commitment propelled research on new treatments — such as targeted therapies, immunoconjugates (e.g., radioimmunotherapy and other novel compounds), chemoimmunotherapy and stem cell transplantation. It also inspired the launch of patient-centered clinics to promote the most effective delivery of these treatments.

2011 Highlights

Promising new treatment regimen: In pursuit of better survival outcomes for patients with indolent lymphomas, Stephanie A. Gregory, MD, hematologist/oncologist; Henry C. Fung, MD, stem cell transplantation specialist; Jamile M. Shammo, MD, hematologist/oncologist; Parameswaran Venugopal, MD, hematologist/oncologist; and Reem Karmali, MD, clinical fellow, conducted a phase II clinical trial of chemoimmunotherapy followed by radioimmunotherapy consolidation and rituximab maintenance in the treatment of patients with follicular/marginal zone lymphoma. In the study, published in the journal Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia, this treatment regimen obtained high complete remission rates and durable response, suggesting that it warrants further investigation.

New treatment options at Rush: To better care for patients with incurable hematologic malignancies, specialists at Rush have developed a new post-stem cell transplant relapse program. This program provides new treatment options for patients whose disease recurs after a first stem cell transplant, including donor immune cell therapy.

One visit, multiple specialists: The Coleman Foundation Comprehensive Clinics, which allow patients to meet with multiple specialists in one visit, include clinics for patients with lymphoma (meets Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon), leukemia (meets Mondays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), myelodysplasia/myeloproliferative disorders (meets alternate Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon) and multiple myeloma (meets alternate Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.). These clinics are held the same day that a team of hematologic disease specialists convene to discuss each case (see conferences at right).

Breakthrough drug available at Rush: Physicians at Rush can now treat Hodgkin lymphoma patients with brentuximab vedotin, a therapeutic breakthrough that last year became the first approved antibody-drug conjugate to target cells expressing CD30, an antigen associated with the condition.

Multidisciplinary Team

Dermatologist:
Warren Piette, MD

Geneticist:
Wei-Tong Hsu, MD

Hematologist/oncologists:
Lisa N. Boggio, MD, MS; Sefer Gezer, MD; Stephanie A. Gregory, MD; Ahmad Jajeh, MD, MPH; Melissa Larson, MD; Jamile M. Shammo, MD; Parameswaran Venugopal, MD

Hematopathologists:
Jerome Loew, MD; Brett Mahon, MD;Ira Miller, MD

Stem cell transplantation specialists:
Henry Fung, MD; John Maciejewski, MD, PhD; Sunita Nathan, MD; Elizabeth Shima Rich, MD, PhD

Radiation oncologist:
Ross A. Abrams, MD

Radiologists:
Amjad Ali, MD; David Turner, MD

Hematologic Cancer Conferences

Lymphoma
Thursdays, 8 to 9 a.m.
1010 Professional Building

Leukemia
Mondays, 1 to 2 p.m.
1010 Professional Building

Myelodysplasia/Myeloproliferative
Disorders
Alternate Fridays, 9 to 10 a.m.
1010 Professional Building

Multiple Myeloma
Alternate Fridays, 8 to 9 a.m.
1010 Professional Building
 

All conferences are held in the Janet Wolter, MD, Clinical and Educational Conference Room.

Clinical Trials

Researchers at Rush are investigating monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of lymphomas and myelomas, FLT3 inhibitors and orally administered sapacitabine for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, and many other treatments. For more information about open clinical trials, visit www.rush.edu/cancerclinicaltrials. To enroll a patient in a clinical trial, call (312) 942-0600.

For more information about the hematologic cancers program or to refer a patient for an initial visit or a second opinion,
please call (312) CANCER-1 (226-2371).