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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Childhood leukemia survival now exceeds 90%, except in infants, where survival hovers near 50%
- Roswell Park is testing a combination of two newer but proven therapies to target infant leukemia’s underlying biology
- Early results suggest the approach could enable long-term cures with fewer toxic side effects
At Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Lisa Niswander is developing a combination approach pairing CAR T-cell therapy, which reengineers a patient’s own immune cells to hunt cancer, with menin inhibitors, drugs that block a protein interaction driving most infant leukemias. Dr. Niswander calls the preliminary results promising, saying the combination may “outsmart” the disease and produce durable cures with less toxicity than current regimens.
The story features 15-year-old leukemia survivor Hannah Koepsell, who endured two relapses before receiving CAR T-cell therapy through the Roswell Park Golisano Children’s Buffalo Cancer and Blood Disorders Program. The cells are manufactured at Roswell Park’s GMP Engineering & Cell Manufacturing Facility (GEM), one of the largest facilities of its kind in the U.S.
