Overcoming Resistance, Advancing Effective Therapies

Qing Yi, MD, PhD, Ralph O’Connor Centennial Chair and Professor of Cancer Biology, received an academic research award of $1.9M for individual investigator translational research, “Combination Therapy Using ATRA and Carfilzomib to Treat Proteasome Inhibitor Refractory Multiple Myeloma.”

“Proteasome inhibitors, such as bortezomib and carfilzomib, have good therapeutic efficacy for multiple myeloma, yet their initial response rate in myeloma patients is only 27- 48%,” said Yi. To overcome resistance and advance the development of more effective therapies, Yi’s team performed a high-throughput screening of 1,855 FDA-approved drugs and found that a treatment used for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia—all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)—can overcome human multiple myeloma cell resistance to the current standard-of-care drugs. ATRA alone does not kill myeloma cells. Yi believes that ATRA may be used to treat patients with myeloma to restore their response to these drugs. The CPRIT grant will be used to conduct a first-in-human phase IB/II clinical trial to determine the safety, tolerability, efficacy and recommended phase II dosing of ATRA/carfilzomib combination therapy to treat proteasome inhibitor resistance in multiple myeloma patients.

Linking Community and Providers

Nestor F. Esnaola, MD, MPH, Diane Modesett Chair and Interim Director, Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center, received $1.4M for a prevention grant for cancer screening and early detection, “Cancer Prevention and Outreach for Individuals Disproportionately Affected by Cancer in Medically Underserved Regions (C-CUR).”