About 2.5 years ago, I blogged regarding a new drug I read about and brought to the attention of the Hairy Cell Consortium. It's a Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) inhibitor known as PCI-32765, and was inspired by a rare disease known as XLA, in which the body doesn't produce B-cells due to a BTK gene defect. Developed to treat NHL, when I read about it, I thought the underlying mechanism warranted investigation for treating HCL.
Here's a link to the post:
http://jonshclblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-want-new-drug.html
Well, the email describing the mechanisms and potential of the drug that I sent to the Hairy Cell Consortium had an impact. They performed in vitro studies of the drug, and it was found to be highly effective in stopping HCL proliferation!
Here's a link to the post:
http://jonshclblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-want-new-drug.html
Well, the email describing the mechanisms and potential of the drug that I sent to the Hairy Cell Consortium had an impact. They performed in vitro studies of the drug, and it was found to be highly effective in stopping HCL proliferation!
Clinical trials using this drug to treat relapsed and refractory Hairy Cell Leukemia patients are now underway at The Ohio State University Medical Center (Go Buckeyes!!!) and The Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit Michigan!
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01841723?term=Hairy+Cell+Leukemia&rank=4
The drug goes by the trade name Ibrutinib. Let's hope it lives up to the potential I anticipated in my post back in 2010! Seems like our arsenal and options are really piling up. Translational medicine and targeted therapies are taking off, and will hopefully make chemo a distant memory someday soon.
On a personal note: Back in April, I went on a 5 day trek to the Royal Arch Loop of the Grand Canyon South Rim with some friends from work. It was awesome! The second to last day we hiked 13 hours in 80 degree weather and ran out of water, so we banded a team of 5 together for a 3-hour night hike down to the Colorado River to collect 40 liters of water for the rest of the team (9 of us altogether), so we could hike out the next day. Awesome! 5 years ago, I couldn't climb 13 steps without stopping to catch my breath. The last day of the Royal Arch trek, I hiked 4000 feet vertically with 32 pounds on my back for over 7 miles and felt fantastic!!!
I go for my annual re-staging at NCI/NIH on June 26th. Wish me luck...
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01841723?term=Hairy+Cell+Leukemia&rank=4
The drug goes by the trade name Ibrutinib. Let's hope it lives up to the potential I anticipated in my post back in 2010! Seems like our arsenal and options are really piling up. Translational medicine and targeted therapies are taking off, and will hopefully make chemo a distant memory someday soon.
On a personal note: Back in April, I went on a 5 day trek to the Royal Arch Loop of the Grand Canyon South Rim with some friends from work. It was awesome! The second to last day we hiked 13 hours in 80 degree weather and ran out of water, so we banded a team of 5 together for a 3-hour night hike down to the Colorado River to collect 40 liters of water for the rest of the team (9 of us altogether), so we could hike out the next day. Awesome! 5 years ago, I couldn't climb 13 steps without stopping to catch my breath. The last day of the Royal Arch trek, I hiked 4000 feet vertically with 32 pounds on my back for over 7 miles and felt fantastic!!!
I go for my annual re-staging at NCI/NIH on June 26th. Wish me luck...
Elves' Chasm
Rappelling down a canyon wall
The Ravine to Royal Arch Creek
The Royal Arch!
Desert Blossom
Toltec Beach on The Colorado River
Night Hike and Water Filtering Mission
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