Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Researchers Highlight Progress in Myeloma Treatment
At a Sylvester Myeloma Institute luncheon, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine physicians shared advances in clinical trials, precision medicine and efforts to accelerate a cure for multiple myeloma.
Rafat Abonour, M.D., recently joined Sylvester Myeloma Institute at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. During an informational luncheon for patients and donors on Feb. 26, the hematologist/oncologist had the opportunity to share the two things that excite him most about his work: caring for his patients and being part of the University of Miami.
“If there is any team in this country that is ready to say, ‘We are going to cure multiple myeloma,’ I am convinced it’s the Sylvester team,” said Dr. Abonour, a professor in the Divison of Myeloma at the Miller School.
Building a National Leader in Multiple Myeloma Research and Care
Dr. Abonour was drawn to Sylvester by the work of C. Ola Landgren, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Sylvester Myeloma Institute and professor and chief of the Miller School’s Division of Myeloma. The world-renowned myeloma expert helped to establish the institute in 2022. His goal at that time was to make Sylvester’s myeloma program one of the top three in the nation in its first five years.
Dr. Landgren was recruited to Sylvester in 2020 by Stephen D. Nimer, M.D., director of Sylvester, the Oscar de La Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, executive dean for research and professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School.
“Multiple myeloma is a disease where great progress has been made,” said Dr. Nimer. “It was essential to bring that progress to South Florida and build a comprehensive and outstanding myeloma program.”
Myeloma is a blood cancer that causes uncontrolled growth of white blood cells called plasma cells. The cancerous cells can crowd out healthy cells in the bone marrow and lead to bone damage, infections and other problems. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 36,000 new cases of myeloma will be diagnosed in the United States in 2026. Prognosis is getting better and patients live longer and longer, but there is not yet a cure for the disease. Currently, more than 200,000 Americans live with multiple myeloma.
Accelerating Treatment Through Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine
To meet that need, the Sylvester Myeloma Institute grew rapidly. Its team of 70 physician-researchers, clinicians and support staff currently have 29 open clinical trials, with an additional 10 in the pipeline, meaning patients are being treated with the newest drugs and technologies.
“I think we have already delivered one of the top three programs in myeloma,” Dr. Landgren said. “We are here to win the Stanley Cup of myeloma research and clinical care. We do not want anyone to have myeloma. But if anyone has myeloma, we want to be the ones to go to for help.”
The institute’s work combines laboratory research, clinical trials, patient care and using samples from patients to inform research.
“That is how you can accelerate the science and deliver treatment quickly to patients,” Dr. Landgren said.
Promising Projects for Myeloma Patients
Sylvester Myeloma Institute member Benjamin Diamond, M.D., highlighted the genomics-based prediction model he developed, which helps clinicians understand how changes in each patient’s myeloma might affect their outcomes and responsiveness to treatment.
“With all of the data that we have, we want to be able to understand everybody’s unique situation, because every disease is unique,” said Dr. Diamond, an assistant professor in the Miller School’s Division of Myeloma. “There truly are multiple myelomas, and so we don’t want to treat every patient the exact same way.”
One experience myeloma patients have in common is bone marrow biopsies to assess how the disease is responding to treatment.
Sylvester Myeloma Institute member Gil Hevroni, M.D., discussed a new clinical trial to test a port implanted in the bone, similar to a chemo port, which would make taking samples easier. This project fits into Dr. Hevroni’s goal of helping myeloma patients improve their quality of life.
“I know that even with patients who have no detectable disease, there are still things we have to work on in terms of side effects,” said Dr. Hevroni, an assistant professor in the Miller School’s Division of Myeloma. “So, I’m here to listen and to hear what they are dealing with.”
Using Minimal Residual Disease Testing to Speed Drug Development
Another important technique for checking response to treatment is minimal residual disease testing, or MRD, which measures cancer biomarkers and was pioneered by Dr. Landgren.
At Sylvester, clinicians use MRD to personalize treatment. For example, Dr. Landgren said, they might step down the intensity of therapy for a patient with no detectable disease.
MRD is also valuable for developing new drugs, he said. Dr. Landgren’s research showed that testing clinical trial participants for biomarkers can dramatically shorten the time it takes to get results.
Based on Dr. Landgren’s work, the FDA recently released guidance for myeloma drug trials that supports using this technique. This means that new drugs can be approved within a few years, instead of waiting 10 or 15 years. Patients can get access to new therapies much faster, and many lives can be saved based on this important work on MRD as an early endpoint for drug approval in multiple myeloma.
“We expect that the whole drug development field for myeloma, which is going very fast, is going to go even faster,” Dr. Landgren said. “I am proud and happy that patients are getting access to new and better drugs much faster based on these efforts. Going forward, I think this will be one of the important pieces to develop a cure.”
Trials for Diet and Precursor Conditions
Other Sylvester Myeloma Institute researchers joined the panelists to share research that goes beyond diagnosis and treatment.
Abhi Pandey, M.D., an assistant professor in the Miller School’s Division of Myeloma, answered a common patient question: What should people who have myeloma or myeloma precursors eat?
Food and diet influence health, Dr. Pandey said, but researchers are actively studying exactly how different foods or eating schedules could influence myeloma, and whether diet could make treatment work better with fewer side effects. His team is launching a clinical trial in May to study diet, fasting and other interventions for myeloma patients.
David Coffey, M.D., explained his research to better understand which patients with myeloma precursor conditions are at the highest risk of developing multiple myeloma. Dr. Coffey, an assistant professor in the Miller School Division of Myeloma, encouraged people with smoldering myeloma to find out if they are eligible for Dr. Landgren’s clinical trial to study an early intervention treatment.
“We presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting, the largest world meeting for blood diseases, in December last year our first results from this study, and in 100% of the patients we have treated, we cannot find any disease after six or eight months of therapy, which is remarkable,” Dr. Landgren said.
For more information on how to support the Sylvester Myeloma Institute, email Britten King.
More from the Sylvester Multiple Myeloma Program
Team‑based care at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center is changing how multiple myeloma is thought of and treated.
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center faculty gave 155 presentations and four special sessions at the ASH Annual Meeting.
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s AI tool, CORAL, predicts genetic subtypes and patient outcomes in multiple myeloma.
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers are investigating ways to eradicate residual traces of multiple myeloma.
Tags: cancer research, Dr. Abhi Pandey, Dr. Benjamin Diamond, Dr. C. Ola Landgren, Dr. David Coffey, Dr. Gil Hevroni, Dr. Rafat Abonour, Dr. Stephen Nimer, multiple myeloma, myeloma, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center