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ESH AL 2018 | Key areas of leukemia research

Oliver Ottmann, MD, FRCPath, of Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, points to the need for improving the methodology of measurable residual disease (MRD) testing in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Prof. Ottmann outlines the key areas of research in leukemia his laboratory has currently been focusing on. This video was recorded at the 2018 European School of Hematology (ESH) Clinical Updates on Acute Leukemias, held in Budapest, Hungary.

Transcript (edited for clarity)

The laboratory work continues to emphasize understanding mechanisms of resistance, and of leukemogenesis and disease progression, particularly in the context of specific genetically defined entities, so my probably favorite specialty is Philadelphia chromosome-positive BCR-ABL positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. But a co-worker of mine who joined me from Germany as a scientist group leader is looking at [inaudible] for example it’s a rare subset of leukemia but very interesting biology...

The laboratory work continues to emphasize understanding mechanisms of resistance, and of leukemogenesis and disease progression, particularly in the context of specific genetically defined entities, so my probably favorite specialty is Philadelphia chromosome-positive BCR-ABL positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. But a co-worker of mine who joined me from Germany as a scientist group leader is looking at [inaudible] for example it’s a rare subset of leukemia but very interesting biology. So those are our lab’s translational or more basic lab activities. Minimal residual disease is another area which I have been involved with due to the fact that I’ve been spending years of my life with acute lymphoblastic leukemia which is probably the most advanced in dealing with minimal residual disease and it’s my interest to expand this to other diseases and also to improve the methodology by increasing the sensitivity of the assay because I think that is an area of unmet need. Further interactions where Cardiff really provides a great opportunity is with the immunologists, a number of early excellent immunology groups of really international standing and you were referring earlier to CRISPR-cas9, so that was a collaboration with Andy Sewell’s group in which he and his group modified T-cell receptors by CRISPR-cas9 editing to enhance the efficacy of therapy and we provided some of the acute leukemia models for the preclinical work to actually show the efficacy and the enhanced efficacy due to this technology.

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