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Improving targeted adoptive cell therapy of myeloma

Madhav Dhodapkar

Madhav Dhodapkar

MBBS

Website Reference
Our impact in Myeloma research

Emory University

Project Term: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2024

Dr. Madhav Dhodapkar, M.D., of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, leads a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary LLS Specialized Center of Research team focused on advancing new immunotherapies for patients with multiple myeloma. Their goal is to improve the effectiveness of CAR T-cell immunotherapy, which engineers the patient’s T cells to find and kill cancer cells. The CAR-T they are studying targets a protein called BCMA found on the surface of all myeloma cells. BCMA-targeting therapies are showing tremendous promise for treating myeloma patients in clinical trials, but many patients eventually relapse. Dr. Dhodapkar’s group is working to understand the mechanisms that cause some patients to be resistant to the treatment. They are also investigating another type of immunotherapy that relies on natural killer T cells. His team includes researchers at Emory as well as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle.

Lay Abstract

Madhav Dhodapkar, M.D., of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, leads a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary LLS Specialized Center of Research team focused on advancing new immunotherapies for patients with multiple myeloma. Their goal is to improve the effectiveness of an investigational treatment called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy, which engineers the patient’s T cells to find and kill cancer cells. The CAR-T they are studying targets a protein called BCMA found on the surface of all myeloma cells. BCMA-targeting therapies are showing tremendous promise for treating myeloma patients in clinical trials, but many patients eventually relapse. Dr. Dhodapkar’s group is working to understand the mechanisms that cause some patients to be resistant to the treatment. They are also investigating another type of immunotherapy that relies on natural killer T cells. His team includes researchers at Emory as well as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle.

Program
Specialized Center of Research Program
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