“VeloSano is important to me because it hits home,” says Neetu Gupta, PhD. “After having family members succumb to cancer, it became a personal quest for me to try to do the type of research that would benefit cancer patients.”
Co-Investigator
Co-Investigator
B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is a fast-growing blood cancer that affects children. Although most children respond well to treatment, there are many who relapse and usually do not have good outcomes. A team of Cleveland Clinic researchers is exploring certain proteins that are generally associated with regulating body movement and how they may actually lower the risk of B-ALL.
In a normal immune system, B-cells create antibodies that help fight infections that invade a person’s body so they don’t get sick. In B-ALL patients, these protectors are unable to do their job because cancer cells crowd them out. Neetu Gupta, PhD, Harry Layton Lesmana, MD, and Seth Rotz, MD, are working to identify the molecular process that halts the development and progression of B-ALL.
“In this study, we are looking into how normal blood cells evolve into leukemia cells,” says Dr. Lesmana. “By understanding the actual ways that lead to cancer formation, we might be able to find a novel way to treat those cancers.”
Their first goal is to develop a biorepository of B-ALL patient samples in order to expedite laboratory research. “We hope to use next-generation sequencing to identify genetic lesions that may exist in specific proteins that we study in my lab and ultimately try to elucidate the mechanisms that underlie the lack of response to standard-of-care treatments and lead to the development of B-ALL in the first place,” says Dr. Gupta.
A future without pediatric cancer starts with prevention. “If we can find ways to identify those patients who are at greater risk for cancer, we might be able to be proactive in preventing that from even happening in the beginning,” says Dr. Lesmana. “VeloSano has been so fundamental.”
100% For The Cure
