Dr. Lee on Examining Novel Targets in Lymphomas and Leukemias

Hun Ju Lee, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma and the Jessica and Jeffrey Brue Endowed Professor of Lymphoma Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses novel targets in lymphomas and leukemias.

The goal of cancer therapy is to find a target on cancer cells that is not expressed on normal cells, says Lee. For lymphomas specifically, investigators are searching for a target on the lymphoma cell that differs from the proteins expressed on the surface of normal B cells, explains Lee. If this is done successfully, investigators can avoid harming normal tissue.

ROR1, a type I orphan-receptor tyrosine kinase–like surface protein that is expressed early in life and then disappears, says Lee. In preclinical research, it has been discovered that ROR1 proteins were expressed on lymphoma and leukemia cells. Investigators concluded that if these proteins were expressed on malignant lymphoma and leukemia cells and not on normal cells, then ROR1 could serve as a promising target in this space, explains Lee.

Notably, rituximab (Rituxan) targets CD20, a protein expressed on the surface of normal B cells. Because CD20 is expressed on normal cells, the agent does have some collateral damage despite being tolerated very well in patients, adds Lee. It is known that rituximab could decrease lymphocyte counts, especially in patients on prolonged treatment, resulting in the need of intravenous immunoglobulin treatment, concludes Lee.