Peter Mac shines overseas at ASH conference
27 December 2023
Members of the Haematology Department had a significant presence at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference in San Diego, California.
We had a total of 62 presentations accepted, including 25 oral and 37 posters, which was an increase from last year and an outstanding result for our clinicians and researchers and the haematology program overall.
The event was capped off with Peter Mac haematologist Dr Jamie Kuzich awarded a National Partner Society Abstract Achievement Award.
“ASH is the preeminent haematology conference in the world bringing together nearly 30,000 clinicians and scientists to help improve our understanding of, and outcomes for, patients affected by blood diseases,” Peter Mac & Royal Melbourne Director of Haematology, Professor John Seymour, said.
“A huge congratulations to Dr Kuzich for his award, which is given to an international haematologist who has helped advance knowledge and inspire continued professional development in haematology.
“We are proud of all our researchers who featured at this conference and showcased the world-class clinical & translational research being undertaken by members of the Haematology Department.”
Dr Kuzich’s presentation “A Rare Cell State Underpins Diverse Mechanisms of Adaptive Resistance to CAR T-Cell Therapy in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia” used a state-of-the-art molecular barcoding technology called SPLINTR that was developed in the Dawson Lab at Peter Mac where Dr Kuzich conducted his research. The research used a novel mouse model to follow the fate of individual leukaemia (B-ALL) cells before, during and after CART-cell therapy.
The research found that relapse after CART-cell treatment was due to very rare leukaemia cells that were destined to cause relapse, and further identified that these rare cells cause relapse by adapting their gene expression and adopting a unique cellular state that allows them to survive CART-cell therapy and cause relapse.
Other prominent presentations included Dr Rithin Nedumannil’s “Sensitive Molecular Detection of JAK2 V617F Is a Predictive Marker of Relapse in Patients with Myelofibrosis after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.” His research shows that close monitoring of patients with JAK2-mutated myelofibrosis using a sensitive test to measure levels of the JAK2 mutation in blood or bone marrow samples can accurately predict relapse following a stem cell transplant.
Dr Thomas Lew also gave an oral presentation on “Depletion of the Mitochondrial E3 Ligase MARCH5 Induces Synthetic Lethality to BCL2 Inhibitor (Venetoclax) Therapy in Cell Lines Representative of Diverse Blood Cancers” which centres on anti-cancer drug venetoclax.
This research searched the human genome for genes whose depletion could make venetoclax even more effective, and repeatedly identified MARCH5. This work identifies MARCH5 as a highly attractive new target in blood cancers, with the potential to enhance the efficacy of venetoclax in multiple diseases and hopefully achieve better outcomes or even cures for patients. This research was supervised by Professors Andrew Roberts, David Huang (WEHI) and Mark Dawson (Peter Mac).
Congratulations to all our wonderful researchers on their presentations.