Maude Laboratory for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Therapies

Researchers in the Maude Lab focus on developing and clinically evaluating new immunotherapies and targeted cancer therapies to treat children with high-risk and relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The long-term goal of the work conducted in this laboratory is to identify new pediatric ALL treatments that are more effective, less toxic, and exhibit fewer side effects than existing cancer therapies.

Ongoing studies in the lab evaluate the effectiveness of targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (such as ruxolitinib) on leukemias with abnormalities in the JAK/STAT signaling pathway. Additional studies are underway to develop genomic and molecular diagnostic tests that may help to predict whether children with high-risk ALL are likely to respond to ruxolitinib or other targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Other studies in the Maude Lab focus on clinical evaluation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells redirected against over-expressed CD19 as a treatment for children with ALL. In addition to their role in CAR T cell therapy clinical trials, the lab evaluates the use of CAR T cells targeting CD22l, which is also over-expressed in ALL cancer cells, in children with ALL who relapse with CD19 negative leukemias after CART19 treatment.

Future studies in the Maude Lab will continue to focus on the identification and clinical evaluation of novel immunotherapies and targeted cancer inhibitors to treat children with high-risk or relapsed/refractory ALL.