MMRF Accelerator Magazine Summer 2018 Edition | Page 6

THE MMRF ANSWER FUND Addressing the Most Pressing Questions About Myeloma Last year, the MMRF launched the Answer Fund, a multimillion dollar effort to address important questions facing members of the multiple myeloma community and to help advance precision medicine. It will use the vast amounts of data collected as part of the MMRF CoMMpass Study SM and other data sets to answer these critical questions and to identify new targets for improved treatment of myeloma — an effort that will have an immediate impact on patients’ lives. The first question is how to define and treat high-risk patients. Despite the tremendous progress made and the many new treatments approved in the past few years, the data show that nearly 20 percent of multiple myeloma patients pass away within three years of diagnosis. The MMRF asked top researchers to submit proposals that would use CoMMpass and other data to identify markers for high-risk myeloma. The projects will be collaborative among multiple institutions, which will share data and results. Community Questions In an innovative way, the second component directly solicits questions from the myeloma community — patients, caregivers, doctors and researchers. In late 2017, the MMRF reached out to community members and asked them to post questions on an online platform. In the end, the question that received the most votes was about maintenance therapy: whether or not myeloma patients should be on it and, if so, what kind and how much. This question is the focus of another research project, and the MMRF is in the process of identifying the researchers who will answer it. Future Collaboration The next partnership will be with hematologists and oncologists who work directly with myeloma patients — we want to know their biggest challenges and find a way to solve them. This revolutionary process to focus scientific research will enable the MMRF to better use the data gathered through CoMMpass to ensure that the future of myeloma treatments will impact patients in the most beneficial way. Unraveling the Mystery of High-Risk Myeloma The two teams to study the first Answer Fund question: Constantine Mitsiades, MD, PhD, and his team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, University of Florida Health Cancer Center and TGen will use CRISPR gene-editing technology and data from CoMMpass to understand the function of genes associated with high-risk myeloma and whether these genes might be good targets for drug therapies. 6 Lawrence Boise, PhD, from Emory University leads a project that will use CoMMpass data to study a high-risk gene pattern seen in some patients who relapse within 12 to 18 months of treatment and to determine whether this pattern could be a target for the treatment of high-risk disease. Th eM M R F.org