Madhav Dhodapkar, MBBS
Physician Scientist
"(Our study data) provide evidence for host immune system to tackle these lesions, which may lead to new immune therapies."
Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University find that cancer-associated mutations originate in blood progenitor cells, leading to distinct changes in both cancer and non-cancer immune cells in Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM), a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and its precursor IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance.
The study by Madhav V. Dhodapkar, MBBS, Kavita M. Dhodapkar, MD, and their colleagues, "Aberrant extrafollicular B cells, immune dysfunction, myeloid inflammation and MyD88-mutant progenitors precede Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia," is published in Blood Cancer Discovery.
"The data in this paper have several potential implications for origins and therapy of WM," said Madhav Dhodapkar. "They provide an example of how cancer-associated mutations can impact not just the cancer cells, but also non-cancer cells in the tumor milieu. They also provide evidence for host immune system to tackle these lesions, which may lead to new immune therapies."
Dhodapkar is leader of the Cancer Immunology Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.