Grant awarded to Dr. Jatinder Lamba to study genetic-guided cancer therapies

The Children’s Oncology Group has awarded Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., M.Sc., an associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research, a $50,000 grant to study the impact of CD33 genetics on pediatric cancer patients. CD33 is a surface molecule that acts as a receptor for drug therapy on a leukemia cell. Lamba’s goal is to develop a CD33 composite single nucleotide polymorphis, or SNP, score that will be predictive of which patients will benefit from CD33-targeted therapies, such as gemtuzumab ozogamicin. As a diagnostic tool, the score has the potential for clinical implementation in select patients who are candidates for CD33-targeted therapies. Her study will evaluate patients enrolled in a Children’s Oncology Group/National Cancer Institute multisite clinical trial that includes children, adolescents and young adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia and treated with gemtuzumab. Ioannis Papageorgiou, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate in Lamba’s lab, will assist with the study.