Quest for Cures: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Seeks to Fund Three Critical Areas of Blood Cancer Research

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical innovation and sustained research investment are dramatically transforming the landscape in blood cancers. To that end, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) continues to drive a progressive research agenda to improve outcomes for patients who urgently need new therapies. Today LLS announced it has identified three priority areas toward which it will direct new funding.

LLS has issued a request for proposals – entitled "Quest for Cures" – from researchers focusing on these specific areas:

• Tumor cell clonal heterogeneity. Most cancer tumors are a mixture of cells that are genetically related (clonal), with shared abnormalities, but with subgroups (subclones) that carry unique molecular abnormalities. This grant will support researchers seeking novel approaches for measuring and monitoring this clonal heterogeneity and assessing its contribution to response or resistance to therapy.  
      
• New molecular stratification mechanisms.  Recipients of this grant will work to identify key subsets of patients with B-cell malignancies, to help predict which patients will have poor outcomes from current standard therapies so they may be directed to alternative therapies. 
     
• Bone marrow and lymph node microenvironments. Researchers will seek to enhance the understanding of the role that the bone marrow and lymph node microenvironments play in either responding to or resisting therapy.

Proposals must include specific timelines, milestones and deliverables, and the range of funding will be between $200,000 to $400,000, annually for two years.

The Quest for Cures project is the first of a partnership between LLS and Celgene first announced in October, as part of LLS's new "Targets, Leads and Candidates Program", an initiative to identify and fund priority research areas with support from biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners.

"The Quest For Cures research topics are designed to gain a better understanding of the underlying causes leading to failure of current treatments and to identify novel therapeutic targets and ultimately new treatments," said Richard C. Winneker, Ph.D, LLS senior vice president of research. "These projects should, if successful, have a measurable impact on the diagnosis or treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies over the next 5 to 10 years."

The complete Quest for Cures RFPs can be viewed here. (Note: may not display properly with some web browsers).

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ^® (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.  Founded in 1949 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org or contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. www.lls.org.

Contact: Andrea Greif
914.821.8958
andrea.greif@lls.org

SOURCE The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society