Experts Convene to Share Latest Immunotherapy Advances for Treating Hematologic Malignancies
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MIAMI, FL – February 1, 2020 – More than 150 physicians and other healthcare providers from throughout Florida, the United States and Latin America, gathered in Coconut Grove in January to attend the Inaugural Miami Cancer Institute Summit of the Americas on Immunotherapies for Hematologic Malignancies. The Summit featured experts from the Institute as well as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania and Florida International University, who discussed the most recent advances in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and stem cell transplantation by novel immunotherapies and treatment combinations.
“The caliber of our faculty was outstanding and the conference’s overarching approach, incorporating all of the malignancies, rather than focusing on one disease, made it unique,” said Guenther Koehne, M.D., Ph.D., course director and deputy director and chief of Stem Cell Transplantation, Hematologic Oncology and Benign Hematology at the Institute. “To be successful in attacking cancer, we cannot stay within our silos. We must take a more comprehensive view.”
Dr. Koehne presented his groundbreaking work on allogeneic stem cell transplantation involving the technique he developed to manipulate donor cells in Miami Cancer Institute’s Stem Cell Processing & Immunotherapy Laboratory.
In addition, Dr. Koehne is the principal investigator of a recently FDA-approved clinical trial ― A Phase II Trial of CD34+ Enriched Transplants from HLA-Compatible Related or Unrelated Donors for Treatment of Patients with Hematologic Malignancies ― using manipulated donor cells to treat those with acute myeloid and lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia. The study continues his work that has had promising results in diminishing the often-deadly graft-versus host disease complication of transplantation. Since allogeneic transplants began in the 1970s, survival rates have increased significantly and new techniques, like Dr. Koehne’s, have made it possible for many more patients, especially elderly patients who previously would not have been considered for transplantation, to receive the treatment.
About Miami Cancer Institute
Miami Cancer Institute brings to South Florida access to personalized clinical treatments and comprehensive support services delivered with unparalleled compassion. No other cancer program in the region has the combination of cancer-fighting expertise and advanced technology—including the first proton therapy center in South Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean, and one of the only radiation oncology program in the world with each of the newest radiation therapies in one place—to diagnose and deliver precise cancer treatments that achieve the best outcomes and improve the lives of cancer patients. The Institute offers an impressive roster of established community oncologists and renowned experts, clinical researchers and genomic scientists recruited from the nation’s top cancer centers. Selected as Florida’s only member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer (MSK) Alliance, Miami Cancer Institute is part of a meaningful clinical collaboration that affords patients in South Florida access to innovative treatments and ensures that the standards of care developed by their multidisciplinary disease management teams match those at MSK.
Miami Cancer Institute is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 11 hospitals, more than 23,000 employees, 4,000 physicians and 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Baptist Health has internationally renowned centers of excellence in cancer, cardiovascular care, orthopedics and sports medicine, and neurosciences. In addition, it includes Baptist Health Medical Group; Baptist Health Quality Network; and Baptist Health Care On Demand, a virtual health platform. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to its faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit BaptistHealth.net/Newsroom and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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