Researcher Spotlight: Preteesh Jain, MD, PhD

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER

Chemotherapy-sparing treatment regimens are of great interest for many patients with lymphoma due to the variety of short- and long-term toxicities associated with These therapies. To this end, Dr. Jain’s research proposal is aimed at assessing the safety and efficacy of a novel Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, pirtobrutinib, in combination with the monoclonal antibody rituximab in a phase 2 clinical trial involving patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Dr. Jain hopes that this novel agent will elicit similar response rates to those seen with other BTK inhibitors but without the associated cardiac safety concerns. “Through this trial, we intend to develop a new chemo-free combination to treat MCL and also investigate a time-limited therapy strategy based on a cutting-edge molecular minimal residual disease (MRD).”

Dr. Jain has been involved in lymphoma research for many years, having worked with patients with lymphoid malignancies as a clinical oncology fellow at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, India. He earned his doctoral degree from the Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine at Northwell Health in New York, where he studied the function of immune cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). He is now working as a clinical researcher in lymphoid malignancies at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where his work focuses on targeted therapies in MCL, including the development of clinical trials to evaluate novel therapies in this disease. “In addition, I am highly interested in developing newer molecular tools to predict relapse in this lymphoma and on developing the impact of MRD testing in this disease with these novel therapies,” he says.

Dr. Jain is optimistic about the future of MCL care and what new treatment approaches will mean for patients. “Several newer agents have been approved, and these agents are providing us an option to treat patients with minimal or no chemotherapy without compromising on the efficacy and safety,” he says. “These treatments are providing higher responses, a much better safety profile, and better ease of administration compared with chemotherapy, and future treatments in MCL are very promising.”