Robert W. Chen, MD

City of Hope
$25,000 Tower Career Development Grant

Research Title:
Using SiRNA to CCNDI to Overcome Chemoresistence in Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a rare and difficult lymphoma to treat. Standard treatment involves aggressive combinations of chemotherapy which often does not lead to long term survival. In the laboratory, scientists have been experimenting with using synthetic RNAs to silence specific genes known to be important in cancer cell survival. These synthetic RNAs are called SiRNA. Cyclin D1 is a specific gene known to be important in MCL biology. We will use SiRNA designed to silence cyclin D1 to improve the efficacy of standard chemotherapy in the treatment of MCL.