The annual stimulus award by the patient organization Hematon Research Fund targets high-quality and innovative research into hematological cancers. The annual award is named in honor of Dr. Henk Lokhorst, a former hematologist at Amsterdam UMC, for his great achievements in the field of research and patient care. Tom Seijkens MD, PhD, an internist-hematologist in training at Amsterdam UMC, received this year’s award for a translational research project focused on experimental immunotherapies against multiple myeloma and Waldenstrom's disease, a rare form of lymphoma.
Dr. Seijkens and his team will investigate if inhibition of the inflammatory surface protein CD40 can be a potential treatment strategy for multiple myeloma and Waldenstrom’s disease. CD40 plays an important role in the progression of these cancers by stimulating cell division and inciting the development of treatment resistance. “This project investigates whether and how a new treatment developed by us targeting the inflammatory protein CD40, called Trafinib, can influence the course of multiple myeloma and Waldenstrom's disease,” says Dr. Seijkens. The effects of Trafinib will first be investigated in well-characterized multiple myeloma and Waldenstrom cell lines, and will then be validated further using cancer cells from patients. Promising results will be followed up with clinical trials.
Tom Seijkens studied Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Maastricht University. He obtained his PhD degree in cardiovascular sciences and experimental immunotherapies in 2014 from the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Seijkens presently works as internist-hematologist in training and as principal investigator at the department of Medical Biochemistryat the Amsterdam UMC.
The research team consists of Dr. Tom Seijkens, Prof. Dr. Marie José Kersten, Prof. Dr. Esther Lutgens, Dr. Marcel Spaargaren and Prof. Dr. Steven Pals.