Successful PhD defence for Ruth Wester

On 6 March, Ruth Wester successfully defended her PhD thesis: 'Clinical Trials in Multiple Myeloma'

The dissertation, divided into 3 parts, covered the following topics:

In the first part of her dissertation, dr. Wester discusses the outcomes in patients with MM evaluated with different treatment strategies with an emphasis on immunomodulatory agent (IMiDs) treatment. 

Subsequently, she investigated the protein expression of CRBN and the other proteins in this pathway (Ikaros, Aiolos, c-Myc and IRF4) in plasma cells with the aim of investigating whether one of these proteins can act as a clinical marker to predict which patient will have a durable response and improvement in survival with IMiD treatment. 

And finally, she was part of a working group, a collaboration between the European Hematology Association (EHA) and the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), which assessed the use of the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) for use in hematologic malignancies.