Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic
Early (first in human) clinical studies on targeted and immune therapy in AML
Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic received her MD in 1991 from University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and in 2001 completed training Internal Medicine at Radboud University Hospital in Nijmegen The Netherlands. From 2004-2006 she was trained in Hematology under supervision of Prof Dr Löwenberg at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
She received her PhD degree in 1997 at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands and completed her postdoctoral research at the Stem cell Institute, University of Minnesota, USA.
Her previous translational research projects focused on role of microRNAs in pathobiology and prognostication in AML and were funded by KWF grant resulted in various publications.
Currently she is involved in translational studies on Molecular Residual Disease (MRD) in AML in collaboration with Peter Valk (see also Valk lab). Her main focus is clinical research in AML that is performed within HOVON (Leukemia working group) www.hovon.nl and the CTC (Clinical Trial Center/Center for drug development) at the Erasmus MC www.ctc-erasmusmc.nl.
She is principal investigator and lead of early clinical studies platform in AML.
Our research
Translational research: AML and Minimal Residual Disease (MRD)
We uncover the clinical value of next-generation sequencing for the detection of molecular MRD in AML patients, with the ultimate goal to understand the biology behind relapse development and to identify leukemic clones that contribute and predict for relapse. We determined the molecular MRD disease status by next-generation sequencing after standard induction chemotherapy and determined its applicability and prognostic value for relapse and survival in perspective of the clonal hierarchy of AML. Furthermore we show that combining molecular MRD detection with multi-parameter flow cytometry approach improve relapse prediction in AML.
Clinical research: AML first in human clinical studies (targeted and immune therapy)
We established Clinical Trial Center – Erasmus MC (ctc-erasmusmc.nl)and Drug Development Centre (CDD) - Centrum - Erasmus MC with a goal to improve the care for patients with blood cancers. Within early clinical trials we test novel treatment concepts, such as immunotherapy with new drugs, targeted inhibition of molecules involved in AML.
Key publications
Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic, Grob T, Hanekamp D, Kavelaars FG, Al Hinai A, Zeilemaker A, Erpelinck-Verschueren CAJ, Gradowska PL, Meijer R, Cloos J, Biemond BJ, Graux C, van Marwijk Kooy M, Manz MG, Pabst T, Passweg JR, Havelange V, Ossenkoppele GJ, Sanders MA, Schuurhuis GJ, Löwenberg B, Valk PJM. Molecular Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018 Mar 29;378(13):1189-1199.
Grob T, Al Hinai ASA, Sanders MA, Kavelaars FG, Rijken M, Gradowska PL, Biemond BJ, Breems DA, Maertens J, van Marwijk Kooy M, Pabst T, de Weerdt O, Ossenkoppele GJ, van de Loosdrecht AA, Huls GA, Cornelissen JJ, Beverloo HB, Löwenberg B, Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic, Valk PJM. Molecular characterization of mutant TP53 acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome. Blood. 2022 Apr 14;139(15):2347-2354.
Grob T, Sanders MA, Vonk CM, Kavelaars FG, Rijken M, Hanekamp DW, Gradowska PL, Cloos J, Fløisand Y, van Marwijk Kooy M, Manz MG, Ossenkoppele GJ, Tick LW, Havelange V, Löwenberg B, Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic, Valk PJM. Prognostic Value of FLT3-Internal Tandem Duplication Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. J Clin Oncol. 2023 Feb 1;41(4):756-765.
Tahir SK, Calvo E, Carneiro BA, Yuda J, Shreenivas A, Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic, Gort E, Ishizawa K, Morillo D, Biesdorf C, Smith M, Cheng D, Motwani M, Sharon D, Uziel T, Modi DA, Buchanan FG, Morgan-Lappe S, Medeiros BC, Phillips DC. Activity of eftozanermin alfa plus venetoclax in preclinical models and patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Blood. 2023 Jan 30:blood.2022017333. doi: 10.1182/blood.2022017333. Online ahead of print.
Uy GL, Aldoss I, Foster MC, Sayre PH, Wieduwilt MJ, Advani AS, Godwin JE, Arellano ML, Sweet KL, Emadi A, Ravandi F, Erba HP, Byrne M, Michaelis L, Topp MS, Vey N, Ciceri F, Carrabba MG, Paolini S, Huls GA, Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic, Wermke M, Chevallier P, Gyan E, Récher C, Stiff PJ, Pettit KM, Löwenberg B, Church SE, Anderson E, Vadakekolathu J, Santaguida M, Rettig MP, Muth J, Curtis T, Fehr E, Guo K, Zhao J, Bakkacha O, Jacobs K, Tran K, Kaminker P, Kostova M, Bonvini E, Walter RB, Davidson-Moncada JK, Rutella S, DiPersio JF. Flotetuzumab as salvage immunotherapy for refractory acute myeloid leukemia. Blood. 2021 Feb 11;137(6):751-762.
Anthony Selwyn Stein, Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic, Sylvain Garciaz, Gerwin A Huls, Abhishek Maiti, Nicolas Boissel, Stéphane De Botton, Shaun Fleming, C Michel Zwaan, David C. de Leeuw, Pinkal Desai, Martha Lucia Arellano, David Avigan, Saskia Langemeijer, Kyle A. Jensen, Timothy Wagenaar, Gu Mi, Giovanni Abbadessa, Ashish Bajel. A first-in-human study of CD123 NK cell engager SAR443579 in relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or high-risk myelodysplasia. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2023 May 31. doi: 10.120/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.7005. Online ahead of print.
Mojca Jongen-Lavrencic, A. Bajel, S. Garciaz,A. Maiti,S. Fleming,S. De Button,G.A. Huls, K. Jensen, S. Ziti-Ljajic,D. Draganov,F. Rotolo,C. Palu,J. Courta,W. Passe-Coutrin,K. Traudtner,T. Wagenaar,G. Abbadessa, A. Selwyn Stein. Preliminary pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) analysis of the CD123 NK cell engager (NKCE) SAR443579 in patients (pts) with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML), B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) or high risk-myelodysplasia (HR-MDS). Annals of Oncology, October 2023 S543-S544.