Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) is an uncommon B-cell lymphoma that affects 5-6,000
Americans each year. Despite the description of this disease by Dr. Jan Waldenström in 1944,
very little progress into the pathogenesis and treatment of this disease had occurred. In 1999,
in an effort to advance our understanding and management of this disease, the WM Program was
organized at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) with the help of patients, DFCI support staff,
clinical and basic science investigators; in 2005, the program was named the Bing Center for
Waldenstroms Research after Dr. Peter Bing. Its founding spearheaded national and international efforts to
bring innovative basic and clinical studies to WM. As a result of these efforts, over 20 centers in
the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Australia have been organized as part of the WM Clinical Trials
Group (WMCTG) based at the DFCI, and chaired by Dr. Steven Treon. Studies examining novel therapeutics
including antibody based immunotherapies alone and in combination with chemotherapy or immunomodulating
drugs, as well as radioimmunotherapy, and proteosome inhibitors have been initiated as part of the WMCTG.
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