Collaboration Identifies Biomarker Evidence in Castleman Disease

Rare Daily Staff

The Castleman Disease Collaborative Network and Medidata said they discovered new Castleman patient subgroups, based on previously unknown proteomic signatures, using the Medidata’s machine learning-based technology Rave Omics.

Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDNC) and Medidata presented their findings at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology. They said the discoveries provide novel insights into treatment response and potential new drug targets.

Castleman disease (CD) describes a group of heterogeneous inflammatory disorders that all share a similar lymph node appearance under the microscope. In CD patients, inflammatory cells become hyper-activated and produce excess molecules (chemokines and cytokines), particularly Interleukin-6, that lead to flu-like symptoms, lymph node enlargement, and dysfunction of the bone marrow and vital organs including the liver, kidneys.

CDCN and Medidata presented their findings at the 60^th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology meeting. They said the discoveries provide novel insights into treatment response and potential new drug targets.

“Rare diseases often lack sufficient sample sizes and necessary resources to make critical discoveries, which has limited the development of new treatment options for patients,” said David Fajgenbaum, co-founder and executive director of the CDNC. “This collaborative study combined patient samples from around the world and the Rave Omics tool to overcome these challenges and help to better understand this disease. We are now working together to use this data to personalize treatment for Castleman disease.”

CDNC and Medidata scientists discovered novel biomarkers for Castleman disease. They said they identified six new patient subsets reflecting either distinct subtypes or proteomic disease states.

They said they also found evidence of proteomic predictors of anti-interleukin-6 treatment response and gained insights into the poorly understood rare disease and toward new potential drug targets.
December 10, 2018
Photo: David Fajgenbaum, co-founder and executive director of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network