Renier J. Brentjens, MD, PhD

I am a medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of acute and chronic leukemias. My focus on leukemia is, in part, the result of the laboratory research I conduct at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In particular, my laboratory is focused on developing novel treatment approaches for certain leukemias and lymphomas utilizing the patient's own immune system. Specifically this work involves the genetic manipulation of patients' immune cells to recognize and kill their own cancer cells. This is a promising form of gene therapy.

In light of encouraging results in mouse studies, we are now testing this approach at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who are no longer responsive to chemotherapy. We hope to set up a similar study for patients with recurrent acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the near future. These highly innovative studies will hopefully result in a novel and successful treatment option for patients with certain forms of hematologic cancers.