Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndroms (MDS) present highly heterogeneous regarding their clinical course as well as the genetic aberrations responsible to initiate the disease. As new therapeutic options are becoming available, it is increasingly important to define and characterize each patient’s disease precisely in order to then select the best possible treatment. While the established techniques of microscopy, FACS analysis of cell surface markers and cytogenetics continue to play an essential role in this respect, more recent technological advances are allowing us to look even deeper into the genetic material and to uncover new information relevant to diagnosis and therapy. We are developing and applying these techniques to provide a high-resolution profile of the disease before treatment, but also enable us to monitor the response very closely during and after treatment.
Within our translational research, we try to define new clinical, and genetic factors that help to predict treatment outcomes in AML patients. Additionally, we address new ways that help us to better quantify response to treatment at high sensitivity (so called measurable residual disease, MRD). We integrate expression of AML-associated genes as well as distinct gene mutations into MRD analysis and try to better understand which marker will allow the best outcome prediction in which AML patient at which time point.
Furthermore, within our basic research, we try to dissect pathways that help us to better understand how myeloid neoplasms are driven and how we can exploit this knowledge to develop new treatment strategies or disease monitoring for these patients. We aim to exploit translational loops – starting from the identification of biological characteristics of the diseases, understanding the involved avenues of pathology, and reintegrating this gained knowledge into the clinic.
Our group was founded in 2012 by and around Dr. Sebastian Schwind after he returned from his post-doc research fellowship at the Ohio State University. Dr. Madlen Jentzsch (co-)leads the group since 2018. We are a young and creative team that always warmly welcomes new members interested in myeloid research.
For further information about us, our work and contact information, please see our Web page.
Group Leaders | PD Dr. med. Madlen Jentzsch, MD
PD Dr. med. Sebastian Schwind, MD (deceased in 2022) |
Current Group members | Dr. med. Dominic Brauer, MD Donata Backhaus, MD Jule Ußmann, MD Lara A. Bischof (MD student) Jacob Jendro (MD student) Caroline Hilmes (MD student) Matthias Porsche (MD student) Tung Pham Thanh (MD student) Clara Wall (MD student)
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Current Funders
| Zusammen gegen den Krebs e.V. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Innere Medizin |
Selected Publications
Bischof L, Ussmann J, Grimm J, Bill M, Brauer D, Backhaus D, Herrmann L, Merz M, Herling M, Metzeler KH, Franke GN, Vucinic V, Platzbecker U, Schwind S, Jentzsch M. Prognostic impact of measurable residual clonal hematopoiesis in acute myeloid leukemia patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Leukemia. 2023 Oct. In Press.
Backhaus D, Brauer D, Pointner R, Bischof L, Vucinic V, Franke GN, Niederwieser D, Platzbecker U, Jentzsch M, Schwind S. A high hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity Index (HCT-CI) does not impair outcomes after non-myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation in acute myeloid leukemia patients 60 years or older. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2023 Jan;58(1):30-38.
Hartmann L, Hecker JS, Rothenberg-Thurley M, Rivière J, Jentzsch M, Ksienzyk B, Buck MC, van der Garde M, Fischer L, Winter S, Rauner M, Tsourdi E, Weidner H, Sockel K, Schneider M, Kubasch AS, Nolde M, Hausmann D, Lützner J, Goralski S, Bassermann F, Spiekermann K, Hofbauer LC, Schwind S, Platzbecker U, Götze KS, Metzeler KH. Compartment-specific mutational landscape of clonal hematopoiesis. Leukemia. 2022 Nov;36(11):2647-2655.
Jentzsch M, Bischof L, Ussmann J, Backhaus D, Brauer D, Metzeler KH, Merz M, Vucinic V, Franke GN, Herling M, Platzbecker U, Schwind S. Prognostic impact of the AML ELN2022 risk classification in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Blood Cancer J. 2022; 12(12):170.
Herrmann L, Bischof L, Backhaus D, Brauer D, Franke GN, Vucinic V, Platzbecker U, Schwind S, Jentzsch M. Outcome prediction by the knowledge bank approach in AML patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Am J Hematol. 2022. 97(10):E382-E384.
Vucinic V, Ruhnke L, Sockel K, Röhnert MA, Backhaus D, Brauer D, Franke GN, Niederwieser D, Bornhäuser M, Röllig C, Platzbecker U, Schwind S, Jentzsch M. The Diagnostic Red Blood Cell Distribution Width as a Prognostic Factor in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Blood Adv. 2021; 5(24):5584-5587.
Grimm J, Jentzsch M, Bill M, Backhaus D, Brauer D, Küpper J, Schulz J, Franke GN, Vucinic V, Niederwieser D, Platzbecker U, Schwind S. Biological and Clinical Implications of SRSF2 Mutations in Transplanted Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients. Am J Hematol. 2021; 96(10):1287-1294.
Jentzsch M, Grimm J, Bill M, Brauer D, Backhau D, Goldmann K, Schulz J, Niederwieser D, Platzbecker U, Schwind S. Clinical Value of the Measurable Residual Disease Status within the ELN Risk Groups in AML Patients undergoing Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation. Am J Hematol. 2021;96(7): E237-E239.
Jentzsch M, Grimm J, Bill M, Brauer D, Backhaus D, Schulz J, Goldmann K, Niederwieser D, Platzbecker U, Schwind S. Clinical relevance of morphologic remission and MRD status in AML patients prior to reduced intensity or non-myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Blood Cancer J. 2021; 11:80.
Brauer D, Backhaus D, Pointner R, Vucinic V, Niederwieser D, Platzbecker U, Schwind S, Jentzsch M. Nutritional status at diagnosis and pre-transplant weight loss impact outcomes of acute myeloid leukemia patients following allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Hemasphere. 2021; 5(3): e532.
Jentzsch M, Bill M, Grimm J, Schulz J, Schuhmann L, Brauer D, Goldmann K, Wilke F, Franke GN, Behre G, Pönisch W, Vucinic V, Niederwieser D, Platzbecker U, Schwind S. High expression of the stem cell marker GPR56 at diagnosis identifies acute myeloid leukemia patients at higher relapse risk after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in context with the CD34+/CD38- population. Haematologica. 2020 Jan 9;105(10):229260.
Grimm J, Jentzsch M, Bill M, Goldmann K, Schulz J, Niederwieser D, Platzbecker U, Schwind S. Prognostic Impact of the ELN 2017 Risk Classification in AML Patients Receiving Allogeneic Transplantation. Blood Adv. 2020. Aug 25;4(16):3864–3874.
Grimm J, Bill M, Jentzsch M, Beinicke S, Häntschel J, Goldmann K, Schulz J, Cross M, Franke GN, Behre G, Vucinic V, Pönisch W, Lange T, Niederwieser D, Schwind S. Clinical impact of clonal hematopoiesis in acute myeloid leukemia patients receiving allogeneic transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2019 Aug;54(8):1189-1197.
Walker CJ, Oakes CC, Genutis LK, Giacopelli B, Liyanarachchi S, Nicolet D, Eisfeld AK, Scholz M, Brock P, Kohlschmidt J, Mrózek K, Bill M, Carroll AJ, Kolitz JE, Powell BL, Wang ES, Niederwieser DW, Stone RM, Byrd JC, Schwind S, de la Chapelle A, Bloomfield CD. Genome-wide association study identifies an acute myeloid leukemia susceptibility locus near BICRA. Leukemia. 2019 Mar;33(3):771-775.
