Research Overview

Over the last several decades, there have been dramatic improvements in the treatment of the most common types of pediatric cancers. However, despite these successes, relapsed or refractory leukemia carry a dismal prognosis. For example, more children will succumb to relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia that any other type of pediatric malignancy. It is paramount that novel agents and treatment strategies are developed for these cancers that improve outcomes while limiting both the acute and long-term toxicities of therapy.

In order to achieve these goals, we are developing a robust translational program supported by our own world-class basic science laboratories, extensive collection of clinical samples and well-known expertise in clinical trial design and administration. By encouraging collaborations within academia and industry we foster pre-clinical evaluation of the most compelling novel therapies as a mechanism to stream line their introduction into early phase clinical trials.

Research Background

Dr. Place received his PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Dartmouth College in 2004 and his MD from the Dartmouth Medical School in 2006. He completed his pediatric residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center. He subsequently completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In 2012, he became an attending physician in Pediatric Oncology at the Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center, where he currently participates in the development of early phase clinical trials in the Pediatric Hematologic Malignancy Service.

 

Education

Undergraduate School

Swarthmore College
1996 Swarthmore PA

Graduate School

PhD Dartmouth Medical School
2004 Hanover NH

Medical School

Dartmouth Medical School
2006 Hanover NH

Residency

Boston Combined Residency Program (BCRP)
2009 Boston MA

Fellowship

Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
2012 Boston MA

Publications

  1. Optimizing early phase clinical trial washout periods: a report from the Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia and Lymphoma consortium. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2024 Nov 01; 116(11):1721-1729. View Abstract
  2. Venous thromboembolism in adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated on a pediatric-inspired regimen. Blood Cancer J. 2024 10 31; 14(1):191. View Abstract
  3. Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia With Torque Teno Mini Virus::RARA Fusion: An Approach to Screening and Diagnosis. Mod Pathol. 2024 Jul; 37(7):100509. View Abstract
  4. Treatment completion, asparaginase completion, and oncologic outcomes among children, adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with DFCI Consortium Protocols. Leukemia. 2024 03; 38(3):482-490. View Abstract
  5. Treatment of recurrent pediatric myelodysplastic syndrome post hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Clin Case Rep. 2023 Nov; 11(11):e8190. View Abstract
  6. Integration of Genomic Sequencing Drives Therapeutic Targeting of PDGFRA in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia/Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 11 14; 29(22):4613-4626. View Abstract
  7. Effect of BMI on toxicities and survival among adolescents and young adults treated on DFCI Consortium ALL trials. Blood Adv. 2023 09 26; 7(18):5234-5245. View Abstract
  8. Impairment of health-related quality of life for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia over the first year of therapy: A report from the DFCI ALL Consortium. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 11; 70(11):e30560. View Abstract
  9. Use of the osmolal gap in diagnosing mixed physiology hyponatremia in a child with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Clin Case Rep. 2023 Jun; 11(6):e7428. View Abstract
  10. Venetoclax Penetrates the Blood Brain Barrier: A Pharmacokinetic Analysis in Pediatric Leukemia Patients. J Cancer. 2023; 14(7):1151-1156. View Abstract
  11. Nelarabine combination therapy for relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia. Blood Adv. 2023 04 11; 7(7):1092-1102. View Abstract
  12. Reply to: Comment on: Ocular abnormalities at diagnosis and after the completion of treatment in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 01; 70(1):e29833. View Abstract
  13. Orthopaedic adverse events among adolescents and adults treated with asparaginase for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Br J Haematol. 2022 08; 198(3):421-430. View Abstract
  14. Decitabine and vorinostat with FLAG chemotherapy in pediatric relapsed/refractory AML: Report from the therapeutic advances in childhood leukemia and lymphoma (TACL) consortium. Am J Hematol. 2022 05; 97(5):613-622. View Abstract
  15. Orthopedic toxicities among adolescents and young adults treated in DFCI ALL Consortium Trials. Blood Adv. 2022 01 11; 6(1):72-81. View Abstract
  16. Ocular abnormalities at diagnosis and after the completion of treatment in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2022 04; 69(4):e29542. View Abstract
  17. B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in patients with germline RUNX1 mutations. Blood Adv. 2021 08 24; 5(16):3199-3202. View Abstract
  18. Efficacy and Toxicity of Pegaspargase and Calaspargase Pegol in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Results of DFCI 11-001. J Clin Oncol. 2021 11 01; 39(31):3496-3505. View Abstract
  19. Single-cell RNA-seq reveals developmental plasticity with coexisting oncogenic states and immune evasion programs in ETP-ALL. Blood. 2021 05 06; 137(18):2463-2480. View Abstract
  20. Retrospective evaluation of single patient investigational new drug (IND) requests in pediatric oncology. Cancer Med. 2021 Apr; 10(7):2310-2318. View Abstract
  21. Matched Targeted Therapy for Pediatric Patients with Relapsed, Refractory, or High-Risk Leukemias: A Report from the LEAP Consortium. Cancer Discov. 2021 06; 11(6):1424-1439. View Abstract
  22. Corrigendum. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 Mar; 68(3):e28885. View Abstract
  23. Identification of prognostic factors in childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Results from DFCI ALL Consortium Protocols 05-001 and 11-001. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 01; 68(1):e28719. View Abstract
  24. Limiting Vancomycin Exposure in Pediatric Oncology Patients With Febrile Neutropenia May Be Associated With Decreased Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus Incidence. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2020 Sep 17; 9(4):428-436. View Abstract
  25. A single institutional review of pediatric Bacillus spp. bloodstream infections demonstrates increased incidence among children with cancer. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2019 04; 66(4):e27568. View Abstract
  26. Refining risk classification in childhood B acute lymphoblastic leukemia: results of DFCI ALL Consortium Protocol 05-001. Blood Adv. 2018 06 26; 2(12):1449-1458. View Abstract
  27. Phase I trial of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus in combination with multi-agent chemotherapy in relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2018 07; 65(7):e27062. View Abstract
  28. Accelerating drug development in pediatric cancer: a novel Phase I study design of venetoclax in relapsed/refractory malignancies. Future Oncol. 2018 Sep; 14(21):2115-2129. View Abstract
  29. Outcome of children with multiply relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a therapeutic advances in childhood leukemia & lymphoma study. Leukemia. 2018 11; 32(11):2316-2325. View Abstract
  30. Dasatinib in Pediatric Patients With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase: Results From a Phase II Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2018 05 01; 36(13):1330-1338. View Abstract
  31. A phase 1 study of azacitidine combined with chemotherapy in childhood leukemia: a report from the TACL consortium. Blood. 2018 03 08; 131(10):1145-1148. View Abstract
  32. Synergistic Drug Combinations with a CDK4/6 Inhibitor in T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Feb 15; 23(4):1012-1024. View Abstract
  33. Spatial Proximity to Fibroblasts Impacts Molecular Features and Therapeutic Sensitivity of Breast Cancer Cells Influencing Clinical Outcomes. Cancer Res. 2016 11 15; 76(22):6495-6506. View Abstract
  34. The Public Repository of Xenografts Enables Discovery and Randomized Phase II-like Trials in Mice. Cancer Cell. 2016 07 11; 30(1):183. View Abstract
  35. The Public Repository of Xenografts Enables Discovery and Randomized Phase II-like Trials in Mice. Cancer Cell. 2016 04 11; 29(4):574-586. View Abstract
  36. Intravenous pegylated asparaginase versus intramuscular native Escherichia coli L-asparaginase in newly diagnosed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (DFCI 05-001): a randomised, open-label phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Dec; 16(16):1677-90. View Abstract
  37. Therapeutic approaches to haematological malignancies in adolescents and young adults. Br J Haematol. 2014 Jan; 164(1):3-14. View Abstract
  38. Future of clinical genomics in pediatric oncology. J Clin Oncol. 2013 May 20; 31(15):1893-903. View Abstract
  39. The microenvironment in breast cancer progression: biology and implications for treatment. Breast Cancer Res. 2011; 13(6):227. View Abstract
  40. The synthetic triterpenoids, CDDO and CDDO-imidazolide, are potent inducers of heme oxygenase-1 and Nrf2/ARE signaling. Cancer Res. 2005 Jun 01; 65(11):4789-98. View Abstract
  41. Pre-Clinical Evaluation of the Novel Synthetic Triterpenoid CDDO-Imidazolide. 2004. View Abstract
  42. The synthetic triterpenoid, CDDO-Imidazolide, activates heme oxygenase-1 and other Nrf2-responsive genes in human leukemia cells . Proceedings of the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. 2004; 318. View Abstract
  43. The novel synthetic triterpenoid, CDDO-imidazolide, inhibits inflammatory response and tumor growth in vivo. Clin Cancer Res. 2003 Jul; 9(7):2798-806. View Abstract
  44. Synthetic triterpenoids enhance transforming growth factor beta/Smad signaling. Cancer Res. 2003 Mar 15; 63(6):1371-6. View Abstract
  45. Pre-Clinical Evaluation of Synthetic Triterpenoids for Prevention and Treatment of Cancer. Proceeding of the 1st Annual Meeting of Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. 2003. View Abstract
  46. A novel dicyanotriterpenoid, 2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9(11)-dien-28-onitrile, active at picomolar concentrations for inhibition of nitric oxide production. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2002 Apr 08; 12(7):1027-30. View Abstract
  47. Synthetic Triterpenoids Induce Differentiation of Human Leukemia Cells and Reduce Tumor Burden in Murine Cancer Models. Proceedings of the 93th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. 2002. View Abstract
  48. The novel triterpenoid 2-cyano-3,12-dioxoolean-1,9-dien-28-oic acid induces apoptosis of human myeloid leukemia cells by a caspase-8-dependent mechanism. Cell Growth Differ. 2000 May; 11(5):261-7. View Abstract
  49. Activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase by PYK2/related adhesion focal tyrosine kinase-dependent mechanism. J Biol Chem. 1999 Apr 09; 274(15):10140-4. View Abstract
  50. Bcl-xL blocks activation of related adhesion focal tyrosine kinase/proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 and stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase in the cellular response to methylmethane sulfonate. J Biol Chem. 1999 Mar 26; 274(13):8618-23. View Abstract
  51. A novel synthetic oleanane triterpenoid, 2-cyano-3,12-dioxoolean-1,9-dien-28-oic acid, with potent differentiating, antiproliferative, and anti-inflammatory activity. Cancer Res. 1999 Jan 15; 59(2):336-41. View Abstract

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