Publications by authors named "M Blackwood"

Background/objectives: α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is an inherited, genetic condition characterized by reduced serum levels of AAT and increased risk of developing emphysema and liver disease. AAT is normally synthesized primarily in the liver, but muscle-targeting with a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector for α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) gene therapy has been used to minimize liver exposure to the virus and hepatotoxicity. Clinical trials of direct intramuscular (IM) administration of rAAV1-hAAT have demonstrated its overall safety and transgene expression for 5 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sequential adaptive trial designs can help accomplish the goals of personalized medicine, optimizing outcomes and avoiding unnecessary toxicity. Here we describe the results of incorporating a promising antibody-drug conjugate, datopotamab-deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) in combination with programmed cell death-ligand 1 inhibitor, durvalumab, as the first sequence of therapy in the I-SPY2.2 phase 2 neoadjuvant sequential multiple assignment randomization trial for high-risk stage 2/3 breast cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: A radiation therapy (RT) boost to the tumor bed is an important component of breast-conserving therapy in early breast cancer. This prospective phase 2 study assessed the feasibility of delivering the RT boost before surgery. We hypothesize wound complication rates to be comparable with postoperative RT and the target boost volume to be smaller than standard postoperative RT.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is characterized by both chronic lung disease due to loss of wild-type AAT (M-AAT) antiprotease function and liver disease due to toxicity from delayed secretion, polymerization, and aggregation of misfolded mutant AAT (Z-AAT). The ideal gene therapy for AATD should therefore comprise both endogenous Z-AAT suppression and M-AAT overexpression. We designed a dual-function rAAV3B (df-rAAV3B) construct, which was effective at transducing hepatocytes, resulting in a considerable decrease of Z-AAT levels and safe M-AAT augmentation in mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This protocol allows for the detection of a c-Myc tag on alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) delivered to species that already have endogenous AAT such as non-human primates allowing reliable and repeatable semi-quantitation of serum levels of AAT.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF