Keith Stewart, MB, ChB, MBA
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Interview Date: July 28, 2020

What's the fastest way to find new drugs that can be used in myeloma treatment? Because the typical drug cycle is 17 years from the time an idea becomes a new drug, it may mean rapidly screening existing drugs being used for other diseases. The thalidomide story is a perfect example of that. Now, with robotics, this type of screening is possible. Dr. Keith Stewart (now at Princess Margaret) and his Mayo Clinic Scottsdale colleagues performed deep research to screen over 400 existing drugs to see if they worked against myeloma with some interesting findings. Proteasome inhibitors worked well, immunomodulators worked only inside the patient's body and other drugs like selinexor and panobinostat worked well in more sophisticated myeloma. The research identified a new class of drugs called PIKfyve inhibitors that could also be effective. We applaud this effort and believe it could lead to a faster myeloma cure. 

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