Waldenström macroglobulinemia is a type of lymphoma, characterized by aberrant proliferation of antibody producing immune cells, which leads to abnormally high levels of circulating antibodies and a thickening of the blood. Thanks to the continued work of Prof. Dr. Christian Buske, Medical Director of the Institute for Experimental Tumor Research at the University Hospital Ulm and PI of CRC 1279, more treatment options have become available in recent years. For his achievement, Prof. Buske received the Jan Gösta Waldenström award at the 11^th international workshop for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia.

In 2013, Prof. Buske established the “European Consortium for Waldenströms Macrglobulinemia” (ECWM), with the goal of performing large, international clinical studies to develop new therapies. One of the clinical studies of the ECWM, dubbed iNNOVATE, investigated a combination therapy utilizing Rituximab, a B-cell targeting antibody and Ibrutinib, a BTK-inhibitor, which significantly reduced the risk of relapse. Results were highly promising and were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Based on these study data this new therapy was approved for use in the US as well as Europe. Currently, Prof. Buske continues to develop safe and effective chemotherapy-free treatment methods in a large academic trial program in collaboration with the Department of Internal Medicine III of the University Hospital Ulm.