When I was first diagnosed the names we followed with great care were Dr Kanti Rai, Dr Terry Hamblin, and Dr Michael Keating. These men were the true pioneers in diagnosing CLL and providing some relief from this disease, about which little was known previously.
Thus it is with sincere thanks that we wish now Dr Michael Keating a long and happy retirement.
I copy from the CLL Global Research Foundation..
After over 50 years of dedicated patient care, saving hearts, spirits, and lives, we bid farewell to a true medical pioneer.
Dr. Michael J. Keating has officially retired from his clinical practice.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Keating for not only being an exceptional physician but also a compassionate friend and unwavering champion to all who were fortunate enough to cross his path.
Countless individuals around the world have been positively impacted by his expertise and caring demeanor.
Dr. Keating's influence goes far beyond the patients he treated in person. His tireless efforts in advancing the treatment landscape for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) have left an indelible mark on the medical community and will continue to benefit patients for years to come.
As we celebrate his illustrious clinical career, we also recognize that his legacy will endure through the countless lives he has touched. Dr. Keating is continuing his research endeavors, collaborating with some of the greatest minds in CLL research and acting as a mentor to the next generation of CLL clinicians. Thank you, Dr. Keating, for your unwavering dedication and profound contributions.
With, I feel sure, many others in this community, I say THANK YOU Dr Keating.
Dick
Written by
Kwenda
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Totally and absolutely Dick! When I was first diagnosed over 11 years ago, I can recall sitting in bed reading an article from Dr. Keating to my husband. He was talking about therapies that seemed so far away from reality then but are now in successful practice. He made me feel hopeful and gave me belief at a time when I was very scared.
I wish Dr. Keating the wonderful retirement he deserves and thank him for making such an immense contribution to the CLL world and its grateful patients. I’m pretty sure he’ll still be involved in research. I seem to recall him once saying he wouldn’t retire until a cure had been found but maybe I just imagined that 😉.
When we were first diagnosed, and naturally at that time things looked very dark, these early CLL pioneers gave us hope that there might one day be a better future.
It was Dr Keating's persistence in proving it was possible to achieve an acceptable level of toxicity when using fludarabine (the F in FCR*), that with the later addition of rituximab, led to the first treatment for CLL that extended life expectancy. Other researchers considered fludarabine too toxic for CLL treatment. Some early FCR trial participants recently entered their third decade in remission after a 6 cycle (24 week) treatment course. (About 55% of those who are IGHV mutated are likely to achieve indefinite remissions, the catch being that FCR is considered best for those under 65 years of age.)
Dr Keating hails from Melbourne, Australia and Australians - and thereby the world, has benefited from the establishment of a CLL research nexus between his old home town and M D Anderson in Houston Texas*. Dr Philip Thompson has recently returned to Melbourne after gaining experience at M D Anderson healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo... and prior to that, Dr Con Tam did the same. A few years back, Dr Tam became aware that BeiGene, a Chinese pharmaceutical company, was struggling to make inroads into the international CLL market and helped them establish some clinical trials in Australia and then internationally. From that association, we now have Brunkisa/zanubrutinib approved for the treatment of CLL, arguably the best BTKi drug with regard to efficiency and a low off-target protocol (so less side effects/adverse events than ibrutinib).
BeiGene have also extended internationally, the trial of BGB-11417, a BCL-2 inhibitor (competitor to venetoclax) after establishing Australian trials healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
* From the Society of Hematologic Oncology section of the latest CLL Global Research Foundation newsletter
"One noteworthy abstract, EXAB-210-CLL, has been authored by the esteemed trio of Drs. John Seymour, Philip Thompson, and Constantine Tam. All three individuals were mentored by our founder, Dr. Michael Keating, and are longstanding members of the CLL Global Research Foundation Alliance. This particular abstract delves into the history of FCR, its potential for curative treatment, and the reasons behind its displacement by more modern targeted agents."
Dr Keating's legacy lives on in more and more of us living on. Thanks Dr Keating!
In their abstract about FCR treatment presented at SOHO 2023 this week, the authors, Drs John Seymour, Con Tam and Philip Thompson, acknowledge Dr Keating's enormous contribution saying:
"This reflective history acknowledges the profound impact of the groundbreaking lifelong work of Profs Michael Keating and William Plunkett in developing the FCR regimen and the authors, all hugely grateful to have been mentored by Prof Keating, dedicate this work to him." clml-soho2023.elsevierdigit... pp 100-101
We're so fortunate to be the beneficiaries of his work which continues through the endeavours of those he has mentored.
I add my thanks and wish Dr Keating a long and happy retirement.
I note that Professor Seymour is just about now presenting on this topic at the SOHO 2023 Conference - "How We Developed a Curative Therapy for CLL and Stopped Using It - John Seymour, MBBS, FRACP, PhD"
I remember my wife being diagnosed with CLL and given 2 years to live. It was about a year later we caught Dr. Keating on a video talking about Venetoclax and its effectiveness, but not yet approved. Watching this wise older gentleman speak with such authority gave us hope.
When the FDA approved it, we began using it before the end of the year. Needless to say, we always watched any conference or gathering where he spoke or was interviewed. If you do not know him, he was like a grandfather everyone wished they had with the sense of humor to boot. His laugh was infectious, and we still hope he makes a cameo appearance on special occasions.
My knowledge of Dr Michael Keating was second hand through the reports from his patients and reading his profile; what a legacy. And I always smiled when I read that he was in the habit of hugging his patients - how wonderful. (and of course he is an Aussie 😊).
Kwenda you mentioned another name I hold in the highest esteem , Dr Terry Hamblin, who did such ground breaking work for CLLers; and was also such a humane person - I was privileged to have email exchanges with him via the old AOL supported CLL group (Granny Barb etc) and he seemed to be endlessly patient when I asked him things.
If there is a guardian to the life of retirement, then Michael Keating should be waved into the fast lane.
Now can anyone kindly remind me when the FC combination (in later FCR) was first trialled for CLL? (It will be documented by the German CLL studies of course)
There is a hole in my brain that needs filling with that information.
Upon the shock of being surprisingly dx'd May 2015 (which seems like an eternity ago) I, like most of yalls, started doing some "what the heck is CLL?" research.
Dr. Keating's name was one of the first names and optimistic voices that came up.
And, after listening to what he had to say about CLL in both videos and articles, I thought, this disease sounds like something that could be dealt with in a hopeful way.
His positive attitude, along with almost zero symptoms, let me put CLL in the back of my mind and keep my diagnosis private. Altho I did keep up with the latest treatments on the CLL horizon.
I never met the good doctor, however he is one of the main voices that let me know this is most likely a controllable condition.
Dr. Keatings reports and enthusiasm about the newer MAB treatments, moved my thinking along the lines of: "when I need treatment, it's gonna be a fixed duration of Gazyva & Venetoclax", and thankfully thats eggsackly how it worked out when O&V started for me, fall 2019.
Anyway, wishing Dr Mike a fun and healthy and, long long long retirement.
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