Malgorzata Firczuk
Immunologist in Warsaw who leads research on the weak points of B-cell leukemias and lymphomas, from the thioredoxin antioxidant system to combinations of mTORC1 inhibitors with antibody drugs
Laboratory of Immunology, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences · Department of Immunology, Medical University of Warsaw
In DAB2026, Malgorzata Firczuk's group in Warsaw asked whether blocking mTORC1, the growth-control complex, could help antibody drugs that target CD20, a protein on the surface of B cells. In B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia, CD20 is often low. The team found that mTORC1 inhibitors raise CD20 through AKT and the transcription factor FOXO1 and push the leukemia cells towards a more mature B-cell state, which made anti-CD20 antibodies work better, including in high-risk disease with IKZF1 deletions. This is preclinical work that supports testing the combination; it does not show benefit in patients.
Firczuk works at the Department of Immunology of the Medical University of Warsaw and the Laboratory of Immunology of the Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, and has about two dozen PubMed papers on leukemia and lymphoma. A recurring theme is how leukemia cells handle oxidative stress. In 2024, as senior author, Firczuk reported that the antioxidant enzyme peroxiredoxin-1 is high in Philadelphia-positive B-ALL, and that blocking the thioredoxin system together with a DNA repair route called non-homologous end joining makes these cells much more sensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | M | mTORC1 inhibition upregulates CD20 and enhances anti-CD20 antibody efficacy in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia DAB2026 Senior author: led the study showing that mTORC1 inhibition raises CD20 and improves anti-CD20 antibody efficacy in B-cell precursor ALL. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 1
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Malgorzata Firczuk.
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- Agnieszka Dąbkowska Leukemia researcher in Warsaw who works on new drug combinations for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, including mTORC1 inhibitors that make leukemia cells easier targets for anti-CD20 antibodies
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