Hematologic Oncology

Fifteen world-renowned leaders in hematology and oncology whose research has improved and extended the lives of millions of patients make up the 2019 class of Giants of Cancer Care® award winners.

The FDA has approved ruxolitinib for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients ≥12 years of age with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 8-3 against approving a new drug application for quizartinib for adult patients with relapsed/refractory FLT3-ITD–positive acute myeloid leukemia.

Lyndsey Runaas, MD, discusses the newfound outlook for patients with FLT3- and IDH1/2-mutant acute myeloid leukemia given recent regulatory approvals and trial data.

Saurabh Chhabra, MD, MS, highlights emerging agents in the field of relapsed/refractory myeloma that have oncologists optimistic for the future.

Laura Michaelis, MD, highlights the many ruxolitinib combinations under investigation and provided insight into the role of interferon in myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Therapy for patients with multiple myeloma encompasses many agents and potential combinations, but truly personalizing care will require knowing how those agents interact for maximum efficacy and incorporating patient preferences for toxicity into the care plan.

Binod Dhakal, MD, assistant professor, Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses early data with bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) antibody constructs in multiple myeloma.

Eric Stephen Winer, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the FDA approval of ivosidenib in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

The FDA has approved a supplemental new drug application for ivosidenib as a single agent for the first-line treatment of adult patients with IDH1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia, as detected by an FDA-approved test, who are ≥75 years old or are ineligible to receive intensive chemotherapy.

Eric S. Winer, MD, highlights the targeted therapies that have made the biggest clinical impact for patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Jacqueline S. Garcia, MD, highlights key progress made in acute myeloid leukemia and remaining questions with maintenance strategies.

Although TKIs have significantly improved life expectancy for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, investigators are actively examining ways to safely discontinue treatment without sacrificing benefit.

Giada Bianchi, MD, physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, instructor in medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses treatment options for transplant eligible patients with multiple myeloma.

Nathan T. Connell, MD, MPH, shares key updates in the rapidly evolving treatment paradigms of benign hematologic disorders.

Omar Nadeem, MD, a physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses sequencing challenges in multiple myeloma.

Christine N. Duncan, MD, discusses the current components of CAR T-cell therapy in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A marketing authorization application has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency for luspatercept for the treatment of adult patients with very low- to intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndrome–associated anemia with ring sideroblasts who require red blood cell transfusions and have not received or are ineligible to receive erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

The combination of lenalidomide (Revlimid) with rituximab (Rituxan), cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP; R2-CHOP) did not improve progression-free survival compared with placebo and R-CHOP as a frontline therapy in patients with activated B-cell-type diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, missing the primary endpoint of the phase III ROBUST trial.

Charles G. Mullighan, MBBS, MSc, MD, member, St. Jude Faculty, deputy director, Comprehensive Cancer Center, co-leader, Hematological Malignancies Program, medical director, St. Jude Biorepository, William E. Evans Endowed Chair, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses germline predisposition to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Tagraxofusp led to a 90% overall response rate as a first-line therapy in patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm.

Neil P. Shah, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses TKI treatment discontinuation in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Advancements in targeted therapy and immunotherapy have led to a rapidly increasing number of patients with metastatic cancer becoming patients with chronic cancer.

Omar Nadeem, MD, highlights exciting approaches that have emerged in relapsed/refractory myeloma, such as CAR T-cell therapy, and shares unanswered questions that future research should address.

Paul G. Richardson, MD, highlights the many promising agents that have emerged in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in recent years, remaining challenges, and hope for continued progress.

The FDA has scheduled an Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee hearing for May 14, 2019, to discuss a new drug application for pexidartinib for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor.

Daratumumab was associated with low overall response rates in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma, missing the primary endpoint of a phase II trial published in Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia.1

Courtney D. DiNardo, MD, MSCE, discusses the findings of the phase I dose-escalating study that led to the initial approval of ivosidenib for adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia with an IDH1 mutation.

Quizartinib, a novel small molecule FLT3 inhibitor, is moving through the pipeline of new drugs under development for patients with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia, part of a menu of targeted treatment options that is expanding as investigators learn more about the molecular heterogeneity of the disease.

Investigators at Cleveland Clinic have demonstrated that the direct oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban significantly reduces venous thromboembolism (VTE) and VTE-related death for patients with high-risk cancers treated in the outpatient setting.