Hematologic Oncology

Manali Kamdar, MD, discusses the results of the phase 3 TRANSFORM trial in relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) that were presented during the 2021 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Orca-T significantly improved graft-vs-host disease–free relapse-free survival and time to engraftment, significantly reduced acute and chronic GVHD, and showed a trend toward improved overall survival vs standard of care in patients with serious hematologic malignancies

Dr. Coombs discusses research that will be presented at the upcoming 2021 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, including that with covalent and noncovalent BTK inhibitors, COVID-19 vaccinations, and time-limited combinations.

Not only is the 2021 ASH Annual Meeting bursting with more than 5000 abstracts unveiling pivotal data across a range of hematologic malignancies and disorders, but the conference will be held as a hybrid format after going fully virtual in 2020.

Steven L. Spitalnik, MD, discusses the goals for the Hemanext® blood storage system in patients with hematologic malignancies. 

Richard R. Furman, MD, leads the discussion on clinical implications from head-to-head trials of BTK inhibitors in the relapsed setting for patients with CLL.

Nitin Jain, MD, and Richard R. Furman, MD, review available treatment options for the treatment of CLL and discuss the safety and tolerability of these therapies.

Tycel Jovelle Phillips, MD, and Alexey Danilov, MD, share insights on common signs and symptoms of marginal zone lymphoma and approaching initial therapy.

Dr Tycel Jovelle Phillips reviews key ongoing trials in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma.

The FDA has granted priority review to the supplemental biologics license application for luspatercept-aamt for the treatment of anemia in adults with non–transfusion dependent β-thalassemia.

The FDA has approved rituximab plus chemotherapy for pediatric patients with previously untreated, advanced stage, CD20-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, Burkitt-like lymphoma, or mature B-cell acute leukemia.

Bijal Shah, MD, MS, discussed the results of the ZUMA-3 trial and how this approval will enhance the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor ALL.

The FDA has placed a partial clinical hold on the phase 1b KOMET-001 trial, which is examining KO-539 in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

Yi-Bin Chen, MD, discusses risk factors for developing chronic graft-vs-host disease in patients who receive an allogeneic transplant.

Joyce L. Neumann, PhD, APRN, AOCN, BMTCN, FAAN, discusses tapering steroids for patients with chronic graft-vs-host disease.

Expert hematologist-oncologists examine the use of tazemetostat based on a phase 2 trial for relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma and consider clinical implications.

Dr Alexey Danilov reviews the 2-year follow-up of the phase 2 CHRONOS-1 study evaluating the use of copanlisib monotherapy in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma.

David Sallman, MD, discusses incorporating mutational testing of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome into clinical practice, and strategies that can be utilized to treat this population.

The combination of enasidenib plus azacitidine was well tolerated and induced significantly improved response rates compared with azacitidine alone in patients with newly diagnosed, IDH2-mutant acute myeloid leukemia.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a biologics license application for betibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of adult, adolescent, and pediatric patients with β-thalassemia across all genotypes who require regular red blood cell transfusions.

Novel approaches with highly active, minimally toxic agents are needed to improve upon traditional chemotherapy and possibly eliminate chemotherapy altogether in the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Joyce L. Neumann, PhD, APRN, AOCN, BMTCN, FAAN, discusses the variability in cGVHD presentation, key symptoms of the disease in patients with cancer, and how the field is navigating between available therapies.

Tycel Jovelle Phillps, MD, shares second-line treatment approaches for the management of follicular lymphoma and examines the use of PI3K inhibitors.

Alexey Danilov, MD, and Tycel Jovelle Phillips, MD, provide insight on common signs and symptoms of follicular lymphoma (FL) and factors to consider when selecting first-line therapy.

Patients with lymphoid malignancies, especially those who have received recent anti-CD20 antibody therapy, have reduced humoral responses to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, and as such, should continue to take precautionary measures against COVID-19 infection irrespective of vaccination status.

The addition of quizartinib to chemotherapy resulted in a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival vs standard chemotherapy alone in patients with newly diagnosed, FLT3-ITD–positive acute myeloid leukemia.

Corey S. Cutler, MD, MPH, FRCPC, discusses the diagnostic and treatment landscape of chronic graft-vs-host disease.

Although mortality rates in patients with hematologic cancers who develop breakthrough COVID-19 cases after vaccination are high, there has been a significant decrease in incidence since vaccines have become available.

Closing out his discussion on chronic GVHD, Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, FRCPC, discusses belumosudil and how all 3 newly approved agents fit into the evolving treatment landscape.

Expert insight on the study design and results of REACH-3, which tested ruxolitinib in patients with steroid-refractory chronic GVHD.