ASPHO Conference

Discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment may be a possibility for children with chronic myeloid leukemia and, because they could be on-treatment for decades, treatment-free remission is even more important for pediatric patients than for adults.

Eltrombopag (Promacta) boosted the platelet count in a 13-year-old boy with HIV-associated thrombocytopenia, according to case study results presented at the 2018 American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Conference.

Elissa Engel, MD, pediatric resident, University of South Florida, discusses the successful use of eltrombopag (Promacta) in a pediatric patient with HIV-related thrombocytopenia.

The Children's Oncology Group is currently involved in 5 studies exploring targeted therapies in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that could eventually change the face of pediatric NHL treatment.

A first-time study of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in youths with Down syndrome-associated relapsed/refractory (r/r) acute lymphoblastic leukemia produced high remission rates and toxicity results that were similar to those observed in patients with r/r ALL.

Tazemetostat demonstrated promising antitumor activity in pediatric patients with INI1-negative solid tumors.

Susan N. Chi, MD, senior physician, director, Pediatric Brain Tumor Clinical Trials Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, assistant professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, discusses a phase I multicenter trial of tazemetostat in children with INI1-negative tumors.

Eliminating T cells carrying alpha and beta chains of the T-cell receptor reduced the risk for graft-versus-host-disease while producing "excellent" engraftment kinetics for young patients with acute leukemia who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

2B8T2M, a fusion of the IL-15 superantagonist ALT-803, and 4 single-chains of rituximab (Rituxan) significantly boosted the cytotoxicity of expanded peripheral blood natural killer cells against Burkitt lymphoma cells in in vitro testing.

Kelly Bailey, MD, PhD, physician, department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, discusses key molecular pathways in pediatric bone sarcoma.

Brian D. Crompton, MD, physician, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, assistant professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, discusses the utilization of liquid biopsies in pediatric patients with sarcoma.

CAR T-cell therapy can induce next generation sequencing negativity in patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia, suggesting a "synergistic" relationship with hematopoietic cell transplant.