HEMATOLOGY

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Jennifer Woyach, MD, discussed the rationale for evaluating a response-dependent treatment discontinuation strategy for older patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She highlighted the importance of determining an optimal discontinuation strategy in this patient population.

Dasatinib, a second-generation Abl-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, used concurrently with an intensive chemotherapy regimen yields superior outcomes compared with imatinib plus chemotherapy in pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to the results from the first randomized phase III clinical trial comparing the 2 drugs in this patients&nbsp;<a>population</a>.

Rajat Bannerji, MD, PhD, discusses the safety and efficacy results of REGN1979 in the follicular lymphoma cohort enrolled in the phase I study of patients with relapsed/refractory B-Cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma who were previously treated with an anti-CD20 agent.

Integrating a geriatric assessment into the care of older adults who are receiving cancer treatment in communi&shy;ty oncology practices improves patient and caregiver satisfaction and encourages commu&shy;nication about aging-related concerns, accord&shy;ing to results of a clinical trial that enrolled 541 patients with advanced cancer.

A rolling submission of a New Drug Application for umbralisib has been initiated by drug developer, TG Therapeutics, Inc, which is requesting accelerated approval of the agent from the FDA for the treatment of patients with previously treated marginal zone lymphoma and follicular lymphoma. The company reported in a press release that one application was considered to be acceptable for both drugs and the NDA will be completed in the first half of 2020.<br /> &nbsp;

The autologous dendric cell vaccine targeting Wilms tumor-1 antigens with or without preferentially Expressed Antigen in Melanoma was well tolerated and feasible in patients with acute myeloid leukemia, meeting the co-primary end points of the phase I/II clinical trial.