HEMATOLOGY

Fixed-duration treatment with the combination of venetoclax plus obinutuzumab results in superior progression-free survival and high rates of undetectable minimal residual disease in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia than chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab.

Patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma showed durable responses with the combination of polatuzumab-vedotin, obinutuzumab, and lenalidomide, according to results presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting.

Obinutuzumab combined with lenalidomide resulted in early and very high complete response rates in previously untreated patients with follicular lymphoma in a single-center phase II study. At a median follow-up of 25 months, the 2-year progression-free survival was 96%.

An open-label, single-arm, phase II study in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia demonstrated the frontline AVO triplet, comprised of acalabrutinib, venetoclax, and obinutuzumab, achieved undetectable minimal residual disease in the bone marrow in 48% of patients after only 8 monthly cycles of therapy, according to lead author Benjamin L. Lampson, MD, PhD, who presented the findings at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting.

Updated follow-up analysis of the phase III E1912 study showed that ibrutinib/rituximab induced higher rates of progression-free survival (PFS) when compared against fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab in patients ≤70 years with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, who presented the findings at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting.

Patients <70 years old with chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated in the minimal residual disease (MRD)–cohort of the phase II CAPTIVATE trial had undetectable MRD rates of 75% and 72% in the peripheral blood and bone marrow, respectively, with the frontline combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax, according to findings presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting.

Jacqueline C. Barrientos, MD, MS, discusses exciting novel combination strategies that are being presented at the 2019 ASH Annual meeting.

Patients with refractory large B-cell lymphoma who were treated with Axi-cel had a 3-year overall survival rate of 47%, according to an updated analysis of the phase II ZUMA-1 trial. 

Complete remissions were achieved in greater than 20% of patients with highly refractory non-Hodgkin lymphomas who had been previously been treated with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy with Mosunetuzumab, a novel bispecific antibody, according to study results presented at the 2019 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

Patients with treatment-naïve chronic lymphocytic leukemia experienced a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival with acalabrutinib as a single agent or in combination with obinutuzumab when compared with obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil, according to results from the phase III ELEVATE-TN trial presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting.

Encouraging signs of dose-dependent efficacy, as well as a promising safety profile, were observed in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who were treated with CC-93269, a human IgG1-based T-cell engager that binds to BCMA and CD3 epsilon in a 2+1 format.

Patients with a difficult-to-treat form of multiple myeloma who were treated with a novel, bispecific anti-BCMA/anti-CD38 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy experienced promising responses and a manageable safety profile, according to results of a study that were presented at the 61st Annual American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.<br /> &nbsp;

A multi-antigen off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cell therapy has been included in the ASH annual meeting spotlight due to exciting preclinical evidence. An investigational new drug application was approved&nbsp;in September 2019 for the therapy, labeled as FT596, developed by Fate Therapeutics, and human trials are scheduled to start in the first quater of 2020.

Hodgkin lymphoma represents approximately 10% of all cases of malignant lymphoma. This group of diseases most commonly affects adolescent and young adults, although approximately 20% to 25% of patients are aged &ge;60 years at diagnosis.

Justin Taylor, MD, discusses the rationale for an ongoing phase II trial that is exploring the combination of vemurafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, plus the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab in previously untreated patients with classical hairy cell leukemia.

When treatment decisions are being made regarding chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), patient age should be an important factor. CLL is a disease of the elderly, with more than 40% of all patients &gt;75 years.

Onvansertib inhibits tumor growth in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are resistant to venetoclax, according to the in-vitro and in-vivo data from a phase II trial announced in a press release issued by Trovagene, Inc.

Abatacept has been granted a Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA for the prevention of moderate to severe acute graft-versus-host disease in hematopoietic stem cell transplants from unrelated donors.

A phase II study of experimental anti-mitochondrial drug devimstat in patients with relapsed/refractory Burkitt&rsquo;s lymphoma/leukemia has been expanded to include patients at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, according to a press release from Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Andrew M. Evens, DO, MSc, discusses the significance of the results from the phase III ECHELON-1 trial in which patients with stage III/IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma were treated with the combination of brentuximab vedotin plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine.

In November 2019, the FDA approved a number of treatments, including acalabrutinib for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic leukemia, as well as zanubrutinib for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma. A biosimilar for pegfilgrastim was also approved under indications.

Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD, discusses the&nbsp;chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment spectrum and the explosion of targeted therapies in the field.&nbsp;

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, discusses the rapid developments in the chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment landscape.

The treatment spectrum for chronic lymphocytic leukemia has expanded significantly with the development and approval of several new agents.

Following the FDA&rsquo;S approval of gilteritinib in November 2018, adult patients with FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia were able to receive the FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitor when they relapsed or became refractory to a prior therapy. The agent has demonstrated promising efficacy in the population of patients with AML harboring FLT3 mutations.