HEMATOLOGY

David J. Straus, MD, discusses the toxicities associated with the combination of brentuximab vedotin plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine in patients with stage III/IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma, according to data from the 3-year update of the ECHELON-1 trial presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Patients with early-stage, asymptomatic, newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia showed improved survival outcomes with ibrutinib monotherapy compared with placebo, according to results from phase III CLL12 study presented at the 2019 European Hematology Association Congress.<br /> &nbsp;

Jorge E. Cortes, MD, discusses the results from the ENESTFreedom study, which evaluated the use of nilotinib as a treatment for patients with BCR-ABL1&ndash;positive chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase.<br /> &nbsp;

New data from the phase II/III IMerge trial show that imetelstat may allow for transfusion independence for patients with debilitating anemia caused by myelodysplastic syndrome,&nbsp;according to results presented at the&nbsp;2019 EHA Congress.<br /> &nbsp;

A cohort of cancer centers was selected to serve as models for identifying key strategies for racial and ethnic minority group engagement in clinical trials. On the basis of several qualifying criteria, such as sustained accrual of minorities into clinical cancer research, an established minority population &ge;10% in the overall catchment, an established clinical trial infrastructure, and a formal community outreach program, the investigators identified 8 cancer centers for participation.

In a case-based-style discussion, Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, MD, and Wells Messersmith, MD, reviewed the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer whose tumors express rare gene mutations or molecular signatures, such as <em>NTRK</em> fusions.

Combined treatment with ibrutinib and venetoclax was shown to be a safe and effective first-line oral regimen for high-risk and older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to findings from an open-label phase II trial published recently in the<em> New England Journal of Medicine</em>.<br /> &nbsp;

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, discusses the significance of the findings from TRANSCEND CLL 004, a phase I/II trial investigating the CAR T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Topline results from the ASCERTAIN trial of the&nbsp;cedazuridine and decitabine combination in patients with&nbsp;intermediate and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes or chronic myelomoncyctis leukemia showed that the&nbsp;phase III trial met its primary endpoint. The fixed-dose combination demonstrated a&nbsp;decitabine exposure equivalence of total 5-day dosing compared with intravenous decitabine in the study patient population.&nbsp;

Polatuzumab vedotin in combination with&nbsp;bendamustine and rituximab has been granted an accelerated approval from the FDA for the&nbsp;treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.<br /> &nbsp;

In an interview with <em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Naval G. Daver, MD, discussed the possibility of combination therapy in patients with AML. He highlights some of the most recent data to come out for this patient population, including for those harboring a <em>TP53</em> or <em>FLT3</em> mutation.

Jae H. Park, MD, discusses the current role and challenges in using CAR T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The 2 challenges now in this area are target selection and patient selection.