HEMATOLOGY

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Katy Rezvani, MD, discussed the potential she sees with CAR NK cells. She also highlighted some of the challenges with both CAR T-cell therapy in patients with CLL, as well as challenges to overcome with CAR NK cells in this patient population.

Sham Mailankody, MBBS, discusses current treatment options and shifting preferences, especially toward triplet combinations, for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, as well as emerging immunotherapy treatment options.

Duvelisib (Copiktra) has been approved by the FDA for the&nbsp;treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma or relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma.&nbsp;Both indications are for the treatment of patients who have received at least 2 prior therapies.

The partial clinical hold previously placed on&nbsp;trials examining tazemetostat in patients with various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies has been lifted by the FDA and enrollment has been reopened.

Based on data from the phase III MURANO trial, the European Medicines Agency&rsquo;s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended the approval of venetoclax&nbsp;for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least 1 previous therapy. AbbVie, a co-developer of venetoclax with Roche, announced the CHMP&rsquo;s decision in a news release.

Combinations of novel drugs used for treating patients with lymphomas may have the potential to improve responses and overcome resistance to therapy but can be accompanied by unexpected adverse events that demand careful monitoring, Kieron Dunleavy, MD, cautioned during the 2018 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference.

<em>Targeted Oncology</em>&trade; will launch its third &ldquo;Expert Perspective: Virtual Tumor Board&rdquo; on Monday, September 24.&nbsp;Each Virtual Tumor Board is a video-editorial discussion that features key opinion leaders from a specific oncological field considering options for treating patients based on case scenarios. This episode will focus on multiple myeloma.

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology</em>, Jorge E. Cortes, MD, discussed the results from the QuANTUM-R trial, as well as some other studies investigating the use of quizartinib in different patient populations in AML.

Quick progress was seen with a novel class of agents, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies, in the setting of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma&mdash;a swift jump from early phase clinical trials to FDA-approved products.

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, senior member of the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the current treatment landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Despite progress seen with immune checkpoint inhibitors in Hodgkin lymphoma, there remains an unmet need for greater responses, which could be filled by potential combination approaches, according to Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD.

While significant progress has been made in the fight against cancer, including a decline in cancer deaths, the number of people projected to be diagnosed with cancer is on the rise, and there is still more work to be done, according to the newly released American Association for Cancer Research Cancer Progress Report.

Triple-negative myelofibrosis makes up 10% to 15% of patients with myelofibrosis, but it is associated with higher rates of leukemic transformation and poorer survival. Investigators at the University of Michigan set out to better understand the disease and found that the clinical, cytogenetic, and molecular features of triple-negative myelofibrosis were heterogeneous.

The combination of selinexor and dexamethasone induced an overall response rate of 26.2% and a median overall survival of 8.6 months in patients with penta-refractory multiple myeloma, according to phase IIb results presented at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Despite decades of drug development and a deepening understanding of the biology of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, physicians haven&rsquo;t seen much improvement in cure rates, Thomas E. Witzig, MD, said during a presentation at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Laura Michaelis, MD, associate professor of medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, discusses thrombotic risk for patients with essential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera.

Consistent benefit was seen with carfilzomib (Kyprolis)-based regimens across subgroups of patients with multiple myeloma in the ASPIRE and ENDEAVOR trials, according to updated safety data reported at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Adding the combination of venetoclax (Venclexta) and navitoclax (ABT-263) to chemotherapy induced an objective response rate of 66.7% in adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma, according to results from a small phase I study presented at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

In a presentation during the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting, Terry J. Fry, MD, discussed some of the data that have been seen so far with CD19- and CD22-direct CAR T cells, and addressed resistance to these products. &nbsp;

Moxetumomab pasudotox has been approved by the FDA for the&nbsp;treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia who have received at least 2 prior lines of therapy, including treatment with a purine nucleoside analog.

Predisposition to forms of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in pediatric patients can be caused by either classical inherited bone marrow failure syndromes or recently discovered genetic predisposition syndrome with autosomal dominant inheritance, Marcin Wlodarski, MD, explained.

Abdulraheem Yacoub, MD, associate professor of Hematology at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, discusses treatment beyond hydroxyurea in patients with polycythemia vera.<br /> &nbsp;

Minimal residual disease data from the phase III MURANO trial has been added to the label for venetoclax (Venclexta) by the FDA for its&nbsp;approved use in combination with rituximab (Rituxan) for previously-treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The adoption of intensive pediatric treatment regimens has resulted in improved survival for adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia over the past decade, said Wendy Stock, MD, at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Hydroxyurea has been the primary treatment for polycythemia vera for decades and it works for the majority of patients, said Abdulraheem Yacoub, MD. However, there is a subset of patients who develop resistance or intolerance to hydroxyurea, and investigators are working to find a solution for those patients.