HEMATOLOGY

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.

Ruxolitinib (Jakafi) is the only FDA-approved agent for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis, making resistance to this agent a particularly difficult treatment challenge. Combinations with ruxolitinib may reinvigorate the impact of the JAK inhibitor in relapsed, progressive, or intolerant patients, explained Robyn M. Scherber, MD, MPH, in a presentation at the 2018 SOHO Annual Meeting.

Robyn M. Scherber, MD, MPH, physician, The Mays Cancer Center, the newly named center of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, addresses the management of patients with myelofibrosis after failure on ruxolitinib (Jakafi).<br /> &nbsp;

Combining cladribine and low-dose cytarabine alternating with decitabine (Dacogen) resulted in high response rates and improved survival compared with currently established low-intensity therapies for patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are older than 60, according to results newly published in <em>Lancet Haematology.</em>

Kamal Menghrajani, MD, a hematologist/oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the latest advancement in the research of acute myeloid leukemia. After treating this disease the same way with traditional chemotherapy for over 40 years, researchers have finally come to an understanding of what is happening in the AML cells, leading to a more precise treatment of these patients.

Gabriela S. Hobbs, MD, clinical director of the Leukemia Service and assistant in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, shares her advice for a community oncologist treating a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Deepu Madduri, MD, assistant professor at Mount Sinai Hospital, discusses the biggest challenge oncologists currently face since the introduction of novel agents to the field of multiple myeloma.&nbsp;

A look back at all the&nbsp;FDA news&nbsp;that happened in the month of&nbsp;August 2018, including several new approvals, a priority review, breakthrough therapy designations, and more in a variety of cancer types.

An expert in hematologic malignancies, Harry Erba, MD, PhD, has been appointed director of both the Leukemia Program and Phase I Development in Hematologic Malignancies in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy in the Department of Medicine at the Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina.

A supplemental biologics license application for dasatinib (Sprycel) for use in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of pediatric patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome&ndash;positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia has been accepted by the FDA.

Blinatumomab (Blincyto) has been approved by the European&nbsp;Commission for the treatment of&nbsp;pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome&ndash;negative, CD19-positive B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is refractory or in relapse after receiving at least 2 prior therapies or in relapse after receiving prior allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Noopur Raje, MD, discusses&nbsp;the latest treatment advances in multiple myeloma, including the promising results&nbsp;seen with&nbsp;the anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy bb2121 in patients with relapsed/refractory disease.

Axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) has been approved by the European Commission as a treatment for&nbsp;adult patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, following at least 2 lines of systemic therapy.&nbsp;

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology&nbsp;</em>during the2nd Annual Live Medical Crossfire: Hematologic Malignancies meeting, Alexander M. Lesokhin, MD, assistant attending physician in the Department of Medicine and Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discussed the current treatment landscape of multiple myeloma and where he predicts the field will be in the next decade. He also shared his thoughts on the current research in CAR T-cell therapy.

Tisagenlecleucel has gained approval from the European Commission as a treatment for adult&nbsp;patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that is relapsed or refractory after 2 or more lines of systemic therapy, or patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is refractory, in relapse posttransplant, or in second or later relapse.

Based on findings from the phase III iNNOVATE trial, ibrutinib has been approved by the FDA in combination with rituximab for patients with Waldenstr&ouml;m macroglobulinemia across all lines of therapy.<br /> &nbsp;

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, senior member of the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the biggest challenge in treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Polycythemia vera is a myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by clonal hematopoiesis and an absolute increase in the red blood cell mass, with an associated leukocytosis and thrombocytosis. Virtually all patients with PV harbor a mutation in the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase JAK2, with the majority of patients harboring the classic JAK2.

Kerry Rogers, MD, assistant professor at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a short-term&nbsp;treatment&nbsp;strategy for&nbsp;reducing tumor burden and the risk for tumor lysis syndrome in patients with&nbsp;chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Preclinical and phase I proof for CYAD-01 as well as preliminary findings from the ongoing THINK trial were presented at the 2018 American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Meeting.

During a presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research&rsquo;s inaugural Advances in Malignant Lymphoma meeting, Mehta-Shah, associate professor in the Department of Medicine with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, presented preliminary data showing how new pathway-dependent strategies using novel agent combinations may represent a new way to treat patients with T-cell lymphomas.

Targeting EZH2, the catalytic subunit of the multiprotein PRC2, may represent an attractive therapeutic objective in malignant lymphoma, Vincent Ribrag, MD, told his audience at the American&nbsp;Association for Cancer Research&rsquo;s inaugural Advances in Malignant Lymphoma meeting.

A biologics license application for SL-401 (tagraxofusp, Elzonris) has been granted a priority review by the FDA as a treatment for patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm,&nbsp; Stemline Therapeutics,&nbsp;the developer of the novel stemness inhibitor, has announced.

Susan M. O&rsquo;Brien, MD,&nbsp;discusses some of the latest intriguing data in the treatment of CLL, and the growing importance of mutation status.