HEMATOLOGY

The Therapeutic Approach for High-Risk CLL

Clinical Management of Relapsed CLL

Boston University Medical Center has announced that Matthew Kulke, MD, will serve as its chief of the Section of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine, effective March 1, 2018. Kulke will also obtain the roles of deputy director of the BU-BMC Cancer Center, medical director of the Clinical Cancer Center at BMC, and the Zoltan Kohn Professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine.

According to an updated analysis of the POLLUX trial, progression-free survival remained superior over time in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma treated with combination therapy that included the anti-CD38 antibody daratumumab.

Andrew L. Pecora, MD, President of the Physician Services Division and Chief Innovation Officer at Hackensack Meridian Health, discusses preliminary safety and efficacy data for combined checkpoint inhibition with ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) as consolidation therapy following autologous stem cell transplant in patients with multiple myeloma and non-Hodkin lymphoma.

Multiple Myeloma

Anas Younes, MD, Chief of Lymphoma Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the interim analysis of a study exploring the safety and efficacy of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with obinutuzumab (Gazya) and bendamustine in patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma.

Based on data from the phase III 482 study, denosumab (Xgeva) has been granted FDA approval for the prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with multiple myeloma, according to Amgen, the developer of the RANK ligand inhibitor.

Eltrombopag (Promacta) has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for use in combination with standard immunosuppressive therapy for the first-line treatment of patients with severe aplastic anemia.