HEMATOLOGY

According to findings from a phase II study released by Amgen, monotherapy with blinatumomab (Blincyto) showed promising complete remission (CR) or CR with partial hematological recovery (CRh) rates in adult patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Peter Voorhees, MD, associate professor, School of Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill, Clinical Research, Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Program, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a phase II study examining daratumumab for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

CPX-351 demonstrated a complete response (CR) or CR with incomplete hematologic recovery rate of 47.7% in elderly patients with untreated secondary acute myeloid leukemia.

Treatment with the combination of idelalisib and ofatumumab demonstrated an improvement in objective response rates, progression-free survival, and lymph node response compared with ofatumumab alone in patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Treatment with ibrutinib plus the anti-CD20 antibody ublituximab was shown to be safe with an objective response rate of 95% in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Jesus G. Berdeja, MD, director of Myeloma Research, senior investigator, Hematologic Malignancies Principal Investigator, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses a phase I/II study of the combination of panobinostat and carfilzomib in patients with relapsed or relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Treatment with inotuzumab ozogamicin was found to be safe and effective in a phase III study for patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab demonstrated durable objective response rates in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma.

The IDH2 inhibitor AG-221 has demonstrated promising response rates in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and other hematologic malignancies.

Catherine M. Diefenbach, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses the efficacy of two doses of polatuzumab vedotin (POV) in patients with relapsed/refractory (RR) follicular lymphoma (FL).

The combination of ibrutinib with bendamustin plus rituximab (BR) demonstrated a significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with BR alone in patients with pretreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Treatment with obinutuzumab in combination with bendamustine nearly doubled progression-free survival compared with bendamustine alone in patients with rituximab-refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

While ibrutinib is a relatively new option in the treatment of B-cell NHL, it has convincing antitumor activity as a single agent in a wide variety of B-cell lymphoma subtypes and is a viable therapeutic option for patients.

Common AEs associated with brentuximab vedotin, such as peripheral neuropathy and neutropenia, are often manageable with modifications to dose and schedule.

Oncologists, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of patients with lung cancer will gather July 2015, at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California, for the 16th Annual International Lung Cancer (ILC) Conference.

Two presentations at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting linked a specific microRNA (miRNA), miR-34a, to an active area in immunotherapy, programed cell death-1 (PD-1) protein and its ligand, PD-L1.

Treatment with the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib could enhance the efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy without increasing toxicity for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Christopher Y. Park, MD, PhD, hematopathologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses some of the biggest challenges in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Venetoclax (GDC-0199/ABT-199), a Bcl-2 inhibitor, has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The designation is specific to those patients who harbor a 17p deletion (del[17p]).

Bart L. Scott, MD, assistant member, clinical research division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses breakthrough topics in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), such as mutational abnormalities.

Various isoforms of PI3Ks exist, including the delta (δ) and gamma (γ) isoforms, which show a preferential expression in cells of the immune system.

Topline findings from the phase III COMPLEMENT 2 study indicated that treatment with ofatumumab (Arzerra) plus fludarabine and cyclophosphamide significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide alone in patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

MedImmune Limited, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC, and Celgene International II Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, have formed a strategic collaboration for the development and commercialization of AstraZeneca’s anti-programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) agent MEDI4736.

The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy JCAR017 elicited a 91% complete remission rate in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Despite their promise, checkpoint inhibitors are not effective in every patient, and research suggests the STING (stimulator of interferon genes) pathway may hold important clues as to why some tumors fail to respond.