LEUKEMIAS

David Steensma, MD, discusses how midostaurin could affect the treatment paradigm for acute leukemia. He says that while midostaurin is not currently approved by the FDA, studies show its potential usefulness when added to conventional induction platforms.

Novel BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax showed a near 80% overall response rate (ORR) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia harboring a chromosome 17p deletion.

Data from a phase III trial shows adding idelalisib to bendamustine and rituximab (BR) dropped the risk of progression and/or death by 67% when compared to BR alone in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The multikinase inhibitor midostaurin (PKC412) has been shown to nearly triple the median overall survival (OS) rates of patients with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in comparison to a placebo, according to the results of the prospective phase III trial CALGB 10603.

Stephen Nimer, MD, leukemia and lymphoma treatment specialist, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, discusses results of a study which examined Musashi2 as a requirement for maintaining activated myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) cells.

Michael Mauro, MD, discusses the side effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Where once limited treatment options existed for patients with CLL, medical oncologists now have a plethora of agents from which to choose, making disease management in CLL more effective with fewer toxicities.

A supplemental new drug application has been submitted to the FDA for ibrutinib in conjunction with bendamustine and rituximab. The combination would treat patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

While CLL patients have lived longer with the use of B-cell pathway inhibitors, they require diligent monitoring and even potential suspension to control adverse events.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a relatively rare malignancy in adults, with an estimated 6250 new cases and 1450 deaths expected in the United States in 2015. Although most patients achieve complete remission with conventional combination chemotherapy regimens, at least two-thirds of high-risk patients relapse.2 While overall survival for children has significantly improved in the last 30 years, newly diagnosed adults continue to have a poor 5-year OS rate, approximating 35%, depending on age and risk factors.

The anti-CD22 antibody-drug conjugate inotuzumab ozogamicin has been granted breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA as a potential treatment for relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients.

John C. Byrd, MD, on Hematologic Malignancies in Chicago about novel agents in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia, specifically about the emergence of new targeted therapies, including ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and idelalisib (Zydelig) and what clinicians should know about them.

Christoph Roellig, MD, University Hospital Dresden, Dresden, Germany, discusses FLT3 ITD/NPM1 mutation status for patients with AML who are in first remission.

Farhad Ravandi, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the treatment of patients with relapse/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Jennifer R. Brown, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses new drugs on the horizon for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

A new study suggests that the presence of persistent genetic mutations, 30 days after induction chemotherapy, predicted relapse and survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as well as intermediate-risk patients.

Venetoclax (ABT-199) monotherapy showed promising phase II results, which will be submitted to regulatory agencies for patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) harboring the 17p deletion.

Jeffrey Jones, MD, MPH, assistant professor, Internal Medicine, section head, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) research program, Ohio State University, discusses idelalisib (Zydelig) for previously treated CLL.

This review addresses the basics of CAR T-cell design and reviews data from published clinical studies in leukemia.

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).

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.

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.

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