ASH Annual Meeting

Treatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) sorafenib in combination with standard chemotherapy increased event-free survival (EFS) by 11.3 months in patients with newly diagnosed AML.

In a phase II trial, some patients with heavily treated acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) benefited from treatment with the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (ABT-199).

Ninety-six percent of patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma who received treatment with the combination of brentuximab vedotin and bendamustine responded to treatment without experiencing dose-limiting toxicity.

Jae Park, MD, assistant attending physician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Ann S. LaCasce, MD, discusses the combination of brentuximab vedotin and bendamustine for the treatment of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

The novel drug AG-221 generated durable remissions in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by targeting a mutation of the IDH2 gene in a small, first-in-man study that represents a new, chemotherapy-free approach for attacking the malignancy. Eytan M. Stein, MD, reported these findings during a press briefing at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Patients with HIV-associated lymphoma can effectively be treated with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHCT), with outcomes that are similar to patients without HIV. Joseph Alvarnas, MD, presented results from a phase II study at the 2014 ASH Annual Meeting.

Treatment with nilotinib (Tasigna) in combination with chemotherapy elicited complete hematological remissions (CHR) in 87% of elderly patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL).

Adrian Wiestner, MD, PhD, senior investigator, National Institutes of Health, discusses curing or managing patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Idelalisib monotherapy shows activity in treatment-naïve patients ≥65 years with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) — nearly 90% of patients enrolled in a phase II study demonstrated a partial response.

Joseph Alvarnas, MD, Director of Medical Quality, associate clinical professor, City of Hope, discusses the treatment of HIV-associated lymphoma.

Patients with relapsed and difficult-to-treat Hodgkin lymphoma who received brentuximab vedotin following treatment with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant had an unprecedented 50% higher likelihood of continuing to experience PFS at 2 years.

Anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies continue to demonstrate promise and generate excitement that a new treatment paradigm could be on the horizon for patients with multiple myeloma.

The anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T-cell therapy CTL019 demonstrated a 92% complete response (CR) rate in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Most patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), having previously failed three or more therapies, responded to the immunotherapy nivolumab in a small phase I trial.

Treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) elicited responses in 66% of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL).

Philippe Armand, MD, PhD, senior physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the utility of PD-1 inhibitors for hematologic malignancies.

Shaji Kumar, MD, professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, discusses the results of the phase III ASPIRE trial.

Marcel R.M. van den Brink, MD, PhD, Head, Division of Hematologic Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses two abstracts being presented at ASH looking at CAR T cell therapies for the treatment of ALL and NHL.

A combination of rituximab (Rituxan) and the PI3K-delta inhibitor idelalisib was associated with a >70% improvement in overall survival (OS) in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

At the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), several trials of ibrutinib both alone and in combination with currently used therapies for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were presented.

Results of a phase II trial showed that when treated with a reduced dose of the oral FLT3 receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor quizartinib, nearly half of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) had complete remissions.

Brentuximab vedotin, an anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated antitumor activity in the setting of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and has generated responses across a broad range of CD30 expression, including low or undetectable CD30 expression. Data from an ongoing phase II study were presented by Nancy Bartlett, MD, at the 55th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Jennifer E. Amengual, MD, discusses the study she presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. The trial analyzed dual targeting with the HDAC inhibitor ACY-1215 and bortezomib in preclinical models of lymphoma.

An investigator reported at the 55th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) that imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor, has demonstrated significant activity in myelofibrosis, including complete responses.

In patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who are considered inappropriate for fludarabine, the addition of ofatumumab to chlorambucil improves clinical outcomes and is tolerable irrespective of patient age or fitness.

Steven Treon, MD, PhD, reported that ibrutinib rapidly reduced serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels and improved hematocrit levels in patients with relapsed or refractory Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (WM), and the responses to ibrutinib were durable.

According to preliminary results of a phase I clinical trial, nearly half of patients with relapsed or refractory CLL attained objective responses when treated with IPI-145, an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and -gamma.

According to data presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in New Orleans, a first-in-class targeted agent demonstrated activity in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.

Shaji K. Kumar, MD, discusses the results of a phase II trial of single agent MLN9708 in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma not refractory to bortezomib.