Latest Conference Articles

The investigational activin receptor IIA ligand trap sotatercept safely increases hemoglobin levels in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN)-associated myelofibrosis, both when used alone and in combination with ruxolitinib (Jakafi).

Joshua Richter, MD, Hackensack University Medical Center, discusses a tool which explored the incidence and survival impact of self-reported symptoms and psychologic distress among patients with multiple myeloma during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

The investigational Nutlin family antagonist idasanutlin demonstrated significant activity and was well tolerated after multiple cycles of exposure in patients with refractory polycythemia vera.<br /> &nbsp;

Daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with VMP (bortezomib [Velcade], melphalan, and prednisone) could become a new standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are unable to undergo transplant following findings from the phase III ALCYONE study.

Following autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) for patients with multiple myeloma, maintenance therapy of elotuzumab (Empliciti) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid) led to an increased rate of response conversions from prior induction therapy, according to the results of a phase II study.&nbsp;

In the final analysis of the phase III ASPIRE trial, an improvement in survival was confirmed with the combination of&nbsp;carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone for patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to findings presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

Cristina Gasparetto, MD, associate professor, head of the myeloma program, Duke University Medical Center, discusses a phase 1b study to assess the combination of selinexor and daratumumab in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma previously exposed to proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

In findings from the phase II CENTAURUS clinical trial, treatment with&nbsp;daratumumab&nbsp;(Darzalex) monotherapy produced lasting responses in patients with&nbsp;intermediate- and high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM).&nbsp;

A novel approach to treatment for patients with smoldering multiple myeloma demonstrated a high rate of complete responses, according to a study presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.&nbsp;The single-arm, phase II trial evaluated a strategy using induction therapy with carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone followed by high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation, consolidation therapy and then maintenance therapy with lenalidomide and dexamethasone.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy with bb2121 demonstrated an objective response rate of 94% in patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to findings from a dose-escalation study. The senior study author, James N. Kochenderfer, MD, presented updated findings from the study during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting, and commented that 89% of patients had a very good partial response or better, and 56% of patients had a complete remission.&nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;

Ian Flinn, MD, Director of the Blood Cancer Research Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the safety, efficacy, and MRD negativity of a combination of venetoclax (Venclexta) and obinutuzumab (Gazyva) in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.<br /> &nbsp;

The combination of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) and nivolumab (Opdivo) demonstrated promising clinical activity in patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma,&nbsp;according to results from a phase I/II trial presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

Treatment with the novel PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab induced responses in half of the patients with&nbsp;Hodgkin lymphoma in a phase I study of patients with B-lymphoid malignancies; among patients with&nbsp;B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with the monotherapy, the overall response rate was 11.1%, according to a poster presentation at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.&nbsp;

Treatment with&nbsp;tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) continues to excite the possibilities seen with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy with impressive responses seen with the therapy in patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. In the phase II JULIET trial, an overall response rate of 53.1%&nbsp;was observed, according to findings presented at the ASH Annual Meeting.&nbsp;

Treatment with&nbsp;ladiratuzumab vedotin demonstrated an estimated median progression-free survival (PFS) of 11.6 weeks for patients with heavily pretreated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treated&nbsp; with the recommended phase II dose of the antibody&ndash;drug conjugate, according to results of a phase I study presented during the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.&nbsp;

Hope S. Rugo, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the 5-year follow-up of the CALGB 40502 study for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Treatment discontinuation due to toxicity was less frequent with olaparib (Lynparza) monotherapy compared with chemotherapy in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer and a germline <em>BRCA</em> mutation in the phase III OlympiAD study.

Ruben A. Mesa, MD, Director of the UT Health San Antonio Cancer Center, discusses &nbsp;4-year follow-up results from the phase III RESPONSE trial, which investigated ruxolitinib (Jafaki) with best available therapy for the treatment of polycythemia vera (PV) during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

Adding rituximab (Rituxan) to ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) did not improve progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) versus ibrutinib alone, despite there being a faster time to complete remission.

According to results of a phase Ib/II trial presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting, the frontline triplet regimen of atezolizumab (Tecentriq), obinutuzumab (Gazyva), and bendamustine was associated with an overall response rate (ORR) of 85% (Modified Lugano criteria; independent review) in patients with follicular lymphoma.

Jesus Berdeja, MD, Director of Multiple Myeloma Research, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses results of a study that explored bb2121, an anti-BCMA CAR T cell therapy, in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

Updated results from the TRANSCEND study demonstrated that&nbsp;liso-cel (lisocabtagene maraleucel), formally known as JCAR017, induced an 81% objective response rate and a 63% complete remission rate in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

In patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in combination with venetoclax (Venclexta) induced an objective response rate (ORR) of 100%, according to findings from the TAP CLARITY clinical trial.&nbsp;

Treatment using BLU-285 (Avapritinib) induced clinically significant activity in patients with an advanced or aggressive form of systemic mastocytosis (ASM), a rare blood disorder that originates in mast cells, according to data from an ongoing phase I trial.<br /> &nbsp;

In findings from the phase III GeparSepto trial presented during the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, long-term disease-free survival rates were improved with neoadjuvant nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) compared with standard paclitaxel in patients with high-risk early breast cancer.

The addition of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) to doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (A+AVD) reduced the risk of progression and death by 23% in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) compared with standard&nbsp;ABVD (doxorubicin [Adriamycin], bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) chemotherapy, according to results of the phase III ECHELON-1 clinical trial.&nbsp;

Treatment with the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy axi-cel&nbsp;(axicabtagene ciloleucel; Yescarta) demonstrated improvement in long-term survival rates in patients with refractor, aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma,&nbsp;according to updated findings from the pivotal ZUMA-1 trial.

Mogamulizumab improved progression-free survival in previously treated patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma by 4.6 months compared with vorinostat (Zolinza),&nbsp;according to findings from the phase III MAVORIC study.

Incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence was reduced in patients with cancer with oral rivaroxaban (Xarelto) therapy compared with dalteparin (Fragmin), the current standard of care, according to results from the Select-D pilot trial presented during the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Phase Ib results presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting demonstrated that zanubrutinib (BGB-3111), an investigational BTK inhibitor, had encouraging rates of clinical activity in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including an overall response rate of 78% among patients with marginal zone lymphoma.