Latest Conference Articles

Erika P. Hamilton, MD, discusses the current treatment paradigm, and upcoming treatments, for HER2-positive breast cancer.

A follow-up benefits analysis of adding denosumab to aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy shows the agent not only helps prevent fractures, it also reduces risk of recurrence and death in postmenopausal women with HR-positive breast cancer.

A combination of venetoclax and obinutuzumab, followed by additional cycles of venetoclax, has shown tolerability in elderly patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia with comorbidities, data from the CLL14 trial (BO25323) shows.

A combination of capecitabine and adjuvant therapy dropped the risk of recurrence by 30% and prolonged survival by 40% for patients with residual breast cancer post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery, according to phase III data.

Patricia L. Kropf, MD, discusses a combination of decitabine and arsenic trioxide as a replacement for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who cannot withstand induction chemotherapy.

The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in combination with an established multiple myeloma regimen showed responses in 76% of a cohort of 17 patients with relapsed/refractory disease in data one of several clinical trials presented at the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting.

Blinatumomab (Blincyto) as a single agent showed high complete remission (CR), or CR with partial hematological recovery, in adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive and -negative B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

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.

Ibrutinib (Imbruvica) saw over 80% response in patients with treatment-refractory Waldenstrom

Two CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T-cell therapies showed complete response (CR) rates from 90% to 100% in patients with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to data from two studies presented during the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting.

Updated data shows chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T-cell therapies continue to remain effective for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to findings presented at the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting.

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

Ibrutinib reduced risk of death by 84% against chlorambucil in treatment-naive elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Over one-third of patients with severe aplastic anemia has hematologic responses lasting at least 6 months when the oral thrombopoietin inhibitor eltrombopag was added to conventional immunosuppressive therapy, according to data from a prospective single-center phase II trial presented at the 57th ASH meeting.

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.

Farrukh T. Awan, MBBS, discusses a phase II trial examining the clinical activity of entospletinib in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who were previously treated with a B-cell receptor pathway signaling inhibitor.

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.

Data shows ruxolitinib continues to work in patients with advanced myelofibrosis by maintaining spleen size reduction and overall survival improvements over the course of a 5 year study, according to data presented during the 57th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

Daratumumab demonstrated a 31% overall response rate as monotherapy for patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma, according to a combined analysis of two pivotal studies presented at the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting.

Leonard says some of the more interesting studies to crop up in the field of Hodgkin's lymphoma include ones that utilize checkpoint inhibitors, as well as one of the first combination immunotherapies to be used in the disease

Carfilzomib has been found to reduce the risk of progression and death by 47% in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma when compared to bortezomib, according to the the phase III ENDEAVOR trial.

The triple combination of ixazomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone, all taken orally, showed encouraging early response rates in elderly patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, according to phase II data presented at the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting.

In the last 5 years, the treatment paradigm for patients with hematologic malignancies has seen vast changes. These alterations continue their progress in the field with groundbreaking data and new ideas presented at the 2015 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting from December 5 through 8.

A chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy used in patients with EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma multiforme during a pilot study showed promising results, according to two leading researchers in the field presenting at the 2015 Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting.

An international team of experts is planning an innovative clinical trial to speed up development of new treatments for glioblastoma multiforme.

Developing safe and effective therapies for malignant brain tumors, specifically glioblastoma, is a challenging-yet-achieveable endeavor pursued by researchers and patients alike.

Amy Heimberger, MD, professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, talks about immunotheraputics in the context of glioblastoma (GBM).

A quarter of patients with relapsed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)-treated with the vaccine rindopepimut (Rintega) plus bevacizumab remained alive at 2 years.

Phase II findings have shown a substantial improvement in overall survival with the dendritic vaccine ICT-107 in a subgroup of patients with HLA-A2+ newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), warranting further exploration in a phase III study.