HEMATOLOGY

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy with lisocabtagene maraleucel led to rapid and durable responses in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

The precision Treg-engineered donor product Orca-T exhibited preventive potential for graft-versus-host disease in patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies who underwent hematopietic stem cell transplantation, with less immunosuppression compared with the standard of care.

In patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, treatment with sabatolimab administered at 200 mg every 2 weeks and 800 mg every 4 weeks demonstrated similar pharmacokinetic activity, according to findings from a dose-selection and dose-response analysis presented during the 2020 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

A research collaboration has identified that patients with hematologic malignancies who are infected with coronavirus disease 2019 are at greater risk for poor outcomes from the virus.

Early signs of clinical activity were observed in adult patients with relapsed/refractory CD22-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were treated with an investigational allogeneic off-the-shelf CD22-directed therapy.

In a post hoc analysis of the DREAMM-2 trial, belantamab mafodotin achieved deep and durable responses with no notable alterations in its safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who had received ≥7 prior therapies.

A novel BCMA and CD3 targeted bispecific T-cell engaging immunotherapy agent TNB-383B has demonstrated significant responses at higher dose levels and tolerability at all dose levels, including mild cases of cytokine release syndrome, according to initial results of a phase 1 trial presented during the 2020 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant with a donor leads to significant improvements in outcomes, even for patients up to age 75, in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.

Treatment with a novel tri-specific natural killer cell engager agent led to natural killer cell proliferation across dose levels in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia.

Patients with intermediate- or high-risk myelofibrosis in the phase 3 SIMPLIFY-1 and SIMPLIFY-2 trials experienced improved overall survival and sustained efficacy outcomes with momelitinib.

Higher doses of telomerase inhibitor imetelstat demonstrated better overall survival, spleen response, and symptom response in patients with myelofibrosis who are relapsed after or refractory to therapy with Janus kinase inhibitors in the phase 2 IMbark study.

The phase 3 REACH3 trial of ruxolitinib in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease with an inadequate response to corticosteroids demonstrated significantly higher overall response rate, a substantially greater improvement in failure-free survival, and greater symptom improvement compared with best available therapy.

The FDA accepted the New Drug Application from belumosudil and granted it a Priority Review designation for the treatment of patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date has been set to May 30, 2021.

Agents with novel mechanisms of action distinct from available ATP-competitive tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been tested in patients with previously treated, Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia and offer promise to facilitate deeper remissions.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology during the Association for Molecular Pathology 2020 Annual Meeting, Rachel Sparks, MD, discussed the findings observed in hematologic malignancies with the use of a new RNA-based NGS assay.

The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation to rilzabrutinib, an oral investigational Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia. The drug was previously granted Orphan Drug designation for this indication.

Routine testing for the presence of TP53 mutations in myeloid neoplasms by sequencing will become an important part of routine care as TP53-targeting agents become available, according to a poster presented at the Association for Molecular Pathology 2020 Annual Meeting and Expo.

Brain A. Jonas, MD, discusses the future of treatment for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia, now that the FDA has granted approval to azacitidine plus venetoclax for patients aged 75 years or older.

Nirav N. Shah, MD, discusses bispecific anti-CD20 and anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells in a phase 1 dose escalation and expansion trial for relapsed B cell malignancies.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology following the announcement of the FDA approval of azacitidine plus venetoclax in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia, Brian Jonas, MD, provided insight on the VILAE-A study results. He also gave expert advice on how to approach treating older patients with acute myeloid leukemia in every day practice.

A key opinion leader provides insight into recent data updates from ongoing trials studying the management of GvHD with promising regimens. 

Outcomes for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome range from a median of 5.3 years in the lower-risk population to 8.4 months among patient with very high-risk disease. These outcomes are changing as novel therapies for the lower-risk population enter the treatment landscape.

There are several indications for the use of allo-SCT in adults. With the implementation of targeted therapies, these are continuously changing.