HEMATOLOGY

Complete remissions were achieved in greater than 20% of patients with highly refractory non-Hodgkin lymphomas who had been previously been treated with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy with Mosunetuzumab, a novel bispecific antibody, according to study results presented at the 2019 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

Patients with treatment-naïve chronic lymphocytic leukemia experienced a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival with acalabrutinib as a single agent or in combination with obinutuzumab when compared with obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil, according to results from the phase III ELEVATE-TN trial presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting.

Encouraging signs of dose-dependent efficacy, as well as a promising safety profile, were observed in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who were treated with CC-93269, a human IgG1-based T-cell engager that binds to BCMA and CD3 epsilon in a 2+1 format.

Patients with a difficult-to-treat form of multiple myeloma who were treated with a novel, bispecific anti-BCMA/anti-CD38 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy experienced promising responses and a manageable safety profile, according to results of a study that were presented at the 61st Annual American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.<br /> &nbsp;

A multi-antigen off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cell therapy has been included in the ASH annual meeting spotlight due to exciting preclinical evidence. An investigational new drug application was approved&nbsp;in September 2019 for the therapy, labeled as FT596, developed by Fate Therapeutics, and human trials are scheduled to start in the first quater of 2020.

Hodgkin lymphoma represents approximately 10% of all cases of malignant lymphoma. This group of diseases most commonly affects adolescent and young adults, although approximately 20% to 25% of patients are aged &ge;60 years at diagnosis.

Justin Taylor, MD, discusses the rationale for an ongoing phase II trial that is exploring the combination of vemurafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, plus the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab in previously untreated patients with classical hairy cell leukemia.

When treatment decisions are being made regarding chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), patient age should be an important factor. CLL is a disease of the elderly, with more than 40% of all patients &gt;75 years.

Onvansertib inhibits tumor growth in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are resistant to venetoclax, according to the in-vitro and in-vivo data from a phase II trial announced in a press release issued by Trovagene, Inc.

Abatacept has been granted a Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA for the prevention of moderate to severe acute graft-versus-host disease in hematopoietic stem cell transplants from unrelated donors.

A phase II study of experimental anti-mitochondrial drug devimstat in patients with relapsed/refractory Burkitt&rsquo;s lymphoma/leukemia has been expanded to include patients at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, according to a press release from Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Andrew M. Evens, DO, MSc, discusses the significance of the results from the phase III ECHELON-1 trial in which patients with stage III/IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma were treated with the combination of brentuximab vedotin plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine.

In November 2019, the FDA approved a number of treatments, including acalabrutinib for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic leukemia, as well as zanubrutinib for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma. A biosimilar for pegfilgrastim was also approved under indications.

Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD, discusses the&nbsp;chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment spectrum and the explosion of targeted therapies in the field.&nbsp;

Matthew S. Davids, MD, MMSc, discusses the rapid developments in the chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment landscape.

The treatment spectrum for chronic lymphocytic leukemia has expanded significantly with the development and approval of several new agents.

Following the FDA&rsquo;S approval of gilteritinib in November 2018, adult patients with FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia were able to receive the FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitor when they relapsed or became refractory to a prior therapy. The agent has demonstrated promising efficacy in the population of patients with AML harboring FLT3 mutations.

In patients whose solid<strong> </strong>tumors harbor a mutation in <em>KRAS </em>G12C, therapy with MRTX849 has produced promising responses and acceptable toxicity across 3 tumors types, according to data presented at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research&ndash;National Cancer Institute&ndash;European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.

Hodgkin lymphoma represents approximately 10% of all cases of malignant lymphoma. This group of diseases most commonly affects adolescent and young adults, although approximately 20% to 25% of patients are aged &ge;60 years at diagnosis. Advanced-stage disease is generally classified as Ann Arbor stage III to IV, but clinical trials often incorporate patients with high-risk stage II disease, such as those with B symptoms, multiple sites, or bulky disease

The FDA has approved acalabrutinib for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma as either an initial or subsequent therapy.

Kanti R. Rai, MD, professor of medicine, Northwell Health and Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University, explains the importance of attention to age when treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which is a typically elderly patient population.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology at the 2019 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium, Richard R.&nbsp; Furman, MD, reviewed his presentation on prognostic markers and their importance in the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Kerry Rogers, MD,&nbsp;discusses the rationale for evaluating ibrutinib in patients with hairy cell leukemia in the phase II trial.

The emergence of resistance mutations in patients with cancer who receive targeted therapies is an expected development that will require new diagnostic methods of identifying the mechanisms through which these alterations occur, according to Fei Dong, MD, during the 2019 Association for Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting.<br /> &nbsp;

A supplemental New Drug Application for the combination of ibrutinib and rituximab has been submitted to the FDA for the first-line treatment of patients aged 70 years or younger with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, according to a press release from ibrutinib developer, AbbVie.

Pinkal Desai, MD, discusses the factors a practicing physician should consider when selecting an appropriate induction therapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Eytan M. Stein, MD,&nbsp;reviews the current treatment landscape of acute myeloid leukemia, underscores the importance of molecular monitoring, and highlights where the field is headed.

The FDA has approved luspatercept-aamt for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia who need regular red blood cell transfusions.

At the 2019 Association for Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting and Expo, Adam Fisch, MD, PhD, presented a unique patient case where a patient with acute myeloid leukemia harboring a <em>FLT3</em>-TKD mutation lost the mutation following relapse on gilteritinib.<br /> &nbsp;

A technique involving BH3 profiling is emerging as a promising drug discovery tool for assessing whether a tumor is primed for cell death and would respond to anticancer therapy, according to a presentation at the 2019 Association for Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting.