HEMATOLOGY

This segment of the virtual tumor board presentation focuses on the clinical development and use of emerging therapies, specifically Belumosudil, for the management of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Dr. Kuykendall provides his perspective on the biggest unmet needs with current advanced PV therapies, emerging data he is following that may impact future management, and any other clinical pearls for optimal PV management.

Dr. Kuykendall discusses the important quality of life aspects to consider when treating PV patients and the specific strategies or treatments he uses to help preserve overall QoL throughout the disease course.

Dr. Kuykendall explains how he monitors PV patients for thrombosis risk, which hematological values concern him most, and his approach if hematocrit rises above 45%.

Dr. Kuykendall shares his experience using peginterferon or ropeginterferon for PV treatment, including the biggest challenges, limitations, and managing safety/tolerability issues with these agents.

Dr. Kuykendall discusses the efficacy and safety findings from studies like MAJIC-PV and PROUD-PV, and how they influence his treatment choices for PV.

Dr. Kuykendall comments on the high rates of hematocrit control and spleen response with ruxolitinib vs standard therapy in the RESPONSE trial for hydroxyurea-resistant/intolerant PV, and how these efficacy findings inform his treatment choices.

Dr. Kuykendall explains the factors he considers when deciding on initial therapy for advanced PV patients, including comorbidities, individual patient factors like age and symptoms, and weighing the risks and benefits of different treatment options.

Dr. Kuykendall discusses his initial impressions of the case, how it compares to typical advanced polycythemia vera presentations, and typical risk factors seen in PV patients.

Dr. Bose shares his vision for the future management of patients with intermediate myelofibrosis, including the unmet needs with current treatment options and the emerging data he is closely following.

Dr. Bose discusses his perspective on quality-of-life preservation for his patients with myelofibrosis, including the symptoms that have the most negative impact on patients' quality of life.

Dr. Bose shares his perspective on how he monitors and manages anemia for patients on ruxolitinib, including when he would consider dose reduction or transfusion.

Dr. Bose discusses when he typically initiates ruxolitinib for his intermediate- or high-risk myelofibrosis patients.

Dr. Bose reviews the efficacy and safety findings from various studies on JAK inhibitors, including JAKARTA, PERSIST-1, PERSIST-2, SIMPLIFY-1 & 2, and MOMENTUM, and how these data inform his treatment choices.

Dr. Bose discusses the key findings from the COMFORT I and II trials and how the overall survival data has impacted the way he manages patients with myelofibrosis, along with the factors that most inform his treatment decisions.

Dr. Bose shares his perspective on the factors he considers when deciding on initial therapy for myelofibrosis, including his approach to timing of treatment initiation and how splenomegaly influences his choice of JAK inhibitors.

Dr. Bose discusses his initial impressions of the case and how it compares to typical myelofibrosis cases seen in his practice.

John M. Burke, MD, discusses results from a phase 2 study which evaluated brentuximab vedotin, nivolumab, doxorubicin, and dacarbazine for the treatment of early-stage and advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Amer Zeidan, MBBS, discusses the primary end point and subgroup analyses performed on the COMMANDS trial of luspatercept-amt for treating anemia in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

Dr. Schiller will discuss the limitations of current treatment options for BPDCN in elderly transplant-ineligible patients and the emerging BPDCN research and data that they are most interested in to improve outcomes in this specific patient population.

Dr. Schiller will discuss how their treatment approach would differ for a 74-year-old BPDCN patient with only well-controlled type 2 diabetes as a comorbidity and an ECOG performance status of 0.

Dr. Schiller will discuss the red flag symptoms that increase suspicion of BPDCN, the process for diagnosis, and any challenges with differential diagnosis. Dr. Schiller will also provide strategies and resources to improve community recognition and diagnosis of this rare disease.

Dr. Schiller will discuss the limitations of currently available BPDCN treatments, the historical use of chemotherapy regimens and their potential to address unmet needs, and effective strategies for managing the financial burden and ensuring access to tagraxofusp for BPDCN patients.

Dr. Schiller will discuss the key factors that make the transplant ineligible BPDCN patient population more difficult to treat, the major goals of therapy for these patients, and how the mechanism of action of tagraxofusp suggests potential efficacy in BPDCN.

Dr. Schiller will discuss the key clinical and pathologic features that distinguish BPDCN from other malignancies, as well as the potential differential diagnoses that share a similar immunophenotype.

This segment explores the management of steroid-refractory cGvHD, highlighting the data from clinical trials on agents like ibrutinib and ruxolitinib. The discussion delves into the potential benefits, risks, and optimal patient selection for these novel therapies.

This segment focuses on the key considerations for diagnosing cGvHD and the initial treatment approaches, including the use of corticosteroids and combination therapies. The discussion covers factors that guide the decision-making process, such as organ involvement, severity of symptoms, and response to initial therapy.

Adam de Smith, PhD, discussed findings from a study investigating a genetic variant that increases the risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Hispanic/Latino pediatric patients. 

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Doris Hansen, MD, delved into the background, methods, design, and results from 3 recent myeloma studies.

Amer Zeidan, MBBS, explains how the approval of imetelstat may impact patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.