HEMATOLOGY

According to initial results from a phase Ib/II study presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, 50% of a small group of patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma achieved responses from the combination of an anti-CD47 antibody plus rituximab.

Treatment-naive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia achieved high rates of minimal residual disease–negative status of 77% with peripheral blood testing after 6 cycles from treatment with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and venetoclax (Venclexta). Additionally, patients in the CAPTIVATE trial, wihch was presented during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, achieved an objective response rate of 100%.

An FDA analysis of data from 2 randomized clinical trials investigating pembrolizumab in multiple myeloma showed inconsistent results regarding the relationship between immune-related adverse events and objective responses. The KEYNOTE-183 and KEYNOTE-185 trials were reviewed during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

According to the phase III ARROW study, a prolonged progression-free survival was found when carfilzomib was administered with a new dosing schedule of 70 mg/m² once weekly with dexamethasone compared to the standard of care, a twice-weekly schedule, in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Risk of disease progression or death decreased by 80% with the addition of ibrutinib to rituximab compared with rituximab alone for patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

Optimizing Targeted Therapy in IgVH-Unmutated CLL

Steven E. Coutre, MD, professor at the Stanford University Medical Center, discusses the importance of molecular profiling in hematologic diseases, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Based on data from the ongoing phase III ADMIRAL study, a new drug application for&nbsp;gilteritinib has been granted a priority review by the FDA for&nbsp;the treatment of adult patients with <em>FLT3</em> mutation&ndash;positive relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia,&nbsp;according to Astellas Pharma, the manufacturer of the FLT3 inhibitor.

The use of triplet regimens for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma has become one of the most favorable treatments recently. OPTIMISMM, a phase III trial, investigated bortezomib and dexamethasone with or without pomalidomide as another triplet regimen option for use in earlier lines of therapy, said Peter Voorhees, MD.<br /> &nbsp;

According to topline results from the phase III ILLUMINATE trial, the&nbsp;combination of ibrutinib and obinutuzumab improved progression-free survival compared with chlorambucil&nbsp;plus obinutuzumab&nbsp;in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Andrew L. Pecora, MD, president of the Physician Services Division and chief innovation officer at Hackensack Meridian Health, discusses the significance of his findings when combining an anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 in patients with multiple myeloma. He sought out to find whether these 2 drugs could be combined safely after an autologous stem cell transplant.&nbsp;

In an interview with&nbsp;<em>Targeted Oncology, </em>Andrew M.&nbsp;Evens, DO, MSc, discusses the clinical trials that are ongoing at Rutgers for patients with mantle cell lymphoma. He shares some details of the current treatment landscape and how that will evolve as more data becomes available from trials like those at his institution.&nbsp;

Expression of genes from the B-cell receptor pathway predicted shorter progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with mantle cell lymphoma, according to results from an examination of a subsection of patients in the ongoing Fondazione Italiana Linfomi MCL-0208 clinical trial.

Palbociclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor, has demonstrated success against ibrutinib resistance in primary human samples and mantle cell lymphoma cell lines with the mutated BTKC481S protein. Its use has sparked an investigation of combination therapies targeting CDK4 in MCL, said Selina Chen-Kiang, PhD.

Brian T. Hill, MD, PhD, director of Lymphoid Malignancies at the Cleveland Clinic, discusses current combinations being investigated for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

The combination of prexigebersen, a Liposomal Grb2 Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide, and low-dose cytarabine was associated with an overall response rate of 47% in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia, according to findings from an ongoing phase II trial.

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has selected Jens Hillengass, MD, as its new Chief of Myeloma. Hillengass will continue his research on hematologic malignancies in his new position.

In a cohort of pediatric and young adult patients with newly diagnosed T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, adding nelarabine to escalating-dose methotrexate (C-MTX) induced a 4-year disease-free survival rate of 91%, according to findings released ahead of the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Daniel J. DeAngelo, MD, PhD, associate professor at the Harvard School of Medicine and a member of the Adult Leukemia Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, highlighted the 4 FDA approvals in the last year for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Ivan Borrello, MD, recently shared the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with multiple myeloma. Borrello, an associate professor of oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and director of cell therapy, Sydney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Baltimore, Maryland, explained his treatment decisions based on a case scenario during a <em>Targeted Oncology</em> live case-based peer perspective presentation.

In results published in April in the New England Journal of Medicine, corresponding author Peter J. M. Valk, PhD, of the Department of Hematology, Erasmus University Medical Center, and colleagues found that MRD positivity was associated with a higher rate of relapse and a lower rate of relapse-free survival and overall survival for patients with newly diagnosed AML.