HEMATOLOGY

Andrew Wei, MBBS, PhD, discusses a study which explored the safety and efficacy of the novel BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in combination with low-dose cytarabine chemotherapy for treatment-naïve patients over the age of 65 with AML.

A majority of patients with relapsed or refractory indolent lymphoma responded to treatment with the PI3K dual-isoform inhibitor copanlisib, according to results from the phase II CHRONOS-1 trial.<br /> &nbsp;

A retrospective analysis presented at the 2017 AACR Annual Meeting found the flexibility of CAR T cells to perform multiple functions was associated with the level of clinical activity elicited for patients with advanced non-Hodgkin&rsquo;s lymphoma.

Combining the IDO inhibitor indoximod with pembrolizumab led to an overall response rate of 52% in patients with advanced melanoma.

Adding a formulation of the Coxsackievirus A21 to ipilimumab yielded an overall response rate of 50% and was well-tolerated in immunotherapy-na&iuml;ve and pretreated patients with advanced melanoma.

Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (<em>IDH1/2</em>) are not the mutations commonly found in cancer cells, according to a presentation from the 2017 AACR Annual Meeting.

Sudipto Mukherjee, MD, assistant staff, Gaussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, discusses a study exploring eltrombopag to enhance platelet count recovery in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Yousef Zakharia, MD, assistant professor, University of Iowa, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses an interim analysis of the phase II clinical trial investigating the IDO pathway inhibitor indoximod in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with advanced melanoma.&nbsp;

More than 80% of patients with refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) achieved objective responses to treatment with the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel (KTE-C19), according to the results of a pivotal phase II trial.

The PD-1 and CTLA-4 inhibitor combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) induced a 12% reduction in the risk of death versus nivolumab monotherapy in patients with treatment-na&iuml;ve advanced melanoma.

FDA approval is being sought for the use of denosumab for the prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with multiple myeloma, according to Amgen, the developer of the RANK ligand inhibitor.

A biologics license application has been submitted for axicabtagene ciloleucel (KTE-C19) as a potential treatment for transplant ineligible patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Patients with lymphoma who are treated with brentuximab vedotin often experience peripheral neuropathy as an adverse event and potentially dose-limiting toxicity. A novel study has shown that, despite the prevalence of this toxicity, these patients report that the better outcomes yielded from treatment with brentuximab vedotin outweigh the risk of neuropathy.&nbsp;

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will recognize several individuals for their contributions to cancer research during its annual meeting, to be held April 1 to 5 in Washington, DC.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) supporting the conversion of the accelerated approval of blinatumomab (Blincyto) to a full approval as a treatment for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative (Ph-) relapsed/refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Tisagenlecleucel-T (CTL019) has been granted a priority review designation by the FDA as a treatment for pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed and refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Subcutaneous rituximab has received the FDA&rsquo;s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) unanimous (11-0) recommended approval for the treatment of patients with certain blood cancers.

Harry P. Erba, MD, PhD, recently shared treatment considerations he would make when treating patients with polycythemia vera (PV) based on 3 case scenarios.

John Mascarenhas, MD, associate professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, discusses the results from the interim analysis of the MPD-RC 112 study, which compared frontline pegylated interferon-alpha-2a (Pegasys) with hydroxyurea in the treatment of patients with high-risk polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET).

A recent warning issued by the FDA advised that breast implants may increase an individual&rsquo;s risk of developing anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Alfred L. Garfall, MD, MS, assistant professor of Medicine, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses patterns of response and resistance among hematologic malignancies.

Andre Goy, MD, highlights what researchers can expect next in the field of MCL in both the frontline and relapsed/refractory settings given the recent pivotal data from clinical trials.

Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD, discusses results of the&nbsp;phase II ELIANA study&nbsp;and the next steps with CAR T-cell therapy in ALL.

Pembrolizumab has been recommended for approval by the EMA&rsquo;s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

The combination of rituximab, bendamustine, and low-dose cytarabine demonstrated a high complete response rate as an induction regimen for elderly patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

Pembrolizumab has been granted an accelerated approval by the FDA&nbsp;for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma who are refractory or have relapsed after 3 or more lines of therapy.

Clinical trials of selinexor, which is being explored in several tumor types, have been placed on clinical hold by the FDA.

A review of various frontline treatment options in follicular lymphoma and an outline of an algorithm for approaching patients with newly diagnosed follicular lymphoma.

Adding ublituximab to ibrutinib significantly improved objective response rates (ORR) compared with ibrutinib alone for patients with previously treated high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia .

The researchers discuss the rationale for checkpoint-based therapies including antibodies to PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4, an overview of clinical experience with these agents, and future considerations and combinations of these agents.