HEMATOLOGY

Richard R. Furman, MD emphasizes that physicians should follow their best independent judgment regarding therapy selection in CLL, regardless of FDA approval.

A move by CVS Health to place in-house physician dispensaries out-of-network for purposes of Medicare Part D drug payment would force hundreds of thousands of cancer patients across the country to find alternate sources for their oral oncolytic drugs, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) argued in a new white paper.

For the first time, Physicians’ Education Resource (PER®) will host 2 European conferences, providing more opportunities for oncology professionals worldwide to learn and collaborate with leading experts in the fields.

Loretta J. Nastoupil, MD, discusses ongoing lymphoma clinical trials and how practitioners can better identify high- and poor-risk patients with large cell lymphomas.

The positive opinion for the BCL-2 inhibitor has been sent to the European Commission, which usually issues its final approval decision within 2 to 3 months of the CHMP recommendation.

Steve Coutre, MD, discusses how he determines which CLL treatment option is best for which patient, the advantage of treating patients with ibrutinib over chemoimmunotherapy, and new oral agents currently being investigated in the space.

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, medical director of the Leukemia Center at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the management of CLL treatment in the frontline setting.

William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, discusses which groups of CLL patients may benefit from ibrutinib versus chemoimmunotherapy and clinical trials that may provide further clarification.

Treatment with KTE-C19 demonstrated an objective response rate (ORR) of 79% and a complete remission (CR) rate of 52% for patients with aggressive, chemorefractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

<em>Targeted Oncology</em> speaks with Shaji Kumar, MD, to understand the roles that the new criteria for response and minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment in multiple myeloma&nbsp;and what role MRD testing will play going forward in multiple myeloma.<br /> &nbsp;

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid) and dexamethasone or bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma following at least 1 prior therapy.&nbsp;

Two oncologists from Emory University School of Medicine faced off to determine if molecular markers should play a role in the treatment of subgroups of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.&nbsp;

Jennifer Brown, MD, PhD, discusses the status of targeted therapy agents for the treatment of patients with CLL.

Marco Davila, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the significant need for new agents to treat MDS.

According to findings from a multicenter randomized trial, chemoradiation for early-stage, low-grade follicular lymphoma led to significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with involved-field radiotherapy alone (IFRT).

Jennifer Woyach, MD, offers her expert insight into the practical clinical use of CLL treatments.

Nitin Jain, MD, assistant professor, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the checkpoint inhibitors under investigation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Focusing primarily on the therapeutic categories of PI3K and BTK inhibitors, O&rsquo;Brien, associate director for clinical science at the Chao Comprehensive Cancer Center, acknowledged efforts to build on existing success but said the hoped-for progress and advances await definitive data.

Bruce Cheson, MD,&nbsp;outlines the treatment choices for each of the 3 patient categories of CLL, noting that, regardless of the treatment, &ldquo;a clinical trial is always the preferred option.&rdquo;

According to findings of a recent study,&nbsp;Induction therapy with the combination of bendamustine, gemcitabine, and vinorelbine (BeGEV) effectively induced complete remissions (CRs) for nearly three-fourths of patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma prior to autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT)

Marco Davila, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses MDS as an immunoresponsive disease and applying immunotherapies to MDS.

Based on findings from the phase III TOURMALINE-MM1 study, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended a conditional approval for ixazomib (Ninlaro) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone as a treatment for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least 1 prior therapy.

With a number of effective targeted therapies now available for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms and chronic myeloid leukemia, patient selection for transplantation should rely heavily on prognostic scoring.

When it comes to managing high-risk patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) or polycythemia vera (PV), John Mascarenhas, MD, starts with risk stratification.

Immunotherapy offers promise in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a disease type which has not seen significant progress in many years, said Naval G. Daver, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Individualized treatment for Waldenstr&ouml;m&#39;s macroglobulinemia (WM) has become a feasible strategy with&nbsp;improved understanding of the disease and expanded treatment options.

As molecular and genetic studies have provided new insights into myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN),&nbsp;diagnostic criteria and therapeutic strategies for the diseases continue to evolve.

Naval Daver, MD, assistant professor, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses agents being investigated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Results from the phase Ib M13-365 study showed&nbsp;combining the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (Venclexta) with the anti-CD20 agent rituximab (Rituxan) led to objective responses in 86% of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Lenalidomide (Revlimid) has provided evidence of potential to improve survival and reduce the leukemic progression in patients with 5q-deletion (del[5q]) myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).