Hematologic Oncology

In addition to significant improvements in 5-year OS and PFS with maintenance rituximab, there was a trend toward an association between maintenance and reduced transformation risk.

TROG 99.03 constitutes “the only high level evidence currently available to guide decision making for this group of patients,” says investigator Michael MacManus.

This two-part series highlights the most important aspects of PTCLs and describes current treatment options and investigative opportunities. Part 1 will cover PTCL not otherwise specified, follicular T-cell lymphoma, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL), and breast implant–associated ALCL.

The OS benefit associated with standard treatment diminished in patients older than 80 with high comorbidity scores, but other age groups fared better.

From 1990 to 2016, incident cases of multiple myeloma increased by 126% globally, while deaths increased 94%. The US had the most incident cases and deaths.

Investigators concluded ixazomib “may offer a more convenient, active, and well-tolerated alternative to a parenterally administered PI in this setting.”

This study is the first to show significantly improved OS from single-agent treatment in this particularly difficult to treat population.

De-escalated treatment may be possible in patients with advanced HL who reach a metabolic response after only 2 cycles of escalated BEACOPP.

Overall response was strong even in high-risk patients (over age 65, with 17p deletion, with prior ibrutinib therapy, and mutations of BTK and PLCγ2).

FDA warns, however, about the possibility of TLS due to rapid tumor cell destruction.

Here we review current prognostic models, risk factors, and prophylaxis methods to provide a practical approach to preventing CNS relapse in patients with DLBCL.

Until the superiority of novel agents is proven for all prognostically relevant subgroups of patients with CLL, we believe chemoimmunotherapy continues to have a role.

Elimination of chemotherapy from our combination regimens should be a shared goal among researchers that will move us a step closer to more patient-friendly and scientifically driven therapies for CLL.

A case series of rare peripheral T-cell lymphoma that is associated with breast implants found that most cases have an indolent clinical course.

In the randomized phase III iNNOVATE trial, adding ibrutinib to rituximab significantly improved PFS in patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

In CAPTIVATE, first-line ibrutinib plus venetoclax yielded a high rate of undetectable residual disease, without new safety signals, in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

In TRANSCEND NHL 001, the CD19-directed 4-1BB CAR T-cell product lisocabtagene maraleucel yielded durable responses in heavily pretreated R/R DLBCL.

In this second part of our two-part review, we discuss the use of mutation profiling in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms and other myeloid diseases.

A UK team found multiple targets of non-coding mutations, highlighting the importance of broadening the search for cancer drivers into the regulatory genome.

The approval includes adults with R/R DLBCL after two or more lines of prior systemic therapy, high-grade B-cell lymphoma, and DLBCL arising from FL.

“The core message is that DLBCL can no longer be viewed as a single disease,” explained senior author Dr. Louis M. Staudt, Director of NCI’s Center for Cancer Genomics.

Achieving undetectable MRD after chemoimmunotherapy predicted longer progression-free and overall survival in CLL patients.

The combination of rituximab and the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax significantly lengthened PFS among CLL patients in the phase III MURANO trial.

In the DUO and DYNAMO trials, duvelisib improved clinical responses in patients with R/R CLL/SLL and FL, respectively.

In this first part of our two-part review, we introduce mutation profiling as a relevant clinical tool for hematologists treating patients with myeloid malignancies.

Pooled data show PET imaging of metabolic tumor burden at diagnosis helps identify patients most at risk of FL recurrence.

The FDA has approved brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) to treat adults with previously untreated stage III or IV cHL, in combination with chemotherapy.

A multicenter team of researchers reports that JAK3/STAT5 mutations are important in ALL and may be targetable.

Three year OS was significantly worse compared with the general population, with a persistent risk for relapse.

Follicular large cleaved cell lymphoma is frequently misclassified, according to researchers.