Hematologic Oncology

The US Food and Drug Administration is granting ponatinib (Iclusig) full approval for the treatment of adult patients with chronic phase, accelerated phase, or blast phase chronic myeloid leukemia or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia for whom no other tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy is indicated.

Brentuximab vedotin (BV) induces significantly superior clinical outcomes in patients with CD30-expressing cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) as compared with physician's choice with methotrexate or bexarotene, according to a new study presented at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition, held December 3–6, 2016.

In this interview, Dr. Ivan Borrello talks about a new approach to treating multiple myeloma at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, held December 3–6, 2016.

Obinutuzumab-based therapy is superior to rituximab-based therapy in patients with previously untreated advanced follicular lymphoma.

Pembrolizumab has good activity, is safe and well-tolerated, and induces durable responses in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, according to a study presented at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition.

As part of OncoTherapy Network’s coverage of the 58th Annual Meeting & Exposition of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), held December 3–6 in San Diego, California, we spoke with Sean Tracy, MD, PhD, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Administration of bb2121, a novel anti–B-cell maturation antigen CAR T-cell therapy, produced anti-tumor responses in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to interim data from a phase I trial.

The FDA has approved daratumumab in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone or bortezomib and dexamethasone for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy.

As part of our coverage of the ASH Annual Meeting held December 3rd to 6th in San Diego, today we are speaking with Kim Nichols, MD, director of the Cancer Predisposition Division at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. At this year’s meeting, Dr. Nichols will be participating in a session on genetic susceptibility to leukemia.

As part of OncoTherapy Network’s coverage of the 58th Annual Meeting & Exposition of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), held December 3–6 in San Diego, California, we spoke with oncologist Nicholas J. Short, MD, of the Division of Cancer Medicine at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.

This slide show highlights some of the top news of 2016 on hematologic malignancies, including FDA approvals for myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia, and studies on transplantation, risk of recurrence in AML patients, and more.

While determining the genetic makeup of a patient’s tumor is a critical tool for precision cancer medicine, there are still several challenges and unanswered questions about large-scale clinical application of the methods.

By 2025 there will be an increasing number of people living with CLL due to improved survival conferred by emerging targeted therapies; however, the annual cost of CLL management for both patients and providers may impose a significant financial burden.

Patients with AML or MDS with unfavorable risk cytogenetic profiles, TP53 mutations, or both had good clinical response and robust mutation clearance with decitabine.

A high-risk subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia first identified in children appears to be highly prevalent in adults with ALL and is associated with a poor outcome.

The use of radiotherapy may have an important role in optimizing first-line treatment for patients with early-stage extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma.

According to a long-term follow-up analysis of a phase I/II trial, bosutinib provides durable responses and a favorable toxicity profile in patients with chronic phase CML who are resistant/intolerant to other tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

The use of inpatient palliative care services among adult patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for a hematologic malignancy results in smaller decreases in quality-of-life outcomes compared with standard transplant care.

Patients with multiple myeloma may have improved tolerance of panobinostat when combined with low-dose thalidomide and subcutaneous bortezomib, according to the results of the phase I/II MUK-six trial.

This article describes the clinical data that led to approval of these B-cell receptor inhibitors for the treatment of CLL, and highlights newer agents in clinical development that target the same kinases as the currently available therapies.

Single-agent blinatumomab demonstrated antileukemia activity in pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) in a recently published phase I/II study.

Although ibrutinib-related atrial fibrillation (IRAF) occurs in up to 11% of patients in clinical trials, these studies have rarely fully characterized bleeding events or risk factors for bleeding when ibrutinib is combined with anticoagulation. Furthermore, guidelines do not provide direction regarding the preferred anti-arrhythmic agent for IRAF.

Several critical issues need to be addressed during the next several years if we are to reach the true potential of new agents like ibrutinib, idelalisib, venetoclax, ofatumumab, and obinutuzumab-which conceivably could ultimately cure CLL.

Expression levels of CD62L and related immunologic markers are correlated with treatment responses and outcome in patients with CML, according to a new analysis. The markers could have prognostic value if validated in other cohorts.

The combination of ATRA and arsenic trioxide for the treatment of low- or intermediate-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia had advantages compared with ATRA plus chemotherapy.

A study found that deregulation of homeobox transcription factor genes underlies a subtype of precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Medical researchers at Indiana University Bloomington are reporting that prostate cancer may be much more closely related to Ewing’s sarcoma than previously recognized.

Researchers discover that CCL3-receptor antagonists could help control the development of leukemia in patients with Noonan syndrome

Treatment at a facility with a higher patient volume was associated with a lower risk of mortality for patients with multiple myeloma, even after adjustment for sociodemographic and geographic factors and comorbidities.

Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia with a history of prior malignancies generally fare as well as those without such a history, according to a new study.