2016 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
Autologous and Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
HERE ARE SEVERAL ABSTRACTS selected from the proceedings of the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting clinical trials on autologous and allogeneic he...
Smoldering and Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics in smoldering and relapsed a...
Expert Point of View: Susan O'Brien, MD
Susan O’Brien, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Science, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Irvine Health, put the venetoclax (Venclexta) monotherapy study in contex...
Updated Data on Treatment With Ibrutinib and Venetoclax in Patients With CLL/SLL
Long-term follow-up of treatment with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in patients with previously untreated and treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic leukemia (SLL) has shown high respon...
CAR T-Cell Therapy Shows Benefit in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle reported early results from a small study of their chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product (JCAR014) in chronic lymphocytic l...
Expert Point of Review: Amrita Krishnan, MD
Amrita Krishnan, MD, Director of the Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research at the City of Hope in Duarte, California, told The ASCO Post that the most exciting drug in the “Ne...
Two Studies Show Potential of Venetoclax as Single Agent and in Combination for Myeloma
Early-phase studies suggest that venetoclax (Venclexta) holds promise as a treatment for myeloma. At the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, investigators repor...
Pacritinib Reduces Spleen Volume in Myelofibrosis
The investigational drug pacritinib met the primary endpoint of the phase III PERSIST-2 trial in high-risk patients with myelofibrosis and thrombocytopenia. Treatment with the Janus kinase (JAK)1/2 in...
CAR T-Cell Therapy Emerging in Multiple Myeloma
For patients with multiple myeloma, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is gaining ground in pilot studies. At the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition,...
Selected Abstracts From the 2016 ASH Annual Meeting
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics in high-grade, aggressive...
Expert Point of View: Steven D. Gore, MD, and Rami Komrokji, MD
Steven D. Gore, MD, Director of Hematologic Malignancies at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, applauded Dr. Stein for “accruing a terrible patient population, mutation-wise” and called...
Early Success Reported With Two New Agents for High-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes
At the 2016 American Society for Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, researchers reported early success with two new experimental agents for high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes—enasideni...
Selected Abstracts From the 2016 ASH Annual Meeting
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics in several different type...
Expert Point of View: Stephen Ansell, MD, PhD
Stephen Ansell, MD, PhD, Chair of the Mayo Clinic Lymphoma Group, said the “exciting results” of these studies indicated that “we have come a long way in Hodgkin lymphoma.” “It’s been very gratifying...
Studies Advance the Use of PD-1 Blockade in Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma
Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the malignancies most susceptible to treatment with monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein (PD-1). Nivolumab (Opdivo) has been approved ...
Expert Point of View: Kanti R. Rai, MD
Kanti R. Rai, MD, Professor of Medicine, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, New Hyde Park, New York, commented on these study findings. “I congratulate the investigators for a work done with disci...
Ibrutinib: A Potential Option for Chronic Graft-vs-Host Disease?
Currently, there is no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapy for chronic graft-vs-host disease—a life-threatening consequence of stem cell or bone marrow transplant—that has not re...
Selected Abstracts From the 2016 ASH Annual Meeting
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics in follicular lymphoma. F...
Antiretroviral Agent Makes Strong Showing in Refractory Multiple Myeloma
An antiretroviral drug that is used for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) demonstrated strong activity when combined with bortezomib (Velcade) in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma i...
Expert Point of View: Anas Younes, MD
Anas Younes, MD, Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented on the brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris)/nivolumab (Opdivo) combination studies, noting that...
Brentuximab Vedotin Plus Nivolumab Highly Active in Relapsed Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma
Response rates of 90% to 100% were achieved in early studies evaluating the combination of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) and nivolumab (Opdivo) in relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. ...
CAR T-Cell Therapy KTE-C19 Appears Successful in Aggressive B-Cell Lymphoma
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy continues to have impressive showings in patients with aggressive hematologic malignancies and no other good treatment options. Interim results of the pi...
Expert Point of View: Philip McCarthy, MD
The ASCO Post asked Philip McCarthy, MD, Professor of Oncology and Internal Medicine at Roswell Park Cancer, Buffalo, and Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Center there, to comment on thes...
High Response Rates to Triplet Therapy in Smoldering Myeloma
High-risk patients with smoldering multiple myeloma responded to a regimen of elotuzumab (Empliciti), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone, in a multicenter phase II study led by Irene Ghobrial...
Expert Point of View: Richard Furman, MD
“These results are interesting, important, and relevant for maintenance post chemotherapy, but if we are not using chemotherapy, they may not be relevant,” said Richard Furman, MD, of Weill Cornell M...
Lenalidomide Maintenance Extends Progression-Free Survival in CLL
Lenalidomide (Revlimid), a cornerstone of therapy for multiple myeloma in the modern era, is making headway as maintenance therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Separate phase III studies pre...
Expert Point of View: Armand Keating, MD
“This study shows that a great deal of innovation can come from existing knowledge. The 7+3 regimen has been around since I was an intern,” admitted Armand Keating, MD, of the University of Toronto a...
CPX-351 Improves Survival Post Transplant in Older High-Risk Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Induction therapy with the experimental chemotherapy called CPX-351—a liposomal formulation of cytarabine and daunorubicin—outperformed standard “7+3” cytarabine plus daunorubicin by extending surviva...
Expert Point of View: Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, MS
Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, MS, Director of the Leukemia Program at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center in Ohio, commented on vadastuximab talirine in newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML)....
Vadastuximab Talirine Shows Early Promise in Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia
The investigational CD33-directed antibody-drug conjugate vadastuximab talirine yielded high overall and complete response rates when combined with standard “7+3” chemotherapy for patients newly diag...
Expert Point of View: Lawrence Kaplan, MD
“This study is important because R-CHOP [rituximab and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone] has been the standard of care for many years. CHOP, the chemotherapy backbone, has withs...
Dose-Adjusted EPOCH-R No Better Than R-CHOP in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Long-awaited results of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB)/Alliance 50303 trial were a disappointment to many hematologists/oncologists at the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Me...
Expert Point of View: Brad S. Kahl, MD
Speaking about the GALLIUM study in the ASH News Daily, Brad S. Kahl, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, commented, “It is a potentially practice-changing study that clearly ...
Obinutuzumab Prolongs Disease-Free Survival vs Rituximab in Follicular Lymphoma
Induction and maintenance therapies with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) were superior to rituximab (Rituxan) induction and maintenance in patients with untreated follicular lymphoma, according to results of th...
Expert Point of View: Sergio A. Giralt, MD
Sergio A. Giralt, MD, Chief of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and the Melvin Berlin Family Chair in Multiple Myeloma, commented on the f...
Single Autotransplant Not Enhanced by Additional Interventions in Multiple Myeloma
Additional interventions following upfront autologous stem cell transplant in multiple myeloma did not further improve progression-free or overall survival over transplant alone in a multicenter study...
Individuals Honored as 2016 MPN Heroes
Eight individuals were honored at the 2016 MPN Heroes celebration held on the eve of the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego. The MPN Hero award is give...
Expert Point of View: Amir T. Fathi, MD
“In the past few years, there has been increased reporting of other, less traditional, response criteria in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), including morphologic leukemia-free state, partial response, ...
Achieving Complete Response Is Key to Improving Survival in Older Patients With AML
The importance of achieving complete response after intensive therapy in older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was confirmed in a follow-up analysis of the E2906 North American Intergroup tri...
Expert Point of View: Mikkael Sekeres, MD
In his practice, Mikkael Sekeres, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, has not initiated dose reductions of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but “anecdotally, my patients tell me that they have reduced...
Reducing Doses and Stopping Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Gain Favor in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as imatinib, nilotinib (Tasigna), and dasatinib (Sprycel), have revolutionized the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). A substantial percentage of patients ac...
Expert Point of View: Stephen P. Hunger, MD
Stephen P. Hunger, MD, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Oncology and Director of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Jeffrey E. Perelman Dis...
Reduced-Intensity Chemotherapy Leads to More Relapses in Childhood ALL
Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) considered at standard risk for relapse should continue to receive standard-intensity regimens, according to findings from the international randomized...
‘Clinically Useful’ Findings for Brentuximab Vedotin in CTCL, Rituximab Maintenance in MCL
Positive studies about brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma1 and rituximab (Rituxan) maintenance therapy in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL)2 were reported at the 2016 Annual Meeting...
Martin Schrappe, MD, on Childhood ALL: Study Results on Reducing Treatment Burden (German Language Version) 
Martin Schrappe, MD, of Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, discusses in German study findings on reduced intensity delayed intensification in standard-risk patients defined by minimal residual disea...
Robert E. Marcus, MD, on Follicular Lymphoma: Results From the GALLIUM Trial
Robert E. Marcus, MD, of Kings College Hospital, discusses study findings on obinutuzumab-based induction and maintenance in patients with previously untreated disease (Abstract 6).
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, and Anjali Advani, MD, on AML: Results of Two Trials on Vadastuximab Talirine
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Anjali Advani, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, discuss study findings on vadastuximab talirine as monotherapy and, in another trial,...
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, and Mhairi Copland, MB, ChB, PhD, on CML: Data From the British DESTINY Study
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Mhairi Copland, MB, ChB, PhD, of the Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre at the University of Glasgow, discuss decreasing the...
Harry P. Erba, MD, PhD, on AML: Early Study Results on Vadastuximab Talirine
Harry P. Erba, MD, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses phase Ib findings on vadastuximab talirine in combination with 7+3 induction therapy for patients with newly diagnosed AML...
Jeffrey E. Lancet, MD, on AML: Subgroup Analysis of a Phase III Trial
Jeffrey E. Lancet, MD, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses study findings on survival following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in older, high-risk acut...
Greta Stifel on Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Patient's Message to Physicians