Jeffrey E. Rubnitz, MD, PhD, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses study findings suggesting that pharmacogenomic differences between Black and White patients should be considered when tailoring induction regimens to improve outcomes of all patients and bridge the racial disparity gap in acute myeloid leukemia treatment (Abstract 386).
Michael Wang, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses phase III results from the Sympatico study, which shows the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax improved progression-free survival vs ibrutinib plus placebo in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma. According to Dr. Wang, these findings demonstrate a favorable benefit-risk profile for ibrutinib plus venetoclax in this patient population (Abstract LBA2).
Sara Khan, DO, of the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and HCA Healthcare, discusses her findings showing that women received only 33% of grants from the National Institutes of Health from 2012 to 2022 in nonmalignant hematologic research. Although some agencies have made strides in this area, others continue to have a significant gap. Identifying these areas of gender disparity will enable targeted efforts to bridge this gap and advance gender equality (Abstract 5113).
William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses results from the phase I/II BRUIN study, which shows encouraging response and overall survival in patients with Richter transformation. Although this condition remains a challenging diagnosis, pirtobrutinib represents a potential treatment option that warrants further investigation, according to Dr. Wierda (Abstract 1737).
Danai Dima, MD, of the Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, discusses teclistamab-cqyv, a B-cell maturation antigen approved in October 2022 for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of therapy. Dr. Dima and her team evaluated the real-world safety and efficacy of this agent and found encouraging evidence of efficacy in a real-world setting (Abstract 91).
Harinder Gill, MD, MBBS, of The University of Hong Kong, discusses findings showing the use of an “AAA” regimen (pure oral arsenic trioxide combined with all-trans retinoic acid) in a risk-adapted strategy that minimized chemotherapy was highly effective and safe in patients with newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia of all risk categories and age groups. However, he cautions, early deaths remain an obstacle to realizing a cure for all with this disease (Abstract 157).
