Patrick A. Brown, MD, on B-Cell ALL in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults: Blinatumomab vs Chemotherapy
2019 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
Patrick A. Brown, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, discusses phase III findings from a Children’s Oncology Group Study showing that blinatumomab was superior to chemotherapy in terms of efficacy and tolerability for young patients as a post-reinduction therapy in the setting of high- and intermediate-risk first relapse of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Abstract LBA-1).
Ilaria Iacobucci, PhD, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses her work to more accurately define mutation subtypes in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, as well as the implications for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment (Abstract LBA-4 ).
Andrew H. Wei, MBBS, PhD, of The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, discusses phase III findings on oral azacitidine (CC-486), the first treatment used in the maintenance setting shown to improve both overall and disease-free survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia that is in remission following induction chemotherapy (Abstract LBA-3).
Jeff P. Sharman, MD, of the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and US Oncology Research, discusses phase III findings from the ELEVATE TN study, which showed that acalabrutinib plus obinutuzumab and acalabrutinib monotherapy improved progression-free survival in patients with treatment-naive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (Abstract 31).
Mark Bustoros, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase II study results showing that the combination of ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone is effective in patients with high-risk smoldering disease, with a high response rate, convenient schedule, and manageable toxicity. Longer follow-up for disease outcome is ongoing (Abstract 580).
Jerald P. Radich, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses a gene-expression model that distinguishes patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who achieved a deep molecular response from those with a poor response to treatment. This work could yield new therapeutic targets that could potentially turn a poor responder into a good responder who might even achieve treatment-free remission (Abstract 665).