Moderator of the session, Emily K. Curran, MD, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, in Ohio, said that the data presented by Dr. Short and colleagues demonstrated very impressive event-free and overall survival rates, especially for a disease that has historically had very poor outcomes.
“Particularly interesting is that these excellent outcomes were obtained mostly without the need for allogeneic stem cell transplant, although longer follow-up is needed to see if these remissions are maintained long-term,” Dr. Curran told The ASCO Post. “Whether this approach will be equivalent to, or perhaps even superior to regimens utilizing ponatinib in combination with intensive chemotherapy backbones (such as ponatinib plus hyperCVAD) is still unknown.”
“Further, the optimal duration of ponatinib maintenance needs to be further investigated,” Dr. Curran continued. “However, these results build upon the data by Foa and colleagues, supporting a ‘chemotherapy-free’ approach for Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.”1
DISCLOSURES: Dr. Curran has served as a consultant or advisor for Servier, Tempus, Pfizer, Kite, Incyte, and Amgen; has received honoraria from Servier; and has participated in expert panels guidelines for Servier
REFERENCES
1. Foà R, Bassan R, Vitale A, et al: Dasatinib-blinatumomab for Ph-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults. N Engl J Med. 383:1613-1623, 2020.
