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Findings from a study by Puissant et al suggest that the wild-type form of enzyme SYK pairs with FLT3, the most commonly mutated enzyme found in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), to promote progression of the cancer. The molecular partnership also promotes AML cells’ resistance to treatment with...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today expanded the approved use of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one previous therapy. Ibrutinib, an oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was previously...
Using data from the whole-genome sequencing of a pair of 3-year-old female monozygotic twins, one healthy and one with the multilineage form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a team of scientists from China and the United States have identified a novel molecular target that could offer a new...
The finding that the BRAF V600E mutation is present in nearly all cases of hairy cell leukemia has resulted in the use of BRAF inhibitors to treat chemotherapy-resistant disease, with good responses to vemurafenib (Zelboraf) being observed. BRAF inhibition has been thought to result in...
Use of standard chemotherapy is difficult in patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have significant coexisting medical conditions. In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Furman et al found that the combination of idelalisib, an oral inhibitor...
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is associated with increased risk of skin cancer. In a study reported in JAMA Dermatology, Velez et al attempted to determine whether progression of CLL indicated by advanced Rai stage is associated with worse skin cancer outcomes. They found that risk of death...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Marcucci et al assessed whether including epigenetic changes—ie, DNA methylation—as molecular risk factors could improve risk stratification in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They found that a seven-gene score integrating DNA...
Obinutuzumab (Gazyva) is a glycoengineered type 2 anti-CD20 antibody that appears to exhibit increased activity against chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells (CLL), with increased antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and reduced complement-dependent cytotoxicity, compared with rituximab (Rituxan). ...
Chemoimmunotherapy has produced improved response and survival in young patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but its use in elderly patients has been limited by myelosuppression and infection. In a phase IB/II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, O’Brien et al assessed the use...
Many patients with chronic-phase chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in complete molecular response have molecular relapse after discontinuation of imatinib (Gleevec) treatment. In a French multicenter observational study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rousselot et al assessed the...
The availability of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib (Gleevec) has dramatically increased survival in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Nonadherence to therapy with imatinib and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors is associated with disease progression and treatment resistance. In a study reported ...
In a prospective matched-pairs analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stelljes et al in the German AML Cooperative Group compared outcomes with allogeneic stem cell transplantation vs conventional postremission chemotherapy in patients aged < 60 years with acute myeloid leukemia...
Dasatinib (Sprycel) resulted in “faster and deeper responses” compared to imatinib (Gleevec) among patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), according to a 3-year follow-up of the randomized phase III DASISION (Dasatinib vs Imatinib Safety In...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved revised prescribing information and a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for ponatinib (Iclusig) that allows immediate resumption of its marketing and commercial distribution. The prescribing information includes a revised...
In a European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell’ Adulto (GIMEMA) phase III trial (AML-12) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Willemze et al compared induction regimens containing high-dose or standard-dose...
Nearly all of the patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in a phase II clinical trial responded to treatment with the targeted therapy ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and the antibody rituximab (Rituxan), researchers reported at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting ...
The monoclonal antibody gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) improved event-free survival and reduced the risk of relapse in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in a study from the Children’s Oncology Group, presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and...
Two novel agents—the small-molecule PI3K inhibitor IPI-145 and the Bcl-2 inhibitor ABT-199—show promising activity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to two phase I studies presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition (Abstracts...
Obinutuzumab (Gazyva) plus chlorambucil (Leukeran) was superior to rituximab (Rituximab) plus chlorambucil as first-line therapy in older chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with comorbidities, with an acceptable safety profile, according to final results of the phase III CLL11 trial....
Development of autologous genetically engineered anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing T cells holds promise in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. CAR T cells are being studied in adult and pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemias and in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and...
T-cell–depleted HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be made more efficacious and safer through the removal of alpha/beta-positive T cells and CD19-positive B cells from the graft, an approach pioneered by Italian investigators who reported results at the 55th...
Combining gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) with conventional chemotherapy may improve the outcome of bone marrow transplantation for some children battling high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The results appear in the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kevin R. Krill, PhD, and colleagues from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital assessed neurocognitive function in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). They found pervasive significant impairment across...
The Group for Research in Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (GRAALL) recently reported significantly better outcome in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) harboring NOTCH1 or FBXW7 (N/F) mutations, although relapse was still observed in one-third of patients with N/F-mutated T-cell ALL. In a ...
On October 31, 2013, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of ponatinib, agreed to an FDA request to suspend marketing and sales of the drug due to the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels. The FDA states that it will continue to evaluate ponatinib to further ...
Preliminary results of an ongoing clinical trial suggest that the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf)—indicated for the treatment of metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E mutation—may have an important role in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia. The cornerstone of therapy for this...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for use in combination with chlorambucil (Leukeran) to treat patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Obinutuzumab is the first drug with Breakthrough Therapy designation to receive FDA...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked the manufacturer of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib (Iclusig) to suspend marketing and sales of the drug because of the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels. Ariad Pharmaceuticals has agreed to...
In a phase III trial (EORTC [European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer]/GIMEMA [Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell’Adulto] consortium AML-17 trial) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sergio Amadori, MD, of Tor Vergata University Hospital in Rome, and...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating an increasing frequency of reports of serious and life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels of patients taking the antileukemia drug ponatinib (Iclusig). Ponatinib is indicated for the treatment of patients with...
Myeloablative conditioning with cyclophosphamide combined with intravenous busulfan (Busulfex) was associated with better leukemia-free and overall survival than conditioning with cyclosphosphamide and total-body irradiation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were in first complete...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Raya Mawad, MD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and colleagues assessed the frequency of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission at their institution and...
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a high relapse rate after standard chemotherapy. In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sylvie D. Freeman, MD, PhD, of University Hospitals Birmingham National Health Service Trust, and colleagues investigated whether assessing...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Monique Terwijn, PhD, of the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, and colleagues assessed the prognostic performance of flow cytometric minimal residual disease detection in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients aged < 60 years. They...
Although imatinib (Gleevec) is the initial therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), several second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors are now approved for the treatment of this disease. Michael Millenson, MD, of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, reviewed practical considerations in...
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc, has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to volasertib, an investigational inhibitor of polo-like kinase (Plk), which being evaluated for the treatment of patients aged 65 or older with...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for ofatumumab (Arzerra) in combination with chlorambucil (Leukeran) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have not received prior treatment and are inappropriate for...
For the first time, a genetic link specific to risk of childhood leukemia has been identified, according to a team of researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, University of Washington, and other institutions. The discovery was reported...
Internal tandem duplications (ITDs) in the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) juxtamembrane region are observed in 20% to 30% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and point mutations in the FLT3 activation loop are observed in 5% to 10%. FLT3-ITD mutations are associated with early relapse ...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have identified a protein that certain high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells need to survive and have used that knowledge to fashion a more effective method of killing tumor cells. The findings appear in the August 29 edition of ...
A retrospective analysis of 110 patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia found that single-unit, unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation resulted in a 5-year disease-free survival rate of 44%. “Our data document that a significant proportion of children with this disease,...
A study published this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests that blocking the RUNX1 protein normally credited with suppressing leukemia may be a promising therapeutic strategy for acute myeloid leukemia. Transcription Factor RUNX1 Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital...
In a study (Medical Research Council AML 15 Trial) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alan K. Burnett, MD, of Cardiff University School of Medicine and colleagues compared induction with daunorubicin/cytarabine, daunorubicin/cytarabine plus etoposide, and fludarabine/cytarabine/granulocyte...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Anthony V. Moorman, PhD, of Newcastle University, and colleagues compared outcomes in children and adolescents with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and intrachromosomal amplification of chromosome 21 (iAMP21) in a trial in...
Intrachromosomal amplification of a region of chromosome 21 (iAMP21; three or more extra copies of RUNX1 on an abnormal chromosome 21) is a recently identified recurrent genomic abnormality associated with poorer outcome in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In a study reported in Journal of...
Although small clinical studies of adoptive T-cell therapy in the treatment of advanced forms of leukemia have shown positive results, including putting some patients into complete remissions, progress in the development of this type of immunotherapy is limited by the lack of readily available,...
Minimal data are available on outcomes of second allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from unrelated donors after first hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with hematologic relapse of acute leukemia. In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Maximilian...
Patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) often receive allogeneic transplants that effectively “reboot” their own immune defenses, which then attack and potentially cure the hard-to-treat disease. However, there is a high rate of relapse in these patients, and the...
Scientists studying acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have discovered that rather than displacing hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow as previously believed, the cancer is in fact inhibiting production of downstream hematopoietic cells, effectively putting them to sleep. The findings were...
Pharmacyclics, Inc, today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the investigational oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib, for two relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancy indications: mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and...