On March 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the small-molecule BTK inhibitor zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) in combination with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after two or more lines of ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Camus et al, the final analysis of the phase III Ro-CHOP trial showed no significant progression-free or overall survival benefit with the addition of romidepsin (Ro) to CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) in previously...
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Neppelenbroek et al found that doxorubicin treatment was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among adolescent and adult Hodgkin lymphoma survivors. Study Details The study involved a cohort of 1,964 female 5-year Hodgkin...
In a retrospective case series reported in JAMA Network Open, Hashmi et al found that more than one-third of pediatric patients receiving treatment for newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL/LL) developed COVID-19 infection during a recent 2-year period. Study...
The ASCO Post obtained comments on the Smart Stop study from Dipenkumar Modi, MD, a medical oncologist and hematologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit. Dr. Modi applauded the investigators for...
A four-drug targeted therapy regimen proved safe and effective as the first-line treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), achieving a 100% response rate after four cycles, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, reported at the 2023 American Society...
Session co-moderator Carla Casulo, MD, offered her thoughts on the response-adapted use of ultra-low–dose radiotherapy in gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoma, as reported by the investigators from MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Casulo is Associate Professor of Medicine and...
For patients with gastric MALT (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue) lymphoma, an “ultra-low dose” of radiotherapy was as effective as the higher, standard dose in providing local control and freedom from distant relapse, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at...
For patients with relapsed large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) in complete remission, outcomes were better after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) than with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in a retrospective analysis of a large database presented at the 2023 American Society of...
In a phase II trial (JACKPOT8 Part B) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Song et al found that the selective JAK1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor golidocitinib showed activity in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Study Details In the trial, 104 patients from sites in...
Researchers may have uncovered a novel strategy to identify which patients may experience poorer outcomes from chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy prior to treatment, according to a recent study published by Faramand et al in Blood Cancer Discovery. The findings indicate opportunities to ...
Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Medical Director of Quality Informatics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, offered his thoughts on the combination of venetoclax and ibrutinib in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma, as presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
The combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax has led to an improved progression-free survival rate in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), according to findings presented at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1 Interim analysis...
A novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK)-cell therapy may be effective at treating patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies, according to a novel study published by Marin et al in Nature Medicine. Study Methods and Results In the new phase I/II trial, researchers...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Brad S. Kahl, MD, and colleagues, long-term follow-up of the phase III Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group RESORT study (E4402) showed that rituximab maintenance did not improve overall survival vs rituximab retreatment in rituximab induction...
Investigators have assessed whether specific tumor characteristics were associated with improved outcomes in patients with large B-cell lymphoma who received chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, according to a recent study published by Locke et al in Nature Medicine. The findings may...
In an analysis from the phase III GALLIUM study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pott et al identified measurable residual disease (MRD) status and related outcomes among patients receiving obinutuzumab- and rituximab-based treatment for previously untreated follicular lymphoma. Study...
Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH, of the University of Washington, discusses new data suggesting that in patients with relapsed large B-cell lymphoma who achieve a complete response, treatment with autologous transplantation may be associated with a lower relapse rate and improved progression-free survival compared with CAR T-cell therapy, including those with early treatment failure (Abstract 781).
In a long-term analysis from the LYMA trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sarkozy et al found that rituximab maintenance following autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) continued to be of benefit vs observation in the first-line treatment of younger patients with mantle cell...
Sanjal H. Desai, MBBS, of the University of Minnesota, discusses results from a multicenter cohort, which shows that, for transplant-eligible patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma, PD-1–based salvage therapy at any point before transplantation is associated with improved progression-free survival, compared with brentuximab vedotin or chemotherapy-based salvage regimens (Abstract 182).
Adam S. Kittai, MD, of The Ohio State University, discusses his data supporting the use of CAR T-cell therapy for patients with Richter’s transformation. Given the high response rate to CD19 CAR T-cell treatment, along with early relapse in most patients, allogeneic stem cell transplantation at response should also be considered, he says (Abstract 108).
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).
Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses phase I/II findings of the BRUIN study on the use of pirtobrutinib after covalent Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). The results suggest that continuing BTK pathway inhibition following a covalent BTK inhibitor may be an important sequencing approach to consider in the treatment of CLL/SLL (Abstract 325).
Sarah C. Rutherford, MD, of Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses findings of the SWOG S1826 study, which showed nivolumab plus AVD (doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) improved progression-free and event-free survival and seemed to be better tolerated than brentuximab vedotin plus AVD in patients aged 60 and older with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (Abstract 181).
The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel may be a cost-effective second-line treatment option in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to a recent study published by Choe et al in Blood Advances. Background In cases...
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).
Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, reviews key abstracts from ASH 2023 on treatment of myelofibrosis, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, large B-cell lymphoma, and acute myeloid leukemia (Abstracts 620, 631, 781, 425).
The phase II PrE0405 trial met its primary endpoint, achieving a complete response rate of 85% in 33 patients with mantle cell lymphoma over age 60 who received bendamustine and rituximab, a standard chemoimmunotherapy regimen, along with venetoclax, which is investigational in this setting. The...
Bijal D. Shah, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, discusses a matching-adjusted indirect comparison of brexucabtagene autoleucel and pirtobrutinib in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma who have been previously treated with a BTK inhibitor (Abstract 5136).
Jonathon B. Cohen, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, discusses safety and efficacy findings from the phase I/II BRUIN study. The trial found that pirtobrutinib continues to demonstrate durable efficacy and a favorable safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (Abstract 981).
Patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma who received ibrutinib in combination with venetoclax experienced significantly better rates of progression-free survival compared with patients who received ibrutinib and placebo, according to findings from the international phase III...
Early results from a new study have demonstrated that the novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy AT101 resulted in favorable complete response rates at higher dose levels in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to new findings simultaneously...
Data presented at the 2023 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition suggest that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy remains a viable option for patients who have lymphoma that goes into remission before the cell therapy begins (Abstract 615). While the findings do not answer the...
For patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) who have an early relapse or whose cancer doesn’t respond to first-line treatment, randomized trials have shown that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is superior to the historical standard of care, which included additional chemotherapy...
In an analysis from the European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Elderly Trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hoster et al found that outcomes with rituximab maintenance were better in patients aged ≥ 60 years with mantle cell lymphoma who had measurable residual disease (MRD)-negative vs...
Investigators have found that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may be an effective but unaffordable second-line treatment option for patients with relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to a recent study published by Kelkar et al in the Annals of Internal Medicine....
On December 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca) for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) who have received at least two prior lines of therapy, including a Bruton’s tyrosine...
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Iacoboni et al found that preapheresis bendamustine exposure was associated with poorer outcomes among patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma receiving CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell...
The BTK inhibitor nemtabrutinib may offer a new treatment option for patients with relapsed hematologic malignancies such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a recent study published by Woyach et al in Cancer Discovery. Background Hematologic malignancies are...
Researchers have found that a DNA repair–facilitating mechanism may be responsible for a tumor’s treatment resistance and could be treated with a combination of chemotherapies, according to a recent study published by Marullo et al in Cancer Research. The mechanism involves the shuttling of...
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lewis et al found that prophylactic high-dose methotrexate did not appear to offer a clinically meaningful reduction in risk of central nervous system (CNS) disease progression in patients with high-risk aggressive B-cell...
In the summer of 2012, I was living my dream. At 28 years old, I had gone from an impoverished childhood in South Central Los Angeles to the high life in the city of Los Angeles. Unable to afford to go to college, an after-school program helped launch me into a career in the hospitality industry. I ...
Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia is a rare and incurable low-grade B-cell lymphoproliferative disease defined by specific genotypic subtypes that have implications for treatment response and long-term outcomes. Treatment—and there is no established standard—is mainly focused on controlling symptoms...
My intuition about my health has served me well over the past 10 years, possibly even saving my life from two serious cancers. In 2013, I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. I believe that my awareness of changes in my body led to its early discovery. One evening, after exercising at the gym...
In an analysis reported in a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Palmer et al identified evidence that polatuzumab vedotin-piiq–containing regimens were preferentially effective among patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with activated B cell (ABC) vs...
In a phase I/II study (TRANSCEND CLL 004) reported in The Lancet, Tanya Siddiqi, MD, and colleagues found evidence of activity with the CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia...
In a phase II trial (ROSEWOOD) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zinzani et al found that the addition of zanubrutinib to obinutuzumab significantly improved objective response rate among patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. Study Details In the open-label trial,...
In a study (STOP-CA) reported in JAMA, Neilan et al found that atorvastatin reduced the risk of decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients receiving anthracycline-based chemotherapy for the treatment of lymphoma. Study Details In the U.S.-Canadian double-blind trial, 300...
Alexey Danilov, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center and Professor, Division of Lymphoma, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, California, commented on the phase III ALPINE trial comparing ibrutinib and zanubrutinib in patients...
The next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor zanubrutinib demonstrated superior progression-free survival compared with ibrutinib, with an improved cardiac safety profile, in the first head-to-head comparison between these two BTK inhibitors in relapsed or refractory chronic...