Nitin Jain, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses findings from two studies showing that the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax is an effective chemotherapy-free oral regimen for patients with high-risk, previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (Abstract 34).
Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, of Stanford University, discusses extended follow-up data that show ibrutinib plus rituximab improved clinical outcomes vs the standard therapy of fludarabine/cyclophosphamide/ rituximab in younger patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (Abstract 33).
Catherine M. Diefenbach, MD, of the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone, discusses a primary analysis of a phase Ib/II trial showing that the novel triplet combination of polatuzumab vedotin plus obinutuzumab/lenalidomide is safe and effective, with high complete response rates seen in a heavily pretreated and refractory population (Abstract 126).
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).
David P. Steensma, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses early study findings on H3B-8800, which decreased the need for red blood cell or platelet transfusion in 14% of patients. This splicing modulator, used in the trial to treat patients with hematologic malignancies, also showed safety, dose-dependent target engagement, and a predictable pharmacokinetic profile (Abstract 673).
Edward A. Stadtmauer, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, discusses phase I results of immune cells, modified with CRISPR/Cas9 technology, and infused in three patients (two with multiple myeloma and one with sarcoma). Researchers observed the cells expand and bind to their tumor targets with no serious side effects (Abstract 49).
