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).
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).
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).
Jennifer Crombie, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses early study results which showed that duvelisib plus venetoclax showed activity in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, with no dose-limiting toxicities observed (Abstract 1763).
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).
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).
