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).
Jeff P. Sharman, MD, of the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and US Oncology Research, discusses phase III findings from the ELEVATE TN study, which showed that acalabrutinib plus obinutuzumab and acalabrutinib monotherapy improved progression-free survival in patients with treatment-naive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (Abstract 31).
Ilaria Iacobucci, PhD, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses her work to more accurately define mutation subtypes in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, as well as the implications for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment (Abstract LBA-4 ).
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).
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).
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).
