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).
Mark Bustoros, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase II study results showing that the combination of ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone is effective in patients with high-risk smoldering disease, with a high response rate, convenient schedule, and manageable toxicity. Longer follow-up for disease outcome is ongoing (Abstract 580).
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).
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).
C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses phase II study findings that showed an 83% negative rate of minimal residual disease in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma treated weekly with 8 cycles of the quadruplet regimen of carfilzomib/lenalidomide/dexamethasone/daratumumab, without autologous stem cell transplant (Abstract 862).
Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, discusses results of a phase Ib study of glasdegib in combination with azacitidine, which showed activity in patients with untreated myelodysplastic syndromes, acute myeloid leukemia, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy (Abstract 177).
