Nitin Jain, MD, on B-Cell ALL: Expert Perspective on Key CAR T-Cell Treatment Advances
2020 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
Nitin Jain, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reviews six important abstracts on CAR T-cell treatments for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): successful 24-hour manufacture of CAR T-cell therapy; ALLCAR19, a novel fast-off rate therapy; donor-derived CD19-targeted treatment; CAR 2.0 therapy to manage post-transplant relapse; UCART22, allogeneic engineered T cells expressing anti-CD22 chimeric antigen receptor; and inotuzumab ozogamicin in pediatric CD-22–positive disease (Session 614, Abstracts 159-164).
The ASCO Post Staff
Sara Zarnegar-Lumley, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses an analysis of a large cohort confirming the age-associated prevalence of IDH mutations in patients, across the age spectrum, with acute myeloid leukemia and therapeutic implications. IDH-mutated genes were found to co-occur frequently with other mutations, some of which favorably impact outcomes in patients younger than 60 (Abstract 388).
The ASCO Post Staff
Curtis Lachowiez, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses an interim analysis of a phase Ib/II study showing that venetoclax plus chemotherapy represents an effective regimen, particularly in patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The regimen appears to be an effective bridge to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Abstract 332).
The ASCO Post Staff
Emmanuel Bachy, MD, PhD, of the Hospices Civils de Lyon, discusses the final analysis of a phase III study of adding romidepsin to chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Adding romidepsin did not improve progression-free survival and was associated with high rates of adverse events (Abstract 39).
The ASCO Post Staff
Ari M. Melnick, MD, of Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses the BCL10 mutation in patients with activated B-cell–like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and his study results which showed that the mutation should be considered as a biomarker for ibrutinib resistance so that alternative targeted treatments can be prioritized (Abstract 3).
The ASCO Post Staff
Jyoti Nangalia, MBBChir, of Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge, discusses how her team used large-scale whole-genome sequencing to precisely time the origins of a blood cancer and measure how it grew. The information could provide opportunities for early diagnosis and intervention (Abstract LBA-1).