Anil Aktas-Samur, PhD, on Identifying Low-Risk Smoldering Multiple Myeloma
2021 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
Anil Aktas-Samur, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses study findings on the genomic characterization of non-progressor smoldering multiple myeloma, results that may provide a molecular definition of the disease as well as its risk-driving features. Combining this low-risk model with current high-risk models may possibly improve clinical trials for patients with this early precursor to myeloma (Abstract 545).
The ASCO Post Staff
Daniel A. Ermann, MD, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, discusses results from the largest retrospective study on outcomes utilizing radiotherapy in early-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Adding radiation to front-line multiagent chemotherapy was associated with a survival benefit for all patients with early-stage disease. An overall survival benefit was seen with the addition of radiation to front-line multiagent chemotherapy for patients with nodal involvement and those with specific extranodal involvement in the testes, thyroid, skin and soft tissue, and head and neck (Abstract 49).
The ASCO Post Staff
Joe Schroers-Martin, MD, of Stanford University, discusses his latest study findings, which show that follicular lymphoma driver mutations are detectable in blood and saliva years prior to a clinical diagnosis. These data build on previous work and suggest that researchers may be able to stratify people at elevated risk of clinical malignancy (Abstract 709).
The ASCO Post Staff
Leslie S. Kean, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, discusses findings from her analysis of the International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Database, which led to the recent FDA approval of abatacept for the prevention of acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) in adult and pediatric patients. The data suggest improved overall survival with the immunosuppressant abatacept in combination with a calcineurin inhibitor and methotrexate following 7/8 HLA–matched unrelated allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Abstract 3912).
The ASCO Post Staff
L. Elizabeth Budde, MD, PhD, of City of Hope, discusses phase I/II findings that showed mosunetuzumab monotherapy induces deep and durable remissions in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who have received two or more prior lines of treatment, including those with double-refractory disease. Because follicular lymphoma is associated with frequent relapses and decreasing progression-free intervals with successive lines of conventional therapy, these data are encouraging (Abstract 127).
The ASCO Post Staff
Alba Rodriguez-Meira, DPhil, of the University of Oxford, discusses a comprehensive analysis of the genetic, cellular, and molecular landscape of TP53-mediated transformation, providing insights into the evolution of chronic hematologic malignancies toward an aggressive acute leukemia. Because TP53 is the most commonly mutated gene in human cancer, these findings may well be of broad relevance (Abstract 3).
