Leslie S. Kean, MD, PhD, on Bone Marrow Transplantation: Using Abatacept to Prevent Graft-vs-Host Disease
2021 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
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
Musa Yilmaz, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses study results suggesting that quizartinib with decitabine and venetoclax is active in patients with FLT3-ITD–mutated acute myeloid leukemia and that RAS/MAPK mutations continue to drive primary and secondary resistance (Abstract 370).
The ASCO Post Staff
Nikhil C. Munshi, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the findings from a large nationwide Veterans Affairs study, which showed that, for patients with multiple myeloma, the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine is reduced, likely due to patients’ immunosuppression. Dr. Munshi describes what next steps should be taken (Abstract 400).
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
Masayuki Umeda, MD, of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, discusses his research which showed that UBTF-TD (upstream binding transcription factor-tandem duplications) define a unique subtype of acute myeloid leukemia that previously lacked a clear oncogenic driver. UBTF-TD is associated with FLT3-ITD and WT1 mutations, adolescent age, and poor outcomes. These alterations are critical for future risk-stratification for this patient cohort.
The ASCO Post Staff
Romanos Sklavenitis-Pistofidis, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses study findings on a next generation of clinical assays to assess both tumor biology and immune state, as well as common clinical biomarkers in the marrow or blood. These biomarkers may accurately predict which patients with smoldering multiple myeloma might benefit from early treatment, monitor response to immunotherapy, and improve patient outcomes (Abstract 330).
