Masayuki Umeda, MD, on Pediatric AML: Identifying a Key Subtype-Defining Lesion
2021 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
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
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
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
Talha Badar, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses the near-universal poor outcomes for patients with TP53-mutated acute myeloid leukemia and the findings that show allogeneic stem cell transplantation appears to improve the long-term survival in a subset of these patients. Effective therapies may successfully bridge patients to transplant and prolong survival for those who are transplant-ineligible (Abstract 797).
The ASCO Post Staff
Michael R. Bishop, MD, of the University of Chicago, discusses insights from findings of the phase III BELINDA study, which may inform the design of future CAR T-cell trials, as well as the use of second-line tisagenlecleucel therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (Abstract LBA-6).
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).
