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
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).
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
Eunice S. Wang, MD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses phase III results showing that gilteritinib and azacitidine led to significantly higher composite complete response rates in patients with newly diagnosed FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia who are ineligible for intensive induction chemotherapy. Overall survival was similar to that of azacitidine alone (Abstract 700).
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).
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).
