Romanos Sklavenitis-Pistofidis, MD, on Smoldering Myeloma: Identifying Biomarkers of Response to Immunotherapy
2021 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition
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
Tycel Phillips, MD, of the Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, discusses phase II findings from the CITADEL-204 study of parsaclisib, a next-generation inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. The agent, used as a monotherapy, appeared to benefit patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma who had a rapid and durable clinical response (Abstract 44).
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
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
Tarek H. Mouhieddine, MD, of The Mount Sinai Hospital and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses data that suggest patients with heavily pretreated, predominantly triple-class refractory multiple myeloma who relapse after treatment with bispecific antibodies may still have good outcomes when sequentially treating with other immunologic treatments (Abstract 821).
