Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD, and Patrizia Mondello, MD, PhD, both of the Mayo Clinic, discuss the 20% of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) who relapse early and experience a poor prognosis. The researchers found that FLs with high levels of IRF4 expression are associated with a suppressive tumor microenvironment, and selective IRF4 silencing restores antilymphoma T-cell immunity. Further investigation is warranted to identify the mechanisms by which IRF4 controls tumor immunity to develop precision therapies for this population (Abstract 70).
Joseph Schroers-Martin, MD, of Stanford University, discusses immunogenomic features reflecting divergent biology in posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD). These include evidence of mismatch repair defects in Epstein-Barr virus–positive PTLD, tumor microenvironment depletion, and MYC pathway enrichment in certain patients (Abstract 72).
Eva Hoster, PhD, of Munich University, discusses results from the European MCL Elderly Trial, which confirmed the strong efficacy of rituximab maintenance in minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) after induction. Omitting maintenance based on MRD-negativity is thus discouraged. Considering the short time to progression, more effective treatment strategies should be explored in MRD-positive patients to improve long-term prognosis (Abstract 544).
Kathryn R. Tringale, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses an assessment of 559 patients with primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma and the factors associated with consolidation therapy selection, outcomes after consolidation therapy accounting for patient factors, and patterns of disease failure. The initial treatment response was prognostic and predictive of relapse patterns (Abstract 557).
Mark R. Litzow, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses phase III results from the ECOG-ACRIN E1910 Trial, which show that adding blinatumomab to consolidation chemotherapy resulted in a significantly better overall survival in adult patients aged 30 to 70 years with newly diagnosed B-lineage acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) who were measurable residual disease–negative after receiving intensification chemotherapy. The authors believe this may represent a new standard of care for this population (Abstract LBA-1).