Alex F. Herrera, MD, on Previously Untreated DLBCL: Circulation Tumor DNA and Risk Profiling
2022 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition
Alex F. Herrera, MD, of the City of Hope National Medical Center, discusses results from the POLARIX study, which showed that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis has prognostic value for patients with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Patients who did not achieve 2.5 or greater log-fold change and/or did not have ctDNA clearance following one cycle of polatuzumab vedotin along with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone had inferior outcomes than those who did. Early changes in ctDNA levels may be of use in risk-adapted trial designs to identify patients in need of alternative treatment. (Abstract 542).
The ASCO Post Staff
Anand P. Jillella, MD, of Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University, discusses results from the ECOG-ACRIN EA9131 Trial, which showed that using a simplified treatment algorithm and management recommendations made by a group of specialists, resulted in a dramatic improvement in 1-year survival of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (Abstract 421).
The ASCO Post Staff
Andrew Matthews, MD, of the Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, discusses findings from a large, multicenter study that showed superior outcomes with 7 + 3 chemotherapy (cytarabine continuously for 7 days, along with short infusions of an anthracycline on each of the first 3 days) vs venetoclax in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In this real-world data set, the 7 + 3 cohort outperformed historical benchmarks in overall survival and early mortality, perhaps reflecting improved later lines of therapy and patient selection. Prospective studies (such as NCT04801797) must confirm the superiority of intensive chemotherapy (Abstract 426).
The ASCO Post Staff
Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, of the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship, University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses study findings that showed key somatic mutations in the peripheral blood stem cell product increases the risk of developing therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (Abstract 119).
The ASCO Post Staff
Jia Ruan, MD, PhD, of Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses trial results demonstrating that the triple chemotherapy-free combination of acalabrutinib, lenalidomide, and rituximab is well tolerated, highly effective, and produces high rates of minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative complete response as an initial treatment for patients with mantle cell lymphoma, including those with TP53 mutations. Real-time MRD analysis may enable treatment de-escalation during maintenance to minimize toxicity, which warrants further evaluation. An expansion cohort of acalabrutinib/lenalidomide/obinutuzumab is being launched (Abstract 73).
The ASCO Post Staff
Elias Jabbour, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses an analysis confirming that olverembatinib is a potentially viable treatment option for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including those with CML whose disease did not respond to ponatinib or asciminib, or who had a T315I mutation (Abstract 82).
