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
Irene Roberts, MD, of Oxford’s Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, discusses children with Down syndrome, who have a more than 100-fold increased risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia before their fourth birthday compared to children without Down syndrome. Their risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia is also increased by around 30-fold. Dr. Roberts details current knowledge about the biologic and molecular basis of this relationship between leukemia and Down syndrome, the role of trisomy 21 in leukemogenesis, and the clinical implications of these findings.
The ASCO Post Staff
Eunice S. Wang, MD, of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the outcomes of patients newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were treated with cytarabine plus daunorubicin plus gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). These patients experienced higher rates of measurable residual disease–negative complete remission and complete remission with incomplete count recovery, compared to those treated with cytarabine plus idarubicin daunorubicin alone. Although adding GO was not associated with improved overall survival, longer follow-up is warranted to determine an absolute survival advantage of this regimen (Abstract 58).
The ASCO Post Staff
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).
The ASCO Post Staff
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).
The ASCO Post Staff
Francesco Maura, MD, of the University of Miami, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses his team’s findings in which they defined a comprehensive catalogue of genomic determinants of response to DKRd (carfilzomib, lenalidomide, dexamethasone) in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The researchers have identified a number of new genomic alterations that explain resistance to the agents currently used in combination regimens (Abstract 470).
