Eunice S. Wang, MD, on AML: Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin Plus Standard Induction Chemotherapy Improves Outcomes
2022 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition
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
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
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
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).
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
Jennifer R. Brown, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses phase III findings of the ALPINE study, which showed that zanubrutinib is more efficacious and better tolerated than ibrutinib as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). In this first head-to-head comparison of the two BTK inhibitors, the superior progression-free survival of zanubrutinib was observed across all major subgroups, including high-risk patients (Abstract LBA-6).
