Ajay K. Nooka, MBBS, of Winship Cancer Center of Emory University, discusses phase II findings showing that, in patients with high-risk myeloma, maintenance therapy with carfilzomib, pomalidomide, and dexamethasone deepened responses. Measurable residual disease negativity was attained in 80% of patients.
Amer Methqal Zeidan, MBBS, MHS, of Yale University and Yale Cancer Center, discusses phase III findings on the first-in-class telomerase inhibitor imetelstat, which was given to patients with heavily transfusion-dependent non-del(5q) lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes that are resistant to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Imetelstat resulted in a significant and sustained red blood cell (RBC) transfusion independence in 40% of these heavily transfused patients. The response was also durable and accompanied by an impressive median hemoglobin rise of 3.6 g/dL, and seen in patients with and without ring sideroblasts. Importantly, reduced variant allele frequency was observed in the most commonly mutated myeloid genes which correlated with duration of transfusion independence and hemoglobin rise, therefore suggesting a disease-modifying potential of this agent (Abstract 7004).
Claire Roddie, PhD, MBChB, of University College London, discusses results of the FELIX study, which showed that the second-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy obecabtagene autoleucel is safe for adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, even those with a high burden of disease. This agent yielded high rates of complete response and ongoing CAR T-cell persistence in most patients whose disease responded (Abstract 7000).
Muhit Özcan, MD, of Turkey’s Ankara University School of Medicine, discusses waveLINE-007, a two-part study now recruiting in more than 20 locations, to determine the safety and recommended phase II dose of the antibody-drug conjugate zilovertamab vedotin in combination with R-CHP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone) in previously untreated patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Efficacy of this regimen will be investigated in the second half of the study (Abstract TPS7589).
Aaron T. Gerds, MD, of Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, talks about treating the anemia many patients with myelofibrosis experience because of JAK inhibitor therapy. The ACE-536-MF-001 study showed that luspatercept improved anemia and transfusion burden in this population, with a safety profile consistent with that in previous studies (Abstract 7016).
Cathy Eng, MD, of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Lars Henrik Jensen, MD, PhD, of the Danish Colorectal Cancer Center South and the University Hospital of Southern Denmark, discuss phase III results from the Scandinavian NeoCol trial, which showed that neoadjuvant chemotherapy is not superior to standard upfront surgery in terms of disease-free and overall survival in patients with colon cancer, although there are certain circumstances when this approach may have more favorable outcomes (Abstract LBA3503).
