Adam S. Kittai, MD, of The Ohio State University, discusses his data supporting the use of CAR T-cell therapy for patients with Richter’s transformation. Given the high response rate to CD19 CAR T-cell treatment, along with early relapse in most patients, allogeneic stem cell transplantation at response should also be considered, he says (Abstract 108).
Sanjal H. Desai, MBBS, of the University of Minnesota, discusses results from a multicenter cohort, which shows that, for transplant-eligible patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma, PD-1–based salvage therapy at any point before transplantation is associated with improved progression-free survival, compared with brentuximab vedotin or chemotherapy-based salvage regimens (Abstract 182).
Darren Denjay Pan, MD, of Tisch Cancer Institute and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses his findings on risk assessment of CAR T-cell therapy for patients with multiple myeloma. Higher fibrinogen and ferritin values at baseline were associated with inferior overall survival after CAR T-cell therapy, even after controlling for tumor burden. Higher baseline absolute lymphocyte count was also associated with higher risk and grade of immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome, an important toxicity to consider for patients receiving CAR T (Abstract 92).
Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses phase I/II findings of the BRUIN study on the use of pirtobrutinib after covalent Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). The results suggest that continuing BTK pathway inhibition following a covalent BTK inhibitor may be an important sequencing approach to consider in the treatment of CLL/SLL (Abstract 325).
Andrew Srisuwananukorn, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a novel artificial intelligence model that can distinguish between prefibrotic primary myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythemia. This proposed model may assist clinicians in identifying patients who may benefit from disease-specific therapies or enrollment in clinical trials (Abstract 901).
Hamish S. Scott, PhD, and Chris Hahn, PhD, both of Australia’s SA Pathology and Centre for Cancer, discuss ERG, a new predisposition gene for bone marrow failure and hematologic malignancy. Identifying causal germline ERG variants has direct clinical implications for diagnosis, counseling, surveillance, and treatment strategies, according to Drs. Scott and Hahn (Abstract LBA5).
