Valeria Santini, MD, on Imetelstat for Lower-Risk MDS: Long-Term Outcomes From the IMerge Trial
ASH 2025
The telomerase inhibitor imetelstat was approved for the treatment of certain patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) based on the results of the phase III IMerge trial. Valeria Santini, MD, of the University of Florence, provides updates on secondary endpoints, including overall and progression-free survival; progression to acute myeloid leukemia; safety; and long-term outcomes by subgroups of interest in IMerge, as well as ad hoc outcomes, including overall survival by response (Abstract 2074).
The ASCO Post Staff
Jennifer Woyach, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses results from the first head-to-head comparison of pirtobrutinib vs ibrutinib in treatment-naive patients and patients with covalent Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor–naive relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) (Abstract 683).
The ASCO Post Staff
Amir Fathi, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses data from the phase II PARADIGM trial, which prospectively tested whether azacitidine plus venetoclax was superior to intensive induction chemotherapy in fit patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML)—and could challenge the current treatment standard (Abstract 6).
The ASCO Post Staff
Amer Zeidan, MBBS, of Yale School of Medicine, discusses findings from an analysis of the IMerge trial, which explored the possible association between imetelstat-related cytopenias and hemoglobin increase—a measure linked to red blood cell transfusion independence achievement—in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (Abstract 490).
The ASCO Post Staff
Aaron Logan, MD, PhD, of UCSF Health, discusses research examining the effect of transplant before or after treatment with brexucabtagene autoleucel in the real world for adult patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome–negative B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (Abstract 516).
The ASCO Post Staff
Alexander Lesokhin, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses results of a retrospective analysis from the phase II MagnetisMM-3 trial. A post hoc analysis was conducted of the subgroup of patients enrolled in the study who had a prolonged treatment interruption or who permanently discontinued elranatamab and maintained their responses for 6 months or longer (Abstract 2269).
