Mikkael Sekeres, MD, MS, on MDS and Exposure to Agent Orange
ASH 2025
Mikkael Sekeres, MD, MS, Chief, Division of Hematology and Professor of Medicine at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, presents findings from a new study that connects exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange to earlier and more severe cases of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Researchers concluded that exposure is associated with younger age at MDS diagnosis, ultimate MDS diagnosis, genetic complexity of MDS, increased risk of disease progression, and with Black race (Abstract 5626).
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
Dory Abelman, PhD(c), HBHSc, of the University of Toronto, discusses findings that support the feasibility of ultradeep cell-free DNA whole-genome sequencing for comprehensive genomic profiling in patients with multiple myeloma, which may be a less invasive alternative to bone marrow biopsy (Abstract 495).
The ASCO Post Staff
Jennifer Woyach, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, reviews phase I data on rocbrutinib, a new selective next-generation inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and prior exposure to BTK and/or BCL-2 inhibitors (Abstract 87).
The ASCO Post Staff
Krina Patel, MD, MSc, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, provides updated results from the fully enrolled, ongoing iMMagine-1 phase II registrational trial of anitocabtagene autoleucel, an autologous anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy with a novel D-domain binder. The agent is under development for patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma (Abstract 256).
The ASCO Post Staff
Aaron Gerds, MD, of Cleveland Clinic, reviews results of an evaluation of Synapsis AI, a medically trained, large language model–based end-to-end system, focusing on its accuracy and efficiency in identifying eligible patients for an active phase III polycythemia vera clinical trial (Abstract 4340).
