HEMATOLOGY

One of the most exciting advancements in the lymphoma community has been the FDA approval of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2017.

New indications were approved by the FDA within the last month, including abemaciclib for HER2-negative breast cancer, durvalumab for non–small cell lung cancer, and abiraterone acetate for castration-sensitive prostate cancer.

Several combinations are being investigated for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, said Ian W. Flinn, MD, citing numerous ongoing trials presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

Patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma with renal impairment who were treated with pomalidomide and&nbsp;low-dose dexamethasone had an overall response rate of up to 39%,&nbsp;according to findings of a phase II study published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> &nbsp;

Progression-free survival was successfully predicted by a 23-gene expression-based model for patients with follicular lymphoma enrolled in the phase III randomized PRIMA trial.

The treatment paradigm of acute myeloid leukemia has not changed much in the last several decades, but with 4 new drugs approved by the FDA within the span of a few months, 2017 easily became the most promising year yet for the treatment of AML.

Constantine S. Tam, MD, associate professor, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, discusses the phase III DUO trial, a randomized comparison of duvelisib versus ofatumumab (Arzerra) in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic leukemia.

Denosumab was recently recommended for approval by the European Medicines Agency&rsquo;s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for the&nbsp;prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with multiple myeloma, according to Amgen, the developer of the RANK ligand inhibitor.

Brad S. Kahl, MD,&nbsp;discusses the latest data for ibrutinib and highlighted emerging treatments in MCL.<br /> &nbsp;

According to phase I findings published in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em>&nbsp;an&nbsp;objective response rate of 37% was induced in patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with the&nbsp;PI3K-delta inhibitor umbralisib.

Sattva S. Neelapu, MD, associate professor, Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses long-term findings of the ZUMA-1 trial investigating axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; Yescarta) in patients with refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Treatment with the&nbsp;CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel, formally known as JCAR017) demonstrated&nbsp;a complete response rate of 63% and an&nbsp;objective response rate of 81%&nbsp;in patients with&nbsp;relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Saad Z. Usmani, MD, Department of Hematologic Oncology and Blood Disorders, Levine Cancer Institute/Carolinas HealthCare System, highlights some of the ongoing studies presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting.

Peter Martin, MD,&nbsp;reflects on the MCL data presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting, and shared his insight on the future of clinical trials in the disease.

Brian T. Hill, MD, PhD,&nbsp;shares more insight on acalabrutinib and ibrutinib&rsquo;s efficacy in patients with MCL and highlights emerging novel strategies in the treatment landscape.

C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, recently shared the treatment considerations and decisions he makes when treating patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

Enrollment in a phase I/II clinical trial began recently for a study of PT-112 monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according a news release from Phosplatin Therapeutics LLC, the company developing the small molecule conjugate.

Combining consolidative radioimmunotherapy and sequential maintenance rituximab following chemoimmunotherapy improved progression-free survival at 3 years in patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma, according to findings from the phase II SWOG S0801 study recently published in <em>The Lancet Hematology</em>.

Based on findings from a phase I trial presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting, ivosidenib (AG-120) has been granted a priority review designation by the FDA for the&nbsp;treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory <em>IDH1</em>-mutant acute myeloid leukemia.

The clinical course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia is highly variable, and a subset of patients may never need clinical intervention. However, most patients will eventually require treatment during their disease.

Using next-generation squencing methods, researchers are attempting to combine clinical and genomic biomarkers to identify patients with smoldering multiple myeloma who are at high risk for disease progression.

Susan O&rsquo;Brien, MD,&nbsp; discusses the tremendous impact that has been seen with ibrutinib following the long-term follow-up of the RESONATE studies and highlights where this regimen is headed in the future of treatment for patients with CLL.

Based on improved insight into chronic lymphocytic leukemia biology and pathophysiology, approaches to identify patients who are at higher risk for disease progression have been refined, as have strategies to select therapies that maximize treatment outcomes due to their selectivity for distinctive phenotypic or physiological features of the respective CLL cells.

Matthew S. Davids, MD,&nbsp;sheds light on the significant findings of this study and gave a look ahead to ibrutinib combination therapies in the future treatment landscape of CLL.