Hematologic Oncology

In this interview we discuss the use of newly approved agents for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, next-generation therapies in the pipeline, and how the treatment of this type of leukemia has changed.

A regimen of gemcitabine/dexamethasone/cisplatin was as effective and less toxic than the current standard of care for treating relapsed, refractory lymphoma.

Panobinostat added to bortezomib/dexamethasone for treating relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma improved progression-free survival and complete response rates.

Patients with non-high-risk APL can achieve better clinical outcomes when treated with ATRA plus arsenic trioxide compared with ATRA plus chemotherapy, a new study found.

Data from a pooled analysis show that PET-CT provided better response assessment than did CT and predicted inferior survival in follicular lymphoma patients.

Hodgkin lymphoma survivors who were treated with infradiaphragmatic radiotherapy have an increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus, says a new study.

A study of more than 4,500 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) found that predicting resistance to therapy remains an elusive practice.

Multiple myeloma patients may already suffer from sensory deficits prior to treatment, likely due to disease-related decreases in peripheral innervation density.

The rationale for maintenance therapy in indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma was derived from historical data suggesting that despite robust response rates to standard therapy, most patients eventually relapse and disease-free intervals become progressively shorter.

While definitions of follicular lymphoma maintenance therapy in clinical trials and clinical practice have been somewhat variable, ideally maintenance therapy would be limited to patients in complete remission or with minimal residual disease following initial therapy

The optimal treatment strategy for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma is consolidation with melphalan, stem-cell transplantation, then lenalidomide maintenance.

STAT3 inhibition using a novel compound restored sensitivity to TKIs in CML cells that had shown resistance independent of BCR-ABL1 kinase activity.

Continuous treatment with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone improved progression-free and overall survival in transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma patients.

A laboratory study found that natural killer cells could be multiplied from the blood of patients to fight off precursor B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma may be at increased risk of diabetes if they were exposed to radiation to the para-aortic lymph nodes and spleen during treatment.

A new study confirms that patients with primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who have a MYD88 mutation have a shorter disease-specific survival.

Phase II study results show that a new combination of drugs known as R2CHOP had promising efficacy in the treatment of relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The addition of gemtuzumab-ozogamicin to standard chemo improved event-free survival in children and young adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia.

Treatment with bortezomib prior to autologous stem cell transplant resulted in superior outcomes in multiple myeloma patients with end-stage renal failure.

In a phase I trial, the oral AKT inhibitor afuresertib demonstrated single-agent activity against hematologic malignancies, specifically multiple myeloma.

Patients with pediatric BCR-ABL1-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia should be given risk-directed therapy based on minimal residual disease levels, according to a new study.

A combination of the CDK4 inhibitor palbociclib with ibrutinib in mantle cell lymphoma could potentially overcome the drug resistance that many patients face.

The FDA approved idelalisib (Zydelig) yesterday for the treatment of relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (FL), and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

Rapidly generated virus-specific T cells (VSTs) were safe and effective against five infections that commonly affect immunocompromised patients after marrow or stem cell transplantation, according to a new small study.

The FDA has granted breakthrough therapy designation to a novel treatment known as CTL019, a therapy intended for patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Is PCNSL resection safe? Evidence from clinical trials in which enrollment follows surgery-such as G-PCNSL-SG-1-is not valid proof of the safety of resection.

Relatively few patients with primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PCNSL) will have tumors that are amenable to resection. In the absence of the highest quality data, at least it is good to know that in the modern era, patients with PCNSL are probably not harmed by judicious tumor resection.

For the practicing medical or neuro-oncologist, the treatment approach would currently not change, given that systemic therapy should be started as soon as the diagnosis of PCNSL is made and the patient is stable from a neurosurgical perspective. In most cases, one would not refer the patient back to the surgeon for additional debulking.

Prophylaxis with tacrolimus/sirolimus provided equivalent graft-vs-host disease-free survival in patients undergoing matched, related donor hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Lymphocyte infusions are extremely effective therapy in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and the timing of the infusion is relatively unimportant, according to a new study.