Hematologic Oncology

The first plenary session at this year’s ASH was kicked off by the presentation of a study that showed that when stem cells come from donors unrelated to the patient there is no difference in patient survival between the use of cells sourced from peripheral blood or bone marrow.

The phase III trial comparing the use of gemtuzumab ozogamicin combined with chemotherapy to chemotherapy alone in newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients provides evidence that the combination treatment may be promising in this patient population.

Obinutuzumab (GA101) achieved higher response rates than rituximab in the first head-to-head trial of the two biologic agents in patients with relapsed non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

CancerNetwork highlights four sessions--on anaplastic large cell lymphoma, lymphoma in pregnancy, follicular lymphoma, splenic marginal zone lymphoma--you won’t want to miss from this year’s ASH.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who have developed hypersensitivity to E. coli derived asparaginase and pegaspargase chemotherapy.

Two recent reports show that the prognosis of MDS patients after secondary failure of hypomethylating drugs is poor, and switching from one failing hypomethylating drug to another cannot induce clinically significant responses.

A survey of more than 500 long-term survivors of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) has revealed that more than one-third experience persistent or worsening symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with nearly 4 of 10 cancer survivors stating they still experience symptoms of PTSD more than a decade after their cancer diagnosis.

Marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is an indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma arising from the lymphoid tissue at extranodal sites.

The rational development of novel targeted therapies is expanding treatment options for patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma (MM). The first-in-class proteasome inhibitor (PI) bortezomib (Velcade), the immunomodulatory agents thalidomide (Thalomid) and lenalidomide (Revlimid), and liposomal doxorubicin are currently the major approved therapeutic agents in this setting.[1]

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant, progressive plasma cell tumor characterized by overproduction of monoclonal immunoglobulins, osteolytic bone lesions, renal disease, and immunodeficiency.[1] Before the 1980s, patients with MM experienced a slow, progressive decline in quality of life until death approximately 2 years after diagnosis.

A case report is followed by a review of the diagnosis and treatment of other cutaneous paraneoplastic syndromes that are associated with hematologic malignancies.

A recent case report in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights the promising potentials of adoptive T-cell immunotherapy by redirecting them, through chimeric antigen receptors, as a novel and effective therapeutic modality for cancer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week the approval of brentuximab vedotin, a CD30-directed antibody drug-conjugate, for the treatment of refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma.

Equine ATG has been used for the treatment of severe aplastic anemia since the 1980s. Rabbit ATG is used in many parts of the world including South America, Japan, and European countries. The results of a randomized study of equine versus rabbit ATG showed that rabbit ATG was inferior to equine ATG.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have reported on the results of a trial in which a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) experienced a complete remission after immunotherapy with tumor-reactive modified T cells.

Results of a Phase I study of the novel Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor veliparib (ABT-888) in solid tumors and lymphoma have just been published in Cancer Research (doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-1227).

Researchers at the University of Chicago and colleagues have identified two variants on chromosome 6q21 that are associated with second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) in survivors of pediatric Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The SMNs are linked to radiation therapy used to treat the pediatric cancer.

There has been dramatic progress in the management of acute promyelocytic leukemia during the past three decades. Important insights into the pathogenesis of the disease have come to light and effective treatment has been developed.

Our ability to stratify patients with CLL into high-risk and low-risk categories has advanced dramatically over the past two decades. However, which test or tests are most reliable remains to be seen.

A rarely noted aspect of the era of novel agents and explosive new knowledge in the clonal plasma cell diseases is how short the half-life of relevant information has become, and how this churning has challenged clinical thinking.

In less than a decade, the resources available to treat light chain (AL) amyloidosis have increased impressively.

This review of the various available options for the treatment of systemic amyloidosis is designed to help the clinician determine which patients are candidates for stem cell transplantation and which should be treated with conventional chemotherapy.

Observation is the standard of care. However, clinical trials are ongoing to determine whether early therapy with newer agents can prolong the time to progression-and most importantly, prolong survival.

In this video interview, Joseph Connors gives an overview of the results presented here at ASCO of the phase II trial of brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma, and discusses the most intriguing work currently being done with novel agents used to treat relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.

Myelodysplastic syndromes, also referred to collectively as MDS, have significant biological and clinical heterogeneity, a highly variable natural history, and a complex pathobiology that is not clearly understood.

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous spectrum of clonal hematopoietic diseases characterized by bone marrow hypercellularity, dysplasia of cellular elements, and consequent inadequate hematopoiesis, with resultant peripheral blood cytopenias.

The review by Dr. Akhtari outlines the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and touches on the current challenges in treating patients suffering from MDS.

This review will cover the key elements of modern acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment regimens, focusing primarily on front-line treatment and concluding with a brief discussion of the management of relapsed disease.

We have witnessed remarkable gains in the biological understanding and treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) over the past decade.

About 35 years ago, I encountered several children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or widespread non-Hodgkin lymphoma who presented with or who developed, upon initiation of therapy, severe renal and metabolic derangements.