Leukemia

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine are reporting that they have successfully converted cells from blood vessels in mice into blood-forming stem cells.

This review will highlight the survival impact that rituximab therapy has had on major lymphoid malignancies, such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma. We will also discuss alternative anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies.

Given the benefit of rituximab to patients, it will be important that the use of biosimilar compounds not compromise the efficacy of treatment. However, measures to improve access to anti-CD20 therapy in a cost-effective manner will clearly provide benefit to patients with lymphoma.

There is considerable value in having achieved a minimal residual disease negativity for pediatric and adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Insurance status at the time of chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosis appears to have an influence on survival outcomes, with the uninsured and those on Medicaid having worse overall survival.

Female survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia were at risk for neurocognitive impairment and were more susceptible to the effects of sleep disturbance and fatigue compared with their male counterparts.

A new study is suggesting that intravenous and subcutaneous rituximab share similar efficacy and safety profiles.

On April 28, 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration approved midostaurin (Rydapt) for treating newly diagnosed FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia and three types of systemic mastocytosis.

Single-agent use of blinatumomab resulted in anti-leukemic activity in patients with tyrosine kinase inhibitor–relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome positive B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Treatment with ponatinib yielded better overall survival compared with allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia with a T315I mutation.

Global inequities in childhood leukemia survival have narrowed in recent years but still persist, according to data from CONCORD-2.

Kinase oncoproteins and growth factors both activate the proto-oncogene c-FOS and DUSP1, allowing the persistence of residual leukemia cell populations despite tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.

Patients with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma had improved event-free survival when treated with chlorambucil plus rituximab compared with either therapy alone.

Unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region gene (IGHV) status does not adversely impact survival among ibrutinib-treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Low pretreatment disease burden improved durability of CAR T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Treatment of CML with tyrosine kinase inhibitors including imatinib, nilotinib, and dasatinib can be associated with subclinical pulmonary hypertension.

The FDA has recently released a statement identifying a new rare T-cell lymphoma caused by breast implant surgery.

Patients who have survived Hodgkin lymphoma were at more than double the risk for diagnosis with a second cancer, according to the results of a recent study.

During maintenance therapy for childhood ALL, there was a general increase in DNA-incorporated thioguanine nucleotides (DNA-TGN), and this increase was associated with a lower frequency of disease relapse.

As we learn more about the biology of AML, it appears that 7+3 only rarely clears residual leukemic clones in patients with higher-risk disease. New therapies are needed that can target and eradicate resistant subclones early in the disease course.

Adding rituximab to an escalated regimen of BEACOPP did not improve progression-free survival in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma.

The final, long-term analysis of the landmark IRIS study showed that imatinib’s efficacy persists over time in patients with CML, and no unacceptable late toxic or cumulative effects were observed.

We spoke with Dr. Anas Younes about the molecular characteristics of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

There is a critical need for new therapies for T-cell lymphomas, and with ongoing trials of mTOR and aurora kinase inhibitors, PI3K inhibitors, and others, new options may be on the horizon.

The emergence of ibrutinib-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) can be detected prior to clinical relapse, according to an analysis of patients from four ibrutinib trials.

A handful of novel antibody-based therapies may soon emerge for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, according to a presentation at the 21st Annual International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies.

Cessation of second-generation TKIs yielded good treatment-free remission rates in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who had sustained deep molecular responses.

Significant progress has been made in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with the addition of options such as the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib, the monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab, and the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax.

Smoking is linked to mortality and to disease progression among patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.