Hematologic Oncology

Giancarlo Agnelli, MD, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy, discusses the results of a study comparing the efficacy and safety of two doses of apixaban, an oral factor Xa inhibitor, with placebo for the treatment of venous thromboembolism.

Sung W. Choi, MD, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan, discusses the results of a phase I/II trial examining the use of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor vorinostat in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention.

Acting 3 months ahead of schedule, the FDA approved ponatinib for the treatment of patients with all phases of CML and Ph+ALL that is resistant or intolerant to prior TKIs.

Jorge E. Cortes, MD, from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, describes results from a 12 month follow up of the phase II PACE study that examined ponatinib in patients with CML and Ph+ ALL.

Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the trials investigating ABT-199 and ibrutinib that were presented at the 2012 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting.

Proposed federal budget cuts that could affect the National Institutes of Health, and thus hematology/oncology research, were highlighted as an area of concern during the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia.

Photos from the 54th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, held at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, from December 8-11, 2012.

Researchers have demonstrated that ponatinib can overcome a wide range of mutations that cause treatment resistance-including the stubborn T315I mutation-in all stages of CML and Ph+ ALL.

The combination of pomalidomide and a steroid significantly improved outcomes for patients with MM who have exhausted other novel therapies, marking what researchers say is a notable advancement for a sizable proportion of those treated for the disease.

MLN9708 has shown comparable efficacy and greater convenience and tolerability than bortezomib, for patients with multiple myeloma.

Harry Erba, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director, University of Alabama at Birmingham Hematologic Malignancy Program, explains the declining treatment-related mortality (TRM) rates in AML patients.

The novel targeted agent ibrutinib has demonstrated dramatic activity in hard-to-treat patients with CLL when used alone and in combination with rituximab.

Researchers have identified a genetic profile of the patients who are most likely to develop congestive heart failure after being treated with anthracyclines and then undergoing hematopoeitic stem cell transplant (HCT) for a range of blood cancers.

John C. Byrd, MD, director of the division of hematology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the new and updated results of a phase Ib/II study involving ibrutinib at the ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.

Although new therapies have revolutionized the management of certain hematologic malignancies during the past 15 years, clinical trials currently under way hold the potential to yield new targeted agents and better treatment strategies.

Gail J. Roboz, MD, associate professor of medicine, director of the Leukemia Program at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, explains research into potential improvements to the standard treatment of AML.

Researchers are continuing to investigate TKIs to help manage patients with CML who either do not respond to initial therapy or relapse after subsequent treatment.

Renier J. Brentjens, MD, PhD, Leukemia Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, explains the process by which his laboratory at MSKCC genetically modifies immune cells to fight cancer.

Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD, from MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the optimal frontline therapy for patients with chronic phase chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Now that several effective agents are FDA-approved for the treatment of CML, it is important to ascertain whether a treatment is working, and if not, how to respond in terms of switching treatment.

Transplant remains the cornerstone of treatment for relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma, but some new approaches are on the horizon and may also prove to be valid options.

In early clinical trials, small-molecule inhibitors have demonstrated improvement in response rates in elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The FDA has approved omacetaxine mepesuccinate for the treatment of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive CML who have progressed after treatment with at least two prior TKIs.

It is important for oncologists to monitor, design, and administer appropriate bone health treatments at the earliest stages for the 80% to 90% of patients with multiple myeloma who develop osteolytic bone lesions.

Dose-dense induction with high-dose chemotherapy/autologous stem-cell transplantation is reasonable for use as first-line treatment of transplantation-eligible patients with systemic peripheral T-cell lymphomas.