Latest Conference Articles

John Byrd, MD, director of the Division of Hematology, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, discusses the RESONATE 2 study, which looked at ibrutinib versus chlorambucil in patients with treatment-naïve chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Terri Febbraro, MD, third year fellow, University of Chicago/NorthShore University Health System, discusses length of time receiving chemotherapy versus overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer. Febbraro says the study looked at three separate groups of patients with ovarian cancer based on the length of time they receieved chemotherapy, with the group being on chemotherapy the longest having the worst overall survival rates.

Martee Hensley, MD, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the introduction of trabectedin into the armamentarium for uterine leiomyosarcoma. Hensley says the FDA approval for the treatment requires patients to have had a prior anthracycline therapy, and the treatment will likely fall into the third- or fourth-line of treatment for the malignancy. She adds that trabectedin may fall into the fourth-line due to treatments such as pazopanib currently occupying the third-line.

Chimeric antigen receptor-modified T-cell therapies have demonstrated durable complete responses for patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; however, several questions remain regarding their optimal use and applicability outside of this disease.

Immuno-oncology has advanced rapidly, with the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibition and effective adoptive T-cell therapies. As these agents rush through development, several questions remain regarding the optimal patients for treatment and the next steps for further improving outcomes.

Jennifer Brown MD, PhD, Director, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Center, Senior Physician, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, discusses RESONATE 2 and frontline ibrutinib use in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, retired NBA player for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers, discusses his experience with chronic myeloid leukemia‎ (CML) at the 20th Annual International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies: Focus on Leukemias, Lymphomas and Myeloma, held March 18.

Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, discusses nelipepimut-S (NeuVax), a peptide derived from HER2 protein combined with granulocyte-macrophage colonystimulating factor that is currently being investigated as a single-agent, in combination with standard-of-care therapies, and in multiple settings and subtypes of breast cancer.