SOHO Spotlight: Hematologists Share Practice-Informing Insights From the 2025 Annual Meeting

The 2025 SOHO Annual Meeting gave the hematologic oncology community a host of trials and presentations to write home about, from notably effective treatment combinations to agents displaying the promise of novel mechanisms of action. At the meeting, experts spoke to OncLive® about the data they believe will have wide-reaching implications across research and clinical practice.

“All the oral abstracts that were selected are groundbreaking,” said Tara M. Graff, DO, MS, director of Clinical Research at Mission Cancer + Blood in Des Moines, Iowa. “SOHO does a great job in picking out which abstracts should be highlighted.”

“All this means that our patients are now going to have access to a lot of effective therapies,” explained Adam J. Olszewski, MD, a hematologist/oncologist and researcher at the Brown University Health Cancer Institute at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital; as well as an associate professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert School of Brown University in Providence.

Read more below for a spotlight on some of the most talked-about presentations!

Abstract MDS-1497: Primary analysis of the randomized phase 3 VERONA study of venetoclax plus azacitidine versus placebo with azacitidine in patients with treatment-naïve, intermediate and higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes

“I was excited to hear about the [phase 3] VERONA trial [NCT04401748],” noted Ghayas C. Issa, MD, MS, an associate professor in the Department of Leukemia and the Department of Genomic Medicine in the Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “This was the combination study that tested the addition of venetoclax [to azacitidine] in myelodysplastic syndromes [MDS]. Even though the trial didn't show the outcomes we were hoping for, which were improved survival in patients who received venetoclax, it could be [a study] we learn valuable lessons from in the future on how to design trials that are hopefully effective for MDS.”

Abstract ABCL-777: Initial results from LOTIS-7: a phase 1b study of loncastuximab tesirine plus glofitamab in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

“I was excited to see the update for the [phase 1b] LOTIS-7 trial [NCT04970901] because I have patients on that trial,” Graff highlighted. “The combination of glofitamab-gxbm [Columvi] and loncastuximab tesirine [Zynlonta] in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is proving to be a novel therapy. [That trial is] near and dear to my heart.”

“As [an investigator] in the LOTIS-7 trial, I'm excited to continue to follow the results,” Olszewski added. “This is a combination of a bispecific agent, glofitamab, with an antibody-drug conjugate, loncastuximab tesirine. This seems to be an extremely effective combination for patients and provides another option in this whole spectrum.”

Abstract MM-906: First-in-human study of JNJ-79635322 (JNJ-5322), a novel next-generation trispecific antibody, in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: initial phase 1 results

“There was an oral presentation on trispecific antibody results, which are amazing,” noted Sundar Jagannath, MBBS, a professor of medicine (hematology and medical oncology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Tisch Cancer Institute; as well as network director for the Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma in New York, New York. “[This phase 1 trial (NCT05652335) showed the efficacy of JNJ-79635322] without having to use CAR T-cell [therapy], [and with] less toxicity and almost equivalent outcomes are coming [compared with current treatment standards]. We need long-term follow-up. However, the results of deep complete responses are impressive. Immunological treatment with bispecific and trispecific antibodies, as well as different CAR T-cell [therapy] results, is exciting.

“At the same time, there's also progress in the traditional immunomodulatory drug therapy [with] CELMoDs, and hopefully they will get approved. They are [showing] dramatic results, and they have the capacity to increase the outcomes of patients who have also [received] CAR T-cell [therapy] or bispecific antibody [therapy]. We are anxious to make sure that CELMoDs also get approved in the near future for the management of multiple myeloma.”

Abstract MCL-1493: Fixed-duration outpatient subcutaneous mosunetuzumab + polatuzumab vedotin shows robust efficacy in a phase II study of relapsed/refractory post-BTKi mantle cell lymphoma

“[In the past], I presented many regimens in the frontline and relapsed [mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) settings] with new CAR T-cell therapies,” explained Michael Wang, MD, a professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma and the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation in the Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. “After those important milestone advances, this combination has become the best combination [for] the patients who have exhausted other therapies. This is important. Unlike CAR T-cell [therapy], this regimen could be used in the community and outpatient [settings]. It is effective and durable. It may become an important treatment option for all patients with relapsed MCL. In the future, we're going to study this in the frontline setting. These therapies in the frontline setting could be curative if the trial is well designed.”