Articles

The combination of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) has been the standard first-line treatment for young patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with a complete remission (CR) rate after 6 cycles of 40% to 72%, and an undetectable bone marrow (BM) minimal residual disease (MRD) rate after 6 cycles of 43% to 58%.

In patients with mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL), adverse events (AEs) can impair patient adherence to planned therapeutic regimens, and moderate-to-severe AEs generally require medical attention and are often associated with increased healthcare resource use (HRU) and costs. At ASH 2017, the authors presented the results of a retrospective cohort analysis designed to assess HRU and direct costs of MCL, examine variation in costs across treatment types, and document the economic burden associated with MCL treatment-related AEs.

Ibrutinib (ibr) is a first-in-class oral inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase approved for relapsed/refractory (R/R) mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL). The results of a pooled analysis of 370 patients with R/R MCL treated with ibr in the SPARK, RAY, and PCYC-1104 studies were previously reported (median follow-up, 24 months). At ASH 2017, the authors presented median 3.5-year follow-up in these patients, including additional exposure and follow-up of 87 patients across the 3 studies who enrolled in the long-term access study, CAN3001.

ZUMA-1 is a pivotal, multicenter trial of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, for the treatment of patients with refractory, aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The objective response rate (ORR) was 82% with a 54% rate of complete response (CR), and 44% of responses were ongoing at the time of the primary analysis. Grade ≥3 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurologic events (NEs) occurred in 13% and 28% of patients, respectively.

Brentuximab vedotin (BV), an antibody drug conjugate, selectively delivers the antitubulin agent, monomethyl auristatin E, to CD30+ cells. In a multicenter phase 2 trial in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), BV showed an overall response rate (ORR) of 75%, a complete response (CR) rate of 34%, and a median duration of response (DOR) of 6.7 months.

Atlanta, GA—A retrospective analysis of a large commercial payer database has demonstrated a link between various treatment episodes of acute myeloid leukemia and substantial economic burden. According to data presented at ASH 2017, healthcare resource use and direct healthcare costs were associated with high-intensity chemotherapy induction, hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT), and episodes of relapsed or refractory disease in a US commercially insured population.

Atlanta, GA—A recent analysis of a commercial claims database suggests that oral therapy for multiple myeloma may help decrease the economic burden for patients and healthcare systems. According to data presented at ASH 2017, patients with multiple myeloma who received injectable therapy used significantly more disability benefits and incurred higher productivity costs than patients who received oral medications.

Atlanta, GA—As single-agent immunotherapies continue to show promising results, the challenge is now to determine which combination regimens with immunotherapies can improve outcomes. According to data presented at ASH 2017, 3 approaches are currently being explored.

Atlanta, GA—A novel, third-generation, oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), PF-114 mesylate, has antileukemic activity in heavily pretreated patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), including those with T315I mutation, said Jorge E. Cortes, MD, Deputy Chair, Department of Leukemia, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, at ASH 2017.

Atlanta, GA—Although chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies directed against the CD19 protein garnered much attention at ASH 2017, CAR T-cells targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), a protein expressed nearly universally on multiple myeloma cells, were found to be remarkably effective in patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma.