ASCO 2015 Highlights

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.

Atlanta, GA—The combination of the investigational drug quizartinib plus azacitidine (Vidaza) or low-dose cytarabine has substantial activity in patients with myeloid leukemias and FLT3 mutations.

Atlanta, GA—Treatment with ivosidenib, an IDH1 inhibitor, resulted in an objective response rate (ORR) of 41.6% in a phase 1 dose-escalation and expansion clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and IDH1 mutation.

Atlanta, GA—Sotatercept, an investigational activin receptor IIA ligand trap, when used alone or in combination with ruxolitinib (Jakafi), safely increases hemoglobin levels in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm–associated myelofibrosis, according to data from a phase 2, investigator-initiated clinical trial, presented at ASH 2017.

Atlanta, GA—Mogamulizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CC chemokine receptor type 4 (CCR4), significantly reduced the risk for disease progression or death in patients with untreated cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) compared with vorinostat (Zolinza), reported Youn H. Kim, MD, Director, Multidisciplinary Cutaneous Lymphoma Program, Stanford Medicine, California, at ASH 2017.

Atlanta, GA—CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy continues to show excellent and durable responses in patients with lymphoma who have no other treatment options. Two studies presented at ASH 2017 provide encouraging news for 2 new drugs, including long-term follow-up of the pivotal ZUMA-1 study of the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta), and primary results from the JULIET study of tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah).

Atlanta, GA—Although there have been major advancements in the treatment of hematologic malignancies in recent years, according to Richard Pazdur, MD, Director, FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, the number of agents approved in 2017 for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was nothing short of “phenomenal.”