ASCO 2015 Highlights

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.”

Atlanta, GA—More than 25,000 attendees converged on Atlanta during the middle of a rare winter snowstorm to attend ASH 2017, which featured nearly 5000 scientific abstract presentations ranging from cutting-edge advances in gene therapy and personalized medicine to practice-changing discoveries in immunotherapies.