Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease that is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of undifferentiated myeloid progenitors. While these leukemic blasts accumulate in the bone marrow and peripheral blood, impairment of normal hematopoiesis may lead to a reduction in the number of differentiated myeloid cells (granulocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, erythrocytes, megakaryocytes). Associated symptoms and consequences include anemia, bleeding, and an increased risk for infection.
New results from the international, randomized, phase 3 clinical trial QuANTUM-R show that the targeted drug quizartinib, an oral, selective FLT3 inhibitor, significantly extended overall survival compared with chemotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and the FLT3-ITD mutation, the most common FLT3 gene mutation, affecting [ Read More ]
Atlanta, GA—Ibrutinib (Imbruvica) plus venetoclax (Venclexta) led to an objective response rate of 100% in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with 47% in complete remission at 6 months. These high response rates were achieved with only 1 case of laboratory tumor lysis syndrome, said Peter Hillmen, [ Read More ]
Atlanta, GA—The past few years have witnessed significant progress in the treatment of several hematologic malignancies, and truly paradigm-changing therapies have recently emerged in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). At ASH 2017, Crystal L. Mackall, MD, Co-Director, Immunology & Immunotherapy of Cancer Program, Stanford University, CA, discussed the FDA approvals of [ Read More ]
Atlanta, GA—More than 90% of patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) achieved objective responses with the new Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor acalabrutinib (Calquence), updated data from an ongoing study showed. In most cases, the responses were durable, reported John C. Byrd, MD, Director, Division of Hematology, [ Read More ]
Atlanta, GA—Venetoclax (Venclexta) plus rituximab (Rituxan) achieved superior progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared with standard-of-care bendamustine (Treanda/Bendeka) plus rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). PFS improved by 81% and OS by 52% with venetoclax plus rituximab, and the depth of response was [ Read More ]
Outcomes in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remain poor, with long-term disease-free survival (DFS) rates of 30% to 40%.1 Salvage chemotherapy regimens demonstrate limited success in inducing and maintaining a second remission, and consequently overall survival (OS) at 5 years after relapse is as low as 7%.2 Therefore, novel agents [ Read More ]
