Articles related to Hematology/Oncology

This fascinating case of a 61-year-old male in the UK is the only report so far regarding COVID-19 induced cancer remission. Ridden with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma, the COVID-19 infected patient was hospitalized for 11 days but did not receive any cancer treatments. Four months later, PET-CT scans show the lymphoma largely gone. How did this happen and what are the implications for new treatments?

From the pages of Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology comes this Q&A with Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Woyach provides extensive commentary on BTK, BCL2, and PI3K inhibitors, FCR usage, and the importance of clinical trials when treating patients with CLL.

In June 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to tazemetostat (Tazverik, Epizyme), an oral EZH2 inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (FL). Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology takes a closer look at this new treatment through a conversation with Dr. Connie Lee Batlevi from MSKCC.

The possible answer was presented during the 2020 ASH Annual Meeting, bringing into question whether current recommendations for prophylactic intravenous high-dose methotrexate — the most widely adopted method for CNS relapse prevention — are appropriate for all patients at high risk of a CNS relapse.

Published in Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology, this article presents an overview of the currently available monoclonal antibody treatments in multiple myeloma (MM), discussing  the clinical value, significant potential, and possible limitations of these immunotherapeutic approaches to driving deeper responses and achieving longer overall survival among patients with a challenging disease.

Are traditional cytotoxic chemotherapies becoming a thing of the past? This study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows a move toward targeted agents, as a combination of obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, and venetoclax induced deep remissions in patients with treatment-naive or relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).