HCN Oncology Year-in-Review: LeukemiaDecember 21, 2021 | Oncology Hematology Multisite 11-Year Experience of Less-Intensive vs. Intensive Therapies in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Key Points: In two study cohorts, less-intensive therapies increased mortality in each of three risk groups defined by age, comorbidities, and cytogenetics. The differences became nonsignificant after accounting for physician perception of cure, emphasizing the need for a randomized trial.Design: Multicenter retrospective cohort (1,292), 6 institutions, 2008-2012; prospective cohort (695), 13 institutions, 2013 – 2017Connected Content: Fitness for Intensive Chemotherapy: A Continuing Conundrum Read full article Hematology First Results of a Head-to-Head Trial of Acalabrutinib vs. Ibrutinib in Previously Treated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia It’s a battle of two heavyweights in this trial report from the Journal of Clinical Oncology, sharing the results of acalabrutinib (Calquence) compared to ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Selected events of clinical interest included cardiac events, atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachyarrhythmias, hypertension, bleeding and major bleeding events, infections, and second primary malignancies excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. Read full article Hematology Integrated Genomic Analysis Identifies UBTF Tandem Duplications as a Subtype-Defining Lesion in Pediatric AML To define the spectrum of alterations common at relapse, the researchers in this study performed integrated profiling of 136 relapsed pediatric AML cases with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), whole-genome sequencing, and target-capture sequencing. In addition, well-characterized fusion oncoproteins were identified, as were somatic mutations in UBTF (upstream binding transcription factor). See the results from the late-breaking abstract being presented at the ASH Annual Meeting & Exhibition. Read full article Hematology Your Approach to Treating this Transplant-Ineligible Patient with Ph+ ALL? In ASH Clinical News, Dr. Geoffrey Uy, a professor in the Oncology Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, discusses treatment options for a transplant-ineligible patient who has Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). The patient under review is a 61-year-old female diagnosed with Ph+ ALL who has multiple comorbidities and is not a candidate for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Read full article Hematology FLT3 Inhibitors in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Increasing Options In this Clinical Advances in Hematology & Oncology Q&A with Dr. Tapan M. Kadia, an associate professor at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the current treatments for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are discussed, with a specific focus on the targeted FLT3 approach, the role of the gene in AML, the differences among the approved FLT3 inhibitors, and why newer FLT3 inhibitors are needed. Read full article
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