CONGRESS NEWS

European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) 43^rd Annual Meeting

SUMMARY

The 43^rd annual meeting of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation took place in Marseille between March 26^th and March 29^th, 2017. The society celebrated 60 years of history in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This report summarises some interesting abstracts that were presented during the meeting.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(3):122–4)

Biosimilars in the Belgian health care plan

(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(2):87–8)

Highlights in multiple myeloma

SUMMARY

Multiple myeloma (MM) remains a devastating disease, even in the era of novel agents. As such, the search for new treatment modalities, alongside optimization of those already available, boldly continues. Each year, the ASH congress offers us the opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the MM field. This text aims to provide a brief summary of some of the latest insights presented at ASH this year.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(1):3–7)

Highlights in aggressive lymphoma

SUMMARY

ASH 2016 again featured a plethora of abstracts dedicated to lymphoma. In this summary we will discuss the studies that, in our opinion, have the highest relevance for daily clinical practice. This summary will not address indolent lymphoma as this will be covered in another article in this ASH special.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(1):10–3)

Highlights in myeloproliferative neoplasms

SUMMARY

The presentations on myeloproliferative neoplasms at this year’s ASH congress were inspiring and innovative. As expected, the main topic in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was treatment-free remission (TFR). About 30 oral or poster abstracts on this topic were presented during ASH 2016. An update of the important EURO-SKI trial and new results were presented: TFR-studies after treatment with 1st and 2nd generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), as well as TFR-studies after both first and second attempts of TKI-discontinuation. While stopping TKI-treatment is considered in CML, starting new treatments and when to start was the main topic regarding the BCR-ABL negative MPNs polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET) and myelofibrosis (MF). A wide panoply of MPN-related topics has been presented at San Diego: late-breaking results of the second-generation JAK-inhibitor pacritinib in MF, interferon-trials in PV and ET, long-term treatment data of the JAK-TKI momelotinib and ruxolitinib, new molecules and novel molecular data, and finally, a special focus on quality of life (QOL). QOL has been a major topic in CML/MPN since several years. In this paper, some key abstracts on CML and MPN, presented at ASH 2016, are selected and commented. I’m aware that this selection excludes many other abstracts, not reducing their intrinsic value. The aim is to present a broad and representative spectrum of studies on each topic. At the end of the article, some ‘take-home messages’ will be given.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(1):16–22)

Highlights in CLL and low-grade lymphoma

SUMMARY

Immunochemotherapy induction followed by maintenance with rituximab (R) is the standard of care (SoC) for patiens (pts) with advanced-stage symptomatic follicular lymphoma (FL), achieving a median progression free survival (PFS) of 6–8 years (yrs) and a median survival (OS) of 12–15 yrs. However, FL is incurable and most pts eventually relapse. Relapse occurs in 30% of pts within 3 yrs, and is associated with a poor prognosis. Obinutuzumab (G) is a glycoengineered type II anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody with enhanced direct cell killing and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Promising activity and manageable toxicity when combined with chemotherapy has already been shown in treatment-naïve chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (G-chlorambucil (Chl)) and in R-refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL). We waited eagerly for the results of GALLIUM, the phase 3 trial which compared G-chemo to R-chemo in advanced, untreated FL. Treatment options for pts with refractory iNHL are limited. Last year, the phase 3 GADOLIN trial, comparing the efficacy and safety of G-bendamustine (B) induction, followed by G maintenance (G-B arm), with B induction (standard in R-refractory iNHL pts), already showed a gain in PFS and time to next treatment (TTNT) for the G-B arm. At this years ASH meeting we learned whether longer follow-up would also show a survival benefit. In previous yrs the outcome of multiple phase 2 and 3 trials with oral B-cell receptor (BCR)-inhibitors in treatment-naïve and relapsed/refractory (R/R) CLL were reported, which led to the approval of these agents for the treatment of CLL. This led to a shift from intravenous chemotherapies, given for a finite number of cycles, to oral therapies given continuously until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. Follow-up of these trials is necessary to evaluate long-term efficacy in pts with different prognostic factors and long-term safety.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(1):23–8)

Highlights in acute myeloid leukemia (AML): what is going to change?

SUMMARY

The decision making process in AML integrates clinical features, an increasing amount of genetic information and minimal residual disease (MRD) data. Combining these data aims at answering the following questions:

• do I treat my patient with an intensive (= curative) or a non intensive (= non-curative) approach ?
• do I have therapeutic targets to improve the current treatment?
• is there an indication for a stem cell transplantation (SCT), maintenance therapy, etc.

Each new edition of ASH brings some new answers. This was again the case at the 2016 annual ASH meeting.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2017;8(1):29–33)