BJH - volume 12, issue 1, february 2021
A. Janssens MD, PhD
Our recent BHS guidelines for the management of small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) made by the BHS lymphoproliferative disease committee are not challenged after ASH 2020. One educational session discussed “chemotherapy-free frontline therapy for CLL” and “standard approaches for the relapsed/refractory (R/R) CLL after chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) or novel agents”. Managing toxicities of targeted therapies (BTKi, Pi3Ki, and venetoclax) was the topic of another educational session. Andrew Roberts highlighted the importance of bcl-2 inhibition in CLL and other hematological malignancies in the Ham-Wasserman session.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2021;12(1):25-8)
Read moreBJH - volume 12, issue 1, february 2021
A. Van De Velde MD
Transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT) and sickle cell disease (SCD) are severe monogenic diseases with potentially life-threatening manifestations. In recent years, the FDA approved several disease-modifying therapies for these patients, including like L-glutamine, voxelotor, crizanlizumab and luspatercept. During ASH 2020, updated results for some of these agents were presented in addition to data with other disease-modifying agents, including the E-selectin inhibitor rivipansel and the P-selectin inhibitor crizanlizumab. With respect to TDT, ASH 2020 featured the presentation of quality-of-life data with luspatercept in the pivotal BELIEVE trial. In the second part of this congress highlights article the focus shifts to gene editing techniques, which potentially hold the promise for a cure for patients with these genetic disorders.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2021;12(1):29-32)
Read moreBJH - volume 12, issue 1, february 2021
R. Lattenist MD, X. Poiré MD, PhD
The ASH 2020 annual meeting provided us with several contributions to the field of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) held a prominent place on the stage. This modality of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis, initially developed in the haplo-identical HSCT setting, showed so much benefit that its use tends to spread throughout other types of donors. PTCy seems to be particularly investigated with the mission of improving outcomes in HSCT from mismatched unrelated donors (MMUD), which is of great interest for patients from underserved ethnicities lacking a matched donor. Management of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) also had its share of improvement with the presentation of the results of the REACH3 study, comparing ruxolitinib to best available therapy. Reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) for myeloid malignancies got some attention with a boost to the support of its use for higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). We will also highlight an attempt to improve the efficacy of RIC in high-risk myeloid malignancies by the addition of venetoclax in a phase I study.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2021;12(1):33-7)
Read moreBJH - volume 12, issue 1, february 2021
M-C. Vekemans MD
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a very heterogeneous group of clonal disorders of hematopoietic stem cells that are associated with cytopenias and a propensity to evolve to AML. In the recent years, significant progresses have been achieved to better understand the diversity of clinical, cytogenetic, molecular and immunological factors that are bound to the prognosis and outcome of patients with MDS. Their implementation into conventional risk stratification models should further refine patient subgroups, improve predictive value for survival and provide a next-generation classification and prognostic system for these patients, in order to assist personal treatment decision.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2021;12(1):38-46)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 7, november 2020
Y. Serroukh MD, PhD
The present report summarises some of the data shared during the last European Bone Marrow Transplant (EBMT) meeting that was held virtually from the 29th of August to the 1st of September 2020. It is certainly not exhaustive but reflects the author’s selection of relevant data for clinical practice as well as future developments in the field. Cellular therapy against multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma were extensively covered in other recent congresses and were not included in this report.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(7):335-8)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 5, september 2020
M-C. Vekemans MD
For the first time, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual congress of EHA was turned into a full virtual edition, focusing on haematological innovations and evidence-based knowledge of primary clinical evidence. We choose to report ten abstracts of clinical interest that may have a direct impact on our daily practice.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(5):197-202)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 5, september 2020
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
Multiple myeloma (MM) remains a devastating disease, even in the era of novel agents. As such, the search for new treatment modalities in both the induction and maintenance setting, to manage newly diagnosed MM ever continues. In recent years, the treatment landscape of patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) has also changed dramatically following a long list of positive phase III trials. This overview will give an update of pivotal trials in this setting (IKEMA, OPTIMISMM, CANDOR, BELLINI) as well as discusses some new emerging therapies in the field, including CAR T cell therapy, a B-cell maturation antigen T-cell engager and a novel cereblon E3 ligase modulator (CELMoD) agent.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(5):203-8)
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