EHA: European Hematology Association

Surveys of health care professionals, patients, and caregivers explored unmet needs in sickle cell disease (SCD), as well as the significant impact the disease has on everyday life.

Increased diversity in clinical trials remains an unmet need, and in the new SEQUOIA trial, the majority of patients being White males meant researchers could not do a subgroup analysis looking at outcomes for specific races, age groups or genders, said Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Elli Papaemmanuil, PhD, assistant professor in computational oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, spoke on current methods of classification and stratification for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and the applicability of a novel scoring system, presented during her plenary session at EHA2022, that aims to improve and refine MDS risk estimation.

John Mascarenhas, MD, director of the Adult Leukemia Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai, spoke on preliminary data findings of the phase 2 MANIFEST study investigating the efficacy and safety profile of pelabresib, ruxolitinib combination therapy in JAK inhibitor-naive patients with myelofibrosis and those with suboptimal response to ruxolitinib monotherapy.

A primary analysis of the phase 2 ROSEWOOD trial finds that a combination of zanubrutinib and obinutuzumab is superior to obinutuzumab alone in relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (FL). Results were presented at the 2022 European Hematology Association Congress.

The late-breaking oral session at the 2022 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress allowed investigators to present recently emerging data from abstracts submitted after the deadline, including outcomes from trials in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, and sickle cell disease.

Mandy Lauw, MD, PhD, physician scientist and chair of the YoungEHA committee, discussed the content presented at the YoungEHA Research Meeting at the 2022 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress and core themes of the session she cochaired on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) and science in hematology.

Swaminathan P. Iyer, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, explains the mechanism of action and efficacy/safety observed in phase 1 results of CTX130, a CD70-targeted allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, in the treatment of relapsed/refractory T-cell lymphoma.

During a session at the 2022 European Hematology Association Congress, speakers discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) can help advance the principles of ethical medicine—but also how new technologies are being used to undermine the integrity of scientific research.

Abstracts presented at the 2022 European Hematology Association Congress demonstrate superior health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic leukemia (SLL) taking zanubrutinib.

Constantine S. Tam, MBBS, MD, consulting hematologist and associate professor, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, explains findings of his abstract at EHA2022 showing the impact of Australia’s pharmaceuticals benefit scheme on the rise of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor prescriptions for the treatment of relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (R/R CLL), as well as reasons behind the decrease in fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab combination therapy usage for first-line CLL.

In abstracts featured at the 2022 European Hematology Association Congress, investigators detailed long-term results of the ASPEN phase 3 trial and an expanded access study of zanubrutinib in patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM).

Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, discussed positive health-related quality of life (HRQOL) findings of the SEQUOIA trial investigating zanubrutinib vs bendamustine/rituximab in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL).

An education session at the 2022 European Hematology Association Congress featured updates on using genetic and immune characteristics to select the optimal treatment pathway in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The 2022 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress will be the group’s first hybrid meeting, in which investigators will convene both virtually and in Vienna, Austria, from June 9-12, 2022, to present cutting-edge findings in the realm of oncology and hematology.

Real-world data confirmed the clinical effectiveness of Celltrion Healthcare’s rituximab biosimilar (Truxima, CT-P10) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

New studies into chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)–engineered natural killer (NK) cells has shown promising results, explained Ulrike Köhl, PhD, MD, professor of immune oncology and director of the Institute for Clinical Immunology at the University of Leipzig in Germany.

Ibrutinib is currently a standard of care in relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia, but zanubrutinib is an effective second-line and second-generation option, said Peter Hillmen, PhD, MB ChB, professor at the University of Leeds.

Bispecific T-cell engagers and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies seem destined to move into earlier lines of therapy for multiple myeloma (MM), speakers at the European Hematology Association 2021 Virtual Congress said.

The latest phase 2 MAGNOLIA results continue to show strong efficacy and tolerability for the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor in marginal zone lymphoma.

In the frontline setting, daratumumab added to backbone combination therapies has resulted in high rates of minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity, said Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, of the University of Miami and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Using limited data from the ASPEN trial, investigators estimated survival probability and cost-effectiveness for zanubrutinib vs other agents in Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

An interim analysis of the phase 3 ALPINE study demonstrated that zanubrutinib has a superior response rate, improved progressive-free survival, and lower rate of atrial fibrillation/flutter compared with ibrutinib in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/ small lymphocytic leukemia (CLL/SLL).

Results from 2 studies presented at this year’s European Hematology Association meeting demonstrate the long-term tolerability and efficacy of the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

The populations represented in randomized controlled trials often do not match the populations being treated in the real world due to eligibility criteria, which can be challenging when translating those results to real-world decisions, explained speakers during a session at the European Hematology Association 2021 Virtual Congress.

The phase 2 ZUMA-3 trial of brexucabtagene autoleucel showed that it is possible to intervene early to prevent some toxicity, said Bijal Shah, MD, associate member in the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center.

The interim results on the first 415 patients randomized in the phase 3 ALPINE study showed a significantly better response for zanubrutinib compared with ibrutinib in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic leukemia, said Peter Hillmen, PhD, MB ChB, professor at the University of Leeds.

There are many unknowns for third-line chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment and beyond, speakers said at the EHA2021 Virtual Congress.

Daratumumab will likely become a part of most combination therapies for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) because it safely adds efficacy, according to Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, of the University of Miami and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

With 5 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies approved by the FDA, and 299 agents in the pipeline, it’s no surprise that the virtual meeting of the European Hematology Association (EHA) will have a heavy presence of CAR T research being presented in sessions and posters.