Clinical

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may consider hydroxychloroquine essential to their treatment, but after the drug was identified as a potential therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), patients with SLE experienced reduced access to the treatment, which could increase the risk of SLE flare.

FDA has lifted a partial clinical hold on a phase 2 trial of a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) Hodgkin lymphoma from ADC Therapeutics. The trial of camidanlumab tesirine (Cami), an antibody drug conjugate that binds to CD25, is evaluating the safety and efficacy of the therapy and is intended to support the submission of a Biologics License Application to the FDA.

A 52-week interim analysis confirmed previous findings highlighting the benefits of ruxolitinib in patients with polycythemia vera (PV) who are resistant or intolerant to hydroxyurea. The full study findings with a 24-month follow-up are still to come.

Patients with HIV who have been heavily treated but are failing their current regimen have few treatment options and are at risk of progressing to AIDS and death.

Although most physician leaders from 22 organizations saw patients and felt that it improved their leadership performance, their perceptions of the optimal balance of clinical and leadership responsibilities varied.

Researchers identified a protein that can not only worsen skin inflammation but also plays a key role in damaging joints and bones of patients with psoriasis.

In its first briefing in 2 months, the White House Coronavirus Task Force addressed rising cases of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and positive test rates across states in the South, as well as the new data that show the majority of new cases are occurring in younger Americans.

The FDA granted accelerated approval to selinexor (Xpovio, Karyopharm Therapeutics) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The oral treatment is to be used after at least 2 lines of systemic therapy.

Inflammatory skin diseases are often diagnosed by "first impression" and can be easily misdiagnosed. A new smartphone app using artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to assist with the diagnosis of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and eczema.

When patients present to the emergency department (ED) with sickle cell disease (SCD)–related pain, they often have been experiencing that pain for days, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

More data is needed to get wider acceptance of the use of palliative care services for patients with blood cancers, said Adam Olszewski, MD, associate professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Patients with sickle cell disease already face suspicion and biases based on their need for opioids, and African American patients also face additional racial biases, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

There is not a lot of evidence on how well nonpharmacologic treatments work to treat sickle cell disease–related pain, and it can be difficult to get people access to these treatments, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Ibrutinib quickly became the de fact standard of care to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia, but the high price presents a problem for the US healthcare system, said Adam Olszewski, MD, associate professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Patients had never been particularly enthusiastic about using opioids to treat their pain related to sickle cell disease, but they are more cautious now, especially as they are often meet with suspicion of addiction, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Managing people with sickle cell disease and complex chronic pain is difficult and requires some trial and error, said C. Patrick Carroll, MD, director of psychiatric services, Sickle Cell Center for Adults, associate professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medicine.

As new therapies come to market for pediatric acute myeloid leukemia, there will be a lot of questions to answer regarding dosing and where these drugs are used in the patient journey, said Sarah Tasian, MD, attending physician in the Division of Oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Patients with myelofibrosis can see their quality of life impacted in a range of ways with various symptoms, said Ruben Mesa, MD, director of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) may be prevalent in clinical trials and discussed at conferences, but it is not really used widely in practice, said C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer.

While ibrutinib is a major breakthrough in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia, it is associated with financial burdens and medical concerns for the older patients being treated, said Adam Olszewski, MD, associate professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Research has shown that fedratinib favorably impacts health-related quality of life for patients with myelofibrosis across the board, said Ruben Mesa, MD, director of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Financial barriers and perceived implicit biases were both barriers that families of children with acute leukemia raised regarding access to care issues that might have delayed diagnosis, said Lena Winestone, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.

Sarah Tasian, MD, attending physician in the Division of Oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, highlights the coming advances in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that she is the most excited for.

While minimal residual disease (MRD) has been a topic of research for at least a decade, right now it is more top of mind than ever before for people treating cancer, said C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer.

Quality of life is an important end point in clinical trials, and it is important to discuss that with regulatory agencies, said Ruben Mesa, MD, director of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.