
ICYMI: Highlights From EHA 2025
Key Takeaways
- The ADVANCE trial showed DKRd therapy significantly improves outcomes in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, achieving high minimal residual disease negativity rates.
- CARTITUDE-1 trial results indicated unprecedented 5-year remission rates in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, with significant progression-free survival.
Highlights from EHA 2025 included use of bispecific antibodies in more settings and novel approaches for improving outcomes in hard-to-treat patients.
The 30th European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress (EHA 2025), held in Milan, Italy, from June 12-15, 2025,
Here are the most popular articles and videos from our
5. ADVANCE Trial Supports DKRd as New Standard of Care for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma: Ola Landgren, MD, PhD
In this video interview, Ola Landgren, MD, PhD, shares results from the ADVANCE trial (NCT04268498), which show that adding daratumumab to carfilzomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone (DKRd) improves outcomes in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Landgren, chief of the myeloma division and leader of the experimental therapeutics program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the main analysis, which showed that after 8 cycles of DKRd, minimal residual disease negativity was seen in 59% of the patients, compared with 33% of the control arm of KRd. Results were similar for patients older and younger than 65 years and those both eligible and ineligible for transplant, he explained.
4. CARTITUDE-1 Trial Shows Unprecedented 5-Year Remission in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma: Sundar Jagganath, MBBS
Here, Sundar Jagganath, MBBS, traces the background of CARTITUDE-1 (NCT03548207), a phase 1b/2 trial initiated for the approval of ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel/Carvykti; Johnson & Johnson) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Jagganath, of Mt Sinai Tisch Cancer Center, explains the significance of the results for CARTITUDE-1 in light of other trials going on at the time, noting that the median progression-free survival was 34.9 months, and the median overall survival was not reached. This was unprecedented at the time, he said.
3. Epcoritamab Improves Outcomes, HRQOL in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Follicular Lymphoma
Data presented in posters at EHA 2025 showed that patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma reported consistent or increased response rates, survival benefits, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) when taking epcoritamab (Epkinly; AbbVie) in various different forms. One poster reported on the 3-year follow-up of the EPCORE NHL-3 (NCT04542824) follicular lymphoma expansion cohorts as well as updating the EPCORE NHL-1 C1 optimization.
2. EHA Late-Breakers Reflect Diversity of Hematology Topics, From RedirecTT-1 Combo to Frailty Scales
The summary of the late-breaking trials presented at EHA 2025 included results on combining the bispecific antibodies talquetamab (Tavley) and teclistamab (Tecvayli), both from Johnson & Johnson, for patients with extramedullary disease; data for a novel monoclonal antibody in
1. Phase 3 POLARGO Trial Shows Survival Benefit of Polatuzumab-Based Regimen in R/R DLBCL: Matthew Matasar, MD
Adding polatuzumab vedotin to rituximab, gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin (R-GemOx) significantly improved overall survival in transplant-ineligible patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), Matthew Matasar, MD, of Rutgers Cancer institute, shares in this interview. As he explained, polatuzumab's original approval in the relapsed/refractory DLBCL setting was in combination with bendamustine and rituximab. However, investigators have since learned that using bendamustine in this context is disadvantageous and can make subsequent treatments less effective, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.
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