Hematology

A progress report from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society highlighted policy measures that have eased the burden on patients, but also noted where more work is needed.

Advances in Hodgkin lymphoma treatment has led to high survival rates, but adolescents and young adults, who represent the largest age group affected by the disease, face lifelong morbidities from clinical trials. New analytic methods could help inform future protocol changes.

In addition to survival among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with hematological malignancies lagging behind that of children and older adults, AYAs also face unique challenges related to their physical, psychosocial, and economic circumstances.

Treatment options for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who relapse after an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) are limited, but those who are able to receive intensive interventions receive a second allo-HCT or donor lymphocyte infusion. A study in JAMA Oncology sought to compare the 2 options for patients who relapse.

A second biosimilar to Amgen’s Neupogen, which treats neutropenia, has been approved in the United States. The FDA approved Pfizer’s filgrastim-aafi, which will be sold under the brand name Nivestym. Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz) was the first filgrastim biosimilar approved by the FDA in 2015.

The FDA approved the first targeted therapy for adults with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia with an IDH1 mutation. In addition, FDA also approved a companion diagnostic to be used to detect the specific mutations in the IDH1 gene.

A phase 2 trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of quizartinib in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), compared with salvage chemotherapy.