Academia

The most-read articles from the 2023 European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Meeting covered the most up-to-date treatment strategies for hematological malignancies, racial disparities in treatment patterns for blood cancers, and updates on immunotherapy as a tool in hematologic oncology.

The most-read content from the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition included the latest in treating hematologic malignancies, the hope brought by novel therapy strategies, and the potential for artificial intelligence to improve diagnostic accuracy.

Presenters at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition agreed that novel strategies, such as CRISPR and base editing, have potential to fine-tune the latest immunotherapy advancements to increase the efficacy and durability of a range of treatments.

The past year has offered new hope for patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Besides imetelstat, which has an FDA deadline for action of June 2024, the agency approved luspatercept, which has a different mechanism of action.

A cohort study of 65 clinical trials in multiple myeloma found that toxic effects are often described with subjective terminology that may not reflect adverse event rates reported in the studies.

The study findings provide the first in-depth look at the relationship between chromosomal changes in tumor cells and immune components of the tumor microenvironment.

Michael Fang, PhD, researcher and assistant professor in the division of Cardiovascular and Clinical Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, discussed recent findings in the type 1 diabetes (T1D) space that may alter the way providers address diabetes diagnoses.

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2023 will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from November 2-5, as experts from across the globe gather to discuss the latest innovations in renal care and current issues facing the field.

The location of integration of a gene therapy has been crucial for the safety and efficacy of the treatment to cure infants with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency.

With stringent criteria, randomized controlled trials are the cornerstone of cancer intervention research, but the result is they do not represent the majority of patients, which leads to a gap between the efficacy seen in trials and the effectiveness in the real-world setting.

Results of the monarchE study showed patients with hormone receptor–positive (HR+), HER2-negative (HER2–) high-risk, early breast cancer had greater benefit after 5 years when receiving adjuvant abemaciclib plus endocrine therapy vs endocrine therapy alone.

Speakers at an Institute for Value-Based Medicine event with Vanderbilt University Medical Center highlighted the novel therapies and techniques being used to improve outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer.

A recent study suggests that a patient’s immune microenvironment plays a key role in the depth and duration of response to multiple myeloma treatment.

In just the last 2 years there have been updates in classification, risk assessment, and response criteria in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), but additional efforts are needed to improve these, and there remains a need for better therapies.

A PET-based radiomics signature was able to predict the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and performed better than conventional PET biomarkers in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Ponatinib also produces an improvement in progression-free survival compared with imatinib among those with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the phase 3 PhALLCON trial.

The review summarized existing evidence around short- and long-term treatment-related toxicities among adolescents and young adults (AYAs), as well as gaps in care guidelines for AYA survivors of lymphoma.

Full team coverage from the European Hematology Association 2023 Hybrid Congress, which took place June 8-11 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory disease often misdiagnosed as certain cancers, among other diseases. Researchers have recently made progress to better diagnose PMR using a standard uptake value index based on fluorodeoxyglucose with positron-emission tomography/computed tomography.

A review identified specificities that suggested that infections of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) evolve chest tomography features.

Presentation of the COMMANDS trial offered practice-changing results for luspatercept.

Results include a landmark study that involved seamless collaboration across adult and pediatric patient groups, leading to a highly diverse study population. Other coverage addresses access to novel therapies and what's coming in the pipeline, including CAR T-cell therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Coverage of addresses by ASCO President Eric P. Winer, MD, and National Cancer Institute Director Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, who is a former ASCO president.

New research suggests that when cancer cells are under stress, cellular chaperone protein GRP78 alters its behavior and migrates to the cell's nucleus, where it modifies gene activities and allows cancer cells to become more mobile and invasive.

The successful collaboration between a primary care–based network of practices and academic researchers demonstrates feasibility and the need for more funding for primary care research.

Natalie S. Callander, MD, director of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center Myeloma Clinical Program, reviewed the treatment landscape at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2023 Annual Conference.

Many people often don’t connect the dots between climate change and its impact on skin health, but these effects have been happening for years, said Eva R. Parker, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The findings, published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, add to the evidence that the shift to precision medicine is built on data that have not included sufficient numbers of patients of color.

Seeking to speed up the execution of evidence-based care practices, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) announced the 42 health systems across the country who will join a 5-year program to build capacity and implementation to improve health care outcomes.