EHA 2023 to Augment Trial Results With the Voice of the Patient

The 2023 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress, convening virtually and in Frankfurt, Germany, from June 8-11, 2023, will feature cutting-edge findings in oncology and hematology, with a special focus on incorporating patient-reported outcomes and real-world data.

In the hybrid format, which was also used last year, the in-person segment of the EHA Congress will take place in Frankfurt, where attendees can explore the poster hall and sit in on panels, symposia, workshops, and education sessions. The following week will bring the virtual-only portion of the conference, with more symposia and sessions on topics including pediatric leukemias, anticoagulation, and the microenvironment’s impact on hematological malignancies.

The 2023 meeting will see the return of the YoungEHA sessions, which are targeted to early-career scientists and clinicians. Some sessions on June 8 focus on biological mechanisms of interest, such as the cytokine signaling pathway and the microbiome, whereas one on June 9 aims to explain the benefits of scientific society membership for those just beginning their careers.

A highlight of the agenda will be the pair of EHA-Patient Joint Symposium sessions on June 9, at which panels made up of patient advocates, clinicians, regulatory professionals, and pharmaceutical industry leaders will convene to discuss important issues like clinical trial design and the incorporation of the patient voice into decisions determining access to novel therapies.

The themes of real-world evidence and patient-reported outcomes are woven throughout the congress, with a guideline session on the use of patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials for multiple myeloma treatment coming between the EHA-Patient Joint Symposia. Later that day, a thematic debate will take place in which experts argue for and against the use of real-world data in the design of clinical trials.

Abstracts will be presented on the evening of June 9; topics of interest from these posters will include the following:

• Racial and socioeconomic disparities in treatment patterns and clinical trial enrollment
• Trial results for Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies, and other therapeutic agents
• Comparisons of competing drugs, dosing schedules, and prognostic tools
• Systematic reviews of the literature on topics including the psychological burden of blood cancer, infections following bispecific antibodies for multiple myeloma, and the safety of direct-acting oral anticoagulants in patients with chronic kidney disease

June 10 will feature the first of 2 presidential sessions, in which EHA President Elizabeth Macintyre, MD, PhD, will present the Jean Bernard Lifetime Achievement Award to Irene Roberts, MD, of the University of Oxford’s Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, for her work in “the world of the infinitely small.” There will also be presentations on mast cells and whole-genome sequencing. The second half of the presidential session on June 11 will feature talks on clonal hematopoiesis, BCL2 inhibition, and the interaction of platelets and inflammation.

June 10 will also feature the plenary abstract session, including the presentation of the first phase 3 results from the CARTITUDE-4 trial of cilta-cel in lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma. Joseph Mikhael, MD, Med, FRCPC, FACP, of the International Myeloma Foundation, told The American Journal of Managed Care® that this would be “the most exciting abstract” of the meeting in his view.

A perennial highlight of the EHA Congress is the late-breaking oral session, in which investigators present novel data from abstracts that were submitted after the deadline. This year, chairs Konstanze Döhner, MD, of the University Hospital Ulm in Germany, and Brian Huntly, MB ChB, PhD, of the University of Cambridge in England, will lead that session on June 11.