The Lymphoma Research Foundation's CEO Previews Hot Topics at ASH 2024

Ahead of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting 2024, Meghan Gutierrez, CEO of the Lymphoma Research Foundation, previews some of the many innovative and exciting research topics that will be discussed at this year's meeting.

Meghan Gutierrez, CEO, Lymphoma Research Foundation

The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®): Can you give an overview of why you're going to ASH, what you're going to be doing there, and what you think attendees can expect from the conference?

Gutierrez: Absolutely! So, the Lymphoma Research Foundation mission to eradicate lymphoma and serve those touched by this disease means that we both directly invest in biomedical research, and then we try to bring the promise of that research directly to patients through our education programming and our free support services. Every year, we look forward to attending the ASH Annual Meeting to hear about the latest research, to see the progress our own grantees are making, so that we can keep track of the latest progress in the development of new treatments and our understanding of the various subtypes of lymphoma, and we try to bring that back. It informs the research that we fund in the coming year, as well as the programming that we provide to patients. So, it's most certainly an important scientific community for our organization and really for our entire field.

AJMC: Are there any specific studies or research topics you are most excited about?

Gutierrez: Thematically, it appears—because obviously the conference hasn't started yet—but it does appear in reviewing some of the abstracts that there are some studies exploring treatments for rare lymphoma subtypes, including as a couple of examples, central nervous system lymphoma, Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, and marginal zone lymphomas. For many of these patients, treatment outcomes remain poor, and so new clinical trials and the study of the diseases themselves are critical to improving outcomes and giving them new options when it comes to their treatment and care.

There also are a couple of interesting presentations that have been previewed on Hodgkin lymphoma, including enhanced treatment options, as well as using circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, to monitor molecular minimal residual disease, which can really help assess the effectiveness of treatment in these patients. Also in Hodgkin lymphoma, there's some data, I think, assessing and monitoring treatment-related side effects. This is of special importance to adolescents and young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma, and it's also an area of priority for our foundation. We recently established a first-of-its-kind, international consortium, specifically focused on adolescent and young adult lymphomas, where we've sought to bring together the pediatric and medical oncology communities to really help advance the study of lymphomas in this patient population. So we're definitely looking forward to those studies and what we might learn about the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma.

There are also some studies examining the role of MRD or minimal residual disease in tailoring treatment for patients with other lymphoma subtypes, including one, I think, on mantle cell lymphoma, that I'm looking forward to viewing. The number of those sorts of presentations broadly, I think, also underscores the interest in novel approaches in improving patient outcomes and also reducing the burden of cancer treatment broadly, also using new technology. So reviewing some of the abstracts, I have seen some mention of artificial intelligence, machine learning, language models, and the like. So, I think it'll be really interesting to see the role it plays this year and continues to play in the future.

In more common lymphoma subtypes like follicular lymphoma or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, I think it will be interesting to see the myriad presentations on new treatment approaches, including the use of cellular therapies and bispecific antibodies. I'm also looking forward to some presentations focused on chronic lymphocytic leukemia or CLL, both new treatments and also some real-world data on treatment sequencing and efficacy. Today, many patients with CLL have questions regarding selection and timing of the treatment for their CLL. So, I'm hopeful that these studies are going to shed more light on that topic and give us more information that, again, we can bring back to patients in the form of our education programs.

I would say, lastly, I'm excited to see several presentations that are focused on nutrition, lifestyle, and health-related quality of life, which is something in the last several years that I think has really peaked in terms of interest and concern for many patients living with a lymphoma diagnosis. I would say those are kind of the headlines that I'm really looking forward to exploring more and hearing more about those presentations.

AJMC: What is your favorite part of attending ASH?

Gutierrez: Oh, without question—and in addition, of course, to seeing the incredible new research findings and the advancements for the patients we exist to serve—one of my absolute favorite things is to see our grantees present. One of the most important facets of our mission is to fund research and to also support the next generation of lymphoma experts. And so this year, as an example, there are abstracts by over 500 current and former Lymphoma Research Foundation grantees. I'm really looking forward, and always look forward, to seeing them, continuing to support them and their careers, and the life-saving research that we are pursuing together.