BJH - volume 11, issue 5, september 2020
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
Multiple myeloma (MM) remains a devastating disease, even in the era of novel agents. As such, the search for new treatment modalities in both the induction and maintenance setting, to manage newly diagnosed MM ever continues. In recent years, the treatment landscape of patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) has also changed dramatically following a long list of positive phase III trials. This overview will give an update of pivotal trials in this setting (IKEMA, OPTIMISMM, CANDOR, BELLINI) as well as discusses some new emerging therapies in the field, including CAR T cell therapy, a B-cell maturation antigen T-cell engager and a novel cereblon E3 ligase modulator (CELMoD) agent.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(5):203-8)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 5, september 2020
A. Janssens MD, PhD
We refer to the recent Belgian Haematological Society (BHS) guidelines for the management of small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) made by the BHS lymphoproliferative disease committee. The 2020 publication is already the third update after the initial paper published in 2012. For diagnosing CLL, we recommend using the immunophenotype panel according the European research initiative on CLL and European society for clinical cell analysis (ERIC/ESCCA) harmonization project. Concerning diagnostic and pre-treatment work-up, we advise testing of the IGVH mutational status only in young ‘and’ older patients without a 17p del/TP53 mutation if chemo-immunotherapy (CIT) could be a therapeutic option. We are waiting for reimbursement of the IGVH testing in this small number of elderly patients. The recently updated international workshop on CLL (iwCLL) guidelines added as indication for initiating treatment ‘symptomatic functional extranodal disease’. Although criteria for initiating first-line or second-line treatment follow in general similar rules, the same iwCLL guidelines stress that subsequent therapy can be acceptable, sometimes in overlap with the previous one, in patients when substantial disease persists or disease progresses under novel agents, even if the patient stays asymptomatic, to avoid Richter-like acceleration.1 At EHA 2020, an update on treatment advances in previously untreated and relapsed/refractory CLL was given. This overview will provide an update on the most important study results and how these results might change the current guidelines in the treatment of CLL.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(5):209-15)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 5, september 2020
D. Selleslag MD
This report is summarising the key presentations on Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) from the virtual 2020 EHA meeting. The summary is focusing on novel treatment modalities and updates of important clinical studies in the field.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(5):216-21)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 5, september 2020
G. Verhoef MD, PhD
At the EHA annual meeting of 2020, interesting new data with regard to chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) were presented. This report will briefly summarise the key messages from the main topics in the oral CML clinical session.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(5):222-5)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 5, september 2020
B. Gulbis MD, PhD
As the COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge for all of us, the EHA meeting was the occasion to exchange experiences about initiatives developed with the aim of improving the management of patients suffering from a pathology of the red blood cell and infected with COVID-19. It was also an opportunity to present the developments observed in clinical studies involving new therapies or the combination of therapies, or to get an overview of the evolutions in the field of red blood cell diseases.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(5):226-9)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 4, june 2020
N. Cools PhD, B. Depreter PhD, PharmD, V.H.J. van der Velden PhD
In November 2019, the Belgian Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (BSAC) and the Dutch Society for Cytometry (NVC) jointly organised a two-day international congress on developments in (flow) cytometry. With over 150 participants, the congress was well attended and received. Here we briefly discuss the most important highlights from this congress.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(4):185–9)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 3, may 2020
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
On the 14th and 15th of February 2020, the Belgian Hematology Society hosted their 35th annual meeting in La Hulpe, Brussels. This year’s meeting featured scientific parallel sessions organised by the Belgian Society for Advancement of Cytometry (BSAC), the Belgian Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (BSTH), MolecularDiagnostics.be (MD.be) as well as a nurse symposium. In this article, we will highlight the scientific sessions presented during the BHS meeting.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(3):136–41)
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