BJH - volume 11, issue 1, february 2020
M-C. Ngirabacu MD, PhD
Hundreds of oral- and poster presentations were communicated during the 61st Annual Meeting of ASH in San Diego. Of course, it is impossible to cover all topics and give detailed highlights. In this presentation, I will give you my ‘favourites’, sometimes in a historical perspective. For a more complete overview of congress highlights, I refer to the other articles in this special issue of the BJH.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):3–8)
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M. Delforge MD, PhD
By tradition, multiple myeloma (MM) was again well represented in the different sessions during ASH 2019. This overview focusses on the most important clinical developments in MM that were presented at the last ASH meeting taking place early December in Orlando. We have selected the abstracts and presentations that we consider to be relevant for the Belgian healthcare system and for haematologists treating MM patients.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):9–12)
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T. Feys MBA, MSc
ASH 2019 did not feature ground-breaking results in the field of CML. Nevertheless, some interesting abstracts deserve to be discussed. This includes a study looking at the potential of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) in monitoring responses in patients treated with a BCR-ABL1 TKI. As in previous years, many abstracts in CML focused on the concept of treatment discontinuation and treatment-free remission (TFR). In this overview, one study will be discussed looking at TFR in children, while another abstract describes a predictive score for TFR. A final TFR abstract concerns a long-term follow-up analysis of patients who discontinued TKI therapy in a French institution. With respect to therapeutic advances, two phase III trials looked into the potential of adding pegylated interferon to nilotinib in the frontline treatment of CML, while a third abstract discusses the results of a phase I trial in which a new third-generation TKI (HQP1351) was evaluated in patients with relapsed/refractory CML.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):13–7)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 1, february 2020
A. De Becker MD
This article will summarise the key studies in the field of acute leukaemia presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The selected abstracts in the field of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) mainly focus on precision medicine, measurable residual disease (MRD) and maintenance treatment. In addition, results of the phase I trial using CD19/CD22 bispecific CAR T cells in paediatric and adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) will be discussed.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):18–20)
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V. Labarque MD, PhD
In the field of red blood cell disorders, ASH 2019 mainly focused on sickle cell disease (SCD). Current disease-modifying therapeutic options for SCD consist of hydroxyurea and chronic transfusions but none of them can fully prevent complications and both have their drawbacks. A haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only curative option to date. Yet, frequently a compatible donor is missing. ASH 2019 featured several abstracts on optimising disease-modifying therapies as well as curative options, such as gene therapy. A selection of abstracts is discussed below.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):21–6)
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T. Feys MBA, MSc
In this article, a selection of interesting abstracts related to myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) will be discussed. In lower-risk MDS, most attention goes to therapies that address anaemia. In this respect updated results of a phase III trial evaluating luspatercept were presented, while also the hydroxylase inhibitor roxadustat showed promising results. In addition to this, interesting data were presented on the restoration of erythropoietin sensitivity by lenalidomide. In higher-risk MDS, an abstract will be discussed looking at the optimal schedule for the administration of hypomethylating agents (HMA) next to a study evaluating the safety and efficacy of an oral HMA formulation. In addition to this, several new therapeutic options are being explored in higher-risk MDS. This includes combinations of novel agents (e.g. venetoclax, rigosertib, telaglenastat) with azacitidine and the use of targeted agents, specifically directed against mutations in MDS (e.g. olutasidenib, APR-246 and enasidenib).
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):27–34)
Read moreBJH - volume 11, issue 1, february 2020
J. Blokken PhD, PharmD, T. Feys MBA, MSc
In addition to the plethora of abstracts in the larger haematological subdomains discussed in this special issue of the BJH, ASH 2019 also featured many interesting presentations that do not fall within one of these categories. In this article we would like to address some of this ‘miscellaneous news’ from ASH 2019. In the field of venous thromboembolism (VTE), bodyweight-adjusted rivaroxaban could provide a new alternative treatment option for paediatric patients. Also with respect to VTE, the Ottawa score failed to demonstrate its predictive value for VTE recurrence in cancer patients. In addition, interesting new data were presented on the prevention of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) after an allogeneic transplantation. At this year’s meeting, there was also a session dedicated to disorders in the number or function of platelets in which much attention went to novel drug targets and novel drug combinations for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia. Finally, some interesting presentations on sickle cell disease, myelofibrosis-associated anaemia and cold agglutinin disease (CAD) will be discussed in this overview.
(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):35–40)
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