New Biologic Insights and Recent Therapeutic Advances in the Management of Acute and Chronic Leukemias and Myelodysplastic Syndromes


In these audio proceedings from a closed Think Tank meeting held in January 2015, the invited faculty discuss and debate some of the key clinical management issues in acute and chronic leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes. The roundtable discussion focused on actual cases managed in the practices of the faculty and recent clinical trial results factored into their decision-making. This content is available in a number of formats for listening on the go with a mobile device or in the office or at home on a computer.
 

Listen to audio excerpts

Track 1: Case discussion: A 65-year-old man with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) requiring treatment for progressively worsening cytopenias and lymphadenopathy
Track 2: Treatment for younger versus older patients with newly diagnosed high-risk CLL
Track 3: Phase Ib study of obinutuzumab with fludarabine/cyclophosphamide or bendamustine as initial therapy for CLL
Track 4: Potential role of lenalidomide in the treatment of CLL
Track 5: Investigation of rituximab or ofatum-umab as maintenance therapy for CLL
Track 6: Clinical implications of the CLL11 trial of obinutuzumab/chlorambucil in patients with CLL and comorbidities
Track 7: Activity and clinical use of ibrutinib for relapsed or refractory CLL
Track 8: Incidence of ibrutinib-associated side effects
Track 9: Case discussion: A 64-year-old woman with del(11q) CLL receives idelalisib after disease progression on multiple treatment regimens
Track 10: Management of idelalisib-associated side effects
Track 11: Activity and tolerability of idelalisib/rituximab in patients aged 65 or older with treatment-naïve CLL
Track 12: Clinical experience with the Bcl-2 inhibitor venetoclax (ABT-199) as treatment for relapsed/refractory CLL
Track 13: Key issues and controversies in the management of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)
Track 14: Case discussion: A 29-year-old man with chronic-phase CML has not yet acheived a major molecular response after 1 year of initial therapy with nilotinib
Track 15: Selection of nilotinib, dasatinib or imatinib as initial therapy for patients with CML
Track 16: Considerations for changing tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy in patients who have not achieved a major molecular response
Track 17: Perspectives on continuation of TKI therapy for patients with CML who wish to conceive children
Track 18: Case discussion: A 56-year-old man with low- to intermediate-risk CML develops pleural effusions during treatment with dasatinib
Track 19: Management of TKI-associated pleural effusion
Track 20: Mechanism of action of the protein synthesis inhibitor omacetaxine mepesuccinate
Track 21: Clinical experience with omacetaxine mepesuccinate for patients with CML
Track 22: SORAML: Results of a Phase II trial of sorafenib versus placebo in addition to standard therapy for younger patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
Track 23: Activity of sorafenib in patients with FLT3-ITD mutation-negative versus FLT3-ITD mutation-positive AML
Track 24: Efficacy of azacitidine as treatment for elderly patients with AML
Track 25: Recent clinical data with the polo-like kinase inhibitor volasertib in elderly patients with AML
Track 26: Case discussion: A 65-year-old woman presenting with hemiparesis and an unusually high white blood cell count is diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)
Track 27: Options for initial therapy in APL
Track 28: Activity of all-trans retinoic acid in combination with arsenic trioxide in APL
Track 29: Clinical landscape of emerging research in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
Track 30: Case discussion: A 77-year-old woman is diagnosed with intermediate-risk MDS after presenting with pancytopenia and fatigue
Track 31: Choice between azacitidine and decitabine as initial therapy and consideration of allogeneic stem cell transplant in patients with intermediate-risk MDS
Track 32: Management of azacitidine-associated cytopenias
Track 33: Investigational options for patients with MDS progressing on azacitidine
Track 34: Results of a Phase III study of lenalidomide versus placebo in red blood cell transfusion-dependent patients with low- to intermediate-risk MDS without del(5q) and unresponsive or refractory to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents
Track 35: Clinical management of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the community compared to tertiary care settings
Track 36: Comparison of adult and pediatric treatment regimens for ALL and use of pediatric regimens in the adult population
Track 37: Benefits and risks associated with the inclusion of asparaginase in treatment regimens for ALL
Track 38: Mechanism of action and historical development of asparaginase in ALL
Track 39: Clinical experience with different preparations of asparaginase in ALL
Track 40: Benefits of the Erwinia-based preparation of asparaginase
Track 41: Emerging data with the monoclonal antibody blinatumomab as treatment for ALL
Track 42: ECOG-E1910: An ongoing Phase III trial of chemotherapy with or without blinatumomab for adult patients with newly diagnosed BCR-ABL-negative B-lineage ALL
Track 43: Magnitude of clinical responses observed with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in ALL
 
FACULTY:
 
Jennifer R Brown, MD, PhD
Director
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Center
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
 
Hagop M Kantarjian, MD
Chairman and Professor
Leukemia Department
The University of Texas
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
 
Charles A Schiffer, MD
Professor of Medicine and Oncology
Joseph Dresner Chair for
Hematologic Malignancies
Chief, Multidisciplinary Leukemia/Lymphoma Group
Wayne State University
School of Medicine
Karmanos Cancer Institute
Detroit, Michigan
 
B Douglas Smith, MD
Professor of Oncology
Division of Hematologic Malignancies
The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, Maryland
 
David P Steensma, MD
Faculty Member, Adult
Leukemia Program
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
 
Wendy Stock, MD, MA
Professor of Medicine
University of Chicago
Director, Leukemia Program
Chicago, Illinois
 
MODERATOR:
 
Neil Love, MD
Research To Practice
Miami, Florida