Although survival in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved over the years, there remains a need to identify racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities that contribute to poor outcomes. In a study recently presented at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, a team of researchers led by Dr. Sumit Gupta of the University of Toronto investigated the impact of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status among young patients with ALL ...

Compared with the non-Hispanic White population, Hispanic and Black adolescents and young adults (AYA) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) experience significantly inferior outcomes. In an analysis of the CALGB 10403 AYA trial presented at the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) 63rd Annual Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, a team of researchers led by Dr. Lori Muffly, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, investigated racial and ethnic disparities in cl...

One of the issues surrounding hematology care is the underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in clinical trials. At the recent 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH, past President of ASH and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, shared her thoughts on strategies for remedying these disparities so that more inclusive care can be provided for patients with h...

While the current standard of care for relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma is high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell rescue, many patients do not respond to or cannot tolerate high-dose therapy. As a result, outcomes for second-line treatment remain poor. At the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) 63rd Annual Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Frederick Locke of Moffitt Cancer Center presented the primary results of ZUMA-7, a phase 3 clinical trial investigating...

For patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), less than half of patients are cured with the current standard of care, and effective treatments are greatly needed. In the phase 3 POLARIX trial, a team of researchers investigated the efficacy of polatuzumab vedotin in combination with R-CHP (rituximab/cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/prednisone) for this population. In this interview, one of the study's investigators, Dr. John Burke of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers and the U...

For patients with relapsed/refractory T-cell lymphoma (TCL), standard therapies provide an overall response rate of only 25% to 35%, and novel therapeutic options are greatly needed. In a study recently presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 63rd Annual Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, a team of researchers led by Dr. Steven M. Horwitz, medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, investigated the efficacy of the phosphoinositide-3-kinase inhibitor du...

Understanding the balance between effective treatments and health-related quality of life is crucial, especially when treating older adults with hematologic malignancies. The Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG) chemotherapy toxicity calculator has been sufficiently studied and utilized in patients with solid tumors; however, its efficacy in the hematologic malignancy setting was previously unknown. In a study recently presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 63rd Annual Meeting &...

While chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have revolutionized the treatment landscape for patients with hematologic malignancies, challenges remain in the management of short-term toxicities, most notably cytokine release syndrome and neurologic symptoms. In nearly all cases to date, optimal management has only been achieved through inpatient admission for frequent monitoring; however, an onsite hospital stay can create a significant burden for the patient. As part of a study recent...