Myeloproliferative Neoplasms News

The medical research community’s swift response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the development of multiple vaccines within less than a year and the full vaccination of 94 million Americans against the novel coronavirus.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s therapy acceleration program announced five investments intended to hasten development of immunotherapies to treat blood cancers.

The FDA granted orphan drug designation to CA-4948 for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, according to the agent’s manufacturer.

Although potentially curative for many hematologic malignancies, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation historically has been associated with substantial morbidity and mortality.

ASH awarded funding to 19 early-career investigators to support resumption of research paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whole-genome sequencing appeared as accurate as and more efficient than conventional cytogenetic tests for genomic profiling of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, according to data in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Nearly one-third of people diagnosed with blood cancers indicated they either are unlikely to get a COVID-19 vaccine or are unsure about doing so, survey results released today by Leukemia & Lymphoma Society showed.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society launched a national patient registry designed to improve understanding of how the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccination affect people with blood cancer.

Eprenetapopt plus azacitidine appeared well-tolerated and yielded high remission rates among patients with TP53-mutated myelodysplastic syndrome and oligoblastic acute myeloid leukemia, according to results of a phase 1b/phase 2 trial.

COVID-19 infections in patients with hematologic malignancies tend to have a much worse prognosis, with mortality rates twice as high as those of patients without hematologic malignancies. These rates are currently up to 34% overall among adults and up to 47% among those aged older than 60 years. Underlying immunosuppression related to the malignancy itself and further potentiated by the therapy likely contributes to high mortality seen among these patients.