Leukemia

Vemurafenib plus rituximab induced durable complete responses in the majority of a small cohort of patients with relapsed or refractory hairy-cell leukemia, according to a phase 2 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The FDA cleared an investigational new drug application for MB-106, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy designed to treat patients with relapsed or refractory, CD20-positive B-cell malignancies.

Down syndrome remained a significant risk factor for pediatric leukemia, especially acute myeloid leukemia, among a large modern cohort of children, according to a retrospective study published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia who lack health insurance demonstrated a significant survival disadvantage compared with their insured counterparts, according to results of a study published in Cancer.

Overweight and obesity appeared significantly associated with neurocognitive impairment during long-term follow-up of individuals who received chemotherapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a study published in Cancer.

The FDA cleared an investigational new drug application for NKX019, a chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies, according to the agent’s manufacturer.

Marcos J. de Lima, MD, has been appointed to key leadership positions at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

The development of chimeric antigen receptor T cells has provided hope for patients with hematologic malignancies, but their commercial use has been limited to an option of last resort.

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.