60TH ASH MEETING AND EXPOSITION: HEMATOLOGY AT ITS FINEST
This past December the largest hematology meeting in the world took place in San Diego, California, United States. The 60th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition was filled with exciting new developments in all areas of hematology. The meeting ambitiously spans practically all of hematology; from basic and translational research uncovering the physiological mechanisms of normal and pathological blood hemostasis, to practice-changing developments from large multicenter clinical trials in benign and malignant disease. Over 25,000 attendees from every corner of the world participated in its educational and scientific program sessions which included almost 5000 works presented in oral abstract or poster forms. Some of the exciting new developments to the field highlighted by our editorial team, and not in order of importance are the following:
Novel combinations with daratumumab for transplant-ineligible and eligible MM patients with Rd (D-Rd), and D-VRd, respectively
BCMA emerged as an important target through CART and BiTE antibodies showing responses
Post-transplant maintenance with the oral proteasome inhibitor in the TOURMALINE trial is a good option for patients who cannot tolerate lenalidomide
Favorable outcomes with reduction in duration of RCHOP in DLBCL patients from 6 to 4 cycles in the FLYER trial
Success with ibrutinib in newly diagnosed CLL patients. Favorable outcomes in older patients in contrast to BR and regardless of the use of rituximab were presented, whereas for younger patients resulting superior to FCR with lower toxicity in the E1912 trial
Luspatercept opens a new door for treating ineffective hematopoiesis as an erythroid maturation agent in both MDS (MEDALIST) and beta-thalassemia patients (BELIEVE) reducing RBC transfusion needs
More data on the use of DOACs in cancer patients
Describing the etiology of thrombocytosis in iron-deficiency anemia
Quizartinib as a useful therapy in FLT3-mutated AML (QuANTUM-R) in contrast to salvage chemotherapy
The importance of microbiome diversity before allogeneic HSCT
Long term follow-up on CART cell trials show sustained responses in many patients, as well as a wide diversification in the development of new strategies for using this exciting technology
The Global Capacity-Building Showcase returned this year with a somewhat larger role, highlighting developments form low-and middle-income countries (LMIC), where most of the world’s population live. It is sobering to remember that for a large part of the population, new advancements in the field are thought of as mere curiosities when patients/hematologists cannot access them, due to their high cost or complex technology. While not the focus of this meeting, the inclusion of current research from LMIC is important to facilitate communication between researchers and stimulate development in these regions. This year researchers had a prominent presence reporting on cooperative trials on sickle cell disease management in Africa, as well as acute leukemia complications and the establishment of hematopoietic stem cell transplant centers from many countries worldwide.
This December the 61st meeting will take place in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. See you there! https://www.hematology.org/Annual-Meeting/
All ASH 2018 abstracts can be accessed here http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/132/suppl_1 published as usual, as a special edition of Blood journal