touchCONGRESS Exploring the latest data on new and emerging treatments for the improvement of outcomes in higher-risk MDS and newly diagnosed AML

In this interview, Uwe Platzbecker answers the following questions:

• Based on data presented at EHA2021 Virtual, what do you consider to be the most promising novel treatments for patients with higher-risk MDS?
• Are there any specific mutations targeted by any of the emerging treatments for higher-risk MDS? If so, is this likely to change current routine patient genetic analysis?
• How is the treatment landscape evolving for patients with newly diagnosed AML? Are targeted therapies likely to replace intensive chemotherapy regimens for AML in the near future?
• What criteria and/or assessment tools do you use for determining patient fitness for intensive therapy?
• How do you see minimum residual disease (MRD) monitoring evolving in terms of methodology and standardization, and what impact do you see it having on the management of MDS and AML in the future?

After graduating from medical school in 1996, Prof. Platzbecker first started medical training in heart surgery. Since 1998, he worked at the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the University Hospital “Carl Gustav Carus” in Dresden, Germany. Between 2001 and 2003 he completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship provided by the Humboldt Foundation at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, USA. From 2012 to 2018 Prof. Platzbecker held the position of Professor of Hematology at the University Hospital “Carl Gustav Carus” in Dresden and was the head of the section of Hematology as well as chair of the medical ethics committee of the Technische Universität Dresden. In 2015 he was appointed as TransCampus Professor of Haematology at the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King’s College London, London UK. read more

Prof. Uwe Platzbecker discloses: Advisory board fees from AbbVie, BMS/Celgene, Geron, Janssen, Novartis and Takeda.

In this interview, Valeria Santini answers the following questions:

• Based on data presented at EHA2021 Virtual, what do you consider to be the most promising novel treatments for patients with higher-risk MDS?
• Are there any specific mutations targeted by any of the emerging treatments for higher-risk MDS? If so, is this likely to change current routine patient genetic analysis?
• How is the treatment landscape evolving for patients with newly diagnosed AML? Are targeted therapies likely to replace intensive chemotherapy regimens for AML in the near future?
• What criteria and/or assessment tools do you use for determining patient fitness for intensive therapy?
• How do you see minimum residual disease (MRD) monitoring evolving in terms of methodology and standardization, and what impact do you see it having on the management of MDS and AML in the future?

Valeria Santini is Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Florence, Italy. She received her medical degree from the University of Florence and became a Consultant in Hematology. She worked as a fellow of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) at Dr Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center/Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She then undertook clinical training in the USA at the Leukemia Unit, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX. read more

Prof. Valeria Santini discloses: Consultancy fees from BMS, Geron, Gilead, Menarini, Novartis and Takeda; and Funding from BMS/Celgene.

In this interview, Andrew Wei answers the following questions:

• Based on data presented at EHA2021 Virtual, what do you consider to be the most promising novel treatments for patients with higher-risk MDS?
• Are there any specific mutations targeted by any of the emerging treatments for higher-risk MDS? If so, is this likely to change current routine patient genetic analysis?
• How is the treatment landscape evolving for patients with newly diagnosed AML? Are targeted therapies likely to replace intensive chemotherapy regimens for AML in the near future?
• What criteria and/or assessment tools do you use for determining patient fitness for intensive therapy?
• How do you see minimum residual disease (MRD) monitoring evolving in terms of methodology and standardization, and what impact do you see it having on the management of MDS and AML in the future?

Adjunct Professor Andrew Wei is a haematologist and Medical Research Future Fund Fellow at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, where he conducts clinical and translational AML research in collaboration with Monash University, Melbourne. He joined Alfred Hospital in 2008 where he has led the AML program as principal investigator. He has authored >100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has been the AML working party chairperson for the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (ALLG) since 2009.

Prof. Andrew Wei discloses: Consultancy for Servier; Honoraria from AbbVie, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Celgene/BMS, Genentech, Janssen, MacroGenics, Novartis, Pfizer and Servier; Participation on advisory boards for Abbvie, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Celgene/BMS, Genentech, Janssen, MacroGenics, Novartis, Pfizer and Servier; Research grants from Abbvie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Celgene/BMS, Novartis, Servier and F Hoffmann-La Roche; and Royalties in relation to venetoclax, for which, as a former employee of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, he is eligible for a fraction of the royalty stream.