Rome, 22 April (beraking latest news Salute) – “For acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk Ph + acute lymphoblastic leukemia until a few years ago we had almost nothing available. Today, however, we can talk about frightening progress that has changed the history of these diseases , as with other blood cancers “. With these words Angelo Michele Carella, former director of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplants of the Policlinico San Martino hospital in Genoa, opened his speech at the presentation of the 10th scientific conference Leukemia 2021, entitled ‘The challenge to complex blood tumors: from chemo-free therapies to Car-T immunotherapy. The studies of the present and the hopes of the future ‘, which was held today in virtual mode, anticipating the themes of Leukemia 2021, the biennial meeting dedicated to leukemia and beyond, whose works this year will take place on 26 and 27 April online, and during which we will talk about the most important scientific news of recent years.
That is chemo-free treatments, targeted therapies, oral drugs and drug combinations that are increasingly effective, better tolerated and that ensure greater survival. The first day of Leukemia 2021 will be dedicated to acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative tumors and chronic myeloid leukemia. On the second day we will talk about acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
“We will talk about the progress achieved – says Carella, who is also the coordinator of the meeting – for two diseases for which we had almost nothing available before: acute myeloid leukemia, with the arrival of drugs aimed at malignant mutations of the disease, from use on the front line or in preparation for transplantation; and high-risk Ph + acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with two non-chemotherapy drugs that lead to complete and profound remission. We will focus on combinations of oral drugs without chemotherapy that produce improved survival in older patients. fragile and maintenance therapies in patients in remission. These are new, especially for older patients, who cannot be treated aggressively “.
On the occasion of the conference on hematology, ample space will be dedicated to advanced immunotherapy: in particular, the use of bispecific antibodies in lymphomas will be discussed. “Bispecific antibodies – explains Carella – are molecules that bind to two different targets at the same time: one is the tumor antigen, the other is the T cell of the immune system”, cells “that are awakened to attack and kill the cells. The drug on which the greatest interest is concentrated is mosunetuzumab, a monoclonal antibody that allows the recruitment of T cells by directing their cytotoxic efficacy against the B cells of lymphoma. The result is to effectively combat non-Hodgkin B lymphomas more aggressive that are multiple relapses or refractory to conventional therapies. This drug, moreover, has the advantage of being ready for each individual patient, unlike the Car-T which are prepared from time to time for each patient “.
And precisely the news on the Car-T will be the subject of debate at Leukemia 2021. “This procedure that is revolutionizing the treatment of blood cancers – underlines the hematologist – consists in taking the patient’s lymphocytes, arming them in the laboratory so that can target a target present on lymphoma and myeloma cells and reinfuse them into patients, with the hope that they will detect and neutralize cancer cells. This therapeutic approach is capable of bringing about lasting remissions and even healing in adults and children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphomas aggressive non-Hodgkin’s. Currently 35% of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and 50% of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia maintain stable remission.
“Several groups are evaluating the effectiveness of Car-T in multiple myeloma – recalls Carella – Interesting results have been obtained with two clinical studies: Cartitude and KarMma, aimed at the B lymphocyte maturation antigen (Bcma) expressed by plasma cells. In the first Cartitude study, 29 relapsed and refractory patients to multiple lines of therapy received this procedure. Remission was achieved in 76% of patients. In the second KarMma study, 128 patients were treated. Overall remission was 73% , of which 33% achieved complete remission. Other studies are ongoing, but there is no doubt that these new therapies will lead to a substantial change in multiple myeloma. ”