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Will CAR T cells give new therapies for NHL and CLL a run for their money?

Much has been written about CAR T cells in B cell leukemias, but what about B cell lymphomas? Kite and the NCI had the honour of being the first to present data from ASH on their therapy in refractory DLBCL lymphomas

March 6, 2014
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Logo of American Society of Hematology

ASH 2013: Is carfilzomib associated with increased cardiovascular events?

There has been much debate about the cardiovascular risks associated with proteasome inhibitors in multiple myeloma, but what does the data show? A synopsis of the ASH 2013 data and what we can learn in the future...

February 14, 2014
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Can Agios score a winner with their anti-cancer metabolism molecules?

Agios Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing new therapies that target mutations in cancer metabolism, including IDH 1 and 2 for AML and Glioblastoma. Will they be successful despite the huge complexity involved in the underlying processes?

January 13, 2014
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ASH 2013 Stunning ALL data with Novartis CTL019 CAR Therapy

UPenn and CHOP are using genetically modified chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to treat patients with B cell cancers such as ALL, B cell NHL, CLL and other B cell malignancies. At ASH, the impressive data from adult and pediatric ALL was presented. This post includes insights on this approach and an interview with Dr Stephan Grupp on the pediatric data.

January 9, 2014
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Insights on Foundation Medicine and how molecular testing will transform cancer research

Increasingly, we are seeing the evolution of diagnostic tests in cancer research. Foundation Medicine are using their gene sequencing platform to identify actionable mutations and assist oncologists make better treatment decisions for their patients.

January 8, 2014
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ASH 2013 – gems from the poster halls

There are some 5,000 abstarcts at ASH, many of them posters - what were the interesting nuggets this year?

December 18, 2013
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ASH 2013: New BTK Inhibitor ONO-4059 shows early promise in CLL – is it a future competitor to ibrutinib?

BTK inhibition in the B cell receptor (BCR) pathway has been an exciting area of development over the last couple of years. What do the new competitors entering this space look like?

December 17, 2013
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Winners and Losers in CLL at American Society of Hematology

There was a wealth of new data in CLL at ASH but which companies or drugs were the winners and losers in New Orleans? Find out...

December 16, 2013
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Juno Therapeutics takes on Novartis and seeks to revolutionize the treatment of blood cancers – an interview with Renier Brentjens

Juno Therapeutics is a start-up company with a mission to revolutionize the treatment of blood cancers through the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T cell therapy. The company recently launched with $120 million of series A funding. One of the scientific founders is Renier Brentjens MD, PhD, the Director of Cell Therapeutics at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. He kindly gave an interview while at the ASH annual meeting in New Orleans.

December 13, 2013
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Will anti-KIR immunotherapy make an impact in hematologic malignancies?

Immuno-oncology is a hot topic at the moment and many new targets are emerging that may be useful in combination. This post discusses Innate Pharma's anti-KIR program in hematologic malignancies.

December 12, 2013
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ASH 2013 Novel Treatments for CLL – notes from the road

One of the most interesting oral sessions at ASH 2013 took place on the last day and featured data on novel treatments for CLL. Data was presented on ABT-199, dinaciclib and the CAR-modified T-cell therapies in development by Novartis & Juno Therapeutics.

December 11, 2013
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ASH 2013 Novel Agents in Lymphoma – notes from the road

At ASH 2013 data on novel agents for the treatment of lymphoma was presented. This post discusses data for idelalisib in iNHL, SAR245409 in R/R Follicular Lymphoma and BAY-BAY 80-6946 (copanlisib).

December 9, 2013
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ASH 2013 ABT-199 CLL TLS Death blamed on Failure to Follow Protocol

In the ASH 2013 media briefing on CLL, Prof John Seymour answered questions about ABT-199 CLL clinical trial deaths due to tumor lysis syndrome

December 8, 2013
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ASH 2013 BH3 profiling identifies new targets for Bcl-2 inhibitors

ABT-199 has activity in CLL, but what about other tumor types? Check out this post to find out about a new target with potential.

December 8, 2013
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ASH 2013 New Horizons in CLL – notes from the road

With many new therapies emerging for the treatment of CLL, what criteria can physicians use to decide which therapy to give a patient?

December 7, 2013
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Panobinostat may change Multiple Myeloma Competitive Landscape

Novartis announced this morning that their novel pan-HDAC inhibitor, panobinostat (LBH589) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with Multiple Myeloma in the phase III PANORAMA-1 trial.

December 6, 2013
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ASH 2013 Preview: quick note on non-Hodgkins and Hodgkins lymphomas

Will the B cell signaling drugs work in NHL as well as CLL? What of Adcetris in front-line HL?

December 6, 2013
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ASH 2013 Preview: will new Seattle startup Juno Therapeutics push Novartis and U Penn in CART?

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell technology (CART) is an exciting new area, especially in hematologic malignancies. With the formation of a new start-up in Seattle, Juno Therapeutics, things just got very interesting...

December 4, 2013
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ASH 2013 Preview – Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

A review of the upcoming CLL data from the American Society of Hematology ASH meeting.

December 2, 2013
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ASH 2013 Multiple Myeloma Preview

Comprehensive preview of the new developments in multiple myeloma from ASH 2013.

November 25, 2013
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ASH 2013 Myelofibrosis Preview

A lot of companies are presenting myelofibrosis data at this year's ASH annual meeting in New Orleans. This preview discusses abstracts for ruxolitinib, INCB039110, momelotinib, fedratinib, BMS-91143, pacritinib, LY2784544, pomalidomide, sonidegib.

November 11, 2013
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Dr Deepak Sampath, Genentech

Gazyva and ABT-199 in CLL & NHL – an interview with Genentech’s Deepak Sampath

An interview with Dr Deepak Sampath from Genentech on the rational for combining obinutuzumab (GA101) with GDC-0199 (ABT-199) for the treatment of B-cell hematological malignancies such as CLL & non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

November 1, 2013