Blood Podcast American Society of Hematology

In this week’s episode, we review results of preclinical investigations that sound a note of caution regarding the potential use of JAK inhibitors as treatment for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (or HLH), research that provides new insights on how CD44 loss of function sensitizes AML cells to the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax, and conclude with a report that demonstrates cooperation between B cell receptor signaling and genetic lesions in CDKN2A, CDKN2B and TP53 in Richter transformation.

In this week’s episode, we will review an integrated analysis of one of the largest adult BCR-ABL1-negative B-ALL patient cohorts treated in a single trial, learn more about the genotypic and phenotypic features of patients with clonal cytopenias, and look at a study showing that a serine protease expressed in the placenta cleaves α1-antitrypsin to generate a fragment that inhibits formation of neutrophil extracellular traps in neonates.

In this week’s episode, we’ll review updated results of a phase 1b study that provide strong support for the use of fixed-duration venetoclax in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL. Next, we’ll review a research paper that provides new insights on the different subtypes of invariant natural killer T cells, which appear to have diverse immunoregulatory properties and anti-tumor effects. We will finish up with a report indicating that rare variants in the telomerase gene, TERT, are underrecognized in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, providing a new insight into the germline genetic component of disease pathophysiology.

In this week’s episode, we will review a study that shows that BCL11B is an important oncogene in acute leukemias with myeloid and T-lymphoid features, learn more about antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in lymphoma patients receiving B-cell directed therapies, and examine the role of programmed death ligand 1 (or PD-L1) and the PI 3 kinase-AKT survival pathway in delayed neutrophil apoptosis at sites of tissue inflammation.

To reach the goal of curing currently incurable hematologic malignancies, we need to go beyond focusing on single gene mutations and gain deeper understanding of the consequences of genetic alterations on gene-regulatory pathways. Edited by John Crispino, these 5 cutting-edge reviews from leaders in the their fields not only summarize our current understanding of key pathways that contribute to myeloid malignancies, but also discuss new therapeutic avenues related to them. They provide a springboard for further groundbreaking basic and clinical advances in hematologic malignancies.

In this week's episode, we will review a study that proposes IFN-λ therapy as a novel strategy to boost gut protection in GvHD, examine the immunomodulatory effects of decitabine in ITP, and learn about the discovery of TET2 mutations in chronic natural killer large granular lymphocyte leukemia