Podcasts about myeloma

In this JCO Article Insights episode, Michael Hughes summarizes “International Myeloma Society and International Myeloma Working Group Consensus Recommendations on the Definition of High-Risk Multiple Myeloma" by Avet-Loiseau et al. published on June 09, 2025 along with an interview with author Dr Nikhil C. Munshi, MD. TRANSCRIPT Michael Hughes: Welcome to this episode of JCO Article Insights. This is Michael Hughes, JCO's editorial fellow. Today I am interviewing Dr. Nikhil Munshi on the “International Myeloma Society and International Myeloma Working Group Consensus Recommendations on the Definition of High-Risk Multiple Myeloma” by Avet-Loiseau et al. At the time of this recording, our guest has disclosures that will be linked in the transcript. While some patients with multiple myeloma live for decades after treatment, others exhibit refractory or rapidly relapsing disease irrespective of treatment administered. We term this “high-risk myeloma.” Multiple risk stratification systems have been created, starting with the Durie-Salmon system in 1975 and evolving with the advent of novel therapeutics and novel treatment approaches. In 2015, the Revised International Staging System (R-ISS) was introduced, which incorporated novel clinical and cytogenetic markers and remained, until recently, a mainstay of risk stratification in newly diagnosed disease. Myeloma as a field has, just in the past few years, though, undergone explosive changes. In particular, we have seen groundbreaking advances not only in treatments - the introduction of anti-CD38 agents and the advent of cellular and bispecific therapies - but also in diagnostic technology and our understanding of the genetic lesions in myeloma. This has led to the proliferation of numerous trials employing different definitions of high-risk myeloma, a burgeoning problem for patients and providers alike, and has prompted attempts to consolidate definitions and terminology. Regarding cytogenetic lesions, at least, Kaiser et al's federated meta-analysis of 24 therapeutic trials, published here in the JCO in February of 2025 and recently podcasted in an interview with associate editor Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch, posited a new cytogenetic classification system to realize a shared platform upon which we might contextualize those trial results. This article we have here by Dr. Avet-Loiseau, Dr. Munshi, and colleagues, published online in early June of this year and hot off the presses, is the definitive joint statement from the International Myeloma Society (IMS) and the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG). What is high-risk multiple myeloma for the modern era? The IMS and IMWG Genomics Workshop was held in July 2023 and was attended by international myeloma experts, collaborating to reach consensus based on large volumes of data presented and shared. The datasets included cohorts from the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome (IFM); the HARMONY project, comprised of multiple European academic trials; the FORTE study, findings from which solidified KRd as a viable induction regimen; the Grupo Español de Mieloma Múltiple (GEM) and the PETHEMA Foundation; the German-Speaking Myeloma Multicenter Group (GMMG); the UK-based Myeloma XI, findings from which confirmed the concept of lenalidomide maintenance; Emory 1000, a large, real-world dataset from Emory University in Atlanta; the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Clinical Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma to Personal Assessment of Genetic Profile (CoMMpass) dataset; and some newly diagnosed myeloma cohorts from the Mayo Clinic. Data were not pooled for analyses and were assessed individually - that is to say, with clear a priori understanding of whence the data had been gathered and for what original purposes. Consensus on topics was developed based on the preponderance of data across studies and cohorts. In terms of results, substantial revisions were made to the genomic staging of high-risk multiple myeloma, and these can be sorted into three major categories: A) alterations to the tumor suppressor gene TP53; B) translocations involving chromosome 14: t(14;16) (c-MAF overexpression), t(14;20) (MAFB overexpression), and t(4;14) (NSD2 overexpression); and C) chromosome 1 abnormalities: deletions of 1p or additional copies of 1q. In terms of category A, TP53 alterations: Deletion of 17p is present in up to 10% of patients at diagnosis and is enriched in relapsed or refractory disease. This is well-documented as a high-risk feature, but the proportion of the myeloma cells with deletion 17p actually impacts prognosis. GEM and HARMONY data analyses confirmed the use of 20% clonal cell fraction as the optimal threshold value for high-risk disease. That is to say, there must be the deletion of 17p in at least 20% of the myeloma cells on a FISH-analysis of a CD138-enriched bone marrow sample to qualify as high-risk disease. TP53 mutations can also occur. Inactivating mutations appear to have deleterious effects similar to chromosomal losses, and the biallelic loss of TP53, however it occurs, portends particularly poor prognosis. This effect is seen across Myeloma XI, CoMMpass, and IFM cohorts. Biallelic loss is rare, it appears to occur in only about 5% of patients, but next-generation sequencing is nevertheless recommended in all myeloma patients. Category B, chromosome 14 translocations: Translocation t(14;16) occurs in about 2% to 3% of patients with newly diagnosed disease. In the available data, primarily real-world IFM data, t(14;16) almost always occurs with chromosome 1 abnormalities. Translocation t(4;14) occurs in about 10% to 12% of newly diagnosed disease, but only patients with specific NSD2 alterations are, in fact, at risk of worse prognosis, which clinically appears to be about one in every three of those patients. And so together, the CoMMpass and Myeloma XI data suggest that translocation t(4;14) only in combination with deletion 1p or gain or amplification of 1q correlates with worse prognosis. Translocation t(14;20) occurs in only 2% of newly diagnosed disease. Similar to translocation t(4;14), it doesn't appear to have an effect on prognosis, except if the translocation co-occurs with chromosome 1 lesions, in which case patients do fare worse. Overall, these three translocations - t(14;16), t(4;14), and t(14;20) - should be considered high-risk only if chromosome 1 aberrations are also present. In terms of those chromosome 1 aberrations, category C, first deletions of 1p: Occurring in about 13% to 15% of newly diagnosed disease, deletion 1p eliminates critical cell checkpoints and normal apoptotic signaling. In the IFM and CoMMpass dataset analyses, biallelic deletion of 1p and monoallelic deletion of 1p co-occurring with additional copies of 1q denote high-risk. In terms of the other aberration in chromosome 1 possible in myeloma, gain or amplification of 1q: This occurs in up to 35% to 37% of newly diagnosed disease. It upregulates CKS1B, which is a cyclin-dependent kinase, and ANP32E, a histone acetyltransferase inhibitor. GEM and IFM data suggest that gain or amplification of 1q - there was no clear survival detriment to amplification - is best considered as a high-risk feature only in combination with the other risk factors as above. Now, in terms of any other criteria for high-risk disease, there remains one other item, and that has to do with tumor burden. There has been a consensus shift, really, in both the IMS and IMWG to attempt to develop a definition of high-risk disease which is based on biologic features rather than empirically observed and potentially temporally dynamic features, such as lactate dehydrogenase. Beta-2 microglobulin remains an independent high-risk indicator, but care must be taken when measuring it, as renal dysfunction can artificially inflate peripheral titers. The consensus conclusion was that a beta-2 microglobulin of at least 5.5 without renal failure should be considered high-risk but should not preclude detailed genomic profiling. So, in conclusion, the novel 2025 IMS-IMWG risk stratification system for myeloma is binary. It's either high-risk disease or standard-risk disease. It's got four criteria. Number one, deletion 17p and/or a TP53 mutation. Clonal cell fraction cut-off, remember, is 20%. Or number two, an IGH translocation - t(4;14), t(14;16), t(14;20) - with 1q gain and/or deletion of 1p. Or a monoallelic deletion of 1p with 1q additional copies or a biallelic deletion of 1p. Or a beta-2 microglobulin of at least 5.5 only when the creatinine is normal. This is a field-defining work that draws on analyses from across the world to put forward a dominant definition of high-risk disease and introduces a new era of biologically informed risk assessment in myeloma. Now, how does this change our clinical approach? FISH must be performed on CD138-enriched samples and should be performed for all patients. Next-generation sequencing should also be performed on all patients. Trials will hopefully now begin to include this novel definition of high-risk multiple myeloma. It does remain to be seen how data from novel therapeutic trials, if stratified according to this novel definition, will be interpreted. Will we find that therapies being evaluated at present have differential effects on myelomas with different genetic lesions? Other unanswered questions also exist. How do we go about integrating this into academic and then community clinical practice? How do we devise public health interventions for low-resource settings? To discuss this piece further, we welcome the esteemed Dr. Nikhil Munshi to the podcast. Dr. Munshi is a world-renowned leader in multiple myeloma and the corresponding author on this paper. As Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Multiple Myeloma Effector Cell Therapy Unit, and Director of Basic and Correlative Science at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he has presided over critical discoveries in the field.  Thank you for joining us, Dr. Munshi. Dr. Nikhil Munshi: Oh, it's my pleasure being here, Michael, to discuss this interesting and important publication. Michael Hughes: I had a few questions for you. So number one, this is a comprehensive, shall we say, monumental and wide-ranging definition for high-risk myeloma. How do you hope this will influence or impact the ways we discuss myeloma with patients in the exam room? And how do we make some of these components recommended, in particular next-generation sequencing, feasible in lower-resource settings? Dr. Nikhil Munshi: So those are two very important questions. Let's start with the first: How do we utilize this in our day-to-day patient care setting? So, as you know well, we have always tried to identify those patients who do not do so well with the current existing treatment. And for the last 30 years, what constitutes a myeloma of higher risk has continued to change with improvement in our treatment. The current definition basically centers around a quarter of the patients whose PFS is less than 2 to 3 years. And those would require some more involved therapeutic management. So that was a starting point of defining patients and the features. As we developed this consensus amongst ourselves - and it's titled as “International Myeloma Society, International Myeloma Working Group Consensus Recommendation” - this IMS-IMWG type of recommendation we have done for many years, improvising in various areas of myeloma care. Now, here, we looked at the data that was existing all across the globe, utilizing newer treatment and trying to identify that with these four-drug regimens, with transplant and some of the immunotherapy, which group of patients do not do as well. And this is where this current algorithm comes up. So before I answer your question straight, “How do we use it?” I might like to just suggest, “What are those features that we have identified?” There are four features which constitute high-risk disease in the newer definition. Those with deletion 17p with 20% clonality and/or TP53 mutation. Number two, patients with one of the translocations - t(4;14), t(14;16), or t(14;20) - co-occurring with 1q amplification or deletion 1p32. And that's a change. Previously, just the translocation was considered high-risk. Now we need a co-occurrence for it to be called high-risk. The third group is patients having biallelic deletion 1p32 or monoallelic deletion 1p32 along with 1q amplification. And finally, patients with high beta-2 microglobulin, more than or equal to 5.5 mg/dL, with normal creatinine less than 1.2 mg/dL. And the question, “How do we use this?” There are multiple areas where we incorporate high-risk features in our treatment algorithm. One of the first areas is where we would consider the induction regimen. If a patient has a high-risk disease, we would definitely consider a four-drug regimen rather than a three-drug regimen, although we are beginning to incorporate four-drug for all groups. That's one important thing. Number two, those are the patients where we do consider consolidation with transplant or maybe in the new world, considering some of the immunotherapeutic consolidation more early or more aggressively. Number three, these are the patients who get a little bit more maintenance therapy. So normally, lenalidomide might end up being our standard maintenance regimen. In patients who have high-risk disease, we incorporate either addition of daratumumab or the anti-CD38 targeting antibody and/or addition of proteasome inhibitor, either bortezomib or carfilzomib. So you would have multi-drug maintenance therapy in these patients. And in high-risk patients, we follow them with maintenance longer periods of time. One very critically important point to keep in mind is that to get the better outcome in high-risk disease, we must try to get them into MRD negativity because there is clear data that patients who do achieve MRD negativity, despite having high-risk disease, have a much superior outcome. They become near to standard-risk disease. And so, in high-risk patients, I would try to do whatever various options I have to try and get them into MRD-negative status. And when these patients relapse, we do not wait for the classic progression criteria to be met before we intervene. We would propose and suggest that we intervene earlier before the disease really blasts off. And so there are a number of areas in our setting where this high-risk definition will help us intervene appropriately and also with appropriate aggressiveness to achieve better outcome, to make this similar to standard-risk disease. Michael Hughes: Thank you, Dr. Munshi. And thoughts on how to really integrate this not only into academic centers but also lower-resource settings? Dr. Nikhil Munshi: So that's a very important question, Michael. And when we were developing this consensus, we were very cognizant of that fact. So wherever available, I think we are recommending that over a period of next 2, 3, 5 years, we should begin to switch over to sequencing-based methods because two components of this definition, one is TP53 mutation, which we cannot do without sequencing, and also reliably detecting deletion 1p requires sequencing-based method. So in the low-resource countries - and there are many in this world, and also even in our own country, patients may not be able to afford it - the older method with FISH or similar such technology, which is more affordable, is also acceptable for current time. They may miss a very small number of patients, maybe 2% to 3%, where these finer changes are not picked up, but a majority of this would be captured by them. So the current practice might still be applicable with some limitation in those patient populations, and that's what we would recommend. What is happening, fortunately, is that actually sequencing-based method is becoming cheaper. And in many centers, it is cheaper to do the sequencing rather than to do the FISH analysis. And so my hope is that even in low-resource centers, sequencing might be more economical in the end. It's, I think, the access to technology, which is a little bit limited currently, but it's hopefully becoming available soon. Michael Hughes: Thank you, Dr. Munshi. And staying for a minute and looking at the multiple myeloma subsets which might be missed by this really still very broad-ranging high-risk definition, at least by prior risk stratification systems, right, there is this group of patients who have standard-risk cytogenetics by R-ISS or R2-ISS, but they have primary refractory disease or they relapse early. We call these, as you are well aware, functionally high-risk disease. What proportion of previously FHR, functionally high-risk, myeloma patients do you expect to be captured by this novel definition? Dr. Nikhil Munshi: So I think the newer definition - and we can look at it both ways, but the newer definition should capture most of the functionally high-risk definition. To put it differently, Michael, there are patients who we know are, as you mentioned, functionally high-risk. Those are the patients who might have plasma cell leukemia, those who might have extramedullary disease, those who might not respond to our four-drug induction. If you don't respond to the four-drug induction, almost by definition, they are high-risk. However, a majority of them have one of the abnormalities that we are describing here. There would be a very small proportion which may not have. And if they do not have, we know one of the important components of this definition here is also that the genome, we know, keeps on evolving. So there may be a very small clone with the high-risk feature which was not obvious in the beginning. Following treatments or following relapse, that clone predominates, and now the patient's disease becomes high-risk.  So the definition would incorporate or would capture these functional high-risk patients, but as you said, in countries where resources are not available, using this functional high-risk would also be helpful and advantageous. Sometimes LDH ends up being a high-risk. In our studies, LDH has not come out to be high-risk anymore because the features we are describing captures most of those patients, but those alternatives, older, can still be considered if other newer techniques are not available. Michael Hughes: Got you. And in terms of these older definitions, yes, that incorporate tumor burden, these empirical observations about how myeloma presents, do you foresee any additional tumor burden indicators being added to future definitions of high-risk disease? Or do you instead see this particular definition as a major waypoint on the journey towards a fully biologically grounded definition of high-risk disease? Dr. Nikhil Munshi: I think your second part is what is going to happen. I think the tumor burden-related definition is being now replaced by the biological or genomic-based definition. And I think at some point, it will be quite fully replaced. One component not here, and it is because one thing, we don't have enough data; number two, we don't know how it will pan out, is also the influence of the microenvironment on the risk definition. For example, the immune system, the immune function, etc. But not enough data exists to suggest how it would change the current definition. So in future, would a definition be totally genomic or it could be more integrative? And my personal guess is that it would be more integrative and that some immune features might come into the picture, especially now that we are using immune-based therapy as a very important component of treatment - CAR T-cells, bispecific, and antibody-based treatments. What role the immune system plays in either supporting tumor or what role suppression of the anti-tumor immunity plays? They all will be important how patient outcomes end up being, and which in turn could translate into how patient's risk stratification might happen. So I think the older tumor burden-related definitions probably will become things of the past. What we have currently proposed and consensus developed is the new path forward, and over time, some microenvironmental influences, if defined and found to be important, may get some more incorporation if it compares favorably with the genomic features. Michael Hughes: Thank you, Dr. Munshi for that enlightening response.  To conclude the podcast, I'd like to look to the future and to the immediate future, what are the next steps for high-risk disease definition between now and discussing an integrated genomic-microenvironment-based definition? Will we see attempts to refine? Will we see a multi-level system, things like this? Dr. Nikhil Munshi: Yeah, so I think the current definition will be here to stay for the next 10 years or so. I think this has been developed using a large amount of data, so we do believe that this will remain fine. It has been validated now within the last six months by a few of the other studies. So there won't be a quick change. But we will try to, all of us will try to innovate. And as you very rightly bring up, the areas of research would include looking at the expression or transcriptomic component. Does that matter? And we do believe a small number of patients will have transcriptomic changes, not looked at the DNA changes, and may play a role. There are newer components, so long non-coding RNA, for example, is going to be an important component to look at, how it impacts the disease outcome, etc. There are also some of the proteomic-related changes which may become important in our studies. And then as we discussed, microenvironment and immunological changes. So these are the future areas of ongoing research where we all should collect data, and then in the next 5 to 10 years, we'll have another group meeting to see has anything changed or any of the features have become more important.  Most of the time, some of the older features are lost because they are not as critically high-risk, and the newer features come in. And so the historical background for just one second, there was a time when chromosome 13 was considered a high-risk disease. We now don't even mention it because it's not high-risk. The newer treatments have improved the outcome. t(4;14) used to be a high-risk disease. Now by itself today, in this definition by itself is not; it needs to be with something else. And so I think this is a great sign of progress. As we improve the treatment and outcomes, some of the features will become less important, new features will come up, and we'll need to keep on evolving with time and with technology and make it better for patients. Michael Hughes: Thank you so much, Dr. Munshi, for your wisdom, for your sagacity, for your historical perspective as well.  Thank you for listening to JCO Article Insights. Please come back for more interviews and article summaries. And be sure to leave us a rating and review so others can find our show. For more podcasts and episodes from ASCO, please visit asco.org/podcasts. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions.  Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.  

Drs. Gurbakhash Kaur and Danai Dima discuss next-gen CAR T and bispecific therapies for myeloma, including agents for extramedullary disease and GPRC5D targets.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/NAW865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until July 6, 2026.Expanding the Bispecific Option Across Hematologic Cancers: Guidance for the Community on Collaborative Care and Accessing Innovative Immunotherapy for Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis program is supported by an independent educational grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/NAW865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until July 6, 2026.Expanding the Bispecific Option Across Hematologic Cancers: Guidance for the Community on Collaborative Care and Accessing Innovative Immunotherapy for Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis program is supported by an independent educational grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/NAW865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until July 6, 2026.Expanding the Bispecific Option Across Hematologic Cancers: Guidance for the Community on Collaborative Care and Accessing Innovative Immunotherapy for Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis program is supported by an independent educational grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/NAW865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until July 6, 2026.Expanding the Bispecific Option Across Hematologic Cancers: Guidance for the Community on Collaborative Care and Accessing Innovative Immunotherapy for Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis program is supported by an independent educational grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

In this episode of ASTCT Talks, Dr. Rahul Banerjee sits down with Dr. Kenneth Lim and Dr. Yi Lin of Mayo Clinic to discuss a critical and emerging topic in CAR T-cell therapy: delayed neurotoxicities following cilta-cel treatment in multiple myeloma. They break down the clinical features of nerve palsies and Parkinsonism-like symptoms, share diagnostic and treatment strategies and explore emerging predictive markers like absolute lymphocyte count. Given that cilta-cel is increasingly being used in second-line myeloma treatment and is even being studied in first-line treatment to replace stem cell transplantation, this conversation is a timely and insightful look at improving patient outcomes in CAR T-cell therapy.

In this episode, Jesus Berdeja, MD; Amrita Krishnan, MD, FACP; and Sagar Lonial, MD, FACP, discuss key topics with CELMoD therapy for multiple myeloma, including: Mechanistic differences between CELMoDs and IMiDsEmerging data with CELMoDs and their potential therapeutic roles across the disease continuum of multiple myelomaThe clinical implications of MRD negativity as a surrogate marker of long-term outcomes in clinical trials in multiple myelomaPresenters:Jesus Berdeja, MDDirector of Myeloma ResearchGreco-Hainsworth Centers for ResearchTennessee OncologyNashville, TennesseeAmrita Krishnan, MD, FACPDirector, Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for MyelomaExecutive Director of HematologyCity of Hope Orange CountyProfessor of Hematology/HCTCity of Hope Cancer CenterIrvine, CaliforniaSagar Lonial, MD, FACPChair and ProfessorDepartment of Hematology and Medical OncologyAnne and Bernard Gray Family Chair in CancerChief Medical OfficerWinship Cancer InstituteEmory UniversityAtlanta, GeorgiaContent based on an online CME program supported by an independent educational grant from Bristol Myers Squibb.Link to full program: https://bit.ly/3IwbslQ

In this episode, Jonathan Sackier welcomes Claudio Cerchione, haematologist and researcher at the Hematology Unit, Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Meldola, Italy. From his early interest in plasma cell disorders, Cerchione shares key insights into the evolution of multiple myeloma (MM) research, the rising role of minimal residual disease (MRD), and promising developments in monoclonal antibodies and CAR-T therapy. He also reflects on standout moments from recent European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, and shares his hopes for the future of haematology.   Timestamps: 2:14: Memorable career experiences for Claudio   4:20 Biggest breakthrough in MM  5:10 Interest in plasma cell disorders  6:30 A surprising fact about multiple myeloma  7:40 Claudio's top choice for a dinner party guest  10:30 The importance of MRD in haematology  13:00 Monoclonal antibodies and CAR-T therapies  19:00 Current challenges  22:22 Claudio's key EHA and ASCO takeaways  28:30 Claudio's three magic wishes  

In this episode, we dissect the phase 3 MIDAS trial in newly diagnosed transplant-eligible multiple myeloma with Dr. Meera Mohan. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39841461/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40459097/

Saad Usmani, MD, MBA leads an in-depth discussion with a panel of leading myeloma experts; Dr. Caitlin Costello, Dr. Binod Dhakal, Dr. Pete Voorhees, and Dr. Shambavi Richard on the evolving landscape of frontline multiple myeloma treatment. The conversation covers the rationale behind quadruplet therapy, the integration of minimal residual disease as a response-adaptive strategy, and shifting perspectives on transplant eligibility and timing. Drawing on recent clinical trial data and personal clinical experience, the panel explores how these advancements are influencing treatment decisions and improving long-term outcomes for patients with newly diagnosed myeloma.

Associate Professor Paolo Strati (Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma, and Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA) joins us to discuss the results of a multicentre, open-label, phase 1 clinical trial of off-the-shelf induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived natural killer-cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma.Read the full article:https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhae/article/PIIS2352-3026(25)00142-5/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_July_25_lanhaeContinue this conversation on social!Follow us today at...https://thelancet.bsky.social/https://instagram.com/thelancetgrouphttps://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournalhttps://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancethttps://youtube.com/thelancettv

VJHemOnc recently attended the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, where we gained insights into the latest advancements in... The post Key HemOnc updates from ASCO 2025: myeloma, lymphoma, MPNs, & more! appeared first on VJHemOnc.

When Ray Hartjen was diagnosed with multiple myeloma - cancer, it was the first thing he thought about when he woke up, and pretty much the last thing he thought about before he nodded off to sleep. It occupied his thoughts most of the day. “I've got cancer!”     After his diagnosis in 2019, Ray became a cancer fighter every day of the week that ends in a 'y'. Along with the soundtrack of life continuously playing in his head, Ray also performs and records with his two-piece acoustic band, the Chronic Padres. To snap out of the trauma, he asked himself what type of role model he wanted to be for his family, friends, and community. What would be his legacy? Ray Hartjen is a writer and musician whose professional career has spanned parts of five decades. Ray has pivoted on many occasions, from investment banking to pharmaceuticals, from consumer electronics to software. One constant throughout his career path has been storytelling with topics as far-ranging as sports to business.   Me, Myself & My Multiple Myeloma is a cancer-patient memoir written by Ray Hartjen, a multiple myeloma patient diagnosed in March 2019. In this intimate and inspiring account, Ray reflects on every step of his relentless battle with cancer, from working toward a final diagnosis, through an initial induction treatment and an autologous stem cell transplant, and on to maintenance and continuing active treatment. Through it all, Ray shares personal insights into his fight, tending to his systemic physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Fighting cancer or any serious health issue, particularly a chronic condition, can be a daunting quest. Me, Myself & My Multiple Myeloma shows the importance of being mission-forward. Mission, of course, is unique to each individual and based on values, roles, and the accountabilities associated with each that matter most. Written for cancer patients, their caregivers, and their friends and family, Me, Myself & My Multiple Myeloma is a personal story of proactive accountability, stubborn perseverance, evolving perceptions, growing maturity, and, ultimately, hope

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/PJA865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until May 27, 2026.Planting Roots for Next-Gen Bispecific Antibodies in Hematologic Cancers: Collaborative Principles to Extend the Reach of Immunotherapy in Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported by an independent medical education grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/PJA865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until May 27, 2026.Planting Roots for Next-Gen Bispecific Antibodies in Hematologic Cancers: Collaborative Principles to Extend the Reach of Immunotherapy in Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported by an independent medical education grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/PJA865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until May 27, 2026.Planting Roots for Next-Gen Bispecific Antibodies in Hematologic Cancers: Collaborative Principles to Extend the Reach of Immunotherapy in Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported by an independent medical education grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/PJA865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until May 27, 2026.Planting Roots for Next-Gen Bispecific Antibodies in Hematologic Cancers: Collaborative Principles to Extend the Reach of Immunotherapy in Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported by an independent medical education grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/PJA865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until May 27, 2026.Planting Roots for Next-Gen Bispecific Antibodies in Hematologic Cancers: Collaborative Principles to Extend the Reach of Immunotherapy in Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported by an independent medical education grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/PJA865. CME/MOC/NCPD/AAPA/IPCE credit will be available until May 27, 2026.Planting Roots for Next-Gen Bispecific Antibodies in Hematologic Cancers: Collaborative Principles to Extend the Reach of Immunotherapy in Myeloma and Lymphoma In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported by an independent medical education grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

Rafael Fonseca is a distinguished Haematologist at Mayo Clinic, specialising in multiple myeloma and related plasma cell disorders. He earned his medical degree at Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico, and went on to complete his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Miami, Florida, USA followed by a Hematology and Oncology fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.     Timestamps  01:44 – Quickfire questions  07:25 – CAR-T cell therapy  10:48 – Anti-CD38 antibodies  13:31 – Minimal residual disease  14:30 – Bispecific antibodies  15:31 – Antibody-drug conjugates  19:04 – ASCO 2025  21:24 – Genetic discoveries  26:28 – Fonseca's three wishes 

In this JCO Article Insights episode, host Michael Hughes summarizes "Co-Occurrence of Cytogenetic Abnormalities and High-Risk Disease in Newly Diagnosed and Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma" by Kaiser et al, published February 18, 2025, followed by an interview with JCO Associate Editor Suzanne Lentzsch. Transcript Michael Hughes: Welcome to this episode of JCO Article Insights. This is Michael Hughes, JCO's editorial fellow. Today I have the privilege and pleasure of interviewing Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch on the “Co-Occurrence of Cytogenetic Abnormalities and High-Risk Disease in Newly Diagnosed and Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma” by Dr. Kaiser and colleagues. At the time of this recording, our guest has disclosures that will be linked in the transcript. The urge to identify patients with aggressive disease, which is the first step in any effort to provide personalized medical care, is intuitive to physicians today. Multiple myeloma patients have experienced heterogeneous outcomes since we first started characterizing the disease. Some patients live for decades after treatment. Some, irrespective of treatment administered, exhibit rapidly relapsing disease. We term this ‘high-risk myeloma'. The Durie-Salmon Risk Stratification System, introduced in 1975, was the first formal effort to identify those patients with aggressive, high-risk myeloma. However, the introduction of novel approaches in therapeutic agents—autologous stem cell transplantation with melphalan conditioning, proteasome inhibitors like bortezomib, or immunomodulatory drugs like lenalidomide—rendered the Durie-Salmon system a less precise predictor of outcomes. The International Staging System in 2005, predicated upon the burden of disease as measured by beta-2 microglobulin and serum albumin, was the second attempt at identifying high-risk myeloma. It was eventually supplanted by the Revised International Staging System (RISS) in 2015, which incorporated novel clinical and cytogenetic markers and remains the primary way physicians think about the risk of progression or relapse in multiple myeloma. Much attention has been focused on the canonically high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities in myeloma, typically identified by fluorescence in situ hybridization: translocation t(4;14), translocation t(14;16), translocation t(14;20), and deletion of 17p. Much attention also has been focused on the fact that intermediate-risk disease, as defined by the RISS, has been shown to be a heterogeneous subgroup in terms of survival outcomes. The RISS underwent revision in 2022 to account for such heterogeneity and has become the R2-ISS, published here in the Journal of Clinical Oncology first in 2022. Translocations t(14;16) and t(14;20) were removed, and gain or amplification of 1q was added. Such revisions to core parts of a modern risk-stratification system reflect the fact that myeloma right now is in flux, both in treatment paradigms and risk-stratification systems. The field in recent years has undergone numerous remarkable changes, from the advent of anti-CD38 agents to the introduction of cellular and bispecific therapies, to the very technology we use to investigate genetic lesions. The major issue is that we're seeing numerous trials using different criteria for the definition of high-risk multiple myeloma. This is a burgeoning problem and speaks very much now to a critical need for an effort to consolidate all these criteria on at least cytogenetic lesions as we move into an era of response-adapted treatment strategies. The excellent article by Kaiser and colleagues, published in the February 2024 edition of the JCO, does just that in a far-ranging meta-analysis of data from 24 prospective therapeutic trials. All 24 trials were phase II or III randomized controlled trials for newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The paper takes a federated analysis approach: participants provided summaries and performed prespecified uniform analyses. The high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities examined were translocation t(4;14), gain or amplification of 1q, deletion of 17p, and translocation t(14;16), if included in the original trials. All of these were collected into zero, single, or double-hit categories, not unlike the system currently present in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. The outcomes studied were progression-free survival and overall survival, with these analyses adhering to modified ITT principles. The authors also performed prespecified subgroup analyses in the following: transplant-eligible newly diagnosed myeloma, transplant non-ineligible newly diagnosed myeloma, and relapsed/refractory myeloma. They, in addition, described heterogeneity by the I2 statistic, which, if above 50%, denotes substantial heterogeneity by the Cochrane Review Handbook, and otherwise performed sensitivity analyses and assessed bias to confirm the robustness of their results. In terms of those results, looking at the data collected, there was an appropriate spread of anti-CD38-containing and non-containing trials. 7,724 patients were evaluable of a total 13,926 enrolled in those 24 trials: 4,106 from nine trials in transplant-eligible myeloma, 1,816 from seven trials in transplant non-ineligible myeloma, and 1,802 from eight trials in relapsed/refractory disease. ISS stage for all patients was relatively evenly spread: stage I, 34.5%; stage II, 37%; stage III, 24%. In terms of high-risk cytogenetic lesions, double-hit disease was present in 13.8% of patients, and single-hit disease was present in 37.4%. In terms of outcomes, Kaiser and colleagues found a consistent separation in survival outcomes when the cohort was stratified by the number of high-risk cytogenetic lesions present. For PFS, the hazard ratio was for double-hit 2.28, for single-hit 1.51, without significant heterogeneity. For overall survival, the hazard ratio was for double-hit disease 2.94, single-hit disease 1.69, without significant heterogeneity except in patients with double-hit disease at 56.5%. By clinical subgroups, hazard ratios remained pretty consistent with the overall cohort analysis. In transplant-eligible newly diagnosed myeloma, the hazard ratio for progression is 2.53, overall survival 4.17. For transplant non-ineligible, 1.97 progression, 2.31 mortality. Relapsed/refractory disease progression 2.05, overall mortality 2.21, without significant heterogeneity. Of trials which started recruitment since 2015, that is to say, since daratumumab was FDA approved and thus since an anti-CD38 agent was incorporated into these regimens, analysis revealed the same results, with double-hit myeloma still experiencing worse survival by far of the three categories analyzed. Risk of bias overall was low by advanced statistical analysis. In terms of subgroup analysis, double-hit results for transplant-eligible newly diagnosed myeloma may have been skewed by smaller study effects, where the upper bound of the estimated hazard ratio for mortality reached into the 15 to 20 range. In conclusion, from a massive amount of data comes a very elegant way to think about the role certain cytogenetic abnormalities play in multiple myeloma. A simple number of lesions - zero, one, or at least two - can risk-stratify. This is a powerful new prognostic biomarker candidate and, somewhat soberingly, also may confirm, or at least suggests, that anti-CD38 agents are unable to overcome the deleterious impact of certain biologic characteristics of myeloma. Where do we go from here? This certainly needs further a priori prospective validation. This did not include cellular therapies. The very scale at which this risk-stratification system operates, agnostic to specific genetic lesion, let alone point mutations, lends itself also to further exploration. And to discuss this piece further, we welcome the one and only Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch to the episode. Dr. Lentzsch serves as an associate editor for JCO and is a world-renowned leader at the bleeding edge of plasma cell dyscrasia research. Dr. Lentzsch, there are several new investigations which suggest that translocation t(4;14), for example, is itself a heterogeneous collection of patients. There are other studies which suggest that point mutations in oncogenes like TP53, which were not assessed in Kaiser et al., carry substantial detrimental impact. Is this classification system - no-hit, single-hit, double-hit - too broad a look at tumor genetics? And how do you think we will end up incorporating ever more detailed investigations into the genetics of multiple myeloma moving forward? Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch: Michael, first of all, excellent presentation of that very important trial. Great summary. And of course, it's a pleasure to be here with JCO and with you to discuss that manuscript. Let me go back a little bit to high-risk multiple myeloma. I think over the last years, we had a lot of information on what is high-risk multiple myeloma, and I just want to mention a couple of things, that we separate not only cytogenetically high-risk multiple myeloma, we also have functional high-risk multiple myeloma, with an early relapse after transplant, within 12 months, or two years after start of treatment for the non transplant patients, which is difficult to assess because you cannot decide whether this is a high-risk patient before you start treatment. You only know that in retrospective. Other forms of high-risk: extramedullary disease, circulating tumor cells/plasma cell dyscrasia, patients who never achieve MRD positivity, extramedullary multiple myeloma, or even age and frailty is a high risk for our patients. Then we have gene expression and gene sequencing. So there is so much information currently to really assess what is high-risk multiple myeloma, that is very difficult to find common ground and establish something for future clinical trials. So what Dr. Kaiser did was really to develop a very elegant system with information we should all have. He used four factors: translocation t(14;16), t(4;14), gain or amplification of 1q, and deletion of 17p. Of course, this is not the entire, I would say, information we have on high risk, but I think it's a good standard. It's a very elegant system to really classify a standard single-hit, double-hit, high-risk multiple myeloma, which can be used for all physicians who treat multiple myeloma, and especially, it might also work in resource-scarce settings. So, ultimately, I think that system is an easy-to-use baseline for our patients and provides the best information we can get, especially with a baseline, in order to compare clinical trials or to compare any data in the future. Michael Hughes: Thank you, Dr. Lentzsch. To the point that you made about this isn't the full story. There does, as you said, exist this persistent group of functional high-risk multiple myeloma where we see standard-risk cytogenetics, but these patients ultimately either exhibit primary refractory disease or very early relapse despite aggressive, standard aggressive treatment. How do you see risk-stratification systems incorporating other novel biomarkers for such patients? Is it truly all genetic? Or is next-generation sequencing, gene expression profiling, is that the answer? Or is there still a role for characterizing tumor burden? Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch: Excellent question, Michael, and I wish I would have the glass ball to answer that question. I see some problems with the current approach we have. First of all, to do the cytogenetics, you need good material. You only detect and identify what you have. If the bone marrow is of low quality, you have mainly peripheral blood in your bone marrow biopsy, you might not really fully have a representation of all cytogenetic changes in your bone marrow. So I think with a low-quality sample, that you might miss one or the other really cytogenetic high risk. So, having said this, I think circulating tumor cells, that might be something we will look into in the future, because circulating tumor cells are readily available, can be assessed without doing a bone marrow biopsy. And what is even more exciting, in addition to the circulating tumor cells or plasma cells, using them is next-generation sequencing. I think at the moment, we are more in a collection phase where we really try to correlate sequencing with our cytogenetics and especially to establish next-generation sequencing in all of our patients. But I think after that collection phase, maybe in the future, collecting peripheral blood and doing sequencing on peripheral blood samples might be the way to go. In addition, I don't want to forget the imaging. We started with a skeletal survey, and we know that you probably need to lose 30% of the bone before you see a lesion at all. So having imaging, such as diffusion-weighted imaging, whole-body MRI, is also, together with sequencing of the tumor cells, a step into the right direction. Michael Hughes: Thank you, Dr. Lentzsch. Bringing this back to the article at hand, how has Kaiser et al. changed the way we discuss myeloma with patients in the exam room? Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch: I think we have more data on hand. So far, we talked about standard risk and high risk, but I think right now, with a very simple system, we can go into the room and we can tell the patient, "Listen, you don't have any of those cytogenetic abnormalities. I think you have a standard risk. We might give you a simple maintenance treatment with Revlimid." But we might also go into the room and say, "I'm really concerned. You have so-called double-hit multiple myeloma. You have high-risk and at least two of those abnormal cytogenetics which we discussed, and I think you need a more intense maintenance treatment, for instance, double maintenance." I think we know that a high-risk multiple myeloma can be brought into a remission, but the problem that we have is to keep those patients into a remission. So, I think a more intense treatment, for instance, with a double maintenance, or with consolidation after transplant, and a longer and more intense treatment is justified in patients who have that truly high-risk multiple myeloma described here. Michael Hughes: Dr. Lentzsch, thank you so much for your time and your wisdom. Dr. Suzanne Lentzsch: My pleasure. Thank you for having me. Michael Hughes: Listeners, thank you for listening to JCO Article Insights. Please come back for more interviews and article summaries, and be sure to leave us a rating and review so others can find our show. For more podcasts and episodes from ASCO, please visit ASCO.org/podcasts.   The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.

Philippa Charles, Director of the DFN Charitable Foundation, leads a conversation on the Foundation's strategic philanthropic approach and its distinctive commitment to long-term, systems-level impact. With a background in leading one of the UK's major family foundations and now at the helm of DFN, she offers a compelling look at how deeply personal motivations can shape focused and effective grantmaking. The DFN Foundation operates across four thematic pillars: disability education, disability employment, myeloma cancer research, and conservation. These areas are not only strategic but are also rooted in the lived experiences and values of the Foundation's founding family. This grounding translates into a uniquely empathetic and effective model of philanthropy—one that combines substantial funding with strategic oversight and deep engagement with delivery partners. The episode explores how DFN supports systemic change in disability inclusion. Philippa discusses the success of Undershaw, a school for students with special educational needs that recently received an “Outstanding” rating from Ofsted, and the DFN Project SEARCH initiative, which has helped more than 3,000 young people with disabilities secure meaningful employment across over 200 corporate and public sector partners. These stories illustrate DFN's commitment not just to education and training but to shifting the broader landscape of opportunity for disabled individuals. A similarly strategic approach underpins the Foundation's investment in myeloma research. Through the Jacquelin Forbes Nixon Fellowship, DFN has supported a clinical trial at the Institute of Cancer Research that is producing transformative outcomes. Over 75% of participants remain in remission—a significant improvement over standard care—and the research now points toward wider clinical application and deeper exploration into treatment efficacy and patient outcomes. DFN's work extends beyond the UK, particularly in conservation. In Kenya, the Foundation supports the Pangolin Project, an initiative preserving 5,000 hectares of biodiverse forest and protecting the world's most trafficked and critically endangered mammal. The project embodies the Foundation's ability to balance localized impact with global relevance, and its philosophy of acting where there is both clear need and the opportunity for catalytic intervention. Throughout the discussion, Philippa reflects on the leadership demands of running a multifaceted family foundation. She shares how she is structuring her first year in the role by focusing on governance, partnerships, operational strategy, and long-term vision. Her insights offer a valuable roadmap for those leading or advising mission-driven organizations, especially those navigating the complexities of family philanthropy. The conversation concludes with a discussion of collaboration across the sector and the importance of peer networks among foundations. Philippa also speaks passionately about the transformative power of volunteering, not only as a form of civic engagement but as a professional and personal development tool. For those interested in strategic philanthropy, disability inclusion, evidence-based research funding, and conservation efforts with measurable impact, this episode provides a thoughtful and informative exploration of how one foundation is driving change across sectors—anchored in personal values, executed with professional discipline, and amplified through strategic partnerships. Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 300 case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.  

In this episode of The HemOnc Pulse, Rahul Banerjee, MD of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is joined by Gurbakhash Kaur, MD of Mount Sinai for an in-depth discussion of the RedirecTT-1 trial, recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The conversation explores the evolving role of bispecific antibodies in multiple myeloma, with a focus on the combination of talquetamab (Tal) and teclistamab (TEC). Drs. Banerjee and Kaur unpack the trial's rationale, design, and real-world implications for patients with relapsed or refractory disease. Tune in to hear expert perspectives on unmet needs in late-line myeloma care, emerging toxicity profiles, and the future of dual-targeted immunotherapy.

Send us a textGrab your trainers, your dog lead, or a cuppa and join us for some free CPD as we have another relaxed round up of recent Red Whale primary care Pearls of wisdom.  In the second of two episodes this month, Fiona and Nik discuss: What jumped out at us from our brand new video byte: ‘Ramadan - Impact on diabetes and other chronic illnesses'Spotting Myeloma… let's make it less tricky. Myeloma has been a popular topic in our recent Cancer and GP Update courses. So, to celebrate the launch of the NEW season of GP Update courses we wanted to share this Pearl on myeloma.Listen as soon as you can to ensure you have full access to all the free resources. And hear a best intentions story that will have you checking what you're drying your hands with!RamadanVideoRed Whale Knowledge - Ramadan: impact on diabetes and other chronic disease Myeloma NICE 2015, NG12 Myeloma UK's diagnostic tool for primary care Send us your feedback podcast@redwhale.co.uk or send a voice message Sign up to receive Pearls here. Pearls are available for 3 months from publish date. After this, you can get access them plus 100s more articles when you buy a one-day online course from Red Whale OR sign up to Red Whale Unlimited. Find out more here. Follow us: X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedInDisclaimer: We make every effort to ensure the information in this podcast is accurate and correct at the date of publication, but it is of necessity of a brief and general nature, and this should not replace your own good clinical judgement, or be regarded as a substitute for taking professional advice in appropriate circumstances. In particular, check drug doses, side-effects and interactions with the British National Formulary. Save insofar as any such liability cannot be excluded at law, we do not accept any liability for loss of any type caused by reliance on the information in this podcast....

In this week's episode we'll learn about the role of autologous transplant for relapsed myeloma. In an updated analysis of the GMMG ReLApsE trial, salvage autologous transplant offered no survival benefit compared to control chemotherapy. These findings may have clinical implications in an era of alternative, and highly effective, treatment options. After that: Response to DDAVP, or desmopressin, in bleeding disorders. This study is the first large scale meta-analysis to assess the response rate to DDAVP in bleeding disorders. Authors provide new insights into determinants of response, which vary according to the disease type. Finally, turning to diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Germinal center B cells depend on the activity of DOT1 and EZH2 to maintain their pro-proliferative identity. New research shows that combined treatment with DOT1L and EZH2 inhibitors has synergistic activity in vitro.Featured Articles:Salvage autologous transplant in relapsed multiple myeloma: long-term follow-up of the phase 3 GMMG ReLApsE trialDDAVP response and its determinants in bleeding disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysisTargeting DOT1L and EZH2 synergizes in breaking the germinal center identity of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/JFE865. CME/MOC/NCPD credit will be available until April 18, 2026.Unlocking Efficacy, Expanding Access to CAR-T in Lymphoma and Myeloma: From Practice-Changing Evidence to Real-World and Outpatient Experiences In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported through educational grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (which are both Johnson & Johnson companies), Legend Biotech, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/JFE865. CME/MOC/NCPD credit will be available until April 18, 2026.Unlocking Efficacy, Expanding Access to CAR-T in Lymphoma and Myeloma: From Practice-Changing Evidence to Real-World and Outpatient Experiences In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported through educational grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (which are both Johnson & Johnson companies), Legend Biotech, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/JFE865. CME/MOC/NCPD credit will be available until April 18, 2026.Unlocking Efficacy, Expanding Access to CAR-T in Lymphoma and Myeloma: From Practice-Changing Evidence to Real-World and Outpatient Experiences In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported through educational grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (which are both Johnson & Johnson companies), Legend Biotech, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This week, Jonathan is joined by Shaji Kumar, an expert in hematology and oncology, particularly multiple myeloma, who has made significant contributions to both clinical and translational science. Timestamps:  (00:00) – Introduction   (02:23) – Drug combinations and myeloma biology  (08:34) – Treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma  (17:24) – Quadruplet regimens   (23:09) – Clinical trials for plasma cell malignancies  (28:04) – The bone marrow microenvironment in multiple myeloma  (30:29) – “Blind men and an elephant”  (33:58) – Kumar's three wishes for healthcare   

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/JFE865. CME/MOC/NCPD credit will be available until April 18, 2026.Unlocking Efficacy, Expanding Access to CAR-T in Lymphoma and Myeloma: From Practice-Changing Evidence to Real-World and Outpatient Experiences In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported through educational grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (which are both Johnson & Johnson companies), Legend Biotech, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/JFE865. CME/MOC/NCPD credit will be available until April 18, 2026.Unlocking Efficacy, Expanding Access to CAR-T in Lymphoma and Myeloma: From Practice-Changing Evidence to Real-World and Outpatient Experiences In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported through educational grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (which are both Johnson & Johnson companies), Legend Biotech, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

This content has been developed for healthcare professionals only. Patients who seek health information should consult with their physician or relevant patient advocacy groups.For the full presentation, downloadable Practice Aids, slides, and complete CME/MOC/NCPD information, and to apply for credit, please visit us at PeerView.com/JFE865. CME/MOC/NCPD credit will be available until April 18, 2026.Unlocking Efficacy, Expanding Access to CAR-T in Lymphoma and Myeloma: From Practice-Changing Evidence to Real-World and Outpatient Experiences In support of improving patient care, PVI, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.SupportThis activity is supported through educational grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC (which are both Johnson & Johnson companies), Legend Biotech, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.Disclosure information is available at the beginning of the video presentation.

Angela Dispenzieri, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN Recorded on March 18, 2025 Angela Dispenzieri, MD Consultant, Division of Hematology Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professor of Medicine and of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN Join us as we dive into in the complex care of amyloid and myeloma with Dr. Angela Dispenzieri from Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota. She explains the diagnosis and explores the differences between amyloid and myeloma. Discussion on treatment strategies for complex cases, side effects of therapies, and difficult conversations with patients, provide practical information on patient care. Tune in today to learn more about the complexities of myeloma. This episode is supported by GSK plc.

Timestamps:      00:00- Introduction  00:41- Health benefits of yoga and mindfulness   02:34- The potential of AI in hematology  04:23- Transfusion dependence in myelodysplastic syndromes  08:13- The fascinating field of apheresis  10:56- How to provide high-quality, affordable healthcare?  15:44- Regulatory T cells in hematologic malignancies  19:55- CAR T clinical trials: regulatory insights  22:57- EBMT initiatives  30:06- Latest breakthroughs in amyloidosis   34:50- Reducing patient fear through education 

In recognition of Myeloma Awareness Month 2025, this podcast explores key unmet needs and unanswered questions in myeloma research and... The post Addressing unmet needs in myeloma: early detection, frail/elderly patients, triple-class exposed disease, & more! appeared first on VJHemOnc.

March marks Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month, a crucial time to highlight advances in the treatment of this complex blood cancer. Multiple myeloma is the leading indication of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in hematologic malignancies, with high-dose therapy followed by ASCT representing a potentially curative treatment modality for eligible patients. Dr. Hamza Hashmi, Assistant Attending in the Myeloma & Cell Therapy Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, is currently serving as chair of i3 Health CME/NCPD activity, Cracking the Code to Successful Stem Cell Mobilization in Multiple Myeloma. In this interview, Dr. Hashmi shares additional insights into the evolving role of transplantation in this disease and the importance of education and advocacy during Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month. Click the link for the full activity! https://bit.ly/4hyVwLn

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Cesar Rodriguez of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, NY to discuss… The post Hope in Myeloma: The Road to Long-Term Survival first appeared on The Bloodline with LLS.

Please visit answersincme.com/BCK860 to participate, download slides and supporting materials, complete the post test, and obtain credit. In this activity, an expert in myeloma discusses the latest data in anti-CD38 quadruplet regimens in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to: Identify the role of anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody (mAB)–based quadruplet regimens in the treatment landscape for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM); Review the latest clinical data of anti-CD38 mAB-based quadruplet regimens for transplant-ineligible patients with NDMM; and Analyze evidence-based strategies for optimizing outcomes with anti-CD38 mAB-based quadruplet regimens in patients with transplant-ineligible NDMM.

Returning to the show, Drs. Vincent Rajkumar and Aaron Goodman engage in a dynamic debate over the evolving landscape of smoldering multiple myeloma, focusing on the highly anticipated study recently co-authored by Dr. Rajkumar and published in The New England Journal of Medicine after being presented at ASH 2024. They dissect the study's findings, which highlight the impact of early intervention with daratumumab in delaying disease progression for patients classified as high-risk. The discussion explores the nuances of smoldering myeloma classification, the controversy surrounding risk stratification, and the historical context of prior studies that failed to change clinical practice. With their expert insights, Drs. Rajkumar and Goodman break down the implications of this research, questioning whether it truly shifts the standard of care and what it means for future treatment approaches. View the NEJM publication. https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa2409029 Check out Chadi's website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on YouTube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

This week, Jonathan is joined by Fredrik Schjesvold, Head of the Oslo Myeloma Center Oslo University Hospital, Head of the Norwegian myeloma association, and President of the Nordic Myeloma Study Group.   Timestamps:      (00:00)-Introduction   (04:24)-Research into melflufen  (07:14)- Ide-cel CAR T-cell therapy  (09:40)-Predictors of overall survival  (12:15)-Innovative therapies for refractory myeloma  (14:04)-Bi-specific antibodies  (16:42)-Global guidelines for myeloma  (22:00)-Healthcare economics  (25:45)-Antibody-based therapies  (29:38)- Latest research into amyloidosis  (34:23)-Recent breakthroughs in myeloma  (38:06)-Fredrik's three wishes for healthcare     

In this episode, Shaji K. Kumar, MD, reviews key data on bispecific antibodies used to treat patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma recently presented at the 2024 annual American Society of Hematology meeting, including:Early results with teclistamab combined with anti-CD38 therapyReal-world data with teclistamab including its use after other BCMA-targeted therapiesTalquetamab as bridging therapy to BCMA-targeted CAR T-cell therapyEvaluation of prophylactic tocilizumab for cytokine-release syndrome associated with bispecific antibody therapyPresenter:Shaji K. Kumar, MDMark and Judy Mullins Professor of Hematologic MalignanciesConsultant, Division of HematologyProfessor of MedicineChair, Myeloma, Amyloidosis and Dysproteinemia GroupResearch Chair, Division of HematologyAssociate Chair for Research, Department of MedicineMayo ClinicRochester, MinnesotaLink to full program:https://bit.ly/40bjFCZ

Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that affects plasma cells in the bone marrow. And it most commonly impacts older adults, with higher prevalence among men and African Americans. What are the symptoms and signs that are often subtle or overlooked, leading to delays in diagnosis? What treatment options are available for those diagnosed? In this episode spoke with Jens Hillengass, MD, PhD, chief of the Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service and vice chair of research of the Department of Medicine at Roswell Park Cancer Institute about the importance of early detection, healthy lifestyle strategies, and recent advances in research that offer hope. We then sat down with Jacqueline Henry, BSN, RN, nurse manager for the lymphoma and myeloma department at Roswell Park, about what quality of life looks like for patients, treatment goals, and how to find hope after diagnosis.

This podcast brings you exclusive updates on multiple myeloma from the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and... The post Post-ASH myeloma highlights: key takeaways for community physicians & trials to look out for in 2025 appeared first on VJHemOnc.

This week, Jonathan is joined by Anna Sureda, Head of the Clinical Hematology Department at Institut Català d'Oncologia - Hospital Duran i Reynals, Barcelona, Spain, and President of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Association, to discuss the latest in lymphoma therapies and stem cell transplantation. Timestamps:     (00:00)-Introduction  (01:48)-Memorable travels  (07:44)-Sureda's journey into hematology   (12:40)-Breakthroughs in lymphoma treatment   (17:54)-Advances in stem cell transplantation   (20:26)-EBMT initiatives  (29:17)-Allogeneic transplantation for T cell lymphomas  (34:32)-Challenges in treatment accessibility   (41:35)-How can we ensure health equity?  (46:00)-Advice to young hematologists   (47:40)-Sureda's three wishes for healthcare 

This week, Jonathan is joined by Marc Hoffman, Associate Professor in Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics at the University of Kansas Medical Center, to discuss novel therapies for B-cell malignancies and current challenges in hemato-oncology.   Timestamps:     (00:00)-Introduction  (03:24)-What is molecular biophysics?  (07:01)-Marc's journey into hemato-oncology  (09:36)-Advice to young doctors  (13:08)-Treatment advances in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma   (19:11)-BRUIN study: pirtobrutinib for B-cell malignancies   (26:15)-Challenges in CAR-T therapy implementation  (31:31)-A pharmaceutical perspective   (38:10)-Regulatory insights into clinical trials  (40:58)-New horizons in hemato-oncology  (44:26)-Marc's three wishes for healthcare 

In this episode, we dive into the hottest updates in myeloma and amyloidosis at ASH 2024 annual meeting with Dr. Rakesh Popat. Here are the abstracts we discussed: 1. AQUILA Trial in High-Risk SMMOverview of the AQUILA trial testing single-agent daratumumab for high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma (HR-SMM) versus active monitoring. Discussion on patient characteristics, primary endpoints, and results showing significant progression-free survival (PFS) benefit with Dara. Insights into modes of progression, adequacy of active surveillance, and post-protocol therapy in control arm. Read the abstract. Read the simultaneous publication at NEJM. 2. Anito-Cel: New BCMA CAR T Therapy Early data from the iMMagine-1 trial showing strong efficacy and a promising safety profile for Anito-Cel, a novel BCMA CAR T. Discussion of its potential to rival cilta-cel while avoiding neurotoxicity concerns. Read the abstract.3. CARTITUDE-4 Update Updates on MRD-negativity rates and survival outcomes for cilta-cel in relapsed myeloma, with significant benefits over standard care. Read the abstract.4. ANDROMEDA OS Data in AL Amyloidosis Long-term data showing an overall survival (OS) benefit of Dara-VCd over VCd in AL amyloidosis. Insights into cardiac responses and crossover impact. Read the abstract.5. OPTIMUM Trial in Ultra-High-Risk NDMMFive-year follow-up of a tailored approach for ultra-high-risk newly diagnosed myeloma patients with continuous therapy incorporating multiple active agents. Subgroup outcomes highlighting both challenges and exceptional results. Read the abstract6. GMMG-HD7 Trial PFS Update Phase 3 trial results on Isa-VRD vs. VRD induction and risk-adapted tandem ASCT. Discussion on the role of CD38 in maintenance therapy. Read the abstract Read the simultaneous publication at JCO7. Exciting New Drugs Review of three innovative therapies: inobrodib, a BCMA-CD38 trispecific antibody, and cevostamab, a FcRH5-targeted bispecific antibody. Expert insights into their efficacy and potential to reshape myeloma care. Read the abstract

Prof Philippe Moreau of University Hospital – CHU de Nantes in France, Dr Robert Z Orlowski of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Dr Noopur Raje of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston, Dr Paul G Richardson of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and Dr Sagar Lonial of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, discuss current questions and controversies in the management of multiple myeloma. Produced by Research To Practice. CME information and select publications here (https://www.researchtopractice.com/ASHMM24).

On this episode of "The HemOnc Pulse," Saad Usmani, MD, of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, joins Chadi Nabhan, MD, MBA, FACP, to discuss notable presentations on multiple myeloma from the Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Society of Hematologic Oncology in Houston, Texas.

Yelak Biru, President and CEO of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), joins the show to share his remarkable personal and professional journey. After immigrating to the US from Ethiopia, Yelak was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at the age of 26, setting him on an extraordinary path as both a survivor and a passionate advocate for myeloma patients. He discusses pivotal moments in his treatment, including seeking second opinions, utilizing groundbreaking therapies like CAR-T, and his ongoing decision to reject a transplant. Now leading the world's first and largest nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of those impacted by multiple myeloma, Yelak shares his vision for expanding IMF's global outreach, advancing research, and empowering patients and caregivers worldwide. Learn more about the IMF. https://www.myeloma.org/ Check out Chadi's website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on YouTube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA