Penn Medicine at the 2022 ASH Meeting

Newswise – Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will present data on the latest advances in blood cancer research and treatment at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) December 10-13. Monitor this space during the lifting of embargoes during the meeting.

experts

Experts from the Perelman School of Medicine are available to comment on a wide range of cancer research and care topics during the meeting via video call, phone, or email.

Press Releases

Check here for links as embargoes are lifted during the meeting.

Other notable abstracts and presentations from Penn Medicine at ASH include:

• “Epitope editing” could enable wider use of CAR T treatments for blood cancers (Summary 355) With the help of a technique called “epitope editing,” CAR T therapies could be useful against virtually any blood cancer, according to findings to be presented by Nils Wellhausendoctoral student in the laboratories of Saar Gill, MD, Ph.D.associate professor of hematology-oncology, and Carl June, MD, Richard W. Wave Professor of Immunotherapy. The research team designed a CAR T therapy that targets the CD45 surface receptor, which is found on most blood cells and virtually all blood cancer cells. To prevent these CD45-targeted CAR T cells from attacking each other – since they too carry the CD45 receptor – the researchers genetically altered the receptor on the CAR T cells to make it unrecognizable to other CAR cells. T, but still functional. They edited stem cells from the donor’s blood in the same way, to allow the stem cells to survive CAR T therapy and seed a new population of blood cells in the treated patient. The strategy worked well in a mouse model of acute myeloid leukemia. “This approach offers proof of principle for treating most blood cancers with a single drug,” Wellhausen said. Wellhausen will present the results in an oral abstract on Saturday, December 10 at 4:00 p.m. CT in room 393-396.

• Novel CAR T therapy design is ready for clinical trials in T-cell lymphoma (Summary 662) According to a presentation by Ruchi PatelPhD student in the laboratory of Marco Ruella, PhD, Assistant Professor of Hematology-Oncology. The new treatment targets the surface protein CD5, present in most T-cell cancers. Anti-CD5 CAR T cells have their own CD5 knocked out, to avoid “fratricidal” attacks from other CAR T cells. The cell product contains also the patient’s own T cells, which also undergo the process of CD5 inactivation, so that they survive the anti-CD5 treatment, providing the patient with some immunity until their normal T cell population recovers . The new approach has been effective in mouse models of T-cell lymphomas. Patel will present the results in an oral abstract on Sunday, December 11 at 4:45 p.m. CT in room 220-222.

• An observational study suggests that CAR T therapy is effective against lymphoma in people living with HIV (Summary 763) People living with HIV are at higher risk of developing lymphomas, but they were excluded from the clinical trials that led to the approval of CAR T cell therapies for the treatment of lymphomas. According to a presentation by Stefan K. Barta MD, Associate Professor of Hematology-Oncology. Barta and colleagues analyzed reports from 13 clinical centers of 21 HIV-positive patients who received anti-CD19 CAR T therapies for B-cell lymphomas. The study was a collaboration between the National Cancer Institute-supported AIDS Malignancy Consortium, whose Barta is executive director, and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. “In the largest observational study of people living with HIV treated with CD19-directed CAR T cells, the therapy appears to be safe and effective, similar to reports in patients without HIV,” Barta said. Barta will present the updated results in an oral abstract session on Monday, December 12 at 10:30 a.m. CT in room 393-396.

• Presidential Symposium on mRNA Vaccines for COVID-19 and Emerging Applications of mRNA Technology Messenger RNA Innovator Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, Roberts Family Vaccine Research Professor, will close the meeting as the Presidential Symposium speaker on Tuesday, December 13 at 11:00 a.m. CT in Hall E.

Penn Medicine experts also collaborated on two practice-modifying studies that will be presented as late-breaking abstracts:

• Consolidation Therapy with Blinatumomab Improves Overall Survival in Newly Diagnosed Adult Patients with B-Lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Negative Remission of Measurable Residual Disease: Results from the National Health Network Phase III Randomized Trial ECOG-ACRIN E1910 Cooperative Clinical Trials (Summary LBA1)

Co-Author Selina Luger, MD, professor of hematology-oncology, is chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Leukemia Committee.

• Post-transplant cyclophosphamide, tacrolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil as the new standard for prophylaxis of graft-versus-host disease in reduced-intensity conditioning: results from the bone graft phase III clinical trial network and bone marrow (BMT CTN) 1703 (Summary LBA4)

Alison Loren, MD, Chair of Hematology-Oncology, is co-author and Edward Stadtmauer, MD, Professor of Hematology-Oncology, is Chair of the BMT CTN Steering Committee.

Editor’s note: The University of Pennsylvania holds a stake in ViTToria Biotherapeutics. Ruella is the scientific founder and shareholder of ViTToria Biotherapeutics, and holds patents and receives royalties related to CD519 CAR T cells. Patel has served as a consultant for ViTToria Biotherapeutics.

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