Dr. Scheinberg Highlights MDS, AML Abstracts at ASH 2023

Phillip Scheinberg, MD, PhD, Chief of Hematology at the Hospital A Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo in Brazil, joined Chadi Nabhan, MD, MBA, FACP, host of The HemOnc Pulse, to discuss interesting abstracts in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Dr. Scheinberg first mentioned the COMMANDS trial, presented by Guillermo Garcia-Manero, MD, which found that luspatercept is superior to epoetin alfa as a frontline drug for patients with low-risk MDS.

“That really caught a lot of people's attention as a very interesting option. How do we sequence these drugs?” Dr. Scheinberg asked. “It looks like giving an anti-TGF-β agent like luspatercept early on is beneficial.”

Dr. Scheinberg also discussed selinexor treatment for AML.

“It has modest activity as a single agent and a lot of toxicity, and we didn't think we were going to see this drug in other areas,” he said. “But there are two oral abstracts on selinexor as either a single agent or in combination with other therapies. It's interesting to see that this drug is making its way into the AML space.”

Drs. Scheinberg and Nabhan concluded their conversation by discussing menin inhibitors for AML, genetic mutations such as KMT2A, and the difficulty of randomizing trials and choosing a control arm.