Chemotherapy-free treatment regimens for Ph+ ALL

Nicholas Short, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, discusses upcoming and exciting areas in the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including chemotherapy-free regimens. The GIMEMA LAL2116 trial (NCT02744768), evaluating dasatinib and blinatumomab in adult Ph+ ALL, shows very encouraging outcomes in the frontline setting. The combination of blinatumomab plus ponatinib is also being evaluated in a clinical trial (NCT03147612) with the rationale that a more potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor may lead to deeper responses. Data from the trial (NCT03576547) exploring venetoclax plus ponatinib seem promising as well. As the field advances, transplant-free strategies and chemotherapy-free regimens should be explored both in the frontline and relapsed/refractory setting. This interview took place during the 2021 European School of Hematology (ESH) 2nd Translational Research Conference on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.