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Our campaigns and advocacy team attended the European Haematology Association conference in June to hear the latest news from research, clinical trials and clinical practice. Here are the latest updates and videos from the clinicians attending the conference.
News from the conference in AML focused on two general areas:
- New treatments
AML is now subtyped depending on the genetic changes that have occurred within the leukaemia cells. These genetic changes can be indicators of prognosis or response to treatment.
There are a number of treatments coming through clinical trials that are more targeted to changes within leukaemia cells.
- Minimal, or measurable, residual disease (MRD) and risk stratifying patients
Using the most sensitive methods of detection, clinicians are now able to detect 1 leukaemia cell within 100,000 healthy cells. This is minimal residual disease (MRD), the presence of very small but still measurable numbers of leukaemia cells.
In AML, monitoring MRD over the course of a patient’s treatment is becoming extremely important, because it means patients can be risk stratified and treatment can be tailored accordingly. For example, someone who achieves MRD negativity (no detectable leukaemia cells) quickly after starting treatment is less likely to relapse and their treatment can be deintensified.
Hear more on these topics from Professor Mary Frances McMullin and haematologist Sahra Ali in the video below:
View more videos from the conference by visiting our YouTube page here.