National Blood Cancer Experts Provide Updates on CAR T-Cell Therapy, Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma; New NCCN Guidelines for Systemic Mastocytosis Now Available

The NCCN 13th Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies™ examines novel treatments, major milestones, and challenging case studies for hematologic oncology. Join the conversation online with the hashtag #NCCNhem18.

News provided by

National Comprehensive Cancer Network

Sep 21, 2018, 10:00 ET

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Sept, 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of blood cancer experts are meeting in New York City to discuss how treatment options have transformed over the past year, as part of the NCCN 13^th Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies™. The congress is hosted by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network^® (NCCN^®), and moderated by co-chairs Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Medical Director, Quality Informatics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Ranjana H. Advani, MD, Saul Rosenberg Professor of Lymphoma, Stanford University Medical Center. The congress features a keynote session on CAR T-cell therapy and educational sessions on treatment updates for 14 different cancer types, some of which include acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma (MM), and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), as well as the management of bone health in patients with blood cancers.

"We are devoted to making sure that providers who serve people with cancer are knowledgeable about promising new cancer treatments," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "This congress and our frequently-updated NCCN Guidelines^® allow us to share the best new evidence and to offer insights into new care recommendations from our expert panelists."

"Numerous advances have been made in the biology and treatment of hematological malignancies in 2018," said Dr. Zelenetz. "Today, an unprecedented number of novel drugs have been approved or are in the developmental pipeline. Many of these drugs act through entirely novel mechanisms of action and target particular molecularly defined subsets of disease."

Dr. Advani agreed: "The complexity of integrating risk assessment, optimal therapy, molecular profiles, surveillance and the continuum of care concepts across hematological malignancies has challenged the practitioner to keep abreast of an evolving diagnostic and treatment landscape, which is best addressed by ongoing comprehensive educational opportunities and utilization of guidelines."

The day-and-a-half long event begins with a series of keynote addresses on milestones in CAR T-cell therapy from Frederick L. Locke, MD, Moffitt Cancer Center, plus a closer look at using CAR T-cell therapy in lymphomas and leukemia from Reem Karmali, MD, MS, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, and Patrick A. Brown, MD, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, respectively. Richard M. Stone, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, follows with an address about considerations for the use of novel agents in AML.

The second day focuses on patient case studies and panel discussions, and includes the following additional faculty:

Philippe Armand, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Natalie S. Callander, MD, University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center
Azeez Farooki, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Reem Karmali, MD, MS, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University
Shaji K. Kumar, MD, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
Michael J. Mauro, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Animesh Pardanani, MBBS, PhD, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
Emily N. Patterson, AGACNP-BC, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Jerald P. Radich, MD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Eunice S. Wang, MD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Enduring webcasts from the NCCN 13^th Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies will be available online at education.nccn.org starting on November 1. Join the conversation online with the hashtag #NCCNhem18.

This congress is taking place just after the publication of a brand new NCCN Guidelines^® for Systemic Mastocytosis, the most common form of mastocytosis diagnosed in adults. Systemic mastocytosis mainly results from the accumulation of abnormal mast cells (a type of white blood cell) in one or more extracutaneous organs (with or without skin involvement). The new guidelines were developed by the NCCN Guidelines Panel for MPN, and include recommendations for the diagnosis and management of patients with all variants of systemic mastocytosis.

Looking ahead, the NCCN 2019 Annual Conference will take place March 21-23, 2019, in Orlando, FL. The NCCN 2019 Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies is scheduled for September 27-28, 2019, in San Francisco, CA.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network^® (NCCN^®), a not-for-profit alliance of 27 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, NE; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH; City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT.