Issue Archive

Lampson et al describe a frontline phase 2 trial of idelalisib plus ofatumumab in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Their manuscript demonstrates the knife-edge of response vs toxicity faced by many new agents in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. While the combination therapy resulted in a high overall response rate of 88.9%, this combination demonstrated an unacceptable safety profile as a first-line combination therapy, which resulted in a short progression-free survival for treated patients. More work is needed to find PI3Kδ inhibitors that thread the needle of efficacy and toxicity more successfully.

Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare hematological malignancy characterized by mutations in the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway that results in a clinical syndrome with a heterogenous presentation and outcome. Diamond and colleagues present a collaborative effort to characterize this disease, which carefully and comprehensively evaluated 50 patients. They developed the Erdheim-Chester Disease Symptom Scale, which better characterizes patients with this disorder and should prove to be extremely valuable. 

Low-dose interleukin-2 has emerged as an effective strategy for the treatment of patients with steroid refractory chronic graft vs host disease. Ritz and colleagues, who have developed this approach, report the functional analysis of clinical responses, providing depth and mechanistic insights into this treatment strategy.