Issue Archive

In this Plenary Paper, DiNardo and colleagues describe the molecular correlates of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) response and resistance to venetoclax in combination with hypomethylating agents or low-dose cytosine arabinoside. They identify specific response-modifier driver mutations that may be clinically applied to stratify patients in future trials or to inform selection of regimens in current practice.

Using 5 instructive real-life examples, Aldoss and Forman consider the advantages, limitations, and challenges of therapy with blinatumomab and anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells for adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia. These insights should assist physicians and patients in making treatment decisions in 2020 while we await the outcomes of further clinical trials.

Human invariant natural killer T cells (iNKTs) are a rare but heterogeneous innate-like lymphocyte population. The authors describe novel phenotypes of iNKTs and their distinct functions in acute graft-versus-host disease and autoimmunity.

Liu et al report exciting preliminary clinical data on the potentially curative role of immune checkpoint inhibition for the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus–associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

How mutations in DNMT3a and IDH2 collaborate to generate myeloid malignancy has been a conundrum. Now Zhang and colleagues present transcriptomic, methylation, and metabolic profiling of murine myeloid cells with concurrent mutations and identify dependencies that may be amenable to therapeutic manipulation in patients.

Dhanesha et al provide a novel insight into the role of neutrophils in arterial thrombus formation by showing that integrin α9β1 promotes neutrophil activation and neutrophil extracellular trap formation.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) occurs in 1-2% of patients with acute coronary events or cardiac surgery. Eekels and colleagues report that ticagrelor comedication must be taken into account by laboratory physicians for interpretation of functional tests for HIT, as the presence of the drug can cause false-negative results.