Penn Medicine at the 2024 ASH Annual Meeting

SAN DIEGO – Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will present data on the latest advances in blood cancer and classical hematology research at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition from Dec. 7-10 in San Diego, California. Follow us @PennMedicine and @PennMDForum for updates.

Expert Interviews

Experts from Penn Medicine are available to comment on a wide range of hematology-oncology research and care topics during the meeting by video call, telephone, or email. To arrange interviews, please contact Meagan Raeke at Meagan.Raeke@pennmedicine.upenn.edu or 267-693-6224.

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Key Presentations

Penn Medicine experts will present a variety of new research, including a translational study on improving response to CAR T cell therapy in the Plenary Scientific Session. A second Plenary Session abstract, which will be introduced by Alison Loren, MD, chief of Hematology-Oncology, was co-authored by Selina Luger, MD, a professor of Hematology-Oncology, and focuses on the impact of socioeconomic factors on outcomes and likelihood of transplant for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (Abstract 6). Other oral presentations by Penn Medicine experts include basic science discoveries in sickle cell disease, health services research on insurer denials of cancer medications, long-term follow-up after CAR T cell therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and more.

• Ketogenic diet enhances CAR T cell antitumor function via β-hydroxybutyrate (Abstract 4): In the Plenary Scientific Session, postdoctoral fellow Shan Liu, PhD, will share how a dietary intervention may offer a new approach to improve CAR T cell function and cancer-fighting abilities and is being translated into a phase I clinical trial. The study was co-led by Puneeth Guruprasad, PhD, a medical student at Penn, under the mentorship of co-senior authors Marco Ruella, MD, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology, and Maayan Levy, PhD, an assistant professor of Microbiology. Liu will present the results in the Plenary Scientific Session on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. PT in the San Diego Convention Center Hall B.
• Phase II study compares two targeted therapies for newly diagnosed FLT3 mutated AML (Abstract 221): This national, multicenter clinical trial led by Selina Luger, MD, compared the more selective targeted therapy gilteritinib, a small molecule inhibitor of FLT3, with midostaurin, a multi-targeted protein kinase inhibitor also used to treat FLT3 mutated AML, in the initial phases of treatment. Gilteritinib resulted in better remission rates and more patients successfully proceeding to blood stem cell transplant. Luger will present the results in an oral abstract session at 2 p.m. PT on Saturday, Dec. 7 in the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, Seaport Ballroom EFGH.
• Novel genome-scale CRISPR-Cas12a screen identifies fetal hemoglobin regulator (Abstract 412): Sickle cell disease and thalassemia are genetic disorders of hemoglobin, causing anemia and lifelong complications. To reverse the courses of these diseases, reactivating the expression of fetal hemoglobin is a major goal of new therapies. Using a novel genome-wide CRISPR screening platform, a Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) team identified a new mechanism of regulating BCL11A, a major gene responsible for turning off fetal hemoglobin early in life. Elizabeth Traxler, MD, PhD, a Hematology-Oncology fellow, will present the study in an oral abstract session on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 9:30 a.m. PT in the San Diego Convention Center Room 31.
• Improving outcomes in plasmablastic lymphoma: a multicenter cohort (Abstract 573): Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare subtype of large B-cell lymphoma that was first observed in patients living with HIV in the late 1990s. This detailed analysis of more than 300 patients diagnosed with PBL across the United States between 2005 and 2022 shows that survival outcomes are better than previously reported, with 1-year overall survival reaching 69 percent. Matthew Hamby, a medical student working under the mentorship of Stefan Barta, MD, an associate professor of Hematology-Oncology and executive officer of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, will present the results in an oral abstract session on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 12 p.m. PT in the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Marriott Grand Ballroom 5-6.
• Long-term outcomes for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) after CAR T cell therapy (Abstract 588): In 2022, Penn Medicine researchers reported on the decade-long remissions of two of the earliest patients treated with CAR T cell therapy. Now that long-term outcomes are available for more patients, a research team led by Saar Gill, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Hematology-Oncology, has confirmed that many patients who have a good initial response to CAR T cell therapy for CLL are cured of their disease. Among 31 patients whose cancers at least partially responded and had not grown at one-year post-infusion, 78.6 percent were alive five years after treatment. Benjamin Frost, who earned his MD from Penn in 2024, will present the findings in an oral abstract session on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 12 p.m. PT in the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Marriott Grand Ballroom 8-9.
• Insurer rejection rates for specialty oral anticancer prescriptions in a nationwide sample (Abstract 786): More patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma are surviving longer and experiencing fewer side effects, thanks to new specialty medications available in pill form. However, many of these medications have high price tags and are restricted by insurers. This retrospective study included data from approximately15,000 patients with blood cancers and found that about one-third of new prescriptions for specialty oral anticancer medications were rejected by insurers in 2022. Patients with commercial insurance and Medicaid were more likely to have their prescription rejected compared to Medicare patients. Jalpa Doshi, PhD, the Leon Hess Professor in Internal Medicine and a senior fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, will present the findings in an oral abstract session on Monday, Dec. 9 at 10:30 a.m. PT in the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina San Diego Ballroom AB.