Dr Prem Mahendra MD, FRCP, FRCPath
Consultant Haemato-Oncologist
For most, but not all cancers detecting them early improves outcome. This article in the Telegraph 17 June 2025 explains what signs and symptoms to check for https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/conditions/cancer/cancer-signs-to-check-for
Breaking News from 18th International Malignant Lymphoma Meeting, Lugano June 2025 POLARGO Trial Shows Overall Survival Benefit with Pola-R-GemOx in Transplant-Ineligible R/R DLBCL The POLARGO trial (NCT04182204) is a global, randomized, Phase III study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of polatuzumab vedotin in combination with rituximab, gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin (Pola-R-GemOx) versus rituximab, gemcitabine, … Read more
On 2 April 2025 NICE approved brentuxtimab vedotin for new diagnosed patients with stage 3 or 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. Brentuximab will be given in combination with 3 chemotherapy drugs – doxorubicin, dacarbazine and vinblastine. This is excellent news and another treatment option for patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.
High-risk smouldering myeloma The Aquila Study randomised 390 patients with high-risk smouldering myeloma to receive either sub-cutaneous daratumumab every 28 days or active monitoring for up to 36 months or until their condition progressed to myeloma. High-risk myeloma was defined as patients with features that had them at more than 50% of developing myeloma within … Read more
Hodgkin lymphoma – The German HD21 trial compared BrECADD (brentuximab, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, dacarbazine and dexamethasone) chemotherapy with the current standard BEACOPP for patients with advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma. The 4-year progression-free survival was significantly better for patients receiving BrECADD, and it also decreased treatment duration to 3-months and had a favourable tolerability. BrECADD sets … Read more
Myeloma – The DREAMM-8 clinical trial that was presented at ASCO and published in the NEJM in June 2024 was a randomised trial comparing belantamab mafodotin, pomalidomide and dexamethasone (BPd) with pomalidomide, bortezomib and dexamethasone (PVd) in lenalidomide-exposed patients who had relapsed/refractory disease after at least one line of treatment. Patients randomised to BPd had … Read more
Myeloma – the phase 3 PERSEUS trial from the European Myeloma Network randomised approximately 700 newly diagnosed patients with myeloma to treatment with dartumumab, velcade, revlimid and dexamethasone (D-VRD) or VRD followed by an autologous stem cell transplantation, 2 cycles of consolidation with D-VRD or VRD followed by maintenance treatment with dara-revlimid or revlimid alone. … Read more
Bispecific T-cell engagers are a new and innovative treatment for myeloma. Two bispecific antibodies Teclistamab and Talquetamab have been approved by the EMA for the treatment of myeloma. In October 2023 we treated our first myeloma patient with Teclistamab. She is tolerating the treatment extremely well.
In July 2023 the EMA approved Glofitamab, one of the most potent single drugs available for the treatment of relapsed/refractory DLBCL. Glofitamab is a CD20xCD3 bispecific T-cell engager. In a Phase 2 trial of 108 relapsed/refractory DLBCL patients who received glofitamab for a fixed duration an overall response was seen in 50% and a complete … Read more
For older non-transplant eligible patients’ initial treatment options are VR-CAP (bortezomib, rituximab, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and prednisolone based on the LYM 3002 phase 3 trial of VR-CAP vs R-CHOP which showed a longer survival for patients treated with VR-CAP; or bendamustine and rituximab followed by rituximab maintenance. The TRIANGLE study has demonstrated the benefit of adding … Read more