VJHemOnc Podcast

This podcast episode features two expert-led roundtable discussions from the recent 4th International Workshop on Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (iwMDS/iwMPN 2026) and focuses on updates in myelofibrosis from the meeting. First, Raajit Rampal, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, Pankit Vachhani, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, and Nikolai Podoltsev, MD, PhD, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, provide an update on combination strategies in frontline myelofibrosis and discuss three agents in Phase III development as partners for ruxolitinib: selinexor, navtemadlin, and pelabresib. The experts also comment on whether these agents are more likely to be used upfront or as add-on therapy in patients with a suboptimal response to frontline JAK inhibitor treatment.  In the second discussion, Claire Harrison, MD, FRCP, FRCPath, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, Naveen Pemmaraju, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, Joseph Scandura, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, Lucia Masarova, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, Rupali Bhave, MD, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, outline novel approaches in the second-line setting that move beyond the targeting of JAK/STAT signaling. They also highlight the wider consequences of myelofibrosis, including pulmonary hypertension, and the opportunity for closer collaboration with cardio-oncology.

This VJHemOnc podcast episode explores future directions in frontline mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) treatment, focusing on the evolving role of chemotherapy, BTK inhibitors, and autologous stem cell transplantation. Mats Jerkeman, MD, PhD, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, shares a European perspective on changing frontline treatment standards, including the implications of the TRIANGLE and ECHO trials and the challenges of treating patients with high-risk disease. Jonathon Cohen, MD, MS, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, GA, discusses patient selection for chemotherapy-free approaches, the role of TP53 mutations and measurable residual disease (MRD) in treatment decisions, and emerging therapies, including BTK degraders, CAR T-cell therapy, and bispecific antibodies. Together, the experts explore how biological risk factors may increasingly guide treatment selection and consider the approaches that could shape the future of frontline MCL management. 

This episode of the VJHemOnc podcast features an exclusive expert-led roundtable discussion summarizing two sessions from the 8th International Workshop on Acute Leukemias (iwAL 2026) that focused on novel targets, combinations, and treatments in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This session is chaired by Gail Roboz, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, NY, who is joined by panelists Sanam Loghavi, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, Marina Konopleva, MD, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, NY, and Thomas Cluzeau, MD, PhD, Central University Hospital of Nice, Nice, France. The experts explore the evolving genetic classification of AML and the nuances of TP53, the move from azacitidine and venetoclax toward molecularly guided triplets, emerging strategies to overcome menin inhibitor resistance and target TP53-mutated disease, and the promise of an all-oral regimen in this malignancy. 

In this episode of the VJHemOnc podcast, experts discuss key advances in multiple myeloma presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting and Exposition of the International Myeloma Society (IMS 2026) in Glasgow, UK. Pieter Sonneveld, MD, PhD, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands, reviews long-term outcomes from the Phase III PERSEUS trial (NCT03710603), while Zachary Avigan, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, explores treatment cessation and the potential for cure. Rakesh Popat, MBBS, MRCP, FRCPath, PhD, University College London Hospitals, London, UK, discusses combination strategies at first relapse, and Luciano Costa, MD, PhD, UAB School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, examines survival outcomes with teclistamab plus daratumumab in MajesTEC-3 (NCT05083169). Hermann Einsele, MD, FRCP, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany, reviews ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) outcomes, Shaji Kumar, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, discusses the CERVINO trial (NCT06158841) of etentamig, and Paul Richardson, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, explores the evolving role of cereblon E3 ligase modulatory drug (CELMoDs).

This VJHemOnc podcast explores how BTK inhibitor therapy can be personalized for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), considering disease biology, patient characteristics and treatment goals. Kerry Rogers, MD, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, discusses frontline treatment selection, molecular risk and factors influencing BTK inhibitor choice, while Florian Simon, MD, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany, examines cardiovascular toxicity and treatment considerations in older patients and those with comorbidities. Dima El-Sharkawi, MB, BS, MA, PhD, MRCP, FRCPath, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, discusses quality of life and shared decision-making, and Gianluca Gaidano, MD, PhD, University of Eastern Piedmont, Vercelli, Italy, explores BTK inhibitor selectivity, safety and treatment options following covalent BTK inhibitor failure.