In this week’s episode we will first review a new clinical trial evidence that for patients with sickle cell anemia in resource limited settings, both low and moderate dose hydroxyurea are effective for secondary stroke prevention. Next, a research article showing how secreted mutant calreticulin functions as a “rogue cytokine” in myeloproliferative neoplasms, acting in a paracrine manner to promote growth of nearby tumor cells. Finally, we’ll review new research on the pathobiology of adult and pediatric Burkitt lymphoma. With the help of whole-genome sequencing, investigators unraveled distinct subgroups, which may provide a new framework for epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of these lymphomas.

In this week’s episode we’ll discuss the benefits of early diagnosis and hematopoietic stem cell transplant in patients with hypomorphic RAG deficiency, learn more about EBV-driven lymphoid neoplasms associated with pediatric ALL maintenance therapy, and analyze the associations between clonal hematopoiesis and recurrent vascular events and death in patients with ischemic stroke. 

In this week's episode, we’ll discuss the dynamics of measurable residual disease, or MRD, over time in myeloma patients undergoing ixazomib maintenance. Serial measurements were feasible and provided more detailed risk stratification than single timepoint measurements—findings that could have implications for the use of MRD to guide treatment duration. Up next, a research article exploring the relationships between poverty, and lack of neighborhood opportunity, with outcomes of CAR T -cell therapy in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The findings suggest opportunities for interventions to improve access for less socioeconomically advantaged children. Finally, we’ll review a report demonstrating that acquired mutations in the pro-apoptotic effector protein BAX are common in patients with AML treated with venetoclax. These and other research observations reveal BAX variants as a hurdle to the long-term success of BCL2-targeted therapy in this disease.

In this bonus episode Associate Editor, Dr. Bertie Göttgens and Dr. Ravi Majeti discuss the series on Single Cell Genomics and Heme Malignancies-Leukemia/MPNs.   

Blood Review Series on Single-Cell Genomics