We talk to Naveen Pemmaraju, MD, about the results of the largest prospective BPDCN trial evaluating the CD123-targeted therapy tagraxofusp in adults with treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN). BPDCN is a rare and aggressive myeloid malignancy of the dendritic cell lineage which can affect other organs such as the lymph nodes, spleen, central nervous system, and skin. The disease carries a poor prognosis, and although it has been treated with combination leukemia or lymphoma chemotherapy regimens, these often result in nondurable responses with high rates of relapse.

Oncology Times journalist Catlin Nalley sat down with Pemmaraju to discuss his most recent study titled “Long-Term Benefits of Tagraxofusp for Patients With Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm,” recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2022; doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.00034). Pemmaraju is Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and has dedicated his career to the study of rare and ultra-rare cancers.