The 61st American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (ASH) took place on 7-10 December in Orlando, Florida. Our Director of Research Sarah McDonald and Director of Healthcare Advocacy Services Ira Laketic-Ljubojevic attended to learn about the latest myeloma research and see the progress from Myeloma UK funded research.
Results from research part-funded by Myeloma UK, the MUK nine and MUK seven clinical trials, were presented at the meeting.
Results from MUK nine were presented by Martin Kaiser from The Institute of Cancer Research, London. MUK nine is the first UK-wide trial using genetic screening to identify high-risk myeloma patients so they can receive more intensive treatment currently not available through the NHS. The trial finished recruitment ahead of schedule and demonstrated that multi-centre trials using genetic screening to group patients to determine treatment are feasible.
Results from MUK seven were also presented in a 2019 ASH Abstract Achievement Award winning poster. The results demonstrated how genetic biomarkers can also be used to define risk status and predict the treatment outcomes in relapsed/refractory myeloma patients.