A Year in Review

2017 was the year to be a hematologist. Whether you treat leukemias, lymphomas, rare malignancies, or myeloma, something was added to your treatment armamentarium this year.

Last year started off with the expanded indication for lenalidomide maintenance therapy in patients with multiple myeloma, following autologous stem cell transplant. Winter concluded with further approvals of pembrolizumab in classical Hodgkin lymphoma following three or more lines of therapy and a diagnostic PCR for JAK2 mutations for patients with polycythemia vera.

In the spring we saw the approval of midostaurin for FLT3-mutated AML, quickly followed by the approval of rituximab in combination with a hyaluronidase for follicular lymphoma (FL), DLBCL, and CLL in the early summer.

The summer continued with approval after approval. July brought us the regular approval of blinatumomab for ALL as well as an expanded indication.

Then in August we saw the regular approval of enasidenib for IDH2-mutated AML, the expanded approval of ibrutinib for chronic GVHD, a new formulation approved in AML with liposome-encapsulated daunorubicin and cytarabine, and the first ever CAR T-cell therapy with the approval of tisagenlecleucel for B-cell ALL. September wrapped up the summer with even more approvals: gemtuzumab ozogamicin for CD33-positive AML and the accelerated approval of copanlisib for FL.

In October, the second CAR T-cell therapy, axicabtagene ciloleucel, was approved for large B-cell lymphoma. The fall continued with approvals for acalabrutinib for mantle cell lymphoma in late October and three approvals in November: dasatinib for CML, brentuximab for a specific type of lymphoma, and obinutuzumab for FL.

Ending a record breaking year of approvals, bosutinib, a TKI, was approved in late December for the treatment of newly-diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome positive CML.