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HAA 2016
13–16 NOVEMBER 2016 •
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Dr Bill Renwick and
Dr Zane Kaplan, who
attended the 2016 Annual
Scientific Meetings of
the Haematology Society
of Australia and New
Zealand, Australian &
New Zealand Society of
Blood Transfusion and
the Australasian Society
of Thrombosis and
Haemostasis, share their
top sessions and key
take-aways.
Dr Bill Renwick shares
his top abstracts and key
take-aways fromHAA 2016
Bill Renwick, MBBS,
FRACP, FRCPA
is Consultant
Haematologist
at The Royal
Melbourne and
Sunshine Hospitals
in Melbourne.
Abstract 030.
Novel agents – who needs them?
JW Friedberg
Abstract 031.
Genomic based treatment advances in Waldenstrom’s
macroglobulinemia.
S Treon
Jonathan Friedberg discussed some of the newer agents used in low
grade lymphoma and he gave a nice overview of the current treatments
and improvements made by some of newer agents such as ibrutinib, and
lenalidomide in various diseases. Steven Treon, who spoke on Walden-
strom’s macroglobulinemia (WM), gave a very nice talk on the genes
behind the various abnormalities in WM and that, by knowing the genes
that are affected, we can improve targeted approaches using drugs such
as ibrutinib and some of the other B-cell receptor antagonist.
Abstract 020.
Biology of multiple myeloma: Genetics and epigenetics.
A Spencer
Abstract 021.
Optimal treatment in de novo and first relapse myeloma.
T Facon
Abstract 011.
ROAR: A Phase Ib trial of oral azacitidine in combination with
lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) for patients with relapsed and/or
refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma who have failed a prior lenalidomide-
containing regimen.
A Kalff, K Reed, T Khong T, et al.
There have been so many advances in multiple myeloma (MM). Andrew
Spencer gave a very thorough and comprehensive overview of the biology
of MM, while Thierry Facon spoke about optimal treatments for upfront
treatment of MM and at first relapse. There are so many new agents
in MM and trying to work out which combination to give and in what
order is a challenge. Daratumumab is looking very promising and work
in ongoing to find the best combinations.
Anna Kalff gave a presentation on the in-
vestigator-initiated trial her group is doing
looking at oral azacitadine combined with
lenalidomide and dexamethasone in re-
fractory myeloma. combined be presenting
these data at ASH this year.
Abstract 062.
The science behind Bcl2
inhibition.
D Huang
Abstract 064.
Therapeutic progress in
targeting apoptosis pathways in AML.
A Wei
Abstract 063.
Bcl2 inhibition in lymphoprolif-
erative disease.
M Anderson
The Walter Eliza Hall Institute has done
a lot of work on Bcl-2 inhibition in low
grade lymphomas, particularly chronic
lymphocytic leukaemia. The new Bcl-2
inhibitor venetoclax is showing impressive
results. David Huang gave a nice overview
of the science behind Bcl-2 inhibition, Mary
Ann Anderson spoke about venetoclax in
CLL and low grade lymphomas, and
Andrew Wei spoke on acute myeloid
leukaemia (AML). Even though most of the
work on venetoclax has been in CLL and
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