The European Hematology Association (EHA)

Research

Highlights from the SWG

SWG AML Annual Scientific Meeting

The most recent SWG AML Annual Scientific Meeting took place during the annual EHA Congress in Frankfurt, Germany.

At the 2023 EHA Congress, our session focused on:

  • The new aspects in the 2022 ELN recommendations
  • The classification systems of AML

This session provided a comprehensive overview on the major changes and differences in the new classification systems. Furthermore, changes with regard to the ELN 2022 risk stratification as well as novel clinical and therapeutic aspects were highlighted.

Joint MPN/MDS/AML meeting

Another highlight was the organization of our joint meeting with the:

This was initially scheduled for 2021 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rescheduled event, which was the first of its kind, took place from November 2-4, 2023, in Budapest.

Attendees at this scientific meeting explored:

  • Commonalities and overlaps in myeloid malignancies
  • Important differences in current understandings of the pathophysiology

They also considered novel treatments and the future of therapy in these diverse, yet interrelated, areas.

During the two-and-a-half-day meeting, more than 30 presentations covering the following topics were intensively discussed:

  • Commonalities and Differences of MDS, MPN, and AML
  • Genomics in MPN, MDS, and AML
  • HSC Niche
  • Immunome in MPN, MDS, and AML
  • Development of biomarkers of disease progression
  • Translating omics to clinical tests
  • Novel therapies
  • HSC transplant and cell therapy

The meeting also included panel discussions, meet-the-expert sessions, oral abstract sessions, and a poster session.

Highlights included opportunities to learn about:

  • Different approaches to rare overlapping entities, such as chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
  • The nuances of differences between WHO and ICC diagnostic criteria that were published in 2022 and how these are used in practice

In addition, fascinating insights were shared into clonal hemopoiesis and clonal evolution, capturing the continuum of the diseases.

EHA Lighting the Flame retreat

Another highlight took place in July 2023, when the first EHA Lighting the Flame program retreat was held in Bucharest, Romania. Several members of the SWG AML participated in this event, and contributed as mentors.

With Lighting the Flame, EHA offers mentorship and guidance on how to become familiar with hematology as a discipline for clinicians and/or researchers. The program is aimed at medical students, interns, or residents who:

  • Have not yet decided on their field of specialty
  • May be interested in working as clinical hematologists or researchers (basic or translational research)

The program further aims to provide participants with clearer idea of:

  • What hematology entails from a practical point of view
  • How they can get a head-start in the field

The retreat in Romania was a very successful event, and it helped attendees to learn about a range of topics. These included:

  • Many different fields in hematology
  • Interacting with patients and caregivers
  • Taking care of yourself as a doctor

The experience provided insights into hematological subjects from both a clinical and research perspective.

Involvement in HARMONY projects

Numerous SWG AML members are currently involved in the following HARMONY projects:

  • Measurable residual disease as surrogate marker for survival in AML (principal investigator: Gert Ossenkoppele)
  • Optimizing APL management using big data (principal investigator: Maria Teresa Voso)
  • Using data to evaluate the clinical impact of genomic alterations (principal investigator: Lars Bullinger)

Results were presented at the ASH 2023 meeting and further studies are ongoing.

Presentation details

  • Machine Learning Provides Individualized Prediction of Outcomes after First Complete Remission in Adult AML Patients – Results from the Harmony Platform
    Alberto Hernández Sánchez, MD, Javier Martínez Elicegui, Marta Sobas, MD, PhD, Eric Sträng, Axel Benner, María Abáigar, PhD, Gastone Castellani, PhD, Laura Tur, Peter J. M. Valk, PhD, Angela Villaverde Ramiro*, Klaus H Metzeler, MD, Raúl Azibeiro Melchor, Jurjen Versluis, MD, PhD, Daniele Dall'Olio, PhD, Teresa González, PhD, Jesse M. Tettero, MD, Joaquin Martinez-Lopez, MD, PhD, Helena Fidalgo, Jorge Sierra, MD, Frederik Damm, Ken I Mills, BSc, PhD, FRCPath, Soren Lehmann, MD, PhD, Ian Thomas, Jiří Mayer, MD, Christian Thiede, MD, Maria Teresa Voso, MD, Guillermo Sanz, MD, PhD, Konstanze Döhner, Michael Heuser, MD, Torsten Haferlach, MD, PhD, Amin T. Turki, MD, Dirk Reinhardt, MD, PhD, Michel van Speybroeck, Renate Schulze-Rath, MD, MSc, Martje Barbus, PhD, John E Butler, PhD, Jesús María Hernández-Rivas, PhD, Brian Huntly, PhD, Gert Ossenkoppele, MD, PhD, Hartmut Döhner, MD, and Lars Bullinger.
    Oral presentation, ASH December 9, 2023, abstract # 227.

  • Outcome of Intensively Treated Elderly AML Patients Reported to the Harmony Alliance Compares Well to Outcome of Control Patients of the Prospective Randomized HOVON 103 Study in Elderly AML
    Sjoerd J.F. Hermans, MD1*, Jurjen Versluis, MD, PhD1*, Yvette van Norden, PhD1,2*, Erik D. van Werkhoven, MSc1,2*, Jeroen J.W.M. Janssen, MD, PhD3, Gerwin A. Huls, Prof.4, Bob Lowenberg, MD, PhD1, Thomas Pabst, MD5, Dimitri A. Breems, MD, PhD6, Elizabeth Berkx, PhD7*, Avinash G. Dinmohamed, PhD7*, Peter C. Huijgens, Prof.7*, Eric Sträng8*, Jesús María Hernández-Rivas, PhD9, Hartmut Döhner, MD10, Marta Sobas, MD, PhD11*, Lars Bullinger12, Rosa Ayala, MD, PhD13*, Joaquin Martinez-Lopez, MD, PhD13*, Klaus H Metzeler, MD14, Torsten Haferlach, MD, PhD15, Christian Thiede, MD16, Carin A. Uyl-De Groot, Prof.17*, Gert J. Ossenkoppele, MD, PhD18, Francesco Pignatti19* and Jan J. Cornelissen, MD, PhD.
    Poster presentation, ASH December 10, poster # 2854.

  • Long-Term Outcome of 1296 Patients with Newly Diagnosed with APL: A Harmony Alliance Study
    Luca Guarnera, MD1,2*, Soren Lehmann, MD, PhD3*, Konstanze Döhner4, Hartmut Döhner, MD4, Uwe Platzbecker, MD5, Nigel H. Russell, MD6, Richard Dillon, PhD, MRCP, FRCPath7*, Ian Thomas8*, Gert Ossenkoppele, MD, PhD9, Marco Vignetti, MD10*, Edoardo la Sala, MSc11*, Alfonso Piciocchi, MS12*, Angela Villaverde Ramiro13*, Laura Tur14*, Carmelo Gurnari, MD1,2, Lars Bullinger15, Jesús María Hernández-Rivas, PhD16 and Maria Teresa Voso, MD2,17.
    Oral presentation, ASH December 11, 2023, abstract # 727.

Updates to the classification of myeloid neoplasms and acute leukemias

In 2023, members of the SWG AML were actively involved in the creation of a new manuscript which provides:

  • Clinically relevant updates to the classification of myeloid neoplasms and acute leukemias
  • An overview of changes since the World Health Organization (WHO) 2017 ‘Blue Book’

The document compares the following publications with the former (i.e. the fourth) edition of the WHO ‘Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues’:

  • The fifth edition of the WHO ‘Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumors’ (WHO 2022)
  • The ‘International Consensus Classification of Myeloid Neoplasms and Acute Leukemias’ (ICC 2022)

It does this by integrating the following types of data:

  • Morphologic
  • Clinical
  • Genomic

In April 2024, the manuscript was announced in a HemaSphere editorial.

2024 priorities

Multi-center acute myeloid leukemia study

One of the activities that we will give our highest priority to in the next months is a multi-center acute myeloid leukemia study. This project's full title is: ‘Evaluation of the prognostic impact of subclonal FLT3-ITD mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML): a retrospective multi-center study on behalf of the EHA AML-SWG.’

In 2023, this project was selected for funding with an EHA ‘seeding grant.’ So far, eight centres across Europe have agreed to participate.

You can find out more about the project and its current status by visiting:

Observational study on AML in pregnancy

Recently, the SWG AML group decided to further investigate this topic by arranging an observational study. This is entitled: ‘AML in pregnancy: treatment and maternal and fetal outcomes: a retrospective and prospective study under the umbrella of the EHA SWG AML.’

This project is led by Nicola Fracchiolla and Francesco Passamonti from the Hematology Unit of Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milano, Italy.

The next steps are to create a survey that will be sent to the SWG AML members and colleagues working in the field of AML. This will help the project's coordinators to get initial feedback on how much data will be available.

A study protocol is in preparation and will be circulated within the SWG AML.

Appropriate blast threshold for AML definition

Another project that has been discussed by the group is the validation of an appropriate blast threshold for AML definition: MDS/AML (10-19%) vs AML (≥20%) category.

Here, a first synopsis of the project will be prepared by Jordi Esteve. We are planning to create a survey that will be sent to the SWG AML members to get feedback on their willingness and ability to participate. In addition, we will evaluate if data from the big HARMONY platform can be used for the project.

Use of EHA's new community platform

The SWG AML group plans to implement a project in the EHA's new online community platform, which will be launched in 2024.

The project will:

  • Link academic and non-academic sites
  • Offer practical and clinical-specific educational projects to those who do not have the opportunity to work in an academic center

In particular, we will aim to offer webinar/online workshop ‘tumor boards’ where participants can discuss the:

  • ‘Gold standards’ of diagnosis and treatment
  • Challenges of implication

This project is led by Alessandro Isidori.

HARMONY projects

We will:

  • Further develop the ongoing AML projects within HARMONY
  • Define new AML projects

Other priorities

  • We will further develop the ongoing AML projects within HARMONY. We will also define new AML projects.
  • We will consider the implications of high-throughput sequencing technologies and measurable residual disease assessment in clinical trial design.
  • We will encourage the harmonization of molecular techniques between the research groups.
  • We will collaborate closely with ELN AML WP 5—for example, by developing and up-dating guidelines and recommendations,

Special announcements

  • The 20th Symposium of the European LeukemiaNet and the 23rd Symposium of the Kompetenznetz Leukämien was held on April 9, 2024. It took place in Mannheim, Germany, at the Congress Center Rosengarten.
  • The Eighth Symposium on Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia took place in Rome from April 10–11, 2024. It featured an EHA AML symposium on April 11, 2024.
  • The EHA-SWG's Annual Scientific meeting will take place at EHA2024 in Madrid. This year's topic will be ‘Therapeutic targeting of AML or Biomarker guided therapy with Bcl-2 inhibitor and hypomethylating agents.’ The meeting will be held from 09:45–10:45 on Sunday, June 16, 2024.
  • An EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting on ‘Recent Advances in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemias (sAML)’ will be held from April 24-26, 2025.
  • The MDS, MPN, and AML SWG groups will apply for another common meeting in 2026.