Highlights

SWG AML Annual Scientific Meeting

We held our SWG Annual Scientific meeting during the EHA2024 Congress. This took place in Madrid, Spain, from June 13–16, 2024.

Our session focused on therapeutic targeting of AML and provided a comprehensive overview of:

  • Therapeutic targeting of splicing factors
  • Mutated IDH1 and IDH2 enzymes
  • The enzyme menin

The session also included presentations about:

  • The first results from early clinical trials
  • The clinical development of new targeted therapies in AML

One of the highlights was the discussion on menin inhibitors. These are currently the most promising new agents in the clinical development of AML—specifically, for NPM1-mutated and KMT2A-rearranged AML.

Business meeting at EHA2024

At EHA2024, the SWG also organized an on-site business meeting that almost all members attended.

At this meeting, our members:

  • Presented updates on ongoing projects and intensively discussed them
  • Proposed new projects

The personal exchange was perceived as very positive, which is also reflected in the high number of members who committed to participate in these projects.

Joint EHA-GIMEMA Study Group Symposium

Another highlight was the organization of the Joint EHA-GIMEMA Study Group Symposium at the 8th International Symposium on acute promyelocytic leukemia and the 2nd national GIMEMA meeting. This took place from April 10–11, 2024, in Rome, Italy.

The two-day meeting featured high-ranking, internationally renowned speakers in the field and addressed relevant clinical and biological aspects of APL.

Additional aspects were highlighted as part of the EHA joint symposium, such as:

  • Clonal hematopoiesis and prediction to AML
  • Classification and risk assessment of AML at diagnosis
  • Treatment options for unfit elderly AML patients with focus on triplet therapies
  • Molecular MRD monitoring in AML

With around 200 international participants, the meeting was a great success.

EHA Lighting the Flame retreat

Another highlight was the second EHA Lighting the Flame retreat, which was held in Tallin, Estonia, with two EHA LtF groups attending the meeting.

The Lighting the Flame program is aimed at medical students, interns, or residents who have not yet decided on their field of specialty, but who may be interested in working as clinical hematologists or researchers (basic or translational research).

Over the course of three days, participants learned the hematology basics and how to get a head start in the field. Several members of the SWG participated and contributed as mentors.

With this program, EHA offers mentorship and an introduction to hematology as a discipline for clinicians and/or researchers. The retreat in Tallin was a very successful event, and it enabled participants to learn about:

  • The many fields in hematology
  • How to interact with patients and caregivers
  • How to take care of oneself as a doctor

The experience provides insight into these hematological subjects from both a clinical and research perspective.

The second cohort of participants who already participated in the last retreat successfully completed the program.

Inspired by the program, they founded a Journal Club that has been meeting and exchanging ideas regularly ever since.

Involvement in HARMONY projects

  1. Optimizing APL management using big data. (Principal investigator: Maria Teresa Voso.)
  2. Outcomes with intensive treatment for acute myeloid leukemia over two decades: An analysis from the HARMONY Alliance. (Principal investigator: M. Sobas.)
  3. Rearrangements involving 11q23.3/KMT2A in adult AML: mutational landscape and prognostic implications – a HARMONY study. (Principal investigator: A. Hernández-Sánchez.)
  4. Measurable residual disease as a surrogate marker for survival in AML. (Principal investigator: Gert Ossenkoppele.)
  5. Big data to evaluate the clinical impact of genomic alterations. (Principal investigator: Lars Bullinger.)

Recent HARMONY studies

Rearrangements involving 11q23.3/KMT2A in adult AML: mutational landscape and prognostic implications – a HARMONY study
Alberto Hernández-Sánchez, Teresa González, Marta Sobas, Eric Sträng, Gastone Castellani, María Abáigar, Peter J M Valk, Ángela Villaverde Ramiro, Axel Benner, Klaus H Metzeler, Raúl Azibeiro, Jesse M Tettero, Joaquín Martínez-López, Marta Pratcorona, Javier Martínez Elicegui, Ken I Mills, Christian Thiede, Guillermo Sanz, Konstanze Döhner, Michael Heuser, Torsten Haferlach, Amin T Turki, Dirk Reinhardt, Renate Schulze-Rath, Martje Barbus, Jesús María Hernández-Rivas, Brian Huntly, Gert Ossenkoppele, Hartmut Döhner, Lars Bullinger.
Leukemia 2024 Sep;38(9):1929-1937.

Outcomes with intensive treatment for acute myeloid leukemia: an analysis of two decades of data from the HARMONY Alliance
Sobas MA, Turki AT, Ramiro AV, Hernández-Sánchez A, Elicegui JM, González T, Melchor RA, Abáigar M, Tur L, Dall’Olio D, Sträng E, Tettero JM, Castellani G, Benner A, Döhner K, Thiede C, Metzeler KH, Haferlach T, Damm F, Ayala R, Martínez-López J, Mills KI, Sierra J, Lehmann S, Porta MGD, Mayer J, Reinhardt D, Medina RV, Schulze-Rath R, Barbus M, Hernández-Rivas JM, Huntly BJP, Ossenkoppele G, Döhner H, Bullinger L.
Haematologica. 2024 Nov 7. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2024.285805. Online ahead of print.

Acute promyelocytic leukemia: long-term outcomes from the HARMONY project
Voso MT, Guarnera L, Lehmann S, Döhner K, Döhner H, Platzbecker U, Russell N, Dillon R, Thomas I, Ossenkoppele G, Haferlach T, Vignetti M, La Sala E, Piciocchi A, Fazi P, Ramiro AV, Giménez LT, Gurnari C, Bullinger L, Hernández-Rivas JM.
Blood. 2025 Jan 9;145(2):234-243.

The Prognostic Impact of Myelodysplasia-Related Gene Mutations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia with FLT3-ITD Mutations
Rabea Mecklenbrauck, Angela Villaverde Ramiro, Eric Sträng, Razif Gabdoulline, Javier Martínez Elicegui, Marta Sobas, Lisa Pleyer, Maria Teresa Voso, Axel Benner, Alberto Hernández Sánchez, Jesse M. Tettero, Laura Tur, Klaus H Metzeler, Guadalupe Onate, Soren Lehmann, Brian J P Huntly, Ian Thomas, Felicitas R Thol, Florian Heidel, Peter J. M. Valk, Konstanze Döhner, Torsten Haferlach, Ken I Mills, Hartmut Döhner, Gastone Castellani, Gert Ossenkoppele, Jesus Maria Hernandez Rivas, Lars Bullinger and Michael Heuser, MD.
ASH annual meeting San Diego, December 2024; oral presentation, abstract #844.

2024 ELN recommendations

In 2024, members of the SWG AML were actively involved in the creation of a manuscript/document that provides clinically relevant information on the genetic risk classification for adults with AML receiving less-intensive therapies: the 2024 ELN recommendations.

Background

The European LeukemiaNet (ELN) genetic risk classifications were developed on data mainly obtained in younger adults receiving intensive chemotherapy. Emerging analyses from patients receiving less-intensive therapies prompted a proposal for an ELN genetic risk classification specifically for this patient population.

The recommendations provide a new genetic classifier relevant for stratifying prognostic outcomes in patients receiving hypomethylating agent (HMA)–based regimens alone or in combination with either:

  • The B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 inhibitor venetoclax (VEN)
  • Azacitidine (AZA) with the IDH1 inhibitor ivosidenib (IVO) for IDH1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

Publication

Genetic risk classification for adults with AML receiving less-intensive therapies: the 2024 ELN recommendations
Döhner H, DiNardo CD, Appelbaum FR, Craddock C, Dombret H, Ebert BL, Fenaux P, Godley LA, Hasserjian RP, Larson RA, Levine RL, Miyazaki Y, Niederwieser D, Ossenkoppele G, Röllig C, Sierra J, Stein EM, Tallman MS, Tien HF, Wang J, Wierzbowska A, Wei AH, Löwenberg B.
Blood. 2024 Nov 21;144(21):2169-2173.

Follow-up activities in 2025

Multi-center acute myeloid leukemia study

One of the activities that we will give our highest priority to in the next months is a project evaluating the prognostic impact of subclonal FLT3-ITD mutations in acute myeloid leukemia.

In 2023, this project was selected for funding with an EHA SWG Grant.

So far, seven centers across Europe and Latin America have participated in this project.

A total number of n=908 FLT3-ITD mutated patients have been identified from a cohort of more than 10,000 AML patients who were diagnosed between 2017-2022 and intensively treated with standard chemotherapy or less intensive treatment.

Of these, 236 FLT3-ITD mutated patients had subclones defined as FLT3-ITD < 0.05. We have collected a comprehensive data set for these patients and further analyses are ongoing.

You can find out more about the status of this project by reading Prof Maria Teresa Voso’s update from December 2023.

Validation of an appropriate blast threshold for AML definition

One other project with high priority that has been discussed by the group is the validation of an appropriate blast threshold for AML definition. The International Consensus Classification (ICC) has recently proposed MDS/AML (10-19%) vs AML (≥20%).

A first synopsis of the project was prepared by Jordi Esteve and the project has been recently approved by HARMONY, which will allow the collection of large datasets.

Observational study on AML in pregnancy

Recently, the SWG 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 study protocol and the data dictionary have been finalized and circulated within the SWG, as well as in centers in Italy and beyond. The SWG is currently exploring regulatory issues such as informed consent, data transfer agreement, and approval by the respective ethic committees.

Study involving the SWG on Infections in Hematology.

Another project has been proposed by the SWG Infections in Hematology. This study aims to gather data on infections in AML patients undergoing induction, consolidation, and salvage chemotherapy across EHA institutions.

The primary objective is to assess the incidence and type/spectrum of bacterial, fungal, and viral infections in AML patients at the defined time points.

An anonymized electronic database will be used to collect data on:

  • Demographics
  • Epidemiology
  • Admission details
  • Disease status
  • Treatments
  • Infection events related to AML

The protocol of this study has been finalized and approval by the Ethic Committee of Catholic University in Roma has already been obtained. The SWG on AML is currently exploring regulatory issues such as informed consent, data transfer agreement, and approval by the respective ethic committees.

MyEHA community platform project

The SWG plans to implement a project in EHA’s new online community platform, MyEHA, that 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

This project is being led by Alessandro Isidori. As part of the project, we’re planning to offer webinars or online workshop ‘tumor boards.’ This will enable participants to discuss the ‘gold standards’ of diagnosis and treatment, and the challenges of implication.

In general, we aim to launch the projects mentioned above in our section of MyEHA to attract and include a broader hematology community.

Work on ongoing and new projects

  • Harmonization of molecular techniques between the research groups. For example, collaborating closely with ELN AML Work Package 5 by developing and updating MRD guidelines and recommendations, and by performing laboratory cross-validations.
  • Consideration of the implications of high throughput sequencing technologies and measurable residual disease assessment in clinical trial design.

Meetings

EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting on Recent Advances in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemias

Date and location

April 25-26, 2025, Mercure Hotel MOA, Berlin, Germany.

Chairs
  • Konstanze Döhner
  • Paresh Vyas
  • Maria Teresa Voso
Topics

The meeting will cover the following topics:

  • Germline and acquired predisposition to sAML
  • Clonal progression from other myeloid diseases (BM-failure s., MDS, MPN)
  • sAML development as a result of cancer treatment (after chemotherapy, CAR-T, gene therapy)
  • Genetic characteristics of sAML
  • Treatment of sAML
  • Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (donor-derived sAML)

Program details can be found on the EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting on Recent Advances in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Secondary AML webpage.

SWG Scientific Session at EHA2025

Date and location

Sunday, June 15, 2025, at the EHA2025 Congress in Milan, Italy.

Topic

Biomarker guided therapy with BCL-2 inhibitor and hypomethylating agents.

Quality of Life Symposium

Date and location

July 4-5, 2025, in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Event details

This featured an EHA Joint Symposium with the SWG on Quality of Life and Symptoms.

22th Symposium of the European LeukemiaNet/24rd Symposium of the Kompetenznetz Leukämien

Date and location

March 3, 2026, at the Congress Center Rosengarten in Mannheim, Germany.

The 2nd EHA-SWG Scientific Meeting on MDS/MPN/AML: Commonalities and Differences of Myeloid Neoplasms

Date

April 30 to May 2, 2026.

Location

To be determined.

Chairs and co-chairs
  • JJ Kiladjian
  • S Kordasti
  • K Döhner
  • C Harrison
Collaborating SWGs
  • Specialized Working Group on Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)
  • Specialized Working Group on Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN)
  • Specialized Working Group on Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
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