ESH ALL 2021 | Challenges and recent advances for pediatric ALL

Stephen Hunger, MD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, shares the most pressing unmet needs in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as well as the progress made in the field over the last years, including emerging therapeutic options. Despite the outstanding outcomes for children with ALL, the disease is still one of the leading causes of death from cancer in children. Therefore, it is critical to improve outcomes for patients who are not cured today. Identifying ultra-low-risk groups and find ways to treat those patients less intensively while maintaining great results is another challenge emphasized by Dr Hunger. The biggest excitement in the field surrounds immunotherapy, which is changing the approach to therapy for relapsed/refractory disease. Additionally, Dr Hunger highlights the importance of using these novel agents in frontline therapy, particularly drugs such as blinatumomab and inotuzumab, which have relatively limited toxicity compared to standard chemotherapy. This interview took place during the 2021 European School of Hematology (ESH) 2nd Translational Research Conference on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.