News

ALLG Member, Associate Professor Matthew Greenwood, recently received international recognition at the European Hematology Association (EHA) Meeting for breakthrough research results that pave the way to change  standard of care treatment for adolescents and young adults with acute leukaemia.

A/Prof Greenwood was invited to present the final results of the highly successful ALL09 SUBLIME clinical trial at the 2024 EHA Meeting in June in Madrid, Spain. The EHA meeting is the largest blood cancer conference in Europe, bringing together over 10,000 delegates from across the globe to progress clinical trials and research into blood cancers.

The ALL09 SUBLIME clinical trial investigated if incorporating a new immunotherapy treatment called blinatumomab into the current chemotherapy regimen would result in better outcomes for adolescent and young adult patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).

Patients in this AYA group experience a uniquely different cancer biology in their leukaemia when compared to adult and paediatric patients. Unfortunately, these patients also have markedly worse survival and relapse outcomes than both of these other patient groups.

The ALL09 clinical trial definitively established that incorporating blinatumomab into the standard chemotherapy treatment resulted in a much higher rate of better disease remission post-treatment and much lower rates of cancer reoccurrence.

The ALL09 results showed a significantly higher rate of minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity post-treatment and excellent 2-year and 5-year overall survival rates. Incredibly, none of the patients on the ALL09 trial had reoccurrence of their leukaemia after this new treatment.

These exciting results, reported globally at EHA, have paved the way for the adoption of this new, less toxic and more effective treatment for this type of acute leukaemia in AYA patients.

ALLG Scientific Advisory Chair, Professor Judith Trotman, said “Deep Molecular Remission is a necessary first step to the cure of ALL, and the ALL09 study adds to the iterative improvement in remission rates for adolescent and young adults with ALL.

“Furthermore, replacing chemotherapy with a well-tolerated targeted antibody is bringing us closer to better treatments and better lives for adolescent and young adults with ALL.”

ALLG would like to thank our ALL09 clinical trial funding partners for this important Acute Leukaemia AYA trial – the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), Canteen and Amgen.

ALLG members are dedicated to clinical trial research to find better treatments that create better survival outcomes and better lives for patients with blood cancer. Find out more about ALLG’s impact on blood cancer.

 

What is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL)?

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a type of cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow, causing an overproduction of immature white blood cells (lymphoblasts). This affects the bone marrow’s ability to make adequate numbers of red blood cells and can cause the immature white blood cells to spill into the bloodstream and accumulate in lymph nodes and organs. This causes symptoms such as anaemia, infections and unexplained bleeding due to a low platelet count.

ALL can occur at any age but is more common in children under 14 years old. However, the characteristics of ALL are different between children, adolescents and adults, with treatments and cure rates varying depending on age.

 

About Associate Professor Matthew Greenwood

A/ Prof Matthew Greenwood is a consultant haematologist and the Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, NSW. He is the Medical Director of the NSW Health Pathology (North) Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney.

He is the Co-Chair of the ALLG Acute Leukaemia Working Party, a previous member of the ALLG Scientific Advisory Committee and the ALL Stream Lead for the ALLG. A/Prof Greenwood led the successful ALL06 clinical trial, which established the current standard of care treatments for adolescent and young adult ALL in Australia.

 

ALLG’s Impact in Improving Cancer Treatments

ALLG is the only not-for-profit, collaborative blood cancer clinical trial group in Australasia, with over 1,300 leading haematologists, scientists & blood cancer researchers dedicated to improving blood cancer treatments and patient outcomes, while aiming for cure.

Our mission is to create Better treatments, better lives for patients with blood cancers like leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Our members design and conduct leading-edge clinical trials and research that drive new blood cancer treatments and better quality of life for cancer patients. In 2023, ALLG marked 5 decades of impact for patients with blood cancer.