Scientific report 2022 of the Chronic Malignancies Working Party (CMWP)

In Spring 2022, Dr. Donal McLornan from University College Hospital, London, UK, became the new chair of the CMWP, overtaking the role of Professor Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha, Lille, France, who served as chair of the party for the previous 4 years. The scientific structure of CMWP was reorganised slightly to provide the best possible coverage and further develop collaboration with other WPs. As such a new subcommittee, CAR-T in multiple myeloma was created, which will work closely in collaboration with the CTIWP, and the MDS group was further reorganised to include an emerging focus on VEXAS with MDS. The CMWP, in collaboration with the AIDWP, are working closely with the autoimmune/rheumatology specialists within AIDA due to a new and exciting AIDA-EBMT alliance. A joint application for funding for development of guidelines with a focus on VEXAS therapy including transplant has been submitted to EULAR. 

The CMWP members finally had a chance to have a face-to-face meeting between the 30th of September – 1st of October 2022 in Milan, Italy. The meeting was a tremendous occasion to focus on – and refine- our extensive research project portfolio during the scientific business meeting. The educational part focused on somatic mutations and their impact on the outcome of allo-HCT in MDS patients, as well as on the role of MRD in MDS, the placing of CAR-T and auto-HCT in the treatment of multiple myeloma, optimising haploidentical allo-HCT in myelofibrosis as well as new non-transplant strategies for myelofibrosis, the role of NGS for kinase domain (KD) mutational analysis in CML and the role of CAR-T in the treatment of CLL.

2022 was also a year when the whole CMWP team re-energized our focus on prioritising and finalising the already initiated projects, with 22 published papers and a further 4 papers under review by the end of the year. We thank everyone involved and, in particular, the CMWP Data Management/Programming team and statistician experts.