Scientific report 2023 of the Chronic Malignancies Working Party (CMWP)

The CMWP has continued to make significant and impactful progress as regards academic output and collaboration over the last twelve months.

We have had three very successful educational events this year. The first was a virtual event in January 2023 focused on MDS, VEXAS and overlap syndromes.  We discussed the evolving role of molecular prognostication in MDS to aid allo-HCT decisions (Dr. Marie Robin, Paris, Professor Matteo della Porta, Milan and Dr Nico Gagelmann, Hamburg), a debate on whether all eligible CMMP patients should be offered a ‘timely’ allo-HCT ( Dr Joanna Drozd-Sokolowska, Warsaw and Dr. Francesco Onida, Milan) and the role of upfront allo-HCT in MDS versus the role of novel agents (Dr. Katja Sockel, Dresden and Professor Pierre Fenaux, Paris). Next we tackled the difficult subject of post-transplant intervention led by Professor Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha, Lille followed by a session focussed on how the field of therapeutic approaches to VEXAS (including allo-HCT) may develop and where allo-HCT will be placed (Professor Arsene Mekinian (Paris), Dr. Carmelo Gurnari (Rome), and chair of the ADWP, Dr. Raffaella Greco (Milan)). 

We had an amazing ‘full house’ educational session at the EBMT AGM in Paris focussed on the intricacies and pitfalls of allo-HCT for Myelofibrosis. Finally, the CMWP and CTIWP members were delighted to have a face-to-face meeting in late November in Hamburg led by the chairs Dr. Donal McLornan (CMWP) and Dr Annalisa Ruggeri (CITWP) alongside local host Dr. Nico Gagelmann (Hamburg). This was a state of the art meeting bringing attendees and faculty together to discuss the major progress in immunotherapeutic strategies to address plasma cell dyscrasias. This was alongside an excellent nursing educational program led by Maaike de Ruijter (Amsterdam). 

We have numerous high impact publications including international guidelines on Myelofibrosis allo-HCT (EBMT-ELN), the role of germline predisposition traits in allo-HCT for MDS, novel prognostic scores for relapse of MM post auto-HCT and. upcoming guidelines on allo-HCT for advanced mastocytosis. 

2023 was also a year when the whole CMWP team focused on study completion and prioritisation of meaningful contemporary studies. We thank everyone involved and, in particular, the principle investigators, subcommittees and the CMWP Data Management/Programming team and statistician experts.