Dr. Jingliao Zhang takes top honors in SOHO 2026 abstract awards

Seven additional abstract presentations from this year’s Annual Meeting were also recognized by the society

On Wednesday evening, Jingliao Zhang, MD, was awarded first place for the SOHO 2026 abstract awards for the presentation, “Safety and Preliminary Efficacy of Olverembatinib (HQP1351) Combined With Lisaftoclax (APG-2575) in Children and Adolescents With Relapsed/Refractory Philadelphia-Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Results of a Phase 1b Study.”

Dr. Zhang is medical researcher and hematologist at the Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Tianjin, China.

Second place was awarded to Colton Jones, MD, of the University of Texas Health, San Antonio, for the poster MM-626, “GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Exposure and Survival Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Treated With Daratumumab-Based Quadruplet Therapy: A Target Trial Emulation.”

In his words

In Dr. Jones’ target-trial emulation of more than 1000 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) and metabolic comorbidities (type 2 diabetes or obesity) starting frontline D-VRd, GLP-1 receptor agonist exposure was associated with an overall survival (OS) benefit (HR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.19-0.47) and higher rates of complete response or better (HR, 1.20), with no significant difference in relapse. An E-value of 6.1 indicates the survival association is relatively robust to unmeasured confounding.

Three practical points to walk away with:

1. A metabolic-immune interaction may matter in the quadruplet era. Obesity, insulin resistance, and IL-6-driven inflammation are established drivers of inferior MM outcomes, and the anti-inflammatory/immunomodulatory effects of GLP-1 Ras offer a biologically plausible mechanism for synergy with anti-CD38 therapy.
2. This extends a converging literature from prevention to treatment. Prior data tie GLP-1 RAs to lower MM incidence and reduced MGUS-to-MM progression; this is among the first analyses to examine survival and response depth in a uniformly D-VRd-treated population.
3. Interpret with appropriate caution. The magnitude of the OS benefit, which is disproportionate to the modest response gain and null relapse effect, suggests contributions from reduced competing/non-myeloma events (infection, cardiometabolic death) and healthy-adherer bias, alongside residual confounding and EHR-based response ascertainment.

Bottom line: These hypothesis-generating data support metabolic optimization as a modifiable target and justify prospective evaluation of GLP-1 RAs as an adjunct in metabolically comorbid newly diagnosed MM, but do not yet support initiating them for antimyeloma benefit.

Third place was awarded to Pranati Shah, MD, of Loma Linda University Medical Center in California, for poster, “Safety, Tolerability and Clinical Activity of Anito-Cel in RRMM”

In her own words

Here are the key takeaways from Dr. Shah’s abstract regarding the safety, tolerability, and clinical activity of anito-cel in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM) across the phase I and II portions of the iMMagine-1 trial.

• Exceptional and deep efficacy. Anito-cel demonstrated high overall response rates across both cohorts—100% in phase I and 95% in phase II—with complete/stringent complete response rates of 79% and 62%, respectively.
• High rates of measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity. MRD-negativity was achieved by ~90% of evaluable patients in both phase I (89%) and phase II (92%), driving durable responses even in heavily pretreated and refractory populations.
• Durable progression-free and overall survival (OS). At a median follow-up of 34 months in phase I, the 27-month progression-free survival (PFS) and OS rates were 52% and 78%, respectively. In phase II (median follow-up, 10.3 months), the six-month PFS and OS rates were 90% and 95%, respectively.
• Manageable safety profile with low severe neurotoxicity. Cytokine release syndrome was frequent but manageable (84% to 95%), while immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) was primarily low-grade, with grade ≥3 ICANS remaining low across both phases (5% in phase I; 2% in phase II).