Sagar Lonial, MD, FACP
Editor in Chief, SOHO Insider
Emory University Winship Cancer Institute
May you live in interesting times….
You may have encountered this adage at some point in your life, though its origins are difficult to trace (even the renowned New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof once attempted to uncover them in a 2008 blog post). Some attribute it to a Chinese translation, while others suggest Irish roots. In this context, “interesting” carries a subtle nuance of being challenging or tumultuous.
Whatever its origins, it is clear that as a society and a field, we too are living at a time of tremendous change and upheaval, whether we are considering the daily noise from Washington, or the rapid change in our own field. But, from the perspective of patient with a blood cancer, change is good, change is needed, change is associated with hope, and with hope, life.
To cite just a few examples of positive changes in recent years: we have seen incredible progress in targeted therapies and significant advancements in immunotherapy. There are now more treatment options than ever before for our patients, including seven FDA-approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T therapies. MRD-guided approaches are personalizing treatments, allowing clinicians to tailor therapy to each patient’s needs. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are being used to improve diagnostics and uncover new drug targets in blood cancer treatment.
On that optimistic note, I want to welcome you to our new digital and print publication SOHO Insider. In these pages, we strive to make sense of the changes occurring amidst the accelerating pace of advancements in our field, and to help alleviate the challenges of interpreting all this new information by providing state-of-the-art commentary and summaries of salient material so that you can easily make decisions for your patients.
I am tremendously excited about this new format and tool that allows you keep up to date with cancer discoveries and hear directly from the thought leaders who are helping to change the landscape of treatment and diagnostics for patients with blood cancers.
In this new publication, SOHO Insider, the official newspaper from the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO), you will have a chance to read about how new trials and approvals can impact your clinical practice TODAY. Our world class editorial board will help keep you up to date on the latest and greatest developments in the management, prevention, and treatment of blood cancers, both on these pages and in person at the annual SOHO meeting in September every year. We will hear from our entire team of professionals that help provide this care including nurses, advanced practice providers, Pharm Ds, and others who are critical to effective and safe care of patients in the modern world of pharmacologic and immune therapy. All of this comes in a single format (or web link) that allows you to quickly read and review the information that is most relevant to your daily practice.
As we look forward to 2025, please be sure to add this new periodical to your list of must reads. SOHO is an outstanding society that focuses on blood cancers and has been rapidly growing over the past decade to the point that it is now a major society in the field with nearly 3,000 in-person and virtual attendees at its annual meeting in Houston, Texas. Despite this growth, SOHO has managed to maintain the feel of a smaller more intimate meeting, with the opportunity to interact with faculty, challenge them during meet the professor sessions, and really have the opportunity to better understand the data, not just hear it.
I hope that 2025 is filled with new successes for you and your patients, that we will continue to build on the recent great work in blood cancer treatments, and that SOHO Insider will be at your side as you seek to deliver better more impactful care for your patients with blood cancers.
On behalf of my outstanding group of editors and writing team, we wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.
Sincerely,
