President’s Prize goes to research on secondary myeloid neoplasms after CAR T-cell therapy

The President’s Prize at the Haematology Association of Ireland Annual Meeting 2026 went to Dr Robert Power for his study ‘Secondary myeloid neoplasms after CAR T-cell therapy: Incidence, risk factors and biology in a complete national cohort’.

Presenting during the President’s Symposium, Dr Power, who is based in St James’s Hospital, Dublin, and University Hospital Waterford, began by outlining that CAR T-cell therapy can give durable remissions “so late toxicities increasingly shape long-term outcome”.

His study aimed to estimate the cumulative incidence of secondary myeloid neoplasms (SMNs) in a complete national cohort, evaluate associated risk factors, including prior therapy, acute CAR T toxicity and count recovery, and examine the biology and outcome of SMN.

All patients who received CAR T-cell therapy in Ireland more than one year before 12 July 2026 were included in the study.

“The primary endpoint was the cumulative incidence of SMN, with death without SMN as a competing event, estimated by the Aalen-Johansen method,” Dr Power stated.

The study found that SMN is an uncommon but frequently fatal late event after CAR T-cell therapy, with a two-year cumulative incidence of 5.9 per cent. It was the leading cause of non-relapse mortality.

“Future work should focus on identifying individuals at increased risk, including screening for high-risk clonal haematopoiesis and evaluating prior therapy, CAR T-related bone marrow inflammation and impaired haematopoietic reserve. We recommend bone marrow evaluation for persistent severe cytopenia at six months after CAR T infusion,” the study concluded.

Meanwhile, the best clinical oral presentation was awarded to Dr Louisa Shackleton, St James’s Hospital, for her study ‘Multidisciplinary retrospective review of allogeneic stem cell transplantation for myeloid malignancies in older adults aged ≥70 years old in Ireland 2021–2026’.

The study involved a retrospective analysis of all patients aged 70 years or older who underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) for a myeloid malignancy at St James’s Hospital between April 2021 and April 2026. A total of 22 patients were identified.

Of the 22 patients, the median age was 72 years and 77 per cent were male. Acute myeloid leukaemia was the most common diagnosis, accounting for 59 per cent of cases.

The study found excellent outcomes comparable to the younger reduced-intensity conditioning alloSCT cohort and determined that the majority of those referred were accepted to proceed to alloSCT. Significant care needs during initial admission and in the year post-transplant were identified.

“These outcomes compare favourably to recently published international studies of adults aged ≥70 undergoing alloSCT and demonstrate the safety and efficacy of alloSCT in this understudied population,” the study concluded.