The Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO) is an international society designed specifically for clinicians, research scientists and related health care professionals who specialize in the research and treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies. SOHO’s mission is to promote worldwide research and education through the exchange of scientific information. Organized by its founders and world class committees, SOHO is the only international society specific to this field. SOHO’s membership grew by 111% over the past year to its 2016 mid-year total of 2,286 members. 1,037 attended the third annual meeting of the society held September 16-19, 2015 at the Hilton Americas in Houston, Texas. There were 119 faculty speakers, 139 presentations, 12 meet-the-professor sessions, 3 plenary sessions, 10 general sessions, 1 poster session, 3 expert breakfast sessions, and a number of independent industry expert sessions. Additionally, 154 abstracts were approved for publication, poster presentation and/or oral presentation. A post meeting journal supplement is scheduled for publication in SOHO’s official journal, “Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia.”The annual meeting of the society provides a venue for hematologic oncologists and related specialists to learn and collaborate in a more intimate setting. SOHO places special emphasis on the development and mentoring of young investigators through its extensive worldwide Young Investigator program. Each year, SOHO sponsors more than 100 young investigators with a focus on hematologic oncology to attend the annual meeting. Young investigators are encouraged to submit research to SOHO which provides a forum for active exchange of ideas and new research in an international setting. In the near future, the society will further its role in this capacity by facilitating fellowships between institutions for its young investigators. Finally, the SOHO Ambassador program brings the latest developments in the field to all corners of the globe. Rapid advances in molecular technology have led to an explosion of new drugs approvals over the last two decades. In the U.S. alone, there have been 39 new drugs approved to treat hematologic malignancies since 1997 (Table 1) FDA Approved Drugs for Oncology [1]. In the 15 years from 1997-2011 there were 17 new drugs approved to treat hematologic malignancies. By contrast, in the last five years (2012-2016) there have been 20 new drugs approved at a rate of four to five per year.

Table 1: The rapid increase in drug approvals has been accompanied by an expansion in clinical studies focused on hematologic malignancies. According to ClinicalTrials.gov [2] there are nearly 4,000 active, interventional clinical trials currently ongoing. Table 2 provides a breakdown of these clinical trials by type of malignancy.

Table 2: Number of Clinical Trials Ongoing by Type of Malignancy (*Interventional, recruiting trials according to ClinicalTrials.gov²).

These advances have brought greater understanding of the specific pathways and upstream regulating molecules responsible for the malignant process. In parallel, there has been an expansion of national and international research collaborations and an increase in data sharing among researchers and clinicians. Consequently, researchers are now able to accurately profile patient tumors and design tailored therapy clinical trial models with a high degree of sophistication.

For example, immunotherapy in hematologic oncology is evolving quickly and bringing new opportunities to patient treatment with monoclonal antibodies targeting tumor-specific antigens, cancer vaccines aimed at stimulating a patient’s immune response, checkpoint inhibitors to prevent cancer cells from evading the immune system and cellular immunotherapy aimed at instructing the immune system to recognize and attack tumor cells.

SOHO remains at the forefront of these efforts by providing resources to young investigators and improving collaboration amongst key investigators in the field. The society stands firm in its mission “to expedite the discovery and application of knowledge of the Biology, Therapy, Etiology and Prevention of the Hematologic Malignancies.” These findings should provide a platform for the progress needed for controlling and ultimately curing hematologic cancers.