Treatment outcomes with purine nucleoside analog alone or with rituximab for hairy cell leukemia at first relapse.

INTRODUCTION: Frontline treatment of hairy cell leukemia (HCL) with a single course of the purine nucleoside analog (PNA) produces a high rate of complete remission (CR) with prolonged durations. At the time of relapse, although treatment guidelines recommend re-treatment with a PNA alone or in combination with rituximab (R), practice patterns vary and data supporting each approach are limited. METHODS: We conducted a multisite outcomes analysis of patients treated for HCL between 1995 and 2018 at six US medical centers. All patients were treated with frontline PNA and subsequently required treatment with a PNA alone (PNA) or with R (+R). RESULTS: Of the 88 patients analyzed, 56 (63.6%) received second-line PNA and 22 (36.4%) received a PNA + R. Baseline characteristics of both groups were similar. There was no difference in median PFS [67 months (95% CI 43.8 non-reached (NR)) vs. 65 months (95% CI 60-NR)] or 5-year OS [98% (95% CI 0.94-1) vs. 94% (95% CI 0.83-1), p = .104] in the PNA versus PNA + R cohorts, respectively. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the largest study evaluating the role of R in treatment of relapsed HCL and suggests that there is no advantage to the addition of R to PNA therapy at the time of first re-treatment.

Porphyrin-Cored Polymer Nanoparticles: Macromolecular Models for Heme Iron Coordination.

Porphyrin-cored polymer nanoparticles (PCPNs) were synthesized and characterized to investigate their utility as heme protein models. Created using collapsible heme-centered star polymers containing photodimerizable anthracene units, these systems afford model heme cofactors buried within hydrophobic, macromolecular environments. Spectroscopic interrogations demonstrate that PCPNs display redox and ligand-binding reactivity similar to that of native systems and thus are potential candidates for modeling biological heme iron coordination.

Caplacizumab in adult patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is usually a fatal disease caused by a deficiency of the metalloproteinase, ADAMTS13, often due to autoimmunity. This leads to the development of pathogenic multimers of von Willebrand factor (vWF), causing an inappropriate interaction of platelets and vWF. This results in a thrombotic microangiopathy, which is treated with therapeutic plasma exchange and immune suppression. Although this treatment has reduced the mortality of TTP to only about 20%, there have been no recent significant advances in the treatment of TTP. Recently, a novel agent has been approved for use in TTP. Caplacizumab, which binds to the A1 domain of vWF, prevents the adhesion of platelets to vWF. It is a first in-class 'nanobody', that in clinical trials has shown marked efficacy in treating TTP and its complications. This review will discuss the development and implications of caplacizumab in the treatment of TTP.

Managing toxicities of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors.

Despite the proven effective approach to targeting the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway in B-cell malignancies, the approved PI3K inhibitors idelalisib and duvelisib have been less commonly selected for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), given the availability of other more tolerable agents. However, patients with CLL/SLL can experience a disease course that is multiply relapsed, refractory, or intolerant to treatment, and PI3K inhibitors can achieve meaningful responses. This article reviews the common early- and late-onset (considered immune-mediated) toxicities with PI3K inhibitors, including infections, hepatotoxicity, diarrhea and/or colitis, and pneumonitis. Data on pretreatment considerations, toxicity management, and drug rechallenge are presented. In addition, next-generation PI3K inhibitors and novel treatment approaches with PI3K inhibitors, including combinations, time-limited treatments, and intermittent dosing, are highlighted.