Excellent response to anti-CD38 therapy with daratumumab in a patient with severe refractory CANOMAD.

BACKGROUND: Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and rituximab are considered the first-line and second-line treatments for Chronic Ataxic Neuropathy and Ophthalmoplegia with IgM-paraprotein, cold Agglutinins, and anti-Disialosyl antibodies (CANOMAD), with an overall clinical response around 50%. New anti-CD38 daratumumab, targeting long-lived plasma cells, has been reported as a promising therapy for treatment-refractory antibody-mediated disorders. We report the first case of a severe refractory CANOMAD, successfully treated with daratumumab. METHODS: A patient in their 70s with severe relapsing CANOMAD, refractory to IVIG, steroids, rituximab and ibrutinib developed severe tetraparesis and respiratory failure. Plasma exchange (PE) improved motor and ventilatory function; however, after 6 weeks, patient remained PE dependent. Intravenous daratumumab was initiated at 16 mg/kg weekly for 3 weeks, every 2 weeks for the second and third month, and monthly afterwards. RESULTS: After 3 weeks of starting daratumumab, PE was discontinued and, since then, the patient evolved to complete recovery. Antidisialosyl antibody titres decreased after PE and remained stable during daratumumab. Serum neurofilament light-chain levels were elevated in the exacerbation phase and normalised after daratumumab. The patient remains in clinical remission under monthly daratumumab, 12 months after initiation. CONCLUSIONS: The first patient with aggressive treatment-refractory CANOMAD treated with daratumumab provides proof-of-principle evidence that daratumumab may be an effective treatment in IgM-related neuropathies.

Sequence matters: Total body irradiation (TBI)-based myeloablative conditioning with post-transplant cyclophosphamide may reduce the early nonrelapse mortality compared with pretransplant cyclophosphamide plus TBI.

OBJECTIVES: High-dose total body irradiation (TBI) is considered a cornerstone of myeloablative conditioning for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). We retrospectively compared the main outcomes of an HLA matched or 1-allele mismatched related or unrelated allo-SCT in adult patients affected by acute leukemia (AL) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). METHODS: Fifty-nine patients received cyclophosphamide (Cy)-TBI (13.5 Gy) and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis with a calcineurin-inhibitor plus methrotrexate (CyTBI group) and 28 patients received fludarabine-TBI (8.8-13.5 Gy) and GVHD prophylaxis with PTCy and tacrolimus (FluTBI-PTCy group). RESULTS: Median follow-up for survivors was 82 and 22 months. The 12-month probability of overall survival and progression-free survival were similar (p = .18, p = .7). The incidence of Grades 2-4 and 3-4 acute GVHD, and the incidence of moderate-to-severe chronic GVHD were higher in the CyTBI group (p = .02, p < .01and p = .03). Nonrelapse mortality (NRM) at 12 months posttransplant was higher in the CyTBI group (p = 0.05), while the incidence of relapse was similar in both groups (p = 0.7). The number of GVHD-free and relapse-free patients without systemic immunosuppression (GRFS) at 1-year posttransplant was higher in the FluTBI-PTCy group (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The study confirms the safety and efficacy of a novel FluTBI-PTCy platform with reduced incidence of severe acute and chronic GVHD, and early improvement of NRM.

Pomalidomide-dexamethasone for treatment of soft-tissue plasmacytomas in patients with relapsed / refractory multiple myeloma.

OBJECTIVE: The presence of plasmacytomas (Ps) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) is associated with a poor outcome, both in patients treated conventionally and in patients treated with novel agents. Two types of plasmacytomas have being recognized: paraskeletal plasmacytomas (PPs) and extramedullary plasmacytomas (EMPs), being the incidence of EMPs lower but with worse prognosis. Our aim has been to analyze the efficacy of the pomalidomide-dexamethasone combination in this patient profile. METHOD: In the present study, the efficacy of pomalidomide and dexamethasone in 21 patients from nine hospitals of Catalonia (Spain), with relapsed or refractory MM and Ps, was analyzed. For this purpose, we describe the evolution of paraprotein in serum and urine and the size of plasmacytomas during treatment with pomalidomide-dexamethasone. RESULTS: While 34% of the patients achieved a paraprotein response, only two patients with PPs (9%) responded (RC and PR). There were no responses among patients with EMPs. The median progression-free survival from the start of treatment with pomalidomide/dexamethasone was only 1.7 months and the median overall survival of 4.5 months. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, pomalidomide and dexamethasone has limited efficacy in patients with advanced MM and soft-tissue plasmacytomas.

Predictors of return to work after autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma.

Return to work (RTW) is a marker of functional recovery in cancer patients, with quality of life, financial and social implications. We investigated frequency and factors associated with RTW in a cohort of patients younger than 66 years, with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM), uniformly treated with a bortezomib-based induction followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Socio-economic and working status data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire. One hundred and eighty-six patients entered the study. Of whom, 145 (78%) where employed at diagnosis, which was more frequent in younger (median 55 vs. 60 years, p < 0.001), men (59.3% vs. 34.2%, p = 0.004), and with college studies (44.8% vs. 24.4%, p = 0.008). Forty-three (30%) of the 145 patients who had a job at diagnosis, RTW after ASCT in a median of 5 (range 1-27) months. Factors independently associated with RTW were having three or more children (HR 2.87, 95% CI 1.33-6.18), college studies (HR 2.78, 95% CI 1.21-6.41), and a family income >40 × 103€/year (HR 2.31, 95% CI 1.12-4.78). In conclusion, the frequency of RTW herein reported in MM patients seems lower than reported in other malignancies. The risk factors observed may guide the design RTW programs.