Clinical outcomes with use of radiation therapy and risk of transformation in early-stage follicular lymphoma.

Between 1998 and 2009, a total of 295 patients (median age 58, 53% females) with newly diagnosed early-stage follicular lymphoma (FL) were managed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Approximately half of patients (137, 46%) underwent initial observation and half (158, 54%) immediate treatment: radiation alone (n = 108), systemic treatment alone (n = 29), or combined modality treatment (n = 21). Median follow-up was 8.4 years (range 0.3-17.2), and 10-year overall survival (OS) was 87.2%. OS was similar between initially-observed and immediately-treated patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.25, 95% CI: 0.67-2.36, p = 0.49). For patients receiving radiation alone, 5-year OS was 98.0%. Patients selected for systemic therapy alone had high-risk baseline features and had shorter OS than patients treated with radiation alone (HR 3.38, 95% CI 1.29-8.86, p = 0.01). Combined modality treatment did not yield superior survival compared with radiation alone (P > 0.05) but was associated with better progression-free survival (HR 0.36, 95% CI 0.14-0.90, p = 0.03). The rate of transformation increased steadily over time and was 4.2% at 5 years and 10.8% at 10 years. This modern-era analysis rationalized the role of initial observation in patients with early-stage FL although patients receiving radiation therapy also demonstrate excellent outcome.

Phase II Trial of Pembrolizumab Plus Gemcitabine, Vinorelbine, and Liposomal Doxorubicin as Second-Line Therapy for Relapsed or Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma.

PURPOSE: We conducted a phase II study evaluating pembrolizumab plus gemcitabine, vinorelbine, and liposomal doxorubicin (pembro-GVD) as second-line therapy for relapsed or refractory (rel/ref) classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03618550). METHODS: Transplant eligible patients with rel/ref cHL following first-line therapy were treated with two to four cycles of pembrolizumab (200 mg intravenous [IV], day 1), gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m2 IV, days 1 and 8), vinorelbine (20 mg/m2 IV, days 1 and 8), and liposomal doxorubicin (15 mg/m2, days 1 and 8), given on 21-day cycles. The primary end point was complete response (CR) following up to four cycles of pembro-GVD. Patients who achieved CR by labeled fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (Deauville ≤ 3) after two or four cycles proceeded to high-dose therapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HDT/AHCT). HDT/AHCT was carried out according to institutional standards, and brentuximab vedotin maintenance was allowed following HDT/AHCT. RESULTS: Of 39 patients enrolled, 41% had primary ref disease and 38% relapsed within 1 year of frontline treatment. 31 patients received two cycles of pembro-GVD, and eight received four cycles. Most adverse events were grade 1 or two, whereas few were grade 3 and included transaminitis (n = 4), neutropenia (n = 4), mucositis (n = 2), thyroiditis (n = 1), and rash (n = 1). Of 38 evaluable patients, overall and CR rates after pembro-GVD were 100% and 95%, respectively. Thirty-six (95%) patients proceeded to HDT/AHCT, two received pre-HDT/AHCT involved site radiation, and 13 (33%) received post-HDT/AHCT brentuximab vedotin maintenance. All 36 transplanted patients are in remission at a median post-transplant follow-up of 13.5 months (range: 2.66-27.06 months). CONCLUSION: Second-line therapy with pembro-GVD is a highly effective and well-tolerated regimen that can efficiently bridge patients with rel/ref cHL to HDT/AHCT.

Outcomes in patients with DLBCL treated with commercial CAR T cells compared with alternate therapies.

The prognosis of patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is poor. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been approved for R/R DLBCL after 2 prior lines of therapy based on data from single-arm phase 2 trials, with complete responses (CRs) in 40% to 60% of patients. However, a direct comparison with other treatments is not available and, moreover, its true efficacy in real-world patients is unknown. In this single center, retrospective, observational study of 215 patients, we compared outcomes in patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy (n = 69) with a historical population treated with alternate therapies (n = 146). Patients treated with CAR T cell vs alternate therapies demonstrated a CR rate of 52% vs 22% (P < .001), median progression-free survival (PFS) of 5.2 vs 2.3 months (P = .01), and median overall survival (OS) of 19.3 vs 6.5 months (P = .006), and this advantage appeared to persist irrespective of the number of lines of prior therapy. After adjusting for unfavorable pretreatment disease characteristics, superior overall response rate in the CAR T cohort remained significant; however, differences in PFS and OS between cohorts did not. In addition, patients who responded to alternate therapies demonstrated prolonged remissions comparable to those who responded to CAR T therapy. We contend that in select clinical scenarios alternate therapies may be as efficacious as CAR T therapy; thus, additional study is warranted, ideally with randomized prospective trials.

Extra copies of MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 and outcome in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

High-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL) with translocations involving MYC and BCL2 or BCL6 comprises ∼10% of cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and carries a poor prognosis. The incidence, prognosis, and optimal therapy for DLBCL harboring extra copies of the genes MYC, BCL2, and BCL6, rather than their genetic translocations, are unknown. In this retrospective, single-center study we identified 144 DLBCL cases including 46 patients with classic HGBL with double-hit or triple-hit chromosomal translocations (DHL), 55 with extra copies of MYC in addition to aberrations (extra copies or translocations) of BCL2 and/or BCL6 but did not meet the criteria for HGBL (EC group), and 43 without any aberrations of MYC, BCL2, or BCL6 (wild type [WT]). Unfavorable baseline characteristics had similar frequency in the EC and WT groups, but were significantly more prevalent in the DHL group. With a median follow-up of 36 months, the 2-year event-free survival (EFS) was similar between the WT and EC groups at 77% (95% confidence interval [CI], 65-90) and 82% (95% CI, 72-93), respectively. In contrast, the 2-year EFS of the DHL group was 63% (95% CI, 51-79). The 2-year overall survival in the WT, EC, and DHL groups was 86% (95% CI, 76-97), 89% (95% CI, 81-98), and 74% (95% CI, 62-88), respectively. Among patients treated with R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone), the EC group had outcomes similar to those of the WT group. Our results indicate that patients with DLBCL with extra gene copies of MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 fare differently from those with HGBL and respond well to standard R-CHOP therapy.