Characteristics and outcome of patients with low-/intermediate-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia treated with arsenic trioxide: an international collaborative study.

The aim of this study was to characterize a large series of 154 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (median age, 53 years; range, 18-90 years) and evaluate real-life outcome after up-front treatment with arsenic trioxide and all-trans retinoic acid. All patients were included in the prospective NAPOLEON registry (NCT02192619) between 2013 and 2019. The acute promyelocytic leukemia was de novo in 91% (n=140) and therapy-related in 9% (n=14); 13% (n=20) of the patients were older than 70 years. At diagnosis bleeding/hemorrhage was present in 38% and thrombosis in 3%. Complete remission was achieved in 152 patients (99%), whereas two patients (1%) experienced induction death within 18 days after starting therapy. With a median follow-up of 1.99 years (95% confidence interval: 1.61-2.30 years) 1-year and 2-year overall survival rates were 97% (95% confidence interval: 94-100%) and 95% (95% confidence interval: 91-99%), respectively. Age above 70 years was associated with a significantly shorter overall survival (P<0.001) compared to that of younger patients. So far no relapses have been observed. Six patients (4%) died in complete remission at a median of 0.95 years after diagnosis (range, 0.18-2.38 years). Our data confirm the efficiency and durability of arsenic trioxide and all-trans retinoic acid therapy in the primary management of adults with low-/intermediate-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia in the real-life setting, irrespective of age.

Low dose lenalidomide versus placebo in non-transfusion dependent patients with low risk, del(5q) myelodysplastic syndromes (SintraREV): a randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: Lenalidomide is the standard of care for patients who are transfusion dependent with chromosome 5q deletion (del[5q]) myelodysplastic syndromes. In the SintraREV trial, we aimed to investigate whether an early intervention of low lenalidomide doses for 2 years could delay transfusion dependency in patients with anaemia who were not transfusion dependent. METHODS: This randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial, was conducted at 22 sites (University Hospitals) in Spain, France, and Germany. Eligible patients were aged 18 years or older diagnosed with low-risk or intermediate-1-risk del(5q) myelodysplastic syndromes with non-transfusion-dependent anaemia (according to the IPSS), were erythropoietin-stimulating agents naive, and had an ECOG performance status of 2 or less. Patients were randomly assigned (2:1) by means of a telephone system to receive lenalidomide 5 mg daily in 28-day cycles versus placebo for 2 years. The primary endpoint was time to transfusion dependency based on blinded independent central review. Analysis were by intent-to-treat (ITT) and evaluable population. Safety analyses included all participants who received at least one dose of treatment. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01243476) and EudraCT (2009-013619-36) and is complete. FINDINGS: Between Feb 15, 2010, and Feb 21, 2018, 61 patients were randomly assigned to receive lenalidomide (n=40; two did not receive treatment) or placebo (n=21). The median age was 72·2 (IQR 65·4-81·9) years, 50 (82%) patients were female, and 11 (18%) were male. The median follow-up time was 60·6 (IQR 32·1-73·9) months. Regarding primary endpoint, median time to transfusion dependency was not reached (95% CI not applicable) in the lenalidomide group versus 11·6 months (95% CI 0·00-30·11) in the placebo group (p=0·0027). Lenalidomide significantly reduced the risk of transfusion dependency by 69·8% (hazard ratio 0·302, 95% CI 0·132-0·692; p=0·0046). The most frequent treatment-related adverse event was neutropenia, occurring in 24 (63%) of 38 patients in the lenalidomide group (grade 3 and 4 in 17 [45%] patients and one [3%], respectively) and in four (19%) of 21 patients in the placebo group (grade 3 in one [5%] patient). Thrombocytopenia was detected in seven (18%) of 38 patients receiving lenalidomide (grade 3 in two [5%] patients). Regarding the non-haematological toxicity, skin disorders (rash nine [23%] of 38 patients) were the most frequently described toxicities among patients receiving lenalidomide, being grade 3 in one (3%) of 38 patients. 19 serious adverse events were reported in 13 patients, 18 in the lenalidomide group and one in the placebo group, five of which were potentially related to the study drug. No treatment-related deaths were identified. INTERPRETATION: An early approach with low doses of lenalidomide across two years delays the time to transfusion dependency and improves the rate and quality of the responses, with a manageable safety profile in patients who are non-transfusion dependent with del(5q) low-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. FUNDING: Bristol Myers Squibb.

miR-21-3p/IL-22 Axes Are Major Drivers of Psoriasis Pathogenesis by Modulating Keratinocytes Proliferation-Survival Balance and Inflammatory Response.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that is mediated by complex crosstalk between immune cells and keratinocytes (KCs). Emerging studies have showed a specific psoriatic microRNAs signature, in which miR-21 is one of the most upregulated and dynamic miRNAs. In this study, we focused our investigations on the passenger miR-21-3p strand, which is poorly studied in skin and in psoriasis pathogenesis. Here, we showed the upregulation of miR-21-3p in an IMQ-induced psoriasiform mouse model. This upregulation was correlated with IL-22 expression and functionality, both in vitro and in vivo, and it occurred via STAT3 and NF-κB signaling. We identified a network of differentially expressed genes involved in abnormal proliferation control and immune regulatory genes implicated in the molecular pathogenesis of psoriasis in response to miR-21-3p overexpression in KCs. These results were confirmed by functional assays that validated the proliferative potential of miR-21-3p. All these findings highlight the importance of miR-21-3p, an underestimated miRNA, in psoriasis and provide novel molecular targets for therapeutic purposes.