Aspacytarabine for the treatment of patients with AML unfit for intensive chemotherapy: a phase 2 study.

High-dose cytarabine is associated with gastrointestinal and cerebellar toxicity, precluding its use for older or unfit patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Aspacytarabine, an inactive prodrug of cytarabine, was evaluated as monotherapy in a phase 2b study of patients unfit for intensive chemotherapy (NCT03435848). Sixty-five patients with AML were treated with aspacytarabine 4.5 g/m2 per day (equimolar to 3 g/m2 per day cytarabine) for 6 doses per treatment. The median age was 75 years; 60.6% of patients had de novo AML, 28.8% had AML secondary to myelodysplastic syndrome, and 10.6% had therapy-related AML. Overall, 36.9% achieved complete remission (CR) with full count recovery. CR rates in patients with secondary AML, patients with prior treatment with hypomethylating agents, and patients with TP53 mutation were 26.7%, 25%, and 36%, respectively. Median overall survival was 9 months (range, 6-15.9) and was not reached among responders. Hematologic recovery was observed in all responding patients by day 26 without prolonged cytopenias. Adverse events typically precluding the use of high-dose cytarabine in older or unfit patients were not observed. These data suggest that aspacytarabine may be an effective regimen with a reduction in the attendant toxicities associated with high-dose cytarabine, an important consideration when treating AML and other hematologic disorders that use high-dose cytarabine. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT03435848.

Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma: Clinical Characteristics, Treatment Options and Therapeutic Outcome in 36 Patients. A Single Center Experience.

BACKGROUND: Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. There are limited data on the management of PCNSL outside of clinical trials. OBJECTIVES: To report experience with three main high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX)-based protocols for PCNSL treatment at one medical center. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of patients diagnosed with PCNSL who were treated at Soroka Medical Center between 2007 and 2019. RESULTS: The study included 36 patients, median age 64.9 years; 33 patients received a HDMTX backbone induction therapy, 21 (58.3%) received consolidation treatment in addition. In the entire cohort, 25 patients (75.7%) achieved complete remission (CR, CRu-unconfirmed), with mean progression-free survival (PFS) 32 ± 6.9 months and median overall survival (OS) 59.6 ± 12.4 months. More aggressive regiment such as combination of rituximab, HDMTX, cytarabine and thiotepa had better responses 5 (100%) CR, but also a higher incidence of side effects such as neutropenic fever 5 (100%). In subgroup analysis by age (younger vs. older than 60 years), the PFS was 24.2 vs. 9.3 months, and OS was 64.1 vs. 19.4 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A difference in CR and PFS favored a more aggressive protocol, but the toxicity of the multiagent combinations was significantly higher. The prognosis in younger was better than in older patients, with higher rates of CR, PFS, and OS, although not statistically significant. Overall treatment outcomes are encouraging; however, there is a real need for an adaptive approach for older patients and balancing among the effectiveness and side effects.

Multiple Myeloma with Foamy Mott Cells.

Intracytoplasmic assorted vacuoles containing immunoglobulin collections are occasionally seen in multiple myeloma. When abundant, they impart a foamy appearance to the tumor cells, which is a potential source for diagnostic pitfalls. Herein, we report the case of a patient who presented with skeletal pain and CT confirmed lytic lesions. A bone marrow biopsy revealed multiple myeloma with unusual foamy Mott cells. The patient was subsequently treated with four cycles of cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone induction therapy, followed by 3 cycles of lenalidomide with dexamethasone. A biopsy performed following initial biological and immunomodulatory drugs revealed different morphological and clonal characteristics. These features were modified again, five years later, and again, after two years of close monitoring. Hematopathologists should be aware of this morphologic variant of myeloma as well as for the capacity of clonal characteristics, such as light chain monotype, to fluctuate subsequent to treatment.

Real-life Experience With Ponatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Multicenter Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: The strict recruitment criteria of patients for clinical trials often lead to reduced generalizability of the findings. We studied how ponatinib is used outside clinical trials in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present retrospective study included all patients with a diagnosis of CML who had received ponatinib in 7 medical centers in Israel. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2016, we identified 37 patients with CML who had received ponatinib, 21 in the chronic phase and 16 in the advanced phase. Only 9 patients (26%) harbored the T315I (threonine to isoleucine mutation at position 315) mutation. All patients had received ≥ 1 previous tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The median age in our cohort was 43 years (range, 9-82 years), significantly younger than expected for patients with relapsed or refractory CML and 20 years younger than the median age of patients who participated in the PACE (ponatinib Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia and CML evaluation) trial. During a median follow-up of 14 months (range, 1-51 months), the overall response rate was 85%. Of 34 patients, 16 (47%) experienced at least a major molecular response. Of the 37 total patients, another 16 patients (43%) discontinued treatment because of disease progression (n = 6), vascular complications (n = 1), severe cytopenia (n = 2), or for other reasons (n = 7). CONCLUSION: In real life, ponatinib is a "niche-drug" reserved for a unique population of exceptionally young patients with CML with or without the T315I mutation. In this highly selected group, very different from the PACE cohort, ponatinib achieved high overall response rates.