Isatuximab, lenalidomide, dexamethasone and bortezomib in transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma: the randomized phase 3 BENEFIT trial.

CD38-targeting immunotherapy is approved in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) that are transplant ineligible (TI) and is considered the best standard of care (SOC). To improve current SOC, we evaluated the added value of weekly bortezomib (V) to isatuximab plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone (IsaRd versus Isa-VRd). This Intergroupe Francophone of Myeloma phase 3 study randomized 270 patients with NDMM that were TI, aged 65-79 years, to IsaRd versus Isa-VRd arms. The primary endpoint was a minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity rate at 10-5 by next-generation sequencing at 18 months from randomization. Key secondary endpoints included response rates, MRD assessment rates, survival and safety. The 18-month MRD negativity rates at 10-5 were reported in 35 patients (26%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 19-34) in IsaRd versus 71 (53%, 95% CI 44-61) in Isa-VRd (odds ratio for MRD negativity 3.16, 95% CI 1.89-5.28, P < 0.0001). The MRD benefit was consistent across subgroups at 10-5 and 10-6, and was already observed at month 12. The proportion of patients with complete response or better at 18 months was higher with Isa-VRd (58% versus 33%; P < 0.0001), as was the proportion of MRD negativity and complete response or better (37% versus 17%; P = 0.0003). At a median follow-up of 23.5 months, no difference was observed for survival times (immature data). The addition of weekly bortezomib did not significantly affect the relative dose intensity of IsaRd. Isa-VRd significantly increased MRD endpoints, including the 18-month negativity rate at 10-5, the primary endpoint, compared with IsaRd. This study proposes Isa-VRd as a new SOC for patients with NDMM that are TI. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04751877 .

Outcomes of acute myeloid leukemia patients who responded to venetoclax and azacitidine and stopped treatment.

Venetoclax-azacitidine is the standard of treatment for unfit acute myeloid leukemia patients. In the VIALE-A study, treatment was given until progression but there are no data on its optimal duration for responding patients who do not tolerate indefinite therapy. We retrospectively analyzed the outcome of patients who discontinued venetoclax or venetoclax-azacitidine due to poor tolerance. Sixty-two newly diagnosed (ND) AML patients and 22 patients with morphological relapse or refractory AML were included. In the ND cohort (n = 62), 28 patients stopped venetoclax and azacitidine and 34 patients continued azacitidine monotherapy. With a median follow-up of 23 months (IQR, 20-32), median overall survival and treatment-free survival were 44 (IQR, 16-NR) and 16 (IQR, 8-27) months, respectively. Patients who stopped both treatments and those who continued azacitidine monotherapy had the same outcomes. Negative minimal residual disease was associated with a 2-year treatment-free survival of 80%. In the RR cohort (n = 22), median overall survival and treatment-free survival were 19 (IQR, 17-31) and 10 (IQR, 5-NR) months, respectively. Prior number of venetoclax-azacitidine cycles and IDH mutations were associated with increased overall survival. The only factor significantly impacting treatment-free survival was the number of prior cycles. This study suggests that patients who discontinued treatment in remission have favorable outcomes supporting the rationale for prospective controlled trials.

Retrospective, real-life study of venetoclax plus azacitidine or low-dose cytarabine in French patients with acute myeloid leukemia ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Recently, the combination of venetoclax plus a hypomethylating agent (HMA; azacitidine ordecitabine) or low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) showed promise in Phase III trials in previously untreated AML. In France at the time of this study, venetoclax was not yet approved for AML and there were therefore no formal usage recommendations. Here we report the first study in a French cohort that assessed venetoclax in combination with existing treatments for AML under real-life conditions. METHOD: This retrospective, real-life study collected data on venetoclax use and management in a French cohort with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. RESULT: Of 118 patients, 81 were in second line/beyond (71.6% also hypomethylating agent [HMA]; 23.5% lowdose cytarabine [LDAC]) and 37 in first line. For venetoclax initiation, 57.3% underwent ramp up and 74.6% were hospitalized. Median venetoclax duration was 2.5 months (range 0.03-16.2). With all treatment lines and regimens, most common grade 3/4 adverse events were hematologic (overall 96.4% of patients) and infections (57.1%). Dosage adjustments for drug interactions and safety varied between centers. In second-line/beyond, median progression-free survival was 4.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.7-12.8) with venetoclax-HMA and 3.4 months (1.3-8.9) with venetoclax-LDAC; overall response rate was 51.9% and 41.2%, respectively. Thus, we showed that venetoclax-based treatment yields promising findings in patients with AML, but to address treatment complexity, practice harmonization is needed.

Gilteritinib activity in refractory or relapsed FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia patients previously treated by intensive chemotherapy and midostaurin: a study from the French AML Intergroup ALFA/FILO.

The real-world efficacy and safety of gilteritinib was assessed in an ambispective study that included 167 R/R FLT3-mutated AML patients. Among them, 140 received gilteritinib as single agent (cohort B), including 67 previously treated by intensive chemotherapy and midostaurin (cohort C). The main differences in patient characteristics in this study compared to the ADMIRAL trial were ECOG ≥ 2 (83.6% vs. 16.6%), FLT3-TKD mutation (21.0% vs. 8.5%), primary induction failure (15.0% vs. 40.0%) and line of treatment (beyond 2nd in 37.1% vs. 0.0%). The rates of composite complete remission, excluding those that occurred after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), were similar at respectively 25.4% and 27.5% in cohorts B and C. Median overall survival (OS) for these two groups was also similar at respectively 6.4 and 7.8 months. Multivariate analyses for prognostic factors associated with OS identified female gender (HR 1.61), adverse cytogenetic risk (HR 2.52), and allogenic HSCT after gilteritinib (HR 0.13). Although these patients were more heavily pretreated, these real-world data reproduce the results of ADMIRAL and provide new insights into the course of patients previously treated by intensive chemotherapy and midostaurin and beyond the 2nd line of treatment who can benefit from treatment in an outpatient setting.

Prognostic impact of DDX41 germline mutations in intensively treated acute myeloid leukemia patients: an ALFA-FILO study.

DDX41 germline mutations (DDX41MutGL) are the most common genetic predisposition to myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Recent reports suggest that DDX41MutGL myeloid malignancies could be considered as a distinct entity, even if their specific presentation and outcome remain to be defined. We describe here the clinical and biological features of 191 patients with DDX41MutGL AML. Baseline characteristics and outcome of 86 of these patients, treated with intensive chemotherapy in 5 prospective Acute Leukemia French Association/French Innovative Leukemia Organization trials, were compared with those of 1604 patients with DDX41 wild-type (DDX41WT) AML, representing a prevalence of 5%. Patients with DDX41MutGL AML were mostly male (75%), in their seventh decade, and with low leukocyte count (median, 2 × 109/L), low bone marrow blast infiltration (median, 33%), normal cytogenetics (75%), and few additional somatic mutations (median, 2). A second somatic DDX41 mutation (DDX41MutSom) was found in 82% of patients, and clonal architecture inference suggested that it could be the main driver for AML progression. DDX41MutGL patients displayed higher complete remission rates (94% vs 69%; P < .0001) and longer restricted mean overall survival censored at hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) than 2017 European LeukemiaNet intermediate/adverse (Int/Adv) DDX41WT patients (5-year difference in restricted mean survival times, 13.6 months; P < .001). Relapse rates censored at HSCT were lower at 1 year in DDX41MutGL patients (15% vs 44%) but later increased to be similar to Int/Adv DDX41WT patients at 3 years (82% vs 75%). HSCT in first complete remission was associated with prolonged relapse-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.21-0.88; P = .02) but not with longer overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.35-1.68; P = .5).

Long-term outcome of imatinib 400 mg compared to imatinib 600 mg or imatinib 400 mg daily in combination with cytarabine or pegylated interferon alpha 2a for chronic myeloid leukaemia: results from the French SPIRIT phase III randomised trial.

The STI571 prospective randomised trial (SPIRIT) French trial is a four-arm study comparing imatinib (IM) 400 mg versus IM 600 mg, IM 400 mg + cytarabine (AraC), and IM 400 mg + pegylated interferon alpha2a (PegIFN-α2a) for the front-line treatment of chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Long-term analyses included overall and progression-free survival, molecular responses to treatment, and severe adverse events. Starting in 2003, the trial included 787 evaluable patients. The median overall follow-up of the patients was 13.5 years (range 3 months to 16.7 years). Based on intention-to-treat analyses, at 15 years, overall and progression-free survival were similar across arms: 85%, 83%, 80%, and 82% and 84%, 87%, 79%, and 79% for the IM 400 mg (N = 223), IM 600 mg (N = 171), IM 400 mg + AraC (N = 172), and IM 400 mg + PegIFN-α2a (N = 221) arms, respectively. The rate of major molecular response at 12 months and deep molecular response (MR4) over time were significantly higher with the combination IM 400 mg + PegIFN-α2a than with IM 400 mg: p = 0.0001 and p = 0.0035, respectively. Progression to advanced phases and secondary malignancies were the most frequent causes of death. Toxicity was the main reason for stopping AraC or PegIFN-α2a treatment.

Acute Kidney Injury Following High-Dose Methotrexate Administration in a Day Care Hospital.

Day care is a potential alternative to inpatient care of cancer patients. Using day care reduces medical costs substantially compared to inpatient care, which is driving the transfer of many inpatient chemotherapy protocols to day care hospitals (DCHs). However, in contrast to inpatient management, day care provides limited observation time, which could increase the risk of renal toxicity when using these protocols. We present a case report of acute kidney injury following high-dose methotrexate administration in a DCH. Based on a review of the current literature on acid-base balance, we also discuss appropriate patient selection and judicious hydration and urine alkalinization so as to prevent toxicity in the day care setting.

Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria with a Distinct Molecular Signature Diagnosed Ten Years after Allogenic Bone Marrow Transplantation for Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinurea (PNH) is a rare disorder of complement regulation due to somatic mutation of PIGA (phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor) gene. We herewith report a case who developed a symptomatic PNH long after an allogenic marrow transplant. Some reasonable arguments concerning the origin of PNH clone have been discussed. The molecular studies revealed presence of JAK2 and TET2 mutations without a BCOR mutation. The literature review has been performed to probe into the complex interplay of autoimmunity and clonal selection and expansion of PNH cells, which occurs early in hematopoietic differentiation. The consequent events such as hypoplastic and/or hemato-oncologic features could further be explained on the basis of next-generation sequencing (NGS) studies. Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare clonal disorder of hematopoietic stem cells, characterized by a somatic mutation of the phosphatidylinositol glycan-class A (PIGA). The PIGA gene products are crucial for biosynthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors, which attaches a number of proteins to the plasma membrane of the cell. Amongst these proteins, the CD55 and CD59 are complement regulatory proteins. The CD55 inhibits C3 convertase whereas the CD59 blocks the membrane attack complex (MAC) by inhibiting the incorporation of C9 to MAC. The loss of complement regulatory protein renders the red cell susceptible to complement-mediated lysis leading to intravascular and extravascular hemolysis. The intravascular hemolysis explains most of the morbid clinical manifestations of the disease. The clinical features of syndrome of PNH are recurrent hemolytic episodes, thrombosis, smooth muscle dystonia, and bone marrow failure; other important complications include renal failure, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The most used therapies were blood transfusions, immunosuppressive, and steroid. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation was also practiced. At present, the therapy of choice is eculizumab (Soliris, Alexion Pharmaceuticals), a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks activation of the terminal complement at C5. The limiting factor for this therapy is breakthrough hemolysis and the frequent dosing schedule. Ravulizumab (ALXN1210) is the second generation terminal compliment inhibitor which seems to provide a sustained control of hemolysis without breakthrough hemolysis and with a longer dosing interval.

Safety and efficacy of rituximab plus bendamustine in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients: an Italian retrospective multicenter study.

Relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not suitable for high dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has a dismal prognosis and no standard therapy. We designed an Italian multicenter retrospective study aimed at evaluating the safety and efficacy of rituximab plus bendamustine (R-B) as salvage treatment in patients not eligible for ASCT because of age and/or comorbidity or in patients with post-ASCT recurrence. Fifty-five patients with a median age of 76 years were included. The overall response rate was 50%, including 28% complete remission and 22% partial remission. The median overall survival (OS) was 10.8 months. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 8.8 months. Eleven patients are still alive and in complete remission at last follow-up (12-71 months). Toxicity was moderate, mainly grades 1 and 2. R-B showed promising efficacy results with an acceptable toxicity profile and should be further investigated, possibly in combination with novel drugs.

Staging of Primary Abdominal Lymphomas: Comparison of Whole-Body MRI with Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and (18)F-FDG-PET/CT.

Background. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of whole-body MRI with diffusion-weighted sequences (WB-DW-MRI) with that of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in the staging of patients with primary gastrointestinal lymphoma. Methods. This retrospective study involved 17 untreated patients with primary abdominal gastrointestinal lymphoma. All patients underwent (18)F-FDG-PET/CT and WB-DW-MRI. Histopathology findings or at least 6 months of clinical and radiological follow-up was the gold standard. The Musshoff-modified Ann Arbor system was used for staging, and diagnostic accuracy was evaluated on a per-node basis. Results. WB-DW-MRI exhibited 100% sensitivity, 96.3% specificity, and 96.1% and 100% positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and PPV and NPV of PET/CT were 95.9%, 100%, and 100% and 96.4%, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the two techniques (p = 0.05). The weighted kappa agreement statistics with a 95% confidence interval were 0.97 (0.95-0.99) between the two MRI readers and 0.87 (0.82-0.92) between the two methods. Conclusions. WB-DW-MRI appears to have a comparable diagnostic value to (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in staging patients with gastrointestinal lymphoma.

Pomalidomide, cyclophosphamide, and prednisone for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: a multicenter phase 1/2 open-label study.

We performed a phase 1/2 trial to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of pomalidomide and to explore its efficacy when combined with cyclophosphamide-prednisone in relapsed/refractory myeloma patients. Pomalidomide was given at 1 to 2.5 mg/d, cyclophosphamide at 50 mg every other day, prednisone at 50 mg every other day, for 6 28-day cycles, followed by pomalidomide-prednisone maintenance therapy. Thromboprophylaxis was recommended. Sixty-nine patients were enrolled, 55 received the MTD (2.5 mg/d) and were evaluated. Best responses included complete response in 3 patients (5%), very good partial response in 10 (18%), partial response in 15 (27%), minimal response in 11 (20%), stable disease in 15 (27%), and progressive disease in 1 (3%), for an overall response rate of 51%. The median time-to-response was 1.83 months. After a median follow-up of 14.8 months, median progression-free survival was 10.4 months and 1-year overall survival was 69%. At the MTD, grade 3 to 4 toxicities included anemia (9%), thrombocytopenia (11%), neutropenia (42%), neurologic events (7%), dermatologic events (7%), and thromboembolism (2%). Grade 3 to 5 infections occurred in 5 patients (9%). Five patients (9%) discontinued treatment for toxicity. New grade 3 to 4 adverse events were low during maintenance. Pomalidomide-cyclophosphamide-prednisone is safe and effective in relapsed/refractory myeloma patients. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01166113.

Azacitidine for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia: report of 82 patients enrolled in an Italian Compassionate Program.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of azacitidine for the treatment of high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes has prompted the issue of its potential role even in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: The authors analyzed 82 patients with AML who were diagnosed according to World Health Organization criteria. The median patient age was 72 years (range, 29-87 years), and 27 patients (33%) had secondary AML. Of 62 patients with evaluable cytogenetics, 18 patients (29%) had a poor-risk karyotype, and 44 patients (71%) had an intermediate karyotype. Thirty-five patients (43%) received azacitidine as front-line treatment, and 47 patients (57%) had previously received 1 or more line of chemotherapy. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 32% (26 of 82 patients) and included 12 (15%) complete remissions (CRs), 4 (5%) CRs with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi), and 10 (12%) partial responses (PRs). Responses were observed more frequently among untreated patients compared with pretreated patients; in fact, 17 of 35 untreated patients (48%) responded, including 11 responses (31%) classified as CR/CRi. Conversely, only 9 of 47 pretreated patients (19%) responded, including 5 responses (11%) that were classified as CR/Cri. The response rate was significantly higher for untreated patients (P = .006) and those who had white blood cell counts <10 × 10(9) /L (P = .006). For untreated patients who achieved a response, the median overall response duration was 13 months, and the 1-year and 2-years overall survival rates were 58% and 24%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicated that azacitidine promises to be an effective therapy for elderly patients with untreated AML and with white blood cell counts <10 × 10(9) /L.

Atypical Takotsubo syndrome during anagrelide therapy.

Anagrelide is a phosphodiesterase III inhibitor utilized in the treatment of essential thrombocythemia. Anagrelide can be responsible for positive inotropic and chonotropic activity of the cardiovascular system. Moreover, it can induce vasospam directly on the epicardial coronary arteries. In the literature, it is well reported that this inhibitor can determine serious cardiovascular side effects, including congestive heart failure, arrhythmia and acute coronary syndrome. We describe the case of a 75-year-old woman who developed a mid-ventricular Takotsubo syndrome while on anagrelide therapy. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as left ventricular ballooning syndrome, is characterized by a reversible ventricular contractile dysfunction with akinesis and expansion of apical segments and hyperkinesis of the basal segments. Recently, atypical cases with akinesia and dilation of mid-ventricular segment and hypercontraction of the apical segments, also called mid-ventricular and inverted Takotsubo syndrome, have been described. Even though the pathogenesis of Takotsubo syndrome is poorly understood, several mechanisms have been proposed, including catecholamine-induced myocardial stunning, and ischemia-mediated stunning due to multivessel epicardial or microvascular spasm. We think that in our case, the adverse response of anagrelide therapy was determined, by accumulated dosage of the drug, through an intensive inotropic stimulation and a sympathetic hyperactivation in a vulnerable myocardium. To our knowledge, this is one of the first reports of an association between anagrelide therapy and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Creating space for large secondary alcohols by rational redesign of Candida antarctica lipase B.

The active site of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) hosts the catalytic triad (Ser-His-Asp), an oxyanion hole and a stereospecificity pocket. During catalysis, the fast-reacting enantiomer of secondary alcohols places its medium-sized substituent in the stereospecificity pocket and its large substituent towards the active-site entrance. The largest group to fit comfortably in the stereospecificity pocket is ethyl, and this restricts the number of secondary alcohols that are good substrates for CALB. In order to overcome this limitation, the size of the stereospecificity pocket was redesigned by changing Trp104. The substrate specificity of the Trp104Ala mutant compared to that of the wild-type lipase increased 270 times towards heptan-4-ol and 5500 times towards nonan-5-ol; this resulted in the high specificity constants 1100 and 830 s(-1) M(-1), respectively. The substrate selectivity changed over 400,000 times for nonan-5-ol over propan-2-ol with both Trp104Ala and the Trp104Gln mutations.

Pericardial metastases in a long-surviving patient with sigmoid carcinoma.

Cardiac metastases are rare in patients affected by colorectal cancer. This is the case of a woman who underwent a colon resection because of a metastatic sigmoid carcinoma, that survived for more than 6 years and died for malignant pericardial effusion.

Two cases of secondary soft tissue sarcomas after radiotherapy and radiochemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: The development of secondary soft tissue sarcomas after chemo-radiotherapy is a rare and little known event, but its frequency is increasing. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We report two cases of secondary soft tissue sarcomas. The first is the case of a 51-year-old woman treated for Hodgkin's disease with chemotherapy and radiotherapy 15 years before she developed a high-grade malignant pleural sarcoma. The patient had no history of asbestos exposure. The second is the case of a 64-year-old woman with a giant cell malignant histiocytoma secondary to colorectal cancer treated with surgery and radiotherapy nine years before. The patients were not eligible for surgery or radiotherapy. Both were treated with chemotherapy (ifosfamide and epirubicin) without any relevant secondary effects; however, the response to therapy was poor. CONCLUSIONS: The causes of secondary malignancies are multifactorial, but radiation therapy and chemotherapy are certainly implicated in the development of post-therapy neoplasms that are difficult to treat.