Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies in haematological patients paucisymptomatic for COVID-19: The GIMEMA EMATO-0321 study.

COVID-19 continues to be a relevant issue among patients with haematological malignancies (HM). Vaccines are frequently not effective in subjects on active treatment. In this multicentre retrospective study of Gruppo Italiano Malattie EMatologiche dell'Adulto (GIMEMA), we collected data from 91 paucisymptomatic HM patients treated with anti-spike neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (nMoAbs) to determine time to viral clearance, referencing it to the expected value of 28 days from an historical group of untreated paucisymptomatic patients. Secondary endpoints included rate of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, COVID-19 related death and safety. SARS-CoV-2 molecular swab negativity was obtained in 86 patients (95%), with a median time of 18 days (IQR 13-26; p < 0.0001). We did not find significant variations according to age, diagnosis, treatment type, vaccination status or nMoAbs type. Rate of hospitalization due to COVID-19 progression was 12% (11/91), with 2 patients (2.2%) requiring ICU admission. With a median follow-up of 2.33 months, the overall mortality was 5.5% (5/91), with 3 deaths due to COVID-19. Side effects were rare and self-limiting. Our data suggest that nMoAbs can limit the detrimental effect of immunosuppressive treatments on COVID-19 clinical progression and time to viral clearance. The original trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT04932967.

Secondary infections worsen the outcome of COVID-19 in patients with hematological malignancies: A report from the ITA-HEMA-COV.

The impact of secondary infections (SI) on COVID-19 outcome in patients with hematological malignancies (HM) is scarcely documented. To evaluate incidence, clinical characteristics, and outcome of SI, we analyzed the microbiologically documented SI in a large multicenter cohort of adult HM patients with COVID-19. Among 1741 HM patients with COVID-19, 134 (7.7%) had 185 SI, with a 1-month cumulative incidence of 5%. Median time between COVID-19 diagnosis and SI was 16 days (IQR: 5-36). Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and lymphoma/plasma cell neoplasms (PCN) were more frequent diagnoses in SI patients compared to patients without SI (AML: 14.9% vs. 7.1%; lymphoma/PCN 71.7% vs. 65.3%). Patients with SI were older (median age 70 vs. 66 years, p = 0.002), with more comorbidities (median Charlson Comorbidity Index 5 vs. 4, p < 0.001), higher frequency of critical COVID-19 (19.5% vs. 11.5%, p = 0.046), and more frequently not in complete remission (75% vs. 64.7% p = 0.024). Blood and bronchoalveolar lavage were the main sites of isolation for SI. Etiology of infections was bacterial in 80% (n = 148) of cases, mycotic in 9.7% (n = 18) and viral in 10.3% (n = 19); polymicrobial infections were observed in 24 patients (18%). Escherichia coli represented most of Gram-negative isolates (18.9%), while coagulase-negative Staphylococci were the most frequent among Gram-positive (14.2%). The 30-day mortality of patients with SI was higher when compared to patients without SI (69% vs. 15%, p < 0.001). The occurrence of SI worsened COVID-19 outcome in HM patients. Timely diagnosis and adequate management should be considered to improve their prognosis.

Carfilzomib, bendamustine, and dexamethasone in patients with advanced multiple myeloma: The EMN09 phase 1/2 study of the European Myeloma Network.

BACKGROUND: Combined therapy with carfilzomib, bendamustine, and dexamethasone was evaluated in this multicenter phase 1/2 trial conducted within the European Myeloma Network (EMN09 trial). METHODS: Sixty-three patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who had received ≥2 lines of prior therapy were included. The phase 1 portion of the study determined the maximum tolerated dose of carfilzomib with bendamustine set at 70 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8. After 8 cycles, responding patients received maintenance therapy with carfilzomib and dexamethasone until progression. RESULTS: On the basis of the phase 1 results, the recommended phase 2 dose for carfilzomib was 27 mg/m2 twice weekly in weeks 1, 2, and 3. Fifty-two percent of patients achieved a partial response or better, and 32% reached a very good partial response or better. The clinical benefit rate was 93%. After a median follow-up of 21.9 months, the median progression-free survival was 11.6 months, and the median overall survival was 30.4 months. The reported grade ≥3 hematologic adverse events (AEs) were lymphopenia (29%), neutropenia (25%), and thrombocytopenia (22%). The main nonhematologic grade ≥3 AEs were pneumonia, thromboembolic events (10%), cardiac AEs (8%), and hypertension (2%). CONCLUSIONS: In heavily pretreated patients who have relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, combined carfilzomib, bendamustine, and dexamethasone is an effective treatment option administered in the outpatient setting. Infection prophylaxis and attention to patients with cardiovascular predisposition are required.

COVID-19 elicits an impaired antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with haematological malignancies.

COVID-19 is associated with high mortality in patients with haematological malignancies (HM) and rate of seroconversion is unknown. The ITA-HEMA-COV project (NCT04352556) investigated patterns of seroconversion for SARS-CoV-2 IgG in patients with HMs. A total of 237 patients, SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive with at least one SARS-CoV-2 IgG test performed during their care, entered the analysis. Among these, 62 (26·2%) had myeloid, 121 (51·1%) lymphoid and 54 (22·8%) plasma cell neoplasms. Overall, 69% of patients (164 of 237) had detectable IgG SARS-CoV-2 serum antibodies. Serologically negative patients (31%, 73 of 237) were evenly distributed across patients with myeloid, lymphoid and plasma cell neoplasms. In the multivariable logistic regression, chemoimmunotherapy [odds ratio (OR), 3·42; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1·04-11·21; P = 0·04] was associated with a lower rate of seroconversion. This effect did not decline after 180 days from treatment withdrawal (OR, 0·35; 95% CI: 0·11-1·13; P = 0·08). This study demonstrates a low rate of seroconversion in HM patients and indicates that treatment-mediated immune dysfunction is the main driver. As a consequence, we expect a low rate of seroconversion after vaccination and thus we suggest testing the efficacy of seroconversion in HM patients.

Cardiovascular adverse events in modern myeloma therapy - Incidence and risks. A review from the European Myeloma Network (EMN) and Italian Society of Arterial Hypertension (SIIA).

Cardiovascular disease in patients with multiple myeloma may derive from factors unrelated to the disease (age, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, prior cardiovascular diseases), related to the disease (cardiac AL-amyloidosis, hyperviscosity, high-output failure, arteriovenous shunting, anemia, renal dysfunction) and/or related to anti-myeloma treatment (anthracyclines, corticosteroids, alkylating agents, immunomodulatory drugs, proteasome inhibitors). Good knowledge of cardiovascular events, effective dose reductions, prevention and management of early and late cardiovascular side effects of chemotherapeutic agents are essential in current clinical practice. Myeloma experts are obliged to carefully balance the efficacy and toxicity of drugs for each individual patient. This review summarizes current data and novel insights into cardiovascular adverse events of today's anti-myeloma treatment, focusing on carfilzomib, as a starting point for developing consensus recommendations on preventing and managing cardiovascular side effects in patients with multiple myeloma.

A prognostic model for patients with lymphoma and COVID-19: a multicentre cohort study.

Lymphoma represents a heterogeneous hematological malignancy (HM), which is characterized by severe immunosuppression. Patients diagnosed of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the course of HM have been described to have poor outcome, with only few reports specifically addressing lymphoma patients. Here, we investigated the clinical behavior and clinical parameters of a large multicenter cohort of adult patients with different lymphoma subtypes, with the aim of identifying predictors of death. The study included 856 patients, of whom 619 were enrolled prospectively in a 1-year frame and were followed-up for a median of 66 days (range 1-395). Patients were managed as outpatient (not-admitted cohort, n = 388) or required hospitalization (n = 468), and median age was 63 years (range 19-94). Overall, the 30- and 100-days mortality was 13% (95% confidence interval (CI), 11% to 15%) and 23% (95% CI, 20% to 27%), respectively. Antilymphoma treatment, including anti-CD20 containing regimens, did not impact survival. Patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma had the more favorable survival, but this was partly related to significantly younger age. The time interval between lymphoma diagnosis and COVID-19 was inversely related to mortality. Multivariable analysis recognized 4 easy-to-use factors (age, gender, lymphocyte, and platelet count) that were associated with risk of death, both in the admitted and in the not-admitted cohort (HR 3.79 and 8.85 for the intermediate- and high-risk group, respectively). Overall, our study shows that patients should not be deprived of the best available treatment of their underlying disease and indicates which patients are at higher risk of death. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04352556.

Effects of Carfilzomib Therapy on Left Ventricular Function in Multiple Myeloma Patients.

Background: Carfilzomib improves the prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM) patients but significantly increases cardiovascular toxicity. The timing and effect of Carfilzomib therapy on the left ventricular function is still under investigation. We sought to assess the echocardiographic systo-diastolic changes, including global longitudinal strain (GLS), in patients treated with Carfilzomib and to identify predictors of increased risk of cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) during therapy. Methods: Eighty-eight patients with MM performed a baseline cardiovascular evaluation comprehensive of transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) before the start of Carfilzomib therapy and after 6 months. All patients were clinically followed up to early identify the occurrence of CVAEs during the whole therapy duration. Results: After Carfilzomib treatment, mean GLS slightly decreased (-22.2% ± 2.6 vs. -21.3% ± 2.5; p < 0.001). Fifty-eight percent of patients experienced CVAEs during therapy: 71% of them had uncontrolled hypertension, and 29% had major CVAEs or CV events not related to arterial hypertension. GLS variation during therapy was not related to an increased risk of CVAEs; however, patients with baseline GLS ≥ -21% and/or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 60% had a greater risk of major CVAEs (OR = 6.2, p = 0.004; OR = 3.7, p = 0.04, respectively). Carfilzomib led to a higher risk of diastolic dysfunction (5.6 vs. 13.4%, p = 0.04) and to a rise in E/e' ratio (8.9 ± 2.7 vs. 9.7 ± 3.7; p = 0.006). Conclusion: Carfilzomib leads to early LV function impairment early demonstrated by GLS changes and diastolic dysfunction. Baseline echocardiographic parameters, especially GLS and LVEF, might improve cardiovascular risk stratification before treatment.

Multiple Myeloma Patients Undergoing Carfilzomib: Development and Validation of a Risk Score for Cardiovascular Adverse Events Prediction.

Cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) are linked to Carfilzomib (CFZ) therapy in multiple myeloma (MM); however, no validated protocols on cardiovascular risk assessment are available. In this prospective study, the effectiveness of the European Myeloma Network protocol (EMN) in cardiovascular risk assessment was investigated, identifying major predictors of CVAEs. From January 2015 to March 2020, 116 MM patients who had indication for CFZ therapy underwent a baseline evaluation (including blood pressure measurements, echocardiography and arterial stiffness estimation) and were prospectively followed. The median age was 64.53 ± 8.42 years old, 56% male. Five baseline independent predictors of CVAEs were identified: office systolic blood pressure, 24-h blood pressure variability, left ventricular hypertrophy, pulse wave velocity value and global longitudinal strain. The resulting 'CVAEs risk score' distinguished a low- and a high-risk group, obtaining a negative predicting value for the high-risk group of 90%. 52 patients (44.9%) experienced one or more CVAEs: 17 (14.7%) had major and 45 (38.7%) had hypertension-related events. In conclusion, CVAEs are frequent and a specific management protocol is crucial. The EMN protocol and the risk score proved to be useful to estimate the baseline risk for CVAEs during CFZ therapy, allowing the identification of higher-risk patients.

Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with COVID-19 severity in patients with haematological malignancies in Italy: a retrospective, multicentre, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Several small studies on patients with COVID-19 and haematological malignancies are available showing a high mortality in this population. The Italian Hematology Alliance on COVID-19 aimed to collect data from adult patients with haematological malignancies who required hospitalisation for COVID-19. METHODS: This multicentre, retrospective, cohort study included adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with diagnosis of a WHO-defined haematological malignancy admitted to 66 Italian hospitals between Feb 25 and May 18, 2020, with laboratory-confirmed and symptomatic COVID-19. Data cutoff for this analysis was June 22, 2020. The primary outcome was mortality and evaluation of potential predictive parameters of mortality. We calculated standardised mortality ratios between observed death in the study cohort and expected death by applying stratum-specific mortality rates of the Italian population with COVID-19 and an Italian cohort of 31 993 patients with haematological malignancies without COVID-19 (data up to March 1, 2019). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify factors associated with overall survival. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04352556, and the prospective part of the study is ongoing. FINDINGS: We enrolled 536 patients with a median follow-up of 20 days (IQR 10-34) at data cutoff, 85 (16%) of whom were managed as outpatients. 440 (98%) of 451 hospitalised patients completed their hospital course (were either discharged alive or died). 198 (37%) of 536 patients died. When compared with the general Italian population with COVID-19, the standardised mortality ratio was 2·04 (95% CI 1·77-2·34) in our whole study cohort and 3·72 (2·86-4·64) in individuals younger than 70 years. When compared with the non-COVID-19 cohort with haematological malignancies, the standardised mortality ratio was 41·3 (38·1-44·9). Older age (hazard ratio 1·03, 95% CI 1·01-1·05); progressive disease status (2·10, 1·41-3·12); diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (3·49, 1·56-7·81), indolent non-Hodgin lymphoma (2·19, 1·07-4·48), aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (2·56, 1·34-4·89), or plasma cell neoplasms (2·48, 1·31-4·69), and severe or critical COVID-19 (4·08, 2·73-6·09) were associated with worse overall survival. INTERPRETATION: This study adds to the evidence that patients with haematological malignancies have worse outcomes than both the general population with COVID-19 and patients with haematological malignancies without COVID-19. The high mortality among patients with haematological malignancies hospitalised with COVID-19 highlights the need for aggressive infection prevention strategies, at least until effective vaccination or treatment strategies are available. FUNDING: Associazione italiana contro le leucemie, linfomi e mieloma-Varese Onlus.

Efficacy of Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab as Immunoprophylaxis in Patients With Hematologic Cancer.

This cohort study compares outcomes for patients with hematologic malignant tumors who prophylactically received tixagevimab-cilgavimab against SARS-CoV-2 with those who did not.

Cardiovascular Organ Damage and Blood Pressure Levels Predict Adverse Events in Multiple Myeloma Patients Undergoing Carfilzomib Therapy.

Carfilzomib is a second-generation proteasome inhibitor approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). It seems to determine cardiovascular toxicity, primarily arterial hypertension. No predictive factors for cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) are known in patients affected by multiple myeloma treated with carfilzomib. We evaluated the role of cardiovascular organ damage parameters to predict CVAEs in MM patients taking carfilzomib. Seventy patients affected by MM were prospectively enrolled. A comprehensive cardiovascular evaluation was performed before carfilzomib therapy; they underwent a transthoracic echocardiogram and the assessment of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. All the patients were followed up (FU) to determine the incidence of CVAEs. The mean age was 60.3 ± 8.2, and 51% were male. The median FU was 9.3 (4.3; 20.4) months. A proportion of 33% experienced CVAEs, 91% of them had uncontrolled hypertension, 4.5% acute coronary syndrome, and 4.5% cardiac arrhythmias. Subjects with CVAEs after carfilzomib treatment had significantly higher blood pressure values, left ventricular mass (98 ± 23 vs. 85 ± 17 g/m2, p = 0.01), and pulse wave velocity (8.5 ± 1.7 vs. 7.5 ± 1.6 m/s, p = 0.02) at baseline evaluation compared to the others. Furthermore, baseline uncontrolled blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy, and pulse wave velocity ≥ 9 m/s were able to identify patients at higher risk of developing CVAEs during FU. These preliminary findings indicate that blood pressure control, left ventricular mass, and pulse wave velocity may predict CVAEs in MM patients treated with carfilzomib.

Pharmacokinetic drug evaluation of ixazomib citrate for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

INTRODUCTION: multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell disorder that represents the second most frequent hematologic cancer. Although MM is still an incurable disease, prognosis has improved in the last decades thanks to the introduction of novel agents such as proteasome inhibitors (PIs), immunomodulatory drugs, monoclonal antibodies, and histone deacetylase inhibitors. Areas covered: ixazomib is the first oral PI recently approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicine Agency (EMA) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone as salvage therapy in MM patients. In this paper, we focus on its pharmacokinetics features, as well as its safety and efficacy in clinical studies. Expert opinion: ixazomib can be considered an oral analogue of bortezomib, with 9.5-day half-life, 58% of oral bioavailability, and a large distribution volume of 543L. These features make it a versatile molecule, potentially useful both in combination and as single agent. Oral route of administration and good efficacy/safety profile are its winning characteristics, providing the rationale for a future role also in the maintenance setting.

Determining treatment intensity in elderly patients with multiple myeloma.

INTRODUCTION: In the majority of cases, multiple myeloma is a disease occurring in elderly patients. In the last decades, a major improvement in myeloma patients' outcome has been achieved with the introduction of several new drugs. However, this positive outcome was less likely to occur in elderly patients. Areas covered: An overall increase of myeloma cases in elderly patients is expected in the next years. This patient population is highly heterogeneous in terms of physiological functions and ability to resist stressing conditions such as myeloma and its treatment. While physicians cannot prevent the stress arising from the disease itself, the intensity of therapeutic approaches can be tuned according to patients' predicted tolerance. In this review, we focus on the assessment of patients' fitness and on available significant data on treatment efficacy and tolerability in elderly patients. Expert commentary: Fit, elderly patients should undergo full-dose therapy to maximize the depth of response, while intermediate and frail patients benefit from reduced-dose regimens in order to avoid toxicity and preserve quality of life. Ongoing trials will provide further evidence to individualize treatment on the basis of geriatric assessment and disease characteristics.

Management of adverse events induced by next-generation immunomodulatory drug and proteasome inhibitors in multiple myeloma.

INTRODUCTION: In the last decade the introduction of novel agents has strongly improved multiple myeloma prognosis by doubling median overall survival. Unfortunately disease relapse is very common and patients may become refractory to previous drugs. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Areas covered: We have reviewed the available data on next generation novel agents, particularly immunomodulatory drug pomalidomide and proteasome inhibitors carfilzomib and ixazomib, the latter being the first-in-class orally available. We focused on adverse events associated with such agents and described how they should be managed. The main grade ≥3 adverse events correlated with these drugs are hematologic, myelosuppression-related and reversible; non-hematologic grade ≥3 toxicities are less frequent, with an incidence of <10%. Expert commentary: These agents showed to have a good tolerability. The great majority of adverse events are easily manageable with dose-adjustment and appropriate treatment, and drug discontinuation is not frequent. Favorable safety profile and high efficacy, especially in combination, confer to these drugs a central role in development of new lines of therapy against multiple myeloma. Further investigation is certainly needed to determine the best combinations including these agents.

Melphalan hydrochloride for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

INTRODUCTION: Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable disease characterized by clonal plasma cell proliferation and overproduction of monoclonal paraprotein, hypercalcemia, renal failure, anemia, osteolytic bone lesions, and infections. Melphalan, a nitrogen mustard, is an alkylating agent synthesized in 1953, and it has been used in multiple myeloma therapy for fifty years. Although novel agents have been introduced in the past few decades improving prognosis of the disease, melphalan still maintains a crucial role in the treatment of MM acting both as cytotoxic agent through damage to DNA, and as immunostimulatory drug by inhibiting Interleukin-6, as well as interaction with dendritic cells, and immunogenic effects in tumor microenvironment. Areas covered: This review focuses on available data about melphalan pharmacology and its role in clinical practice. Expert opinion: Melphalan remains crucial in therapy of multiple myeloma because of its good manageability, safety profile, efficacy, and economic sustainability. These characteristics make it pivotal also for new regimens in combination with novel agents.

Novel investigational drugs active as single agents in multiple myeloma.

INTRODUCTION: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by proliferation of malignant plasma cells. patient outcome has improved markedly over the last decades due to the introduction of novel therapeutic agents such as bortezomib, thalidomide and lenalidomide. However, MM still remains largely incurable and patients eventually become refractory to available treatments. To address this unmet medical need, a variety of new molecules are currently being developed in preclinical models and/or are being investigated in clinical studies. Areas covered: We summarized available data on new investigational drugs showing anti-myeloma single-agent activity and that might have a role in the future therapeutic armamentarium against MM. Besides their single-agent activity, the synergic potential of these new agents with the currently approved drugs will be pivotal in their integration into consolidated MM backbone therapies. The drugs discussed include alkylators, new proteasome inhibitors, novel anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies, Bcl-2 inhibitors, Cyclin-Dependent-Kinase inhibitor, Kinesin-spindle protein inhibitors, MEK1/2 inhibitors, AKT inhibitors and PIM-Kinase inhibitors. Expert opinion: Isatuximab, oprozomib, melflufen, venetoclax and filanesib seem to be the most promising agents with single agent activity. Nevertheless, lack of clinical activity as single agent does not imply clinical inefficacy in combination treatments.

Strategy for the treatment of multiple myeloma utilizing monoclonal antibodies: A new era begins.

Novel agents, such as immunomodulantory drugs (IMiDs) and proteasome inhibitors (PI), have significantly improved overall survival of multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Yet, MM remains an incurable disease, relapse inevitably occurs and patients tend to become resistant to subsequent treatments. This led to the evaluation of new treatment strategies. The recent development of monoclonal antibodies is changing the treatment algorithm of MM by increasing the therapeutic armamentarium. Elotuzumab and Daratumumab were shown to be very effective and are likely to be soon approved by the FDA. Other antibodies are in pre-clinical or early clinical phases of evaluation and further investigation and more robust data are needed. This review will give an overview of the most active monoclonal antibodies against MM.