Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Serologic and Cellular Study.

BACKGROUND: Antibody response following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is somewhat defective in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Moreover, the correlation between serologic response and status of cellular immunity has been poorly studied. OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to assess humoral immune and cellular responses to the BNT162b2 messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccination in CLL. METHODS: The presence of the spike antibodies was assessed at a median time of 14 days from the second vaccine dose of SARS-CoV-2 in 70 CLL patients followed up at a single institution. RESULTS: The antibody response rate (RR) in CLL patients was 58.5%, compared to 100% of 57 healthy controls of the same sex and age (p < 0.0001). Treatment-naïve patients and those in sustained clinical remission after therapy had the highest RR (87.0% and 87.7%, respectively). In contrast, patients on therapy with a pathway inhibitor as monotherapy and those treated with an association of anti-CD20 antibody were unlikely to respond to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (52% and 10%, respectively). In multivariate analysis, early Rai stage (OR, 0.19 [0.05-0.79]; p = 0.02) and no previous therapy (OR, 0.06 [0.02-0.27]; p < 0.0001) were found to be independent predictors of vaccination response. An increase in absolute NK cells (i.e., CD16/CD56 positive cells) in patients with a serological response was found following the second dose of vaccine (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm that serological response to the BNT162b2 vaccine in patients with CLL is impaired. A third boosting vaccine dosage should be considered for these patients.

A prognostic algorithm including a modified version of MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) score predicts time to first treatment of patients with clinical monoclonal lymphocytosis (cMBL)/Rai stage 0 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

We propose an algorithm based on a slightly modified version of MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) score (i.e., mutational status of IgVH, LDH, presence of high-risk FISH abnormalities), ß2-microglobulin and separation of clinical monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (cMBL) from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) to predict time to first treatment (TTFT) of a prospective multicentre cohort including 83 cMBL and 136 CLL Rai stage 0 patients. Patients with MDACC score point ≥38, at any level of ß2-microglobulin and irrespective of whether they fulfilled 2008 International Workshop on CLL (IWCLL) criteria for CLL Rai stage 0 or cMBL, experienced the worst clinical outcome (5-year TTFT, 24%) and formed the high-risk group. In contrast, subjects with a diagnosis of cMBL, MDACC score point <38 and ß2-microglobulin ≤ UNL had the best clinical outcome (5-year TTFT, 100%) and constituted the low-risk group. The intermediate group included patients in Rai stage 0, MDACC score point <38, and any level of ß2-microglobulin, and patients with cMBL, MDACC score point <38, and ß2-microglobulin ≥ UNL. Cases showing these features can be grouped together to form the intermediate-risk group (5-year TTFT, 65%). Although the separation between cMBL and Rai stage 0, as proposed by the 2008 IWCLL guidelines, has clinical implications, the model we propose may help to classify patients with cMBL and Rai stage 0 into more precise subgroups suggesting that a prognostic separation of these entities based solely on clonal B-cell threshold may be unsatisfactory.

Changes in the incidence, pattern of presentation and clinical outcome of early chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients using the 2008 International Workshop on CLL guidelines.

OBJECTIVES: Before 2008, diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) relied on 1996 National Cancer Institute Working Group criteria which required an absolute lymphocyte count of 5.0 × 10(9)/l or higher. The up-dated 2008 International Workshop on CLL (IWCLL) guidelines recommend using the B-cell count as a basis for the diagnosis of CLL and indicate a B-cell threshold of 5.0 × 10(9)/l. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of these changes on the pattern of presentation and clinical outcome of early CLL. METHODS: For this purpose we analysed 414 patients with previously untreated, Binet stage A CLL diagnosed between January 2006 and December 2010 and registered prospectively at a national database. RESULTS: After patients were reclassified according to updated 2008 IWCLL guidelines, 130 Rai stage 0 CLL patients were reclassifed as clinical monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis, resulting in a 31.4% decrease (from 414 to 284) in the diagnosis of early stage CLL. Moreover, a shift towards a more advanced Rai clinical stage under 2008 IWCLL criteria was observed. Finally, the estimated 3-year time to first treatment decreased from 77.2 to 69.9% according to whether 1996 National Cancer Institute Working Group criteria or 2008 IWCLL criteria were used. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the 2008 IWCLL guidelines modify the distribution of Rai stage at diagnosis and shorten the time to first treatment in early CLL patients. We expect that these changes might be considered in the interpretation of epidemiologic studies in CLL and in designing clinical trials of early therapeutic intervention in patients with asymptomatic CLL.