Huang, Mo

AbstractPreclinical data demonstrated that combining an anti–programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor with a cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) inhibitor provided enhanced antitumor activity with no significant toxicities, suggesting this combination may be a potential therapeutic option. The multicohort, phase 1 KEYNOTE-155 study evaluated the safety and antitumor activity of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab plus the CDK9 inhibitor dinaciclib in patients with relapsed or refractory (rr) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and multiple myeloma (MM). Patients enrolled were ≥18 years of age with a confirmed diagnosis of CLL, DLBCL, or MM. The study included 2 phases: a dose-evaluation phase to determine dose-limiting toxicities and a signal-detection phase. Patients received pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks plus dinaciclib 7 mg/m2 on day 1 and 10 mg/m2 on day 8 of cycle 1 and 14 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 of cycles 2 and later. Primary endpoint was safety, and a key secondary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Seventy-two patients were enrolled and received ≥1 dose of study treatment (CLL, n = 17; DLBCL, n = 38; MM, n = 17). Pembrolizumab plus dinaciclib was generally well tolerated and produced no unexpected toxicities. The ORRs were 29.4% (5/17, rrCLL), 21.1% (8/38, rrDLBCL), and 0% (0/17, rrMM), respectively. At data cutoff, all 72 patients had discontinued treatment, 38 (52.8%) because of progressive disease. These findings demonstrate activity with combination pembrolizumab plus dinaciclib and suggest that a careful and comprehensive approach to explore anti–PD-1 and CDK9 inhibitor combinations is warranted. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02684617.

Background:A.R.R.O.W. demonstrated superior progression‐free survival (PFS) with once‐weekly carfilzomib (K, 70 mg/m2) and dexamethasone (Kd70) vs twice‐weekly K (27 mg/m2) and dexamethasone (Kd27) in relapsed and refractory (RRMM) patients (pts), regardless of age. For a comprehensive measure of fitness, frailty scales were developed incorporating age, comorbidities, and functional status (Palumbo Blood 2015;125:2068–74; Facon Blood 2015;126:4239).Aims:Here, we assessed post‐hoc pt outcomes by frailty status.Methods:PFS and safety were assessed by treatment arm and a frailty algorithm which incorporated age, Charlson Comorbidity Index derived from medical history, and ECOG performance status; pts with frailty scores of 0, 1, or ≥2 were classified as fit, intermediate, or frail, respectively. PFS was assessed using the Kaplan‐Meier method. Safety was assessed in pts who received ≥1 treatment dose.Results:The distribution of pts by frailty status was generally balanced between treatment arms (Table). Once‐weekly Kd70 vs twice‐weekly Kd27 resulted in median PFS for fit, intermediate, and frail pts of 15.7 vs 5.7 months (hazard ratio [HR] 0.53 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.33–0.86]), 11.1 vs 7.7 months (HR 0.81 [95% CI, 0.55–1.19]), and 10.3 vs 6.6 months (HR 0.76 [95% CI, 0.49–1.16]), respectively.Rates of grade ≥3 treatment‐emergent adverse events (TEAEs) of interest were similar between treatment arms across frailty subgroups (Table). In the once‐weekly Kd70 subgroups, there was no grade ≥3 peripheral neuropathy and grade ≥3 cardiac failure rates were ≤4%.Summary/Conclusion:Once‐weekly Kd70 resulted in PFS benefits vs twice‐weekly Kd27, regardless of frailty level. These results support weekly Kd70 as a treatment option for fit and frail RRMM pts.image