Winick, Naomi Joan

PURPOSE Although cure rates for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) exceed 90%, ALL remains a leading cause of cancer death in children. Half of relapses arise in children initially classified with standard-risk (SR) disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS To identify genomic determinants of relapse in children with SR ALL, we performed genome and transcriptome sequencing of diagnostic and remission samples of children with SR (n = 1,381) or high-risk B-ALL with favorable cytogenetic features (n = 115) enrolled on Children's Oncology Group trials. We used a case-control study design analyzing 439 patients who relapsed and 1,057 who remained in complete remission for at least 5 years. RESULTS Genomic subtype was associated with relapse, which occurred in approximately 50% of cases of PAX5 -altered ALL (odds ratio [OR], 3.31 [95% CI, 2.17 to 5.03]; P = 3.18 × 10 –8 ). Within high-hyperdiploid ALL, gain of chromosome 10 with disomy of chromosome 7 was associated with favorable outcome (OR, 0.27 [95% CI, 0.17 to 0.42]; P = 8.02 × 10 –10 ; St Jude Children's Research Hospital validation cohort: OR, 0.22 [95% CI, 0.05 to 0.80]; P = .009), and disomy of chromosomes 10 and 17 with gain of chromosome 6 was associated with relapse (OR, 7.16 [95% CI, 2.63 to 21.51]; P = 2.19 × 10 –5 ; validation cohort: OR, 21.32 [95% CI, 3.62 to 119.30]; P = .0004). Genomic alterations were associated with relapse in a subtype-dependent manner, including alterations of INO80 in ETV6::RUNX1 ALL, IKZF1 , and CREBBP in high-hyperdiploid ALL and FHIT in BCR::ABL1 -like ALL. Genomic alterations were also associated with the presence of minimal residual disease, including NRAS and CREBBP in high-hyperdiploid ALL. CONCLUSION Genetic subtype, patterns of aneuploidy, and secondary genomic alterations determine risk of relapse in childhood ALL. Comprehensive genomic analysis is required for optimal risk stratification.

Background: Approximately 2-3% of B-ALL patients have Philadelphia chromosome like (Ph-like) B-ALL with an ABL-class fusion ( ABL1, ABL2, PDGFRB, or CSF1R fusions), but lacking BCR::ABL1. These patients are predicted to be sensitive to ABL-class tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as imatinib or dasatinib. Ph-like B-ALL is associated with male sex, older age, higher initial white blood cell (WBC) count, elevated end of induction (EOI) minimal residual disease (MRD), and poor outcome. The AALL1131 Dasatinib arm was designed to evaluate response to therapy following induction of patients with ABL-class fusion B-ALL, when given dasatinib continuously on a modified Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (MBFM) backbone. Methods: Between February 2012 and March 2019, AALL1131 enrolled patients 1-30 years with newly diagnosed high risk (HR) B-ALL. AALL1131 was amended in August 2016, to include the Dasatinib arm for patients with ABL-class fusions involving ABL1, ABL2, PDGFRB, and CSF1R. Patients with Down Syndrome were not eligible for the Dasatinib arm. ABL-class fusion B-ALL patients with a predicted TKI-sensitive mutation were screened by low density array (LDA) PCR and confirmed by additional molecular testing. Following 4-drug induction, patients with HR B-ALL and ABL-class fusions received MBFM with dasatinib (60 mg/m 2, maximum 140 mg) daily from start of consolidation through end of maintenance. Dasatinib was held only for toxicity. Results: Twenty-two evaluable patients with HR B-ALL were non-randomly assigned to the Dasatinib arm. ABL-class 3' partners included ABL1 (n=4), ABL2 (n=4), PDGFRB (n=12), and CSF1R (n=2). Compared to all patients on AALL1131, patients treated on the Dasatinib arm were older (median age at diagnosis 14 versus 10 years, p=0.008), more often male (77% versus 56%, p=0.046), and had a trend towards an increased initial WBC (median WBC at diagnosis 44,000/µL versus 19,000/µL, p=0.086). Patients with ABL-class fusions had EOI MRD > 0.01% in 20 of 22 patients and available end of consolidation MRD >0.01% in 6 of 10 patients. Only 5 of 22 (22.7%) patients completed prescribed protocol therapy. Reasons for therapy discontinuation included induction failure (n=2), relapse (n=1), alternate therapy (n=1), determined to be in the patient's best interest (n=10), death (n=1), unknown (n=2). Compared to all patients on AALL1131, four-year disease-free survival was 52.5+18.1% versus 86.8+0.7% (p<0.0001) and overall survival 79.4+13.6% versus 89.2+0.4% (p<0.0001). Dasatinib was well tolerated with no unexpected treatment related toxicities. Conclusion: Patients with ABL-class fusions were more likely male, EOI MRD+, and had poorer outcomes. Seventy-seven percent of patients enrolled on the Dasatinib arm did not complete prescribed therapy. While dasatinib was well tolerated, treatment failures occurred early, indicating alternate strategies are needed.

PURPOSE Patients with Down syndrome (DS) and B-ALL experience increased rates of relapse, toxicity, and death. We report results for patients with DS B-ALL enrolled on Children's Oncology Group trials between 2003 and 2019. METHODS We analyzed data for DS (n = 743) and non-DS (n = 20,067) patients age 1-30 years on four B-ALL standard-risk (SR) and high-risk trials. RESULTS Patients with DS exhibited more frequent minimal residual disease (MRD) ≥0.01% at end induction (30.8% v 21.5%; P < .001). This difference persisted at end consolidation only in National Cancer Institute (NCI) high-risk patients (34.0% v 11.7%; P < .0001). Five-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were significantly poorer for DS versus non-DS patients overall (EFS, 79.2% ± 1.6% v 87.5% ± 0.3%; P < .0001; OS, 86.8% ± 1.4% v 93.6% ± 0.2%; P < .0001), and within NCI SR and high-risk subgroups. Multivariable Cox regression analysis of the DS cohort for risk factors associated with inferior EFS identified age >10 years, white blood count >50 × 103/μL, and end-induction MRD ≥0.01%, but not cytogenetics or CRLF2 overexpression. Patients with DS demonstrated higher 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse (11.5% ± 1.2% v 9.1% ± 0.2%; P = .0008), death in remission (4.9% ± 0.8% v 1.7% ± 0.1%; P < .0001), and induction death (3.4% v 0.8%; P < .0001). Mucositis, infections, and hyperglycemia were significantly more frequent in all patients with DS, while seizures were more frequent in patients with DS on high-risk trials (4.1% v 1.8%; P = .005). CONCLUSION Patients with DS-ALL exhibit an increased rate of relapse and particularly of treatment-related mortality. Novel, less-toxic therapeutic strategies are needed to improve outcomes.

Abstract Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia have improved outcomes when treated with pediatric-inspired regimens. CALGB 10403 was the largest prospective study to evaluate the feasibility of using a pediatric regimen in AYAs with acute lymphoblastic leukemia up to 40 years of age. This article presents the toxicity events observed in the CALGB 10403 study and compares these toxicities vs those observed among AYAs treated on the same arm of the companion Children’s Oncology Group (COG) AALL0232 study. Toxicities in CALGB 10403 were similar to those observed in COG AALL0232. Some grade 3 to 4 adverse events were more often reported in CALGB 10403 compared with COG AALL0232 (hyperglycemia, hyperbilirubinemia, transaminase elevation, and febrile neutropenia). Adverse events correlated with body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 and some with increasing age. The mortality rate in CALGB 10403 was low (4%) and similar to that in the COG AALL0232 trial. A caveat to this analysis is that only 39% of CALGB 10403 patients completed all planned protocol treatment. In COG AALL0232, although 74% of patients aged &lt;18 years completed treatment, only 57% of patients aged ≥18 years completed treatment. This scenario suggests that issues associated with age and treating physician may be a factor. Due to its improved survival rates compared with historical controls, the CALGB 10403 regimen is now a standard of care. The hope is that the rate of protocol completion will increase as more familiarity is gained with this regimen. These trials were registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00558519 (CALGB 10403) and #NCT00075725 (COG AALL0232).

Abstract Despite improvements in front-line therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), treatment after relapse remains a critical challenge. Examination of outcome after relapse in a large, recently treated, and unselected population provides a useful benchmark for evaluating new approaches. Survival after relapse was tracked on Children’s Cancer Group (CCG) ALL trials. Relapses were categorized by site (isolated or combined bone marrow relapse (MR); isolated central nervous system relapse (CNSR); isolated testicular relapse (TR)), and time from diagnosis to relapse (early < 18 months; intermediate between 18 and 36 months; late > 36 months). We examined the impact of age, sex, ethnicity, initial risk assignment (standard risk (SR) or higher risk (HR)), immunophenotype, length of first remission (CR1), and site of relapse on outcome in multivariate analyses. A total of 9,585 infants, children, and adolescents with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia were enrolled on CCG trials conducted between 1988 and 2002. We examined survival after relapse for 1,874 children with MR, CNSR, or TR. Survival after relapse by site and time to relapse Site MR CNSR TR Time to Relapse n *survival(%) n *survival(%) n *survival(%) *3-year survival Early 498 10 175 49 15 50 Intermediate 378 23 179 73 35 57 Late 488 53 52 77 54 70 Overall survival for any bone marrow relapse was best for late MR and worst for early MR. Early MR was linked to HR presenting features and T-cell disease. Survival after intermediate or late MR was superior for SR patients (p <.05). Survival was better for CNSR or TR than for MR. Older age at diagnosis, male sex, T cell immunopheno-type, and CNS disease at presentation were significant adverse factors for survival after adjustment for site and time to relapse in multivariate analyses (p<.05). Importantly, in the same multivariate analysis, patients treated on more contemporary trials (CCG1952CCG1953CCG1961, and 1962) had inferior survival rates after relapse when compared to patients treated on earlier trials (CCG 1881CCG 1882CCG 1883CCG 1891CCG 1901, and 1922) (p<.001). Importantly, these data from the analysis of a large, unselected group of patients indicates that features at initial presentation and prior therapy influences outcome following relapse. The inferior survival rates of those relapsing on more intensive protocols likely reflects particularly aggressive and chemoresistant disease leading to poor salvage. Increasing the intensity of retrieval therapy is unlikely to improve after relapse and novel therapeutic approaches that target these resistant leukemias are urgently needed for successful treatment of relapsed ALL.

Abstract Early response to therapy, including assessment of MRD is a powerful prognostic factor in childhood ALL. However, there are many other known prognostic factors, and the precise relationship among these and MRD has been incompletely explored. In COG protocol P9900, patients were assigned to one of 3 risk-directed therapies based on NCI risk group, as well as TEL-AML1 translocations (TEL) and simultaneous trisomies of chromosomes 4 and 10 (DT). Infants and Ph+ patients were excluded. Good risk patients (9904) comprised NCI SR patients with either TEL or DT without CNS disease. Poor risk patients (9906) included a subset of NCI HR patients with particularly unfavorable risk factors based largely on age and white count, while 9905 had both NCI SR and HR patients not eligible for 9904 or 9906, including NCI HR patients with TEL or DT. MRD was satisfactorily measured with at least .01% sensitivity by 4-color flow cytometry in the marrow at end of induction (D29) or in blood at Day 8 (D8). D29 MRD was associated with poor outcome in all studies, and in both HR and SR patients on 9905 as shown: Study 4 y EFS ± SE (n) p value MRD <.01% MRD >.01% 9904 Overall 94±1%(668) 75±6%(105) <.0001 TEL-AML1 94±2%(367) 68±12%(38) <.0001 DT 95±1%(316) 80±7%(69) <.0001 9905 NCI-Standard Risk 89±2%(462) 63±6%(119) <.0001 9905 NCI-High Risk 83±4%(292) 49±9%(73) <.0001 9906 74±6%(156) 39±8%(84) <.0001 The proportion of D29 MRD positive DT(17.9%) patients was higher than that of TEL patients (9.4%) but MRD was also prognostic when each group was considered separately; similar findings were seen in HR TEL and DT patients. TEL or DT was associated with a significantly better prognosis in both HR and SR patients who were MRD negative, but were not favorable factors in MRD positive patients. D8 blood MRD was also prognostic in all studies, with higher MRD levels generally associated with poorer outcome. Patients who were both D29 and D8 MRD negative had a good outcome overall (93% 4 y EFS); combining all favorable risk factors, including TEL, DT, NCI risk group, D8 and D29 MRD identified a group of patients (about 13% of B-precursor ALL patients) with 98± 1% 4 y EFS. In multivariate analysis, D29 MRD was the most important prognostic factor. NCI Risk group, DT and D8 blood were also significant, but TEL and day 8 morphologic assessment of marrow were not. We conclude that MRD is a major prognostic factor in childhood ALL even accounting for other risk factors. The prognostic significance of TEL and DT depends on MRD status. The combination of good risk clinical and genetic factors, and absence of MRD in both D8 blood and D29 marrow identifies a group of patients with outstanding outcome on limited therapy.

AALL08P1 was designed to determine whether biweekly intensified pegaspargase (I-PEG) was feasible and safe in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed high-risk B-precursor lymphoblastic leukemia when given with Children’s Oncology Group hemiaugmented BFM therapy. High-risk average (HR-Avg) patients received standard pegaspargase dosing (6 doses), whereas high-risk high (HR-High) patients received I-PEG biweekly from the start of Consolidation until day 1 of Maintenance. Feasibility and safety were defined in advance as ≥65% of patients tolerating at least 8 doses of I-PEG and 90% requiring ≤49 weeks from day 1 of Consolidation to the initiation of Maintenance. Targeted toxicities included allergic reactions, anaphylaxis, pancreatitis, thrombosis, bleeding, central nervous system events, and sepsis. AALL08P1 enrolled 104 patients; 54 were classified as HR-Avg and 30 as HR-High after completion of induction therapy. Only 53% (16/30) of the HR-High patients received ≥8 total doses of I-PEG and 50% (15/30) took ≤49 weeks from start of Consolidation to the initiation of Maintenance. I-PEG did not significantly increase grade 2 to 5 targeted toxicities. I-PEG was not feasible or safe as defined in AALL08P1. Complete assessment of this regimen was limited due to removal of patients from I-PEG regimen and early closure of the study.

Abstract Minimal residual disease (MRD) is an important predictor of relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but its relationship to other prognostic variables has not been fully assessed. The Children's Oncology Group studied the prognostic impact of MRD measured by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood at day 8, and in end-induction (day 29) and end-consolidation marrows in 2143 children with precursor B-cell ALL (B-ALL). The presence of MRD in day-8 blood and day-29 marrow MRD was associated with shorter event-free survival (EFS) in all risk groups; even patients with 0.01% to 0.1% day-29 MRD had poor outcome compared with patients negative for MRD patients (59% ± 5% vs 88% ± 1% 5-year EFS). Presence of good prognostic markers TEL-AML1 or trisomies of chromosomes 4 and 10 still provided additional prognostic information, but not in National Cancer Insitute high-risk (NCI HR) patients who were MRD+. The few patients with detectable MRD at end of consolidation fared especially poorly, with only a 43% plus or minus 7% 5-year EFS. Day-29 marrow MRD was the most important prognostic variable in multi-variate analysis. The 12% of patients with all favorable risk factors, including NCI risk group, genetics, and absence of days 8 and 29 MRD, had a 97% plus or minus 1% 5-year EFS with nonintensive therapy. These studies are registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00005585, NCT00005596, and NCT00005603.