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Tawfiq, Reema K

0000-0001-8535-5115

Mayo Clinic

Division of Hematology-Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL.

Citations 3

Cardiovascular degeneration in Erdheim-Chester disease: prevalence, burden, and outcomes
Tawfiq, R., Spears, Grant M. , Young, Jason R., Mahowald, Madeline , Tobin, W. Oliver , Patgunarajah, Ubenthira, Ruan, Gordon , Yi, Dongni , Zanwar, Saurabh , Gruber, Lucinda , Ravindran, Aishwarya , Sartori‐Valinotti, Julio C. , Vassallo, Robert , Ryu, Jay H. , Davidge‐Pitts, Caroline , Dasari, Surendra , Abeykoon, Jithma P. , Tawfiq, Reema K , Mahowald, Madeline K , Ruan, Gordon J , Acosta-Medina, Aldo A , Ravindran, Aishwarya , Shah, Mithun V , Bennani, N Nora , Moustafa, Muhamad Alhaj , Hilal, Talal , Sartori-Valinotti, J C , Vassallo, Robert , Ryu, Jay H , Witzig, T.E. , Goyal, Guarav , Abeykoon, Jithma P , Tobin, W Oliver , Rech, Karen L. , Koster, Matthew J. , Acosta‐Medina, Aldo A. , Shah, Meera , Bennani, N. Nora , Moustafa, Muhamad Alhaj , Hilal, Talal , Witzig, Thomas E. , Go, Ronald S. , Goyal, Gaurav

Blood Advances | August 28, 2025 | Volume: 9 | Issue: 23 | Pages: 5988-6000

10.1182/bloodadvances.2025016608 Get It

Abstract Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare systemic histiocytic neoplasm, with cardiac morbidities, including cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and cardiac conditions, playing a significant yet poorly understood role in the disease burden. This study evaluated the prevalence, characteristics, and prognosis of ECD in patients with (ECD-C) and without cardiac involvement (ECD-noC) and compared the burden of cardiac morbidities with matched controls. Patients diagnosed with ECD between 1990 and 2021 at a tertiary center were included, with cardiac involvement centrally assessed using radiographic studies. Cardiac morbidities were compared with a control group without ECD, matched for age, sex, body mass index, and smoking history. Among 104 patients with ECD, 39 (37%) had cardiac involvement. Patients with ECD-C had higher rates of hypertension (67% vs 46%), hyperlipidemia (67% vs 40%), heart failure (36% vs 8%), and pericardial effusion (28% vs 2%) than those with ECD-noC. Compared with the matched non-ECD cohort, patients with ECD had higher prevalence of coronary artery disease (20% vs 7%), heart failure (18% vs 4%), and antihypertensive drug use (55% vs 40%). Notably, patients with ECD-C had inferior progression-free survival (PFS) from frontline therapy compared with patients with ECD-noC (5-year PFS, 28.3% vs 70.5%). These findings highlight the burden of CV risk factors and cardiac conditions in ECD, even without a clinical diagnosis of ECD-C. Importantly, this cardiac morbidity burden is substantial for patients with ECD-C compared with ECD-noC. Our findings highlight the need for comprehensive cardiac risk assessment and management strategies to improve patient outcomes.
Association of Sex, Race and Ethnicity with Clinical Characteristics and Survival Outcomes of Mantle Cell Lymphoma: A National Cancer Database Study
Wang, Jacqueline , Tawfiq, Reema, Okcu, Izel, Ruan, Jia , Martin, Peter , Nowakowski, Grzegorz S. , Wang, Jacqueline F , Tawfiq, Reema K , Okcu, Izel , Zhou, Jihao , Tun, Han W. , Muñoz, Javier , Paludo, Jonas , Moustafa, Muhamad Alhaj , Hwang, Steven R. , Diefenbach, Catherine , Habermann, Thomas M. , Witzig, Thomas E. , Wang, Yucai

Blood | December 5, 2024 | Volume: 144 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 1637-1637

10.1182/blood-2024-204268 Get It

Background Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is more common in males, with a male to female ratio of approximately 3:1. However, it is unclear whether disease characteristics and survival outcomes differ by sex. Additionally, the impact of race and ethnicity in MCL is understudied due to underrepresentation of minorities in clinical studies and trials. In this study, we utilized the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to examine patient and disease characteristics and survival outcomes of MCL by sex, race and ethnicity. Methods Patients diagnosed with MCL in 2004-2020 were identified from NCDB. Patient and disease characteristics were compared between groups using Chi-squared tests. Overall survival (OS) analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model. Results A total of 35,135 patients was included. The median follow-up was 83.0 months (95% CI 81.9-84.1). 24,980 (71.1%) patients were male and 10,155 (28.9%) were female. Females had more elderly (age ≥65: 65.9% vs 59.0%; p<0.001), lower Charlson-Deyo Score (CDS ≥2: 7.0% vs 8.6%; p<0.001) and fewer stage III-IV diagnoses (80.5% vs 82.6%; p<0.001). Females were less likely to receive upfront treatment (80.7% vs 85.3%; p<0.001), treatment at academic centers (36.8% vs 40.9%; p<0.001) or transplant (11.0% vs 13.7%; p<0.001). Compared to males, females were more likely to live in metropolitan areas (83.7% vs 81.6%; p<0.001), had similar incomes, had more Medicare (60.4% vs 53.1%) and fewer private insurance (33.2% vs 38.6%; p<0.001). Female patients had better OS, with a median OS of 76.0 (95% CI 72.4-79.6) vs 67.8 months (95% CI 65.9-69.6; p<0.001). In the multivariable Cox model adjusting for age, race, ethnicity, CDS, stage, upfront treatment (vs surveillance or no treatment), facility (academic vs nonacademic), transplant, residence (metropolitan vs urban or rural) and insurance, female sex remained associated with superior OS (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.793-0.890; p<0.001). For race, 32,399 (92.2%) patients were White, 1,465 (4.2%) were Black, 942 (2.7%) were others and 329 (0.9%) were unknown. Compared to White patients, Black patients had fewer elderly (52.9% vs 61.7%; p<0.001), higher CDS (≥2: 11.4% vs 7.9%; p<0.001), similar stage III-IV (80.7% vs 82.1%; p=0.276) and upfront treatment (84.7% vs 84.0%; p=0.074), were more likely to be treated at academic centers (50.6% vs 38.9%; p<0.001), were less likely to receive transplant (11.1% vs 13.0%; p=0.042), were more likely to live in metropolitan areas (91.0% vs 81.5%; p<0.001), had lower income, had more uninsured (4.4% vs 2.0%) and Medicaid (9.8% vs 3.7%) and fewer Medicare (47.4% vs 56.0%; p<0.001). Black and White patients had similar OS, with a median of 67.9 (95% CI 57.5-78.2) vs 69.6 months (95% CI 67.8 vs 71.3; p=0.697). In the multivariable Cox model, Black vs White race was not associated with OS (HR 1.086, 95% CI 0.952-1.240; p=0.219). For ethnicity, 31,717 (90.3%) patients were non-Hispanic, 1,894 (5.4%) were Hispanic and 1,534 (4.3%) were unknown. Hispanics had fewer elderly (51.3% vs 61.5%; p<0.001), lower CDS (≥2: 6.4% vs 8.2%; p=0.018), similar stage III-IV (81.2% vs 82.1%; p=0.467), were more likely to receive upfront treatment (86.0% vs 83.9%; p<0.001), more likely to be treated at academic centers (49.9% vs 39.5%; p<0.001), equally likely to receive transplant (13.0% vs 13.1%; p=0.943), more likely to live in metropolitan areas (95.4% vs 81.6%; p<0.001), had lower income, had more uninsured (9.6% vs 1.8%) and Medicaid (15.2% vs 9.6%) and fewer Medicare (40.3% vs 55.9%; p<0.001). Hispanics had better OS, with a median OS of 84.4 (95% CI 71.7-97.1) vs 70.5 months (95% CI 68.7-72.2; p<0.001). However, in the multivariable Cox model, Hispanic ethnicity was not associated with OS (HR 0.952, 95% CI 0.839-1.080; p=0.448). Conclusion This study is the first of its scale to demonstrate that female MCL patients have superior survival outcomes compared to males. It also demonstrated that neither Black race nor Hispanic ethnicity appears to be associated with worse survival outcomes. Despite its size, the NCDB is limited in the treatment information and disease characteristics it provides, including MIPI score, Ki-67, blastoid/pleomorphic morphology, and TP53 status. Thus, additional real-world dataset studies are needed to gain a deeper understanding of potential differences in sex, race and ethnicity with regards to disease characteristics and survival outcomes.
Bendamustine rituximab (BR) versus ibrutinib (Ibr) as primary therapy for Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM): An international collaborative study.
Abeykoon, Jithma P. , Kumar, Shaji , D’Sa, Shirley , Durot, Éric , Uppal, Encarl , Morel, Pierre, Tawfiq, Reema, Cornillet‐Lefèbvre, Pascale , Kyle, Robert A. , Ansell, Stephen M. , Kapoor, Prashant , Tawfiq, Reema K , Castillo, Jorge J. , Kastritis, Efstathios , Paludo, Jonas , Sarosiek, Shayna , Ogunbiyi, Olabisi , Delmer, Alain , Gertz, Morie A. , Dimopoulos, Meletios Α. , Treon, Steven P.

Journal of Clinical Oncology | June 6, 2022 | Volume: 40 | Issue: 16_suppl | Pages: 7566-7566

10.1200/jco.2022.40.16_suppl.7566 Get It

7566 Background: Parenteral limited-duration BR chemoimmunotherapy and continuous orally administered Ibr, a Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, dominate the treatment landscape of WM, a rare B cell lymphoma. No trials have assessed the comparative effectiveness of these 2 vastly different approaches. We conducted a multiinstitutional, international, collaborative study to compare BR and single-agent Ibr in patients (pts) with treatment naïve (TN) WM. Methods: Data from 347 pts with active TN WM, seen between 2011 and 2021 in the US and Europe, were analyzed. The pts on rituximab maintenance were excluded. The modified IWWM-6 criteria (based on IgM alone) were used for response assessment. All time-to-event analyses were performed from the frontline therapy initiation, using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: The median age of the pts treated with BR (n=208) and Ibr (n=139) was 66 (range 40-86) years (y) and 69 (39-97) y, respectively, (p=0.005). With a median follow up of 4.2 y (95% CI 3.8-4.5), the 4-y progression free survival (PFS) was 73% in each group, p=0.6, and 4-y overall survival (OS) was 94% (95% CI 91-98) in the BR group versus ( v) 82% (95% CI 75-90) in the Ibr group, p=0.01. In a bivariate analysis adjusting for age and the treatment type, only age emerged as a predictor for OS (HR 7.2, p=0.0001). Therefore, a 1:1 age-matched analysis of 246 pts who received Ibr (n=123) or BR (n=123) was performed. Pts with a known MYD88WT status who had received Ibr and their age matched controls on BR were excluded. The international prognostic scoring system (IPSS) WM was comparable between the 2 groups (Table). A higher proportion of pts on BR attained very good partial or deeper response (≥VGPR) as the best response in comparison to the pts on Ibr (Table). The 4-y PFS for the BR and Ibr groups was similar [72% (95% CI 63-82) v 78% (95% CI 70-87), p=0.14] and 4-y OS was 95% (95% CI 91-99) with BR v 86% (95% CI 80-93) with Ibr (p=0.3). Premature discontinuation, during active treatment, due to adverse effects (AEs) or lack of response was noted in 13% and 33% of pts on BR and Ibr, respectively. A detailed assessment of the AEs will be presented at the meeting. Conclusions: Both BR and Ibr lead to comparable outcomes in pts with TN WM, although deeper responses are attained with BR. These findings require confirmation in prospective studies. For pts who harbor MYD 88L265P mutation, selection between the 2 approaches should be dictated by their potential toxicities, pt comorbidities, pt/clinician preference (parenteral fixed-duration v continuous oral) and access to therapies. [Table: see text]