Heß, Georg

PURPOSE The combination of the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib with bendamustine-rituximab for first-line treatment of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) prolonged progression-free survival (PFS), but without improvement in overall survival (OS), likely because of toxicity. Acalabrutinib was shown to be efficacious and less toxic than ibrutinib in a head-to-head trial in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and therefore might lead to better outcomes in MCL. METHODS Patients 65 years and older with previously untreated MCL received acalabrutinib (100 mg twice daily) or placebo (until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity), plus six cycles of bendamustine (90 mg/m 2 once daily; days 1 and 2) and rituximab (375 mg/m 2 as a single dose; day 1) followed by rituximab maintenance in responding patients for 2 years. Crossover to acalabrutinib at disease progression was permitted. The primary end point was PFS per the independent review committee; overall response rate and OS were secondary end points. RESULTS In total, 598 patients were randomly assigned, with 299 in each arm. At a median follow-up of 49.8 months using the reverse Kaplan-Meier method, the median PFS was 66.4 months in the acalabrutinib arm and 49.6 months in the placebo arm (hazard ratio [HR], 0.73 [95% CI, 0.57 to 0.94]; P = .0160). Benefit was seen across all subgroups, including those with high-risk features. Overall response/complete response rates were 91.0%/66.6% and 88.0%/53.5% in the acalabrutinib and placebo arms, respectively. OS was not significantly different (HR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.65 to 1.13]; P = .27). Grade 3 or greater adverse events were reported in 88.9% and 88.2% in the acalabrutinib and placebo arms, respectively. CONCLUSION The combination of acalabrutinib with bendamustine-rituximab significantly improved PFS. Clinical benefit of acalabrutinib with bendamustine-rituximab was achieved with manageable toxicity.

AbstractCD19‐directed CAR T‐cell therapy with brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu‐cel) has substantially improved treatment outcomes for patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (r/r MCL). Prolonged cytopenias and infections represent common and clinically relevant side effects. In this multicenter observational study, we describe cytopenias and infections in 103 r/r MCL patients receiving brexu‐cel. Furthermore, we report associations between the baseline CAR‐HEMATOTOX (HT) score and toxicity events, non‐relapse mortality (NRM), and progression‐free/overall survival (PFS/OS). At lymphodepletion, 56 patients were HTlow (score 0–1) while 47 patients were HThigh (score ≥2). The HThigh cohort exhibited prolonged neutropenia (median 14 vs. 6 days, p < .001) and an increased rate of severe infections (30% vs. 5%, p = .001). Overall, 1‐year NRM was 10.4%, primarily attributed to infections, and differed by baseline HT score (high vs. low: 17% vs. 4.6%, p = .04). HThigh patients experienced inferior 90‐day complete response rate (68% vs. 93%, p = .002), PFS (median 9 months vs. not‐reached, p < .0001), and OS (median 26 months vs. not‐reached, p < .0001). Multivariable analyses showed that high HT scores were independently associated with severe hematotoxicity, infections, and poor PFS/OS. In conclusion, infections and hematotoxicity are common after brexu‐cel and contribute to NRM. The baseline HT score identified patients at increased risk of poor treatment outcomes.

Purpose: In RE-MIND2 (NCT04697160), patient-level outcomes from the L-MIND study (NCT02399085) of tafasitamab plus lenalidomide were retrospectively compared with patient-level matched observational cohorts treated with National Cancer Care Network (NCCN)/European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)-listed systemic therapies for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Patients and Methods: Data were collected from health records of eligible patients aged ≥18 years with histologically confirmed DLBCL who had received ≥2 systemic therapies for DLBCL (including ≥1 anti-CD20 therapy). Patients from L-MIND were matched with patients from the RE-MIND2 observational cohort using estimated propensity score-based 1:1 nearest-neighbor matching, balanced for nine covariates. The primary analysis compared tafasitamab plus lenalidomide with patients who received any systemic therapy for R/R DLBCL (pooled in one cohort) or bendamustine plus rituximab (BR) or rituximab plus gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (R-GemOx; as two distinct cohorts). The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints included treatment response and time-to-event outcomes. Results: In RE-MIND2, 3,454 patients were enrolled from 200 sites in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Strictly matched pairs of patients consisted of tafasitamab plus lenalidomide versus systemic therapies pooled (n = 76 pairs), versus BR (n = 75 pairs), and versus R­GemOx (n = 74 pairs). Significantly prolonged OS was reported with tafasitamab plus lenalidomide versus systemic pooled therapies [hazard ratios (HR): 0.55; P = 0.0068], BR (HR: 0.42; P &lt; 0.0001), and R-GemOx (HR: 0.47; P = 0.0003). Conclusions: RE-MIND2, a retrospective observational study, met its primary endpoint, demonstrating prolonged OS with tafasitamab plus lenalidomide versus BR and R-GemOx. See related commentary by Cherng and Westin, p. 3908

7560 Background: Tafasitamab (tafa) + lenalidomide (LEN) demonstrated efficacy in adult patients (pts) with R/R DLBCL ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplant in the pivotal Phase II study L-MIND (NCT02399085) and received accelerated approval in the United States in 2020 and conditional marketing authorization in Europe and Canada in 2021 in this setting. RE-MIND2 (NCT04697160), an observational, retrospective cohort study, compared pt outcomes from L-MIND with matched pt cohorts treated with other NCCN/ESMO recommended therapies. Methods: Methodology for RE-MIND2 has been presented previously. Hypothesis-generating analyses were conducted for pt subgroups of number of extranodal sites (ENS) (0–1 vs ≥2) and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (yes vs no) in matched cohorts of pts receiving tafa + LEN vs systemic therapies pooled (STP), polatuzumab vedotin + bendamustine + rituximab (pola-BR), rituximab + LEN (R2), and CD19 CAR-T therapies (CAR-T). The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Results: Of 3,454 pts enrolled, 961, 106, 106, and 149 were treated with STP, pola-BR, R2, and CAR-T, resulting in 76, 24, 33, and 37 matched pairs for pts receiving tafa + LEN, respectively. Hazard ratios (HR) for OS show a trend toward favoring tafa + LEN in most pt subgroups (Table). Conclusion: These analyses suggest that tafa + LEN may be associated with improved OS vs selected systemic therapies for certain pts with high-risk disease and may further inform physicians’ treatment choices for pts with R/R DLBCL. These analyses are not powered for statistical comparison; small sample sizes in some subgroups result in wide confidence intervals (CI) and so results must be interpreted with caution. Data for other treatment cohorts, pt subgroups, and endpoints will be presented. Funding: MorphoSys AG. Clinical trial information: NCT04697160. [Table: see text]

Abstract Background Several therapies are recommended by NCCN/ESMO guidelines for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT)-ineligible patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In the single-arm, Phase II L-MIND study (NCT02399085), the chemotherapy-free regimen tafasitamab + lenalidomide (LEN) demonstrated efficacy for this patient population. In the absence of randomized clinical trial data, RE-MIND2 (NCT04697160), an observational, retrospective cohort study, compared patient outcomes from L-MIND with matched patient populations treated with NCCN/ESMO recommended therapies for ASCT-ineligible patients with R/R DLBCL. Methods Data were retrospectively collected between 1 April and 13 November 2020 from academic and public hospitals, as well as private practices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To ensure consistency with L-MIND I/E criteria, patients aged ≥18 years with histologically confirmed DLBCL and who had received ≥2 systemic therapies for DLBCL (including ≥1 anti-CD20 therapy) were enrolled. For the main analysis, patients from the L-MIND tafasitamab + LEN cohort were matched with patients from the RE-MIND2 observational cohort using estimated propensity score-based 1:1 nearest neighbor matching, balanced for six baseline characteristics: age (&lt;70 vs ≥70 years), refractoriness to last line of therapy (yes vs no), number of prior lines of therapy (1 vs 2/3), history of primary refractoriness (yes vs no), prior ASCT (yes vs no), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (0-1 vs ≥2). A sensitivity analysis was performed using an inverse probability of treatment weighting method calculating the average effect of the treatment on the treated, to generate balanced cohorts based on nine baseline characteristics: age, refractoriness to last line of therapy, number of previous lines of therapy, history of primary refractoriness, prior ASCT, Ann Arbor Stage (I/II vs III/IV), elevated LDH (yes vs no), neutropenia (yes vs no), and anemia (yes vs no). Additional sensitivity analyses accounting for missing baseline characteristics using multiple imputation technique were performed. Data are presented for tafasitamab + LEN versus polatuzumab vedotin + bendamustine + rituximab (pola-BR), rituximab + LEN (R2), and CD19 CAR-T therapies (CAR-T). The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), complete response rate, progression-free survival and duration of response. Results Of 3,454 patients enrolled from 200 sites, 106, 106, and 149 patients were treated with pola-BR, R2, and CAR-T, respectively. For the comparative analysis, matched patient pairs were created using 1:1 nearest neighbor matching with a caliper. Matched pairs consisted of: tafasitamab + LEN vs pola-BR, n=24 pairs; vs R2, n=33 pairs; and vs CAR-T, n=37 pairs. A significant OS benefit was associated with tafasitamab + LEN compared to pola-BR (HR: 0.44, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.20-0.96; p=0.038) and R2 (HR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.22-0.84; p=0.014) (Figure 1A-B). There was no significant difference in OS benefit between tafasitamab + LEN and CAR-T (HR=0.95, 95% CI: 0.47-1.91; p=0.891) (Figure 1C). ORR was 62.5% (15/24) for tafasitamab + LEN vs 58.3% (14/24) for pola-BR (p=1.000), 63.6% (21/33) vs 30.3% (10/33) for R2 (p=0.013), and 59.5% (22/37) vs 75.7% (28/37) for CAR-T (p=0.214). Improved outcomes were also observed with tafasitamab + LEN for other secondary endpoints (Table 1). Results are consistent with those obtained in the sensitivity analyses. Conclusions The results of this retrospective cohort analysis suggest that the novel tafasitamab + LEN combination may significantly improve health outcomes, with a prolonged survival benefit for ASCT-ineligible R/R DLBCL patients, relative to NCCN/ESMO recommended therapies. Tafasitamab + LEN improved survival outcomes compared with pola-BR and R2 in closely matched patient populations. Comparable outcomes were observed for tafasitamab + LEN vs CAR-T. Although based on limited patient numbers, these data may be clinically relevant in the context of emerging therapies for R/R DLBCL. While this study design does not replace randomized data, it remains more rigorous than inter-trial comparison. The limitations of comparing clinical trial and matched retrospective real-world data will be discussed. Funding: MorphoSys AG. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Nowakowski: Celgene, MorphoSys, Genentech, Selvita, Debiopharm Group, Kite/Gilead: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene, NanoString Technologies, MorphoSys: Research Funding. Joffe: AstraZeneca. Epizyme: Consultancy. Fleury: Abbvie, Astrazeneca, BMS, Celgene, Janssen, Kite-Gilead, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Seattle Genetics: Other: conference and advisory role. Peters: AbbVie, Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria. Greil: Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses; MSD: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Daiichi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Honoraria, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Sandoz: Honoraria, Research Funding. Ku: Roche: Consultancy; Antegene: Consultancy; Genor Biopharma: Consultancy. Marks: Kite/Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AbbVie: Other: Meeting attendance; Kite/Gilead: Honoraria; Merck: Consultancy. Kim: AstraZeneca: Research Funding. Zinzani: BeiGene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; EUSA Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck Sharp & Dohme: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celltrion: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Verastem: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sandoz: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; TG Therapeutics Inc: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Servier: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; ImmuneDesign: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Portola: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Trotman: Beigene: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; PCYC Pharmacyclics: Research Funding. Sabatelli: Incyte: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Huang: MorphoSys: Current Employment. Waltl: MorphoSys: Current Employment. Winderlich: MorphoSys: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Ambarkhane: MorphoSys: Current Employment, Other: Support for attending meetings/travel. Kurukulasuriya: MorphoSys: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Support for attending meetings/travel. Cordoba: Pfizer: Research Funding; Kyowa-Kirin: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; ADCTherapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Kite: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Hess: Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Incyte: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AbbVie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Gilead/Kite: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genmab: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; EUSA: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Salles: Miltneiy: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Morphosys: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy; Genentech/Roche: Consultancy; Kite/Gilead: Consultancy; Regeneron: Consultancy, Honoraria; Velosbio: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Allogene: Consultancy; Ipsen: Consultancy; Loxo: Consultancy; Rapt: Consultancy; Genmab: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy; Epizyme: Consultancy, Honoraria; Debiopharm: Consultancy; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy; Beigene: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bayer: Honoraria.

TPS7575 Background: Approximately 50% of patients (pts) with advanced DLBCL are refractory to or relapse following first line R-CHOP therapy. Pts with R/R DLBCL have limited treatment options and a poor prognosis. This study assesses immunotherapy-based regimens containing avelumab (a fully human IgG1 anti–PD-L1 antibody) in combination with utomilumab (a novel 4-1BB agonist), azacitidine, rituximab, and/or conventional chemotherapy (CT; bendamustine) in pts with R/R DLBCL. Methods: JAVELIN DLBCL (NCT02951156) is a global, multicenter, randomized, open-label, 2-component(phase 1b followed by phase 3) study of avelumab-based combination regimens in R/R DLBCL. In phase 1b, up to 84 pts will be randomized 1:1:1 to receive avelumab/rituximab/utomilumab, or avelumab/azacitidine/utomilumab, or avelumab/rituximab/bendamustine. The primary phase 1b objectives are preliminary assessments of dose-limiting toxicities (n = 6 per arm) and efficacy (objective response [OR]; n = 28 per arm). One regimen from phase 1b will be selected for phase 3 evaluation in 220 additional pts randomized 1:1 to the chosen regimen or investigator’s choice CT (rituximab/bendamustine or rituximab/gemcitabine/oxaliplatin). The primary phase 3 objective is to demonstrate progression-free survival (PFS) superiority of the avelumab-based regimen over CT. Overall survival is a key secondary endpoint. Eligible pts have completed up to 4 lines of prior rituximab/multiagent CT, and/or have failed autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), or are not eligible for intensive CT or ASCT. Other eligibility criteria include ECOG PS ≤1 and no prior therapy with a checkpoint inhibitor. Treatment with avelumab, utomilumab, and azacitidine will be continued until the pt no longer receives clinical benefit; rituximab and bendamustine are limited to 8 and 6 cycles, respectively. OR and PFS will be assessed per Lugano disease classification criteria. Other secondary efficacy endpoints include disease control, duration of response, time to response, and minimal residual disease burden. Safety, PK, immunogenicity, pt-reported outcomes, and biomarkers will also be evaluated. Clinical trial information: NCT02951156.

TPS7571 Background: Patients ineligible for stem cell transplantation (SCT) or who relapse after SCT, and those who fail to respond to second-line or salvage chemotherapy, represent an unmet medical need for which new therapeutic strategies are required. MOR208 is a novel Fc-enhanced, humanized, monoclonal antibody directed against CD19. Significant single-agent activity of MOR208 in patients with R-R DLBCL (Jurczak et al., J Clin Oncol 34, 2016 [suppl; abstr 7545]) and enhancement of MOR208-mediated cytotoxicity by BEN in preclinical studies, provide a strong rationale to study MOR208 + BEN in patients with R-R DLBCL. Methods: B-MIND is a randomized (1:1), two-arm, multicenter, open-label, adaptive design, phase II/III study of MOR208 + BEN vs RTX + BEN in adult patients with histologically confirmed DLBCL who have relapsed after or are refractory to 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy and who are not candidates for high-dose chemotherapy and autologous SCT. At least 1 prior therapy line must have included a CD20-targeted therapy. Other key inclusion criteria: age ≥18 years; measurable disease; availability of tumor tissue for central pathology review; ECOG 0–2, and adequate major organ systems function. Key exclusion criteria: primary refractory DLBCL; central nervous system involvement, and known double/triple hit DLBCL genetics. The safety of the combination will be assessed in an initial phase II evaluation. Treatment will comprise 6 cycles of MOR208 (12 mg/kg IV) + BEN (90 mg/m2 IV) or RTX 375 mg/m2 IV + BEN. Patients achieving a response after cycle 6 will continue to receive antibody treatment for up to 18 additional cycles. Primary endpoint: progression-free survival (PFS); secondary endpoints include: best overall response, overall survival, safety, quality of life, immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics. Enrollment of 330 patients is anticipated in Europe, US and Asia-Pacific countries. Fourteen patients have been randomized to date. Clinical trial information: NCT02763319.