Palmer, Jeanne

ABSTRACT Patients with newly‐diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (ND‐AML) derive variable survival benefit from venetoclax (Ven) plus hypomethylating agent (HMA) therapy, and the optimal Ven duration across genetic risk groups remains undefined. Among 540 ND‐AML patients receiving Ven‐HMA at Mayo Clinic, outcomes were compared across Ven 7‐ ( n = 33), 14‐ ( n = 117), 21‐ ( n = 96), and 28‐day ( n = 294) schedules during Cycle 1 and stratified by ELN 2024 and Mayo genetic risk groups. At a median follow‐up of 37.7 months, allogeneic stem cell transplant (ASCT) rates were similar across Ven duration groups (15%, 18%, 18%, and 20% for 7‐, 14‐, 21‐, and 28‐day; p = 0.86). Median transplant‐censored survival was comparable across Ven durations (13.3, 11.9, 16.8, and 13.2 months for 7, 14, 21, 28 days, respectively; p = 0.65), with outcomes driven by ELN risk (6.3, 11.5, 18.3 months for high, intermediate, low; p < 0.01) and Mayo genetic risk (6.9, 17.8 months, not reached; p < 0.01). Survival was comparable across Ven durations within ELN intermediate/low‐risk and all Mayo risk groups. Among ELN high‐risk patients, 14‐day Ven was associated with inferior transplant‐censored survival compared to 21‐ and 28‐day schedules ( p < 0.01). Notably, 30‐ and 60‐day mortality were higher with shorter Ven schedules (7‐day: 9%/18%; 14‐day: 7%/15%) versus 28‐day (2%/6%), which likely reflects treatment selection bias. In ND‐AML, no significant difference in transplant‐censored survival was observed across the 7‐, 14‐, 21‐, and 28‐day Ven schedules; prognosis was determined primarily by Mayo and ELN 2024 genetic risk rather than by Ven duration. Prospective trials are needed to establish risk‐adapted Ven dosing strategies.

Polycythemia vera is characterized by erythrocytosis and increased risk of thrombosis. Sapablursen is an antisense oligonucleotide that suppresses transmembrane serine protease 6 (TMPRSS6), increases hepcidin production, and reduces iron availability for erythropoiesis. IMPRSSION; an ongoing phase 2a, randomized, open-label study includes patients meeting 2016 WHO criteria for polycythemia vera, requiring ≥3 phlebotomies within 6 months of screening and ≥1 phlebotomy within the last 12 weeks. Cohort A (120 or 80 mg) and Cohort B (40 mg) received sapablursen subcutaneously once every 4 weeks (Q4W). The primary efficacy endpoint was the reduction in phlebotomy frequency from baseline to weeks 17-37 in patients who received ≥1 dose. Forty-nine patients received ≥1 sapablursen dose (median age 61 years; 82% male). The baseline mean±SD weekly phlebotomy rate was 0.15±0.07 in Cohort A; 0.17±0.07 in Cohort B and was reduced by -0.10 (95%CI, -0.13, -0.07; n=32;p&lt;0.0001) in Cohort A; -0.10 (95%CI, -0.14, -0.06; n=17;p=0.0001) in Cohort B. Sapablursen reduced the median (IQR) number of phlebotomies from 5.0 (3.0-6.0,Cohort A; 3.5-6.5,Cohort B) at baseline (26-weeks) to 0 (0-1.0) in the efficacy evaluation window (20-weeks) in Cohort A and 1.5 (0-2.5) in Cohort B. Most adverse events were mild or moderate; anemia and fatigue were most common. The mean change in MPN-SAF-TSS at week 37 was -6.21 points (95%CI: -10.56, -1.85, p=0.0052) in Cohort A; -2.71 points in Cohort B (95% CI: -8.33, 2.91, p=0.34). Sapablursen reduced phlebotomy need, improved symptoms, and was safe and well-tolerated in patients with polycythemia vera. (Funded by Ionis Pharmaceuticals; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05143957)

ABSTRACT The recently published BLAST clinical risk model for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) and its molecular version (BLAST‐Mol) differentiate low, intermediate, and high‐risk groups. The objective of the current retrospective study was to examine the survival impact of allogeneic stem cell transplant (ASCT) in a consecutive series of Mayo Clinic patients ( n = 775; 68% males, median age 71 years) with CMML, overall and adjusted for baseline BLAST/BLAST‐Mol risk categories. At a median follow‐up of 77 months, 151 (20%) patients underwent ASCT. Overall survival (OS) was longer in the ASCT compared to the non‐ASCT cohorts (median 77 vs. 28 months; p < 0.01). The significant difference in OS between the ASCT and non‐ASCT cohorts was retained after adjusting for BLAST clinical risk groups: high‐risk (median 50 vs. 14 months; p < 0.01), intermediate‐risk (81 vs. 28 months; p < 0.01), and low‐risk (111 vs. 65 months; p = 0.04), respectively. The same was mostly the case when OS comparison was adjusted for BLAST‐Mol with respective p values of < 0.01, < 0.01, and 0.08, respectively. Time‐dependent cox models confirmed the favorable survival impact of ASCT in the BLAST/BLAST‐Mol high‐ and intermediate‐risk groups. The current study highlights the benefit of ASCT for BLAST/BLAST‐Mol high‐ and intermediate‐risk groups in CMML and its potential to overcome the adverse impact of some high risk cytogenetic or molecular abnormalities. These observations support the early use of ASCT in CMML, ideally before BT and regardless of genetic characteristics.

ABSTRACT We examined the prognostic value of routine NGS data in newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated with intensive (7 + 3 backbone) induction, specified by AML subtype. A contemporary (2015–2025) series of 545 Mayo Clinic patients (median age 56 years, females 44%) was considered. Median follow‐up was 49 months with 341 (63%) allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (AHSCT) recorded. AML subtypes included core‐binding factor (CBF; N = 72; 13%), primary non‐CBF ( N = 403; 74%), post‐myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or post‐myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (post‐MDS‐MDS/MPN; N = 28; 5%), post‐MPN ( N = 15; 3%), and therapy‐related (t‐AML; N = 27; 5%). Corresponding complete remission rates, with/without count recovery (CR/CRi), were 89%, 76%, 64%, 27%, and 78% ( p < 0.01) and 5‐year transplant‐censored survival rates 68%, 57%, 21%, 0%, and 55% ( p < 0.01). In multivariable analyses, the prognostic value of specific mutations was mostly limited to primary non‐CBF AML where adverse karyotype (OR 1.9; p = 0.04) predicted inferior and FLT3 ‐ITD (OR 0.4; p < 0.01) or NPM1 MUT / FLT3 WT (OR 0.1; p < 0.01) superior CR/CRi while KRAS MUT (HR 8.8; p < 0.01), TP53 MUT (HR 5.4; p < 0.01), and TET2 MUT (HR 2.3; p = 0.01) predicted inferior and NPM1 MUT / FLT3 WT (HR 0.3; p = 0.01) superior survival. Prognostication in intensively‐treated AML should start with subtype specification and recognition of the limited value of NGS in non‐primary AML. Post‐MPN AML is particularly associated with dismal outcomes and should be prognostically distinguished from post‐MDS‐MDS/MPN AML. In primary non‐CBF AML, in addition to previously established risk factors, the favorable impact of FLT3 ‐ITD on achieving CR/CRi and the unfavorable impact of KRAS MUT and TET2 MUT on transplant‐censored survival were noted and require confirmation from additional studies.

Abstract Background Diagnosis and risk stratification in rare hematologic malignancies such as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) – polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and myelofibrosis (MF) – require expert review of longitudinal, heterogeneous clinical records. This process is cognitively demanding, inconsistently applied, and difficult to scale beyond tertiary centers. No automated phenotyping workflow currently exists for hematologic malignancies. Methods A HIPAA-compliant large language model (LLM) framework for phenotyping MPN was developed to integrate (i) rule-based retrieval of bone marrow biopsy reports, clinical notes, and structured laboratory results from the electronic health record (EHR); (ii) zero-shot extraction of diagnostic and prognostic variables from unstructured text using GPT-4 Turbo; (iii) a clinician-informed source-prioritization algorithm to reconcile conflicting multi-source data; (iv) WHO/ICC-criteria–based diagnostic classification; and (v) NCCN-based risk stratification using the conventional risk model for PV, IPSET-thrombosis for ET, and DIPSS, DIPSS-plus, and MIPSS70/MIPSS70+ v2 for MF. Patients were identified via MPN-related ICD-9/10 codes; cases met 2017 WHO criteria or had a hematologist-documented diagnosis, and controls did not. The cohort was split into a prompt-development set (n = 60) and a held-out test set (n = 450; 75 cases and 75 controls per disease). Ground truth was established by independent dual-clinician chart review with consensus adjudication. LLM performance was evaluated against the ground truth: variable-level extraction using accuracy, F1 score, and Cohen’s kappa; patient-level diagnostic classification using sensitivity, specificity, and Cohen’s kappa; and prognostic risk stratification (among confirmed cases) using accuracy, weighted F1 score, and quadratic-weighted Cohen’s kappa. Wilson 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used for proportions and bootstrap 95% CIs with 500 resamples for F1 scores. Results The held-out test set included 450 patients (PV: 150; ET: 150; MF: 150) with pathology reports and structured laboratory results, and 172 patients (PV: 52; ET: 55; MF: 65) with clinical notes. From pathology reports, overall variable extraction accuracy and F1 score were 99% (95% CI, 98–100) and 1.00 (0.99–1.00) for PV, 100% (99–100) and 0.99 (0.96–1.00) for ET, and 100% (99–100) and 0.99 (0.97–1.00) for MF. From clinical notes, overall accuracy and F1 score were 96% (91–100) and 0.94 (0.85–1.00) for PV, 100% (100–100) and 1.00 (1.00–1.00) for ET, and 100% (99–100) and 0.98 (0.95–1.00) for MF. Diagnostic sensitivity was 100% (95% CI, 95.1–100.0) for PV, ET, and MF; specificity was 98.7% (92.8–99.8) for PV and 100% (95.1–100.0) for both ET and MF, with Cohen’s kappa of 0.99 for PV and 1.00 for ET and MF. Risk stratification accuracy was 100% with weighted F1 score of 1.00 and quadratic-weighted Cohen’s kappa of 1.00 across all three diseases. A pre-specified source-ablation analysis showed that pathology reports alone were sufficient for diagnosis (sensitivity 98.7% for PV, 100% for ET, 96.0% for MF; specificity 100% across all three subtypes) but inadequate for prognostication (accuracy 69.3% for PV, 93.3% for ET, 77.3% for MF). Adding clinical notes to pathology reports recovered full prognostic accuracy of 100% across all three diseases. Conclusions This first-in-class automated framework achieved expert-level performance for MPN diagnosis and risk stratification from real-world EHR data, establishing a foundation for scalable, standardized phenotyping in rare hematologic malignancies. Prospective, multi-site validation is warranted before clinical deployment.

The Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are a group of heterogenous hematologic malignancies characterized by the proliferation of blood cells and consist of myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and essential thrombocythemia. The NCCN Guidelines for MPN were developed as a result of meetings convened by a multidisciplinary panel with expertise in MPN, with the aim of providing recommendations for the comprehensive care of adults with these diseases. The panel of experts convenes at least once a year to discuss requested changes to the Guidelines and to evaluate emerging data. These Guideline Insights focus on some of the recent updates for myelofibrosis.

ABSTRACT Hypomethylating agents (HMA) and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) have both demonstrated remissions in VEXAS; however, comparative data is lacking. We conducted a multicenter, retrospective analysis of 66 patients diagnosed with VEXAS syndrome treated with HMA ( n = 35) or alloHSCT ( n = 31). Baseline characteristics such as genetics, co‐morbidities, and performance status were balanced between the groups, except older age in the HMA group. Median follow‐up from therapy initiation was 18 months (95% CI: 11–26), and 14 (21%) deaths were reported (alloHSCT n = 3; HMA n = 11). Among all evaluable patients within the alloHSCT cohort, all patients achieved molecular remission, and a substantial proportion of patients discontinued glucocorticoids (58%). In contrast, HMA therapy was associated with lower but meaningful rates of molecular remission (22%) and glucocorticoid discontinuation (6%). In a real‐world setting, HMA therapy was associated with a high discontinuation rate related to toxicity or lack of response. On multivariable analysis adjusted for age and Charlson Comorbidity Index, alloHSCT was associated with improved overall survival (HR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05–0.81; p = 0.024). This association remained consistent across multiple ancillary sensitivity analyses, including restriction to transplant‐eligible patients, patients aged ≤ 75 years, 1:1 matching, and propensity score‐based weighted analyses. Although limited by retrospective design, these findings suggest that alloHSCT remains an attractive and potentially curative strategy in selected patients with VEXAS. Prospective validation of these findings is warranted.

e18609 Background: Anemia is a frequent complication of myelofibrosis (MF) and is embedded in widely used prognostic systems, yet contemporary real-world estimates of its association with long-term survival and leukemic transformation remain limited. We evaluated the impact of baseline anemia (hemoglobin [Hb] <10 g/dL) on overall survival (OS) and risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults with MF. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX Research Network, identifying adults (≥18 years) with myelofibrosis and stratifying them by anemia status at index (Hb <10 g/dL). Patients with the outcome of interest prior to each analytic window were excluded. To minimize confounding, cohorts were 1:1 propensity score–matched using nearest-neighbor matching with a caliper of 0.1 pooled standard deviations of the logit of the propensity score, adjusting for demographic factors, comorbidities, iron supplementation, leukocyte count, and platelet count. Balance was assessed using standardized mean differences <0.1. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality and the secondary outcome was transformation to AML, assessed at 1, 3, and 5 years. Risk estimates were calculated, and survival analyses were performed using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models, with statistical significance defined as a two-sided p<0.05. Results: After matching, 18,504 patients with MF were identified, of which 51.6% were females and 48.3% were males. The mortality rate in patients with anemia was higher than in those without at years 1, 3, and 5: 21.4%, 33.2%, and 39%, respectively, versus 5.4%, 12%, and 16.9%, respectively. The prevalence of transformation to AML was also higher in patients with anemia at 3.7%, 4.9%, and 5.3% at years 1, 3, and 5, respectively, versus 0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.4% in patients without anemia at those same time points. The HR for mortality in MF patients with anemia when compared to those without anemia at years 1, 3, 5 was statistically significant at 4.57 (95% CI 4.14-5.05, log-rank p<0.01), 3.51 (95% CI 3.28-3.76, log-rank p<0.01), and 3.04 (95% CI 2.87-3.23, log-rank p<0.01) respectively. The HR for transformation to AML in patients with MF with anemia versus those without anemia was statistically significant at years 1, 3 and 5, with HRs of 34.96 (95% CI 19.17-63.75, log-rank p<0.01) 20.75 (95% CI 13.97-30.83, log-rank p<0.01) and 17.07 (95% CI 12.11-24.07, log-rank p<0.01), respectively. Conclusions: In this large, propensity-matched real-world EHR analysis, baseline Hb <10 g/dL was associated with substantially worse OS and a markedly higher risk of AML transformation through 5 years. These findings support anemia as a pragmatic risk marker to inform risk-adapted monitoring, supportive care, and therapeutic decision-making in MF.

e18608 Background: Myelofibrosis (MF) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) that is characterized by bone marrow fibrosis and inefficient hematopoiesis, leading to extramedullary hematopoiesis. Leukocytosis, a common disease manifestation and a minor criterion for the diagnosis of MF, has been associated with poorer clinical outcomes. This study evaluates the long term impact of leukocytosis on clinical outcomes at different time points in the real-world population of patients with MF. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using de-identified EHR data from the TriNetX Global Federated Health Research Network. Adults (≥18 years) with myelofibrosis were identified using ICD-10 and ICD-O-3 codes and stratified into leukocytosis (WBC ≥25.0 ×10³/µL; L+) and non-leukocytosis (L−) cohorts at the index diagnosis. Patients with prior or current hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were excluded. Cohorts were propensity score–matched 1:1 for demographics, comorbidities, and baseline laboratory values. Outcomes at 1, 3, and 5 years included all-cause mortality, pulmonary embolism, venous thromboembolism, and transformation to acute myeloid leukemia, with hazard ratios estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: After matching, 13237 patients with MF were identified, of whom 52.12% were male, and 47.8% were female. The mean age in L+ and L- was 66.5 +/- 16.6 years and 68.1 +/- 15.5 years, respectively. The mean hemoglobin in L+ was 10.9+/- 2.8 g/dL, and in L- was 12.9+/- 2.3 g/dL. The mean platelet count in L+ was 303.4+/- 294.9 and in L- was 239.5+/- 151.4 ×10³/µL. HR for all-cause mortality in L+ when compared to L- at years 1, 3, and 5 were statistically significant at 4.079 (95% CI 3.691-4.508), 3.215 (95% CI 2.982-3.466), and 2.787 (95% CI 2.608-2.978), respectively, with log-rank p < 0.01. The HR for PE in L+ when compared to L- was statistically significant at years 1, 3, and 5 at 2.014 (95% CI 1.455-2.787), 1.883 (95% CI 1.451-2.787) and 1.659 (95% CI 1.318-2.088) with log-rank p<0.01. HR for VTE in L+ when compared to L- was statistically significant at years 1, 3, and 5 at 2.501 (95% CI 1.937-3 .229), 1.802 (95% CI 1.491-2.178), and 1.561 (95% CI 1.32-1.847) with log-rank p<0.01. Risk of transformation to AML in L+ when compared to L- at years 1, 3, and 5 was significant with HRs being 9.806 (95% CI 6.575-14.627), 8.823 (95% CI 6.334-12.29), 9.371 (95% CI 6.813-12.891) with log-rank p<0.01. Conclusions: In this large real-world, propensity-matched cohort, leukocytosis in myelofibrosis was associated with significantly higher risks of all-cause mortality, thromboembolic events, and transformation to acute myeloid leukemia across 1-, 3-, and 5-year time points. These findings underscore leukocytosis as a powerful adverse prognostic marker in MF and highlight the need for closer surveillance and risk-adapted therapeutic strategies in this high-risk population.

e18607 Background: Progression to myelofibrosis (MF) is associated with worse survival and influences treatment decisions, yet predictors of fibrotic progression in polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) remain poorly characterized. Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed PV or ET were identified from a retrospective chart review. Demographics (age, sex, race, ethnicity), clinical features (thrombosis and bleeding history, performance status, symptom burden, organomegaly), bone marrow pathology (cellularity, trilineage hematopoiesis, megakaryocyte proliferation and atypia, fibrosis grade), molecular markers ( JAK2 , CALR , MPL , ASXL1 , EZH2 , TET2 , SRSF2 , IDH1/2 , SF3B1 , TP53 ), cytogenetics, laboratory values, and treatment history (phlebotomy, hydroxyurea, interferon, ruxolitinib) at first bone marrow biopsy were recorded. MF progression was defined as hematologist-confirmed transformation to MF. Kaplan-Meier analyses estimated median MF-free survival (MFS), defined as time to MF progression or death. Univariable followed by multivariable Cox proportional regression were performed to identify candidate MFS predictors. The proportional hazards assumption was assessed using Schoenfeld residuals. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed, with p<0.05 indicating statistical significance. Results: A total of 505 PV and 198 ET patients were identified. The majority were White (PV: 92%; ET: 86%). PV patients were predominantly male (54%) whereas ET patients were predominantly female (66%). MF progression occurred in 160 (32%) PV and 32 (16%) ET patients. Death was observed in 139 (28%) PV and 10 (5%) ET patients. Median MFS was 158.5 months (95% CI: 143.0-183.0) for PV and 308.0 months (95% CI: 175.0-NR) for ET. In PV, older age at diagnosis (HR 1.04; 95% CI: 1.02-1.07; p<0.001) and shorter time since PV or ET diagnosis to biopsy (HR 0.995; 95% CI: 0.990-0.999; p=0.048) independently predicted worse MFS. In ET, bone marrow hypercellularity (HR 5.67, 95% CI: 1.40-23.0, p=0.015) independently predicted worse MFS. Conclusions: PV patients demonstrated shorter MFS compared to ET. Older age at diagnosis in PV, whereas bone marrow hypercellularity in ET was significantly associated with fibrotic progression or death. Active surveillance of at-risk patients may facilitate early detection and timely treatment initiation. Disease Variable HR (95%CI) P-value PV Age at diagnosis 1.04 (1.02-1.07) <0.001 Time since PV or ET diagnosis to biopsy 0.995 (0.990-0.999) 0.048 ET Bone marrow hypercellularity 5.67 (1.40-23.0) 0.015