Scott, David W.

PURPOSE Lenalidomide combined with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) (R2CHOP) in untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has shown promising activity, particularly in the activated B-cell–like (ABC) subtype. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG)-ACRIN trial E1412 was a randomized phase II study comparing R2CHOP versus R-CHOP in untreated DLBCL. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL, stage II bulky-IV disease, International Prognostic Index (IPI) ≥ 2, and ECOG performance status ≤ 2 were eligible and randomly assigned 1:1 to R2CHOP versus R-CHOP for six cycles. Tumors were analyzed using the NanoString Lymph2Cx for cell of origin. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS) in all patients with the co-primary end point of PFS in ABC-DLBCL. Secondary end points included overall response rate (ORR), complete response (CR) rate, and overall survival (OS). RESULTS Three hundred forty-nine patients were enrolled; 280 patients (145 R2CHOP and 135 R-CHOP) were evaluable: 94 were ABC-DLBCL, 122 germinal center B-cell–like-DLBCL, 18 unclassifiable, and 46 unknowns. Baseline characteristics were well-balanced between arms, and the median age was 66 (range, 24-92); 70% of patients had stage IV disease; 34%, 43%, and 24% had IPI 2, 3, and 4 or 5, respectively. Myelosuppression was more common in the R2CHOP arm. The ORR and CR rate were 92% and 68% in R-CHOP and 97% ( P = .06) and 73% ( P = .43) in the R2CHOP arm, respectively. The median follow-up was 3.0 years; R2CHOP was associated with a 34% reduction in risk of progression or death versus R-CHOP (hazard ratio [HR], 0.66 95% CI, 0.43 to 1.01) and 3-year PFS of 73% versus 61%, one-sided P = .03, and an improvement in OS (83% and 75% at 3 years; HR, 0.67; one-sided P = .05). The PFS HR for R2CHOP was 0.67 for ABC-DLBCL, one-sided P = .1. CONCLUSION In this signal-seeking study, the addition of lenalidomide to R-CHOP (R2CHOP) improved outcomes in newly diagnosed DLBCL including patients with ABC-DLBCL.

Abstract Purpose: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is characterized by the t(11;14)(q13;q32) translocation leading to cyclin D1 overexpression. Cyclin D1 is a major cell-cycle regulator and also regulates transcription, but the impact of cyclin D1–mediated transcriptional dysregulation on MCL pathogenesis remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to define a cyclin D1–dependent gene expression program and analyze its prognostic value. Experimental Design: We integrated genome-wide expression analysis of cyclin D1–silenced and overexpressing cells with cyclin D1 chromatin-binding profiles to identify a cyclin D1–dependent transcriptional program in MCL cells. We analyzed this gene program in two MCL series of peripheral blood samples (n = 53) and lymphoid tissues (n = 106) to determine its biological and clinical relevance. We then obtained a simplified signature of this program and evaluated a third series of peripheral blood MCL samples (n = 81) by NanoString gene expression profiling to validate our findings. Results: We identified a cyclin D1–dependent transcriptional program composed of 295 genes that were mainly involved in cell-cycle control. The cyclin D1–dependent gene program was overexpressed in MCL tumors directly proportional to cyclin D1 levels. High expression of this program conferred an adverse prognosis with significant shorter overall survival of the patients. These observations were validated in an independent cohort of patients using a simplified 37-gene cyclin D1 signature. The cyclin D1–dependent transcriptional program was also present in multiple myeloma and breast tumors with cyclin D1 overexpression. Conclusions: We identified a cyclin D1–dependent transcriptional program that is overexpressed in MCL and predicts clinical outcome.

AbstractImmunochemotherapy followed by autologous transplant (ASCT) in CALGB/Alliance 59909 achieved a median progression‐free survival (PFS) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) of 5 years, but late recurrences occurred. We evaluated tolerability and efficacy of adding post‐transplant bortezomib consolidation (BC) or maintenance (BM) to this regimen in CALGB/Alliance 50403, a randomized phase II trial. Following augmented‐dose R‐CHOP/ methotrexate, high‐dose cytarabine‐based stem cell mobilization, cyclophosphamide/carmustine/etoposide (CBV) autotransplant, and rituximab, patients were randomized to BC (1.3 mg/m2 IV days 1, 4, 8, 11 of a 3‐week cycle for four cycles) or BM (1.6 mg/m2 IV once weekly × 4 every 8 weeks for 18 months) beginning day 90. The primary endpoint was PFS, measured from randomization for each arm. Proliferation signature, Ki67, and postinduction minimal residual disease (MRD) in bone marrow were assessed. Of 151 patients enrolled; 118 (80%) underwent ASCT, and 102 (68%) were randomized. Both arms met the primary endpoint, with median PFS significantly greater than 4 years (P < .001). The 8‐year PFS estimates in the BC and BM arms were 54.1% (95% CI 40.9%‐71.5%) and 64.4% (95% 51.8%‐79.0%), respectively. Progression‐free survival was significantly longer for transplanted patients on 50403 compared with those on 59909. Both the PFS and OS were significantly better for those who were MRD‐negative post‐induction. The high risk proliferation signature was associated with adverse outcome. Both BM and BC were efficacious and tolerable, although toxicity was significant. The comparison between studies 50403 and 59909 with long‐term follow up suggests a PFS benefit from the addition of BC or BM post‐ transplant.

Background: Although diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) can be cured using immuno-chemotherapy, 40% of patients experience relapse or refractory disease. Large-scale profiling studies have mainly focused on DLBCL at diagnosis, resolving different outcome groups based on gene expression (e.g. cell-of-origin (COO) or molecular high grade), MYC/BCL2 translocations (double-hit lymphoma) or gene mutations and copy number aberrations (Schmitz et al, NEJM 2018; Chapuy et al, NatureMedicine 2018). In comparison, longitudinal studies have been hindered by the limited availability of sequential biopsy samples. To date, the relapse-specific gene mutations identified are limited and inconsistent across studies. In our study, we have focussed attention on the changes in gene expression profile (GEP) accompanying DLBCL relapse. Methods: We retrospectively collected archival paired diagnostic/relapse formalin fixed paraffin embedded tumor biopsies from 38 de novo DLBCL patients collected from multiple UK sites treated with rituximab-based immuno-chemotherapy, where partial or complete remission was reported following treatment. COO classification was performed by the Lymph2Cx assay on NanoString to distinguish activated B-cell-like (ABC) and germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) subtypes. The Ion AmpliSeq™ Transcriptome Human Gene Expression Kit was used to measure the expression levels of > 20,000 genes on the paired samples. Results: COO remained stable from diagnosis to relapse in 17 ABC-ABC pairs, 11 GCB-GCB pairs and 4 unclassified (UNC)-UNC pairs. Frank COO switching was observed in 6 cases (1 ABC-GCB, 2 ABC-UNC, 2 GCB-UNC, 1 UNC-ABC). Pairs with stable COO were taken forward for further analysis. Gene expression analysis using the limma R package identified 163 and 136 genes as differentially expressed (DE) (p <= 0.01 and absolute log2FC > 1) between the diagnostic and relapse biopsies in ABC and GCB tumors respectively, with only a one gene overlap. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis further suggested that ABC and GCB relapses are mediated via different mechanisms, with tumor growth and proliferation signatures enriched in ABC relapses, whilst adaptive immunity-related signatures accompanied GCB relapses. Next, we aimed to utilise our relapse-specific genes to identify outcome predictors at diagnosis using publicly available GEP datasets. In order to increase our discovery power and accuracy, a larger set of DE genes from the paired differential analysis (796 genes in ABC pairs and 387 from GCB pairs) were selected (p <= 0.05) and subsequently used in a training cohort (GEP from Reddy et al, Cell 2017). The Prediction Analysis for Microarrays R (PAMR) algorithm identified a 30-gene signature within DE genes from ABC pairs (Fig1.A), capable of separating the 249 ABC cases into 136 low and 113 high-risk cases with significantly inferior overall survival (Hazard Ratio (HR)=1.89, log-rank p=0.0017, measure of goodness-of-fit C-index=0.71; Fig1.B). No equivalent signature was found in the GCB cases using this approach. The prognostic significance of this 30-gene discriminator was successfully validated using a linear predictor in two independent GEP datasets: 1) a population-based cohort (Lenz et al, NEJM 2008) with 93 R-CHOP-treated ABC cases identifying 47 low and 46 high-risk cases (HR=1.92, p=0.046, C-index=0.77; Fig1.C) and 2) a clinical trial dataset (REMoDL-B, Davies et al, Lancet Oncol 2019) with 255 ABC cases identifying 110 low and 145 high-risk ABC cases (HR=1.95, p=0.0051, C-index=0.70; Fig1.D). Conclusions: Here we describe a 30-gene discriminator in ABC-DLBCL, derived from genes differentially expressed between diagnosis and relapse, that allowed the definition of clinically distinct high and low risk subgroups in ABC-DLBCLs at diagnosis. The clinical translation of such a tool may be useful to guide therapy for this unfavourable subgroup of ABC-DLBCLs. Validation of this signature is currently underway in additional datasets and further study is required to understand the contribution of these genes in DLBCL pathology. Disclosures Korfi: Roche: Consultancy. Burton:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Rule:TG Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria; Napp: Consultancy; Kite: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sunesis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria. Crosbie:Janssen: Honoraria. Scott:Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; NanoString: Patents & Royalties: Named inventor on a patent licensed to NanoSting [Institution], Research Funding; Roche/Genentech: Research Funding. Rimsza:NanoSting: Patents & Royalties: Named inventor on a patent licensed to NanoSting [Institution]. Davies:Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding; Karyopharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Acerta Pharma: Honoraria, Research Funding; ADCT Therapeutics: Honoraria, Research Funding; BioInvent: Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MorphoSys AG: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Gribben:Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Acerta/Astra Zeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Okosun:Gilead Sciences: Honoraria, Research Funding. Johnson:Epizyme: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria; Kite: Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Boehringer Ingelheim: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria; Genmab: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Incyte: Honoraria. Fitzgibbon:Epizyme: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Gilead: Speakers Bureau.

Introduction: The phase 3 international, randomized, double-blind ROBUST clinical trial (NCT02285062) compared progression-free survival between patients with previously untreated ABC-type DLBCL treated with placebo plus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (placebo-R-CHOP) versus lenalidomide + R-CHOP (R2-CHOP) for 6 21-day cycles. HRQoL, as measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lymphoma (FACT-Lym) and the EuroQoL 5-dimension 3-level (EQ-5D-3L) patient-reported questionnaires, was evaluated as a secondary endpoint for the 2 treatment arms. Methods: For each treatment group, FACT-Lym and EQ-5D-3L scores were measured at baseline (BL), mid-, end-of-treatment (EOT), and post-treatment, in 12-week intervals from Week 34 onward. Patients were evaluated if they had completed BL and ≥ 1 post-BL calculable FACT-Lym subscale measurements. Non-inferiority (NI) of R2-CHOP versus placebo-R-CHOP was measured for 4 key FACT-Lym subscales: Physical Well-Being (PWB), Additional Concerns (AC), Functional Well-Being (FWB), and Trial Outcome Index (TOI). NI was assessed at EOT (typically 3-4 weeks after completing Cycle 6) and at post-treatment follow-up at Week 34 by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The NI margins were prespecified as 1 less than the higher published minimal important difference (MID) for each subscale. Since a range of MIDs have been published, a more conservative value was also used as a sensitivity analysis. Time to improvement (TTI), using published responder definitions, was also assessed for the FACT-Lym subscales. EQ-5D-3L scores were summarized descriptively. Results: Demographic and baseline disease characteristics were balanced across the 2 treatment arms (N = 285 per arm). The percentage of patients who completed the FACT-Lym out of the expected population remained &gt; 85% at all time points with &gt; 50 patients still on the study in each treatment arm up to Week 142. Completion rates and reasons for missing assessments were balanced across the 2 treatment arms. FACT-Lym subscale scores were generally higher after EOT, similar for both treatment groups, and mean changes from BL were close to or above MID (where defined), except for the Social/Family Well-Being subscale. Mean differences in FACT-Lym TOI between treatment arms are shown in Table 1. As positive treatment differences favor R2-CHOP and -10 was the predefined NI margin, NI was demonstrated for the FACT-Lym TOI subscale at both EOT and Week 34 assessments. Superiority of R2-CHOP was demonstrated at EOT as the confidence interval (CI) lies completely above 0 (P &lt; 0.04); however, this difference was not clinically meaningful. Furthermore, NI was also demonstrated when using the sensitivity analysis margin of -4.5. ANCOVA models were also fitted for the other key subscales of PWB, AC and FWB (Table 2). NI was demonstrated for all NI margins at both time points for the PWB and AC subscales. The FACT-Lym FWB subscale demonstrated NI for both margins at EOT and Week 34 for the primary NI margin of -2 based on the MID minus 1, but did not demonstrate NI when an NI margin of -1, based on an alternative published MID, was used. The TTI curves and associated summary statistics were similar for the 2 treatment arms, with a median TTI for the FACT-Lym TOI of 21 weeks (95% CI 15-22) for patients treated with R2-CHOP and 18 weeks (95% CI 15-22) for patients treated with placebo-R-CHOP. Mean EQ-5D-3L visual analogue scale (VAS) and Utility Index (UK weights) change from baseline scores were higher in both treatment arms and the mean changes were above, or close to, the published MID (7 for VAS, 0.1 for Utility Index) at EOT assessments. Prespecified sensitivity and subgroup analyses supported the conclusions from the primary HRQoL analyses. Conclusions: The predefined NI levels were met for the 4 key FACT-Lym subscales. Similar results were observed across the other HRQoL assessments, sensitivity, and subgroup analyses. Adding lenalidomide to the R-CHOP regimen did not adversely affect the HRQoL of patients with DLBCL as measured by FACT-Lym and EQ-5D-3L. These data serve as a benchmark for future clinical trials combining next-generation immunomodulatory drugs with standard R-CHOP to improve clinical efficacy while maintaining HRQoL in patients with DLBCL. HRQoL analyses should become an integral part of future clinical trials of novel combination regimens in DLBCL. Disclosures Chiappella: Roche: Speakers Bureau; Teva: Speakers Bureau; Servier: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau. Cocks:Adelphi Values: Employment; Amgen: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Celgene Corporation: Consultancy; Endomag Ltd.: Consultancy. Greenwood:Adelphi Values: Employment. Williams:Adelphi Values: Employment. Scott:Celgene: Consultancy; Roche/Genentech: Research Funding; NanoString: Patents & Royalties: Named inventor on a patent licensed to NanoSting [Institution], Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Yamamoto:SymBio: Research Funding; Ono: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Otsuka: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sumitomo Dainippon: Honoraria; Chugai: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Eisai: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria; Gilead Sciences: Research Funding; Solasia Pharma: Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Celgene Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; ARIAD: Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Kyowa Kirin: Honoraria; MSD: Consultancy, Honoraria; Mundipharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; Meiji Seika Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; HUYA/IQVIA Services Japan: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Jurczak:Bayer: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; Sandoz: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Morphosys: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Celgene Corporation: Research Funding; Loxo: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celtrion: Research Funding; Novo Nordisk: Research Funding; Servier: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Research Funding. Özcan:Sanofi: Other: Travel support; Abdi Ibrahim: Other: Travel support; BMS: Other: Travel support; Takeda: Honoraria, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Archigen: Research Funding; Roche: Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Janssen: Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Celgene Corporation: Research Funding, Travel support; AbbVie: Other: Travel support, Research Funding; MSD: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Jazz: Other: Travel support; Amgen: Honoraria, Other: Travel support. Belada:Roche: Consultancy; Gilead Sciences: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy. Margunato-Debay:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Czuczman:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Zhai:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Braverman:Celgene Corporation: Employment. Vitolo:Juno Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: 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; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: 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; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Nowakowski:Selvita: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; NanoString: Research Funding; MorphoSys: Consultancy, Research Funding; Curis: Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Research Funding.

Background: Standard first-line treatment for patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the R-CHOP regimen. Despite numerous efforts to improve on this regimen, in all comers and specifically in those with activated B-cell (ABC)-type DLBCL, results from large randomized studies have failed to show a significant clinical advantage above this standard. Recently, 2 large clinical trials in previously untreated DLBCL evaluated the combination of lenalidomide/R-CHOP (R2-CHOP) vs standard R-CHOP and demonstrated discordant results. We analyzed data from these trials to identify differences that may have impacted the disparate trial outcomes while identifying patient characteristics associated with benefit from the addition of lenalidomide across the trials. Methods: The 2 trials included in this evaluation are ROBUST, an international, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase III study of R2-CHOP vs placebo/R-CHOP, and the Intergroup ECOG-ACRIN 1412 (E1412) trial, a US-only, randomized, open-label, phase II study of R2-CHOP vs R-CHOP. Additional key study design differences included dosing, and subtype timing and inclusion (both studies used gene expression profiling [GEP] by NanoString). R-CHOP dosing differed only for prednisone, which was a flat 100 mg dose, d1-5 in ROBUST and 100 mg/m2, d1-5 in E1412. The lenalidomide dose and schedule varied between studies: 15 mg/d, d1-14/21 for ROBUST (210 mg/cycle) and 25 mg/d, d1-10/21 (250 mg/cycle) for E1412. ROBUST enrolled only patients prospectively identified with the ABC subtype, whereas E1412 enrolled all otherwise eligible patients and retrospectively evaluated for ABC-type with prespecified ABC-type accrual and power parameters. Both studies enrolled patients with IPI status ≥ 2, ECOG PS 0-2, and Ann Arbor stage II-IV (E1412 stage II with mass > 10 cm). The primary endpoint in both was progression-free survival (PFS; central review for ROBUST and investigator-assessed for E1412). Secondary endpoints included event-free survival (EFS; key for ROBUST), overall and complete response rates, overall survival (OS), and safety. Results: ROBUST enrolled 570 ABC patients and E1412 enrolled 280 GCB, ABC, and unclassified DLBCL patients. Patient profiles in both studies (ROBUST [ABC]/E1412 [all COO]) were similar in terms of median ages (65 y/66 y), male sex (58%/61%), and ECOG PS 1-2 (55%/63%). Patients in E1412 were more high risk: IPI 2 (42% ROBUST/34% E1412), IPI ≥ 3 (58%/66%), and Ann Arbor stage III/IV disease (87%/97%). Importantly, there was a notable difference in the time from patient diagnosis to treatment: median 31 days for ROBUST and 21 days (22% > 31 d) for E1412. Only 6% of patients in ROBUST were treated within 2 weeks of diagnosis vs 30% in E1412. At a median follow-up of ~2.5 y for both studies, E1412 met its primary endpoint of improvement in PFS with 34% reduction in the risk of PD/death (2-y PFS: 76% vs 70%) for all patients, but did not reach statistical significance in ABC-DLBCL patients for 2-y PFS (71% vs 61%) or 2-y OS (88% vs 76%). ROBUST showed no significant improvement in the primary PFS endpoint (2-y PFS: 67% vs 64%) or 2-y OS (79% vs 80%) in ABC patients. Subgroup analyses of PFS comparing R2-CHOP vs R-CHOP control within each study suggested that certain baseline factors favor the R2-CHOP arm, including: female sex, high IPI score (≥ 3), non-bulky disease (< 7 cm), and high Ann Arbor stage IV disease. Conclusion: While the ROBUST study design integrated state-of-the-art, real-time GEP to prospectively identify ABC-DLBCL patients with rapid lab turnaround time, cases of logistical delays in tissue submission for central analysis and staging procedures may have resulted in accrual of patients with lower-risk DLBCL and prolonged time from diagnosis to treatment. In contrast, E1412 retrospectively stratified patients by COO through GEP and was able to accrue higher-risk patients irrespective of COO within a shorter time from diagnosis to treatment, which among other differences (eg, smaller population size, study phase), could contribute to the improvement over R-CHOP control. Our comparative findings have significant implications for the design of future biomarker-driven trials and provide momentum for studies of novel combinations with R-CHOP in DLBCL. Further investigation into other factors, including dose intensity and their correlation with outcomes, will be presented. Disclosures Nowakowski: Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; NanoString: Research Funding; MorphoSys: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Research Funding; Selvita: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Curis: Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding. Chiappella:Servier: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Speakers Bureau; Teva: Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau. Hong:Dana Farber Cancer Institute: Employment; Merck: Consultancy. Scott:Roche/Genentech: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; NanoString: Patents & Royalties: Named inventor on a patent licensed to NanoSting [Institution], Research Funding. Amengual:Appia Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Epizyme: Speakers Bureau. Leonard:BeiGene: Consultancy; Miltenyi: Consultancy; Sandoz: Consultancy; Gilead: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy; MorphoSys: Consultancy; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy; Epizyme, Inc: Consultancy; Miltenyi: Consultancy; Genentech, Inc./F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Consultancy; Akcea Therapeutics: Consultancy; Merck: Consultancy; Nordic Nanovector: Consultancy; Akcea Therapeutics: Consultancy; Bayer Corporation: Consultancy; Sandoz: Consultancy; MorphoSys: Consultancy; Gilead: Consultancy; BeiGene: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Nordic Nanovector: Consultancy; Sutro Biopharma: Consultancy; Merck: Consultancy. Friedberg:Bayer: Honoraria, Other: Data & Safety Monitoring Committee; Acerta: Other: Data & Safety Monitoring Committee. Kostakoglu:F. Hoffman-La Roche: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy. Jurczak:Morphosys: Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; Celgene Corporation: Research Funding; Sandoz: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novo Nordisk: Research Funding; Servier: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; TG Therapeutics: Research Funding; Celtrion: Research Funding; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Loxo: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Yamamoto:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bayer: Research Funding; Celgene Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Mundipharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Research Funding; Eisai: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Meiji Seika Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; ARIAD: Research Funding; MSD: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead Sciences: Research Funding; Ono: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; SymBio: Research Funding; HUYA/IQVIA Services Japan: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; Chugai: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria; Sumitomo Dainippon: Honoraria; Incyte: Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria; Kyowa Kirin: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Otsuka: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Solasia Pharma: Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Czuczman:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Russo:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Hudak:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership; Novartis: Employment, Equity Ownership. Zhang:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Wade:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Kahl:ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; BeiGene: Consultancy; TG Therapeutics: Consultancy; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy. Vitolo:Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Speakers Bureau; Juno Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: 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; Gilead: 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; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. OffLabel Disclosure: Yes, these trials discuss off-label clinical trial investigation of lenalidomide plus R-CHOP in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Abstract Introduction : Follicular lymphoma (FL) remains an incurable malignancy as patients eventually experience progressive disease. A subset of patients is at risk of early lymphoma-related mortality due to histological transformation (TFL) to aggressive lymphoma (2-3% of patients per year) or early progression after immuno-chemotherapy, each of which leads to shortened survival. Mutations associated with transformation and/or early progression have been reported in the literature (e.g. CDKN2A, TP53, B2M) and the m7-FLIPI clinico-genetic risk model defines a high-risk patient group with poor failure-free survival after first-line treatment. However, the current knowledge of genetic alterations underlying transformation and/or early progression is inadequate to explain the majority of transformed cases and accurately predict early progressive disease. Materials and Methods: We performed targeted capture-based sequencing of 94 genes in a large cohort of fresh-frozen and formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded patient specimens (402 samples in total). This cohort comprised 277 samples from 159 patients that experienced transformation (including 128 samples at T1 (the time of FL) and 149 samples at T2 (the time of transformation) with 118 paired biopsies) and 125 samples from 125 patients (pre-treatment samples only) presenting with either early progression within 2.5 years after starting immunochemotherapy (n=41) or late or never progression for at least 5 years after starting immunochemotherapy or observation (n=84). Mutations were called using MutationSeq and putative single nucleotide polymorphisms were filtered out using either matching germline samples (n=84) or dbSNP (v147). Bayesian proportion tests were used to compare the prevalence of gene mutations between groups. Results : We first compared T1 (n=128) and T2 (n=149) samples from 159 patients experiencing transformation. Eleven genes were more commonly altered in transformed lymphoma. These included genes that had previously been associated with transformation, such as TP53, B2M, MYC and EBF1, as well as genes that have not yet been implicated as contributing to this process, for example EZH2, CCND3, PIM1 and ITPKB. Moreover, mutations in GNA13, S1PR2 and P2RY8, that have been implicated in dissemination of germinal centre B cells, were enriched in T2 samples. In addition, cell-of-origin classification was available for 108 of the TFL cases with DLBCL histology, 18 and 90 of which were of the ABC and GCB subtype, respectively. Although the number of ABC-TFL cases was small, we observed higher percentages of BCL10 (16% versus 1%, Fisher P=0.004), CD79B (22% versus 4%, Fisher P=0.005) and MYD88 mutations (28% versus 9%, P=0.006) in ABC-TFL than in GCB-TFL, suggesting that B-cell receptor signaling and NF-κB signaling are important contributors to the ABC phenotype in TFL. Next, we assessed the association of gene mutations with patient outcomes contrasting early progressers (n=41) and late or non-progressers (n=84). Eleven genes were mutated more commonly in early progressers than in late progressers, including KMT2C, TP53, BTG1, MKI67, XBP1 and SOCS1. Overall, 32 out of 41 early progressers (78%) had mutations in at least one of the 11 early progression-associated genes, but none of the individual early progression-associated genes were mutated at a frequency > 22%. Thus, early progression appears to be related to relatively infrequent genetic alterations. None of the early progression-associated gene mutations form part of the m7-FLIPI outcome predictor. Furthermore, in our cohort that was enriched for clinical extremes, the m7-FLIPI was similarly associated with early progression when compared to the FLIPI but it was not superior, having higher specificity (89% versus 76%), but lower sensitivity (36% versus 63%). Conclusions: We found novel associations of gene mutations with transformation and showed that TFL is molecularly heterogeneous, with the ABC subtype being characterized by differential gene mutation when compared to the GCB subtype. With regards to progressive disease after immuno-chemotherapy, our approach identified early progression as a distinct clinico-genetic disease category that is imperfectly captured by traditional prognostic tools. Disclosures Connors: Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squib: Research Funding; F Hoffmann-La Roche: Research Funding; NanoString Technologies: Research Funding; Millennium Takeda: Research Funding. Scott:NanoString Technologies: Patents & Royalties: named inventor on a patent for molecular subtyping of DLBCL that has been licensed to NanoString Technologies.