Opiate and Benzodiazepine Use during Hospitalization for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Is Associated with Adverse Health Related Outcomes
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Significant burden of pain syndromes are reported in patients with hematological malignancies undergoing HSCT mostly due to underlying disease and associated treatments. Opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines are routinely used for symptomatic management in this patient population. The use of narcotic analgesics and benzodiazepines in non-transplant hospitalized patients has been shown to adversely affect health related outcomes such as length-of-stay (LOS), falls and other complications. However, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the patterns of opioid and benzodiazepine use and their impact on health outcomes in HSCT patients. METHODS: We identified 275 patients from the year 2015-2018 who underwent HSCT (allogeneic and autologous transplants) at our center for a variety of hematological malignancies. Opioid exposure was defined in three groups of patients 1) Opioid naïve: those did not report prior use of opioid at admission and who were not prescribed opioid during hospitalization, 2) Previous Opioid users: those who reported active use of opioid at admission and continued during hospitalization 3) New Opioid users: Patients who did not report opioid use at admission but were prescribed opioid during hospitalization. Multivariable analysis was performed to identify differences in opioid status, opioid use, benzodiazepine use, disease diagnosis, Karnofsky score, gender, age, race, and marital status with associated complications (Poisson regression), emergency department visits (Logistic Regression) and length of stay (Ordinal Logistic Regression) Figure 1 and Figure 2. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 59 (range: 25-74 ) years with slight male predominance (57%). Patients undergoing autologous transplants for multiple myeloma (MM) comprised 48% of the population. The majority (72 %) were exposed to opioid during hospitalization. Ninety two percent of the opioid naïve population (28% of the total population) underwent autologous transplant. Conversely, 36% of patients undergoing autologous transplants never received opiates during hospitalization as compared to 7% of those who received an allogeneic transplant. Median morphine milligram equivalent daily dose was 3.1 mg. Median diazepam equivalent daily dosage in patients that were opiate exposed was 2.07 milligram. Of the total transplant population, 55% received benzodiazepine concurrently with opiates during hospitalization. 76 % of the population was exposed to both opioid and benzodiazepine. Twenty five percent of those who were exposed to opioid did not receive benzodiazepines. Sixty four percent of the MM patients were exposed to opioid of which majority (59%) were previous opioid users. Of the non-MM patients undergoing HSCT, 80% were exposed to opioid of which 36% were previous opioid users and 64% were new users. A wide range of complications from neutropenic fever to death, were seen in 89% of all patients (opioid users and non-users) but all the falls occurred in patients who were on opioid medications. Autologous transplant recipients had higher odds of having a greater number of complications compared to Allogeneic transplant patients (OR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01 - 1.55, p=0.04), as well as a reduced odds of having a medium or high length of stay (OR 0.03, 95% CI: 0.02 - 0.07). Of the opioid naïve patients, 6% presented to the ED within 30 days of discharge versus 15% of those that were exposed to opiates during hospitalization. Benzodiazepine use at admission for HSCT was associated with greater odd of presenting to ED within 30 days of discharge (OR 3.94, 95% CI: 1.55-10.04) and this was more significant in patients with MM (OR 4.08, 95% CI: 1.01-16.44). Finally, we also saw a trend towards longer stay in patients who were exposed to opioids as compared to opioid naïve (40% vs. 17%). CONCLUSION: Our study, albeit limited due to its retrospective design, is among the first to report the patterns of use and the impact of opioids and benzodiazepines in patients undergoing HSCT. Our results indicate that the use of these medications is frequent in this population and as in the non-transplant hospitalized patients and is associated with more emergency room visits post discharge, along with other potentially adverse outcomes. Disclosures Kharfan-Dabaja: Incyte Corp: Speakers Bureau; Seattle Genetics: Speakers Bureau; Alexion Pharmaceuticals: Speakers Bureau. Ailawadhi:Amgen: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy.
Comparative Analysis on the Anti-Tumor Activity of Venetoclax and Obinutuzumab (VO) Versus Venetoclax and Rituximab (VR) in Primary CLL Cells, Ex Vivo
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has expanded significantly with the approval of multiple small molecule inhibitors. This is of great significance for patients with adverse cytogenetic features who tend to respond poorly to standard chemo-immunotherapy (CIT). While single agent ibrutinib and venetoclax (V) have shown high rates of overall response, complete remission and minimal residual disease (MRD) eradication rates remain low. This argues for further testing and development of various combination strategies. The MURANO trial compared venetoclax and rituximab (VR) versus bendamustine and rituximab (BR) in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL reporting clear superiority of VR over BR. MRD rates in the bone marrow were reported to be 27.3% for VR versus 1.5% for BR. Given much higher rates of MRD eradication with combination of small molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies (mAb) compared to standard CIT, we performed a comparative investigation into the direct and immune-mediated cytolytic effects of VR versus V + Obinutuzumab (O, type II anti-CD20 mAb) in primary CLL cells and B-lymphoid cell lines. METHODS: CD19+ B-cells were isolated from PBMCs of CLL patients (N=3). For all experiments using primary CLL cells, concentration of VR and VO was 3nM (V) and 10ug /ml (R, O), respectively. For cell lines, VR and VO was used at 5uM (V) and 10ug /ml (R, O), respectively. Apoptosis was determined by annexin-V/PI staining followed by flow cytometry. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) induced by VR and VO was assessed in Calcein AM labeled CLL cells or cell lines co-cultured with healthy donor PBMCs (E:T ratio, 40:1); complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) was measured using 10% serum from a healthy human donor. RESULTS: We assessed the ability of V+/-O or V+/-R to induce apoptotic cell death in the CD20+ BCWM.1 cell line (Waldenström's macroglobulinemia [WM] phenotype) and the MEC-1 cell line (B-PLL phenotype); with CD20- RPCI-WM1 (WM cells, negative control). Notably, Bcl-2 protein is expressed in all the aforementioned cell lines. We observed that single agent V, O and R induced ~30%, 61% and 13.64% annexin V/PI positivity in BCWM.1 cells, respectively. However, a significant degree of cell death was noted in VO-treated cells (~74%) compared to VR-treated cells (~40%) (p<0.01). Next, we examined for apoptosis in MEC1 cells and noted a similar trend; where the VO combination induced markedly more cell death (~71%) than VR (~57%). Contrastingly, in RPCI-WM1 cells neither single agent O or R could elicit >12% annexin V/PI positivity and where the addition of V increased apoptosis by only 3 - 4%. We also examined the apoptotic potential of VO or VR in tumor cells from low, intermediate and high-risk CLL patients. In low and intermediate-risk CLL cells from low and intermediate-risk patients, V alone induced ~30% cell death, which increased significantly with the addition of O (VO) to between 48 - 52%. Contrastingly, the combination of VR did not induce more than 29 - 32% apoptosis. In CLL cells from high-risk patient, we noted that exposure to single agent V induced ~ 28% cell death and in VO-treated cells, this number increased to 47%. We also examined for ADCC and CDC in the same cell lines and primary CLL cells. Despite considerable variability, single agent O and VO treatment of tumor cells resulted in greater ADCC than VR treatment. By contrast, in single agent R or VR-treated cells, more CDC was observed. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary investigation in VR- and VO-treated cell lines and primary CLL cells suggests the VO combination may be superior to VR in induction of direct tumor cell death. Mechanistic experiments underway will provide further insight and can aid in design of future VO-based clinical studies in CLL. Disclosures Ailawadhi: Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy.
Exploring Disease Biology in Hispanic Versus Non-Hispanic Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) to Explain Survival Disparities
Abstract Background: DLBCL is the most common adult NHL and despite significant advancements, outcomes in ethnic minorities remain suboptimal. Factors responsible for these disparities in ethnic minorities, especially variability in clinical and pathological features with evaluation of patient-level data have not been studied. Methods: A multi-institutional database of DLBCL patients seen at Mayo Clinic in Florida, University of Miami and University of Southern California between 1996-2016 was developed. Patient demographics, clinical disease characteristics and details of DLBCL immunophenotype [CD10, MUM1, BCL6 (Han's classification), Ki 67, MYC, BCL2) were reviewed. Comparisons between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic patients were made by Chi-square, Fischer's exact and Signed rank tests, where applicable. Patients with missing data on a certain feature were not included in the statistical analysis of that specific characteristic. Results: A total of 966 DLBCL patients with 69 Hispanics and 752 non-Hispanics were identified. These included 52% males (N=36) and 48% females (N=33) in Hispanics versus 58% males (N=436) and 42% females (N=316) in Non-Hispanics (p=0.35). Median age at diagnosis was significantly lower at 61 years (range 27-89) in Hispanics versus 66 in non-Hispanics (p=0.014). Extranodal disease was seen significantly more commonly in Hispanics (74%) than in non-Hispanics (60%) (p=0.037). There was no significant difference in disease stage at presentation between the two cohorts (p=0.189) although the proportion of patients with stage III and IV disease was higher among Hispanics (80.4%) as compared to non-Hispanics (68.5%). Similarly there was no significant difference in presence of primary CNS DLBCL at diagnosis between the two groups (p=0.74). GCB phenotype per the Hans' classification was seen in 59% (N=29) in both, Hispanics and Non-Hispanics (N=241) (p=0.99). Similarly, the median ki67 index of 80% was seen in both cohorts (p=0.48). MYC was positive in 59% in Hispanics versus only 37.5% in non-Hispanics (p=0.024). BCL2 expression by itself and also combined BCL2 and MYC double expression were not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.58 and p=0.11, respectively). Median overall survival (OS) was 22.5 months in Hispanics compared 54.9 months in Non-Hispanics (p<0.0001) (Figure 1). Conclusion: Survival outcome disparities in racial and ethnic minorities have been previously reported from population-based analyses. Lack of patient-level clinical data makes these analyses hypothesis generating, but not conclusive. We confirmed some prior findings including younger age at diagnosis for Hispanics with DLBCL. We also reported greater incidence of extranodal as well as stage III or IV disease at the time of presentation among Hispanics which may contribute to poor outcomes in this population. From DLBCL pathology standpoint, we found increased expression of MYC among Hispanics but no other significant immunohistochemical differences including double expression or non-GCB phenotype. The inferior OS despite uniform treatment practices at large Cancer Centers suggest multifactorial influences on patient outcomes which may at least in part include some of the differences we report here. Disclosures Ailawadhi: Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy.
Decreased Physical Activity in Autologous Stem Cell Recipients Leads to Reduced QOL Scores during Hospitalization
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can heavily impact the quality of life (QOL) of an individual. However, this procedure may be the only hope for a cure or a longer life for some individuals. When these patients develop severe neutropenia during transplantation, protective isolation is recommended to reduce the risk of infection. During protective isolation, patients may be confined to their hospital room which can decrease their physical activity. For autologous hematopoietic stem cell receipts (AHSCR), severe neutropenia may last several days to weeks. During this time, patients often experience social isolation, emotional encumbrances and also physical deconditioning.Data is inconsistent whether protective isolation does reduce the incidence of infections. In this study, we sought to investigate the impact of physical activity during hospitalization on Quality of Life in AHSCR with severe neutropenia using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplant (FACT-BMT) questionnaire. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study of 15 patients admitted to Mayo Clinic Florida during November 2017 to May 2018 for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, wherein we monitored the activity of each patient during hospitalization by recording the number of steps taken each day by using an activity tracker worn by the patient. Informed consent was obtained on admission before enrolling patients. Patients completed a Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaire (FACT-BMT version 4) on admission and prior to discharge from the hospital. RESULTS: Of the 15 patients that were enrolled, 5 walked ≤ 100 steps/day (group A, median, 71) and 10 walked > 100 steps/day (group B, median, 406). While there was no difference in the median time to engraftment and length of hospital stay, the mean QOL score decreased from 89.2 on admission to 81.4 on discharge in less active neutropenia patients compared to the ones who were more active. (Table 1; Figure 1) CONCLUSION: Lack of physical activity decreases QOL in AHSCR. During hospitalization, AHSCR should be encouraged to increase their activity to improve QOL. Having an activity tracker may make it easier for patients to monitor their activity, and thus lead to a better QOL. Figure. Figure. Disclosures Sher: Affimed: Research Funding. Ailawadhi:Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy.
Trends in the Risk of Second Primary Malignancies (SPMs) Among Survivors of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia(CLL)
Abstract Background: CLL is the most common leukemia diagnosis in adults and its treatment has undergone significant change from chemotherapy, to immunotherapy and now targeted kinase inhibitors, leading to improved overall survival (OS). With improving survivorship, SPMs can occur but an in-depth analysis of risks and trends of SPMs in CLL survivors is lacking. We performed a population-based analysis to evaluate this. Methods: Patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database diagnosed with CLL between 1973-2015 were included. Due to variation in management techniques over time, the cohort was divided in four time periods: 1973-1982, 1983-1992, 1993-2002 and 2003-2015. We evaluated differences in risk for SPMs among CLL survivors compared to risk of individual malignancies expected in the general population during these time periods and studied the effect of demographics and time since CLL diagnosis. Results: Over a nearly 270,000 person-year follow up, 6,467 new SPMs were diagnosed with a standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of 1.2 (95% CI 1.17-1.23), which resulted in a 39 excess cancers per 10,000 population. The CLL survivors had a 20% overall increased risk of developing SPMs (excluding non-squamous skin cancer) compared to the general population. The risks for both solid (SIR 1.15 CI 95% 1.12-1.18) and hematological malignancies (SIR 1.61 95% CI 1.5-1.73) was higher than the expected in the general population. However, the risk for individual cancers was heterogeneous. The tumors associated with the highest risk were Hodgkin lymphoma (almost 8 times higher), Kaposi Sarcoma (4 times), non-epithelial skin cancers (4 times), salivary gland cancer (3 times) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (3 times). In contrast, tumors in the hepatobiliary system, female breast and female genital system were associated with a lower risk than the general population. The highest SIR across the study periods was observed in the younger population (ages 15-49). Although the risk increased in all ethnicities, it was statistically significant only in Caucasians. There was no gender-wise difference in SIR during any of the four time periods. A statistically significant increase in SIR was observed for both men and women from 1973-1982 to 2003-2015. This was mostly due to an increase in risk of hematological malignancies from 1.08 early in the study to 2.56 in the most recent study period. The SIR in solid tumors did not change significantly over time; in absolute terms, however, lung carcinoma contributed the most to the excess risk, followed by non-epithelial skin cancers and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The risk of developing a SPM was higher for the CLL survivors during most of the latency periods, but it was statistically significant during the 2-5 months and 12-59 months after diagnosis. A multivariate analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of period of diagnosis on the development of SPMs among these patients. After adjusting for gender, ethnicity, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and age at diagnosis of CLL, patients diagnosed with CLL in the most recent time period were at 45% higher risk of developing SPMs as compared to the patient diagnosed during 1973-1982 (Hazard ratio(HR) =1.45 95%CI:1.34-1.6, p<0.001). Moreover increased HRs were also observed for 1983-1992 and 1993-2002 time periods (Fig. 1) Conclusions: With improving therapeutics for cancer treatment, survivorship is improving as well and the risk of SPMs needs to be better understood and addressed. This is truer for CLL, where majority of patients have a favorable survival. The risk of SPMs was 20% higher in CLL survivors than in the general population and was most prominent in the survivors aged 15-49 years at the time of CLL diagnosis. The risk of individual malignancies may be heterogenous but there has been an increase in risk of SPMs over time, mainly due to an increase of secondary hematological malignancies in recent years. Active survivorship plans and long-term surveillance for SPMs is crucial for improved outcomes of patients with a history of CLL. Disclosures Ailawadhi: Janssen: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding.
Impact of Depression or Anxiety on Opioid and Benzodiazepine Use in Hospitalized Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Recipients
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Patients undergoing HSCT are reported to have a high prevalence of depression and anxiety. These comorbid mood disorders have been known to be associated with alteration in pain perception in patients without hematological malignancies. Pharmacological compounds such as opioid and benzodiazepines are frequently used to manage patient symptomology including pain and anxiety. Patients undergoing HSCT are a unique population where the impact of depression and anxiety on opioid and benzodiazepine use has not been well studied. METHODS: The study population consisted of patients who underwent HSCT at a single center for a variety of hematological malignancies from 2015-2018. Opioid and benzodiazepine exposure and dosage was defined in a) Patients who were exposed to opioid including those who were previously exposed and those who were exposed during hospitalization for HSCT b) Patients who were neither exposed to opioid previously, nor during the hospitalization for HSCT. Depression and Anxiety was defined as per PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scales prior to hospital admission. Multivariable analysis was performed to identify differences in opioid status, previous benzodiazepine use, transplant type, Karnofsky score, gender, age, race, and marital status with associated Diazepam Equivalent Daily Dosage (DEDD) (Negative Binomial Regression), and Morphine Milligram Equivalent Daily Dosages (MMEDD) (Logistic and Zero Truncated Negative Binomial Regression). RESULTS: A total of 275 patients underwent HSCT including autologous and allogeneic from 2015-2018. Anxious or depressed HSCT recipients had an increased incidence of higher DEDD with an IRR of 1.69 (95% CI: 1.15, 2.49) compared to those who were neither depressed nor anxious (Figure 1). However, patients who reported anxiety and depression did not have a different DEDD than those not anxious nor depressed. In addition, patients who were not naïve to benzodiazepine use prior to admission had an increased incidence of a higher DEDD [IRR of 2.23 (95% CI: 1.61, 3.05)]. Patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplant had a decreased incidence of receiving a higher DEDD [IRR of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.47-0.90)]. African American and other populations had a decreased incidence of receiving a higher DEDD [IRR of 0.40 (95% CI: 0.27, 0.59)]. Patients receiving higher MMEDD had a higher DEDD incidence [IRR of 1.01 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.02)]. Patients who were both anxious and depressed had increased odds of receiving an opioid [OR of 3.35 (95% CI: 1.62, 6.94)] compared to patients who were neither depressed nor anxious. However, patients who were either depressed or anxious did not have different odds of receiving an opioid compared to those who were neither depressed nor anxious. Patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplant had reduced odds of receiving an opioid [OR of 0.17 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.40)]. Patients with less than normal Karnofsky performance status (<90 on scale of 1-100) had an increased incidence of receiving a higher MMEDD [IRR of 2.34 (95% CI: 1.07, 5.12)] when modeled by Zero Truncated Negative Binomial Regression. Finally, HSCT recipients who were both anxious and depressed had reduced odds of being naïve to opioids [OR0.31 (95% CI: 0.15, 0.67)] compared to recipients who were neither depressed nor anxious. New opioid users had reduced odds of receiving a greater MMEDD [OR of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96, 0.99)] when compared to previous users. In addition, autologous stem cell transplant recipients had reduced odds of receiving greater MMEDD compared to allogeneic transplant recipients (OR 0.33, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.66). CONCLUSION: Comorbid depression and /or anxiety impact opioid and benzodiazepine use in patients undergoing HSCT. The presence of these comorbid conditions and their association with increased use of opioids and benzodiazepines can also affect various health related outcomes. Larger studies are needed to fully understand the potential impact of this association on health related outcomes. Figure 1. Figure 1. Disclosures Kharfan-Dabaja: Incyte Corp: Speakers Bureau; Alexion Pharmaceuticals: Speakers Bureau; Seattle Genetics: Speakers Bureau. Ailawadhi:Amgen: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy.
Additional autoimmune disorders in patients with acquired autoimmune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
Lysozyme amyloidosis (ALys) is an exceedingly rare autosomal dominant hereditary type of systemic amyloidosis that can be misdiagnosed as other common types of systemic amyloidosis. The gastrointestinal tract and the kidney are the most common sites of organ involvement. No specific treatment exists for ALys, and the management primarily consists of organ-directed supportive care. To our knowledge, this disorder has been previously reported only in European ancestries; here, we first report the occurrence of ALys in South Asian ancestry. This report highlights the need of awareness amongst physicians regarding the extension of this unique and challenging disorder to non-European ancestries.
Successful Antimicrobial Treatment of Phlegmonous Gastritis: A Case Report and Literature Review
Phlegmonous gastritis is an uncommon acute bacterial infection of the stomach that carries a fatal prognosis in spite of the advent of antibiotics. A high index of suspicion is required in patients with risk factors. An immunocompromised state is identified as one of the most important risk factors. We hereby report a case of successful antimicrobial treatment of phlegmonous gastritis in a patient who was receiving intensive chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia. We have also carried out a review of literature over the past ten years. Streptococcus pyogenes is identified as the most common causative organism, and patient presentation is usually nonspecific. Conservative treatment with prompt institution of antibiotics can lead to rapid resolution in the majority of patients.
Feasibility and clinical value of circulating tumor DNA testing in patients with gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.