Kambhampati, Suman

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.

PURPOSEStandard cytotoxic induction chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) results in prolonged neutropenia and risk of infection. Romyelocel-L is a universal, allogeneic myeloid progenitor cell product being studied to reduce infection during induction chemotherapy.PATIENTS AND METHODSOne hundred sixty-three patients with de novo AML (age ≥ 55 years) receiving induction chemotherapy were randomly assigned on day 0 (d0), of whom 120 were evaluable. Subjects received either romyelocel-L infusion on d9 with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) starting daily d14 (treatment group) or G-CSF daily alone on d14 (control) until absolute neutrophil count recovery to 500/µL. End points included days in febrile episode, microbiologically defined infections, clinically diagnosed infection, and days in hospital.RESULTSMean days in febrile episode was shorter in the treatment arm from d15 through d28 (2.36 v 3.90; P = .02). Similarly, a trend toward decreased microbiologically defined infections and clinically diagnosed infection in the treatment arm was observed from d9 to d28 (35.6% v 47.5%; P = .09), reaching a statistically significant difference from d15 to d28 (6.8% v 27.9%; P = .002). Because of this, antibacterial or antifungal use for treatment of an infection was significantly less in the treatment group (d9-d28: 44.1% v 63.9%; P = .01). Significantly fewer patients in the treatment arm received empiric antifungals from d9 tod28 (42.4% v 63.9%; P = .02) and d15-d28 (42.4% v 62.3%; P = .02). Patients in the treatment arm also had 3.2 fewer hospital days compared with control (25.5 v 28.7; P = .001). Remission rates and days to absolute neutrophil count recovery were similar in the two groups. No patients in the romyelocel-L plus G-CSF group died because of infection compared with two patients in the control arm. No graft-versus-host disease was observed.CONCLUSIONSubjects receiving romyelocel-L showed a decreased incidence of infections, antimicrobial use, and hospitalization, suggesting that romyelocel-L may provide a new option to reduce infections in patients with AML undergoing induction therapy.

Abstract Chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis (MF) is a clonal hematopoietic disorder that leads to progressive marrow fibrosis and peripheral cytopenias. Very little is known about the role of aberrant DNA methylation in the pathobiology of this disease. Whole genome methylation was analyzed by a recently described novel method, the HELP assay (HpaII tiny fragment Enrichment by Ligation-mediated PCR; Khulan et al, Genome Res. 2006 Aug;16(8)) that uses differential methylation specific restriction digestion by HpaII and MspI followed by amplification, two color labeling and cohybridization to quantitatively determine individual promoter methylation. A whole genome human promoter array (Nimblegen) was used to determine the level of methylation of 25626 gene promoters by calculating HpaII/MspI cut fragment intensity ratio. Peripheral blood leucocytes from 9 patients with IMF were compared to 9 age-matched normal and anemic controls. Gene expression analysis was performed using 37K oligo maskless arrays using cDNA from the same samples. Methylation analysis showed that myelofibrosis samples clustered separately from normal and anemic controls when grouped by unsupervised clustering based on Pearson’s correlation coefficient. On the other hand, global gene expression demonstrated no clear cut differences between myelofibrosis and control samples suggesting that methylation profiling has greater discriminatory power when compared to conventional gene expression profiling. A high correlation (r=0.88–0.96) was observed between whole genome methylation profiles of matched sets of bone marrow and peripheral blood leucocyte samples from selected patients demonstrating that peripheral blood leucocytes can act as a valid surrogates for epigenomic analysis. Further analysis showed that genes aberrantly methylated in all myelofibrosis samples included v-myc, histone 2A, TNF, TNF Receptor1, FGF14 and others. Functional pathway analysis by Ingenuity showed that pathways involved in Inflammation and Cell signaling were the most affected by epigenetic silencing. Most interestingly, a large proportion of gene promoters were also aberrantly hypomethylated. These included genes for chemokine CXCL13, APC, IL-3, STAT2 and others. The pathways most activated by hypomethylation were involved in hematopoiesis and cell growth and proliferation demonstrating the biological validity of our analysis. Thus, our data demonstrates that myelofibrosis is characterized by distinct epigenetic aberrations that are preserved in peripheral blood leucocytes. These can be the basis of future studies on pathogenesis and diagnosis for this disease and lead to translational studies with agents targeting DNA methylation.

Abstract Background: Patients (pts) withHR-MDS have a median OS of 4 to 6 months (mo) after HMA failure (Prebet et al, J Clin Oncol 2011) and no approved salvage therapy. Development of new therapeutics for this population will benefit from the availability of surrogate endpoints and markers that can predict survival. Gore et al established response to azacitidine (Vidaza®) in first-line therapy for HR-MDS as a reasonable surrogate to predict survival (Gore et al, Haematologica 2013). Rigosertib, a novel dual PI3K/PLK pathway inhibitor, has been shown to reduce bone marrow blasts (BMBL) in these pts (Seetharam et al, Leuk Res 2012). Silverman et al described complete or partial bone marrow (BM) response, or stabilization after 4-8 weeks (wks) of treatment with rigosertib as a potential surrogate for predicting survival in pts with HR-MDS after failure of primary HMA therapy (Silverman et al, Hematol Oncol 2014). We tested this hypothesis in the context of a randomized Phase III trial. Methods:Pts with HR-MDS were randomly assigned 2:1 to rigosertib or best supportive care (BSC) after progressing on, failing to respond to, or relapsing after HMA treatment. BM aspirates were assessed pretreatment, at 4 weeks and at 8-week intervals thereafter. Central slide review was undertaken in a representative population of samples. The BMBL response at each time point was assessed using the following definitions: bone marrow complete response (mCR) = BMBL ≤ 5% and decrease of ≥ 50% from baseline; bone marrow partial response (mPR) = BMBL decrease from baseline of ≥ 50%, but BMBL still > 5%; stable disease (SD) = BMBL decrease or increase from baseline of < 50%; progressive disease (PD) = BMBL increase from baseline of ≥ 50% by an absolute minimum of 5%; Not evaluable (NE). Results:Bone marrow assessment was carried out in 156 patients (pts) on the rigosertib arm and 24 pts on the BSC arm at 4 wks after enrollment, and in 86 and 20 pts, respectively, at 12 wks. The invasive BM procedure was optional on the BSC arm, which accounts for the low number of assessments in this group. BM responses at the 2 time points are presented in Table 1. Since no difference in overall survival was noted between pts who had objective BM response and those who did not progress (ie, stable disease), a landmark analysis was conducted that separated pts who were alive at the 4-wk landmark time into two 4-wk response categories: BM response + SD vs. PD. Results of this analysis in rigosertib-treated patients were statistically significant at p = 0.011, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.62 and a median OS (from 4 wks onward) of 9.8 months in the mCR + mPR + SD group vs. 4.6 months in the PD group (Figure 1). Another landmark analysis was conducted at 12-wks. Results of this analysis were also significant (p < 0.001) in rigosertib-treated patients, with an HR of 0.39 and a median OS (from 12 wks onward) of 10.4 months in the mCR + mPR + SD group vs.7.5 months in the PD group (Figure 2). A time-dependent Cox regression of OS by 4-wk BMBL response reinforced the validity of the 4-wk and 12-wk BM assessments as surrogate biomarkers for survival (Table 2). Conclusions: These data suggest that BMBL response at 4 or 12 weeks was correlated with OS in this population of pts with HR-MDS treated with rigosertib after HMA failure and are consistent with previous observations in Phase II studies. Table 1 4- and 12-week Bone Marrow Blast Response (Intention-to-Treat Population) Number (%) of Patients 4-wk BMBL Response 12-wk BMBL Response Rigosertib N = 199 BSC N = 100 Rigosertib N = 199 BSC N = 100 Pts with BMBL assessment 156 (78) 24 (24)* 86 (43) 20 (20)* BM complete response (mCR) 22 4 11 5 BM partial response (mPR) 8 2 9 2 Stable disease (SD) 77 9 32 8 Progressive disease (PD) 49 9 34 5 * Bone marrow assessment was not required on the BSC arm. Figure 1 Figure 1. Figure 2 Figure 2. Table 2 Time-dependent Cox Regression of Overall Survival by Bone Marrow Blast Response Analysis Rigosertib BSC Wald P-value Hazard Ratio (95% Confidence Interval) Wald P-value Hazard Ratio (95% Confidence Interval) By 4-wk BMBL response 0.051 0.72 (0.51 - 1.00) 0.56 0.83 (0.45 - 1.54) By 12-wk BMBL response 0.0005 0.55 (0.39 - 0.77) 0.16 0.68 (0.39 - 1.17) *Stratified by pretreatment BMBL: 5%-19% vs. 20%-30% Disclosures Fenaux: Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding. Sekeres:Celgene Corp.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Boehringer Ingelheim: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Wilhelm:Onconova Therapeutics, Inc: Employment, Equity Ownership. Azarnia:Onconova Therapeutics, Inc: Employment.

Abstract Intro: Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable malignancy that arises from MGUS, however the majority of patients with MGUS do not go on to develop MM. A deeper understanding of the biology of progression from MGUS to MM is needed to identify patients at higher risk of progression and identify potential strategies to prevent development of MM. Altered bone metabolism is common in MGUS with upregulation of the receptor-activator of nuclear kB ligand (RANKL) to osteoprotegrin (OPG) ratio. Vitamin D has a central role in bone metabolism and has recently been associated with progressive disease in several malignancies, including MM. We hypothesized that progressive alterations in the key molecules of bone remodeling would correlate with the risk group of MGUS and that correction of vitamin D deficiency would lead to improved equilibrium of selective cytokines involved in bone remodeling and metabolism. Methods: 43 patients with MGUS or smoldering myeloma were assigned to low (0 or 1 risk factor) or high (2 or 3 risk factors or smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM)) risk of progression to MM based on the IMWG consensus statement (Leukemia. 2010, June; 24(6); 1121-7). We measured 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels, IL-6, and the RANKL/OPG ratio via enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Patients with low levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin D were treated with 6,000 units of cholecalciferol daily for 8 weeks and then 2,000 units daily thereafter. Repeat levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin D, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and RANKL/OPG were repeated after three months of cholecalciferol therapy. Results: Total enrollment was 43 patients, with 26 patients with low risk disease and 17 patients with high risk disease. There was no significant difference in IL-6, OPG, RANKL, or the RANKL/OPG ratio levels between patients with low versus high risk disease. Patients with SMM versus patients with MGUS had higher levels of IL-6 RANKL and the RANKL/OPG ratio. 14 patients were found to have vitamin D deficiency with 25 hydroxyvitamin D <25ng/mL, 5 high risk and 9 low risk patients. There was no difference in IL-6 levels in patients with or without vitamin D deficiency. Patients with vitamin D deficiency had an increased RANKL and the RANKL/OPG ratio. With cholecalciferol supplementation in deficient patients, the average vitamin D level in deficient patients increased from 16.6 to 25.34 ng/mL while the RANKL/OPG ratio decreased (241.99 vs. 115.32, p-value .041) and the serum free light chain ratio improved (median improvement of 6, p-value=.013). Conclusions: These data provide clues that vitamin D deficiency is pervasive in MGUS . Additionally, hypovitaminosis D and its correction modulates the RANKL/OPG ratio that could play a pivotal role between osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Further study is required to determine if alterations in bone metabolism and the correction of abnormal metabolism can alter the disease course of patients with MGUS, especially serum free light chains and bone marrow plasma cells (PC) and the PC karyotype. This trial was conducted with IRB approval from the University of Kansas Medical Center. Table 1. RANKL, OPG, and RANKL/OPG ratios for SMM versus MGUS patients with 0,1, or two risk factors and patients with vitamin D deficiency versus those without vitamin D deficiency. SMM MGUS 0,1,2 p-value 25 hydroxyvitamin D<25 ng/mL 25 hydroxyvitamin D >25 p-value RANKL (pg/mL) 65500.76 13819.97 .041 50216.25 10387.77 .044 OPG (pg/mL) 180.59 164.81 .25 177.78 163.46 .60 RANKL/OPG 252.66 110.04 .06 241.99 73.25 .034 Disclosures Yacoub: seattle genetics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; alexion: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Mikhael:Onyx: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding.

Abstract Background: No approved treatment options are available to HR-MDS pts after HMA therapy. Study 04-21 (“ONTIME” trial) was a Phase III, randomized, controlled study of the efficacy and safety of rigosertib, a novel small molecule inhibitor of PI3-kinase and PLK pathways, in a heterogeneous population of MDS pts who had relapsed after, failed to respond to, or progressed during administration of HMAs. The study was conducted at 87 sites in the United States and 5 European countries. Methods:From Dec 2010 to Aug 2013, 299 HR-MDS pts [<30% bone marrow blasts (BMBL)] who had progressed on (37% of total enrollment), failed to respond to (25%), or relapsed after (38%) HMA treatment were stratified on BMBL count and randomized 2:1 to receive rigosertib (199 pts) or BSC (100 pts). Rigosertib was administered at 1800 mg/24 hr for 72-hr as a continuous intravenous (CIV) ambulatory infusion, every 2 weeks for the first 16 weeks, and then every 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), analyzed on an intention-to-treat (ITT) basis using the Kaplan-Meier method stratified on BMBL (5% to 19% vs. 20% to 30%). The trial had a 95% power to detect a 13-wk increase in median OS from 17 wks on BSC, with a 2-sided alpha = 0.05. The following results are based on 242 deaths: 161 in the rigosertib arm and 81 in the BSC arm. Results : Overall, the 2 arms were balanced in terms of baseline characteristics, with the majority of pts being male (66%), and White (82%). Age ranged from 50-90 yrs in the rigosertib arm and 55-86 years in the BSC arm (median, 74 yrs). The majority of pts (85%) had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score of 0 or 1. The median duration of the last HMA therapy was 8.8 months (mo) in the rigosertib arm and 10.3 mo in the BSC arm; 127 (64%) of rigosertib pts and 57% of BSC pts were classified as “primary HMA failure” (ie, they failed to respond to or progressed during HMA therapy, as defined by Prebet et al, J Clin Oncol, 2011). A 2.3-mo improvement in median OS was found in the overall (ITT) population (8.2 mo rigosertib vs. 5.9 mo BSC) (Figure 1). The ITT survival for rigosertib was similar to that noted in Phase I/II studies (35 weeks). The stratified log-rank p-value was 0.33. The stratified hazard ratio was 0.87, which was quite different from the ratio of medians (5.9/8.2 = 0.72), due to the fact that the 2 survival curves converged at 15 mo. Notably, among the 184 patients with primary HMA failure, the median OS was 8.6 mo in the rigosertib arm (N = 127) vs. 5.3 mo in the BSC arm (N = 57), HR= 0.69, p= 0.040 (Figure 2). Multivariate Cox regression, adjusting for pretreatment prognostic factors, showed little change in the treatment effect. The following subgroups were correlated with better OS: pts with failure of/progression on HMA treatment, pts with duration of HMA treatment ≤ 9 mo, pts < 75 years of age, and pts with very high risk per IPSS-R (Figure 3). Rigosertib was well tolerated, with a median dose intensity of 92%. There were no significant compliance or operations issues related to ambulatory continuous infusion. Protocol-defined dose reductions were reported in 5% of pts, with 24% experiencing dose delays of >7 days, mostly due to unrelated adverse events (AEs). No obvious differences between rigosertib and BSC were found in the incidence of AEs (rigosertib, 99%; BSC, 85%) or of ≥ Grade 3 AEs (rigosertib, 79%; BSC, 68%). In the rigosertib arm, AEs reported by ≥ 20% of pts, irrespective of severity or causality, were nausea (35%), diarrhea (33%), constipation (31%), fatigue (30%), fever (27%), anemia (22%), and peripheral edema (21%). Rigosertib had low myelotoxicity, consistent with previous clinical experience. Conclusions:Although the primary endpoint in this Phase III study of rigosertib vs BSC in pts with HR-MDS did not reach statistical significance in the ITT population, encouraging rigosertib treatment-related improvement in OS was noted in several subgroups of MDS pts, including those with “primary HMA failure and in patients in the IPSS-R Very High Risk category. CIV therapy with rigosertib had a favorable safety profile in this orphan population of elderly pts with MDS. Figure 1 Figure 1. Figure 2 Figure 2. Figure 3 Figure 3. Disclosures Fenaux: Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding. Sekeres:Celgene Corp.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Boehringer Ingelheim: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Roboz:Novartis: Consultancy; Agios: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Glaxo SmithKline: Consultancy; Astra Zeneca: Consultancy; Sunesis: Consultancy; Teva Oncology: Consultancy; Astex: Consultancy. Wilhelm:Onconova Therapeutics, Inc: Employment, Equity Ownership. Wilhelm:Onconova Therapeutics, Inc: Employment. Azarnia:Onconova Therapeutics, Inc: Employment. Maniar:Onconova Therapeutics, Inc: Employment.

Abstract Abstract 424 Background: Azacitidine for injection has been shown to prolong overall survival in patients (pts) with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) compared with conventional care regimens (CCR) (Lancet Oncol, 2009). An oral formulation of azacitidine (CC-486) is in development. Oral azacitidine may maximize convenience, eliminate injection-site reactions, and if administered in extended dosing schedules, may enhance and prolong the therapeutic effects of azacitidine. Oral azacitidine administered once-daily (QD) for 7 days (d) of repeated 28d cycles has been shown to be bioavailable, biologically and clinically active, and well-tolerated in pts with MDS and acute myeloid leukemia (Garcia-Manero, J Clin Oncol, 2011). Preliminary evidence suggests that extending oral azacitidine dosing to 14d or 21d of the 28d cycle may enhance pharmacodynamic and epigenetic activity (Laille, Leuk Res, 2011). Purpose: To evaluate hematologic response and safety associated with extended dosing regimens of oral azacitidine in pts with lower-risk MDS. Methods: This ongoing, multicenter, phase 1 study, enrolled pts with lower-risk (IPSS Low or INT-1) MDS who were RBC transfusion dependent (TD) and/or thrombocytopenic (average platelet count ≤50,000 within 56d prior to the first dose) at baseline. Pts were sequentially assigned to receive oral azacitidine 300mg QD for either 14d or 21d of repeated 28d cycles. Hematologic assessments were made every 2 weeks. Hematologic response was assessed using IWG 2006 criteria (Cheson, Blood, 2006). Adverse events (AEs) were graded using NCI-CTCAE version 3.0. Results: At data cut-off (May 18, 2012), 53 pts with lower-risk MDS had enrolled (300mg oral azacitidine QDx14d, n=26; QDx21d, n=27). Demographic and disease characteristics at baseline were similar in the 14d and 21d treatment cohorts (Table 1). Median (range) hematology counts at baseline were Hgb 8.7 g/L (6.0–13.0), ANC 1.6×109/L (0–30.3), and platelets 56.0×109/L (6.0–564.0). At study entry, 40% of pts had received no prior MDS treatment (except transfusions), 45% had received erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, and 15% had received WBC growth factors. The number of oral azacitidine treatment cycles received ranged from 1 to 12 (median numbers of oral azacitidine cycles were 6 in the QDx14d and 4 in the QDx21d cohorts). Four pts in the 21d cohort and 1 pt in the 14d cohort received reduced oral azacitidine doses (200mg QD). Overall, 10 pts discontinued the study, including 6 pts (3 pts in each cohort) who discontinued due to AEs that may have been treatment-related (gastrointestinal [n=2] or intracranial [n=1] hemorrhage, febrile neutropenia [n=1], pneumonia [n=1], thrombocytopenia [n=1]). Overall response rates (ORR), which included complete (CR) and partial remission (PR), any hematologic improvement (HI), and transfusion independence (TI), ranged from 38.5% in the QDx14d cohort to 29.6% in the QDx21d cohort, and RBC TI was achieved by 47% and 33%, respectively, of pts who were RBC TD at baseline (Table 2). For pts who received at least 4 cycles of oral azacitidine (14d, n=19; 21d, n=14), ORR was 47.4% in the 14d and 50.0% in the 21d cohorts, and RBC TI rates in RBC TD pts (n=16) were 67% in the 14d and 57% in the 21d cohorts. The most frequent (≥5%) grade 3/4 hematologic AEs in the QDx14d cohort were anemia (11.5%), thrombocytopenia (11.5%), and neutropenia (7.7%); and in the QDx21d cohort were neutropenia (14.8%), anemia (7.4%), and febrile neutropenia (7.4%). Most frequent grade 3/4 non-hematologic AEs were gastrointestinal, including vomiting (7.7%) in the QDx14d cohort, and diarrhea (11.1%) and vomiting (7.4%) in the QDx21d cohort. Conclusions: Oral azacitidine 300mg QD administered in extended dosing schedules of 14d or 21d of repeated 28d cycles was effective and well-tolerated in these pts with lower-risk MDS. Beside hematologic AEs, the most frequently observed AEs with oral azacitidine were gastrointestinal and were manageable. Efficacy and safety outcomes with 300mg QD oral azacitidine were generally comparable between the 14d and 21d extended dosing regimens. Based on these data, oral azacitidine administered once-daily in extended dosing schedules is active and well-tolerated and warrants further investigation in randomized, controlled trials. Disclosures: Garcia-Manero: Celgene: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Gore:Celgene Corporation: Consultancy, Research Funding. Scott:Celgene Corporation: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Hetzer:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Kumar:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Skikne:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership.