Citations

Abstract Background: Platelet transfusions are important for supporting patients with hematologic disorders. Refractoriness to platelet transfusions may lead to serious complications and pose a challenge to clinical management. A variety of laboratory strategies to optimize transfusion support in this population are being used; however, data on clinical correlation and success of these interventions is limited. We report the laboratory testing, transfusion yield, and clinical correlation in a cohort of patients receiving cross-matched platelet units. Methods: All consecutive adult patients refractory to platelet transfusions (failure to increment platelet count by 10 x 10(9) times two) with platelet crossmatch performed between June 2014 and April 2016 at our institution were included. Detailed clinical information, laboratory data of the crossmatch results, and Single Antigen Bead (SAB; Luminex) for each platelet unit cross-matched was retrospectively collected. Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of antibodies directed towards donor platelet HLA antigens identified through SAB were grouped into zones according to previously validated laboratory data: green zone (<4,000 MFI), yellow zone (4000-10000) and red zone (>10,000). Adequate transfusion yield was defined as an absolute increase of at least 10 x 10((9)/L platelets on a post-transfusion (i.e., within 1 hour) sample. Patients with major bleeding per International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) criteria, palpable splenomegaly, fever during transfusion, DIC, active sepsis, or antibodies directed against human platelet antigens were excluded from the final analysis. Importantly, the Hematologist and Pathologist were blinded to the other's data until collection was completed. Data analysis correlating adequate transfusion yield and laboratory parameters was performed. Results: 22 patients (72% female) met our study criteria. All patients had a hematologic malignancy with prolonged pancytopenia after chemotherapy, 4 (18%) had undergone allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. A total of 422 platelet cross-matches were performed, with 17 patients ultimately receiving 46 cross-matched units. The indication for transfusion was: prophylactic 35 (76%), bleeding 4 (9%) and peri-procedural 7 (15%). Ten (22%) transfusion events were excluded: splenomegaly 3, fever 4 and active severe bleeding 2. In one case a post transfusion platelet count was not performed. The overall success rate of transfusion was 64% (23/36). All transfusions leading to an adequate yield had a negative crossmatch. Of the 13 ineffective transfusions, 2 had a positive crossmatch. Based on single antigen MFI assignment, 26 (74%) donor units were classified as green zone, 8 (23%) yellow and 1 (3%) red. The success rates according to the single MFI zone assignment are presented in Table 1. These MFI-defined assignments were predictive of clinically successful transfusions. Conclusion: Selection of appropriate donor platelet units in refractory patients is a challenge that is managed in a variety of ways. While crossmatching is sometimes necessary, a strategy of antigen-avoidance can dramatically increase the identification of potentially effective platelet units for many patients. Understanding of how to navigate HLA antibody data is essential for identifying which HLA antigens should be avoided. Based on these data, in general, our practice is to avoid transfusing a platelet when there is a donor specific antibody of 8,000 MFI or greater. Furthermore, in our dataset there were two patients with both successful and unsuccessful transfusions after receiving crossmatch-negative units with green zone assignment. This finding highlights the limitations of laboratory testing and emphasizes the importance of post-transfusion platelet counts for continuously improving the platelet support of each immune-refractory patient. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Abstract Background: We previously reported that Lenalidomide combined with R-CHOP (R2CHOP) has significant activity in non-GCB (non-germinal center B-cell) subtype of DLBCL as defined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using Hans algorithm (J Clin Oncol. 2015 Jan 20;33(3):251-7). However, defining non-GCB subtype of DLBCL by IHC as opposed to the "gold standard" gene expression profiling (GEP) is subject to technical limitations and its prognostic value has not reproduced in some recently published studies. In addition, recent reports questioned prognostic value of GEP in prospective clinical trials as opposed to initial reports from retrospective case series. To address these concerns, we assessed outcomes by cell of origin (COO) as determined via GEP using NanoString Lymphoma Subtyping Test (LST) on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue on patients enrolled in a phase 2 study of R2CHOP and an independent comparison cohort of patients treated with RCHOP alone. Methods: Eligible patients for R2CHOP phase 2 study MC078E were adults with newly diagnosed, untreated, stages II-IV CD20 positive DLBCL. Patients received oral lenalidomide 25 mg days 1-10 with standard dose R-CHOP every 21 days for 6 cycles. All patients received pegfilgrastim on day 2 of each cycle and aspirin prophylaxis. DLBCL molecular subtype was determined by GEP using NanoString LST, a multiplexed digital gene expression assay performed on the nCounter® Dx Analysis System and reported as GCB vs ABC vs unclassified. A comparison cohort of RCHOP treated DLBCL patients was generated from the prospectively enrolled Mayo Clinic component of the Lymphoma SPORE Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER). MER patients meeting the same inclusion criteria as MC078E with available tissue were selected based via matching on age, stage, and IPI to the MC078E patients. Event-free survival was defined as time from diagnosis (MER) or study registration (MC078E) to progression, re-treatment, or death. EFS24 was defined as being event-free at 24 months. Associations between COO and outcome were assessed via log-rank tests due to censoring for EFS24. Results: 50 MC078E R2CHOP patients enrolled between 2008 and 2013,124 matched MER RCHOP patients diagnosed between 2003 and 2012 were assessed for COO. Median follow up in 70 patients still alive was 7.9 years (1.9-13.0) in RCHOP treated patients and 4.4 years (1.9-5.5) for 24 in R2CHOP treated patients still alive. Median age was 65 years (range 35-89) in RCHOP treated patients and 69 years (22-87) in R2CHOP patients (p=0.485). 53 RCHOP treated patients (43%) and 31 R2CHOP treated patients (62%) had intermediate-high or high IPI (p=0.021). COO was GCB, ABC, and unclassified DLBCL subtype in 80, 31 and 13 patients in the 124 RCHOP cohort and 33, 13 and 4 patients in the R2CHOP treated patients, respectively (see table). EFS24 was inferior for ABC (48%) compared to GCB DLBCL 71% in MER RCHOP treated patients (p=0.013). In contrast, in R2CHOP treated pts, EFS24 was not different between ABC vs GCB DLBCL 69% vs 67% (p= 0.674). Conclusion: Cell of origin classification of DLBCL determined by NanoString LST remains prognostic in a series of prospectively enrolled DLBCL patients treated with RCHOP. R2CHOP shows promising efficacy in ABC DLBCL as defined by NanoString LST, where the addition of lenalidomide to RCHOP appears to mitigate the negative impact of an ABC molecular subtype on the outcome. Table Table. Disclosures Nowakowski: Morphosys: Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding. Maurer:Kite Pharma: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding. Storhoff:NanoString Technologies, Inc.: Employment, Other: Stock option. Dennis:NanoString Technologies, Inc.: Employment, Other: Stock option. Gandhi:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Thakurta:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Hagner:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Rimsza:NCI/NIH: Patents & Royalties: L.M. Rimsza is a co-inventor on a provisional patent, owned by the NCI of the NIH, using Nanostring technology for determining cell of origin in DLBCL..

Abstract Abstract 3224 Poster Board III-161 Background While most centers use 2 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg as the minimal cell dose for autologous hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation (auto-HSCT), infusion of higher CD34+ cell dose is associated with better outcomes in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Recent evidence suggests a correlation between CD34+ cell yield on Day 1 of collection and total CD34+ cell yield as well as post-transplant outcomes. This analysis was designed to: 1) compare Day 1 collection between patients with NHL or MM mobilized with plerixafor plus G-CSF or placebo plus G-CSF; and 2) determine whether Day 1 CD34+ cell yields correlated with the total mobilization yield and number of apheresis days. Methods Data were obtained from two prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 clinical trials that compared the safety and efficacy of plerixafor (0.24 mg/kg/day SQ) plus G-CSF (10 μg/kg/day) with placebo plus G-CSF for mobilization of HSC for auto-HSCT in patients with NHL (3101 Study) or MM (3102 Study). Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the association of day 1 CD34+ cell collection with total CD34+ cell yield and the number of days of apheresis. Results In the NHL trial, 150 patients were mobilized with plerixafor plus G-CSF and 148 patients underwent mobilization with placebo plus G-CSF. More than half the patients (55.3%) in the plerixafor group collected ≥2 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg on Day 1 of apheresis (Figure 1A). In contrast, 19.6% patients in the placebo group collected ≥ 2 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg on Day 1 of apheresis (p< 0.001). In the MM study, 148 patients were mobilized with plerixafor plus G-CSF and 154 patients were mobilized with placebo plus G-CSF. More than half the patients (52.7%) in the plerixafor group collected ≥6 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg on the first day of collection compared to only 16.9% patients in the placebo group (p<0.001; Figure 1B). There was a strong positive correlation between day 1 collection and the total CD34+ cell yield in patients with NHL (r= 0.86, p-value= <0.0001) or MM (r= 0.87, p-value= <0.0001) in both the plerixafor and placebo groups. For NHL patients, the median Day 1 collection was higher in the plerixafor group compared to the placebo group: 2.66 × 106 vs. 0.77 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg (p<0.001) and this translated into higher total CD34+ cell yields in the two groups respectively: 5.69 × 106 vs. 1.98 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg (p<0.001). Similarly, for MM patients, the median CD34+ cells/kg collected on Day 1 was higher in the plerixafor group compared to the placebo group: 7.01 × 106 vs. 2.29 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg (p<0.001) and this translated into better overall collection in the plerixafor vs. placebo groups: 10.96 × 106 vs. 6.18 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg (p<0.001). A negative correlation was observed between CD34+ cells collected on Day 1 and the number of days of apheresis performed in patients with NHL (r= -0.67, p-value=<0.0001) or MM (r= -0.50, p-value= <0.0001) in both the plerixafor and placebo groups. Consequently, better Day 1 collection in plerixafor-treated NHL or MM patients translated into significantly fewer apheresis days to achieve the target collection compared to placebo treated patients. Conclusions These data support previous reports demonstrating a strong correlation between day 1 CD34+ cell collection and total CD34+ cell yield and apheresis days. These data also demonstrate that addition of plerixafor to G-CSF allows significantly more patients to achieve the target cell collection within 1 day of apheresis compared to G-CSF alone. These findings support the observation that mobilization with plerixafor plus G-CSF reduces the number of apheresis days required to achieve the minimal or optimal cell dose to proceed to transplantation. Disclosures Bolwell: Genzyme Corporation: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Nademanee:Genzyme Corporation: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Stiff:Genzyme Corp.: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Stadtmauer:Genzyme Corporation: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Maziarz:Genzyme Corp.: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Micallef:Genzyme Corporation: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Marulkar:Genzyme Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Gandhi:Genzyme Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. DiPersio:Genzyme: Honoraria.

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) refers to a constellation of symptoms resulting from neurovascular compression at the thoracic outlet, causing some combination of pain in the neck and upper extremity, weakness, sensory loss, paresthesia, swelling, and discoloration. Classification of TOS would depend on the anatomical structure that is compressed: venous TOS (VTOS)—compression of Subclavian vein; arterial TOS (ATOS)—compression of subclavian artery; and neurogenic TOS (NTOS)—compression of brachial plexus. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is characterized by orthostatic tachycardia that develops in the absence of orthostatic hypotension, with a symptom duration of >6 months. POTS is now known to be commonly associated with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), thereby raising speculation about the extent of prevalence of TOS symptoms in EDS patients. The aim of the study was to quantify the influx of patients with POTS, reporting symptoms of arm fatigue with or without numbness and tingling. The symptoms were quantified initially by conducting postural maneuvers that would reproduce the symptoms, to rule-in the possibility of TOS and further confirmed by using ultrasonography in upper limbs as the imaging modality of choice to evaluate arterial and/or venous compression. This study also looks at the presence of a concurrent diagnosis of EDS among the symptomatic patients who test positive for TOS.

29 Background: CRS-207 is a live, attenuated, double-deleted Listeria monocytogenes (LADD) engineered to stimulate immune response to mesothelin. In a phase I trial of 60 MPM patients, 34% of subjects had tumor reduction (range -1 to -47%) following 2 doses of CRS-207 alone. In KEYNOTE-028 pembro showed activity in PDL1+ (≥1% by IHC) MPM, with an objective response rate (ORR) of 20% (5/25) and stable disease in 52% of subjects who had failed or did not receive chemotherapy. Subsequent studies of pembro have shown similar results in MPM. Results from a pre-clinical murine lung tumor model (CT26hMeso) showed anti-PD-1 enhanced LADD-induced tumor response. The study described here evaluated the efficacy of combination therapy of CRS-207/pembro. Methods: Adults with epithelial/biphasic MPM, ≤2 prior lines, progression on pemetrexed and platinum-based therapy, and no prior immunotherapies were enrolled. CRS-207/pembro were administered IV Q3W for 4 cycles, after which pembro continued Q3W and CRS-207 changed to Q6W. Response was assessed Q6W by modified RECIST for MPM (Byrne and Nowak, 2004). The primary endpoint was ORR; secondary endpoints included DOR, disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival. Pre- and on-treatment blood and tumor samples were collected. Shedding and blood clearance of CRS-207 were evaluated. Results: 9/10 subjects were evaluable for response. No responses were observed; DCR was 11% (1/9 with SD) and PFS ranged from 3.4 to 8.9 weeks. Most common treatment related adverse events were chills, pyrexia and nausea. 3/10 subjects evaluated were PDL-1 negative by IHC. Of 6 subjects who underwent clearance and shedding evaluation, CRS-207 was detected in blood in 1 at 18-24 hrs after the first CRS-207 dose and cleared by the next evaluation at Day 4; shedding samples (urine, fecal, and saliva) tested negative. Conclusions: The toxicity profile of CRS-207/pembro combination was consistent with the safety profile of each component alone. No evidence of clinical activity was observed. Based on the results and an overall evaluation of the program, the clinical development of CRS-207 was discontinued. (NCT01675765) (NCT02054806). Clinical trial information: NCT03175172.

Abstract Background: Aurora A (AURKA) is a mitotic kinase responsible for centrosome segregation and mitotic spindle formation. In normal cells, expression of AURKA is highly regulated and is predominantly restricted to G2/M phases of the cell cycle. Unlike healthy cells, cancer cells overexpress AURKA through all phases of the cell cycle resulting in the acquisition of alternate non-mitotic functions. Little is known about cellular functions regulated by AURKA and its interaction with other signaling molecules. Here, we report a novel interaction between AURKA and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway at the level of MEK1 in breast cancer cells. This interaction may serve as a novel target as well as demonstrate by an additive cytotoxic effect of AURKA- and MEK1/2-specific inhibitors against estrogen positive (ER+) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Results: We show that treatment of ER+ HER2- MCF-7, ER- HER2+ SKBR3 and ER- HER2- BT549 cells with AURKA specific inhibitors alisertib, MK8745 and Aurora A Inhibitor I resulted in over 2-fold increase in relative levels of poMEK1/2 and poERK1/2 compared to untreated controls. The activation of the MAPK pathway was rapid with changes seen within 5 min after treatment with AURKA inhibitors and was sustained for at least 48 hours. Treatment with the pan RAF inhibitor TAK-632 did not diminish alisertib-induced poERK and poMEK1/2. Alternatively, treatment with the MEK1/2 specific inhibitor PD0325901 completely abrogated alisertib-induced phosphorylation of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2. In situ proximity ligation and pull down assays demonstrated AURKA and MEK1/2 direct interaction. In vitro kinase assay showed direct phosphorylation of MEK1 by AURKA. Combined treatment of alisertib and PD0325901 in vitro revealed significant additive cytotoxic effect in MCF-7 and BT549 cells when compared to either agent used alone (p&lt; 0.008 and p&lt;0.011; p &lt;0.04 and p&lt;0.028) with early trend toward significance in survival in a BT549 xenograft breast cancer in vivo model. Conclusions: Our data shows a novel AURKA-MEK1 interaction in breast cancer cells. In depth in vivo analysis is ongoing. The results reveal a promising new strategy for the treatment TNBC patients using a combination of AURKA and MEK1/2 inhibitors. Citation Format: Gandhi S, Gil M, Khoury T, Takabe K, Puzanov I, Gelman I, D'Assoro A, Opyrchal M. A novel interaction of AURKA with MAPK pathway in breast cancer cells as a potential therapeutic target [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-06-17.

AbstractBackgroundHigh‐resolution manometry (HRM) is used to measure rectoanal pressures in defecatory disorders and fecal incontinence. This study sought to define normal values for rectoanal HRM, ascertain the effects of age and BMI on rectoanal pressures, and compare pressures in asymptomatic women with normal and prolonged balloon expulsion time (BET).MethodsHigh‐resolution manometry pressures and BET were measured in 163 asymptomatic healthy participants. Women (96) and men (47) with normal BET were used to estimate normal values and the effects of age/BMI on pressures using a Medtronic 4.2‐mm‐diameter rectoanal catheter.Key ResultsAge is associated with lower resting pressure, higher rectal pressure during evacuation, and a higher rectoanal gradient during evacuation in women and men. In women, the BET is also inversely correlated with age while the BMI is correlated with a higher threshold volume for discomfort and a longer BET. The anal squeeze pressure increment, squeeze duration, and HPZ length are higher in men than women. The rectoanal gradient during evacuation is also lower (ie, more negative) in asymptomatic women with an abnormal than a normal BET.Conclusions & InferencesThese findings provide an expanded database of normal values for anorectal HRM in men and women. Age and sex affect anal resting and squeeze pressures, respectively; rectal pressure during evacuation is also higher in older people. Less than 15% of asymptomatic people have BET >60 seconds, which is associated with manometry features of impaired evacuation.