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Background and Objective Rehabilitation therapy plays an important role in treating physical and functional impairments observed in individuals undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT). This study assessed the rehabilitation practices implemented in the HSCT population internationally. Materials and Methods A 48-question online survey comprising questions soliciting information regarding patient characteristics, therapy details (timing, indication, and administering providers), outcome measures, and precautions were developed by an international group of cancer rehabilitation physicians. As reported by European registries, surveys were administered to personnel providing care to patients receiving HSCT at cancer centers, which comprised the top 10% of HSCT volume. In addition, emails were sent to National Medical Societies and registries in the Latin America, Asia, and Pacific regions. Results Forty-three institutions from 18 countries responded to the survey. Half of the centers provided referrals for rehabilitation therapy at the time of admission. Referrals were provided for functional decline (84.5%), risk of falls (53.3%), and discharge planning (42.2%). Rehabilitation therapies were administered by physical therapists (93.0%), occupational therapists (34.9%), therapy aides (14.0%), and speech-language pathologists (11.6%). Approximately 95% of the surveyed centers used objective functional measures such as sit-to-stand (46.5%), grip strength (46.5%), and 6-min walk/gait speed (both 34.9%). The blood counts were monitored to determine the appropriateness of the therapy modalities. Conclusion Rehabilitation practices varied internationally; however, most centers provided skilled therapy during hospitalization for HSCT, utilized objective and patient-reported outcomes, and monitored blood counts to determine the safety of administering therapy.

Background: Teclistamab (Tec) received regulatory approval for the treatment of relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) based on the MajesTEC-1 study. The risk of CRS and ICANS with Tec is well established with a manufacturer's recommendation of inpatient observation for 48-hours for CRS/ICANS monitoring after the initial 3 step up doses. There are limited real-world data on the characteristics of and risk factors for CRS and ICANS with Tec. Such data could inform management of Tec patients (pts), including patient selection for inpatient or outpatient step-up dosing. Methods: RRMM pts treated with standard-of-care Tec across 13 U.S. academic institutions were included in this analysis. The follow-up data cutoff was 30 April 2024. CRS and ICANS classification was based on the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy consensus grading criteria. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the effects of covariates on CRS and ICANS events, with a particular focus on grade ≥2 CRS, any-grade ICANS, and the combination of CRS grade ≥2 and/or any-grade ICANS. Results: 385 pts were included in the analysis, with a median of 6 lines of prior therapy. Median age was 68 years (range 31-92), 88 patients (25% of pts with available data) had ECOG ≥2, and 301 pts (78%) would have been ineligible for MajesTEC-1. 48 (33%) of 145 evaluable pts with a baseline bone marrow (BM) prior to Tec had >50% BM plasma cells, 139 pts (36%) had extramedullary disease (EMD) (either paraskeletal or true-EMD) and 5 pts (1%) had plasma cell leukemia prior to start of Tec. 224 pts (59%) received Tec with an accelerated step-up dosing regimen, defined as having at least one step-up dose interval of ≥ 2 days. 220 pts (57%) developed any-grade CRS [Grade 1: 46% (N=179), grade 2: 10% (N=37), grade 3: 0.8% (N=3), grade 4: 0.3% (N=1)]. Median time to CRS from start of Tec was 3 days (range, 0-15). Fifty-four pts (14%) developed any-grade ICANS [Grade 1: 7% (N=26), Grade 2: 5% (N=18), grade 3: 3% (N=10), grade 4: none]. There were no grade 5 CRS or ICANS events. Median time to onset of ICANS from start of Tec was 4 days (range, 0-25). There was one case of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in the entire cohort. 38% of pts received tocilizumab and 17% of pts received corticosteroids. In univariate analysis (UVA), baseline platelet <50, triple-class refractory, penta-refractory status, and EMD prior to start of Tec were associated with increased risk for CRS grade ≥2 (p-values <0.1) and incorporated in MVA. Baseline platelet <50, age >60, ECOG ≥2, Hgb <8 g/dL, BM plasma cells >50%, and ferritin or CRP in the upper quartile were associated with increased risk for any-grade ICANS in UVA (p-values <0.1). Baseline platelet <50, ECOG ≥2, Hgb <8 g/dL, BM plasma cells >50%, ferritin or CRP in the upper quartile, and prior BCMA exposure were associated with increased risk of CRS grade ≥2 and/or any-grade ICANS in UVA (p-values <0.1). Accelerated step-up dosing, renal impairment (CrCl < 30 mL/min) and baseline LDH in the upper quartile were not associated with an increased risk of either CRS or ICANS in UVA. Baseline BM plasma cells >50% was excluded from multivariable analysis (MVA) due to high number of missing data, since most pts (62%) did not undergo BM biopsy prior to start of Tec. In MVA, risk factors for CRS grade ≥2 included baseline platelet <50 at the start of Tec treatment (OR: 2.35, 95% CI 1.08-5.08; p=0.03) and penta-refractory disease (OR: 2.48, 95% CI 1.13-5.45; p=0.02). Risk factors for any-grade ICANS included platelet <50 (OR: 4.18, 95% CI 1.88-9.28; p=0.0004), age >60 (OR: 7.54, 95% CI 1.63-34.89; p=0.01) and CRP in the upper quartile (OR: 2.51, 95% CI 1.16-5.43; p=0.02). Risk factors for CRS grade ≥2 and/or any-grade ICANS included platelet <50 (OR: 2.65, 95% CI 1.42-4.94; p=0.002) and ECOG ≥2 (OR: 2.07, 95% CI 1.19-3.61; p=0.01). Conclusions: This real-world analysis of RRMM pts treated with Tec revealed comparable rates CRS and ICANS relative to the MajesTEC-1 study, and these were mostly limited to grade 1/2. MVA demonstrated a significantly higher risk of CRS grade ≥2 and/or any-grade ICANS in pts with baseline platelet <50 and/or ECOG ≥2, the former may reflect BM disease burden. These results may help identify pts who are at higher risk for IEC related toxicities with Tec that would warrant inpatient monitoring during initial step-up dosing. OP, AA, & LF: co-first authors. AG, HCL & JK: co-senior authors

*Authors contributed equally. Introduction. Two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have been FDA approved for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM): idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel). Prior work from our consortium identified racial and ethnic differences in safety and response to ide-cel among patients treated in the standard of care (SOC) setting; despite these differences, survival was similar across race and ethnicity. Here, we extend this work to investigate racial and ethnic differences in safety, efficacy, and outcomes in a larger cohort of patients treated with SOC ide-cel with longer follow-up and patients treated with SOC cilta-cel. Methods. Data for RRMM patients who underwent leukapheresis by 12/31/2022 and were treated with SOC ide-cel or cilta-cel were pooled across 19 institutions in the U.S. Multiple Myeloma Immunotherapy Consortium. We compared Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic (any race) patients, excluding other racial and ethnic groups due to small sample sizes that precluded sub-group investigations. Separately for each CAR T-cell therapy, racial and ethnic differences in baseline patient characteristics, safety, and treatment responses were examined using chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis rank sum tests. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests were used to examine progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) by race and ethnicity. Results. Among 332 RRMM patients treated with ide-cel, Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients comprised 17% and 10% of the cohort, respectively. Hispanic patients were younger at infusion compared to Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White patients (55.5 vs. 63 vs. 66 years, p<0.001). Non-Hispanic Black patients had a higher disease burden (≥ 50% bone marrow plasma cell percentage) compared to Non-Hispanic White and Hispanic patients (35% vs. 20% vs. 19%, p=0.05), while a higher proportion of Non-Hispanic White patients had high-risk cytogenetics compared to Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients (37% vs. 23% vs. 10%, p=0.003). Non-Hispanic Black patients were more likely to develop severe (≥ grade 3) cytopenia at day 30 (p<0.001) and day 90 (p=0.01) post-infusion, and these differences were particularly driven by higher rates of severe neutropenia among Non-Hispanic Black patients at these time points. Non-Hispanic White patients were more likely to achieve a best response of partial response (PR) or better (82%) compared to Non-Hispanic Black (75%) and Hispanic patients (63%, p=0.02). No other racial and ethnic differences in baseline patient characteristics (including cytopenias), safety, PFS, and OS were observed (p>0.05). Among 222 RRMM patients treated with cilta-cel, Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients comprised 12% and 9% of the cohort, respectively. At baseline, Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients were more likely to have anemia (p=0.01), and Non-Hispanic Black patients were more likely to have thrombocytopenia (p=0.02) and neutropenia (p=0.06) compared to Non-Hispanic White patients. No other differences in baseline patient characteristics were observed by race and ethnicity. While not statistically significant, a higher rate of severe (≥ grade 3) cytopenia at day 90 post-infusion was observed among Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients compared to Non-Hispanic White patients (33% vs. 44% vs. 21%, p=0.07), similar to the ide-cel cohort. This finding was primarily driven by higher rates of severe neutropenia among Non-Hispanic Black patients and higher rates of anemia among Hispanic patients. No other racial and ethnic differences in safety, responses to cilta-cel, PFS, or OS were not observed in the cilta-cel cohort (p>0.05). Conclusion. In a large cohort of RRMM patients treated with SOC ide-cel or cilta-cel, we observed a higher rate of cytopenias post-infusion and inferior ide-cel responses among racial and ethnic minority patients compared to Non-Hispanic White patients. Despite these differences, survival was similar across race and ethnicity, suggesting that both available CAR T-cell therapies for RRMM patients can be utilized across all populations. Future studies that include larger patient cohorts of racially and ethnically diverse patients should be conducted to confirm these findings and additionally evaluate long-term outcomes.

Background: The FDA package inserts for all approved chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies state that patients should universally refrain from driving for 8 weeks following infusion. However, there are no clear data to support this recommendation, particularly in multiple myeloma (MM) which all CAR-T therapies use 4-1BB as opposed to CD28 costimulatory domains. Specifically, no seizures were reported in the KarMMa, KarMMa-3, CARTITUDE-1, or CARTITUDE-4 trials. Because patients typically return to their referring oncologists after Day (D) +28 following CAR-T infusion, an additional month of driving restrictions can create confusion for referring oncologists, impose significant burdens for patients and caregivers, and potentially even affect the choice of MM therapy for patients living in remote areas. Methods: We conducted a two-part study within the US MM Immunotherapy Consortium. Firstly, we analyzed data from commercial idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) recipients (leukapheresis cutoff December 31, 2023) to identify the prevalence of CRS, ICANS, or death between Weeks 5-8 (D+29 to D+56) following CAR-T (Day 0). Patients with index hospital stays lasting over 4 weeks and patients with <8 weeks of post-CAR-T follow-up were excluded. Secondly, we surveyed Consortium members about the prevalence of impaired driving risk (defined as “anything that could impair a patient's ability to drive safely, e.g. seizures, altered mental status, blindness, etc.”) and used 1-5 Likert scales to gauge the perceived importance of driving restrictions (assuming no FDA guidance existed) during Weeks 0-4 vs 5-8. This anonymous IRB-exempted survey was distributed via email to 63 CAR-T-prescribing physicians within the Consortium. Results: Of 553 analyzed patients, 41% (n=224) had received cilta-cel and 59% (n=329) ide-cel. The median age was 64 (IQR 58-70), 42% (n=231) were female, 78% White (n=434), 13% (n=72) Black, and 9% (n=51) Hispanic. ECOG PS at infusion was ≥2 in 11% (n=63) of patients, and 5% (n=28) had had previous CNS co-morbidities such as prior strokes. One patient (0.2%) developed Grade 2 CRS during Weeks 5-8 (onset D+47, resolution one day later); no patients had de novo ICANS after D+28. There were 16 cases of non-ICANS neurotoxicity (including 2 cases of Parkinsonism) diagnosed a median of 24 days after CAR-T (range: 17-147 days), of which 3 cases (all non-Parkinsonian) were first diagnosed during Weeks 5-8. There were 10 deaths (2%) during Weeks 5-8, one due to infection and the remainder from progressive MM. The survey was completed by 45 oncologists (71% response rate), 41 of whom had managed both >5 ide-cel and >5 cilta-cel recipients. Regarding impaired driving during Weeks 0-4, 20% of physicians felt this was never a risk, 36% a risk for 1-2% of patients, 29% a risk for 3-10% of patients, and 16% a risk for >10% of patients. The distribution was significantly different (p < 0.01) for Weeks 5-8: 49% never a risk, 36% a risk for 1-2% of patients, 16% a risk for 3-10% of patients, while no respondents felt this remained a risk for >10% of patients. For Weeks 0-4, 73% agreed that patients should be advised not to drive while 9% disagreed. In contrast, for Weeks 5-8, 14% of physicians agreed with driving restrictions while 78% disagreed (p < 0.01 compared to Weeks 0-4). Discussion: Our two-part study demonstrates that driving restrictions following Week 4 after CAR-T therapy in MM may not be required. The incidence of de novo CRS or any-type neurotoxicity being diagnosed during Weeks 5-8 was <1%, and - if such toxicities developed - patients and physicians could be expected to set appropriate restrictions at that juncture. While 73% of CAR-T-prescribing oncologists agreed that patients should refrain from driving during Weeks 0-4, 78% disagreed with this recommendation during Weeks 5-8. These findings complement other real-world studies (Wesson, Dima, et al, TCT 2024; Ahmed et al, Blood Advances 2024) reporting the rarity of CRS and ICANS after the first month in both MM and lymphoma. Our study is limited by a lack of patient-reported data, which was done intentionally to avoid asking patients about activities undertaken against medical advice. Nevertheless, we believe that narrowing universal driving restrictions to Weeks 0-4 following CAR-T therapy would constitute an evidence-based modification to the package inserts for ide-cel and cilta-cel.

Introduction: For cardiac transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis, bone scintigraphy has emerged as a noninvasive diagnostic tool. The use of different tracers, namely Pyrophosphate (PYP), 3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (DPD), HydroxymethyleneDiphosphonate (HMDP), allow for the detection of amyloid deposits in the heart. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the diagnostic test accuracy of bone scintigraphy in ATTR and light chain (AL) amyloidosis. Methods: As part of the ASH AL Amyloidosis Diagnostic Guideline, we performed systematic reviews for 7 prioritized PICO questions related to the screening, diagnosis and organ involvement evaluation of AL amyloidosis. Electronic searches were conducted on PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception till January 2024. Two reviewers independently and in duplicate performed title and abstract screening and full text article screening on LASER AI, with conflicts resolved by a third reviewer. Studies were eligible if they included patients that performed both a bone scintigraphy scan and an endomyocardial biopsy for suspicion of ATTR amyloidosis. Test positivity for the visual score was defined to be ≥2, for the heart over contralateral (H/CL) ratio it was > 1.5 at one hour and >1.3 at 3 hours. Diagnostic test accuracy measures of interest were sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value. Statistical analysis was performed on STATA 18.0. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to assess the certainty of evidence. Results: After deduplication, we retrieved 29,237 studies from electronic databases. 12 studies with 1127 patients reported on visual score in patients suspected to have ATTR amyloidosis. The pooled sensitivity for visual score was 96% (95% CI 92.0-98.0) while specificity was 90% (95% CI 84.0-95.0) (Certainty of evidence (COE): Moderate ⨁⨁⨁◯). 3 studies reported on ATTR visual score in combination with evaluating for monoclonal gammopathy, the pooled sensitivity was decreased to 93% (95% CI 65-99) and while specificity increased to 99% (95% CI 80-100) (COE: Moderate ⨁⨁⨁◯). H/CL was evaluated in 5 studies with 189 patients; pooled sensitivity was 97% (95% CI 89.0-99.0) and specificity was 88% (95% CI 64-97) (COE: Low ⨁⨁◯◯). We also performed subgroup analyses for the diagnostic test accuracy of visual score for the different tracers (PYP, DPD, HMDP) in patients suspected to have ATTR amyloidosis. DPD was found to have the highest sensitivity which was found to be 97% (95% CI 91.0-99.0) and a specificity of 95 (95% CI 86.0-98.0) (4 studies, n = 297 COE: Moderate ⨁⨁⨁◯). The sensitivity and specificity for PYP was 95% (95% CI 87.0-98.0) and 90% (95% CI 79.0-96.0) (7 studies, n = 377 COE: Moderate ⨁⨁⨁◯). 1 study reported on HMDP with a sensitivity and specificity of 79% (95% CI 49.0-95.0) and 100% (95% CI 59.0-100.0) (COE: Low ⨁⨁◯◯). Conclusion: Bone scintigraphy has a high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of ATTR amyloidosis, particularly in patients without a monoclonal gammopathy.

Introduction: Although endomyocardial biopsy is the gold standard, echocardiography, and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) play a pivotal role in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis. In this systematic review, we aim to estimate the diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) of CMR and echocardiography for cardiac amyloidosis. Methods: As part of the American Society of Hematology guidelines on the diagnosis of Amyloidosis, we searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception till January 2024 for relevant studies. Two reviewers independently performed title and abstract screening and full-text article screening on LASER Al and extracted relevant data using a piloted Excel sheet. We performed statistical pooling using Stata 18.0 software. We evaluated risk of bias using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) and used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the certainty of the evidence. We report diagnostic test accuracy as sensitivity (95% confidence interval) and specificity (95% confidence interval). Results: After screening 29,237, we included 9 studies assessing DTA of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) using an endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) as a reference test in patients with amyloidosis (light chain and ATTR). The majority of studies didn't report on the type of amyloidosis where only 2 out of 9 were in patients with light chain amyloidosis. The pooled estimates for sensitivity and specificity of LGE are 0.95 (0.88. 0.98), and 0.81 (0.60, 0.92), respectively. We did a sensitivity analysis and included only LGE suggestive for amyloidosis which didn't change sensitivity but led to an increase in specificity for amyloidosis to 0.87 (0.76, 0.94), respectively. The pooled estimates were based on moderate certainty in the evidence. For 2-dimensional echocardiography, we addressed DTA for different echocardiographic findings and we did not limit the reference to EMB. A panel of experts judged whether the reference was acceptable or not. Acceptable reference was EMB alone or a combination of extracardiac biopsy plus cardiac imaging (CMR or echocardiography) with or without positive cardiac biomarkers (troponin or BNP or NT-proBNP). Six studies (n=2063) addressed interventricular septum thickness (IVS), sensitivity was 0.77 (0.69, 0.84) and specificity was 0.71 (0.60, 0.81). 4 out of 6 studies used 12 mm as a cutoff while the other 2 studies used 13 mm as a cutoff. Only 2 studies (n=1667) assessed the DTA of posterior wall thickness (PWT), with sensitivity ranging from 0.76 to 1.00, and specificity ranging from 0.84 to 0.89. Six studies (n=438) addressed diastolic dysfunction (grade 2,3), with a sensitivity of 0.71 (0.40, 0.90), and specificity of 0.75 (0.64, 0.84). 7 studies (n=472) reported DTA of only diastolic dysfunction grade 3. When compared to diastolic dysfunction (grade 2,3, sensitivity decreases to 0.42 (0 28. 0.58) and specificity increases to 0.89 (0.83. 0.94). For E/A ratio, only 2 studies (n=127) were included. Sensitivity ranged from 0.45 to 0.65, and specificity ranged from 0.85 to 0.98. Four studies (n=1596) yielded a sensitivity of 0.86 (0.65, 0.95) and specificity of 0.76 (0.55, 0.89) of left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS). All except one used -17% as a cutoff for GLS. For apical sparing on GLS, pooled estimates from 8 studies (n=2253) led to a sensitivity of 0.72 (0.64, 0.78) and specificity of 0.78 (0.64, 0.88). There was a variation of cutoff across studies. The certainty of evidence for echocardiographic findings was low to moderate. Conclusion: CMR is a more accurate test with better performance compared to echocardiography.

Introduction: Oncologists increasingly recognize the need to evaluate the impact of cancer therapies on patients' time, known as “treatment-related time toxicity”, which is measured as the number of days of contact with the healthcare system (Gupta A et al. J Clin Oncol 2022). Current standard-of-care options for patients with TCE RRMM require frequent clinic visits for treatment administration. Reducing treatment-related time toxicity of treatment without compromising efficacy or safety may have an impact on patients' quality of life and influence treatment choice. BCMA-directed bispecific antibodies (BCMA bsAbs) provide a novel treatment option for TCE RRMM, with response-adapted dosing frequency allowing for extended dosing intervals for patients. The frequency of extended dosing intervals varies between BCMA bsAbs according to their prescribing information or pivotal trial protocol. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the impact of BCMA bsAbs' extended dosing intervals on treatment-related contact (TRC) days corresponding to treatment administration as a component of time toxicity. Methods: An Excel-based longitudinal model was developed to quantify the number of TRC days experienced by patients with TCE RRMM within the healthcare system when receiving treatment with BCMA bsAbs (linvoseltamab, teclistamab, or elranatamab) over 1-2 years. TRC days included all planned treatment administration days. Model inputs were sourced from product labels or pivotal trial protocols for bsAbs, as well as the published literature. To allow for a comparison of total dosing regimens, it was assumed that patients continued receiving treatment throughout the study period with no discontinuation. Dosing intervals for each product during the first 6 months were once weekly (QW), except for linvoseltamab (QW for Weeks 1-14, then once every 2 weeks [Q2W] from Weeks 16-24, per Phase 2 trial protocol). The extended dosing interval for linvoseltamab was Q4W for patients reaching very good partial response or better at or after 24 weeks, and Q2W for both teclistamab patients who maintained a complete response (CR) or better for ≥6 months and for elranatamab patients who reached partial response or better at or after 6 months. Two switching scenarios were considered for teclistamab: an earliest possible switch (at Week 26), and a time-varying switch based on digitized time to CR data from MajesTEC-1 (Usmani SZ et al. ASCO 2023). Results were calculated to evaluate the difference in TRC days between the scenarios with and without extended dosing intervals for each treatment. Results: In the first year of treatment, the total number of TRC days with and without extended dosing intervals was lowest with linvoseltamab. TRC days with linvoseltamab were reduced from 33 to 26 days with extended dosing intervals. Next lowest was elranatamab (53 to 39 days), followed by teclistamab (54 to 41 days for earliest possible switch and 54 to 50 days with time-varying switching). Over 2 years, linvoseltamab had the lowest number of TRC days (59 to 39 days), followed by elranatamab (105 to 65 days) and teclistamab (106 to 67 days for earliest possible switch and 106 to 80 days with time-varying switching). Conclusions: Extended dosing intervals with BCMA bsAbs can substantially reduce time toxicity for patients with RRMM. Linvoseltamab had the lowest number of TRC days among BCMA bsAbs.

Introduction MM is characterized by the proliferation of abnormal clonal plasma cells, causing destructive bone lesions, kidney injury, anemia, and hypercalcemia. Treatment of MM involves immunomodulatory agents, proteasome inhibitors, and anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies to achieve disease remission. AL amyloidosis comprises disorders of abnormal extracellular deposition of misfolded proteins in various organs with resultant damage, and the key strategy of treatment is to prolong the time to or reverse organ dysfunction. However, many patients will relapse from the standard triplet or quadruplet therapies, necessitating additional treatments with novel mechanisms of action. Lisaftoclax is a novel investigational BCL-2 inhibitor with strong antitumor activity in hematologic malignancies. Here, we report clinical trial data on lisaftoclax combined with novel therapeutic regimens in pts with R/R MM or R/R AL amyloidosis. Methods Eligible patients had an ECOG performance status ≤ 2, ≥ 1 prior line of therapy, and adequate organ function. Patients with R/R AL amyloidosis had confirmed symptomatic organ involvement, purpura, and/or carpal tunnel syndrome. Lisaftoclax was administered orally daily at doses assigned in repeated 28-day cycles. Pomalidomide, daratumumab, and lenalidomide were administered per label use. Dexamethasone 40 mg (20 mg, pts > 75 years old) was administered on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 of 28-day cycles. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of lisaftoclax combined with pomalidomide and dexamethasone (Pd; Arm A) or daratumumab, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (DRd; Arm B) in R/R MM and lisaftoclax combined with Pd in R/R AL amyloidosis (Arm C). Intensive blood samples were collected for pharmacokinetic (PK) analyses. Results As of May 29, 2024, 52 pts were enrolled, including 42 with R/R MM and 10 with AL amyloidosis. In Arm A (n = 35), lisaftoclax was administered orally at dose assigned: 400 mg (n = 3), 600 mg (n = 4), 800 mg (n = 15), 1,000 mg (n = 7), and 1,200 mg (n = 6). In Arm B (n = 7), all pts were treated with lisaftoclax 600 mg. In Arm C (n = 10), lisaftoclax was administered at 400 mg (n = 1), 600 mg (n = 4), 800 mg (n = 3), and 1,000 mg (n = 2). The median (range) age of all patients was 69.5 (24-88) years, of whom 63.5% were male and 63.5% were ≥ 65 years of age. The enrolled patients were heavily treated, with a median (range) number of treatment cycles of 4 (1-26), and a median (range) number of prior therapy lines of 3 (1-19). In Arm A, out of 31 evaluable patients, 3 (9.7%) achieved complete remission (CR), 7 (22.6%) reached very good partial remission (VGPR), and 9 (29.0%) achieved partial response (PR). The overall response rate (ORR) was 19 (61.3%), and the ≥ VGPR rate was 10 (32.3%). In Arm B, of 4 evaluable patients, 2 (50%) achieved CR and 2 (50%) ≥ VGPR. In Arm C, of 7 assessed patients, 1 (14.3%) achieved CR, 4 (57.1%) VGPR, 1 (14.3%) PR, and 5 (71.4%) ≥ VGPR, for an ORR of 6 (85.7%); 2 pts had cardiac response. Among 49 pts in the safety population, 34 (69.4%) reported any-grade lisaftoclax treatment-related AEs (TRAEs; ≥ 5% incidence), including neutropenia (20.4%), thrombocytopenia (6.1%), leukopenia (10.2%), nausea (16.3%), abdominal distension (10.2%), diarrhea (12.2%), and constipation (8.2%). A total of 11 pts experienced grade ≥ 3 TRAEs, including neutropenia (14.3%) and febrile neutropenia (2%), and 3 pts experienced lisaftoclax-related serious AEs (1 each): febrile neutropenia, acute kidney injury, and diarrhea with electrolyte imbalance. In Arm B, 1 pt experienced a dose-limiting toxicity (prolonged QT interval). Pharmacokinetic analyses showed no drug-drug interaction (DDI) in all pts treated with lisaftoclax at all doses in combination with other therapeutic agents used in 3 arms. Conclusions Our findings suggest that lisaftoclax improves the depth of response in pts with R/R MM or AL amyloidosis when combined with Pd or DRd. These combination therapies demonstrated a favorable safety profile with no drug-drug interactions, particularly in hematologic side effects. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT04942067; internal study identifier: APG2575MU101.

Introduction: Light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is caused by the secretion of immunoglobulin light chains by monoclonal plasma cells. The increase in the levels of these monoclonal proteins may proceed the development of any clinical symptoms, and their identification in the serum and urine remains an integral part of establishing a diagnosis of AL amyloidosis. This systematic review aims to evaluate the diagnostic test accuracy of serum immunofixation (SIFE), urine immunofixation (UIFE), and free light chain (FLC) ratio for the diagnosis of AL amyloidosis. Methods: As part of the ASH AL Amyloidosis Diagnostic Guideline, we performed systematic reviews for 7 prioritized PICO questions related to the screening, diagnosis and organ involvement evaluation of AL amyloidosis. Electronic searches were conducted on PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception till January 2024. Two reviewers independently and in duplicate performed title and abstract screening and full text article screening on LASER AI, with conflicts resolved by a third reviewer. Eligible studies were those that included patients who performed one of the three tests (SIFE, UIFE, and κ/λ FLC) and had their AL amyloidosis diagnosis confirmed via a biopsy. Diagnostic test accuracy measures of interest were sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value. Statistical analysis was performed on OpenMeta[Analyst]. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to assess the certainty of evidence. Results: After deduplication, we retrieved 29,237 studies from electronic databases. 31 studies with 3973 patients reported on the use of serum immunofixation (SIFE) with a pooled sensitivity of 72.4% (95% CI 68.1%-76.4%). 27 studies with 2855 patients reported on the use of urine immunofixation UIFE for the diagnosis of AL amyloidosis with a pooled sensitivity of 78.6% (95% CI 74.6%-82%). 29 studies with 5305 patients reported on the use of κ/λ FLC ratio amyloidosis with a pooled sensitivity of 79.9% (95% CI 73.7%-84.9%). 24 studies reported on the use of both SIFE and UIFE with a sample size of 3751 patients and a pooled sensitivity of 90% (95% CI 85.3%-93.3%). 3 studies reported on the use SIFE and κ/λ FLC ratio with 321 patients and a pooled sensitivity of 97.7% (95% CI 95.6%-99.9%). Finally, we identified 10 studies that performed SIFE,UIFE, and κ/λ FLC ratio concurrently with 1926 patients and a pooled sensitivity of 99% (95% CI 97%-99.7%) of all three tests and considering a result abnormal if any of the components had a positive result. We also identified 5 studies with 957 patients reporting on the concurrent use of SIFE, UIFE, and κ/λ FLC ratio for the diagnosis AL amyloidosis and differentiation of AL from ATTR amyloidosis in a population of patients with suspected cardiac amyloid involvement, the pooled sensitivity was found to be 99%(95% CI 99%-100%) and with a pooled specificity of 77%(95% CI 75%-80%). Certainty of evidence moderate for all outcomes. Conclusion: The combined use of SIFE, UIFE, and κ/λ FLC ratio has a high sensitivity for the diagnosis of AL amyloidosis, and the tests remain a valuable initial screening of AL amyloidosis and differentiation from ATTR amyloidosis.

Introduction: In patients with systemic light-chain amyloidosis, cardiac involvement is common. Cardiac involvement (presence and severity) is the most important predictor of mortality in patients with AL amyloidosis. Endomyocardial biopsy remains the gold standard, but it is a costly and invasive test. Consequently, cardiac biomarkers are used for screening for cardiac involvement and have significant prognostic value.In this systematic review, we aim to estimate the diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) of Nt-proBNP, BNP, and high sensitivity troponin for cardiac amyloidosis. Methods: As part of the American Society of Hematology guidelines on the diagnosis of Amyloidosis, we searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception till January 2024 for relevant studies. Two reviewers independently performed title and abstract screening and full-text article screening on LASER Al and extracted relevant data using piloted Excel sheets. The panel judged whether the reference test is acceptable or not. Acceptable reference test is EMB alone or a combination of extracardiac biopsy plus cardiac imaging (CMR or echocardiography) with or without positive cardiac biomarkers (troponin or BNP or NT-proBNP). For statistical analysis, we only included studies reporting on both the sensitivity and specificity of the cardiac biomarker. We used Stata 18.0 software for meta-analysis. We evaluated risk of bias using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) and used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the certainty of the evidence. We report diagnostic test accuracy as sensitivity (95% confidence interval) and specificity (95% confidence interval). Results: After screening 29,237 studies, a total of 10 studies addressed DTA of Nt-proBNP for cardiac amyloidosis. These studies used a wide variety of cutoffs for diagnosis of cardiac involvement, ranging from 150 to 5000 ng/L and a cutoff of 332 ng/L was the most studied and reported. The pooled estimates for sensitivity and specificity of Nt-proBNP using 332 as cutoffs are 0.99 ( 0.97, 1) and 0.53 (0.3, 0.75), respectively. The pooled estimates were based on 4 studies (n=645) with moderate certainty in the evidence. For BNP, DTA was assessed in 3 studies (n= 257). Each study used a different cutoff for BNP (73, 100, and 412 ng/L). The sensitivity and specificity of BNP in each study were comparable and not significantly affected by the cutoff variation. Pooled sensitivity and specificity across studies, were 0.87 (0.80, 0.92), and 0.79 (0.71, 0.85), respectively. The certainty in evidence for the DTA of BNP was low. Eight studies reported on DTA of high sensitivity troponin, with cutoffs ranging from 14 to 86 ng/L. Meta-analysis of studies reporting on cutoff 14 ng/L yielded sensitivity of 0.94 (0.87, 0.97) and specificity of 0.11 (0.08, 0.16) with moderate certainty evidence. Increasing the cutoff to 35 ng/l led to a decrease in sensitivity to 0.82 (0.66, 0.92) and an increase in specificity to 0.86 (0.74, 0.93) with low certainty evidence. Conclusion: Cardiac biomarkers are highly sensitive, valuable initial tests for increasing suspicion of cardiac involvement in patients with AL amyloidosis. However, they lack specificity and, on their own, are insufficient for a definitive diagnosis of cardiac involvement. These biomarkers may be used in conjunction with other diagnostic tests to accurately identify and assess the extent of cardiac involvement.