Habermann, Thomas M.

Abstract Abstract 2699 Poster Board II-675 Introduction: High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplant (SCT) is a standard treatment option for younger patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (a-NHL) who fail to respond, or relapse after initial therapy. For patients who relapse after SCT there are few effective treatment options and prognosis remains poor (Vose et al Blood. 80(8):2142–8, 1992). A second SCT was shown to achieve only marginal responses and at an increased risk of toxic death (Lenain et al Hematol J. 5(5):403–9, 2004). Therefore, new approaches are needed for treatment of patients in this poor prognostic group. Lenalidomide (Revlimid®) is an immunomodulatory agent that has shown clinical activity in treatment of several B-cell malignancies. Two phase 2 studies of lenalidomide monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) a-NHL were conducted in the US (NHL-002; Wiernik et al JCO 26:4952–7, 2008) and internationally (CC-5013 NHL-003). In an extended follow-up of the NHL-002 study, the overall response rate (ORR) was 35%, which included 12% of patients with a complete response (CR), and a median duration of response (DR) lasting 10.4 months (Wiernik et al 2008 EHA. Abst: 764). Comparable efficacy was observed in the larger confirmatory, phase 2, NHL-003 study of lenalidomide in a similar patient population. The goal of this analysis was to learn the ORR and DR to lenalidomide in patients with a prior SCT. Methods: Patient data from both phase II studies were pooled for this report. Eligibility for both studies was similar – patients with R/R a-NHL, which included diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), transformed lymphoma (TL), and follicular lymphoma grade III (FL-III), with measurable disease (≥ 2 cm), and ≥ 1 prior treatment regimen. Patients received oral lenalidomide 25 mg once daily on days 1–21 of a 28-day cycle. Protocol defined treatment continued for up to 52 wks in NHL-002, or until disease progression in NHL-003. Primary endpoint was ORR; secondary endpoints included DR, progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. Results: 87 patients with a prior SCT (14 patients from NHL-002; 73 patients from NHL-003) were included in this analysis. Median age of patients was 61 yrs (range, 23–76), with a median of 4 prior therapies (range, 2–12). The ORR to lenalidomide was 39% (34/87), with 13% (11/87) CR/CRu and 26% (23/87) partial response (PR). Median PFS for all 87 patients was 3.8 months (95% CI, 2.6, 5.6) and the DR for 34 responders was 9.7 months (95% CI, 4.2, 16.3). Responses occurred in 15 of 52 patients (29% ORR; 10% CR/CRu) with DLBCL, 12 of 19 patients with MCL (63% ORR; 26% CR/CRu), and in 6 of 10 patients with TL (60% ORR; 10% CR/CRu). The table summarizes responses for patients who did not have a transplant, for those who had a SCT anytime prior to lenalidomide; as the last therapy prior to lenalidomide; and not as last therapy prior to lenalidomide. Most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were neutropenia (44%), thrombocytopenia (33%), and anemia (9%). Eighteen (20.6%) patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events. Patients with a prior history of SCT appeared to have a significantly higher rate of thrombocytopenia, all grades (51% v 30%; P = 0.001), and grades 3 or 4 (33% v 16%; P = 0.002). Patients with a prior SCT were also more likely to experience a dose reduction/interruption due to thrombocytopenia compared with those without a prior SCT (25% v 14%; P = 0.027). Conclusions: Based on a pooled dataset from two phase II studies, oral lenalidomide monotherapy appears to be a well tolerated and active therapy resulting in durable responses in patients with R/R a-NHL who had a prior SCT. Furthermore, the potential of achieving a response to lenalidomide appears to be independent of prior history of SCT. Disclosures: Vose: Celgene: Research Funding. Off Label Use: Lenalidomide for the treatment of relapsed/refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. . Czuczman:Celgene: Research Funding. Zinzani:Celgene: Research Funding. Tuscano:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Pietronigro:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Ervin-Haynes:Celgene: Employment. Witzig:Celgene: Research Funding.

Abstract Background: Peripheral T-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (PTCL) account for approximately 10% of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas in the U.S. and Europe. PTCL, unspecified (PTCL-U), as classified by the WHO, is the most common subtype. The ability of high-dose therapy (HDT) and stem cell transplantation (SCT) to improve patient outcome was evaluated in the current study. Methods: All patients with PTCL-U evaluated at our institution who had tissue specimens available for review from January, 1994 to December, 2005 were identified and both clinical characteristics and treatment course obtained from the medical record. Results: 89 patients with PTCL-U were identified, with a median follow up of 13 months (range 1 month–12 years). The median age at diagnosis was 56 years (range 24–90). The IPI was low, intermediate or high in 34%, 44% and 22% of patients, respectively. On univariate analysis, age >60 (p<.0001), ECOG performance status >1 (p<.0001), LDH greater than normal (p=.004), Ann Arbor Stage III/IV (p=.01) and the presence of B symptoms (p=.0004) were associated with a poorer overall survival, as was an intermediate or high IPI (p<.0001). In contrast, on multivariate analysis only age >60 (p=.0006) and ECOG performance status >1 (p=.007) were independently associated with poorer overall survival. Fifty-seven percent of patients were treated initially with an anthracycline-based regimen, most commonly CHOP (53%). Patients with a low (0–1), intermediate (2–3) or high (4–5) IPI experienced a 61%, 29% and 18% 5-year overall survival, respectively. Fourteen patients (16%) received HDT and autologous (n=12) or allogeneic (n=2) SCT, either at the time of a first partial or complete response (n=11) or at the time of first relapse (n=3). The median survival in those patients treated initially with an anthracycline-based regimen alone was 11 months (95% CI 0.6–1.6 years). Improvement in both 5-year overall (75% vs 24%, HR=5.6, 95% CI 2.0–23.4, p=.0004) and disease-free (60% vs 26%, HR=3.2, 95% CI 1.3–9.3, p=.008) survival was observed in patients who received HDT/SCT, as compared to patients treated with anthracycline-based therapy alone. Furthermore, improvement in both 5-year overall (80% vs 26%, HR=5.8, 95% CI 1.7–35.7, p=.002) and disease free (72% vs 26%, HR=3.8, 95% CI 1.3–15.8, p=.009) survival was observed in patients who received HDT/SCT at the time of a first partial or complete response when compared to patients who received anthracycline-based therapy. When patients who failed to achieve a first partial or complete response were excluded from the analysis, improved 5-year overall (80% vs 57%, HR=0.5, 95% CI 0.1–2.1, p=.4) and disease-free (72% vs 53%, HR=0.7, 95% CI 0.1–2.3, p=.5) survival were observed in patients who received upfront HDT/SCT, although this failed to reach statistical significance. The improved overall and disease free survival observed in patients receiving HDT/SCT, either at the time of a first response or at the time of relapse, remained significant when accounting for differences in the IPI. In conclusion, selected patients with PTCL-U may benefit from treatment with HDT/SCT following a first response to conventional anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

Abstract Background: Lenalidomide (Revlimid®), an immunomodulatory drug (IMiD®), was recently approved in the US for treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes associated with a deletion 5q[31] cytogenetic abnormality. Lenalidomide also has demonstrated activity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma while thalidomide, a less potent IMiD®, has activity in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as both monotherapy and in combination with rituximab. Aim: To assess the safety and activity of lenalidomide monotherapy in subjects with relapsed/refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Methods: Subjects with relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL following at least 1 prior treatment regimen with measurable disease are eligible. Subjects receive 25 mg lenalidomide orally once daily on Days 1–21 every 28 days and continue therapy for 52 weeks as tolerated or until disease progression. Response and progression are evaluated using the IWLRC methodology. Results: As of July 25, 2006, 32 subjects of a planned 40 have enrolled and 31 have received drug. Twenty-two subjects are currently evaluable for tumor response. The median age of the 22 response-evaluable subjects is 65 (46–83) and 13 are female. Histology is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [DLBCL] (n=12), follicular center lymphoma grade 3 [FL] (n=3), mantle cell lymphoma [MCL] (n=5) and transformed [TSF] (n=2). Median time from diagnosis to lenalidomide monotherapy is 2.3 (0.7–7) years and median number of prior treatment regimens per subject is 2 (1–6). Seven subjects (32%) exhibited an objective response (2 complete responses unconfirmed (CRu) and 5 partial responses (PR)), 6 had stable disease (SD) for a tumor control rate (TCR) of 59% and 9 progressive disease (PD). Responses were produced in each of the aggressive histologic subtypes studied: DLBCL (3/12), FL (1/3), MCL (2/5) and TSF (1/2). Five of 11 subjects (45%) with 1–2 prior treatment regimens had an objective response, as did 2 of 3 subjects (67%) who had received a prior stem cell transplant. Median time-to-response was 2 months. Grade 3 or 4 adverse events occurred in 18 of 31 (58%) subjects receiving drug. These were predominantly Grade 3 hematological events (neutropenia, thrombocytopenia) with only 4 subjects (13%) experiencing a Grade 4 adverse reaction. Conclusion: Preliminary results indicate that lenalidomide monotherapy is active with manageable side effects in relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL.

Abstract Background: Patients (pts) with aggressive NHL who relapse after conventional chemotherapy or stem cell transplant have a poor prognosis. Novel agents are needed for this important subset. Tipifarnib is an orally available methylquinolone derivative that is an inhibitor of the farnesyl transferase enzyme that transfers the farnesyl group from farnesyl pyrophosphate to specific polypeptides including small GTPases of the Ras, Rho-B, and Rheb families, as well as nuclear lamins and kinetochore proteins. Tipifarnib has documented activity in acute leukemia and produces stable disease in relapsed multiple myeloma. The goal of this study was to evaluate the activity of single-agent tipifarnib in patients with relapsed aggressive NHL in the context of a phase II trial. Methods: Pts with relapsed diffuse large, follicular grade III, or mantle cell lymphoma were eligible for this study. Pts were treated with oral tipifarnib 300 mg twice daily d1–21 q 28 days until progression. Pts were restaged after 2 cycles, 6 cycles, and every 3 cycles thereafter. Tumor was sampled prior to tipifarnib and at day 8 in selected patients with accessible tumors. These paired samples were assayed for accumulation of unprocessed HDJ-2 and prelamin A, two polypeptides that require farnesylation for processing. Results: Forty-two pts were accrued between March 2004 and June 2006. Thirty-seven pts had diffuse large cell, 1 follicular grade III, and 4 had mantle cell. Of the 38 patients evaluable for response, 7 (18%) had a partial response and 8 (21%) had stable disease. The 7 responders all had diffuse large cell histology. Median progression-free survival (PFS) for all pts was 2 months (range, 0–25+). The PFS of the 7 responders was noteworthy at 4.2, 4.9+, 6.7, 9.6, 14.9+, 21.6+, and 25.1+ months, respectively. The primary toxicity was myelosuppression and 33% of pts required dose reductions. The median dose received in all pts was 300 mg twice daily (mean 275, range, 100–400). The median dose received by the 7 responders was 200 mg twice daily (range, 100–400). The dose of 300 mg twice daily resulted in accumulation of unfarnesylated forms of one or both markers in all pts studied to date. Conclusion: Oral tipifarnib has antitumor activity as a single agent with an excellent toxicity profile in pts with relapsed/refractory aggressive lymphoma. When given in this dose and schedule, tipifarnib is well-tolerated and can be taken for months without cumulative toxicity. This drug warrants further investigation in combination with conventional chemotherapy and other novel agents for the treatment of this important subset of patients.

Abstract Background: Follicular lymphoma is a B-cell malignancy in which tumor-immune system interactions have the potential to profoundly influence malignant cell growth. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is a negative regulator of T cell activation that can serve to dampen anti-tumor immune responses. Administration of blocking anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibodies has been shown to improve host resistance to immunogenic tumors and amplify the anti-tumor effects of cancer vaccines in a variety of mouse tumor models. Recently, the anti-CTLA-4 antibody ipilimumab (MDX-010) has been shown to have significant clinical activity against melanoma, prostate, and ovarian cancers, with clinical responses associated with autoimmune events. Methods: We have therefore initiated a phase I/II trial of ipilimumab, a blocking fully human monoclonal antibody to CTLA-4, in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (grade 1 or 2). Enrollment is stratified into 2 cohorts, with half of patients required to be previously treated with a lymphoma vaccine (idiotype or other). It is hypothesized that previously vaccinated subjects are more likely to have anti-lymphoma T cells amenable to activation by an anti-CTLA-4 antibody. Study objectives include characterization of drug safety, immunologic activity and potential clinical efficacy. Treatment consists of MDX-010 at 3 mg/kg, then monthly at 1 mg/kg x 3, with plans to escalate to 3 mg/kg monthly x 4 if tolerated. Results: To date, 12 patients have been treated and accrual to the first dose level has been completed. All patients were previously treated and the median number of prior treatment regimens was 2 (range 1–4). Eight patients had previously received rituximab and 6 patients had received prior anti-idiotype vaccines. Nine patients have completed therapy with ipilimumab and 3 patients are still receiving treatment. Ipilimumab was generally well tolerated and the most common adverse events attributed to ipilimumab in the first 9 patients include diarrhea (grade 3–3 patients, grade 1–1 patient), abdominal pain (grade 2–4, grade 1–2), anorexia (grade 2-1, grade 1 – 2), fatigue (grade 2 -2, grade 1–3, and neutropenia (grade 3-1, grade 1– 2). Among 9 patients evaluable for clinical response, 1 previously vaccinated patient had partial regression of multiple abdominal nodes, ongoing at 10+ months. T cell proliferative responses to the recall antigens tetanus toxoid and keyhole limpet hemocycanin (in idiotype-vaccinated cases) were measured pre- and post-ipilimumab. In 3 of 5 cases tested, including the patient with a clinical response, T cell proliferation to KLH and/or tetanus was significantly increased (>2-fold) one month after initiation of ipilimumab, implying expansion and/or activation of the memory T cell pool. Conclusions: Blockade of CTLA-4 signaling using ipilimumab is well tolerated at the dose used thus far in this ongoing study and has anti-tumor activity in patients with follicular B-cell lymphoma. Further evaluation of the efficacy of ipilimumab at this and higher doses is therefore warranted.

Abstract Small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) is an incurable indolent lymphoma, and there are relatively few prognostic biomarkers for this important NHL subtype. We evaluated the hypothesis that inherited variability in cytokine and immune-related genes was associated with overall survival in SLL. We genotyped 73 SNPs in 44 candidate genes in 140 SLL patients aged 20–70 years who participated in a population-based case-control study conducted from 1998–2000 through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registries in Detroit, Seattle, Iowa, and Los Angeles. DNA was extracted from a venous blood sample or mouthwash buccal cell sample. All genotyping was conducted at the National Cancer Institute Core Genotyping Facility using the Taqman platform. Histology, stage, presence of B-symptoms, first course of therapy, date of last follow-up, and vital status were derived from linkage to registry databases at each study site in the spring of 2005. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval for the association between individual SNPs and overall survival, adjusted for age, demographic and clinical factors. Multiple simultaneous modeling strategies were used to identify the best summary multi-SNP risk score to predict survival. At last follow-up, there were 45 deaths in 140 patients (32%). The median follow-up of the 95 surviving patients was 58 months (range 24–75 months). In multivariate modeling, SNPs in IL13 (rs1800925; HRCC=2.36, 1.24–4.49), IL7R (rs1494555; HRGG =2.20, 0.84–5.76), and TNF-alpha (rs1800630; HRAC/AA=1.73, 0.95–3.17) were the strongest and most robust predictors of survival. Two or more deleterious genotypes from these three SNPs increased the risk of death (HR=2.2, 1.2–4.1) compared with one or fewer deleterious genotypes (p=0.009). Three groups (low, intermediate, and high risk) were defined by combining the SNP score and a clinical/demographic score. The 5-year Kaplan-Meier survival estimates for these groups were 85%, 65%, and 11%, respectively. Compared to patients with a low risk score, patients with intermediate (HR=2.5, 1.2–5.1) or high (HR=11, 4.3–27.7) risk scores had poorer overall survival (p=3.9 x 10−8). Our preliminary results suggest that SNPs in IL13, IL7R, and TNF-alpha alone and in combination predict overall survival in SLL, lending support to the hypothesis that host genetic background is a promising class of prognostic biomarkers in SLL.

Abstract Tumors arise and evolve by iterative steps of mutation, subclonal selection, and clonal expansion due to growth advantage of the fittest subclones and external mutation induction and selection pressure from radiation and drug therapies. Various studies have shown that greater clonal complexities in primary tumors are correlated with poor clinical outcome of tumor progression and/or drug resistance. Recently, we have reported that very few of the driver mutations, all of which were clonal, detected in primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) were associated with DLBCL outcome as measured by 24-month event-free survival (EFS24). In the current project, we identified and studied subclonal mutations in primary DLBCL tumors and assessed their associations with EFS24, as well as the role of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) in genomic mutations occurred in DLBCL tumors. The detection of subclonal mutations is still a significant bioinformatics challenge. In addition, identification of clonal mutations in samples with lower tumor purities faces similar challenges due to the low concentration of reads supporting the mutant alleles. The current methods of somatic mutation calling are not sufficiently sensitive to identify the low concentration mutations in tumor DNA sequencing data. We implemented a bioinformatics workflow for low-concentration and subclonal mutation detection which is based on the positional read pile-up data and a back-fill approach (PUB). The pile-up files were first generated using the re-aligned and re-calibrated BAM files after read alignment using Burrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA). The variant positions with alternative bases were annotated by attributes defined in the Variant Quality Score Recalibration (VQSR). PUB then used a boosting method and a generalized linear model (GLM) to train a model of 'good quality' variants using common variants from HapMap, and prioritized and called clonal and subclonal variants based on the trained model. The VQSR attributes related to alternative allele depth were less-weighed in order to call subclonal mutations. The somatic mutations were then identified by Fisher's Exact Test using sequencing depths of the reference and alternative alleles from paired tumor and germline sequencing data. The exome sequencing data of paired tumor and peripheral blood from 48 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients were analyzed using PUB. Thirty-six of the 48 patients achieved EFS24 with the other 12 patients experienced primary treatment failure. Most of the tumors studied had tumor purities between 40-70%. PUB identified substantially higher number of somatic mutations, both clonal and subclonal, compared to those detected using existing somatic callers. We observed that the prevalence of mutations in previously reported driver genes were higher using thresholds of mutation concentration ≥ 5% and Fisher's Exact Test p ≤ 0.05, including EZH2 (mutated in 26% of DLBCL tumors analyzed by PUB, compared to 12.7% as previously reported), MLL2 (72% vs. 31%), CD79B (22% vs. 14%), TNFRSF14 (36% vs. 20%), MEF2B (22% vs. 16.4%), CARD11 (46% vs. 21.8%), and MYD88 (18% vs. 11%). In addition, other genes involved tumorigenesis that have not been previously linked to DLBCL also harbored both clonal and subclonal mutations with substantial prevalence, including FGFR3 (12%), KIT (24%), and ATM (28%). Furthermore, association of genes displaying clonal and subclonal mutations with EFS24 identified potential biomarkers for DLBCL outcome. Among these, two genes EPGN and ASTE are involved in epithelial growth factor receptor signaling and had association p values of 0.0001 and 0.0016, respectively. The oncogene MAFB was also associated with EFS24 (p= 0.0016). We searched for AID induced mutations among all identified variant positions and concluded that there was no evidence of AID site enrichments compared to a simulated data set. In summary, we developed and applied a sensitive bioinformatics pipeline for the identification of both clonal and low concentration somatic mutations in primary DLBCL exome sequencing data which further revealed the clonal complexity of the primary DLBCL tumors. Several of the genes were identified as potential biomarkers for DLBCL outcome. Disclosures Maurer: Kite Pharma: Research Funding. Ansell:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Celldex: Research Funding. Link:Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Research Funding. Cerhan:Kite Pharma: Research Funding.

Abstract Background: Obesity has been associated with risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in several recent studies. However, the effect of weight gain during adulthood, a potentially modifiable risk factor, on the incidence of NHL is not clear. We therefore examined the association of weight gain since age 18 years with the risk of NHL among older women. Methods: We examined this association in the Iowa Women’s Health Study, a prospective study of 37,762 Iowa women aged 55 to 69 years at enrollment in 1986. Lifestyle and other risk factors, including weight at age 18 and at enrollment, were self-reported on a mailed questionnaire. We defined stable weight as no increase in weight or up to a 10% weight loss from age 18 to enrollment, while percent weight gain was divided into tertiles based on the distribution observed in the cohort. NHL incidence through 18 years of follow-up was ascertained by linkage with the Iowa SEER Cancer Registry. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of percent weight gain with NHL incidence, adjusting for age (Age-adjusted model) and age, marital status, farm residence, transfusion history, diabetes, use of hormone replacement therapy, alcohol use, smoking, and intake of red meat and fruits (Multivariate model). Results: The mean age of the women in the cohort in 1986 was 62.1 years. During 593,474 person-years of follow-up, 379 incident cases of NHL were observed. The mean age at diagnosis was 72.6 years (range 58–87 years). The main results are reported in the table. Similar results were found for absolute weight gain. Stratification of these results on body mass index at age 18 (using a cutpoint of 21 kg/m2) showed similar results, with the exception of >10% weight loss for women with a BMI of <21 at age 18 where we could not estimate a RR (no cases observed). Conclusions: Weight gain or large weight loss (>10% of body weight) during adulthood were both associated with increased risk of NHL, although the RRs for percent weight gain were not statistically significant and there was no dose-response. This study suggests another potential benefit of avoiding adult weight gain, although further studies are needed to confirm these novel findings. Association of percent weight change during adulthood (age 18 to age 55–69 years) and risk of NHL % Weight Change NHL Cases Person-years Age-Adjusted RR(95% CI) Multivariate RR (95% CI) >10% weight loss 15 17053 2.06 (1.05–4.02) 2.02 (1.03–3.95) Stable 20 45973 1 (reference) 1 (reference) 0–18.2% gain 115 175883 1.50 (0.94–2.42) 1.50 (0.93–2.41) 18.3–34.8% gain 119 176258 1.54 (0.96–2.47) 1.53 (0.95–2.47) >34.8% gain 110 178308 1.40 (0.87–2.25) 1.32 (0.82–2.14).

Abstract DLBCL is a curable subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, although a significant number of patients do not achieve a remission or they relapse with conventional chemotherapy. While clinical variables (e.g., IPI), tumor (somatic) genetic alterations, and gene expression profiling have all been shown to predict outcome, there remains a need for additional prognostic biomarkers. One understudied class of biomarkers is host genetic background. We evaluated the hypothesis that germline variability in 73 SNPs from 44 candidate immune genes was associated with overall survival in DLBCL. We addressed this hypothesis in 365 DLBCL patients aged 20–70 years who participated in a population-based case-control study conducted from 1998–2000 (prior to the use of R-CHOP) through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registries in Detroit, Seattle, Iowa, and Los Angeles. Germline DNA was extracted from a venous blood sample or mouthwash buccal cell sample, which was collected a median of 4.8 months after diagnosis in this population-based study. All genotyping was conducted at the National Cancer Institute Core Genotyping Facility using the Taqman platform, and was successful in over 95% of the DNA samples for the SNPs evaluated. Histology, stage, presence of B-symptoms, first course of therapy, date of last follow-up, and vital status were derived from linkage to registry databases at each study site in the spring of 2005. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the association between individual SNPs, adjusted for age, demographic and clinical factors. Parallel modeling strategies were used to identify the best summary multi-SNP risk score to predict survival. At a median follow-up of 56 months (range, 27-78 months) for surviving patients, there were 96 deaths in 365 patients (26%). In multivariate modeling, SNPs in IL1A (rs1800587; HRCT/TT=1.90, 1.26–2.87), IL6 (rs1800795; HRGG=1.48, 0.99–2.23), IL-10 (rs1800896; HRAG/GG=1.48, 0.91–2.38), and IFNGR2 (rs2070385; HRAG/GG=1.35, 0.86–2.11) were the strongest and most robust predictors of overall survival. A summary score of the number of deleterious genotypes from these four genes in combination with clinical and demographic variables was strongly associated with survival (p=9.3 x 10−12); Kaplan-Meier 5-year survival estimates for low, intermediate, and high risk patients were 89%, 68%, and 47% respectively. In conclusion, host genetic background as measured by germline polymorphisms in immune genes including IL1A, IL6, IL10, and IFNGR2 were associated with overall survival in DLBCL after accounting for clinical and demographic factors. These promising results require confirmation and need further evaluation in patients treated with R-CHOP in conjunction with tumor and other prognostic biomarkers.

Preclinical and clinical evidence suggest a potential advantage for infusional therapy in lymphoma. Sixty-two analyzable patients with predominantly intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma received cyclophosphamide (200 mg/m2 per day), doxorubicin (12.5 mg/m2 per day), and etoposide (60 mg/m2per day) (CDE) by continuous intravenous infusion for 4 days (96 hours) every 3 weeks for a maximum of 8 cycles. By the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index (IPI), 42% were at high risk and 58% were at high-intermediate risk. Complete response (CR) occurred in 30 (48%) patients (95% confidence interval [CI], 35%, 64%), and partial response occurred in 16 (26%) patients, yielding an overall response rate of 74% (95% CI, 62%, 84%). Failure-free survival (FFS) rates at 1 and 2 years were 55% (95% CI, 43%, 67%) and 50% (95% CI, 38%, 62%), respectively. When comparing the outcome for 62 patients receiving infusional CDE with historical data derived from 927 IPI-matched lymphoma patients using a Cox proportional hazards model, there was a nonsignificant trend favoring CDE in FFS (P = .12) and overall survival (P = .09). Severe or life-threatening toxicity included neutropenia (68%), anemia (57%), thrombocytopenia (44%), and infection (24%). Two patients (3%) died of treatment-related infectious complications. The primary end point of improving 1-year FFS from 55% to 70% was not achieved with infusional CDE given as initial therapy in patients with poor-risk intermediate-grade lymphoma. It is unlikely that infusional therapy as used in this study produces a 25% or greater relative improvement in FFS compared with standard therapy.