Citations 426

Multicentric Castleman disease: A single center experience of treatment with a focus on autologous stem cell transplantation

American Journal of Hematology | January 11, 2022 | Volume: 97 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 401-410

10.1002/ajh.26466 | PMID 35015310

AbstractCastleman disease (CD) is a rare lymphoproliferative disease characterized by diverse clinical and pathologic features. Due to its rarity, there are limited studies comparing currently available therapies. The role of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in CD has not yet been established. In this paper, we describe the clinical characteristics, treatment choices, and outcomes in 34 Mayo Clinic patients diagnosed with multicentric CD from July 1, 2003 to April 30, 2018. Eighteen patients (53%) also met the criteria for POEMS, including 14 with the osteosclerotic variant. The first‐line treatments included: steroid monotherapy (4), cytotoxic chemotherapy (6), rituximab alone (8) or with chemotherapy (2), anti‐IL6 treatment (3), and ASCT (10). The median follow‐up was 4.8 (range: 0.1–15.2) years. The 5‐ and 10‐year overall survival rates were 84% and 71%, respectively. Sixteen patients received high‐dose chemotherapy followed by ASCT during their disease course. Among those, 14 had multicentric CD associated with POEMS. There were no transplant‐related deaths. All patients had at least a partial response to ASCT, most of whom achieved a complete response. The favorable outcomes seen with ASCT in this cohort suggest that transplantation may have a role in multicentric CD, particularly for patients with multicentric CD associated with POEMS.
Impact of achieving a complete response to initial therapy of multiple myeloma and predictors of subsequent outcome

American Journal of Hematology | January 3, 2022 | Volume: 97 | Issue: 3 | Pages: 267-273

10.1002/ajh.26439 | PMID 34978743

AbstractAchievement of a complete response (CR) in multiple myeloma (MM) correlates with improvement in survival outcomes; however, its impact on prognostic variables at baseline outside of clinical trial settings is not well described. We sought to determine the impact of achieving a CR within 2 years from diagnosis, its effect on the prognostic value of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and International Staging System (ISS) risk, and examined additional predictors of outcome among those achieving a CR in a routine clinical setting. We evaluated 1869 newly diagnosed MM patients who had ≥ 2 monoclonal protein immunofixation studies in the serum and urine available within 24 months from diagnosis, categorizing those with ≥ 2 negative serum and urine immunofixations as achieving CR. With a landmark at 24 months, median progression‐free survival (PFS) for CR versus non‐CR patients was 29.8 versus 20.9 months (p ≤ .0002); median overall survival (OS) was 104 versus 70 months (p < .0001). The impact of achieving a CR was retained after adjusting for FISH, ISS, sex, transplant status, and involved heavy chain. Baseline FISH and ISS stage were not associated with PFS or OS among patients achieving a CR. The following variables were found as predictors of inferior OS within the CR cohort: age > 75 years, male gender, hypoalbuminemia, and non‐immunoglobulin G involved heavy chain. Our study confirms that achievement of CR within 2 years from diagnosis is associated with improvement in survival outcomes and neutralization of the impact of FISH and ISS risk, thereby confirming observations from the clinical trial setting among a clinical practice cohort.
Characteristics and risk factors for thrombosis in POEMS syndrome: A retrospective evaluation of 230 patients

American Journal of Hematology | November 26, 2021 | Volume: 97 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 209-215

10.1002/ajh.26422 | PMID 34822175

AbstractThromboses are prevalent in POEMS syndrome, but few risk factors for POEMS‐associated thrombosis have been identified. The objective of this study is to identify novel risk factors for POEMS‐associated thrombosis. In this retrospective cohort of 230 POEMS patients, 27% developed thrombosis. Arterial events were slightly more common than venous. Stroke accounted for 26% of all thromboses and 53% of arterial events. There were differences in baseline features between the thrombosis group and the no thrombosis group, and these were driven by patients with arterial thrombosis. Risk factors for arterial thrombosis included thrombocytosis, elevated hemoglobin/hematocrit, extravascular volume overload, and splenomegaly. Hyperprolactinemia appeared to be a risk factor for venous thrombosis. The risk of thrombosis was most striking among men with elevated hemoglobin (32% vs. 5%, p < .001) and hematocrit (42% vs. 5%, p < .001) compared to men without. Most thromboses occurred prior to POEMS directed therapy, and most that occurred during therapy happened within 3 months of diagnosis. Twenty‐one percent of patients with thrombosis had recurrence. In recognition of high overall rates of thrombosis in this population, all patients with POEMS syndrome should receive prophylactic antiplatelet therapy, and clinicians should consider anticoagulation in patients with risk factors for POEMS‐associated thrombosis.
Mortality Trends in Multiple Myeloma after the Introduction of Novel Therapies in the United States

Blood | November 24, 2021 | Volume: 138 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 119-119

10.1182/blood-2021-146894

Abstract Background: There has been a steady improvement in the survival of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) due to better understanding of the pathophysiology, use of novel agents, and risk-adapted therapy. These improvements were largely observed in clinical trials and tertiary center populations and questions remain about the generalizability of these findings to patients in community settings. Here, we compared the experience of patients seen at Mayo Clinic, Rochester (MAYO) and those followed in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER), to gain a better understanding of current trends in survival. Methods: We studied all patients with MM diagnosed between 01/2004 and 12/2018 seen at MAYO and those followed in SEER (18 registry research data 2000-2018, 11/2020 submission). For comparison with SEER, MAYO patients who were alive at the end of SEER follow-up (12/31/2018) were censored. For the estimation of relative survival, patients alive at the end of 2019 were censored to align with the published United States general population rate tables. Overall survival (OS) estimates were calculated using the method described by Kaplan and Meier. Multivariable-adjusted proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the association between the 5-year interval of diagnosis and overall survival. Expected OS estimates were calculated based on United States general population rate tables from the Human Mortality Database using a conditional approach. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated by dividing the number of observed deaths by the number of expected deaths in age- and sex-matched general United States population controls. Linear regression models were fit to test for trends in SMRs over time. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 3 years lower in patients seen at MAYO compared to patients followed in SEER. The proportion of patients 75 years and older at the time of diagnosis was higher in SEER (26.3%) compared to MAYO (15.3%). Median OS was 6.7 years (95% CI 6.3-7.1) for MAYO compared to 4.6 years (95% CI 4.5-4.7) in SEER (Figure 1). When stratifying OS by year of diagnosis (in 5-year-intervals: 2004-2008, 2009-2013, 2014-2018), improvements were seen in both patient populations over time, albeit to a greater extent in patients seen at MAYO (Figures 2 and 3). The results were consistent after adjusting for age and sex in both MAYO and SEER. There were improvements in OS across all three 5-year intervals and age groups in both patient populations. In MAYO, these improvements were most pronounced during the second 5-year interval for younger patients (&lt; 65 years) and more pronounced during the last 5-year interval for older patients (&gt; 65 years). In SEER, the improvements were more gradual across the three 5-year intervals, but it was noted that the relative improvements in younger patients were greater than in older patients during the last 5-year interval. Early mortality decreased over time in both patient populations: from 11% to 6% at MAYO and from 23% to 16% in SEER (Figure 4). To examine the observed improvements in the context of the survival trends of the general population, we stratified the SMRs by patient population, age at diagnosis, and year of diagnosis, and a lack of improvement in excess mortality was observed among older patients (&gt;75 years) in both populations over time (Figure 5). Three- and five-year overall survival estimates were higher in patients seen at MAYO compared to patients followed in SEER, but the survival advantage diminished with increasing follow-up time (Figure 6). On further sub-group analysis within MAYO patients, excess mortality was observed for all International staging system (ISS) stages and patients with high-risk (HR) cytogenetics. Stratifying the SMRs by age and risk group, decreases in excess mortality were most pronounced among older patients, particularly those with indolent disease (Figure 7). Conclusions: Survival outcomes in MM continued to improve in both patient populations. These improvements were more pronounced in MAYO compared to SEER, which may be partially explained by differences in access to specialized care. The most pronounced improvements were observed among younger patients and those with favorable disease characteristics. Future efforts need to focus on improving therapies for patients with unfavorable disease characteristics and on increasing access to specialized care in community settings. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Kapoor: Glaxo SmithKline: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy; Ichnos Sciences: Research Funding; BeiGene: Consultancy; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Cellectar: Consultancy. Dingli: Alexion: Consultancy; Apellis: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Novartis: Research Funding; GSK: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy. Gertz: Ionis Pharmaceuticals: Other: Advisory Board; Aurora Biopharma: Other: Stock option; AbbVie Inc, Celgene Corporation: Other: Data Safetly & Monitoring; Akcea Therapeutics, Ambry Genetics, Amgen Inc, Celgene Corporation, Janssen Biotech Inc, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Pfizer Inc (to Institution), Sanofi Genzyme: Honoraria; Akcea Therapeutics, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc, Prothena: Consultancy. Lin: Novartis: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Vineti: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Legend: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Dispenzieri: Sorrento Therapeutics: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Alnylam: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding. Kumar: Tenebio: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; KITE: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Adaptive: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Roche-Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Beigene: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Carsgen: Research Funding; Antengene: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding.
The Impact of the Central Carbon Energy Metabolism Transcriptome in the Pathogenesis and Outcomes of Multiple Myeloma

Blood | November 24, 2021 | Volume: 138 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 2650-2650

10.1182/blood-2021-147845

Abstract Introduction: Multiple gene expression profile assays have successfully prognosticated the overall survival (OS) outcomes of patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (NDMM) and are now available for use in clinical practice. The genes included in these profiles encompass several aspects of cancer biology broadly such as cell-cycle biology, energy metabolism, migration, adhesion, immune evasion etc. Since altered energy metabolism is one of the hallmarks of all cancer cells, our goal was to take a deep-dive into specific genes associated with intracellular central carbon energy metabolism (CCEM) pathways such as oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) as well as glycolysis and lactate fermentation (Glyco-Lac) in MM cells to determine their impact on the pathogenesis and prognosis of MM patients. Methods: Gene expression level data via RNA sequencing from the COMMPASS dataset (made available by the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF)) was utilized. The expression levels of all genes associated with the OxPhos (N = 118) and Glyco-Lac (N = 34) pathways were evaluated in CD138+ cells derived from patients with NDMM. Each gene was dichotomized into low and high expression groups -based on their expression level above and below the median fragments per kilobase of transcript per million (FPKM), respectively. The prognostic significance of dichotomizing each of the 152 genes in this NDMM cohort was evaluated by levels of their hazard ratios (HRs) for OS determined by the log-rank method. Genes from the OxPhos and Glyco-Lac pathways were selected based on their significant negative impact on OS, wide representation of their biologic activity throughout the pathway and high independence from each other. This resulted in the selection of 12 distinct genes of interest. A scoring system consisting of assigning a point for every gene where their FPKM was above the median yielded a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 12 for the set of genes in the OxPhos and Glyco-Lac pathways to create an energy metabolism score (EMS). Patients were then categorized into "low" (0-8) or "high" (9-12) EMS groups. In addition, patients were designated as having high-risk cytogenetics if they had any of the following: t(4;14), t(14;16), t(14;20), del17p, and Amp 1q. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and compared via the log-rank method. Finally, the distribution of the EMS score among patients within a spectrum of plasma cell disorders such as, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), smoldering multiple myeloma and MM as well as normal plasma cells was assessed using a previously published transcriptome dataset (GSE6477). Results: A total of 766 patients were included in this study. The selected genes included in this scoring system and their biological relevance in the OxPhos and Glyco-Lac pathways are depicted in Figure A. The distribution of low and high EMS groups across ISS stage and cytogenetic risk are depicted in Figure B and C respectively. The median OS (mOS) and PFS for the high (N = 248) vs. low (N = 518) EMS groups was 55 vs. 94 months (HR: 2.41; (95%CI: 1.85-3.14); P &lt;0.0001) (Figure D) and 24 vs. 42 months (HR: 1.74; (95%CI: 1.42-2.13); P &lt;0.0001). Patients with ISS 2 stage disease categorized as having a high or low EMS score had a similar mOS to patients with ISS 3 and ISS 1 stage disease respectively (Figure E). Similarly, the mOS was similar among patients with standard risk and high-risk cytogenetics when categorized by low and high EMS (Figure F). Finally, the relative expression of most of the 12 select CCEM genes (Figure G) and the probability of a high EMS score increased among patients along the spectrum of plasma cell disorders (Normal plasma cell -&gt; MGUS -&gt; SMM -&gt; MM) (Figure H). Conclusions: The expression levels of specific genes associated with the activity of intracellular CCEM pathways such as glycolysis, lactate fermentation and oxidative phosphorylation in plasma cells provides evidence for the impact of cellular energy metabolism on the pathogenesis and survival outcomes of MM. This provides an opportunity for developing future studies aimed at understanding the energy metabolism pathways of plasma cell malignancies in greater detail so as to exploit them for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in MM. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Kumar: Novartis: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Beigene: Consultancy; Carsgen: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Antengene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Roche-Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; KITE: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Tenebio: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Adaptive: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding. Dispenzieri: Alnylam: Research Funding; Sorrento Therapeutics: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Pfizer: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Kapoor: AbbVie: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Cellectar: Consultancy; BeiGene: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Amgen: Research Funding; Ichnos Sciences: Research Funding; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Glaxo SmithKline: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding. Dingli: Apellis: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy; Novartis: Research Funding; Alexion: Consultancy. Lin: Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sorrento: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy. Gertz: Akcea Therapeutics, Ambry Genetics, Amgen Inc, Celgene Corporation, Janssen Biotech Inc, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Pfizer Inc (to Institution), Sanofi Genzyme: Honoraria; Aurora Biopharma: Other: Stock option; AbbVie Inc, Celgene Corporation: Other: Data Safetly & Monitoring; Ionis Pharmaceuticals: Other: Advisory Board; Akcea Therapeutics, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc, Prothena: Consultancy. Fonseca: Aduro: Consultancy; Kite: Consultancy; Juno: Consultancy; Merck: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Caris Life Sciences: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Patent: Prognosticaton of myeloma via FISH: Patents & Royalties; AbbVie: Consultancy; Scientific Advisory Board: Adaptive Biotechnologies: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; OncoTracker: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Mayo Clinic in Arizona: Current Employment; Amgen: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Bayer: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy.
Prognostic Role of IL-6 in POEMS Syndrome

Blood | November 24, 2021 | Volume: 138 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 2700-2700

10.1182/blood-2021-149792

Abstract INTRODUCTION POEMS syndrome is a paraneoplastic disorder that results in multi-organ disease, and Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is associated with disease activity. There is evidence that the cytokine Interleukin- 6 (IL-6) stimulates VEGF production in several cancer cell lines. It has also been suggested that patients with POEMS syndrome experience symptoms improvement when IL-6 levels are low. Our study aims to understand the role of IL-6 and whether it is a contributor to disease activity in POEMS syndrome. METHODS We conducted a retrospective study of patients (pts) seen at Mayo Clinic within 1 year of diagnosis for POEMS syndrome with an IL-6 level within 3 months of diagnosis between 01/01/2011-05/31/2021 were included. Our database comprised 358 pts,7 were excluded because did not have official diagnosis of POEMS syndrome. Two hundred and ninety-nine pts did not have IL-6 testing within 90 days of diagnosis and were excluded. Clinical data was abstracted from our electronic medical record. Descriptive statistics were used for IL-6 levels. The majority of IL-6 laboratory testing for pts utilized the same reference range. A minority of pts had alternate reference ranges; thus, all IL-6 values and reference ranges were fold-corrected to have a unified reference to determine elevation in IL-6. High IL-6 was considered any value above the normal range, also analyzed pts in quartiles and deciles. Hematologic, VEGF and PET response criteria were utilized to group pts into responders or non-responders. Time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) was calculated using the Kaplan Meier method. Differences between curves were by log rank. Statistical analysis was conducted via JMP software package (SAS, Cary, NC, USA). Univariate analysis was done to determine the prognostic value of IL-6. Statistical significance is considered with p-values &lt;0.05. RESULTS 52 patients from among 352 met criteria and were included for analysis. Twenty-one patients (40%) had elevated IL-6 levels (IQR 5.67, 22.6) at the time of diagnosis. The fold elevation about normal was typically not very high, with a median of 3.1-fold elevation (IQR 1.3, 4.4; and range 1.0, 8.3). The percentage of males in the high IL-6 versus the normal Il-6 group were 90% versus 65%, p=0.03. Compared to normal IL-6, those with elevated IL-6 values had more instances of hepatomegaly (43% vs 16%, p=0.03), ascites (28% vs 6%, p=0 .04), abnormal DLCO (26% vs 3%, p=0.03), mixed bone lesions (57% vs 29%, p= 0.04), and lower serum albumin (range 2.3-3.5 vs 2.5-4.5 g/dL, p=0.0008).There was a trend for lower VEGF values among the high IL-6 group, but this did not meet statistical significance (median 250 vs 438 pg/mL). There was no significant difference in the time to progression between pts with high versus normal IL-6 levels (HR 1.36; p=0.456). Overall survival was significantly longer in pts with normal IL-6 compared to pts with high IL-6 levels (Median OS 67.4 vs 47.8 months, p=0.02). Forty-two pts were evaluated for VEGF response after treatment; there was a significant improvement in time to progression (85.5 vs 14.9 months, p=0.03) in pts who were VEGF responders. Among pts evaluable for a hematologic response (n=15), time to progression in pts with baseline high IL6 was longer in hematologic responders compared to non-responders (p=0.02). Conclusion Although OS was longer for pts with normal IL-6, elevated IL-6 at the time of diagnosis does not prevent pts from achieving disease remission. The study demonstrates that response to treatment rather than interleukin-6 levels in pts with POEMS syndrome is more prognostic. This study is an important initial step into understanding the utility of IL-6 in POEMS syndrome. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Gertz: Akcea Therapeutics, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc, Prothena: Consultancy; Aurora Biopharma: Other: Stock option; Ionis Pharmaceuticals: Other: Advisory Board; AbbVie Inc, Celgene Corporation: Other: Data Safetly & Monitoring; Akcea Therapeutics, Ambry Genetics, Amgen Inc, Celgene Corporation, Janssen Biotech Inc, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Pfizer Inc (to Institution), Sanofi Genzyme: Honoraria. Kumar: Oncopeptides: Consultancy; KITE: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Beigene: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Antengene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Tenebio: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Roche-Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Carsgen: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Adaptive: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding. Dingli: GSK: Consultancy; Novartis: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Apellis: Consultancy; Alexion: Consultancy. Lin: Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Juno: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sorrento: Consultancy; Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding. Kapoor: Karyopharm: Consultancy; Cellectar: Consultancy; BeiGene: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Amgen: Research Funding; Ichnos Sciences: Research Funding; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Glaxo SmithKline: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding. Dispenzieri: Pfizer: Research Funding; Sorrento Therapeutics: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Alnylam: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding.
A Multi-Center Retrospective Study of Polatuzumab for Patients with Large B-Cell Lymphoma Relapsed after Standard of Care CAR T-Cell Therapy

Blood | November 24, 2021 | Volume: 138 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 2495-2495

10.1182/blood-2021-147591

Abstract Introduction. About 60% of patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) relapse after standard of care (SOC) anti-CD19 autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, CD19 downregulation representing a major mechanism of resistance. Therefore, agents able to target B-cell antigens other than CD19 could be clinically effective for these patients. Polatuzumab vedotin (PV) is an antibody-drug conjugate targeting CD79b, and approved by the FDA in combination with bendamustine and rituximab for patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) LBCL. Patients who relapsed after CAR T-cell therapy were not included in the registration study, and reports of PV use after CAR T-cells in real world practice are very limited. Methods. This is a multi-center retrospective analysis of patients with LBCL who relapsed after SOC CAR T-cell therapy and subsequently received SOC PV with or without rituximab and bendamustine between 07/2019 and 04/2021. PV was given at the standard dose of 1.8 mg/kg IV every 3 weeks in all patients (except for one patient, who received 1.4 mg/Kg). Response to treatment and progression were defined according to 2014 Lugano criteria. Survival curves were calculated using Kaplan-Meier estimates, and were compared between subgroups using the log-rank test. Cox regression was used for multivariate analysis (MVA). Results. Fifty-four patients were included in the study: median age was 59 (range, 22-79 years), 38 (70%) were male, and 30 (56%) had an internal prognostic index score &gt; 3. Median number of systemic therapies before CAR T-cell therapy was 2 (range, 2-6), 16 (30%) patients previously had autologous stem cell transplant (SCT), and 2 (4%) had allogeneic SCT. Sixteen (30%) patients were primary refractory to CAR T-cell therapy, and median time from CAR T-cell therapy to PV was 5 months (range, 1-40 months). CD19 status at time of relapse after CAR T-cell therapy was assessed by immunohistochemistry and/or flow cytometry in 41 patients, and positive in 34 (83%); CD79b status was assessed in 14 patients, and positive in all cases (100%). Thirty-two (59%) patients received PV-based therapy immediately after CAR T cell therapy, while 22 (41%) had intervening treatments (median 1, range 1-5). At time of PV initiation, median absolute neutrophil count was 2.9 (range 0.5-19 X10 9/L), median platelet count was 87 X10 9/L (range 15-437 X10 9/L), median serum creatinine was 0.9 mg/dL (range 0.4-22 mg/dL), and 44 (81%) patients had elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The median number of PV cycles was 2 (range, 1-16): PV was combined with rituximab in 51 (94%) patients, and administered with bendamustine in 33 (61%). A response was achieved in 24 (45%) patients, including complete remission (CR) in 8 (14%) patients and partial remission in 16 (30%)(Figure A), with a median duration of response of 11 weeks (95%CI, 5-17 weeks). No significant association between baseline characteristics and response was observed. To date, 49 (91%) patients stopped PV: 38 (70%) due to progression, 7 (13%) because of CR/patient decision, 3 (6%) to proceed to allogeneic SCT, and 1 (2%) to proceed to an immunotherapy clinical trial (despite absence of progression). No patients stopped therapy because of toxicity. After a median follow up of 45 weeks (95% CI, 20-70 weeks), 44 (81%) patients progressed/died, and median PFS was 9 weeks (95% CI, 4-14 weeks). To date, 34 (63%) died, and median OS was 16 weeks (95% CI, 13-19 weeks)(Figure B). Causes of death included progression in 31 patients and transplant-related complications in 3. On univariate analysis, a shorter median progression-free survival (PFS) was observed for patients with bone marrow (BM) involvement (3 vs 10 weeks, p=0.002), prior central nervous system involvement (4 vs 10 weeks, p=0.02), and elevated LDH (6 months vs not reached, p=0.004). On MVA, the association was maintained only for BM involvement (hazard ratio [HR] 4.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-12.5, p=0.004) and elevated LDH (HR 5; 1.4-16.7, p=0.01)(Figure C). Discussion. PV is safe and effective, but has short duration of response in r/r LBCL after anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy, except for patients with normal LDH. Studies aimed at better characterizing intrinsic mechanism of resistance, including upregulation of BCL2 family proteins, to favor the development of more effective PV-based combination strategies for these patients, are warranted. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Crombie: Roche: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Bayer: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy. Kamdar: Celgene (BMS): Consultancy; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy; Genentech: Research Funding; Kite: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy; Genetech: Other; TG Therapeutics: Research Funding; SeaGen: Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Other; KaryoPharm: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy. Hess: ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy; BMS: Speakers Bureau. Neelapu: Takeda Pharmaceuticals and related to cell therapy: Patents & Royalties; Kite, a Gilead Company, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Poseida, Cellectis, Celgene, Karus Therapeutics, Unum Therapeutics (Cogent Biosciences), Allogene, Precision BioSciences, Acerta and Adicet Bio: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Celgene, Pfizer, Allogene Therapeutics, Cell Medica/Kuur, Incyte, Precision Biosciences, Legend Biotech, Adicet Bio, Calibr, Unum Therapeutics and Bluebird Bio: Honoraria; Kite, a Gilead Company, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Celgene, Pfizer, Allogene, Kuur, Incyte, Precision BioSciences, Legend, Adicet Bio, Calibr, and Unum Therapeutics: Other: personal fees. Lin: Novartis: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy. Strati: Astrazeneca-Acerta: Research Funding; Roche-Genentech: Consultancy.
Ciltacabtagene Autoleucel for Triple-Class Exposed Multiple Myeloma: Adjusted Comparisons of CARTITUDE-1 Patient Outcomes Versus Therapies from Real-World Clinical Practice from the LocoMMotion Prospective Study

Blood | November 23, 2021 | Volume: 138 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 550-550

10.1182/blood-2021-146200

Abstract Background: Patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who have triple class exposure to immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), proteasome inhibitors (PIs) and anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies (MoABs) have a poor prognosis and high unmet medical need. Ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) is a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy which may offer long-term disease control for these patients. CARTITUDE-1 is an open-label, single arm phase 1b/2 clinical trial conducted to characterize the safety and efficacy of cilta-cel in adult patients with triple-class exposed RRMM. Since CARTITUDE-1 is a single-arm study, adjusted comparisons to other currently available therapies can provide valuable information on relative efficacy and safety benefits of cilta-cel over current real-world clinical practice (RWCP). LocoMMotion is the first prospective study of RWCP efficacy and safety outcomes in triple-class exposed patients with RRMM. It was designed a priori to serve as an external control cohort for CARTITUDE-1, using aligned inclusion criteria and endpoint definitions, to enable robust, high quality indirect comparisons vs. cilta-cel. Objective: To compare patient outcomes of cilta-cel vs. RWCP, including overall response rate (ORR), complete response or better rate (≥CR rate), progression-free survival (PFS) as assessed by a review committee and overall survival (OS) in patients with triple-class exposed RRMM. Methods: Individual patient level data available from both CARTITUDE-1 (clinical cut-off February 2021) and LocoMMotion (clinical cut-off March 2021) were pooled to conduct the comparative analyses. Imbalances between both cohorts on key prognostic baseline characteristics, including refractory status, ISS stage, time to progression on prior line, number of prior lines, average duration of prior lines, age, creatinine clearance, ECOG PS and MM type were adjusted for using inverse probability weighting. Average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) weights derived from propensity scores estimated using multivariable logistic regression modeling were applied to the LocoMMotion patients to have the weighted RWCP cohort reflecting the CARTITUDE-1 patient population. Balance between the ATT weighted RWCP cohort versus the CARTITUDE-1 population was evaluated based on reduction of standardized mean differences and overlap of propensity score distributions. Weighted logistic and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to estimate the relative treatment effects for cilta-cel vs. RWCP on binary endpoints (Odds ratios (OR), transformed into Response-rate Ratios (RR) and time to event endpoints (Hazard ratios (HR)), respectively. The base case analyses included all enrolled (apheresed) patients from CARTITUDE-1, reflecting an intention to treat approach. Additional analyses were conducted including only patients who received cilta-cel infusion compared to an aligned population of LocoMMotion where patients that progressed or died within 52 days were excluded from the LocoMMotion cohort. Results: 113 patients were enrolled in CARTITUDE-1, of which 97 were infused with cilta-cel. 246 patients were enrolled in LocoMMotion receiving RWCP in Italy (24%), Germany (15%), France (14%), UK (11%), Spain (10%), USA (9%), Belgium (5%), Poland (5%), Netherlands (4%) and Russia (3%). Therapies within the RWCP cohort were diverse and &gt;90 unique treatment regimens were used. The most frequent regimens were Kd (13.8%), PCd (12.6%) and Pd (11.0%). The weighted LocoMMotion population was well balanced with the CARTITUDE-1 cohort. Adjusted comparisons (Table 1) showed statistically significant improvements for cilta-cel vs. RWCP for ORR (RR=4.43), ≥CR (RR=568.92), PFS (HR=0.15) and OS (HR=0.38), all comparisons with p&lt;0.001. All additional analyses were consistent with these findings (Table 1). Conclusions: Outcomes for patients with triple-class exposed RRMM treated with RWPC observed in LocoMMotion are poor, illustrating the high unmet medical need. Adjusted comparisons vs. CARTITUDE-1 demonstrate significantly improved ORR, ≥CR, PFS and OS for cilta-cel compared to a diverse set of RWCP. These findings highlight cilta-cel's potential as a highly effective treatment option for patients with triple-class exposed RRMM. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Mateos: Regeneron: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Honoraria; Sea-Gen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene - Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Oncopeptides: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AbbVie: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Oncopeptides: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bluebird bio: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Weisel: GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy; Novartis: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria. Martin: Sanofi: Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Janssen: Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy; Amgen: Research Funding. Berdeja: Celularity, CRISPR Therapeutics: Research Funding; Abbvie, Acetylon, Amgen: Research Funding; Bluebird bio, BMS, Celgene, CRISPR Therapeutics, Janssen, Kite Pharma, Legend Biotech, SecuraBio, Takeda: Consultancy; EMD Sorono, Genentech: Research Funding; GSK, Ichnos Sciences, Incyte: Research Funding; Lilly, Novartis: Research Funding; Poseida, Sanofi, Teva: Research Funding. Jakubowiak: Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gracell: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Stewart: Oncopeptides: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; GSK: Honoraria; BMS: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Skyline diagnostics: Consultancy; Genomcs England: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tempus Inc.: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; PikSci Inc.: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Patents & Royalties; Sanofi Aventis: Honoraria. Jagannath: Legend Biotech: Consultancy; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Consultancy; Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy. Lin: Novartis: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Legend: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy; Juno: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Vineti: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding. Diels: Janssen: Current Employment. Ghilotti: Janssen-Cilag SpA, Cologno Monzese, Italy: Current Employment. Perualila: Janssen: Current Employment. Cabrieto: Janssen: Current Employment. Haefliger: Janssen-Cilag AG: Ended employment in the past 24 months; Cilag GmbH International: Current Employment. Erler-Yates: Janssen: Current Employment. Hague: Janssen: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Jackson: Janssen: Current Employment; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Consultancy. Strulev: Janssen Pharmaceutica NV: Current Employment. Nesheiwat: Legend Biotech USA: Current Employment. Pacaud: Legend Biotech: Current Employment. Moreau: Janssen: Honoraria; Celgene BMS: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Honoraria. Einsele: Janssen, Celgene/BMS, Amgen, GSK, Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.
Updated Results from CARTITUDE-1: Phase 1b/2Study of Ciltacabtagene Autoleucel, a B-Cell Maturation Antigen-Directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy, in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Blood | November 23, 2021 | Volume: 138 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 549-549

10.1182/blood-2021-146060

Abstract Introduction: Ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel), a chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy with 2 B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) targeting single-domain antibodies, demonstrated early, deep, and durable responses in the phase 1b/2 CARTITUDE-1 study in patients (pts) with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who had been heavily pretreated (Berdeja, Lancet, 2021). After a median follow-up of 12.4 months, the overall response rate (ORR; as assessed by independent review committee) was 97%, with 67% of pts achieving stringent complete response (sCR). The 12-month progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 77% and 89%, respectively. Here, we report updated results from CARTITUDE-1 with longer duration of follow-up (median 18 months). Methods: Eligible pts had MM and received ≥3 prior therapies or were refractory to a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and an immunomodulatory drug (IMiD), and had received a PI, IMiD, and an anti-CD38 antibody. After apheresis, bridging therapy was permitted. Pts received a single cilta-cel infusion (target dose 0.75×10 6 CAR+ viable T cells/kg; range 0.5-1.0×10 6) 5-7 days (d) after lymphodepletion (300 mg/m 2 cyclophosphamide, 30 mg/m 2 fludarabine daily for 3 d). Primary objectives were to characterize cilta-cel safety, confirm the recommended phase 2 dose (phase 1b), and evaluate cilta-cel efficacy (phase 2). Response was assessed per IMWG criteria by an independent review committee and minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity at 10 -5 by next-generation sequencing. In this combined phase 1b and phase 2 analysis, cytokine release syndrome (CRS; per Lee et al Blood 2014 grading criteria) and neurotoxicity (by CTCAE v5.0) were mapped to the ASTCT criteria for CRS and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity (ICANS), respectively. Results: As of Feb 11, 2021, 97 pts (58.8% male; median age 61.0 years [range 43-78]) received cilta-cel. Pts had received a median of 6 (range 3-18) prior lines of therapy; 83.5% were penta-drug exposed, 87.6% were triple-class refractory, 42.3% were penta-drug refractory, and 99.0% were refractory to last line of therapy. ORR was 97.9% (95% CI: 92.7-99.7); 80.4% of pts achieved sCR, and 94.8% achieved very good partial response or better (Figure). The median time to first response was 1 month (range 0.9-10.7), median time to best response was 2.6 months (range 0.9-15.2), and median time to complete response or better was 2.6 months (range 0.9-15.2). The median duration of response was 21.8 months (95% CI: 21.8-not estimable). Of 61 pts evaluable for MRD, 91.8% were MRD negative at the 10 -5 threshold; MRD 10 -5 negativity was sustained for ≥6 months in 44.3% (27/61) of pts and ≥12 months in 18% (11/61) of pts. The 18-month PFS and OS rates were 66.0% (95% CI: 54.9-75.0) and 80.9% (95% CI: 71.4-87.6), respectively. 18-month PFS rates in pts who achieved sustained MRD for ≥6 months and ≥12 months were 96.3% (95% CI: 76.5-99.5) and 100%, respectively. The most common grade 3/4 hematologic AEs in ≥25% of pts were neutropenia (94.8%), anemia (68.0%), leukopenia (60.8%), thrombocytopenia (59.8%), and lymphopenia (49.5%). There were no fatalities related to cytopenias, and no new safety signals with longer follow-up. CRS occurred in 94.8% of pts (mostly grade 1/2); median time to onset was 7 d (range 1-12), and CRS resolved within 14 d in 98.9% of pts. There was no new CAR T-cell neurotoxicity since the previous report. Post cilta-cel infusion, 21 deaths occurred during the study: 0 within first 30 d, 2 within 100 d, and 19 more than 100 d post infusion. Ten deaths were due to disease progression, 6 were treatment-related (as assessed by the investigator), and 5 were due to AEs unrelated to treatment. One patient was retreated with cilta-cel (for progressive disease) and had stable disease (per computerized algorithm) post-retreatment with no incidence of CAR T-cell neurotoxicity. Conclusions: At a longer median follow-up of 18 months, a single cilta-cel infusion led to early, deep, and durable responses in heavily pre-treated pts with MM. Follow-up is ongoing and updated data will be presented. Cilta-cel demonstrated a manageable safety profile with no new safety signals observed with longer follow-up. Further investigations of cilta-cel are ongoing in earlier lines of therapy (CARTITUDE-2 [NCT04133636], CARTITUDE-4 [NCT04181827], and CARTITUDE-5 [NCT04923893]) and in outpatient settings. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Martin: GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy; Janssen: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding. Usmani: Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; SkylineDX: Consultancy, Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Merck: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen Oncology: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; EdoPharma: Consultancy; Array BioPharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; GSK: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Consultancy. Berdeja: Lilly, Novartis: Research Funding; Poseida, Sanofi, Teva: Research Funding; GSK, Ichnos Sciences, Incyte: Research Funding; Bluebird bio, BMS, Celgene, CRISPR Therapeutics, Janssen, Kite Pharma, Legend Biotech, SecuraBio, Takeda: Consultancy; Celularity, CRISPR Therapeutics: Research Funding; Abbvie, Acetylon, Amgen: Research Funding; EMD Sorono, Genentech: Research Funding. Jakubowiak: Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gracell: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Cohen: Novartis: Research Funding; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Genentech/Roche: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Research Funding. Hari: Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Oncopeptides: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Millenium: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; GSK: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Adaptive Biotech: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene-BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Avigan: Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Partner Tx: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Aviv MedTech Ltd: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Legend Biotech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Chugai: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy; Parexcel: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy. Deol: Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy. Lesokhin: bristol myers squibb: Research Funding; Iteos: Consultancy; pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Behringer Ingelheim: Honoraria; Trillium Therapeutics: Consultancy; Serametrix, Inc: Patents & Royalties; Genetech: Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding. Munshi: Adaptive Biotechnology: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Oncopep: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: scientific founder, Patents & Royalties; Legend: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy. O'Donnell: Onocopeptide: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Bristol Myer Squibb: Consultancy; Adaptive: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy. Stewart: Oncopeptides: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; GSK: Honoraria; BMS: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Skyline diagnostics: Consultancy; Genomcs England: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tempus Inc.: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; PikSci Inc.: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Patents & Royalties; Sanofi Aventis: Honoraria. Schecter: Janssen: Current Employment, Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company. Goldberg: Janssen: Current Employment, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Jackson: Janssen: Current Employment; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Consultancy. Yeh: Janssen: Current Employment. Banerjee: Janssen: Current Employment, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Allred: Janssen: Current Employment, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company. Zudaire: Janssen: Current Employment. Deraedt: Janssen: Current Employment. Olyslager: Janssen: Current Employment. Pacaud: Legend Biotech: Current Employment. Lin: Juno: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy; Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Sorrento: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Jagannath: Legend Biotech: Consultancy; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Consultancy; Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy. OffLabel Disclosure: At the time of abstract submission, cilta-cel is being investigated for the treatment of multiple myeloma but is not yet approved.
Updated Clinical and Correlative Results from the Phase I CRB-402 Study of the BCMA-Targeted CAR T Cell Therapy bb21217 in Patients with Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Blood | November 23, 2021 | Volume: 138 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 548-548

10.1182/blood-2021-146518

Abstract Introduction: Idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel, bb2121) is the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after four or more prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody. bb21217 is a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) directed CAR T cell therapy which uses the same CAR molecule as ide-cel, with the addition of a PI3K inhibitor (bb007) during ex vivo culture to enrich the drug product (DP) for memory-like T cells and decrease the proportion of highly differentiated or senescent T cells. We hypothesize that DPs enriched for memory like CAR T cells will persist and function longer than non-enriched DPs and this increased persistence will positively influence duration of response (DOR). We previously demonstrated patients with sustained response are more likely to have drug product enriched for naïve gene signatures and depleted of effector gene signatures compared to patients without a sustained response. Methods: CRB-402 (NCT03274219) is a multi-center phase 1 trial of bb21217 in RRMM patients who received ≥3 prior lines of antimyeloma therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent, or are double-refractory to both classes. In expansion, patients were required to have prior exposure to an anti-CD38 antibody and were required to be refractory to their last line of therapy. Patients underwent lymphodepletion with fludarabine (30 mg/m 2) and cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m 2) daily for 3 days, then received a single infusion of bb21217 at 150, 300 or 450 x 10 6 CAR+ T cells. The primary outcome measure is incidence of adverse events (AEs), including dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs). Additional outcome measures include overall response rate and DOR by IMWG Uniform Response Criteria. Exploratory analyses include correlation of outcome with the molecular characteristics of materials collected temporally through the treatment course, including PBMCs at apheresis, CAR+ T cells from drug product and CAR+ T cells collected from patients around the time of peak expansion. Results: Asof Feb 16, 2021, 72 patients received bb21217, 12 at 150, 14 at 300 and 46 at 450 x 10 6 CAR+ T cells; median follow up for all patients is 9.0 (&lt;1-36) months (M). Patients had a median of 6 (3-17) prior lines of therapy with 49/72 (68%) triple refractory. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) developed in 54/72 (75%) patients and was predominately G1/2 (51 pts), with 1 G3 event and 2 deaths (previously reported). Median time to first onset of CRS was 2 days (1-20); tocilizumab (38 pts) + corticosteroids (12 pts) was used to manage CRS. Eleven (15%) patients developed neurotoxicity [8 G1/G2, 2 G3, 1 G4] with median time to first onset of 7 (2-24) days. Response was assessed per investigator for 72 patients treated with bb21217 (Table). CAR+ T cells remained detectable in 30/37 (81%) patients and 9/15 (60%) patients at 6 and 12 M respectively, post bb21217 infusion. Of the 15 patients evaluable for MRD with ≥CR, 14 (93%) were MRD negative at 10 -5 by NGS. Analysis of peripheral blood samples collected 15 days post bb21217 infusion demonstrated patients with higher than the median number of CD8+ CAR+ T cells expressing CD27 and CD28 had significantly longer DOR (p=0.0024), compared to patients with lower than the median values. This suggests less differentiated, more proliferative CAR+ T cells at peak expansion are associated with prolonged disease response (median DOR in high vs low: 27.2M (95% CI; 16.8, NE) vs 9.4M (95% CI; 5.1, NE). Conclusions: Adverse events are consistent with known toxicities of CAR T cell therapies. Efficacy results are encouraging with a median DOR estimate of 17M, CR rate continues to mature. Patients with higher levels of proliferative, less differentiated memory like CAR+ T cells at peak expansion are more likely to experience prolonged DOR, continuing to support the hypothesis that the memory like T cell phenotype associated with bb21217 results in prolonged DOR. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Raje: Caribou: Other; Janssen: Other; bluebird bio: Other; Amgen: Other; Celgene: Other; BMS: Other. Shah: Poseida: Research Funding; Precision Biosciences: Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy; Sutro Biopharma: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Janssen: Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Kite: Consultancy; Nektar: Research Funding; Indapta Therapeutics: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy; CSL Behring: Consultancy; CareDx: Consultancy; BMS/Celgene: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy; Teneobio: Research Funding. Kaufman: BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Tecnofarma SAS, AbbVie: Honoraria; Incyte, celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Honoraria; Incyte, TG Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Heidelberg Pharma: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Fortis Therapeutics: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Roche/Genetech, Tecnopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sutro, Takeda: Research Funding; Genentech, AbbVie, Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Siegel: Celularity: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Honoraria; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Amgen Inc.: Honoraria; Karyopharm: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Munshi: Janssen: Consultancy; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Adaptive Biotechnology: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Oncopep: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: scientific founder, Patents & Royalties; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy. Rosenblatt: Parexel: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Imaging Endpoints: Consultancy; Attivare: Consultancy; Wolters Kluwer Health Inc: Consultancy, Patents & Royalties. Lin: Sorrento: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Vineti: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy; Gamida Cell: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Jakubowiak: BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gracell: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Timm: bluebird bio: Current Employment. Yeri: bluebird bio: Current Employment. Martin: Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Campbell: Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Finney: bluebird bio: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Truppel-Hartmann: bluebird bio: Current Employment. Petrocca: blue bird bio: Ended employment in the past 24 months. Berdeja: Abbvie, Acetylon, Amgen: Research Funding; Celularity, CRISPR Therapeutics: Research Funding; Bluebird bio, BMS, Celgene, CRISPR Therapeutics, Janssen, Kite Pharma, Legend Biotech, SecuraBio, Takeda: Consultancy; EMD Sorono, Genentech: Research Funding; GSK, Ichnos Sciences, Incyte: Research Funding; Lilly, Novartis: Research Funding; Poseida, Sanofi, Teva: Research Funding.