Citations 267

Pre- Transplant Ferritin Predicts Overall Survival and Non-Relapse Mortality in Patients Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Myelofibrosis

Blood | February 8, 2021 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 19-20

10.1182/blood-2020-141414

Background: Elevated serum ferritin (SF) is common in patients with myelofibrosis (MF) given the frequent red-cell transfusion requirements and impaired iron metabolism. The dysregulation of iron metabolism is associated with increased hepcidin levels which predict for inferior survival in patients with MF (Pardanani et al AJH 2013). High pre-transplant SF negatively impacts overall survival and non-relapse mortality in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) for hematological malignancies (Chee et al BMT 2017 & Yan et al 2018). However, the impact of elevated pre-transplant SF specifically on post-alloHCT outcomes has not been described in MF. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of patients with MF undergoing allo-HCT at Mayo clinic Rochester, Arizona, and Florida from January 1st 2012 - December 31st 2019. We abstracted demographic and outcome variables to evaluate the impact of pre-transplant ferritin levels on post-transplant outcomes. We used a Receiver Operand Characteristic Curve to identify a pre-transplant serum ferritin (SF) of ≥ 1,123 ng/mL as the cutoff which best correlated with poor survival. Results: We identified 67 patients with MF who underwent allo-HCT during the study period with readily available data. Patients with a pre-transplant ferritin ≥ 1,123 ng/mL (n=18) had a median age of 59.4 years and were predominantly male (n=9, 50%) with primary myelofibrosis (n=12, 67%), had a DIPSS-plus int-2 (n=10, 56%) and high (n=6, 33%) risk categories and received a reduced-intensity conditioning (n=14, 78%) from a matched-unrelated donor (n=7, 50%) Table1. Patients with SF ≥ 1,123 ng/mL had a worse overall survival (OS) (median OS= 12.64 months [95%CI=6.08-19.20 months] vs. not-reached (NR) p=0.001). Patients with elevated SF had an increased non-relapse mortality (NRM) rate at 6 months (16.7%, [95%CI=0.4-37.2%]) vs 8.2%,[95%CI= 2.6-18.1%] p=0.021) and 12 months (33.3% [95%CI=13.0-55.4%] vs 10.4% [95%CI=3.8-21.0%] p=0.021) Patients with ≥ 1,123 ng/mL SF had a non-statistically significant higher rate of acute graft-vs-host disease grades 3-4 (28% vs 12.2% p=0.13) but similar rates of moderate to severe chronic graft-vs-host disease (31% vs 28% p=0.78). In the univariate analysis, SF ≥1,123 ng/mL and a Hematopoietic stem cell transplant comorbidity index (HCT-CI) ≥3 were associated with an increased risk of mortality (Hazard ratio [HR]=4.18 [95%CI=1.64-10.62] p=0.003] and HR=4.42 [95%CI=1.70-11.46] p=0.003, respectively). Both retained significance in multivariate analysis SF ≥1,123 ng/mL (HR= 2.80 [95%CI= 1.0-7.6], p=0.04)] and HCT-CI score ≥ 3 (HR 3.10 [95%CI= 1.12-8.62, p=0.03]) after adjusting for age, DIPSS-plus score, conditioning regimen intensity, donor type, CMV risk, prior use of ruxolitinib, and ABO mismatch. We grouped the patients into low, intermediate and high risk categories using SF level and HCT-CI scores as detailed in Figure 1. The risk category based on SF and HCT-CI was statistically significant in impacting OS and NRM in this cohort. The 12 month OS rate was lower in the high risk category (44.4% [95%CI= 13.6%-71.9%]) when compared to the intermediate (64.6%, [95%CI=39.7%-81.3%]) and low risk (91.9%, [95%CI= 76.9%-97.3%], p=0.0002) categories. Similarly, the 12 month NRM rate was higher in the high risk category (44.4%, [95%CI=11.0%-74.2%]) when compared to the intermediate (25%, [95%CI=8.7%-45.5%]) and low risk (5.3% [95%CI=0.9%-15.9%], p=0.0046) categories. Conclusion: In patients undergoing allogeneic SCT for myelofibrosis, serum ferritin ≥ 1,123 ng/mL is a predictor of high NRM and inferior OS. Combining ferritin serum levels with HCT-CI may help in better patient selection for allo-HCT in MF population. Larger patient cohort is warranted to confirm our findings. Disclosures Kharfan-Dabaja: Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy. Shah:Dren Bio: Consultancy.
Risk of Mortality and Leukemic Transformation in Primary Myelofibrosis before and after Ruxolitinib Approval

Blood | February 8, 2021 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 28-28

10.1182/blood-2020-134161

Background: Primary myelofibrosis (PMF) has the worst prognosis of the classical BCR-ABL1 negative myeloproliferative neoplasms, with a median overall survival of six years. Factors affecting survival include age, symptom burden, cytopenias, mutation profile, and development of second malignancies including transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Ruxolitinib, a selective JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor, was granted approval by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration for treatment of intermediate and high-risk PMF in November 2011 based on reduction in spleen volume and demonstration of symptom improvement. The impact of ruxolitinib on PMF survival is unknown. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether there has been a change in survival and patterns of second primary malignancies (SPMs) including AML transformation among PMF population in US after ruxolitinib approval. Methods: Using the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-18 survival and Multiple Primary Standardized Incidence Ratio (MP-SIR) registries, we conducted a retrospective study with patients diagnosed with PMF between the years of 2007 and 2016. We divided these patients into two five-year cohorts, pre-ruxolitinib approval (2007-2011) and post-ruxolitinib approval (2012-2016), and compared relative survival rates (RSRs) and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of SPMs between the cohorts. SIRs were calculated as the ratio of observed to expected malignancy cases over the specified time periods. Median follow-up duration was five years for each cohort. RSRs and SIRs were compared between cohorts using two-proportion Z-tests. Results: We included 2164 patients diagnosed with PMF between 2007 and 2016 with data available in the SEER-18 survival and MP-SIR registries. Of these, 1051 (49%) patients were included in the pre-ruxolitinib cohort and 1113 (51%) patients were included in the post-ruxolitinib cohort. There was no significant difference in the four-year RSRs between the pre-ruxolitinib and post-ruxolitinib cohorts (55% vs. 56%, p = 0.719). A higher proportion of SPMs occurred in the post-ruxolitinib cohort when compared with the pre-ruxolitinib cohort (60% vs. 40%, p < 0.001). Hematologic malignancies comprised a majority of all SPMs (AML 39% and non-Hodgkin lymphoma 16%). A higher incidence of AML transformation occurred in the post-ruxolitinib cohort when compared with the pre-ruxolitinib cohort (SIR 121.48 vs. 72.22, p = 0.037). Non-hematologic malignancies were also more common in the post-ruxolitinib cohort when compared with the pre-ruxolitinib cohort (SIR 1.09 vs. 0.94, p < 0.001). The most common non-hematologic malignancies were cancers of the respiratory tract, urinary tract, and prostate gland, though their SIRs were not significant in either cohort. Conclusions: Our study results suggest that despite improvements in prognostication and the approval of ruxolitinib, the prognosis of PMF remains poor in the US. These results may be due to low uptake of ruxolitinib in practice or a lack of benefit from the drug itself. Additionally, for reasons that are unclear, SPM incidence has increased in the five years following the approval of this drug. Further studies should be conducted to determine the cause of these findings. Figure Disclosures Shah: Dren Bio: Consultancy. Vachhani:astellas: Speakers Bureau; agios, blueprint medicines, jazz pharmaceuticals, daiichi sankyo: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau.
Predictors of Survival and Time to Progression to Myeloid Neoplasm in Patients with Clonal Cytopenias

Blood | February 8, 2021 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 26-27

10.1182/blood-2020-142181

Background: Clonal cytopenias of Undetermined Significance (CCUS) have a higher risk of progression to myeloid neoplasm (MN) compared to idiopathic cytopenias of undetermined significance (ICUS) (Malcovati et al., Blood, 2017). The implementation of flow cytometric (FC) immune-phenotyping and next generation sequencing (NGS) in clinical practice has improved the diagnosis of these entities but the clinical significance and interaction of these abnormal results are still unknown. In this study we investigated predictive factors that play role in survival and progression to MN in patients with ICUS/CCUS. Methods: Patients (Pts) who had undergone evaluation for unexplained cytopenia and had undergone FC and bone marrow morphological assessment between 3/2015-3/2020 at Mayo Clinic Rochester were included. Pts were excluded if a malignant hematological disorder was diagnosed prior to the time of FC. FC included evaluation of the following parameters: Abnormal expression of HLA-DR/CD13, CD2, CD7, CD45, and CD56 on blasts; and abnormal CD13/CD16 expression and side scatter on granulocytic cells. NGS panel up to 2018 included 34 genes, ASXL1, BCOR, BRAF, CALR, CBL, CEBPA, CSF3R, DNMT3A, ETV6, EZH2, FLT3, GATA1, GATA2, IDH1, IDH2, JAK2, KIT, KRAS, MPL, MYD88, NOTCH1, NPM1, NRAS, PHF6, PTPN11, RUNX1, SETBP1, SF3B1, TERT, TET2, TP53, U2AF1, WT1, and ZRSR2; in 2018, BRAF was omitted and 12 genes were added, ANRD26, DDX41, ELANE, ETNK1, KDM6A, MYD88, NOTCH1, RAD21, SH2B3, SRP72, SMC3, and STAG2. Results: Characteristics: Of 490 consecutive pts, 238 (median age 69 years (range 19-92), 66% males) met our inclusion criteria as ICUS. 86 (36%) pts had CCUS (abnormal cytogenetics and/or tested positive for pathogenic mutations on NGS). After a median follow-up of 28 months (95% CI: 20 to 31 months), 21 (25%) patients developed MN and 23 (27%) died during follow-up. Comparing ICUS vs CCUS: upon comparing CCUS pts to ICUS, several factors were found to be significantly different: CCUS pts were older (p= .02); majority male (p= .04), had more abnormal HLA-DR/CD13 (p <.0001), more side-scattered light by FC (p <.0001), more pancytopenia on follow up (p= .02) and more morphologic atypia (<.0001). Overall survival (OS) outcomes in CCUS: Several covariates were significant in univariate models, and model selection was used to generate a risk score based on abnormal CD7, abnormal CD13/CD16, abnormal HLA-DR/CD13, splenomegaly and history of prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy (range: 0 - 4; HR=2.58, [95 CI: 1.69 - 3.94], p<.0001). Risk scores were grouped as low risk (score=0), intermediate risk (score=1), and high risk (score=2+), with estimated 2-yr-OS of 95%, 84%, 40%, respectively (Figure 1). An extended risk score model including NGS factors added ASXL1 and IDH1 mutation status to the previous model (range: 0 - 6; HR=2.72, [95 CI 1.82 - 4.06], p<0.0001). MN-free survival (MNFS) in CCUS: 37 pts either progressed to MN and/or died with a median follow up time for MNFS of 22.4 months. Similar for OS, model selection approaches yielded a composite risk score: splenomegaly, BCOR mutation status, mutation in RAS signaling pathway, abnormal expression of flow markers CD13/CD16, HLA-DR/CD13 or CD7 (HR=3.23, [95 CI: 1.90 - 5.49], p=<0.0001). Risk scores were grouped as low risk (score=0), intermediate risk (score=1), and high risk (score ≥ 2), with estimated 1-yr MNFS of 84%, 74%, and 31%, respectively (Figure 2). Conclusion: CCUS has unique features compared to ICUS. Several factors, including clinical characteristics, immune-phenotyping by FC, and somatic mutations have important impact on risk of progression to MN and on overall survival. Our findings serve as proof-of-concept that such integrated models could help identify CCUS patients at higher risks for progression to MN or death. They can guide treatment accordingly and should be evaluated further. Disclosures Shah: Dren Bio: Consultancy.
A Population-Based Study of Polycythemia Vera, Essential Thrombocythemia, and Primary Myelofibrosis in the United States from 2001-2015

Blood | February 8, 2021 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 48-48

10.1182/blood-2020-137611

Introduction: Polycythemia Vera (PV), Essential Thrombocythemia (ET), and Primary Myelofibrosis (PMF) are BCR/ABL1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) that are associated with morbidity and increased mortality. Limited data regarding population-based outcomes for these MPNs have been reported. Our aim was to use the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry to investigate population based outcomes for PV, ET, and PMF. Methods: The SEER 18 registries were used to identify patients with ICD-O-3 diagnosis codes for PV (9950/3), ET (9962/3), and PMF (9961/3) from 2001-2015. For ET and PMF, histologic diagnosis was required for inclusion. Incidence was age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population. Causes of death were obtained and MPN-related death was defined as death from any myeloid disorder (ET, PV, PMF, acute myeloid leukemia [AML], acute monocytic leukemia, other myeloid/monocytic leukemia, and aleukemic, subleukemic and NOS). Relative survival (RS) was defined as the ratio of the proportion of observed survivors in a cohort of PV, ET, PMF patients to the proportion of expected survivors in a comparable set of individuals that did not respectively have PV, ET, or PMF, adjusting for the general survival of the US population for race, sex, age, and time when the diagnosis was established. Time to leukemic transformation was calculated using the left-truncated life tables session with a 3-month latency period used to prevent misattribution. Overall survival (OS) was calculated between the date of diagnosis and the date of death, date last known to be alive, or date of the study cut-off (31 December 2018). Variables significant in univariate analysis were included in a multivariate analysis. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate overall survival (OS), and Cox regression model was used to identify predictors of survival. Statistical analyses were performed using JMP version 14.0. Results: 10,988 patients with PV, 9,146 with ET, and 4,022 with PMF were identified in SEER. The median age of diagnosis (interquartile range [IQR]) was 65 years (IQR 54-76), 67 years (IQR 54-77), and 69 years (IQR 60-78) for PV, ET, and PMF respectively. Overall incidence rates (cases/100,000) were 0.86 for PV, 0.72 for ET, and 0.30 for PMF. With a median follow up (in years, 95% confidence interval [CI]) of 7.6 (7.4-7.8), 7.9 (7.8-8.2), and 7.25 (7.0-7.5), the median OS was 11.4 (11.2-11.7), 11.75 (11.3-12.0), and 3.5 (3.3-3.7), for PV, ET, and PMF respectively. RS was better than expected survival for PV and ET, while less than expected survival for PMF (Figure 1). 3853 of PV patients died (35.1%) by the end of the study period, with 4.1% and 34.1% of deaths from PV-related and cardiovascular disease respectively (Table 1). 3142 of ET patients died (34.4%), with 7.2% and 32.2% of deaths from ET-related and cardiovascular disease respectively. 2578 patients with MF died (64.1%), with 13.2%, and 51.9% of deaths from PMF-related and other malignancies respectively. 106 patients (1.0%) with PV, 135 patients (1.5%) with ET, and 127 patients (3.2%) with PMF transformed to AML. Median time to transformation was 4.8, 6.3, and 2.3 years for PV, ET, and PMF respectively. Factors indicating inferior OS on multivariate analysis (Table 2) included age ≥ 65, female sex, and year of diagnosis for PV, age ≥ 65, male sex, and year of diagnosis for ET, and age ≥ 65, and male sex for PMF. Conclusion: Incidence rates for PV, ET, and PMF were similar to previous reports. RS was better than expected survival for PV and ET, while less than expected survival for PMF. The majority of deaths in ET and PV occurred from cardiovascular disease; a finding likely related to these MPNs. Patients with PMF were more likely to die from their disease or a subsequent malignancy. Transformation to AML occurred less frequently than prior large case series, noting a limitation in the current study. Patients with PMF were more likely to transform to AML with a shorter time interval. Older age was associated with worse OS in all patients. Male sex was predictive of worse survival for ET and PMF, while female sex was associated with worse survival in PV. Over the years, survival has improved for PV and remained essentially unchanged for ET and PMF. Figure Disclosures Shah: Dren Bio: Consultancy.
Single‐agent cladribine as an effective front‐line therapy for adults with Langerhans cell histiocytosis

American Journal of Hematology | February 7, 2021 | Volume: 96 | Issue: 5 | Pages: No page available

10.1002/ajh.26119 | PMID 33539584

The Role of Staging Evaluation at Initial Diagnosis of Adult Patients with Clinically Isolated Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis

Blood | February 7, 2021 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 45-45

10.1182/blood-2020-136861

Background: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is the most common histiocytic disorder that is now recognized as a neoplasm by the World Health Organization. It is generally classified based on the site and extent of disease involvement (single system or multisystem). Pulmonary LCH (pLCH), an uncommon interstitial lung disease associated with smoking, often presents as isolated pulmonary disease. It is unclear whether patients with clinically isolated pLCH have extra-pulmonary lesions at diagnosis or during the course of their disease. The role of [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (FDG-PET-CT) in the staging of pLCH remains unclear. Our study aims to better characterize the utility of radiographic staging studies at time of diagnosis and prevalence of extrapulmonary disease at follow up in pLCH. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of patients presenting with clinical findings consistent with isolated pLCH seen at the Mayo Clinic from January 2000 to January 2020. All patients had a diagnosis of pLCH determined by chest imaging studies [computed tomography (CT) or high-resolution CT (HRCT)] or by histopathologic findings from surgical or transbronchial lung biopsy. Histopathologic findings for the diagnosis of pLCH required the presence of Langerhans cells (S100+/CD1a+/Langerin+). Patients were excluded if they had clinically apparent extra-pulmonary organ involvement at the time of diagnosis. BRAF V600E mutation was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or cell-free DNA (cfDNA). Staging was defined as FDG-PET-CT or whole body CT imaging obtained within 3 months of diagnosis of pLCH. Extra-pulmonary LCH involvement was determined by imaging characteristics or by histopathologic findings. Descriptive statistics and overall survival (OS) were analyzed with JMP software, version 14 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Results: A total of 112 patients with clinically isolated pLCH were identified. The median age at diagnosis was 45 years (range 21-73), and 48 (43%) were male. The majority (n=110, 99%) were former or current smokers with a median pack year of 25 (range 1-57). Three (3%) patients were noted to have occupational industrial exposure. Nine patients had a history of another cancer prior to their diagnosis and staging of pLCH [lung (n=4), breast (n=2), neuroendocrine (n=2), thyroid (n=1)]. Presenting symptoms included dyspnea on exertion 49 (44%), cough 18 (16%), chest pain 14 (13%), and 29 (28%) were incidentally discovered on imaging studies. On HRCT, the following characteristics were observed: 42 (38%) cystic, 32 (29%) cystic and nodular, 37 (33%) nodular, 1 (<1%) ground glass opacities. Seventy (63%) patients had lung biopsy confirmation, of which 11 (16%) patients underwent BRAF V600Emutation testing (7 by IHC, 4 by cfDNA). Six (55%) of these 11 patients were positive for BRAF V600E mutation. 34 (30%) patients underwent radiographic staging studies within 3 months of diagnosis of pLCH (25 FDG-PET-CT and 9 whole-body CT), and none of these imaging studies showed evidence of extra-pulmonary disease. Of the patients who had at least one year of follow-up (n=52), one (2%) developed extra-pulmonary disease. This patient did not undergo initial staging studies, developed headaches and was found to have a large calvarial lytic lesion within 2 months of pLCH diagnosis (BRAF V600E+). Among those who did not undergo staging at diagnosis (n=78), long term (>5 years) follow up data were available for 23 (29%), and none developed extra-pulmonary disease as determined by clinical notes or imaging studies. No patient had evidence of new extra-pulmonary involvement or second malignancy at the time of last known follow-up. After a median follow-up duration of 2.4 years (95% CI: 1.5-3.6, range: 0.1-17) ten (9%) patients died, of which 5 died of pLCH related complications. The median OS for entire cohort was 15 years (95% CI 9.1-not reached, Figure 1). Conclusion: Our study shows that adult patients with clinically isolated pLCH rarely present with extra-pulmonary manifestations at diagnosis or at follow up. These findings suggest a limited role of routine radiographic staging studies in pLCH unless clinically indicated. Studies on longer follow up of this cohort would provide further insights into the natural history of pLCH and are underway. Disclosures Bennani: Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory Board; Verastem: Other: Advisory Board; Kite/Gilead: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding. Shah:Dren Bio: Consultancy.
Clonal Somatic Mutations Are a Biomarker for Inferior Prognosis in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Blood | February 6, 2021 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 26-27

10.1182/blood-2020-141726

Background Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtype with a 5-year survival of ~64%. While DLBCL is treated using immunochemotherapy (IC) with curative intent, 20%-40% of patients do not reach remission or relapse post IC. Clonal somatic mutations have been associated with aging, hematologic malignancies (predominately myeloid), and reduced OS in the general population. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of clonal somatic mutations with event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS). Methods We studied newly diagnosed DLBCL cases treated with IC who were enrolled in the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER) of the University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic Lymphoma Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE). Clinical and treatment data were abstracted from medical records and all patients were systematically followed for disease outcomes. Pre-treatment DNA was extracted from matched peripheral blood and paraffin-embedded tumor tissue, and whole exome sequencing was conducted at 100x coverage. From the peripheral blood, allele counts from GVCF files produced by HaplotypeCaller in GATK were extracted for 42 genes commonly associated with clonal hematopoiesis (e.g. DNMT3A, TET2, and ASXL1). Mutations were deemed clonal somatic if the population minor allele frequency was <0.5% in ExAC and had a variant allele fraction (VAF) that deviated from 0.5 using a binomial distribution test at p<0.001. Furthermore, mutations had to have a minimum alternate read count of at least 5 reads, a VAF greater than or equal to 10%, and met at least one of the following criteria: CAVA impact of "HIGH"; pathogenic/likely pathogenic per ClinVar; or reported in COSMIC at least 10 times. EFS was defined as time from diagnosis to disease progression, relapse, retreatment, or death due to any cause. The association of clonal somatic mutations with prognosis was estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves, and hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from Cox regression. Associations were adjusted for age at diagnosis, sex, and the International Prognostic Index (IPI). Results The study consisted of 261 DLBCL patients treated with IC. The median age at diagnosis was 65 years (range 20-90) and 56% were male. With a median follow-up time of 5.1 years (range 0.1-15.0), there were 100 events and 80 deaths. A total of 17 (6.5%) patients had clonal somatic mutations, and16 patients were over the age of 60. A total of 8 (of 42) genes had clonal somatic mutations, with SF3B1, ASXL1, and TET2, being the most frequent (4 individuals per gene). VAFs ranged from 0.10 to 0.28 and none of the patients had multiple mutations. Additionally, the clonal somatic variants found in the peripheral blood were abscent in the tumor sample. Of the 17 patients with clonal somatic mutations, 12 had an event while 88 patients without a mutation had an event. In a univariate analysis, clonal somatic mutations were associated with inferior EFS (HR=2.55, 95% CI 1.39-4.68, p=0.002; Figure 1A). After adjusting for age, sex, and IPI, clonal somatic mutations remained associated with inferior EFS (HR=2.02, 95% CI 1.09-3.74, p=0.026). Clonal somatic mutations were also associated with inferior OS in the univariate analysis (HR=2.06, 95% CI 0.99-4.29, p=0.053), which attenuated after multivariate adjustment (HR=1.59, 95% CI: 0.76-3.34, p=0.22, Figure 1B). Although based on small numbers, mutations in SF3B1 were associated with inferior EFS (HR=3.25, 95% CI 1.16-9.12, p=0.025), but did not reach significance for OS (HR=2.56, 95% CI 0.78-8.38, p=0.120). Conclusions In this novel study of newly diagnosed DLBCL patients, clonal somatic mutations were identified in 6.5% of patients and were associated with inferior outcomes. Additional research is required at deeper sequencing to validate these findings and integration with tumor genomics is required to understand the prognosis of DLBCL patients with smaller clonal populations. Disclosures Shah: Dren Bio: Consultancy. Maurer:Celgene / BMS: Research Funding; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Morphosys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Kite: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Nanostring: Research Funding. Martin:Celgene: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Research Funding; Morphosys: Consultancy; Regeneron: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy; Kite: Consultancy; Cellectar: Consultancy; Bayer: Consultancy; Beigene: Consultancy; Sandoz: Consultancy; I-MAB: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Teneobio: Consultancy. Witzig:AbbVie: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy; Acerta: Research Funding; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Research Funding; Immune Design: Research Funding; Spectrum: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; MorphSys: Consultancy. Nowakowski:NanoString: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy; Curis: Consultancy; Kymera: Consultancy; Kite: Consultancy; Ryvu: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MorphoSys: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding. Novak:Celgene/BMS: Research Funding. Cerhan:NanoString: Research Funding; BMS/Celgene: Research Funding.
Bone marrow dendritic cell aggregates associate with systemic immune dysregulation in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

Blood Advances | November 5, 2020 | Volume: 4 | Issue: 21 | Pages: 5425-5430

10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002415 | PMID 33152058

Key Points Systemic immune microenvironment signatures in CMML indicate an altered T- and natural killer cell balance. CMML bone marrow dendritic cell aggregates associate with disease progression and systemic regulatory T-cell phenotypic switch.
Venetoclax Has Modest Efficacy in the Treatment of Patients with Relapsed T-Cell Prolymphocytic Leukemia

Blood | November 4, 2020 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 39-40

10.1182/blood-2020-134586

INTRODUCTION T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is a rare, aggressive malignancy of mature T-cells. Although responses may been seen with initial alemtuzumab-based therapy, relapse is inevitable and relapsed/refractory disease carries a dismal prognosis. T-PLL has shown in vitro sensitivity to venetoclax, and short-lived clinical responses to venetoclax monotherapy (Smith, Blood Advances 2020; Boidol, Blood 2017) or when given in combination with pentostatin (Alfayez, Leukemia & Lymphoma 2020). Given the lack of standard treatment options, we reviewed the outcomes of patients (pts) with relapsed T-PLL on venetoclax-based therapy. METHODS Using an institutional clinical database of pts with T-PLL seen in the Division of Hematology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, all pts treated with venetoclax or venetoclax-based therapies in a relapsed/refractory setting were identified. Clinical, laboratory, and pathology data, as well as treatment dosing and toxicity were ascertained retrospectively from the medical records. Diagnostic criteria and response definitions were utilized as per the T-PLL International Study Group (Staber, Blood 2019). RESULTS Between 8/2017 and 5/2020, 9 pts with relapsed/refractory T-PLL treated with venetoclax were identified. The median age was 63 years (range 49-75), and one-third were male. Baseline characteristics are detailed in Table 1. Rearrangement of TCL1 family genes was present in all 8 pts evaluated with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Using conventional cytogenetics, a complex karyotype was present in 4/6 pts tested. The median prior lines of therapy was 3 (range 1-4), including alemtuzumab in 8 of 9 pts (intravenous 7/8); and two pts had undergone prior hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (1 allogeneic; 1 autologous) after achieving a complete remission. Additional individual pt details are included in Table 2. Prior to venetoclax therapy initiation, 2 pts had B-symptoms (2 night sweats; 1 fever) and 6 pts had an ECOG score ≥ 2. Lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly were present in 6 and 9 pts, respectively. Extranodal involvement included 3 pts with cutaneous involvement and 5 pts with effusions (4 ascites; 1 pleural). The target maximum dose of venetoclax (800 mg [n=4]; 400 mg [n=1]) was reached by 5 pts at a median of 12 days (range 7-40 days). The other 4 pts had disease progression after a median of 10 days (range 5-22 days) during the dose ramp-up, including 2 pts undergoing rapid dose escalation. Altogether, 6 of the 9 pts initiated venetoclax with a rapid dose escalation. Bendamustine was given with venetoclax in 5/9 pts; median number of cycles 1 (range 1-4) with variable starting dosing (range 60-100 mg/m2). The disease control rate was 56%; best response was partial remission (PR) in 4 (44%) pts and stable disease (SD) in 1 (11%) pt. The 1 pt with SD received venetoclax monotherapy; however, the overall response rate among pts who received the combination of venetoclax and bendamustine was 80% (4/5 pts). One pt with a partial remission met all criteria for complete remission but did not have a confirmatory bone marrow biopsy. Cutaneous disease improved in 2 of 3 pts (both with PR as best response), and effusions improved in 2 of 5 pts (1 PR and 1 SD as best response). Among those in PR, the median decrease in absolute lymphocyte count was 67x109/L and the median decrease in lactate dehydrogenase was 1,162 U/L (normal range 122-222 U/L). Median duration of treatment for all pts was 42 days (range 4-201 days). All pts ultimately died during follow-up with a median overall survival of 53 days (range 4-464 days); Figure 1. All pts experienced at least one adverse event and 8 of 9 pts had a grade ≥ 3 toxicity, most commonly edema (n=7) and neutropenia (n=6). Five pts required dose interruptions due to neutropenia (n=3), tumor lysis syndrome (n=1), and edema (n=1). Three pts had dose reductions, all from 800 mg dosing, due to hematologic toxicity (n=2) and nausea (n=1). No pts discontinued venetoclax as a result of adverse events. CONCLUSION Treatment of pts with relapsed/refractory T-PLL remains a significant unmet need. The 9 pts described herein represent the largest cohort of pts treated with venetoclax-based therapy in this setting to the current date. Despite initial reports of clinical efficacy, our results show that venetoclax (with or without bendamustine) has modest efficacy in the treatment of relapsed/refractory T-PLL after prior alemtuzumab exposure. Disclosures Parikh: TG Therapeutics: Research Funding; Verastem Oncology: Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria, Research Funding; Genentech: Honoraria; Merck: Research Funding; MorphoSys: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Ascentage Pharma: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria, Research Funding. Shah:Dren Bio: Consultancy. Bennani:Verastem: Other: Advisory Board; Affimed: Research Funding; Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory Board; Kite/Gilead: Research Funding. Wang:Incyte: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Innocare: Research Funding. Kenderian:MorphoSys: Research Funding; Lentigen: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; Juno: Research Funding; BMS: Research Funding; Tolero: Research Funding; Sunesis: Research Funding; Kite: Research Funding; Novartis: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Torque: Consultancy; Humanigen: Consultancy, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Mettaforge: Patents & Royalties. Kay:MEI Pharma: Research Funding; Oncotracker: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Research Funding; Morpho-sys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding; Cytomx: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Juno Theraputics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Dava Oncology: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol Meyer Squib: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Rigel: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Agios Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pharmacyclics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sunesis: Research Funding; Astra Zeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Ding:Octapharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astra Zeneca: Research Funding; alexion: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Beigene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MEI Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; DTRM: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding. OffLabel Disclosure: Venetoclax: off-label use in treatment of relapsed/refractory T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia
Clinical, Molecular, and Prognostic Comparisons between Clonal Cytopenias of Undetermined Significance and Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes - a Study of 184 Molecularly Annotated Patients

Blood | November 4, 2020 | Volume: 136 | Issue: Supplement 1 | Pages: 35-36

10.1182/blood-2020-134963

Introduction Clonal cytopenias of undetermined significance (CCUS) is defined by the presence of somatic driver mutations/copy number variations in hematopoietic cells in patients with low blood counts, in the absence of morphological evidence for myeloid neoplasms. Patients with CCUS are often symptomatic and can be transfusion dependent (TD), with high rates of progression to myeloid neoplasms, especially myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). In addition, similar to MDS, there are reports of CCUS patients responding to hypomethylating agents. Due to the lack of a formal diagnosis/morphological dysplasia, CCUS patients are often denied therapies or clinical trial enrollment. We carried out this study to validate our hypothesis that CCUS shares similar clinical and survival characteristics with lower risk MDS (LR-MDS). Methods CCUS patients were prospectively identified from the clonal hematopoiesis clinic, whereas LR-MDS patients were retrospectively identified from our institutional database. LR-MDS was defined as very low, low and intermediate risk MDS based on the R-IPSS categorization. Baseline demographics, blood counts, bone marrow (BM) morphology, cytogenetics, and NGS results were abstracted. Transfusion dependency was defined as requiring at least one unit of red cell or platelets every 4 weeks. The Mann-Whitney-U and Fischer's exact test were used to compare quantitative and qualitative data in subgroups. Kaplan-Meier overall survival (OS) estimates were used for survival analysis and compared using the log-rank test. Results 186 patients were included in the study; 74 (40%) with CCUS and 112 (60%) with LR-MDS, median age 66 years, with 63% being male (Table 1). In the CCUS group, 93% had one or more mutations (67% >1 mutation) detected by NGS, while 7% had clonal cytogenetic abnormalities. Common mutations in CCUS included TET2 (30%), SRSF2 (20%), DNMT3A (13%) and ASXL1 (11%); with 28% of patients being red cell TD and 15% being platelet TD. On application of the R-IPSS stratification, 40%, 45%, 12% and 3% were in the very low, low, intermediate and high risk categories, respectively. LR-MDS subtypes included MDS-RS (50%), MDS-MLD (21%), MDS-EB (10%), MDS del5q (7%), and MDS-U (12%). SF3B1 mutations were seen in 67% (95% of MDS-RS), while TET2 and DNMT3A mutations were seen in 29% and 21%, respectively. 60% of LR-MDS patients had >1 mutation. 44% were red cell TD, while 10% were platelet TD. In comparison to patients with CCUS, LR-MDS patients were more likely to have higher white blood cell counts (p=0.002), higher neutrophil counts (p=0.009), higher platelet counts (p<0.001), be red cell TD (p=0.031), have BM ring sideroblasts (p<0.001), have higher BM blast% (p=0.004) and carry SF3B1 mutations (p<0.001); whereas CCUS patients were more likely to have higher monocyte counts (p=0.009) and more likely to carry IDH1 (p=0.005), ZRSR2 (p=0.005) and ATM (p=0.012) mutations. Importantly there were no differences with regards to R-IPSS cytogenetic risk groups, R-IPSS prognostic categories, platelet TD, and mutations involving TET2, DNMT3A, SRSF2 and ASXL1 and TP53. Notably signal pathway mutations and mutations involving tumor suppressor genes were infrequent (<5%) in both groups. The LR-MDS patients had a longer median follow up (53 vs 15 months) and at last follow up 72 (64%) and 11 (15%) deaths had been documented in the LR-MDS and CCUS groups respectively. 13 (18%) CCUS patients progressed to MDS (10) and AML (3) over a median of 15 months, while 9 (8%) LR-MDS patients progressed to higher grade MDS (1) and AML (8), respectively (median follow up 53 months). There was no difference in the median survival between CCUS (median OS not reached) versus LR-MDS (median OS 8.3 years) (p=0.372, Figure 1). Conclusion In spite of subtle phenotypic/molecular differences between LR-MDS and CCUS, both entities had similar prognostication, distribution of high risk mutations and survival outcomes. Within a short follow-up, 18% of CCUS patients progressed to MDS/AML, indicating that regardless of the absence of dysplasia these entities are a continuum of myeloid neoplasms. In order to improve access to treatments and clinical trial opportunities, we recommend that close consideration be given to consider CCUS as a MDS subtype. Disclosures Shah: Dren Bio: Consultancy.