Citations 471

Mortality of Patients with Multiple Myeloma after the Introduction of Novel Therapies in the United States

Blood | February 14, 2020 | Volume: 134 | Issue: Supplement_1 | Pages: 72-72

10.1182/blood-2019-124936

Introduction: Advances in the understanding of disease biology, the introduction of new drugs, and better supportive care have improved outcomes in multiple myeloma (MM). Most improvements have been observed in clinical trial and tertiary referral center populations but questions remain about the generalizability of these findings to patients treated in the community. Methods: We studied all patients diagnosed with MM between 01/01/2001 and 12/31/2015 who had complete demographic and overall survival (OS) data available and were seen at Mayo Clinic (MAYO) or followed in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER, 18 registry data 2000 - 2016, 11/2018 submission). We retrieved age at diagnosis, sex, date of diagnosis, date of last follow-up, and OS for all patients. OS was defined as the time from diagnosis to death from any cause. Patients who were alive at the end of follow-up (12/31/ 2016) were censored. OS estimates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Age- and sex-adjusted Cox models were used to assess the association between the 5-year interval of diagnosis and OS. Expected OS estimates were calculated based on United States general population rate tables (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 linear trends in early mortality and SMR over time (per 5-year interval). P-values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 3 years lower in patients at MAYO (64 years, 15% ≥ 75 years, 60% male, n = 3293) compared to SEER (67 years, 29% ≥ 75 years, 55% male, n = 61779). After a median follow-up of 2.8 years the median OS was longer in MAYO compared to SEER (5.4 versus 4.0 years, HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.78 - 0.86, p < 0.001) and remained statistically significant after adjusting for age and sex (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.86 - 0.95, p < 0.001). Early mortality (1-year mortality) decreased between 2001-2005 and 2011-2015: From 20% to 11% at MAYO and from 26% to 19% in SEER. When grouping OS by year of diagnosis (in 5-year-intervals) improvements were seen in both populations (A) and remained statistically significant after adjusting for age and sex. The relative improvements were similar comparing the 5-year period after the introduction of the novel therapies (2006 - 2010) to 2001 - 2005 and more pronounced in MAYO for the most recent 5-year interval (2011 - 2015, A). This trend was reflected in a steady temporal improvement in 5-year OS estimates in MAYO including the most recent 5-year interval (2011 - 2015, B bottom left). In SEER there was a comparable increase between the first two 5-year intervals but a lesser improvement in more recently (2011 - 2015, B bottom left). A diagnosis of MM remained associated with significant excess mortality in all age groups over time in both populations (B top). There was a decrease in excess mortality over time at MAYO (SMR decline per 5-year interval 1.3, 95% CI 0.9 - 1.8, p < 0.001) while there was little change in SEER (SMR decline 0.0, 95% CI -0.3 - 0.3, p = 0.917, B bottom right). Further stratifying by age at diagnosis, the decrease in excess mortality was observed mostly in patients < 75 years at MAYO (SMR decline per 5-year interval 1.7, 95% CI 1.5 - 2.0, p < 0.001, C bottom left) and to a lesser extent in older patients (SMR decline 0.4, 95% CI 0.2 - 0.6, p < 0.001, C bottom right). No such trends towards improvement were observed in either age group in SEER (C bottom). In older patients, early mortality remained approximately 30% in both populations despite continued improvements, while the 5-year OS estimates for the most recent 5-year interval (2011 - 2015) were 37% at MAYO and 26% in SEER (C top). Conclusions: Both early mortality and long-term survival have improved over time. Reductions in excess mortality were largely confined to younger patients with access to specialized care. Patients ≥ 75 years represent more than a quarter of all patients in the community, a third of them died within one year of the diagnosis, and only one in four was alive five years later. Older patients with MM remain a vulnerable population and have derived only limited benefit from recent advances in the field. Safe and effective therapies for older patients with MM remain an unmet need. Figure Disclosures Gertz: Ionis/Akcea: Consultancy; International Waldenstrom Foundation: Research Funding; Alnylam: Consultancy; Prothena Biosciences Inc: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Spectrum: Consultancy, Research Funding; Annexon: Consultancy; Appellis: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Medscape: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Physicians Education Resource: Consultancy; Abbvie: Other: personal fees for Data Safety Monitoring board; Research to Practice: Consultancy; Teva: Speakers Bureau; Johnson and Johnson: Speakers Bureau; DAVA oncology: Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Proclara: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; i3Health: Other: Development of educational programs and materials; Springer Publishing: Patents & Royalties; Amyloidosis Foundation: Research Funding. Dispenzieri:Alnylam: Research Funding; Akcea: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; Intellia: Consultancy; Celgene: Research Funding. Lacy:Celgene: Research Funding. Maurer:Nanostring: Research Funding; Morphosys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Research Funding. Dingli:alexion: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Millenium: Consultancy; Rigel: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Research Funding. Kapoor:Takeda: Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding; Glaxo Smith Kline: Research Funding; Cellectar: Consultancy. Leung:Takeda: Research Funding; Prothena: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Aduro: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Omeros: Research Funding. Kumar:Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding.
Minimal relapse risk and early normalization of survival for patients with Burkitt lymphoma treated with intensive immunochemotherapy: an international study of 264 real‐world patients

British Journal of Haematology | February 4, 2020 | Volume: 189 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 661-671

10.1111/bjh.16425 | PMID 32017050

SummaryNon‐endemic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a rare germinal centre B‐cell‐derived malignancy with the genetic hallmark of MYC gene translocation and with rapid tumour growth as a distinct clinical feature. To investigate treatment outcomes, loss of lifetime and relapse risk in adult BL patients treated with intensive immunochemotherapy, retrospective clinic‐based and population‐based lymphoma registries from six countries were used to identify 264 real‐world patients. The median age was 47 years and the majority had advanced‐stage disease and elevated LDH. Treatment protocols were R‐CODOX‐M/IVAC (47%), R‐hyper‐CVAD (16%), DA‐EPOCH‐R (11%), R‐BFM/GMALL (25%) and other (2%) leading to an overall response rate of 89%. The two‐year overall survival and event‐free survival were 84% and 80% respectively. For patients in complete remission/unconfirmed, the two‐year relapse risk was 6% but diminished to 0·6% for patients reaching 12 months of post‐remission event‐free survival (pEFS12). The loss of lifetime for pEFS12 patients was 0·4 (95% CI: −0·7 to 2) months. In conclusion, real‐world outcomes of adult BL are excellent following intensive immunochemotherapy. For pEFS12 patients, the relapse risk was low and life expectancy similar to that of a general population, which is important information for developing meaningful follow‐up strategies with increased focus on survivorship and less focus on routine disease surveillance.
Leveraging Gene Expression Subgroups to Classify DLBCL Patients and Enrich for Clinical Benefit to a Novel Agent

Blood | January 24, 2020 | Volume: No volume available | Issue: No issue available | Pages: No page available

10.1182/blood.2019002414 | PMID 31977005

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a heterogeneous disease, commonly described by cell-of-origin (COO) molecular subtypes. We sought to identify novel patient subgroups through an unsupervised analysis of a large public dataset of gene expression profiles from newly diagnosed de novo DLBCL patients, yielding two biologically distinct subgroups characterized by differences in the tumor microenvironment. Pathway analysis and immune deconvolution algorithms identified higher B-cell content and a strong proliferative signal in subgroup A and enriched T-cell, macrophage, and immune/inflammatory signals in subgroup B, reflecting similar biology to published DLBCL stratification research. A gene expression classifier, featuring 26 gene expression scores, was derived from the public dataset to discriminate subgroup A (classifier-negative, immune-low) and subgroup B (classifier-positive, immune-high) patients. Subsequent application to an independent series of diagnostic biopsies and replicated the subgroups with immune cell composition confirmed via immunohistochemistry. Avadomide, a CRL4CRBN E3 ubiquitin ligase modulator, demonstrated clinical activity in relapsed/refractory DLBCL patients, independent of COO subtypes. Given the immunomodulatory activity of avadomide and need for a patient selection strategy, we applied the gene expression classifier to pretreatment biopsies from relapsed/refractory DLBCL patients receiving avadomide (NCT01421524). Classifier-positive patients demonstrated an enrichment in response rate and progression-free survival of 44% and 6.2 months versus 19% and 1.6 months for classifier-negative patients (HR=0.49 [0.280, 0.86]; P=.0096). The classifier was not prognostic for R-CHOP or salvage immunochemotherapy. The classifier described here discriminates DLBCL tumors based on tumor and non-tumor composition and has potential utility to enrich for clinical response to immunomodulatory agents including avadomide.
Validation of Elevated Blood Soluble PD-L1 As an Independent Prognostic Marker in Newly Diagnosed Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL)

Blood | November 17, 2019 | Volume: 124 | Issue: 21 | Pages: 2998-2998

10.1182/blood.v124.21.2998.2998

Abstract Background. Recent clinical trials based on immunotherapies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway have shown striking durable responses in a subset of patients with solid cancers. The Programmed death 1 (PD-1) protein is a key immune checkpoint inhibitor expressed by activated T cells. Its ligand, PD-L1, was reported highly expressed by tumor cells in some diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) of non-Germinal Center phenotype. We recently reported on the French multicenter GOELAMS075 trial that pre-treatment soluble PD-L1 (sPD-L1) in plasma was elevated in DLBCL patients compared to controls, and that elevated sPD-L1 was associated with inferior overall survival (OS), independent of the International Prognostic Index (IPI) and other clinical factors (Rossille et al., Leukemia 2014). Here, we replicate and extend these findings in two independent studies from Australia and the US. Methods. The protein expression of sPD-L1 was evaluated using a commercial ELISA kit. The French discovery cohort consisted of 288 adults with newly diagnosed aggressive DLBCL, age 18 to 60 years, and treated with R-CHOP or high dose chemotherapy plus rituximab followed by autologous stem cell support (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00561379); there were also 60 controls. The Australian study consisted of 51 DLBCL patients age 18 to 71 years, all stages, treated with R-CHOP14, along with 57 controls. The US study was an observational cohort from the Iowa/Mayo Lymphoma SPORE and consisted of 225 DLBCLs, age 19 to 92 years, all stages, treated with immunochemotherapy, along with 98 controls. Plasma samples were collected pre-treatment using EDTA tubes for the Australian and the US cohorts, BDª P100 tubes for the French cohort. sPD-L1 expression was measured in Rennes, France (French & US samples) and in Brisbane, Australia (Australian samples).The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression were used to model the association of sPD-L1 with OS. The 95th percentile of the sPD-L1 levels in each matched control group was used as the cutoff point to define elevated sPD-L1 levels. Results. Replicating the French findings, sPD-L1 levels were significantly higher for DLBCL patients compared to controls in both the US (P<0.0001) and Australian (P<0.0001) studies (Figure 1). The odds ratios for elevated sPD-L1 among patients compared to controls were 10.7 (95% CI 3.3-22.0), 8.9 (95% CI 3.1-25.3) and 12.6 (95% CI 2.7-28.0) for the French, US and Australian studies, respectively. In the French cohort, elevated sPD-L1 levels were associated with inferior OS (Hazard Ratio (HR)=2.05; 95% CI 1.18-3.57), and this was replicated in the US cohort (HR=1.71; 95% CI 0.97-3.01) (Figure 2). Due to the similarity of the results, we next pooled the French and US cohorts to increase power for multivariate and subset analyses. The median age at diagnosis of the 513 patients was 54 years; 29% were more than 60 years old; 69% of the patients had stage III-IV disease; 56% were IPI intermediate-risk and 9% were IPI high-risk patients. The median follow-up was 48 months (range, 0.5-126) overall, and 66 months for the patients still alive; there were 102 deaths. Using a cutpoint of 1729 pg/mL from the combined studies, patients with elevated sPD-L1 had inferior OS compared to patients without elevated sPD-L1, with 3-year OS rates estimated at 78% (95% CI 71.8-84.9) vs. 87.8% (95%CI 84.5-91.4) (P<0.01). In multivariate analysis, elevated sPD-L1 (HR=1.75; 95%CI 1.16-2.64), age (HR=1.03; 95%CI 1.02-1.05), high-risk IPI score (HR=3.71; 95%CI 1.91-7.21) and ALC ² 1 G/L (HR=2.19; 95%CI 1.44-3.33) were all significant at P<0.01. In analyses stratified by IPI, the 3-year OS rates among high-risk patients (IPI 4-5) was 40.9% (95% CI 23.6-71.0) for elevated sPD-L1 vs. 82.1% (95% CI 69.1-97.6) for not elevated sPD-L1 (P<0.01). There was no association of sPD-L1 with 3-year OS among low risk (IPI 0-1) or intermediate-risk (IPI 2-3) patients. Conclusion. We confirmed that sPD-L1 levels are higher in pre-treatment plasma samples of newly diagnosed DLBCL patients compared to controls, and that elevated levels of sPD-L1 are associated with inferior OS in DLBCL patients treated with immunochemotherapy, and this is independent of IPI and other clinical factors. Among high risk patients, we identified a subgroup with less than 50% survival. Figure 1 Figure 1. Figure 2 Figure 2. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
No Association of EBV or Immunosuppression Status with Outcomes in US Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Treated in the Immunochemotherapy Era

Blood | November 17, 2019 | Volume: 128 | Issue: 22 | Pages: 107-107

10.1182/blood.v128.22.107.107

Abstract Background: EBV+ DLBCL not otherwise specified (EBV+ DLBCL NOS) is defined by the 2016 WHO Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues as EBV+ DLBCL in patients without a history of known immunosuppression. Among Asian patients, adverse outcomes have been associated with EBV+ vs EBV- DLBCL, and circulating EBV has been found in the majority of patients. Outcome studies of unselected North American patients are few and non-confirmatory. No formal assessment of immunosuppression status has been incorporated into these analyses, leading to the variable inclusion of patients with a history of immunocompromised states. We sought to determine the prevalence, presenting clinical and pathology characteristics, and outcomes of DLBCL by EBV and immunosuppression status in an unselected prospective cohort study of North American patients. Methods: From 2002-2012, we enrolled consecutive, newly diagnosed patients with lymphoma who were ≥ 18 years and HIV negative into the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER). Clinical, laboratory, and treatment data were abstracted from medical records. All DLBCL patients with available tissue microarrays (TMAs), excluding primary mediastinal DLBCL and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders, were included. Medical records were reviewed using a standard protocol to classify patients as immunocompromised based on a documented history of primary immunodeficiency or iatrogenic immunosuppression. DLBCL cell of origin was classified as germinal center (GCB) vs non-GCB using the Hans algorithm. CD30 was determined using immunohistochemistry; positivity cutoff was 20% of neoplastic cells. EBV testing was performed by in-situ hybridization for EBV encoded small RNAs (EBERs), and scored by an expert hematopathologist. Event free survival (EFS) was defined as time from diagnosis until recurrence, retreatment, or death due to any cause. Associations with EFS and Overall Survival (OS) were obtained using the methods of Kaplan-Meier (KM). Hazard Ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from Cox regression models. Results: 1,100 patients with DLBCL were enrolled into the MER; 362 had TMAs available for this analysis. Median age was 63 years (range 20-89) and 59% were male. 89.5% of patients were treated with immunochemotherapy. 16 cases (4.4%) were EBV+, and 39 cases (10.8%) were considered immunocompromised. EBV positivity was more common in immunocompromised vs immunocompetent patients, with a trend towards significance (10.3% vs 3.7%; P = 0.08). The non-GCB subtype was more frequent in EBV+ vs EBV- DLBCL (62.5% vs 34.1%; P < 0.01), but similar between immunocompromised vs immunocompetent patients (48.7% vs 33.7%; P = 0.10). CD30 positivity was also more frequent in EBV+ vs. EBV- DLBCL (25.0% vs 8.1%; P < 0.01), but similar between immunocompromised vs immunocompetent patients (12.8% vs 8.4%, respectively; P = 0.45). With a median follow-up of 59 months (range 0.7-155.2) there were 151 events and 119 deaths. KM curves by EBV and immunosuppression status are shown in the figure. There was no association of EBV positivity with EFS (HR = 0.76; 95% CI 0.34-1.72) or OS (HR = 0.99; 95% CI 0.43-2.25). A history of immunosuppression was not associated with EFS (HR = 1.17; 95% CI 0.72-1.89) or OS (HR = 1.02; 95% CI 0.58-1.78). In the subset of immunocompetent patients, there was no association of EBV positivity with EFS (HR = 0.54; 95% CI 0.17-1.70) or OS (HR = 0.71; 95% CI 0.23-2.25). Similar results were obtained after adjustment for the International Prognostic Index. Circulating viral DNA was detected in 2/5 EBV+ and 4/49 EBV- DLBCL patients. Conclusions: The prevalence of EBV+ DLBCL NOS is <5% among patients in a large North American cohort, similar to other western populations. There was no evidence of an association of EBV or immunosuppression status with EFS or OS, with low power for detecting associations with EBV. Circulating viral DNA was infrequent among either EBV+ or EBV- DLBCL patients. While immunosuppression has been previously shown to be a risk factor for DLBCL, it was not found to be associated with EFS or OS. Overall, these results suggest divergent outcomes among EBV+ DLBCL patients between western and non-western populations, underscoring differences in host factors or circulating viral strains. Disclosures Ansell: BMS, Seattle Genetics, Merck, Celldex and Affimed: Research Funding.
Vitamin D Insufficiency Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Early Clinical Failure in Follicular Lymphoma

Blood | November 17, 2019 | Volume: 128 | Issue: 22 | Pages: 1104-1104

10.1182/blood.v128.22.1104.1104

Abstract Background: Vitamin D insufficiency (VDI) has been associated with inferior outcomes in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) treated with chemotherapy and an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (immunochemotherapy; IC), but whether this association holds for other FL treatment strategies is not known. Furthermore, the subset of FL patients who experience clinical failure (progression, treatment failure) within 12 months of diagnosis have an inferior outcome compared to those achieving event-free status at 12 months (EFS12). We tested the hypothesis that VDI is predictive of early clinical failure (failure to achieve EFS12), overall survival (OS), and lymphoma-specific survival (LSS) among FL patients overall and in subgroups who were initially observed, treated with IC, rituximab monotherapy, or other therapies. Methods: We evaluated this hypothesis in a prospective cohort study of 642 newly diagnosed patients with grade 1-3a FL enrolled from 2002-2012 in the Molecular Epidemiology Resource of the Iowa/Mayo Lymphoma SPORE. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy, and VDI was defined as serum total 25(OH)D <20 ng/mL (per Institute of Medicine criteria) determined within 120 days of diagnosis. We used logistic regression to estimate Odds Ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and Cox regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. We adjusted for FLIPI, body mass index, and month of blood draw; for the full cohort, we additionally adjusted for treatment. Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 60 years (range 23-93); 19% of patients had VDI. The median follow-up period was 59 months (range 1-144), with 297 events and 78 deaths (42 due to lymphoma). Treatment included IC (N=252), observation (N=218), rituximab monotherapy (N=76), or other (N=96). OS and EFS curves are shown in figures 1 and 2. In the full cohort, VDI was associated with inferior EFS12 (OR=2.05; 95% CI 1.18-3.54), OS (HR=2.35; 95% CI 1.37-4.02), and LSS (HR=2.97; 95% CI 1.52-5.80). In the IC subset, VDI was associated with inferior EFS12 (OR=3.00; 95% CI 1.26-7.13), OS (HR=2.86; 95% CI 1.39-5.85), and LSS (HR=2.96; 95% CI 1.29-6.79). VDI was associated with inferior OS in patients who were observed (HR=2.25; 95% CI 1.20-6.76) or received other therapies (HR=3.06; 95% CI 1.01-9.24). VDI was positively but not statistically significantly associated with inferior EFS12 in the patients who were observed (OR=1.71; 95% CI 0.70-4.17) or received other therapies (OR=2.31; 95% CI 0.41-13.07), with low power for these associations; LSS could not be estimated due to lack of deaths. There were too few events (N=10) and deaths (N=5) in the R-monotherapy group for analysis. Conclusions: We confirm previous findings that vitamin D insufficiency is associated with adverse long-term prognosis among patients with FL treated with IC, and extend these findings to patients who are initially observed or treated with other therapies. For the first time, we observed an association of vitamin D insufficiency with early clinical failure, suggesting a potentially modifiable factor to address in this subset of patients with poor outcomes. Whether treating VDI improves outcomes in FL warrants assessment. Disclosures Ansell: BMS, Seattle Genetics, Merck, Celldex and Affimed: Research Funding. Nowakowski:Celgene: Research Funding; Morphosys: Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding.
Inferior Outcomes for Older Patients in the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Population with Burkitt Lymphoma Treated with Intensive Immunochemotherapy: An International Study of 108 Patients

Blood | November 14, 2019 | Volume: 134 | Issue: Supplement_1 | Pages: 4113-4113

10.1182/blood-2019-127995

Introduction: Non-endemic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a rare and highly aggressive B-cell malignancy, of whom a substantial number are adolescents and young adults (AYAs). In this particular group of patients, the balance between efficacy and long-term toxicities is of major concern, due to the long expected remaining lifetime. In this study, we investigated the outcomes for AYA patients treated with intensive immunochemotherapy. Patients and methods: Patients were identified through queries to clinic based and population-based lymphoma registries from six countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and USA). All diagnoses were confirmed by local investigators; patients with classical BL histology plus detectable MYC translocation, were included. Patients between 18 and 39 years of age at diagnosis treated with intensive immunochemotherapy (DA-EPOCH-R or more intensively) were evaluated in pre-specified age groups. All treatment protocols included rituximab. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the time from diagnosis until death from any cause or censoring, while event-free survival (EFS) was defined as the time from diagnosis until unplanned re-treatment, progression/relapse, death, or censoring, whichever came first. Response evaluation was assessed using established response criteria based on CT and/or PET/CT imaging. Survival curves were computed using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. The cumulative incidence of relapse in patients reaching complete remission (CR) or CR unconfirmed (CRu) was computed by Aalen-Johansen estimator. The 5-year restricted loss of lifetime (RLOL) was defined as the area between the patient and general population survival curves until 5-years. The general population survival was retrieved from publicly available lifetables stratified on age, sex, calendar year, and country. Results: In total, 108 AYA BL patients were included. The median age was 30 years, ranging between 18 and 39 and 82% were male. The majority had advanced stage disease (Ann Arbor stage III-IV, 76%), extranodal involvement (87%), and elevated LDH (67%). Seven patients (6%) had CNS involvement at the time of diagnosis. The chemotherapy regimens used were CODOX-M/IVAC (51%), BFM/GMALL (34%), hyper-CVAD (7%), DA-EPOCH (5%), and others (3%). Among 74 patients for whom data on tumor lysis were available, 10 (14%) developed clinical tumor lysis upon start of chemotherapy, all presenting with advanced stage and extranodal disease. The response rate was 91% (89 in CR/CRu and 2% in partial remission). At a median follow-up of 53 months, 15 had an event and 10 died. The 2-year OS and EFS for the total population was 92% (87-97%, Figure 1) and 88% (82-94%), respectively. For 13 patients aged 18-21 2-year OS and EFS were both 100%, while 2-year OS and EFS for 43 patients aged 22-30 were 98% (93-100%) and 93% (85-100%), respectively. The 2-year OS and EFS for patients aged 31-39 were 86% (76-96%) and 80% (69-91%), respectively. For patients in CR/CRu and available date of response evaluation, the 2-year post-remission OS was 99% (97-100%) and the 2-year relapse risk was 2% (0-5%), with no relapses after 6 months. Compared to the general population, the RLOL was 0.8 months (-0.5-2.2 months). Nine patients did not respond to primary treatment (SD or PD), all which belonged to the age group 31-40 years (P<0.001 versus age group 18-30 years). The oldest age group had an inferior OS compared to younger patients (P=0.008), largely due to non-responders having poor subsequent survival with a 1-year OS of 33%. Conclusion: The outcomes of AYA BL patients following intensive immunochemotherapy are excellent with high remission rates and low risk of relapse in general. However, even among young patients age remained prognostic, with patients 31 years or older having inferior OS and lower response rate to first-line treatment. In patients achieving CR, survival was similar to that of the general population over the median follow-up of 4.5 years, illustrating the need to focus on survivorship issues in these individuals. Figure 1: Overall survival for BL patients following intensive immunochemotherapy for all patients and for age groups (18-21, 22-30, and 31-39 years). Figure 1 Disclosures Jørgensen: Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Holte:Novartis: Honoraria, Other: Advisory board. Molin:Roche Holding AG: Honoraria; Merck & Co., Inc.: Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Takeda Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Ekstroem Smedby:Takeda: Honoraria, Other: Grant funding, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Grant funding, Research Funding; Janssen Cilag: Honoraria, Other: Grant funding, Research Funding. Song:Takeda: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria. Gerrie:Lundbeck, Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria. Cheah:Roche, Janssen, MSD, Gilead, Loxo Oncology, Acerta, BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Other: Travel expenses; Celgene, Roche, Abbvie: Research Funding. El-Galaly:Roche: Employment, Other: Travel support; Takeda: Other: Travel support.
Event-Free Survival at 24 Months Following Autologous Stem Cell Transplant in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Blood | November 14, 2019 | Volume: 134 | Issue: Supplement_1 | Pages: 2896-2896

10.1182/blood-2019-124579

Introduction: Front-line immunochemotherapy (IC) with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) is expected to cure 60-70% of newly diagnosed DLBCL. Up to one third of newly diagnosed DLBCL patients will have relapsed or refractory (r/r) disease.1 Current standard of care for these patients is salvage chemotherapy and, if chemosensitive, to be followed by high dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic cell rescue (autoHCT).2,3 Event-free survival at 24 months (EFS24) after frontline IC is associated with excellent long-term outcomes with overall survival (OS) similar to that of age- and sex-matched controls.4 In comparison, those achieving EFS24 following autoHCT for relapsed or refractory disease may have increased risk for late-mortality compared to the general population with advanced age and intensive salvage therapy contributing to the risk of late complications.5 We sought to better characterize EFS24 after autoHCT to determine the utility of this end-point for informed clinical decisions, patient management, and future clinical trials. Methods: Patients were prospectively enrolled onto the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER) of the University of Iowa/ Mayo Clinic Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE). Patients were followed for relapse, retreatment, and death; all events were validated by medical record review. For this analysis patients were included if they were consented within 9 months of initial diagnosis of DLBCL between 2002-2012, had received anthracycline-based IC (R-CHOP, or similar), and eventually had undergone autoHCT for r/r DLBCL. Patients with primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma or post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) were excluded. Overall survival (OS) was defined as time from autoHCT until death due to any cause. Event-free survival (EFS) was defined as time from autoHCT until progression, relapse, retreatment, or death due to any cause. OS from achieving EFS24 after autoHCT was compared to age- and sex-matched general US population. Results: 108 patients underwent autoHCT for relapsed DLBCL between 2002 and 2017. Median age at autoHCT of the patients was 60 years (range 20-78) and 72 (67%) were male. The most common transplant conditioning regimen was BEAM (82%). At a median follow-up after autoHCT of 85 months (range 1-171), 72 patients (67%) had an event and 64 patients (59%) had died. Kaplan-Meier estimates for EFS and OS at 24 months from the time of autoHCT were 49% (95% CI: 40-59) and 61% (95% CI: 52-71), respectively. 52 patients had a progression within 24 months of autoHCT; OS from progression was poor (median OS=2.8 months, 95% CI: 1.8-6.0; 5 year OS = 9%, 95% CI: 2-22). 48 patients achieved EFS24 after autoHCT; median OS from achieving EFS24 was 136 months (95% CI: 92-NE) and 5 year OS was 79% (95% CI: 68-93). This was inferior to the background population (Figure 1, SMR=3.64, 95% CI: 2.11-6.27, p<0.0001). Eight patients had a progression after achieving EFS24 from autoHCT. OS from progression in these 8 patients (median OS=27.3 months, 95% CI: 14.4-NE; 5 year OS = 16%, 95% CI: 3-93) was improved compared to progression within 24 months of autoHCT (p=0.072, figure B). Cause of death (COD) in EFS24 achievers was progression of lymphoma (n=6), infection (n=1), secondary malignancy related to therapy (n=3), heart disease (n=1), and unknown (n=1). Conclusions: Patients achieving EFS24 after salvage chemotherapy and autoHCT have a favorable long-term prognosis; however, overall survival remained inferior to the general population. Most common COD after achieving EFS24 was progression of lymphoma. In spite of this, EFS24 remains a valuable end-point for informed clinical decisions, patient management, and future clinical trials. Figure 1 Disclosures Maurer: Morphosys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Research Funding; Nanostring: Research Funding. Ansell:Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Affimed: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding. Cerhan:Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; NanoString: Research Funding. Farooq:Celgene: Honoraria; Kite Pharma: Research Funding.
Genomic Analysis of R2CHOP-Treated DLBCL Reveals a High-Risk Population Driven By Inflammatory Pathways

Blood | November 14, 2019 | Volume: 134 | Issue: Supplement_1 | Pages: 1480-1480

10.1182/blood-2019-126860

Introduction: New Diffuse Large B-cell (DLBCL) treatments remain a clinical need despite the success of rituximab combined with CHOP chemotherapy (RCHOP), which results in durable responses in 60-70% of patients. Those refractory to, or who relapse following, first-line therapy have a very poor outcome, with only 20% surviving beyond 5 years. Rationally-targeted frontline strategies are needed, especially for those with high-risk disease. Significant advances have been made in the genomic classification of DLBCL, but none have impacted the design of phase III trials for untreated DLBCL patients. Building on new genetic profiling studies to personalize clinical treatment, an NCI initiative, could allow clinicians to add targeted therapies to the RCHOP backbone based on individual tumor signatures. The phase II ECOG-ACRIN1412 trial, which compared RCHOP combined with lenalidomide (R2CHOP) versus RCHOP showed significantly superior event free survival (EFS) and overall survival benefits for those treated with R2CHOP. Herein, we report the profile of a high-risk ABC/non-GCB subset of DLBCL driven by genomic alterations in inflammatory genes that are susceptible to front-line R2CHOP, but continue to experience poor outcome with RCHOP alone. Methods: We studied a total of 196 DLBCL patients. 47 were treated with R2CHOP from an investigator-initiated, open-label, single-arm phase II study (NCT00670358). 149 were newly diagnosed DLBCL cases treated with RCHOP, or R-immunochemotherapy (herein called RCHOP), and followed prospectively through the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER) of the University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic SPORE that served as a contemporary cohort. Patients from each treatment group were divided based on their event free survival at 24 months (EFS24). DNA alterations within these populations were identified through whole exome sequencing (WES). Variants were analyzed for their presence in EFS24 achievement or failure groups in both RCHOP and R2CHOP. Both tumor and germline sequencing was performed for 47/47 R2CHOP cases and 49/149 RCHOP cases. Gene expression data from the PanCan panel of 730 B-cell-related genes was analyzed to determine gene expression profiles characteristic of the high-risk/R2CHOP-profile on 59 available non-GCB DLBCL cases (45 RCHOP; 14 R2CHOP). A two-sided comparative marker analysis T statistic test was applied to assess what genes displayed differential expression based on achieving EFS24 in both R2CHOP and RCHOP populations. Positive values represented associations with achieving EFS24 and negative values were associated with cases of EFS24 failure. Results: Three genes were enriched in the RCHOP cases that failed EFS24 but achieved EFS24 with R2CHOP among non-GCB patients: PIM1, SPEN, and MYD88 (L265P), herein referred to as Responder Alterations. In R2CHOP cases, patients with a Responder Alteration had a better overall EFS (P = 0.051) compared to wild type patients. In contrast, RCHOP treated patients with a Responder Alteration in their tumor had a significantly worse overall EFS (P = 0.0004) compared to patients without a mutation. Together, PIM1, SPEN, or MYD88 (L265P) mutations were present in 38.0% (30/79) of all non-GCB cases. Collective R2CHOP and RCHOP EFS24 differential gene expression T values were significantly different for 18 previously-defined signatures. The R2CHOP cases that achieved EFS24 were enriched for genes involved in cell cycle, JAK-STAT, cytokine signaling, and NF-κB pathways based on these signatures and ontology analyses. Lastly, cases with WES and PanCan data were analyzed together to observe differential gene expression patterns between cases with and without signature mutations. These data suggest that R2CHOP disrupts tumors reliant on IRF4, NF-κB, and STAT transcription factors, leading to a loss of proliferative feedback systems. Conclusions: Our combined analysis of DNA and RNA across R2CHOP and RCHOP treatment cohorts identifies a high-risk non-GCB phenotype that encompasses approximately 38% of non-GCB patients, is capable of sustaining JAK-STAT and NF-κB signaling, and is sensitive to R2CHOP. Our study lays the groundwork for a precision therapy approach in DLBCL in which DNA or RNA profiles can be used to identify patients early in treatment who may not benefit from the current standard of care, RCHOP, and who would benefit from the addition of lenalidomide or other targeted agents. Disclosures Gandhi: Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties. Ansell:LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Regeneron: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Trillium: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Mayo Clinic Rochester: Employment; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding. Cerhan:Celgene: Research Funding; NanoString: Research Funding; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Nowakowski:Curis: Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; MorphoSys: Consultancy, Research Funding; NanoString: Research Funding; Selvita: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Novak:Celgene Coorperation: Research Funding.
Genetic Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Adult Lymphoma Patients

Blood | November 14, 2019 | Volume: 134 | Issue: Supplement_1 | Pages: 5215-5215

10.1182/blood-2019-128775

Purpose The development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a relatively rare but a clinically important adverse event in the treatment of lymphoma, particularly in individuals receiving anthracyclines. There are few studies assessing the role of germline genetic susceptibility as a predictor of CVD in this setting. We evaluated the association of 24 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from candidate genes involved in anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity, CVD, and venous thromboembolism with new-onset CVD in a prospective cohort of lymphoma patients treated in the modern era. Methods All patients were from the Mayo component of the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER) of the University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic Lymphoma SPORE. Enrollment from 2002-2015 was offered to patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma who were age ≥18 years. Clinical, pathology and treatment data were abstracted using a standard protocol, and participants provided a peripheral blood sample, from which DNA was extracted. All patients were prospectively contacted every 6 months for the first 3 years from diagnosis and then annually thereafter to assess disease status, re-treatment and development of new morbidities, including CVD. Reported CVD events included congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary heart disease (CHD), arrhythmia, valvular heart disease (VHD), and other CVD. These events were identified during follow-up and validated against medical records. Genotyping was conducted using a custom Illumina iSelect platform with rigorous quality controls. For each SNP, Cox regression was used to estimate Hazard Ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) with time to first CVD, using death without CVD as a competing risk. HRs were also obtained for time to CHF, using death without CVD as a competing risk. We also modeled these events for all patients and for patients receiving frontline anthracyclines. Each SNP was modeled as having a log-additive (per minor allele) effect in the regression model. An ordinal test was used to assess the trend, with a nominal P<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results There were a total of 3,063 newly diagnosed lymphoma patients (excluding chronic lymphocytic leukemia) with no history of CVD at time of lymphoma diagnosis, of which 1280 had genotype data available for analysis. The median age at diagnosis was 59 years (range, 18-95) and 56% were male. The most common subtypes were follicular (26.3%), diffuse large B-cell (23.2%), Hodgkin (11.3%), marginal zone (11.2%), mantle cell (6.3%) and T-cell (5.4%) lymphoma. Anthracycline-based chemotherapy as initial therapy was used in 52% of individuals. At a median follow-up of 6.9 years (range, 0.1-17.1), 363 (30.7%) patients died, and 173 (13.5%) had new-onset CVD after lymphoma diagnosis. There were 234 incident CVD events in the 173 patients: 49 CHD, 50 CHF, 27 VHD, 103 arrhythmias, and 5 other CVD. Results are shown in the Table. When assessing all CVD, F5 (rs4524) (HR=1.28, 95% CI=1.03-1.58) and F11 (rs4253399) (HR=1.30, 95% CI=1.06-1.61) were associated with CVD at P<0.05; both associations attenuated slightly when restricted to anthracycline-treated patients (F5 HR=1.18, 95% CI=0.89-1.57; F11 HR=1.23, 95% CI=0.92-1.65). F11 was more strongly associated with CHF (HR=1.55, 95% CI=1.03-2.34) and CHF in anthracycline-treated patients (HR=1.64, 95% CI=0.98-2.76). NCF4 (rs1883112) was marginally associated with lower risk of CVD overall (HR=0.81, 95% CI=0.66-1.00), and this association strengthened when restricted to anthracycline-treated patients (HR=0.67, 95% CI=0.49-0.91) and showed similar trends in HRs for CHF (HR=0.77, 95% CI=0.51-1.16) and CHF in anthracycline-treated patients (HR=0.72, 95% CI=0.41-1.28), although neither estimate was statistically significant at P<0.05. Finally, while XDH (rs2236168) was not associated with all CVD (HR=1.00, 95% CI=0.81-1.23), it was associated with CHF (HR=0.66, 95% CI=0.47-0.93) overall, but attenuated in anthracycline-treated patients (HR=0.81, 95% CI=0.55-1.18). Conclusions In this exploratory study of candidate SNPs from the literature, we found limited evidence for a role of germline genetic variability in predicting risk of CVD or CHF in a cohort of lymphoma patients, especially after accounting for multiple testing. To fully address this hypothesis, future studies will need larger sample sizes and more comprehensive genetic assessment. Disclosures Maurer: Celgene: Research Funding; Morphosys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Nanostring: Research Funding. Nowakowski:NanoString: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; MorphoSys: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Curis: Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Selvita: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Cerhan:Celgene: Research Funding; NanoString: Research Funding; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.