Pardanani, Animesh

Abstract Background The 2016 revised World Health Organization (WHO) classification system distinguishes prefibrotic (pre-PMF) from overtly fibrotic (overt PMF) primary myelofibrosis, based on the respective absence or presence of grade ≥2 bone marrow (BM) reticulin fibrosis (Blood. 2016;127:2391). The main objective of the current study was to determine the prognostic relevance of this distinction and compare clinical and genetic features between the two entities. Methods Study patients fulfilled the 2016 WHO criteria for the diagnosis of pre-PMF or overt PMF (Blood. 2016;127:2391). The degree of BM reticulin fibrosis was based on "real life" BM reports from Mayo Clinic hematopathologists and often in accordance with the European consensus scoring system (Haematologica 2005;90:1128). Targeted next generation sequencing was used to screen for prognostically-relevant mutations (Blood 2015 126:354). Statistical analyses considered clinical and laboratory parameters obtained at time of BM examination that was graded for reticulin fibrosis. Results Patient characteristics: Analysis was conducted on 467 patients (median age 64 years; 62% males), including 63 with pre-PMF and 404 with overt PMF. 302 (65%) patients harbored JAK2 mutations, 90 (19%) CALR, 24 (5%) MPL and 51 (11%) were "triple-negative"; among the 90 CALR-mutated cases, 74 (82%) were classified as "type 1/type 1-like". Dynamic international prognostic scoring system (DIPSS)-plus risk distribution (JCO 2011;29:392) was 30% high, 38% intermediate-2, 16% intermediate-1 and 15% low; 29% displayed red cell transfusion-dependency, 29% constitutional symptoms, 70% palpable splenomegaly and 37% abnormal karyotype, including 13% with unfavorable karyotype. 308 patients were screened for ASXL1 mutations with 39% mutated, 305 for SRSF2 mutations with 16% mutated, 291 for U2AF1 with 18% mutated, 264 for SF3B1 with 6% mutated, 240 for EZH2 with 5% mutated and 118 for IDH1/2 with 7% mutated. BM reticulin fibrosis was reported as grade '0' in 5 (1%) patients, grade '1' in 58 (12%), grade '2' in 169 (36%) and grade '3' in 235 (50%). After a median follow up of 3 years, 273 (59%) deaths and 42 (9%) leukemic transformations were documented. Clinical, cytogenetic and molecular comparisons between pre-PMF vs overt PMF: Significant differences included higher hemoglobin level (p<0.0001), higher platelet count (p<0.0001), higher incidence of thrombocytosis (p<0.0001), lower circulating blast percentage (p=0.0002), lower incidence of constitutional symptoms (p=0.003), lower incidence of palpable splenomegaly and lower DIPSS-plus risk distribution (p=0.0004), in pre-PMF, compared to overt PMF. There were significantly more triple-negative patients with pre-PMF (22% vs 9% for overt PMF; p=0.02) but otherwise no significant difference in the distribution of ASXL1, SRSF2, U2AF1, SF3B1, EZH2 or IDH1/2 mutations or incidence of unfavorable karyotype. Survival analysis: In univariate analysis, all 8 variables included in DIPSS-plus were significantly associated with shortened survival (p<0.001 in all instances). Significant risk factors in univariate analysis also included overt PMF vs pre-PMF (p=0.002; HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3-3.1), absence of CALR type 1/type 1-like (p<0.0001) and presence of ASXL1 (p<0.0001) or SRSF2 (p<0.0001) mutations. The significant difference in survival between pre-PMF and overt PMF was independent of DIPSS-plus (p=0.03), driver mutational status (p=0.001), ASXL1 (p=0.008) and SRSF2 (p=0.02) mutations; no significant difference in leukemia-free survival was noted (p=0.25). The survival difference between pre-PMF and overt PMF was most evident in high/intermediate-2 DIPSS-plus risk groups (Figure). Of note, we found no difference in survival when patients with grade '0' were compared to those with grade '1' reticulin fibrosis (p=0.96) and when those with grade '2' were compared with grade '3' (p=0.08). Conclusion The current study demonstrates the risk-adjusted prognostic relevance of the WHO distinction between pre-PMF and overt PMF. The two clinic-pathologic entities were otherwise similar in their spectrum of prognostically-relevant mutations or cytogenetic abnormalities, although pre-PMF clustered with thrombocythemic and triple-negative phenotype and overt PMF with adverse clinical features. Figure Figure. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Abstract Background: In a previously published phase-1/2 study, momelotinib (a JAK 1/2 inhibitor) induced 53% anemia, 39% spleen and >50% constitutional symptoms response rates in patients with myelofibrosis (MF) (Pardanani A, et al. Leukemia. 2013;27:1322). The particular study included 100 patients from the Mayo Clinic who experienced 43% spleen and 44% anemia response rates (Pardanani et al. Leukemia. 2015;29:741); CALR and ASXL1 mutations independently predicted spleen but not anemia response. In the current study, we examined the impact of momelotinib therapy on DIPSS-plus- and molecular risk-adjusted survival. Methods: The current study represents sponsor-independent analysis of long-term survival among 100 consecutive Mayo Clinic patients who received momelotinib therapy as part of a larger (n =166) phase-1/2 study (NCT00935987). Safety and efficacy data from NCT00935987, as well as protocol design and drug dosing and schedule, have already been formally reported and not reiterated here (Pardanani A, et al. Leukemia. 2013;27:1322; Pardanani A, et al. Leukemia. 2015;29:741; Abdelrahman RA, et al. BJH. 2015;169:77). All statistical analyses considered clinical and laboratory parameters obtained at the time of entry to study. Survival analysis was considered from the date of study entry to date of death or last contact. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used for multivariable analysis of survival. Samples from time of study entry were used for mutation screening. Driver mutations were classified into two prognostically-relevant groups: CALR type 1/type 1-like (favorable) vs all others including CALR type 2/type 2-like, JAK2, MPL and triple-negative (unfavorable). Results: 100 patients with MF (median age 66 years; 58% males) were treated at the Mayo Clinic between 11/20/09 and 11/10/10; 64 patients had primary MF, 22 post-polycythemia vera MF and 14 post-essential thrombocythemia MF. Baseline data: DIPSS-plus risk distribution was 63% high, 36% intermediate-2 and 1% intermediate-1 (JCO 2011;29:392); for the purposes of the current analysis, the single patient with intermediate-1 risk disease was included in the intermediate-2 category. 54 (54%) patients displayed abnormal karyotype. 73 (73%) patients harbored JAK2, 16 (16%) CALR, 7 MPL and 4 "triple-negative". Among the 16 CALR -mutated cases, 13 were classified as "type 1/type 1-like". 94 patients were screened for ASXL1 mutations; 41 (44%) were mutated. Follow-up data was updated in July 2015, providing a minimum follow-up of over 4.5 years since the last patient registration on the protocol. At a median follow-up of 3.2 years, 67 (67%) deaths and 13 (13%) leukemic transformations were documented. Median survival from the time of study entry was 3.2 years and was affected by driver mutation prognostic groups (median survival "not reached" for "favorable" vs 3 years for "unfavorable"; p=0.01), ASXL1 mutational status (median survival 3.9 years in unmutated vs 2.5 years in mutated; p=0.02) and DIPSS-plus risk stratification (median survival 2.6 years in high-risk vs 4 years in intermediate-2 risk; p=0.07). In order to assess the impact of momelotinib on long-term outcome, we compared survival of the study cohort (n =100) with that of 442 consecutive Mayo Clinic patients with high or intermediate-2 risk primary MF (median age 67 years; 66% males). There was no significant difference between this control group of PMF patients versus the momelotinib patient cohort in distribution of age (p=0.56), sex (p=0.12), JAK2/CALR/MPL mutational status (p=0.41) or ASXL1 mutational status (p=0.9); however, the momelotinib cohort had a higher fraction of patients with DIPSS-plus high-risk disease (63% vs 47%; p=0.004). Overall survival was similar between the momelotinib cohort and the control group of PMF patients who were not treated with momelotinib (Figure 1; p=0.99); the difference in survival remained not significant during multivariable analysis that included risk stratification by DIPSS-plus (p=0.32), "favorable" vs "unfavorable" driver mutational status (p=0.78) or ASXL1 mutational status (Figure 2; p=0.61). Conclusions: In the current long-term study, we could not demonstrate a survival impact from momelotinib therapy in myelofibrosis. Although adjusted for clinical and molecular risk status, our study is retrospective and cannot be relied upon to discount marginal survival effect. Disclosures Al-Kali: Novartis: Research Funding. Pardanani:Stemline: Research Funding.

Abstract Background : In essential thrombocythemia (ET) , ̴ 85% of patients harbor one of three "driver" mutations, with mutational frequencies of approximately 58%, 23% and 4%, for JAK2, CALR and MPL, respectively; ̴ 15% are wild type for all three mutations and are operationally referred to as "triple negative" (Blood. 2014;124:2507). In one of the original descriptions on CALR mutations, CALR -mutated patients with ET, compared to their JAK2-mutated counterparts, were reported to have better survival (NEJM. 2013;369:2379). However, this observation was not supported by subsequent studies while other reports suggested differential prognostic effect from distinct CALR variants in myelofibrosis (Blood. 2014;124:2465). In this study, we sought to clarify the impact of all three mutations, and CALR variants, on overall (OS), myelofibrosis-free (MFS) and leukemia-free (LFS) survival. Methods: Patientswere selected from our institutional database of myeloproliferative neoplasms, based on availability of mutational status inforomation. ET diagnosis was according to WHO criteria (Blood. 2009;114:937). Published methods were used for CALR, JAK2 and MPL mutation analyses and determination of CALR variants (Blood. 2014;124:2465). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was considered from the date of diagnosis to date of death or last contact. MFS and LFS calculations considered fibrotic or leukemic transformation events as uncensored variables, respectively. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used for multivariable analysis. Results : A total of 502 patients (median age 59 year; 61% females) met study eligibility criteria. Median levels of hemoglobin, platelet count and leukocyte counts were 13.7 g/dL, 893 x 10 (9)/L and 8.8 x 10(9)/L, respectively. All patients were annotated for JAK2/CALR/MPL mutations as well as CALR variants; 324 harbored JAK2, 111 CALR and 13 MPL mutations; 54 patients were triple-negative. The 111 CALR-mutated patients included type 1 (n=55), type 2 (n=41) or other (n=15) CALR variants. At a median follow-up time of 9.9 years, 172 (34.3%) deaths, 42 (8.4%) fibrotic progressions, 15 (3%) blast transformations and 12 (2.4%) polycythemic conversions were documented. In univariate analysis, survival data appeared significantly better in "triple negative" patients (median not reached) and inferior in MPL-mutated cases (median 8.5 years) whereas median survival times were similar for JAK2 (18.5 years) and CALR (22.1 years) mutated cases (Figure 1; p=0.0006). However, the difference in survival was no longer apparent (p=0.60) during multivariable analysis that included age and sex, which are known to differentially cluster with specific driver mutations; in the current study, median age/sex distributions for "triple-negative", CALR, JAK2 and MPL mutated cases were 44 years/72% females, 48 years/46% females, 60 years/65% females, 70 years/46% females, respectively (p=<0.0001/0.0007). Of note, both age and sex were independently predictive of shortened survival. OS data remained unchanged when CALR-mutated patients were further stratified into type 1 vs type 2 vs other CALR variants, with similar survival data between the three CALR mutation groups (p=0.98). In univariate analysis, MPL-mutated patients were significantly more prone to fibrotic progression (Figure 2; p=0.0083). The prognostic relevance of MPL mutations to MFS remained significant when age and sex were included in multivariable analysis (p=0.008). In the current cohort, univariate analysis identified lower hemoglobin and lower platelet count as the only other risk factors for fibrotic progression. Multivariable analysis confirmed the independent prognostic relevance of MPL mutations (p=0.003), lower hemoglobin level (p=0.0009) and lower platelet count (p=0.0094) for MFS. There was no significant difference in LFS among the four driver mutational categories (p=0.9): 9 events in JAK2, 6 in CALR, none in triple negative and none in MPL mutated cases. Among the 6 leukemic transformations in CALR-mutated cases, three were type 1, two type 2, and one other CALR variants. Conclusions : Age- and sex-adjusted survival is similar among ET patients with JAK2 vs CALR vs MPL vs "triple-negative" mutational status. Survival is also similar between patients with distinct CALR variants. MPL -mutated patients with ET might be at a higher risk of fibrotic progression. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 2. Disclosures Pardanani: Stemline: Research Funding.

Abstract Abstract 4109 Background: In a previous study, we reported safety and efficacy of low-dose (0.5 mg/d) pomalidomide and prednisone and pomalidomide alone (2 mg/d) for the treatment of anemia associated with myelofibrosis (J Clin Oncol 2009; 27: 4563). The current study examined the value of low dose pomalidomide alone (ClinicalTrials.gov No. NCT00669578). Methods: Persons with primary (PMF) or post-polycythemia vera/essential thrombocythemia (post-PV/ET MF) myelofibrosis were studied. The main eligibility criterion was RBC-transfusion-dependence or hemoglobin <10 g/dL. Subjects failing lenalidomide or thalidomide were eligible whereas those with deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary-embolism <1 y pre-study entry were not. The primary endpoint was anemia response assessed by the International Working Group for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Research and Treatment criteria (Blood 2006; 108: 1497). Results: Pomalidomide (0.5 mg/d) was given to 58 subjects (median age 68 y; 44 males). 46 (79%) were RBC-transfusion-dependent and 42, JAK2V617F-positive. Baseline disease-stage at time of study-entry according to the Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System (DIPSS; Blood 2010; 115: 1703) was high-risk in 16 (28%) and intermediate-2 risk in 42 (72%). Cytogenetic findings were favorable in 46, unfavorable in 9 and not evaluable in 3. 46 (79%) had PMF and the remainder post-PV/ET MF. 49 (84%) patients completed ≥3 mo of therapy. Treatment was well-tolerated with no instances of thrombosis. There was grade-1 neuropathy possibly related to drug in 1 subject. ≥Grade-3 thrombocytopenia/neutropenia occurred in 2 subjects. There was an anemia response in 10 (17%) subjects including 9 who became RBC-transfusion-independent. Median response-duration was 8+ mo (range, 6–13 mo). 14 of 24 subjecst (58%) with platelets ≤100 × 10e9/L had a >50% increment. There were no spleen responses. Anemia response occurred only in subjects with JAK2V617F (24% vs. 0; p=0.03) but was not correlated with mutant allele burden (p=0.39). Anemia response in JAK2V617F-positive subjects was predicted by the presence of pomalidomide-induced basophilia in the 1st month of therapy (38% vs. 6%; p=0.02) or absence of marked splenomegaly (38% vs. 11%; p=0.05); response was not affected by cytogenetic risk-category (p=0.96) or WBC (p=0.27). Conclusions: These data suggest that low-dose pomalidomide is effective in the treatment for anemia associated with JAK2V617F-positive myelofibrosis, especially in the absence of marked splenomegaly. Response appears to be predicted by early drug-induced basophilia. Pomalidomide also appears to improve thrombocytopenia in most subjects with baseline platelets <100 × 10e9/L but is not active in controlling disease-associated splenomegaly. Disclosures: Mesa: SBio: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; eisai: Research Funding; telik: Research Funding.

Abstract Background: Over the last decade there have been three FDA-approved agents available for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS); azacitidine was approved in 2004 for all subtypes of MDS; lenalidomide in 2005 for MDS with del(5q); and decitabine in 2006 for intermediate/high risk MDS. However the ability of these drugs to improve survival outside of clinical trials remains controversial (Neukirchen J, Leuk Res 2015, Bernal T, Leukemia 2015). Objectives : i) Evaluate trends in overall survival (OS) and leukemic transformation (LT) rate amongst primary MDS patients (pts) by year of diagnosis and, ii) Evaluate trends in OS by treatment received. Methods : The Mayo Clinic database was used to identify pts with primary MDS in whom bone marrow histologic and cytogenetic information was obtained at the time of diagnosis. WHO criteria were used for MDS diagnosis and LT. A comparative analysis was performed based on year of diagnosis commensurate with the approval of the aforementioned drugs (Group 1- diagnosis prior to the year 2000, Group 2- year 2001-2004, Group 3- year 2005-2009, and Group 4- year 2010-2014). Results : i) Patient characteristics: A total of 1000 pts met the above-stipulated criteria. 85% of pts were above 60 years of age (median 72 years) with 69% being males. The distribution of pts by year of diagnosis was as follows: Group 1 (n=281)(28%), Group 2 (n=250)(25%), Group 3 (n=264)(26%), and Group 4 (n=205 (21%). Median follow-up of our cohort was 27 months (range; 0-300 months) during which time 808 (81%) deaths and 129 (13%) LT were documented. ii) Comparison of patient characteristics by year of diagnosis: Pts in group 1 and 2 compared with groups 3 and 4 were more likely to present with anemia defined as hemoglobin < 10 g/dl (61%/59% vs 50%/55%)(P =.04). In addition, groups 1 and 2 displayed a higher incidence of RA (5%/4% vs 1% each), and RARS (17%/16% vs 9%/8%), compared to groups 3 and 4 that had a higher incidence of RCMD (37%/44% vs 17%/28%) (P <.001). The IPSS-R risk distribution was not significantly different; 17% very low, 36% low, 21% intermediate, 15% high and 11% very high risk with median survivals of 72, 43, 24, 18 and 7 months, respectively (P <.001). As expected, a higher proportion of pts in groups 3 and 4 (41% and 57% respectively) received "disease-modifying" therapy including allogeneic transplant and hypomethylating agents as opposed to only 6% and 22% in groups 1 and 2 respectively (P <.001). iii) Trends in OS and LT rate by year of diagnosis: The median OS of the entire cohort was 30 months, with median OS and LT rates being similar amongst groups 1 through 4 at 31 vs 33 vs 30 vs 27 months (P =.79) (Figure) and 10% vs 16% vs 12% vs 15% (P =.25), respectively. iv) Trends in OS by treatment received: In univariate analysis survival was significantly better in pts who underwent allogeneic transplant (n=65) with median survival of 55 months vs 26 months for non-transplant pts (P<. 001); and among non-transplant lenalidomide-treated pts (n=44) with median survival of 54 months vs 26 months for the remainder of pts (P =.02). However, these results lost significance on multivariable analysis with the addition of age as a co-variate for transplant pts (P =.28), and IPSS-R as a co-variate for lenalidomide treated pts (P =.10). Excluding transplant pts, pts that received hypomethylating agents (n=158) had similar survival to pts not treated with hypomethylating agents (27 vs 29 months; P =.19, age-adjusted P =.11). In addition, the 54 pts who received other chemotherapeutic agents had similar survival to pts not treated with these agents (33 vs 26 months; P =.57, age-adjusted P =.80). Supportive care alone was utilized in 702 pts that had comparable survival to the 298 pts that received "disease-modifying" therapy (27 months vs 34 months; P =.05, age-adjusted P =.11). Conclusions : In this single center analysis of 1000 pts with primary MDS, stratified by year of diagnosis, the poor outcome of these pts has not improved over the last two decades, in spite of the significantly higher utilization of "disease-modifying" therapy, including hypomethylating agents since 2005. The lack of improvement in survival with hypomethylating therapy is consistent with recently published results from the Spanish MDS registry (Bernal T, Leukemia 2015). However, our retrospective study is not designed to detect marginal survival benefit, which has thus far been reported in only one clinical trial. Figure 1. Figure 1. Disclosures Al-Kali: Novartis: Research Funding. Pardanani:Stemline: Research Funding.

Abstract Background : Hydroxyurea has been the mainstay of cytoreductive therapy in essential thrombocythemia (ET) for over four decades. In 1988, anagrelide was first reported as an effective drug in ET (Silverstein et al. NEJM 1988;318:1292) and hundreds of patients were enrolled in clinical trials, which subsequently led to FDA approval in 1997. As a result, an increasing number of patients with ET were being treated with anagrelide until a subsequent controlled study suggested an inferior treatment outcome with anagrelide compared to hydroxyurea (Harrison et al. NEJM 2005;353:33). In the current study, we examined the impact of the corresponding practice changes on overall, myelofibrosis-free and leukemia-free survival, by comparing patients with ET diagnosed before 1988, between 1988 and 1997, and between 1998 and 2005 Methods: More than 45,000 patient charts with "thrombocytosis" were reviewed to identify those who met either PVSG (older patient cohort) or WHO criteria for diagnosis of ET. Survival was calculated from time of initial diagnosis to the time of last follow-up or death. For leukemia- or fibrosis-free survival, the time of the transformation events was considered as the uncensored variable. Conventional statistics was utilized for all analyses. Patients were divided into three groups commensurate with changes in treatment practices, corresponding to the aforementioned publications; Group 1 patients were diagnosed prior to 1988 (n =222), Group 2 1988 to 1997 (n =253), and Group 3 1998 to 2005 (n =264). Results : A total of 739 patients met the above-stipulated criteria (median age 57 years; 65% females). At a median follow-up of 12.2 years (range: 0.01-43.6 years), 368 (50%) deaths, 48 (6.5%) fibrotic transformations and 23 (3%) leukemic transformations were documented. Median overall survival (OS) was 18.6 years. On multivariable analysis, older age (P <0.001), increased leukocyte count (P <0.001), thrombosis history (P =0.04), and male sex (P<0.0001) were identified as predictors of inferior OS. Myelofibrosis-free survival (MFS) was predicted by platelet count <100 x 10(9)/L and lower hemoglobin level (multivariate P values 0.03 and <0.001, respectively). Leukemia-free survival (LFS) was predicted by increased leukocyte count, on multivariable analysis (P =0.002). Comparison of presenting features and outcome by period of diagnosis: Significant differences, in presenting features, between groups 1, 2, and 3 included age (median 55, 56, and 59 years, respectively; P =0.003), female preponderance (68, 69, and 58%, respectively; P =0.02), platelet count (1080, 995, and 890 x 10(9)/L, respectively; P <0.001), and leukocyte count (10, 9.6, and 8.4 x 10(9)/L, respectively; P <0.001). Median survival was 20.7 years, 19 years and 14.3 years, in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively (P =0.02) (Figure 1). However, the difference in survival was no longer apparent during multivariable analysis that included age as a covariate (P=0.88). In univariate analysis, MFS was significantly shorter in group 3 patients (P=0.02; Figure 2); borderline significance was retained during multivariable analysis (p=0.13). LFS was similar among the three groups (P = 0.27). Conclusions : The results from the current retrospective study suggest increased rate of progression to myelofibrosis in ET patients diagnosed in the anagrelide era, an observation that is consistent with the results from a previous controlled study (Harrison et al. NEJM 2005;353:33). Regardless, survival in ET in the last four decades remains unchanged. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 2. Disclosures Pardanani: Stemline: Research Funding.

Abstract Abstract 3070 Background: EZH2 and ASXL1 mutations were recently described in a spectrum of myeloid malignancies; mutational analysis of small patient cohorts has suggested the highest mutational frequency in myelofibrosis (MF) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). The current study seeks to determine i) EZH2 and ASXL1 mutational frequencies in WHO-defined subcategories of MF, CMML and blast-phase myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), ii) if these mutations are mutually exclusive of TET2, IDH, JAK2 and MPL mutations and iii) clinical correlates of ASXL1 and EZH2 mutations in primary MF (PMF) and CMML. Methods: The study population included 94 patients: 46 PMF, 22 post-polycythemia vera/essential thrombocythemia MF (post-PV/ET MF), 11 blast-phase MPN and 15 CMML (10 CMML-1 and 5 CMML-2). High throughput DNA resequencing was used to screen archived bone marrow for EZH2, ASXL1, TET2, IDH, JAK2 and MPL mutations. Results: ASXL1 mutations were identified in all disease categories, including PMF (13%), post-PV/ET MF (23%), blast phase MPN (18%), and CMML (20%). We identified somatic mutations in TET2 in 15%, 14%, 18%, and 13% of PMF, post-PV/ET MF, blast phase MPN, and CMML, respectively. By contrast, mutations in EZH2 and IDH1/2 were less frequent. EZH2 mutations were seen in 3 out of 46 PMF patients (7%) and were not observed in patients with post-PV/ET MF or blast phase MPN. Mutations in IDH1/2 were restricted to blast-phase MPN (36%) and PMF (7%). No mutations in EZH2 or IDH1/2 were seen in CMML. Although we identified frequent TET2 and ASXL1 mutations, we only identified one patient with concurrent mutations in both genes. Three ASXL1 mutation-positive patients also had mutations in EZH2 or IDH and one patient had concurrent ASXL1, TET2 and IDH mutations. In addition, 7 ASXL1, 7 TET2, and 1 IDH mutated patients were JAK2V617F-positive. MPL mutations were also documented in all three mutation categories. All EZH2- and ASXL1-mutated PMF patients displayed normal karyotype and none underwent leukemic transformation during follow-up. Furthermore, mutated versus unmutated patients, in both instances, were not significantly different in age and sex distribution or clinical characteristics. The 3 EZH2-mutated PMF patients died after 29, 48 and 67 months from the time of mutation analysis. In univariate analysis, the presence of mutant ASXL1 in PMF was associated with worse survival (p=0.06) but the borderline significance was lost during multivariable analysis that included risk stratification according to DIPSS (Passamonti et al. Blood 2010; 115: 1703–1708). The 3 ASXL1 mutated CMML cases were alive after 40, 34 and 12 months from time of mutation analysis and none of them had progressed to acute leukemia; karyotype was normal in two of the patients and showed isolated trisomy 8 in one. Conclusions: ASXL1 mutations are as frequent as TET2 mutations in MF and CMML. In contrast, EZH2 mutations are infrequent and cluster with PMF. ASXL1 and EZH2 mutations are not mutually exclusive events, seem to be associated with normal karyotype and do not appear to be leukemogenic or prognostically detrimental in PMF or CMML. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Abstract Background : In primary myelofibrosis (PMF), ̴ 88% of patients harbor JAK2, CALR or MPL, with respective mutational frequencies of approximately 60%, 22% and 6%; ̴ 12% are wild type for all three driver mutations and are labelled as being "triple negative" (Blood. 2014;124:2507). It is now well-established that CALR-mutated patients with PMF display significantly better survival, compared to all the other mutational categories; in addition, preliminary data have suggested inferior survival for "triple-negative" cases (Leukemia. 2014;28:1472; Blood. 2014;124:1062) and the possibility that the favorable impact of CALR mutations might be restricted to CALR type 1 or type 1-like variants (Blood. 2014;124:2465). In the current study, we sought to clarify the prognostic impact of driver mutations, and CALR variants, on overall (OS) and leukemia-free (LFS) survival, in a two-center study involving 1118 patients. Methods: A total of 1118 patients with PMF from the Mayo Clinic (n =722) and University of Florence, Italy (n =396) were included in the current study. Study patients were selected based on availability of mutation information. PMF diagnosis was according to World Health Organization criteria (Blood. 2009;114:937). Previously published methods were used for CALR, JAK2 and MPL mutation analyses and determination of CALR variants (Blood. 2014;124:2465). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was considered from the date of first referral for the Mayo cohort and date of diagnosis for the Florence cohort. Leukemic transformation events replaced death as the uncensored variable during LFS analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression model was used for multivariable analysis. Results : Analysis was first conducted on the Mayo cohort of 722 patients (median age 64 years; 64% males). DIPSS-plus risk distributions were 14% low, 17% intermediate-1, 37% intermediate-2 and 33% high. All patients were annotated for JAK2/CALR/MPL mutations as well as CALR variants; 477 harbored JAK2, 139 CALR and 41 MPL mutations; 65 patients were triple-negative. The 139 CALR -mutated patients included type 1/type 1-like (n =115) and type 2/type 2-like (n =24). At a median follow-up time of 3.1 years, 439 (61%) deaths and 63 (8.7%) blast transformations were documented. In univariate analysis, survival in patients with CALR type 1/type 1-like mutations was significantly longer than every other mutational category: HR (95% CI) were for triple-negative 2.7 (1.8-4.0), JAK2 2.7 (2.0-3.7), CALR type 2/type 2-like 2.3 (1.3-4.2) and MPL 1.9 (1.1-3.1) (Figure 1); these differences were sustained during multivariable analysis that included ASXL1 mutations (n =480) and DIPSS-plus, and were also apparent in the Florence cohort of 396 cases that included 251 JAK2, 53 CALR type 1/type 1-like, 21 CALR type 2/type 2-like, 50 triple-negative and 21 MPL mutated cases (Figure 2). There was no difference in survival among the Mayo cohort across mutational categories not including CALR type 1/type 1-like variants (p=0.33). Because specific driver mutations in PMF differentially cluster with age and sex, multivariable analysis including these two parameters was also performed and confirmed the significant survival advantage of CALR type 1/type 1-like over triple-negative, JAK2 and CALR type 2/type 2-like mutated cases. Based on the above information, we divided driver mutational categories into "type 1/type 1-like" (median survival 10.3 years) and "all other mutational categories" (median survival 3.9 years; p<0.01). The difference in survival between these two groups remained significant (HR 2.1, 95% CI 1.5-2.9) during multivariable analysis that included both DIPSS-plus (P<0.01) and ASXL1 mutation (HR 1.8, 95% CI 1.4-2.2). LFS was similar between these two groups (p=0.4) but it was inferior in triple-negative cases compared to CALR type 1/type 1-like variants (HR 2.8, 95% CI 1.3-6.2), MPL (HR 4.6; 95% CI 1.04-20.4) and JAK2 (HR 2.5, 95% CI 1.3-4.8) but not CALR type 2/type 2-like variants (p=0.56). There was no difference in LFS among mutational categories not including triple-negative cases (p=0.33). Conclusions : In PMF, driver mutations might be classified into two prognostically distinct categories: "favorable" (type 1/type 1-like) and "unfavorable" (all other mutational categories). In addition, triple-negative cases might be at a higher risk of leukemic transformation. Disclosures Pardanani: Stemline: Research Funding. Vannucchi:Novartis: Other: Research Funding paid to institution (University of Florence), Research Funding; Shire: Speakers Bureau; Baxalta: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau.

Abstract Background: Addition of sex combs-like 1 (ASXL1) is frequently mutated (mutational frequency 14-29%) and is prognostically relevant in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (Bejar, NEJM 2011, Thol, JCO 2011). The prevalence and prognostic impact of ASXL1 mutation in MDS with ring sideroblasts (MDS-RS) is not known. MDS-RS is defined by the presence of ≥15% RS in bone marrow (BM), with refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS) being the prototype but may also be seen in other categories. Methods : Our institutional database was reviewed to identify patients with WHO-defined primary MDS with ≥1% BM RS. Pathology slides, including iron stains, were reviewed to accurately quantify BM RS percentage and confirm WHO morphologic categories. All patients were annotated for their mutational status including ASXL1, JAK2, MPL and IDH with a subset for SF3B1 by PCR sequencing performed on BM specimens obtained at diagnosis. Results : i) Patient characteristics: A total of 76 MDS patients displayed ≥1% BM RS (median age 72 years; 76% males); 51 (67%) patients had ≥15% BM RS. IPSS-R risk categories for the entire 76 study patients were 30% very low, 37% low, 14% intermediate, 11% high and 8% very high; IPSS-R karyotype was normal in 63%, very good/good risk 17%, intermediate risk 12%, and poor/very poor in 8%; 3% had monosomal karyotype. ii) Prevalence of ASXL1 mutations: Twenty-one (28%) of the 76 study patients were ASXL1 mutated; ASXL1 mutational frequencies were 25% (16/63 patients) in the absence and 38% (5/13 patients) in the presence of excess blasts (P =0.34). When considering only those patients with ≥15% BM RS (n =51), ASXL1 mutations were detected in 12 (24%) patients with mutational frequencies of 24% (11/46 patients) in the absence and 20% (1/5 patients) in the presence of excess blasts (P =0.84); ASXL1 mutational frequencies were 13% (3/23 patients) in RARS and 37% (7/19 patients) in RCMD-RS (P=0.07). In terms of other mutations, all 76 study patients were wild-type for JAK2 and MPL, whereas IDH2 R140Q mutations were present in 4 (5%) patients, including 3 with concomitant ASXL1 and IDH2 mutations. IDH1 mutation was seen in only 1 patient. 25 of 43 (58%) patients screened were mutated for SF3B1, including 4 (9%) who were mutated for both ASXL1 and SF3B1. Significant associations were evident between ASXL1 and IDH2 mutations (P =0.02) but not between ASXL1 and SF3B1 mutations (P =0.61). iii) Clinical correlates of ASXL1 mutations: Among all 76 study patients, presence of ASXL1 mutation did not correlate with age (P =0.30), hemoglobin level (P =0.17), platelet count (P =0.53), BM blast percentage (P =0.17), WHO morphologic category (P =0.34), transfusion dependence (P =0.84), IPSS-R cytogenetic categories (P =0.93), or IPSS-R risk group (P =0.33). The results were unchanged when analyzing the 51 patients with MDS-RS (i.e. ≥15% BM RS). Amongst the ASXL1 mutated patients (n =21) IPSS-R cytogenetic categories were as follows: 13 patients with normal karyotype (62%), 2 patients with trisomy 8 (10%), 1 patient each with -Y, del(11q), del(5q), del(20q), isochromosome 17 and monosomy 7 (5% each). iv) Prognostic impact of ASXL1 mutations: Median follow-up was 42.5 months, during which time 69 (91%) deaths and 8 (11%) leukemic transformations were documented. ASXL1 mutated patients had a median survival of 29 months, compared to 45 months in ASXL1 wild-type patients (P =0.04). However, the difference in median survival was no longer significant during multivariable analysis, which instead identified only IPSS-R and transfusion need as being independent predictors of inferior survival. Amongst those patients without excess blasts (n =63), presence of ASXL1 mutation predicted inferior survival in univariate analysis (P =.04) and significance was sustained during multivariable analysis that included IPSS-R cytogenetic categories (P =.04) but became borderline when WHO morphologic category was included (P =0.06); ASXL1 mutated patients had a shortened median survival of 43 months compared to 66 months in ASXL1 wild-type patients (P =.04). In the presence of ≥15% BM RS, ASXL1 mutations did not affect survival (P =0.48); the results were the same for RARS (P =0.9) and RCMD-RS (P =0.64). Conclusions : ASXL1 mutations might not affect survival in MDS patients with ≥15% BM RS, including those with RARS or RCMD-RS. Furthermore, an apparent survival disadvantage seen in ASXL1 -mutated MDS patients with ≥1% BM RS was accounted for by IPSS-R. Disclosures Pardanani: Stemline: Research Funding.

Abstract Background The median survival (OS) of patients with primary myelofibrosis (PMF; 6.5y) is significantly shortened compared to reference population (Cervantes et al, JCO 2012; 30:2981). OS is predicted by the four risk categories of IPSS, Dynamic-IPSS and DIPSS-plus score, nevertheless pts heterogeneity persists within these categories, necessitating improved risk stratification. We recently reported that pts harboring mutations in any one of the prognostically relevant ASXL1, EZH2, IDH1/2 and SRSF2 genes constitute a IPSS-and DIPPS-plus independent Molecular High Risk category (MHR+) characterized by significant reduction of OS and leukemia free survival (LFS) (Vannucchi et al, Leukemia 2013). The aim of this work was to analyze the impact of the number of prognostically relevant mutated genes on OS and LFS in PMF. Patients and methods Two independent cohorts are included, a “test cohort” from Europe, analyzed at diagnosis, and a “validation cohort” from Mayo Clinic, analyzed at any time after diagnosis. Mutation analysis was performed in DNA from whole blood or granulocytes using RTQ-PCR, HRM and direct sequencing; all mutations were confirmed at least twice. The prognostic value of the molecular variables with regard to OS and LFS was analyzed by Cox regression. Test cohort It included 490 pts (median age 61y; males = 301) risk stratified by IPSS into high (n=74, 15%), intermediate-2 (n=93, 19% ), intermediate-1 (n=147, 30%) and low (n=176, 36%). The median follow-up was 3.63y (95% CI, 0.06-28.33); 161 pts died (33.0%), of whom 76 (15.6%) had progressed to acute leukemia after a median of 3.4y (0.04-28.3) from diagnosis. One hundred forty-six pts (29.8%) presented at least one of the four aforementioned mutated genes and were classified as MHR+. The OS of MHR+ pts was significantly reduced compared to patients with no mutations (n=344): 80.7 vs 148.9 mo (HR 2.2, CI95% 1.6-3.03). One hundred twelve (22.8%) pts had 1 mutation and 34 (6.9%) had 2 or more mutations. In univariate analysis presence of 2 or more mutated genes was significantly more detrimental for OS (29.5mo; HR 4.12, IC95% 2.6-6.4) than having 1 mutated gene (84.2mo; HR 1.8, IC95% 1.2-2.5) compared with having no mutations (148.9mo). Multivariate analysis results adjusted for IPSS indicated that having two or more mutations was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR 2.9, 95% CI 1.8-4.5). Notably, the prognostic relevance of harboring two or more mutations involved both lower (low and intermediate-1; HR 1.87, 95% CI 1.3-2.6) and higher (intermediate-2 and high; HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-2.1) categories of IPSS. Also LFS resulted significantly shorter (129mo; HR 3.1, 95%CI 1.9-4.8) in MHR+ pts compared with pts with no adverse mutations (323mo). Having 2 or more mutations correlated with greater reduction of LFS (79.6mo; HR 7.02, CI95% 3.9-12.6) than having one mutation only (133.9mo; HR 2.2, IC95% 1.3-3.7) as compared with no mutations (323.2mo). Multivariate analysis showed that IPSS high risk category (HR 4.5; 95% CI 2.3-8.8) and two or more mutated genes (HR 5.3; 95% CI 2.9-9.8) predicted independently for a significant reduction in LFS. The negative impact on LFS of having 2 or more mutated genes compared to one or no mutations was maintained in the lower (HR 6.4, 95% CI 2.6-15.2) and higher (HR 5.5, 95% CI 2.3-12.8) risk categories. Validation cohort Validation cohort included 262 patients (median age 64 years; males = 167) risk stratified by DIPSS-plus into high (n=89, 34%), intermediate-2 (n=92, 35%), intermediate-1 (n=46, 18%) and low (n=34, 13%). One hundred forty-six pts (56%) displayed none of the four aforementioned mutations, 93 (36%) harbored one mutation whereas 23 (9%) harbored two or more mutations. In univariate analysis, having two or more mutations (HR 3.7; 95% CI 2.2-6.1) was significantly more detrimental for OS than having no mutations, which is more favorable than having one mutation (HR 1.9; 95% CI 1.4-2.7). When adjusted for DIPSS-plus, the presence of two or more mutations retained its significance (HR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3-3.6) and outperformed ASXL1 mutation alone in its prognostic relevance Conclusions Overall, these results show that the number of prognostically relevant mutated genes correlate with OS and LFS in pts with PMF, suggesting that screening for these mutations might help to improve risk stratification. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.