7020 Background: Histiocytic sarcoma (HS) is a rare and aggressive malignancy of the monocyte/macrophage lineage. There is a paucity of data on treatments and outcomes in HS. Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of HS from 2000-2018. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were used to perform overall survival (OS) analyses. Hazard ratios (HR) with confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Cox-proportional hazards. Results: There were 27 patients in the study (median age 59; range 3-83) and 63% were males. Nine had unifocal involvement and 18 had multifocal disease. Common sites involved were lymph node (50%), soft tissue (40%), bone (36%), and bone marrow (22%). Two of 8 patients had the BRAF-V600E mutation. Next-generation sequencing was performed on 8 patients and showed ≥1 oncogenic alterations (DNMT3A, FLT4, KRAS, NRAS, NUP98, PTCH1, PTPN11, TP53, TSC1, PDGFR, or BRAF genes) as well as a CLIP2-BRAF fusion. The median OS for the cohort was 12 months. Factors associated with worse OS included multifocal disease (OS 10 vs. 125 months, p = 0.03; HR 5.0, CI 1.1-21.8) and marrow involvement (OS 3 vs. 43 months, p = 0.003; HR 8.9, CI 1.7-45.0). Twelve (44%) had surgery with median OS of 42 months (range 1-125). Fifteen had chemotherapy with median OS of 12 months (range 2-67; Table). Conclusions: HS is an aggressive neoplasm, with multifocal disease and bone marrow involvement portending worse outcomes. Most patients have somatic oncogenic alterations involving the MAPK-ERK pathway and other genes. Chemotherapeutic regimens have variable response rates but are not durable. More studies on targeted kinase inhibitors in HS are needed to improve outcomes. [Table: see text]
Adult Langerhans cell histiocytosis: A contemporary single-institution series of 186 patients.
Journal of Clinical Oncology | March 12, 2020 | Volume: 37 | Issue: 15_suppl | Pages: 7018-7018
7018 Background: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare histiocytic neoplasm driven by MAPK-ERK mutations in majority of patients. Contemporary data on treatments and outcomes in adult LCH are lacking. Hence, we undertook this study to analyze a large cohort of adult LCH patients. Methods: This was a retrospective study of adult (≥18 years) LCH patients seen at our institution between 1998 and 2018. Results: We included 186 patients with adult LCH (median age 43; 19-88), and 54% were females. 70% of patients were diagnosed after 2007. Common presenting symptoms were cough/dyspnea (30%), rash (17%), pain/swelling in head (17%), and diabetes insipidus (10%). 70 (38%) patients had multisystem LCH, 62 (33%) had isolated pulmonary LCH, and 35 (19%) had unifocal LCH. Common sites of involvement included lung (59%), bone (37%), skin (21%), and nervous system (16%). 121 (65%) were smokers; 48% of these had lung disease, while 52% had multisystem disease. 18 of 31 tested (58%) patients had BRAF-V600E mutation. Most common first-line treatment was smoking cessation in 24 patients, and led to an overall response rate (ORR) of 83% in pulmonary lesions. Radiation therapy was used in 11 patients, and led to an ORR 82%. Surgical resection of lesion was done in 23 patients, with relapses in 24%. Systemic therapies were used in 78 (42%) patients (Table). Most common first-line systemic therapy was cladribine with ORR of 78%. Vemurafenib was used in 3 patients with BRAF-V600E, leading to an ORR of 67% . After a median follow-up of 23 months (0-261), 21 patients had died. Of these, 10 died of progressive LCH. Median OS was not reached, and mean OS was 196 months. Conclusions: This is the largest contemporary series of adult LCH. It shows that diverse clinical spectrum, ranging from benign course to a progressive multisystem disease. Although smoking cessation was an effective treatment for pulmonary LCH, a large subset required systemic chemotherapy. [Table: see text]
Characterization of a cryptic PML-RARA fusion by mate-pair sequencing in a case of acute promyelocytic leukemia with a normal karyotype and negative RARA FISH studies
Introduction: The landmark VE-BASKET trial demonstrated that Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) patients with the BRAF-V600E mutation can be effectively treated with vemurafenib 1920 mg/day. However, all patients required dose reductions due to adverse effects. The efficacy of low dose BRAF-inhibitors is not well established in ECD. Further, as Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) also harbors BRAF-V600E mutations in 50-60% of patients, BRAF-inhibitors may be effective in this disease as well. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of low dose BRAF-inhibitors (vemurafenib and dabrafenib) in the treatment of ECD and LCH. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of ECD and LCH patients who were seen at our institution from January 1998 to July 2018. All patients had a diagnosis of ECD and LCH determined by clinical criteria in conjunction with histopathologic findings. Based on the standard doses approved for malignant melanoma and ECD, patients were categorized into the low dose BRAF-inhibitor group if they were treated with vemurafenib < 960 mg/day or dabrafenib ≤ 150mg/day at any point in time. We used a simple response criteria that defined clinical progressive disease (PD) as worsening of symptoms attributed to ECD/LCH or radiologic PD as a progression or worsening of proven or suspected lesions due to ECD/LCH. The minimum duration for symptom improvement to be considered a response was set at 3 months. Results: A total of 89 ECD patients and 186 LCH patients were identified. Within the ECD cohort, 24 of 44 (55%) patients who were tested had the BRAF-V600E mutation. Eight patients were included in the low dose BRAF-inhibitor group. The median age at diagnosis was 57 years (range 37-74) and 5 (63%) were male. The most common areas of involvement included bone (88%), cardiovascular system (63%), kidneys (63%), and brain parenchyma (50%). The median time of follow up was 66 months (range 23-165) and the median time on low-dose BRAF-inhibitor was 10 months (range 1-27) [Table 1]. Three patients had a starting dose of vemurafenib 1920 mg/day, 4 had 960 mg/day, and 1 had 480 mg/day. All patients required dose reductions and 50% of the patients ultimately discontinued vemurafenib due to side effects. Side effects included fatigue, pruritus, nausea, facial swelling, blisters, papillomas, and/or subcutaneous nodules. Four patients were able to remain on low-dose vemurafenib for a median follow up time of 24.5 months (range 12-28) with ongoing response and no signs of clinical or radiologic PD. Within the LCH cohort, 18 of 31 tested (58%) patients had the BRAF-V600E mutation. Four patients were included in the low dose BRAF-inhibitor group. The median age at diagnosis of this cohort was 43 years (range 34-69) and 2 (50%) were male. Areas of involvement included bone (100%), brain parenchyma (hypothalamus/optic stalk and pons; 50%), and skin (25%). The median time of follow up was 31 months (range 21-46) and the median time on low-dose BRAF-inhibitor was 4 months (range 3-24) [Table 2]. Two patients had a starting dose of vemurafenib 960mg/day. The patients with brain parenchymal involvement had a starting dose of dabrafenib 150mg/day or 100mg/day. All patients taking vemurafenib 960mg/day required dose reductions and one patient discontinued treatment due to skin blistering in her feet. In the patients taking dabrafenib, no side effects have yet been reported. 3 patients had an ongoing response and did not have clinical or radiologic PD. Patient #10 however, had clinical and radiologic PD after being on vemurafenib 720mg/day for 22 months. Conclusion: Our study suggests a potential role for lower doses of BRAF-inhibitors in ECD and LCH patients harboring BRAF-V600E mutations. Dabrafenib was found to be particularly efficacious and well-tolerated in LCH involving the brain parenchyma. However, patients who undergo dose reductions should be closely monitored due to the risk of disease progression. Careful balance of toxicities and efficacy is needed for optimizing patient outcomes with targeted therapies. Disclosures Bennani: Adicet Bio: Other: Advisory board; Kite Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Seattle Genetics: Other: Advisory board; Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Adicet Bio: Other: Advisory board; Kite Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Adicet Bio: Other: Advisory board; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Seattle Genetics: Other: Advisory board; Seattle Genetics: Other: Advisory board. OffLabel Disclosure: Vemurafenib and dabrafenib for Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Vemurafenib dosage for Erdheim-Chester disease is less than the approved dose of 960mg every 12 hours.
Clinical Features and Outcomes of Unifocal Adult Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis
Purpose: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare histiocytic disorder that presents with a wide spectrum of clinical diseases, ranging from single-organ lesions to systemic disease. Although previously thought of as an immune disorder, LCH was reclassified as an inflammatory myeloid neoplasm in the 2016 Histocyte Society classification after discovery of BRAF V600E or MAP2K1 gain-of-function mutations and evidence of clonality in most LCH patients. In this revised classification, LCH was divided into single-system LCH, pulmonary LCH, or multisystem LCH. However, there is a lack of data on clinical features and outcomes in the subgroup of "unifocal" non-pulmonary LCH in adults. In this study, we sought to address the gaps in knowledge for unifocal adult LCH utilizing our institution's experience over 20 years. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 189 adult patients (defined as >18 years old at diagnosis) with histopathologically confirmed LCH who were seen at our tertiary referral center between 1997 and 2018. Of these, 44 met criteria for unifocal LCH at diagnosis after careful exclusion of other sites of disease involvement. Results: We included 44 adult patients with unifocal LCH at diagnosis, with median age 42 years (range 19 to 88) and 55% males. 84% were Caucasians and 50% were smokers. Most commonly involved disease sites included bone (43%), skin (25%), pituitary (14%), and gastrointestinal (11%), with common presenting symptoms of head pain/swelling (25%), skin rash (20%), abdominal pain/diarrhea (11%), and diabetes insipidus (9%). Resection/excision was the most common first line therapy in 24 patients (63%); none had local recurrence and 3 patients developed recurrence at a new site. Radiation was the second most common therapy in 6 patients, with an overall response rate of 83%; none had local recurrence and 1 patient had recurrence at a new site. Other less common first-line treatments included resection followed by radiation (2), topical immunosuppression (2), dexamethasone (1), cladribine (1), smoking cessation (1), and observation (1) (Table 1). Cladribine used as first-line therapy for pituitary LCH resulted in progressive disease, but cladribine used as second-line therapy in 2 cases (including one who had progressed to multisystem disease) resulted in partial remission with no further recurrence in both cases. Patients were followed for a median of 3.8 years (range 0.1 to 18.8), with 5 patients lost to follow-up. By time of last follow-up, 11 (28%) had developed recurrence: 1 had local recurrence, 5 developed disease at a new site within the same system (skin or bone), and 5 developed multisystem disease (Figure 1). Median time to recurrence was 2 years (range 0.2 to 6.6). 2 out of 5 patients tested for BRAF had a V600E mutation, both of whom had isolated unifocal bone disease and remained in complete remission following resection at time of last follow-up. Median overall survival (OS) from time of diagnosis was not reached and overall 5-year OS was 94%. 3 patients died, only 1 of progressive LCH. Conclusion: In our study, most patients with unifocal adult LCH achieved a complete remission with surgical resection or local radiation. None of the patients treated with resection or radiation developed local recurrence, but around 1 in 5 developed distant recurrence within 5 years. However, the overall prognosis was very good, and none of the patients in the cohort progressed to "high-risk" organ (liver, spleen, or bone marrow) involvement or pulmonary involvement. Further studies are warranted to assess the role of MAPK-ERK mutations in the prognosis of unifocal LCH. Disclosures Bennani: Seattle Genetics: Other: Advisory board; Adicet Bio: Other: Advisory board; Adicet Bio: Other: Advisory board; Adicet Bio: Other: Advisory board; Kite Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Kite Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Kite Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Seattle Genetics: Other: Advisory board; Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Seattle Genetics: Other: Advisory board; Purdue Pharma: Other: Advisory board; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding. Vassallo:Sun Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Sun Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Research Funding.
PD-1 Overexpression in Richter's Transformation (RT) and Aggressive Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) after Progression on Ibrutinib Increases Bcl-2 Expression Via Akt/mTOR Pathway
Abstract Introduction: Given the established role of PD-1 in mediating immune suppression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), we tested and reported the efficacy of PD-1 blocking antibody pembrolizumab in relapsed and transformed CLL patients. A selective response of pembrolizumab (~40%) in patients with RT, particularly after prior ibrutinib, was observed (Ding, Blood, 129:3419). Correlative analysis showed PD-1 expression in tumor B-cells of patients with RT and aggressive CLL after progression on ibrutinib. PD-1, an inhibitory receptor expressed on CLL T-cells, inhibits the immune synapse and cytotoxic T cell functions via the interactions with its ligands. However, the expression pattern and role of PD-1 in tumor B-cells is not well defined. In this study we investigated the functional implication of the PD-1 signaling axis in B-cell pathobiology in CLL and RT patients. Methods: 26 CLL-involved lymph node (LN) and 20 RT-involved LN were tested for PD-1 expression by immunohistochemistry (mouse clone NAT105, Abcam). For in vitro study, we checked PD-1 expression in 11 lymphoma cell lines and 1 CLL cell line by both flow cytometry and Western blot (WB) analysis. Effect of PD-1 knockdown using CRISPR/Cas9 system (Addgene) and over-expression of PD-1 using pLEX-lentiviral (Thermoscientific) or pRetro-retroviral (Clonetech) system were evaluated on pro-survival and apoptotic signaling pathways by Western blot analysis. Gene expression signatures in CLL and RT patients were also evaluated by Illumina-based RNA sequencing using FFPE-nodal tissue obtained by clinical biopsy (Tempus Labs; Chicago, IL). Results: The expression of PD-1 was significantly increased in RT-LN compared to CLL-LN. (mean ± SEM in RT vs. CLL, 30.6 ± 4.7 vs. 11.5 ± 2.8, p < 0.001). PD-1 expression was highest in patients with RT where the immediate prior CLL therapy was ibrutinib (Figure 1A). Among all cell lines tested for PD-1 expression, the expression of PD-1 by WB and flow was highest in Mino (mantle cell lymphoma line), followed by moderate expression in Jvm2 (B-PLL line) and Mec1 (CLL line), and very low-level expression in both Jeko-1 (B-NHL line) and lymphoma line 'Karpas299'. CRISPR/Cas9 mediated depletion of PD-1 in Mino cells inhibited constitutively active Akt, p70S6K and mTOR pathway, accompanied by significant downregulation of the anti-apoptotic proteins, Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and XIAP, but P-ERK1/2 was not affected. Constitutive lentiviral (pLEX-PD-1)-mediated overexpression of PD-1 in Jeko-1 and doxycycline regulated inducible retroviral (pRetro-PD-1) mediated overexpression of PD-1 in Karpas299 activated Akt, mTOR and p70S6K pathway. Overexpression of PD-1 in Jeko-1 significantly increased Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 and in Karpas299 increased Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and XIAP expression (Figure 1B). A parallel genetic analysis using RNA sequencing was performed on 5 nodal tissues involved by either RT or progressive CLL after these patients developed clinical progression after prior ibrutinib therapy. In all 5 patients, overexpression of PD-1 was associated with increased expression of Bcl-2 and mTOR regardless of the genetic mutations detected (including TP53, ATM, BTK, NOTCH1, XPO1, SF3B1, TET2 etc). However, in 2 patients who received prior chemoimmunotherapy, similar overexpression of gene signature was not observed by RNA sequencing analysis, alternative pathways including Met or NFkB overexpression was detected. Given these clinical and laboratory findings, we have treated 2 RT patients with a combination of BTK and Bcl-2 inhibitors (ibrutinib and venetoclax, respectively) whose CLL transformed after prior ibrutinib. Significant reduction of tumor burden was observed in both cases with one complete response and one mixed response. Conclusion: An increased expression of PD-1, Akt/mTOR and Bcl-2 gene signature was first observed in RT patients after prior ibrutinib therapy. PD-1 overexpression in the tumor B-cells of RT and progressive CLL patients likely regulate AKT/mtOR to upregulate Bcl-2. Targeting both BTK and Bcl-2 pathways in addition to PD-1 blockade appear to be a promising strategy to treat these aggressive diseases. Disclosures Parikh: Gilead: Honoraria; Janssen: Research Funding; Abbvie: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria, Research Funding; MorphoSys: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria, Research Funding. Kenderian:Novartis: Patents & Royalties; Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Humanigen: Research Funding. Ansell:Takeda: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Affimed: Research Funding; Celldex: Research Funding; Merck & Co: Research Funding; Regeneron: Research Funding; LAM Therapeutics: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding. Kay:Infinity Pharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Acerta: Research Funding; Agios Pharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Cytomx Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Morpho-sys: 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; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Ding:Merck: Research Funding.
Tumor Mutational Burden and Other Immunotherapy Markers in Histiocytic Neoplasms Using Next Generation Sequencing
Abstract Introduction Histiocytic neoplasms are rare hematological malignancies that have protean clinical manifestations and can pose significant management challenges. Recently, vemurafenib was approved by the US-FDA for treatment of BRAF-V600-mutant Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD). However, there is a lack of FDA-approved therapies for other histiocytic neoplasms such as Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD). Over the last 5 years, immune checkpoint inhibitors such as programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors have shown significant improvement in outcomes among patients with several hematological and solid organ malignancies. In order to identify appropriate treatment candidates for these therapies, predictive biomarkers have been developed in various cancers. Evidence from solid tumors has suggested a favorable response to checkpoint inhibitor therapy with higher tumor mutational burden (TMB), defined as the number of mutations within a tumor genome. Next generation sequencing (NGS) of various tumors has shown an association between TMB of < 5 mutations/megabase (mut/Mb) to be associated with an absence of benefit from checkpoint inhibitors. In addition, high levels of PD-1/PD-L1 expression and microsatellite instability (MSI) are also correlated with response to therapy. The latter may be a result of somatic or germline alterations in DNA mismatch repair genes. In this study, we report the results for these biomarkers using NGS in patients with histiocytic neoplasms. Methods We utilized TempusTM NGS platform to analyze the tissue specimen of patients with histiocytic neoplasm. The Tempus xO Assay (Tempus Labs; Chicago, IL) combines a 1,711 gene targeted somatic and germline DNA sequencing panel with RNA-sequencing to detect both germline and somatic single nucleotide polymorphisms, indels, copy number variants, and gene rearrangements causing chimeric mRNA transcript expression in a wide array of solid tumor types. The assay utilizes formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples and matched blood samples. TMB was calculated and reported as somatic mutations in tumor tissue per million base-pairs or mut/Mb. RNA sequencing was utilized to assess for PD-L1 and PD-1 gene expressions as compared to matched tumor and normal reference sets. Both PD-L1 and PD-1 gene expressions were reported as percentiles. DNA mismatch repair status was predicted by analysis of alterations in five common mismatch repair genes in somatic and germline DNA (MSH2, MSH6, MLH1, PMS2, and EPCAM). If there were no alterations identified in these genes, the mismatch repair status was predicted as microsatellite stable (MSS). Results A total of 13 patients with histiocytic neoplasms were included in the study. The distribution of individual histiocytic neoplasms was as follows: RDD (n=9), ECD (n=3), and LCH (n=1). The median TMB for RDD and ECD patients was 0.17 mut/Mb. For the one patient with LCH, the TMB level was 0.51 mut/Mb. Individual TMB levels are shown in figure 1. PD-L1 and PD-1 expression levels are depicted in table 1. Compared to normal reference sets, the PD-L1 expression was elevated in one patient each with RDD and ECD, and PD-1 expression was elevated in two patients each with RDD and ECD. For both ECD patients with higher PD-1 expression, NGS also showed presence of BRAF-V600E in the tumor tissue. The LCH patient had a low level of PD-L1 and PD-1 expression. For patients where evaluation of DNA mismatch repair was feasible on the tissue specimen (n=4), none showed related somatic or germline alterations. Conclusions In our series, the histiocytic neoplasms RDD, ECD, and LCH demonstrated low levels of TMB. None of the RDD and ECD patients were found to have alterations in DNA mismatch repair genes. Other markers of immunotherapy such as PD-L1/PD-1 expression appeared to be higher in ECD patients with BRAF-V600E, but in only a small subset of RDD patients. The low TMB seen in our study suggests that these histiocytic neoplasms may be less likely to respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 agents as compared to the tumors with high TMB. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Concomitant Erdheim‐Chester disease and chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia: genomic insights into a common clonal origin
British Journal of Haematology | September 2, 2019 | Volume: 187 | Issue: 2 | Pages: No page available
The 2017 World Health Organization update introduced a new category of nodal peripheral T-cell lymphoma with T-follicular helper phenotype (PTCL-TFH) defined by expression of at least 2 or 3 TFH markers. Our study assesses the utility of an immunohistochemical panel of 5 TFH markers (CD10, BCL6, PD-1, CXCL13, and ICOS) for identification of TFH phenotype in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and PTCL not otherwise specified (NOS). Immunohistochemical for the 5 markers was performed on 22 cases of AITL and 29 cases of PTCL-NOS. Cases were reviewed for morphologic features characteristic of AITL. All AITL cases showed expression of ≥2 TFH markers. This panel resulted in reclassification of 41% PTCL-NOS cases to PTCL-TFH. Positive percent agreement for the TFH phenotype is 97% for PD1, 94% for ICOS, 44% for CD10 and CXCL13, and 29% for BCL6. Negative percent agreement for TFH phenotype is 100% for CD10, BCL6, and CXCL13, 82% for ICOS and 71% for PD1. AITL cases were more likely than PTCL-TFH cases to contain expanded CD21-positive follicular dendritic cell meshworks, clear cell cytology and polymorphous inflammatory background; however, there was a significant (P<0.005) Kruskal-Wallis trend in all morphologic variables between the 3 groups suggesting a continuum from PTCL-NOS to PTCL-TFH to AITL. The median number of morphologic features of AITL also correlated significantly with number of TFH markers positive (Spearman coefficient ρ=0.759). In summary, the stain panel chosen will have an impact on cases classified as PTCL-TFH. This entity may exist along a spectrum between PTCL-NOS and AITL.
Erdheim–Chester disease: expanding the spectrum of cutaneous manifestations
British Journal of Dermatology | May 23, 2019 | Volume: 182 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 405-409