List, Alan F.

Abstract Background: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are hematological disorders characterized by chronic anemia, and are often refractory to cytokine therapy. Two phase 2 studies evaluating lenalidomide in MDS (MDS-001 and MDS-003), demonstrated a high frequency of erythroid response in patients with a chromosome 5q31 deletion (List AF et al., N Eng J Med2005; 352:549–557 and List AF et al., in press). Herein we report on the durability of response with long term follow-up approaching 4 years. Methods: All enrolled subjects were evaluated for frequency and duration of red blood cell transfusion independence (RBC-TI), change in hemoglobin (Hgb), pathologic and cytogenetic response, and safety. Results: Ten 5q31- patients achieved a cytogenetic and/or major erythroid response in MDS-001. Four of these patients have maintained a major response for at least 2 years (range 2.2 to 3.7 years). In MDS-003, 99 (67%) of 148 enrolled patients achieved RBC-TI. Of the 99 responders 83 were Low/Int-1, 3 were Int-2/High and 13 were not classified. Median increase in Hgb from baseline to maximum achieved during RBC-TI was 5.4 g/dL (range 1.1, 11.4). The estimated median duration of response was 115.9 weeks, and 52 (53%) of 99 responders remain on study with ongoing RBC-TI response as of 30 June 2006. Duration of response was at least 52 weeks for 63 (64%), 78 weeks for 52 (53%), and 104 weeks for 36 (36%) of 99 responding patients. Variables (or co-variates) associated with longer duration of TI in multivariate analysis included low baseline transfusion requirement (<4 units per 8 wks, p=0.002), 5q- syndrome (p=0.01) and low IPSS (p=0.02) classifications. Among 85 evaluable patients, major cytogenetic responses were achieved in 37 (44%) and minor responses in 24 (28%). Cytogenetic responses occurred in patients with complex karyotypes as well as those with an isolated 5q31 deletion. The frequencies of major and minor cytogenetic responses were similar among patients with and without 5q- syndrome. The most common drug-related adverse events (AE) were Grade 3/4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, reported in 87 (59%) and 74 (50%) of 148 patients, respectively although hematologic AEs led to study discontinuation in only 13 (9%) of patients. Pneumonia was the only serious adverse event that occurred in >10% of patients (15/148; 10%). Adverse events were manageable through supportive treatment and dose reduction. Conclusion: Lenalidomide is an effective treatment in MDS patients with an associated chromosome 5q31 deletion, with RBC-TI and major erythroid response maintained for median duration > 2 years.

Abstract Background: Higher-risk MDS and CMML comprise a spectrum of disorders associated with cytopenias, high risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and truncated survival. Initial treatment with a hypomethylating agent such as azacitidine (AZA) is considered standard of care. Whether addition of the histone deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat (VOR), which acts synergistically with AZA to reactivate epigenetically silenced genes, or addition of lenalidomide (LEN), which impacts the bone marrow microenvironment, improves response rates compared to AZA monotherapy is unknown. Methods: This Phase II study (ClinTrials.gov # NCT01522976) randomized higher-risk MDS (International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) Int-2 or High and/or bone marrow blasts >5%) and CMML patients (pts) with <20% blasts to receive AZA (75 mg/m2/d on d1-7 of a 28d cycle), AZA + LEN (10 mg/d on d1-21), or AZA + VOR (300 mg BID on d3-9). Eligibility criteria included: >18 years (yrs), no previous allogeneic transplant, no prior treatment with any of the study drugs, and adequate organ function; therapy-related (t)MDS was allowed. Pts continued treatment until disease progression, relapse, unacceptable toxicity, or lack of response. Dose reductions occurred for unresolved grade >3 adverse events (per NCI CTCAE) or delayed count recovery. The primary endpoint was improvement in overall response rate (ORR), by intention to treat and reviewed centrally, of one of the combination arms vs. AZA monotherapy per 2006 International Working Group MDS response criteria (complete response (CR) + partial response (PR) + hematologic improvement (HI)). Relapse-free survival (RFS) was from time of response. The study had 81% power to detect a 20% improvement in ORR from 35% to 55%. Results: Of 282 pts enrolled from 3/12–6/14, 276 are included in analyses (6 ineligible pts excluded): 92 on the AZA arm, 93 on AZA+LEN, and 91 on AZA+VOR. Baseline characteristics were well-balanced across arms (Table). Pts received a median of 23 weeks of therapy: 25 of AZA; 24 of AZA+LEN; and 20 of AZA+VOR and were followed for a median of 9 months (range: 0-26). Numbers of pts with notable adverse events >grade 3 for AZA:AZA+LEN:AZA+VOR included febrile neutropenia (10:13:13); gastrointestinal disorders (4:11:23); infections (2:3:3); and rash (2:12:1). Responses were assessable in 260 pts (94%). ORR for the entire cohort was 33%: 19% CR, 1% PR, and 13% HI, with a median RFS of 7 months. ORR was similar across study arms: 36% for AZA, 37% for AZA+LEN (p=1.0 vs. AZA), and 22% for AZA+VOR (p=.07 vs. AZA). CR/PR/HI rates across arms were also similar: 23%/0%/13% for AZA; 18%/1%/17% for AZA+LEN (CR p=.47 vs. AZA); and 14%/1%/7% for AZA+VOR (CR p=.18 vs. AZA); rates of bone marrow exams to assess response were 76%, 67%, and 73%, respectively. HI-P/HI-E/HI-N rates were 21%/15%/5% for AZA, 26%/14%/15% for AZA+LEN, and 12%/8%/4% for AZA+VOR. HI-N rates were higher in AZA+LEN vs. AZA (p=.05) but otherwise were similar across arms. Median time to best response across arms was 15 weeks in AZA, 16 weeks in AZA+LEN, and 16 weeks in AZA+VOR. ORR did not vary significantly across arms in subgroup analyses for tMDS, baseline red blood cell (RBC) transfusion dependence, and by IPSS risk group. ORR for CMML pts for AZA:AZA+LEN:AZA+VOR was 33%:53%(p=.15 vs. AZA):12%(p=.41 vs. AZA). Allogeneic transplantation rates were: 7 pts on AZA, 6 on AZA+LEN, and 9 on AZA+VOR. For AZA:AZA+LEN:AZA+VOR, median RFS was: 6:8:11 months (log-rank p=.3 for combination arms vs. AZA, Figure); and for pts on therapy >6 months, it was 7:7.5:13 months (log-rank p=.11 for AZA+VOR, .74 for AZA+LEN vs. AZA). Conclusions: In higher-risk MDS pts, ORR was similar for AZA monotherapy compared to AZA-containing combination arms, though some subgroups may have benefitted from combination therapy. Differences in types of response may have resulted from differential rates of follow-up bone marrow assessments. While a non-significant signal of a DFS advantage for combination therapy was observed, longer-term outcome data are being assessed. Table Table. Figure Figure. Disclosures Sekeres: Boehringer-Ingelheim: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Off Label Use: lenalidomide, vorinostat for higher-risk MDS. List:Celgene Corporation: Consultancy. Gore:Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding. Attar:Celgene: Consultancy. Erba:Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda Pharmaceuticals International Co.: Research Funding; Astellas Pharma: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau.

Abstract Introduction: CMML is a heterogeneous malignancy characterized by peripheral monocytosis and a propensity for AML transformation. Given the low incidence of CMML and its broad range complexity, a large disease-specific data set is necessary to discern independent co-variates predictive of disease behavior. Several prognostic models derived from smaller data sets have been developed to stratify CMML patients into distinct groups that are predictive for OS. However, the validity of these models in a large international data set has never been investigated. Here, we present the largest International CMML data base established to date and report key baseline characteristics predictive for disease outcome. We externally validate and perform a detailed statistical comparison between the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), Revised (R)-IPSS, Global MD Anderson Scoring System (MDASC), MD Anderson Prognostic Score (MDAPS), Dusseldorf Score (DS), Mayo, and Spanish Scoring Systems (CPSS). Methods: Data were abstracted by each contributing institution and deposited for central data review at the Moffitt Cancer Center. Manual review of cases was performed to ensure data quality prior to analysis. Only WHO defined CMML was included. The primary objective of this study was to establish an international CMML data set and validate the above models calculated at the time of presentation to each center. All prognostic models were calculated as previously described. The Kaplan–Meier (KM) method was used to estimate median OS and the log rank test was used to compare KM survival estimates with SPSS version 21.0. Random Forest Survival (RSF) and ROC analysis was done with R. Results: Between July 1981 and June 2014, 1832 CMML patients were captured in the International CMML database. Median age at diagnosis was 70 (16-93) years with a male (67%) predominance. By the WHO classification, the majority of patients had CMML-1 (79.9% vs. 20.1%) and most patients were evenly subcategorized as MPN-CMML (49.8%) versus MDS-CMML (50.2%) by FAB criteria. Splenomegaly was demonstrable in 25%. Most patients had favorable cytogenetics by both IPSS (70%) and CPSS (67.6%) classification schemas. Mean BM blast % was 5.6 and mean monocyte count was 4.85x103/dL. Median OS of the entire data set was 31.6 months. All tested prognostic models were valid and able to predict OS (p<0.0001). To compare relative model performance, 1013 complete cases with sufficient data to calculate all risk models were compared using time dependent receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and their area under the curves (AUC). ROC curves were calculated for OS at 36 months. The R-IPSS model had the highest AUC (0.694) while the DS model had the lowest (0.635). The difference in AUC between the R-IPSS and DS models was statistically significant (p = 0.003) whereas there was no significant difference from other models tested. To determine which models were most vulnerable to reclassification from low-risk to higher risk, we calculated a vulnerability score defined by the number of models able to up-stage low-risk disease in more than 15% of cases. Using this metric, the Mayo and MDASC scores were least vulnerable to up-staging by other models. Lastly, we used an orthogonal method for determination of variable importance (RSF for OS at 36 months). RSF is an ensemble method of classification and regression tree methodology. Ranking of variables by their weighted importance determined by this procedure identified the top five variables were hemoglobin, circulating blasts, platelet count, number of cytopenias, and karyotype. A new risk model was developed using the results of the RSF with an AUC of 0.720, which was comparable but not significantly different than other modern scoring systems. Conclusions: This represents the largest international CMML-specific data set derived from eight unique centers of excellence. All modern prognostic models were valid and performed comparably. Despite novel strategies for variable importance discovery, an improved model could not be constructed. This data suggest that the power of clinical variables has reached an asymptote and highlights the need for incorporation of molecular and other novel biological features. This data set is currently being populated with molecular data and is being leveraged to test published CMML molecular prognostic models which will be disclosed at the time of presentation. Disclosures Garcia-Manero: Epizyme, Inc: Research Funding. Fenaux:Celgene, Janssenm, Novartis: Research Funding. Kantarjian:ARIAD, Pfizer, Amgen: Research Funding. Sekeres:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen Corp: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Boehringer-Ingelheim Corp: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Abstract Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are hematologically diverse stem cell malignancies sharing phenotypic features of both myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms. There are currently no standard treatment recommendations for most adult patients with MDS/MPN. To optimize efforts to improve the management and disease outcomes, it is essential to identify meaningful clinical and biologic end points and standardized response criteria for clinical trials. The dual dysplastic and proliferative features in these stem cell malignancies define their uniqueness and challenges. We propose response assessment guidelines to harmonize future clinical trials with the principal objective of establishing suitable treatment algorithms. An international panel comprising laboratory and clinical experts in MDS/MPN was established involving 3 independent academic MDS/MPN workshops (March 2013, December 2013, and June 2014). These recommendations are the result of this collaborative project sponsored by the MDS Foundation.

Lenalidomide is the first karyotype-selective therapeutic approved for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) owing to high rates of erythroid and cytogenetic response in patients with chromosome 5q deletion [del(5q)]. Although haploinsufficiency for the RPS14 gene and others encoded within the common deleted region (CDR) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the del(5q) phenotype, the molecular basis of the karyotype specificity of lenalidomide remains unexplained. We focused our analysis on possible haplodeficient enzymatic targets encoded within the CDR that play key roles in cell-cycle regulation. We show that the dual specificity phosphatases, Cdc25C and PP2Acα, which are coregulators of the G 2 -M checkpoint, are inhibited by lenalidomide. Gene expression was lower in MDS and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) specimens with del(5q) compared with those with alternate karyotypes. Lenalidomide inhibited phosphatase activity either directly (Cdc25C) or indirectly (PP2A) with corresponding retention of inhibitory phospho-tyrosine residues. Treatment of del(5q) AML cells with lenalidomide induced G 2 arrest and apoptosis, whereas there was no effect in nondel(5q) AML cells. Small interfering RNA (shRNA) suppression of Cdc25C and PP2Ac α gene expression recapitulated del(5q) susceptibility to lenalidomide with induction of G 2 arrest and apoptosis in both U937 and primary nondel(5q) MDS cells. These data establish a role for allelic haplodeficiency of the lenalidomide inhibitable Cdc25C and PP2Acα phosphatases in the selective drug sensitivity of del(5q) MDS.

Lenalidomide is approved for red blood cell (RBC) transfusion-dependent anemia due to low or intermediate-1 (int-1) risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) associated with a chromosome 5q deletion with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. We report results of a multicenter, phase 2 trial evaluating lenalidomide therapy for transfusion-dependent patients with low- or int-1–risk MDS without deletion 5q. Eligible patients had 50 000/mm3 or more platelets and required 2 U or more RBCs within the previous 8 weeks; 214 patients received 10 mg oral lenalidomide daily or 10 mg on days 1 to 21 of a 28-day cycle. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events were neutropenia (30%) and thrombocytopenia (25%). Using an intention-to-treat analysis, 56 (26%) patients achieved transfusion independence (TI) after a median of 4.8 weeks of treatment with a median duration of TI of 41.0 weeks. In patients who achieved TI, the median rise in hemoglobin was 32 g/L (3.2 g/dL; range, 10-98 g/L [1.0-9.8 g/dL]) from baseline. A 50% or greater reduction in transfusion requirement occurred in 37 additional patients, yielding a 43% overall rate of hematologic improvement (TI response +‖≥ 50% reduction in transfusion requirement). Lenalidomide has clinically meaningful activity in transfusion-dependent patients with low- or int-1–risk MDS who lack the deletion 5q karyotypic abnormality. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as no. NCT00064974.

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy and safety of arsenic trioxide monotherapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Patients and Methods Patients received arsenic trioxide (0.25 mg/kg/d) on 5 consecutive days per week for 2 weeks, followed by 2 weeks’ rest (one cycle). Two patient cohorts were established according to International Prognostic Scoring System risk category: lower-risk (low or intermediate-1) or higher-risk MDS (intermediate-2 or high). For lower-risk MDS, hematologic improvement (HI) was the primary response end point. For higher-risk MDS, additional end points included complete or partial remission. Based on the expected time to response, patients receiving two or more cycles were prospectively evaluated. Results Hematologic adverse events included neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and febrile neutropenia. Two patients died during the study due to treatment-related toxicities. Most common grade 3/4 nonhematologic events were pneumonia, fatigue, hemorrhage, pain, and dyspnea. Among patients who received one or more doses (n = 70) or completed two or more cycles (n = 51), the HI rates were 34% and 39% in lower-risk patients, and 6% and 9% in higher-risk patients, respectively; the overall major HI rates were 20% and 22%. One higher-risk patient achieved a complete remission (3%). Major HIs were observed in all hematologic lineages; erythroid responses were the most common. Transfusion independence or reduction by ≥ 50% occurred in 33% of patients dependent on RBC transfusions. The overall median duration of HI was 6.8 months (range, 2 to 40 months). Conclusion Arsenic trioxide monotherapy has moderate activity against MDS, with a manageable adverse effect profile. The further study of arsenic trioxide in MDS, particularly in combination with other agents, is warranted.