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Abstract Background DLBCL is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Approximately 50% of DLBCL patients are over age 65. Patterns of care and outcomes in older patients receiving second-line therapy for DLBCL have not been well-characterized. Objective We analyzed patterns of care, overall survival and costs of care in a cohort of older DLBCL patients receiving second-line therapy. Methods Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database, we identified a cohort age ≥66 with DLBCL diagnosed between 2000 and 2007. Patients had to receive first-line therapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or a CHOP-like regimen, with or without rituximab. Second-line treatment was defined as either (a) ≥1 new agents < 90 days after discontinuing all first-line agents (refractory disease), or (b) ≥1 agents (including first-line agents) ≥90 days after completion of first-line therapy (relapsed disease). Rituximab monotherapy was excluded (n=736). Patients were enrolled from 12 months prior to diagnosis and followed through 12/31/2009. Observation ended at death, change from coverage, or 12/31/2009. We reviewed the therapies of each patient and classified them into 1 of 3 groups: aggressive, conventional, or palliative. Direct costs to Medicare were calculated using paid amounts over the 24-month period after initiating second-line therapy, weighted to account for censoring, and inflated to 2009 US dollars. Results There were 5,716 first-line DLBCL patients of whom 632 (11%) received second-line therapy (206 refractory and 426 relapsed). The most common aggressive regimens were methotrexate (n=60), [carboplatin, cyclophosphamide and etoposide (n=54)] and [cisplatin, cytarabine, and etoposide (n=23)]. The most common conventional regimens were [cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine (n=74)], [cyclophosphamide and etoposide (n=31)]. The most common palliative regimens were etoposide (n=68), [cyclophosphamide and vincristine (n=56)], fludarabine (n=26), and gemcitabine (n=25). Median survival was 13.4 months. Overall, survival was not statistically significantly different among the different treatment approaches in multivariate-adjusted survival models. However, patient characteristics differed significantly between these treatment groups with patients receiving aggressive treatment being younger than in the palliative treatment group (>80 years: 9.1% vs 30.6%; p<0.0001). Similarly refractory patients were more frequent in the aggressive vs. conventional treatment group (53.4% vs. 11.3%; p<0.0001). Significant factors affecting survival included female gender (hazard ratio [HR] 0.65, 95% CI 0.53-0.80), absence of B symptoms at diagnosis (HR 0.69, 95% CI 0.53-0.89), and presence of anemia at diagnosis (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.02-1.55. Multivariate adjusted, cumulative 24-month costs for the reference group for all model variables was $117,442 (95% CI $78,270 to $156,615). Significant factors that modified this cost were age 75-79 (relative to age 66-69; $-28,860), age ≥80 ($-42,262), extranodal involvement at diagnosis ($-15,421), and anemia at diagnosis ($+23,047). Conclusions Second-line therapy for refractory and relapsed DLBCL was associated with high mortality and costs in the Medicare population. While selection bias limits comparison of aggressive vs. conventional therapies, our findings suggest a substantial unmet need in the second-line setting. Disclosures: Danese: Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Medimmune: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Griffiths:Amgen, Inc.: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; MedImmune: Consultancy, Research Funding. Gleeson:Amgen, Inc.: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; MedImmune: Consultancy, Research Funding. Dalvi:Medimmune: Employment, stock Other. Li:Medimmune: Employment, stock Other. Deeter:Medimmune: Consultancy, Employment, stock Other.

Abstract Background: Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most common nodal lymphoma worldwide and remains incurable for most patients (pts). FL is recognized to be a highly heterogeneous disease and a subset of pts experience remarkable poor outcome. In a recent study, 19-26% of pts receiving first-line R-CHOP experienced progression of disease (POD) within 24 months after diagnosis and had a 5-year (yr) overall survival (OS) of only 34-50%, as compared to a 5-yr OS of 90-94% for pts without POD within 24 months (Casulo et al., J Clin Oncol 2015). Consequently, event-free survival at 12 (EFS12) and 24 months (EFS24) have been suggested as novel surrogate endpoints for poor overall survival in clinical trials and useful for patient counseling (Maurer et al., ASH 2014). We have previously shown that a clinicogenetic risk model (m7-FLIPI) that includes the mutation status of seven genes (EZH2, ARID1A, MEF2B, EP300, FOXO1, CREBBP, and CARD11), the FL International Prognostic Index (FLIPI), and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, improves risk stratification for failure-free survival (FFS) and OS in pts with FL receiving first-line immunochemotherapy (Pastore et al., Lancet Oncology 2015). An online tool is available at: http://www.glsg.de/m7-flipi. It would be advantageous to determine prognosis prior to front-line therapy rather than after POD. Thus, we aimed to investigate the predictive utility of the m7-FLIPI for early POD. Patients and Methods: Clinical and mutation data were available from two independent cohorts: 151 pts who received R-CHOP and IFN maintenance as part of a randomized trial of the German Low-Grade Lymphoma Study Group (GLSG), and 107 pts from a population-based registry of the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) who received R-CVP. Among the latter, 93 (87%) received R-maintenance by intention to treat. All pts had symptomatic, advanced stage or bulky disease considered ineligible for curative radiotherapy, and a biopsy specimen obtained </=12 months prior to the initiation of first-line therapy. POD was defined as progression, relapse, or death due to any cause. POD12 and POD24 were defined based on POD status at 12 and 24 months after therapy initiation, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess if m7-FLIPI was predictive of early POD using the statistical software R (version 3.1.2). Results: In the GLSG cohort, median age was 57 yrs (range 27-77), 51% had high-risk FLIPI, and 5-yr failure-free survival (FFS) and OS rates were 66% and 83%, respectively (median follow-up for OS 7.7 yrs). In the BCCA cohort, median age was higher (62 yrs, 37-83), but high-risk FLIPI was similarly frequent (50%); 5-yr FFS and OS rates were 58% and 74%, respectively (median follow-up for OS 6.7 yrs). A total of 43 GLSG (28%) and 24 BCCA pts (22%) were classified as high-risk by m7-FLIPI, with a 5-yr OS of 65% and 42%, respectively. In the GLSG cohort, 8 (5%) and 29 pts (19%) had POD within 12 and 24 months, respectively, 4 and 10 pts were censored before POD12 and POD24 (table). High-risk m7-FLIPI pts were significantly more likely to experience early POD with an Odds Ratio (OR) of 20.80 (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.53-395.96; p=0.0052) for POD12 and 6.33 (95% CI 2.67-15.69; p<0.0001) for POD24. Likewise, in the BCCA cohort, 16 (15%) and 28 pts (26%) experienced POD12 and POD24, respectively (table). The OR for high-risk m7-FLIPI pts was 4.69 (95% CI 1.52-14.65; p=0.0068) for POD12, and 5.36 (95% CI 2.03-14.60; p=0.0008) for POD24. In the GLSG and BCCA cohorts, the m7-FLIPI had a sensitivity of 88% and 50%, a specificity of 75% and 82%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 16 and 33%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 96% and 90% to predict POD12. For POD24, sensitivity was 62% and 46%, specificity 79% and 86%, PPV 42% and 54%, and NPV 82% and 82%, respectively. Conclusion: We conclude that patients classified as high-risk m7-FLIPI are highly enriched among those with early progression of disease. However, approximately one-half of patients with progression by 24 months after therapy initiation are classified as low-risk m7-FLIPI. Thus, further efforts are needed to refine the m7-FLIPI and thereby capture additional cases that may benefit from innovative first-line approaches. Table. Population m7-FLIPI N POD12 POD24 GLSG Total 151 8/147* 29/141* High-risk 43 7 18 Low-risk 108 1 11 BCCA Total 107 16/107 28/107 High-risk 24 8 13 Low-risk 83 8 15 *Pts censored were removed Disclosures Ansell: Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Celldex: Research Funding.

SummaryIbrutinib, a Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is approved for treatment of various B‐cell malignancies. In ibrutinib clinical studies, low‐grade haemorrhage was common, whereas major haemorrhage (MH) was infrequent. We analysed the incidence of and risk factors for MH from 15 ibrutinib clinical studies (N = 1768), including 4 randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Rates of any‐grade bleeding were similar for single‐agent ibrutinib and ibrutinib combinations (39% and 40%). Low‐grade bleeding was more common in ibrutinib‐treated than comparator‐treated patients (35% and 15%), and early low‐grade bleeding was not associated with MH. The proportion of MH in RCTs was higher with ibrutinib than comparators (4.4% vs. 2.8%), but after adjusting for longer exposure with ibrutinib (median 13 months vs. 6 months), the incidence of MH was similar (3.2 vs. 3.1 per 1000 person‐months). MH led to treatment discontinuation in 1% of all ibrutinib‐treated patients. Use of anticoagulants and/or antiplatelets (AC/AP) during the study was common (~50% of patients) and had an increased exposure‐adjusted relative risk for MH in both the total ibrutinib‐treated population (1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.2–3.0) and RCT comparator‐treated patients (2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.0–5.6), indicating that ibrutinib may not alter the effect of AC/AP on the risk of MH in B‐cell malignancies.

SummaryMantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is still considered incurable and the course of the disease is highly variable. Established risk factors include the Mantle Cell Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (MIPI) and the quantification of the proliferation rate of the tumour cells, e.g. by Ki‐67 immunohistochemistry. In this study, we aimed to validate the prognostic value of the gene expression‐based MCL35 proliferation assay in patient cohorts from randomized trials of the European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Network. Using this assay, we analysed the gene expression proliferation signature in routine diagnostic lymph node specimens from MCL Younger and MCL Elderly trial patients, and the calculated MCL35 score was used to assign MCL patients to low (61%), standard (27%) or high (12%) risk groups with significantly different outcomes. We confirm here in our prospective clinical trial cohort of MCL patients, that the MCL35 assay is strongly prognostic, providing additional information to the Ki‐67 index and the MIPI. Thus, this robust assay may assist in making treatment decisions or in devising risk‐adapted prospective clinical trials in the future.

Key Points The posttreatment end point progression of FL within 24 months (POD24) is strongly associated with OS. A pretreatment clinicogenetic risk model (m7-FLIPI) predicts POD24 and OS and identifies the smallest subgroup with highest unmet need.

Abstract BAFF and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), which control B cell homeostasis, are therapeutic targets in autoimmune diseases. TACI-Fc (atacicept), a soluble fusion protein containing the extracellular domain of the BAFF–APRIL receptor TACI, was applied in clinical trials. However, disease activity in multiple sclerosis unexpectedly increased, whereas in systemic lupus erythematosus, atacicept was beneficial. In this study, we show that an endogenous soluble TACI (sTACI) exists in vivo. TACI proteolysis involved shedding by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 releasing sTACI from activated B cells. The membrane-bound stub was subsequently cleaved by γ-secretase reducing ligand-independent signaling of the remaining C-terminal fragment. The shed ectodomain assembled ligand independently in a homotypic way. It functioned as a decoy receptor inhibiting BAFF- and APRIL-mediated B cell survival and NF-κB activation. We determined sTACI levels in autoimmune diseases with established hyperactivation of the BAFF–APRIL system. sTACI levels were elevated both in the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain-restricted autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis correlating with intrathecal IgG production, as well as in the serum of the systemic autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus correlating with disease activity. Together, we show that TACI is sequentially processed by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 and γ-secretase. The released sTACI is an immunoregulator that shares decoy functions with atacicept. It reflects systemic and compartmentalized B cell accumulation and activation.

Abstract Clinical trials have demonstrated that rituximab improves overall survival in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), except in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). We used Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)–Medicare data to compare survival in older MCL patients who began chemotherapy with or without rituximab within 180 days of diagnosis. Patients were followed from diagnosis (January 1999 to December 2005) until death or the end of observation (December 2007). Medicare administrative and claims data were used to identify the date and cause of death and the immunochemotherapy regimen. Of 638 patients, the mean age at diagnosis was 75 years, 75% had stage III/IV disease, 67% had extranodal involvement, and 64% received rituximab. The average length of first-line treatment was 21 weeks, with no difference between the 2 groups (P = .76). Median survival was 27 months for chemotherapy alone, compared with 37 months for chemotherapy plus rituximab (P < .001). In multivariate analysis of 2-year survival, rituximab plus chemotherapy was associated with lower all-cause (hazard ratio [HR] 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.41-0.82; P < .01), and cancer-specific (HR 0.56; 95% CI 0.37-0.84; P < .01) mortality. Results were similar when using the entire observation period, propensity score analysis, and limiting chemotherapy to CHOP/CHOP-like. We conclude that first-line chemotherapy including rituximab is associated with significantly improved survival in older patients diagnosed with MCL.