Citations

AbstractINTRODUCTIONThe apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) is an established central player in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), with distinct apoE isoforms exerting diverse effects. apoE influences not only amyloid‐beta and tau pathologies but also lipid and energy metabolism, neuroinflammation, cerebral vascular health, and sex‐dependent disease manifestations. Furthermore, ancestral background may significantly impact the link between APOE and AD, underscoring the need for more inclusive research.METHODSIn 2023, the Alzheimer's Association convened multidisciplinary researchers at the “AAIC Advancements: APOE” conference to discuss various topics, including apoE isoforms and their roles in AD pathogenesis, progress in apoE‐targeted therapeutic strategies, updates on disease models and interventions that modulate apoE expression and function.RESULTSThis manuscript presents highlights from the conference and provides an overview of opportunities for further research in the field.DISCUSSIONUnderstanding apoE's multifaceted roles in AD pathogenesis will help develop targeted interventions for AD and advance the field of AD precision medicine.Highlights APOE is a central player in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. APOE exerts a numerous effects throughout the brain on amyloid‐beta, tau, and other pathways. The AAIC Advancements: APOE conference encouraged discussions and collaborations on understanding the role of APOE.

Abstract INTRODUCTION We aimed to evaluate clinical interpretation cutpoints for two plasma phosphorylated tau (p‐tau)217 assays (ALZpath and Lumipulse) as predictors of amyloid status for implementation in clinical practice. METHODS Clinical performance of plasma p‐tau217 against amyloid positron emission tomography status was evaluated in participants with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia ( n = 427). RESULTS Using a one‐cutpoint approach (negative/positive), neither assay achieved ≥ 90% in both sensitivity and specificity. A two‐cutpoint approach yielding 92% sensitivity and 96% specificity provided the desired balance of false positives and false negatives, while categorizing 20% and 39% of results as indeterminate for the Lumipulse and ALZpath assays, respectively. DISCUSSION This study provides a systematic framework for selection of assay‐specific cutpoints for clinical use of plasma p‐tau217 for determination of amyloid status. Our findings suggest that a two‐cutpoint approach may have advantages in optimizing diagnostic accuracy while minimizing potential harm from false positive results. Highlights Phosphorylated tau (p‐tau)217 cutpoints for detection of amyloid pathology were established. A two‐cutpoint approach exhibited the best performance for clinical laboratory use. p‐tau217 assays differed in the percentage of results categorized as intermediate.

Background: Studies that assess cognition prospectively and study in detail anxiety history in the participants’ medical records within the context of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease are limited. Objective: To examine the associations of anxiety and unspecified emotional distress (UED) acquired throughout a person’s life with prospectively collected cognitive outcomes. Methods: Mayo Clinic Study of Aging participants who were cognitively unimpaired at baseline were included. Anxiety and UED data were abstracted from the medical record using the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) resources and were run separately as predictors in our models. The data were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models for the outcomes of incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia and using linear mixed effects models for the outcomes of global and domain specific cognitive z-scores and included key covariates. Results: The study sample ( n = 1,808) had a mean (standard deviation) age of 74.5 (7.3) years and 51.4% were male. Anxiety was associated with increased risk of MCI and dementia and was associated with lower baseline cognitive z-scores and accelerated decline over time in the global, memory, and attention domains. UED was associated with faster decline in all domains except visuospatial but did not show evidence of association with incident cognitive outcomes. These results varied by medication use and timing of anxiety. Conclusions: Anxiety and UED both showed inverse associations with cognition. Utilization of anxiety and UED data from across the life course, as available, from the REP system adds robustness to our results.

Background: Conventional normative samples include individuals with undetected Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology, lowering test sensitivity for cognitive impairment. Objective: We developed Mayo Normative Studies (MNS) norms limited to individuals without elevated amyloid or neurodegeneration (A–N–) for Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT). We compared these MNS A–N– norms in female, male, and total samples to conventional MNS norms with varying levels of demographic adjustments. Methods: The A–N– sample included 1,059 Mayo Clinic Study of Aging cognitively unimpaired (CU) participants living in Olmsted County, MN, who are predominantly non-Hispanic White. Using a regression-based approach correcting for age, sex, and education, we derived fully-adjusted T-score formulas for AVLT variables. We validated these A–N– norms in two independent samples of CU ( n = 261) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/dementia participants ( n = 392) > 55 years of age. Results: Variability associated with age decreased by almost half in the A–N– norm sample relative to the conventional norm sample. Fully-adjusted MNS A–N– norms showed approximately 7– 9% higher sensitivity to MCI/dementia compared to fully-adjusted MNS conventional norms for trials 1– 5 total and sum of trials. Among women, sensitivity to MCI/dementia increased with each normative data refinement. In contrast, age-adjusted conventional MNS norms showed greatest sensitivity to MCI/dementia in men. Conclusions: A–N– norms show some benefits over conventional normative approaches to MCI/dementia sensitivity, especially for women. We recommend using these MNS A–N– norms alongside MNS conventional norms. Future work is needed to determine if normative samples that are not well characterized clinically show greater benefit from biomarker-refined approaches.

Aim: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is a common measure of functional capacity in patients with heart failure (HF). Primary clinical study end points in cardiomyopathy (CM) trials, including transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis with CM (ATTR-CM), are often limited to hospitalization and mortality. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the 6MWT and hospitalization or mortality in CM, including ATTR-CM. Method: A PRISMA-guided systematic literature review was conducted using search terms for CM, 6MWT, hospitalization and mortality. Results: Forty-one studies were identified that reported 6MWT data and hospitalization or mortality data for patients with CM. The data suggest that a greater 6MWT distance is associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization or mortality in CM. Conclusion: The 6MWT is an accepted alternative end point in CM trials, including ATTR-CM.

TPS5118 Background: Novel androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) improve overall survival (OS) in patients (pts) with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) in conjunction with testosterone suppression (TS) relative to TS alone. However, the duration of treatment required to derive clinical benefit is unclear, as is whether continuous treatment is requisite for optimal cancer outcomes. Favorable PSA declines have been associated with prolonged OS in clinical trials testing TS + ARPIs. We thus designed this single-arm Phase 2 trial to test the hypothesis that pts who achieve exceptional response to upfront TS + ARPI can suspend treatment, allowing for T recovery and improvement in quality of life while maintaining favorable clinical outcomes. Methods: Eligible pts had mHSPC by conventional imaging with PSA ≥ 5 ng/ml and T ≥ 150 ng/dl (or not known to have been hypogonadal) prior to starting treatment, have been receiving TS for 540-750 days and ARPI for ≥ 360 days, and have achieved PSA < 0.2 ng/ml (stable or falling for 3 consecutive measurements) with castrate T <50 ng/dl at the time of enrollment. Intermittent ADT for biochemical recurrence prior to mHSPC diagnosis, prior local therapy, prior radiation to metastatic sites, and up to 6 cycles of docetaxel in mHSPC are permitted. Pts who underwent surgical castration, received ARPI prior to mHSPC diagnosis, or are receiving experimental treatment for mHSPC or participating in a clinical trial that does not allow for TS or ARPI interruption are excluded. After enrollment, pts discontinue both TS and ARPI and are followed with PSA and T levels every 3 months, conventional CT/MRI and bone scan at least every 6 months, and FACT-P questionnaire for patient-reported outcomes every 6 months. Treatment re-initiation triggers are PSA increase to ≥ 5 ng/ml, radiographic change (progressive disease per modified RECIST 1.1 on CT/MRI or unconfirmed progressive disease per PCWG3 on bone scan), or symptoms attributable to prostate cancer. Subsequent management is per physician discretion. The primary endpoint is remaining treatment-free with eugonadal T (> 150 mg/dl) 18 months after the start of treatment interruption, with 75 pts to be enrolled to differentiate 18-month treatment free rates of 0.30 (null hypothesis) and 0.45 (alternative hypothesis). Secondary endpoints include time to eugonadal T, duration off treatment, and changes in patient-reported outcomes. Exploratory endpoints include radiographic progression-free survival, time to next treatment, OS, and correlation of tissue- and blood-based biomarkers with clinical endpoints. The study was activated in July 2022 and accrual is ongoing throughout the NCTN. Support: U10CA180821, U10CA180882, UG1CA189823, https://acknowledgments.alliancefound.org , Veracyte Inc. Clinical trial information: NCT05241860 .

5006 Background: The PRESTO trial (NCT03009981) showed that in patients with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy with a PSA doubling time of ≤ 9 months and without evidence of metastatic disease by conventional imaging, intensified androgen receptor blockade for 52 weeks (androgen deprivation therapy [ADT] plus apalutamide [Apa], or ADT plus Apa and abiraterone acetate [Abi] plus prednisone) prolonged PSA progression-free survival compared to ADT alone (Aggarwal et al, JCO 2024). Here we report the HRQOL results. Methods: HRQOL measures included the Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale (HFRDIS), Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC)-26 Sexual domain, PROMIS Fatigue Short Form and EQ-5D-5L, which assesses overall HRQOL in the 504 randomized patients. Published minimally important difference thresholds for these HRQOL measures are: HFRDIS 1.66 points, EPIC Sexual 10-12, PROMIS Fatigue 3-5, and EQ-5D-5L 0.06. General linear mixed modeling was used to estimate between-arm mean differences in HRQOL according to an intent-to-treat approach. Results: Mean changes from baseline to end of treatment (EOT) for each arm and for each HRQOL measure are summarized in Table. No statistically significant mean difference was reported between intensified androgen receptor blockade (Arm B, Arm C) vs ADT alone (Arm A) in any HRQOL measure. Further, numerical differences across arms for all HRQOL measures are below published minimally clinically important difference thresholds. Conclusions: Intensified androgen receptor blockade with Apa or Apa/Abi added to 52 weeks of ADT improves PSA progression-free survival without negatively affecting HRQOL. These HRQOL results add further support to intensification of androgen blockade in patients with high-risk biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. Clinical trial information: NCT03009981 . [Table: see text]

e23554 Background: Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS) is a low-grade neoplasm arising from follicular dendritic cells. Its diagnosis is challenging due to its extreme rarity, and the optimal management remains unknown. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of FDCS patients (pts) seen at Mayo Clinic, MN since 2018. Time to event analyses were done from the time of diagnosis. Results: Ten pts with FDCS were identified (Table). The median age was 60 years (range, 38-76) and 5 were males. Abdominal pain was the most common presenting symptom (30%) followed by constitutional symptoms, shortness of breath, and vision change. In 3 pts, the diagnosis was incidental. The 2 most common primary locations were abdomen/pelvis (50%) and mediastinum (30%). Six pts (60%) presented with advanced disease and 3 (30%) had Castleman’s disease. Most (60%) had advanced disease. Six pts had Epstein-Barr virus in situ hybridization and all tested negative. Seven pts had next generation sequencing and 5 (83%) had genetic alterations detected with CDKN2A/B alterations being most frequent (3 pts, all with advanced disease). The median follow up was 4.3 years (range, 0.2-13.3). In the 4 patients with localized disease, 3 underwent complete surgical excision resulting in complete remissions (CRs). The one who received radiation had a partial remission (PR). The median time to progression after 1st line treatment was 4 months (all with advanced disease). All 3 pts who died had advanced disease and 2 had CDKN2A/B alterations. Conclusions: In FDCS, localized diseases managed by surgical excision with or without radiation can achieve long term remissions. Advanced diseases generally do not respond to multimodality therapy including immunotherapy but can have disease stabilization with variable survival. CDKN2A/B mutations were common and potentially associated with a worse outcome. Better understanding of the impact of the FDCS mutational landscape on prognosis may provide novel approaches to therapy. [Table: see text]