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Abstract Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most frequently diagnosed hematologic cancer, with many patients diagnosed at a later stage in life and typically with comorbidities that often complicate CLL management. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in the United States and is associated with high hospitalization and mortality rates. While the relationship between CLL and AF has been reported, there is limited real-world evidence on the clinical and economic impact of AF in CLL patients. The objectives of this study were to examine the impact of AF on cardiovascular (stroke, bleeding events, heart failure) and economic (costs and healthcare resource utilization [HRU]) outcomes among patients with CLL. Methods: This retrospective observational study used the IBM MarketScan Research Databases in Treatment Pathways that includes at least a 10-million sample of the commercial and Medicare supplemental claims database. Patients who were at least 18 years, diagnosed with CLL (identified by ICD-9/ICD-10) and continuously enrolled from January 2009 to July 2020 were included. CLL patients were followed up for one year after their first CLL diagnosis date to examine the incidence of AF. Cardiovascular outcomes were evaluated as the incidence of stroke, bleeding events, and heart failure among the CLL patients with and without AF. Costs and HRU were assessed following up until 1 year after the first date of AF, stroke, bleeding events, and heart failure. HRU was evaluated for outpatient, emergency room (ER), inpatient, and pharmacy visits, and by length of stay (LOS) for hospitalizations. Costs were evaluated in overall population and by HRU type. Statistical differences in clinical outcomes between patients with and without AF were compared using chi-square tests. The Mann Whitney Wilcoxon test was used to compare the medians for the HRU and cost outcomes. The associations between AF and hospitalizations as well as costs were evaluated by multivariable logistic regression and generalized linear model, respectively. Statistical significance was determined at a P-value of less than 0.05. Results: Among the total of 23,756 newly diagnosed CLL patients (median age 68 years, 57.83% male) included in the study, 11% had AF within 1 year of the CLL diagnosis. CLL patients who had AF were significantly older (median age: 67 vs 82 years) and had more male patients (56.9% vs 65.1%) compared to CLL patients without AF. Significantly higher rates of stroke (12.67% vs. 4.97%), bleeding events (17.45% vs. 8.53%), and heart failure (31.14% vs. 4.70%) were observed in CLL patients with AF than those without (Figure 1). Compared to the CLL cohort without AF, adjusted regression analysis indicated that overall, CLL cohort with AF was twice as likely to be hospitalized (odds ratio [OR]=2.03) and incurred 44% higher total costs (cost ratio [CR]=1.44). Further examining the impact of AF-related cardiovascular outcomes, we observed that CLL patients with AF who developed stroke, bleeding events, and heart failure had statistically significant higher HRU (outpatient, ER, inpatient, and pharmacy visits), longer LOS, and costs (total, outpatient, pharmacy) than CLL patients without AF. After adjusting for demographic and clinical confounders, significantly higher hospitalization rates and costs were also reported in the CLL cohort who had AF with further stroke (OR=2.59; CR=1.36), bleeding events (OR=3.27; CR=2.03), and heart failure (OR=5.47; CR=2.07) compared to the CLL cohort without AF. Conclusions: The findings of this real-world study demonstrated significantly higher hospitalizations, cardiovascular events, and economic burden incurred by CLL patients who had AF than those without. The presence of stroke, bleeding events, heart failure among CLL patients with AF further increased the HRU and costs. This study highlighted the importance of better disease management, more intentional monitoring for AF and improved CLL therapeutics with a lower risk of AF or cardiovascular toxicity to prevent or minimize the incidence of AF in CLL patients. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Mohan: BeiGene, Ltd.: Current Employment. Yang: BeiGene, Ltd.: Current Employment. Liu: BeiGene, Ltd.: Current Employment. Dick: IBM Watson Health: Current Employment. Tang: BeiGene, Ltd.: Current Employment. Chanan-Khan: Ascentage: Research Funding; Alpha2 Pharmaceuticals, NonoDev, Starton: Current holder of stock options in a privately-held company; Cellectar: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Alpha2 Pharmaceuticals: Patents & Royalties: Tabi; Ascentage, Starton, Cellectar, NonoDev, Alpha2 Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BeiGene, Jansen, Ascentage: Honoraria; BieGene, Jansen, Ascentage: Consultancy.

Background: Concern exists that the clinical trial populations differ from respective cancer populations in terms of their age distribution affecting the generalizability of the results, especially in underrepresented minorities. We hypothesized that the clinical trials that do not report race are likely to suffer from a higher degree of age disparity. Methods: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approvals from July 2007 to June 2019 were reviewed to identify oncology approvals, and trials with age details were selected. The outcomes studied were the weighted mean difference in age between the clinical trial population and real-world population for various cancers, the prevalence of race reporting and association of age and race reporting with each other. Results: Of the 261 trials, race was reported in 223 (85.4%) of the trials, while 38 trials (14.6%) had no mention of race. Race reporting improved minimally over time: 29 (85.3%) in 2007–2010 vs. 49 (80.3%) in 2011–2014 vs. 145 (85.4%) during the period 2015–2019 (p-value = 0.41). Age discrepancy between the clinical trial population and the real-world population was higher for studies that did not report race (mean difference −8.8 years (95% CI −12.6 to −5.0 years)) vs. studies that did report it (mean difference −5.1 years, (95% CI −6.4 to −3.7 years), p-value = 0.04). Conclusion: The study demonstrates that a significant number of clinical trials leading to cancer drug approvals suffer from racial and age disparity when compared to real-world populations, and that the two factors may be interrelated. We recommend continued efforts to recruit diverse populations.

PURPOSE Among Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors, acalabrutinib has greater selectivity than ibrutinib, which we hypothesized would improve continuous therapy tolerability. We conducted an open-label, randomized, noninferiority, phase III trial comparing acalabrutinib and ibrutinib in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). METHODS Patients with previously treated CLL with centrally confirmed del(17)(p13.1) or del(11)(q22.3) were randomly assigned to oral acalabrutinib 100 mg twice daily or ibrutinib 420 mg once daily until progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end point was independent review committee–assessed noninferiority of progression-free survival (PFS). RESULTS Overall, 533 patients (acalabrutinib, n = 268; ibrutinib, n = 265) were randomly assigned. At the data cutoff, 124 (46.3%) acalabrutinib patients and 109 (41.1%) ibrutinib patients remained on treatment. After a median follow-up of 40.9 months, acalabrutinib was determined to be noninferior to ibrutinib with a median PFS of 38.4 months in both arms (95% CI acalabrutinib, 33.0 to 38.6 and ibrutinib, 33.0 to 41.6; hazard ratio: 1.00; 95% CI, 0.79 to 1.27). All-grade atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter incidence was significantly lower with acalabrutinib versus ibrutinib (9.4% v 16.0%; P = .02); among other selected secondary end points, grade 3 or higher infections (30.8% v 30.0%) and Richter transformations (3.8% v 4.9%) were comparable between groups and median overall survival was not reached in either arm (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.15), with 63 (23.5%) deaths with acalabrutinib and 73 (27.5%) with ibrutinib. Treatment discontinuations because of adverse events occurred in 14.7% of acalabrutinib-treated patients and 21.3% of ibrutinib-treated patients. CONCLUSION In this first direct comparison of less versus more selective Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors in CLL, acalabrutinib demonstrated noninferior PFS with fewer cardiovascular adverse events.

Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM)/lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) is often differentiated from myeloma based on the presence of lytic bone lesions (LBL). However, WM/LPL can present with LBL and management is poorly understood. We describe a case of an 81-year-old woman with LPL who presented with LBL and was successfully treated with chemoimmunotherapy.

7561 Background: Phospholipid ethers (PLE) provide a novel mechanism to specifically target tumor cells leveraging high lipid raft content in their cell membranes. PLE/phospholipid drug conjugates are specifically designed to have high affinity to lipid rafts which upon binding results in trans-membrane flipping with the ability to deliver an attached warhead directly to the cytosol. CLR 131 (I-131-CLR1404) is a novel PLE molecule armed with I-131 resulting in targeted tumor cell radiotherapy which is being examined in relapsed or refractory WM through an open-label, Phase 2 trial, CLOVER-1 (NCT02952508). Methods: The primary objective of this study is to determine the efficacy and safety of CLR 131 in select B-cell malignancies. Eligibility criteria for WM pts include receipt of at least 2 prior treatment regimens unless ineligible to receive standard agents and have measurable disease: either IgM or extramedullary disease. CLR 131 is administered in up to 4 IV infusions (15-20 min) over 3 months. Adverse events (AEs) are graded by NCI-CTCAE v4.03; responses are assessed by the VIth WM Criteria for Response Assessment [Owen 2013]. Results: 6 pts with WM were enrolled in the study with data current as of 8 Jan 2021. The median age was 69 (range 54-81) with 4 females and 2 males who had a median of 2 prior regimens (range 1-5) and received a mean total body dose of 92.76 mCi CLR 131. 3 of 6 patients were MYD88 wild type (WT) of which 2 were dual WT (MYD88 WT & CXCR4 WT). The overall response rate (ORR) was 100% and the major response rate (MRR) was 83%, including 1 pt with a CR, 4 PR, and 1 MR. For those pts who were dual WT, the MRR was 100% and 1 pt who was MYD88 WT (CXCR4 is unknown) had a complete response. The median time to initial response was 48 days. Median duration of response (DOR) and treatment free remission (TFR) have not been reached; ongoing mean DOR is 335 days and mean TFR is 384 days. 100% of MYD88 WT patients have exceeded 6.5 months of follow up with average TFR of 18.1 months. The primary treatment emergent AEs in pts with WM included fatigue and cytopenias, in line with prior experience with CLR 131 in other B-cell malignancies. The most commonly observed cytopenias included Grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia (100%), neutropenia (83%), anaemia (66%) and decreased white blood cell count (33%). Of note, no cases of bleeding or febrile neutropenia were observed. Conclusions: Initial results for CLR 131 show efficacy across multiple WM patient genotypes including dual WT patients with durable DOR and TFR after 2 to 4 infusions. CLR 131 represents a novel and promising approach to the treatment of MYD88 WT patients who have a historical median time to progression of 1.3 years. These encouraging data led to the pivotal global CLOVER-WaM trial (N=50) in WM patients who have failed or had a suboptimal response to a Bruton Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor. CLOVER-WaM is currently enrolling. Clinical trial information: NCT02952508.

7502 Background: The BCL-2i venetoclax is active in certain HMs but can increase the risk of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), requiring a 5-week dose ramp-up for CLL patients. Cases of severe neutropenia with venetoclax treatment have also been reported. Lisaftoclax is a novel, potent, selective BCL-2i that is active against HMs and is under clinical development. Methods: This first-in-human global phase I dose study assessed the safety, PK, PD, efficacy, and MTD/RP2D of lisaftoclax in patients with R/R CLL and other HMs. Lisaftoclax was orally administered daily in a 28-day cycle. Patients with CLL or intermediate-high TLS risk were initiated on a daily ramp-up schedule until the assigned dose before the study cycles. Results: On January 7, 2021, 35 pts had been enrolled and treated with lisaftoclax at doses ranging from 20 to 1,200 mg, with a median (range) of 2 (1-13) prior lines of treatment, and had diagnoses of R/R CLL or SLL (n = 15), MM (n = 6), FL (n = 5), WM (n = 4), and either AML, MCL, DLBCL, MDS, or HCL (n = 1 each). No DLT has been observed, even though 1,200 mg was considered as the highest dose treated. The MTD has not been reached, and no laboratory or clinical TLS has been reported. Any grade TRAEs in > 10% of pts included neutropenia (22.9%) and anemia (17.1%; hematologic), and fatigue (28.6%), diarrhea (17.1%), and nausea (11.4%; nonhematologic). Grade >3 TRAEs were neutropenia (14.3%) and thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, lymphopenia, fatigue, and nausea (2.9% of pts each). In CLL/SLL pts, grade 3-4 TRAEs included neutropenia (13.3%) and thrombocytopenia (6.7%), which did not cause treatment-related discontinuation. In all, 12 of 35 pts (34.3%) had non-treatment-related SAEs, and only two pts experienced > 1 SAE. With a median (range) treatment of 7 (3-20) cycles, 12 of 14 evaluable R/R CLL/SLL pts achieved PR, for an ORR of 85.7% and a median (range) time to response of 3 (2-7) cycles. Absolute lymphocyte counts (ALCs) were reduced at lisaftoclax doses as low as 20 mg/day. The preliminary PK profile showed that exposures increased with lisaftoclax doses from 20 to 1,200 mg (average half-life: 4-5 hours). On BH3 profiling, lisaftoclax rapidly triggered changes in BCL-2 complex in CLL/SLL pt samples, which were consistent with rapid clinical reductions in ALCs. Conclusions: Lisaftoclax was well tolerated up to 1,200 mg/day. No TLS was observed, even with the daily ramp-up schedule. There were no significant new or unmanageable safety findings, and the ORR in R/R CLL/SLL pts was 85.7%. Grade 3-4 TRAEs were infrequent, even at dose levels of 800 mg and above. BCL-2i lisaftoclax offers a treatment alternative for patients with R/R CLL/SLL and other HMs, with a daily ramp-up schedule that may be more pt “user friendly” and a favorable preliminary safety profile. Internal study identifier APG2575-001. Clinical trial information: NCT03537482.

7500 Background: Increased selectivity of the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTKi) acalabrutinib (Aca) vs ibrutinib (Ib) may improve tolerability. We conducted an open-label, randomized, noninferiority, phase 3 trial to compare Aca vs Ib in patients (pts) with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Methods: Previously treated CLL pts with del(17p) or del(11q) by central lab were randomized to receive oral Aca 100 mg BID or Ib 420 mg QD (stratified by del(17p) status, ECOG PS [2 vs ≤1], and number of prior therapies [1–3 vs ≥4]) until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) as assessed by IRC; secondary endpoints of all grade atrial fibrillation (AF), grade ≥3 infection, Richter transformation, and overall survival (OS) were assessed in hierarchical order. Results: 533 pts (Aca, n=268; Ib, n=265) were randomized (median age 66 y; median 2 prior therapies; del(17p) 45.2%; del(11q) 64.2%). At a median follow-up of 40.9 mo (range 0.0–59.1), Aca was noninferior to Ib with a median PFS of 38.4 mo in both arms (HR 1.00; 95% CI 0.79–1.27). Aca was statistically superior to Ib in all-grade AF incidence (9.4% vs 16.0%; P=0.023). Among the other secondary endpoints, incidences of grade ≥3 infection (Aca: 30.8%, Ib: 30.0%) and Richter transformation (Aca: 3.8%, Ib: 4.9%) were comparable between arms. Median OS was not reached in either arm (HR 0.82 [95% CI 0.59–1.15]), with 63 (23.5%) deaths in the Aca arm and 73 (27.5%) in the Ib arm. Among any-grade AEs in ≥20% of pts in either arm, Aca was associated with a lower incidence of hypertension (9.4%, 23.2%), arthralgia (15.8%, 22.8%), and diarrhea (34.6%, 46.0%) but a higher incidence of headache (34.6%, 20.2%) and cough (28.9%, 21.3%). AEs led to treatment discontinuation in 14.7% of Aca- vs 21.3% of Ib-treated pts. Among any-grade events of clinical interest, cardiac, hypertension, and bleeding events were less frequent with Aca (Table). Conclusions: In this first head-to-head trial of BTKis in CLL, Aca demonstrated non-inferior PFS with less cardiotoxicity and fewer discontinuations due to AEs vs Ib. Clinical trial information: NCT02477696. [Table: see text]

Abstract Comparative data guiding initial therapy for Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), an infrequently encountered non‐Hodgkin lymphoma, are sparse. We evaluated three commonly used rituximab‐based frontline regimens: rituximab‐bendamustine (R‐Benda); dexamethasone, rituximab, cyclophosphamide (DRC); and bortezomib, dexamethasone, rituximab (BDR) in 220 treatment‐naïve patients with WM, seen at Mayo Clinic between November 1, 2000 and October 31, 2019. The median follow‐up was 4.5 (95%CI: 4–5) years. The R‐Benda cohort (n = 83) demonstrated superior overall response rate (ORR: 98%), in comparison to DRC (n = 92, ORR: 78%) or BDR (n = 45, ORR: 84%) cohorts, p = 0.003. Similarly, longer progression‐free survival (PFS) was evident with R‐Benda use [median 5.2 vs. 4.3 (DRC) and 1.8 years (BDR), p < 0.001]. The time‐to‐next therapy (TTNT) favored R‐Benda [median, not‐reached, 4.4 (DRC) and 2.6 years (BDR), p < 0.001). These endpoints were comparable between the DRC and BDR cohorts. Overall survival (OS) was similar across the three cohorts, p = 0.77. In a subset analysis of 142 patients genotyped for MYD88 L265P mutation, the ORR, PFS and TTNT were unaffected by the patients' MYD88 signature within each cohort. In conclusion, ORR, PFS and TTNT with R‐Benda are superior compared to DRC or BDR in treatment‐naïve patients with active WM. The patient outcomes with any one of these three regimens are unaffected by the MYD88 L265P mutation status.