ALBERT

Description: Drawing from 140 recently declassified documents, this report comprehensively examines the organization, territorial designs, management, personnel policies, and finances of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and al-Qa‘ida in Iraq. Analysis of the Islamic State predecessor groups is more than a historical recounting. It provides significant understanding of how ISI evolved into the present-day Islamic State and how to combat the group.

Description: This report describes counterinsurgency strategies and practices and conditions in which U.S. “small-footprint” partnerships may succeed. Successful U.S. operations have been concentrated in favorable conditions, but most insurgencies occur in worst-case conditions. Case studies of the Philippines and Pakistan reinforce findings of the analysis and highlight challenges for the U.S. in trying to influence partners. Recommendations are offered for managing troubled partnerships.

Description: This report examines the 14-year experience of U.S. special operations forces in the Philippines from 2001 through 2014 and the activities and effects of special operations capabilities employed to address terrorist threats in Operation Enduring Freedom—Philippines through training and equipping Philippine security forces, providing operational advice and assistance, and conducting civil–military and information operations.

Description: Background: The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signal transduction pathway integrates signals from multiple receptor tyrosine kinases to control cell proliferation and survival. Everolimus (RAD001, Novartis Pharmaceuticals) is an oral investigational antineoplastic agent that targets mTOR. Objectives: To learn the anti-tumor activity and toxicity of single-agent RAD001 in pts with relapsed/refractory aggressive NHL. Patients and Methods: Patients were eligible if they had measurable disease, a platelet count 〉75,000, an absolute neutrophil count 〉1,000, and a creatinine and bilirubin

Description: The combination of pomalidomide (POM) and dexamethasone (DEX) was evaluated for relapsed/refractory primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) and primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL) to determine the maximal tolerated dose (MTD) of POM as the primary objective, and overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and safety profile as secondary objectives. A cohorts-of-3 study design was used with a dose-escalation schedule consisting of POM (3, 5, 7, or 10 mg) orally daily for 21 days every 28 days and DEX 40 mg orally every week. After 2 cycles, POM was continued alone until disease progression, intolerance, or subject withdrawal. Following MTD determination, the MTD cohort was expanded. Twenty-five of 29 patients with the median of 3 prior treatments were eligible for assessment as per international PCNSL collaborative group criteria. The MTD of POM was 5 mg daily for 21 days every 28 days. Whole-study ORR was 48% (12 of 25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 27.8%, 68.7%) with 6 complete response (CR), 2 complete response, unconfirmed (CRu), and 4 partial response (PR). MTD cohort ORR was 50% (8 of 16; 95% CI, 24.7%, 75.4%) with 5 CR, 1 CRu, and 2 PR. Median PFS was 5.3 months (whole study) and 9 months (for responders). One patient had pseudoprogression. Grade 3/4 hematologic toxicities included neutropenia (21%), anemia (8%), and thrombocytopenia (8%). Grade 3/4 nonhematologic toxicities included lung infection (12%), sepsis (4%), fatigue (8%), syncope (4%), dyspnea (4%), hypoxia (4%), respiratory failure (8%), and rash (4%). POM/DEX treatment is feasible with significant therapeutic activity against relapsed/refractory PCNSL and PVRL. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01722305.

Description: Abstract 2740 Background: Historically, treatment options for the approximately 30% of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who have primary refractory disease or relapse after experiencing initial response have been limited to high-dose chemotherapy with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (AHSCT). Development of novel therapeutic options is needed to improve outcomes in patients whose disease is refractory to or relapses after initial chemotherapy or subsequent high-dose chemotherapy with AHSCT. The oral mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor everolimus showed promising efficacy and acceptable toxicity in 19 patients with heavily pretreated HL enrolled in a phase 2 study of everolimus monotherapy for relapsed, rare lymphomas (Johnston et al. Am J Hematol 2010;85:320-4). To confirm the efficacy and safety of everolimus monotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory classical HL, we conducted a multicenter, open-label, 2-step, phase 2 study. Methods: Adults with classical HL that progressed after high-dose chemotherapy with AHSCT or a gemcitabine-, vinorelbine-, or vinblastine-containing regimen received everolimus 10 mg/day until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Response was assessed every 12 weeks via computed tomography with contrast or integrated positron emission tomography/computed tomography with contrast. The primary study endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR) evaluated according to the modified response criteria for malignant lymphoma (Cheson et al. J Clin Oncol 2007;25:579-86). Secondary endpoints included the disease control rate (DCR), duration of overall response, duration of disease control, progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. Results: A total of 57 patients were enrolled in this study; 57.9% were women, the median age was 32.0 years, 57.9% were pretreated with AHSCT, and 100% were pretreated with gemcitabine, vinorelbine, or vinblastine. Overall, 66.7% of patients experienced disease progression during previous therapies or discontinued previous treatment due to progression. At the time of analysis, 48 patients discontinued study treatment, most commonly due to disease progression (n = 25). The ORR and DCR were 42.1% and 77.2%, respectively (Table). The median time to response was 57 days. Median PFS was 9.0 months. Adverse events experienced by 〉25% of patients were fatigue (56.1%), thrombocytopenia (47.4%), cough (38.6%), rash (38.6%), pyrexia (31.6%), anemia (29.8%), dyspnea (28.1%), back pain (26.3%), and diarrhea (26.3%). Grade 3/4 adverse events were observed in 33 patients (57.9%); the most common were thrombocytopenia (21.1%) and anemia (12.3%). Stomatitis was experienced by 14 patients (24.6%) and was of grade 3 severity in 2 patients (3.5%). Pneumonitis was observed in 6 patients (10.5%) and was of grade 1 severity in 2 patients (3.5%) and grade 2 severity in 4 patients (7.0%). Conclusions: In this phase 2 study, everolimus monotherapy demonstrated favorable efficacy and a short time to response in patients with heavily pretreated, relapsed/refractory classical HL. The overall safety profile was consistent with that previously observed for everolimus in patients with HL and other cancers. The results of this study confirm previous results and support the further evaluation of everolimus in patients with classical HL. Disclosures: Johnston: Novartis: Consultancy. Off Label Use: Everolimus is an mTOR inhibitor indicated in the US for the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer in combination with letrozole after failure of letrozole or anastrozole; adults with progressive pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors that are unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic; adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma after failure of treatment with sunitinib or sorafenib; adults with renal angiomyolipoma and tuberous sclerosis complex not requiring immediate surgery; and adults and children aged 3 years or greater with subependymal giant cell astrocytoma associated with tuberous sclerosis complex who require therapeutic intervention but are not candidates for curative surgical resection. Pinter-Brown:Millennium: Consultancy. Rogerio:Novartis: Employment; Novartis: Equity Ownership. Warsi:Novartis: Employment; Novartis: Equity Ownership. Chau:Novartis: Employment. Ramchandren:Seattle Genetics: Honoraria.

Description: Background: mTOR inhibition has produced responses in mantle cell lymphoma as well as other non-Hodgkin lymphomas. This phase II study tested the oral mTOR inhibitor everolimus (RAD001, Novartis Pharmaceuticals) in simultaneous two-stage phase II lymphoma studies, including one arm involving Hodgkin lymphoma. The goals were to learn the toxicity profile and to assess the anti-tumor response. A total of 17 patients with Hodgkin lymphoma were enrolled in the uncommon arm at completion of enrollment. Methods: Patients (pts) received 10 mg PO daily for each 28 day cycle (up to 12, with a possible extension in responders) and restaged after 2, 6, and 12 cycles. The primary endpoint is the confirmed response rate, including CR, CRu or PR. Results: The median age of the 17 pts with Hodgkin lymphoma was 37 yrs (range: 27–68), with a median of 6 (range, 4–14) prior therapies. Fourteen pts (82.4%) had a prior stem cell transplant (SCT). Pts completed a median of 6 (range, 1–13) cycles of therapy. Fifteen of 17 patients were evaluable for response as of this analysis. The overall response rate was 47% (7/15), all partial responses. Ten patients are continuing on study while 6 have gone off due to disease progression and 1 due to other reasons. Common grade 3 adverse events (AEs) include thrombocytopenia (5 pts), anemia (5 pts) and alkaline phosphatase elevation (1 pts). 1 patient was reported to have grade 4 neutropenia. Conclusions: Oral everolimus has promising activity with acceptable toxicity in Hodgkin lymphoma. These results provide the rationale for additional studies with this novel class of agents and to integrate mTOR inhibitors into salvage treatment regimens for Hodgkin lymphoma.

Description: Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) recovery post-autologous stem cell transplantation has been documented as an independent predictor for survival in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The effect of ALC recovery on survival during standard CHOP or R-CHOP chemotherapy for newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is unknown. To participate in the study, patients required to receive their full treatment with complete blood count determinations at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Of 1633 DLBCL cases seen at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine between February 1994 through August 2004, 212 consecutive DLBCL patients were eligible for the study. We study ALC recovery as a prognostic factor for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in DLBCL patients treated with at least 3 cycles of CHOP or R-CHOP. 57% were male and the median age was 66 years (range: 20 – 87); 42% had elevated LDH, only 11% had a PS of 2 or higher; 58% were low stage (I or II); 88% of pts achieved a complete response. ALC was evaluated at the beginning of each treatment cycle, focusing on cycles 1–3 and the 3 month post treatment sample. ALC for each of the cycles were significantly correlated with PFS and OS, with cycle 1 ALC most significantly correlated when accounting for inherent differences based on treatment (Rx) type (i.e. CHOP vs. R-CHOP) as well as high vs. low IPI (PFS: p = 0.0012; OS: p = 0.005). Also, 74 pts achieved an ALC of at least 1,000 during all three cycles, where there was no significant relationship with this incidence and Rx type; this incidence was significantly associated with higher PFS (p = 0.0007) and OS (p = 0.0006), even when accounting for Rx type and high vs. low IPI. In the 179 pts who had 3-month post-Rx ALC data, this was also significantly associated with PFS (p = 0.002) and OS (p = 0.0009), while still accounting for Rx type and IPI status. Achievement of ALC 〉= 1,000 post-Rx was also significant for PFS (p = 0.0014) and OS (0.003). Also of note, only cycle 1 ALC was significantly different in high vs. low IPI pts (p = 0.008). In summary, these data support the hypothesis that there is a critical role of lymphocyte (immune) recovery during CHOP/R-CHOP chemotherapy in DLBCL.

Description: Background: High-dose chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is considered standard therapy in patients with chemosensitive relapsed diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine and melphalan (BEAM) is a standard widely used DLBCL conditioning regimen. Chemotherapy doses, both standard and high dose, are traditionally based in body surface area (BSA) and are often calculated using the corrected ideal body weight. However, this practice is empirical and the best way to dose chemotherapy is unknown. Weight-based dosing has been suggested to better predict toxicity of the conditioning regimen. We correlate the BEAM dose/actual weight ratio with toxicity and overall outcome in a uniform cohort of patients receiving HSC transplant for relapsed DLBCL Methods: Retrospective analysis of 80 consecutive patients treated at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN between 2001 and 2006 who received a HSC transplant following BEAM conditioning was performed. All doses were based on BSA calculated using the corrected ideal body weight. Weight-based dose intensity was retrospectively calculated utilizing the melphalan dose/Kg as a surrogate for the entire regimen. Weight-based dose intensity was correlated with toxicity in the first 30 days after transplant and survival outcome. Results: Median age at the time of transplant was 62 (interquartile range 53–65; range 26–77); 65% were males; median number of prior chemotherapy regimens was 2. Median dose of melphalan was 3.2 mg/Kg (interquartile range 2.9–3.6; range 2.2–4.5). Only one patient died within 30 days of the transplant. Patients who received 〉 3.6 mg/Kg of melphalan were more likely to have Grade 3 or 4 mucositis (44.4% v. 9.8%, P=0.001) than the remaining patients. Median numbers of days spent in the hospital in the first 30 days after transplant was 13 (3–18) for melphalan dose 〉3.6 mg/kg vs. 7 (0.5–10.5) for the remaining patients (P=0.043). Weight based dose intensity did not correlate with survival (P=0.8) or disease-free survival (P=0.3). Conclusion: Weight based dose intensity of BEAM correlates with toxicity post autologous HSC transplant. Patients receiving doses corresponding to 〉3.6 mg/kg of melphalan are at increased risk of high-grade mucositis and prolonged hospitalization. Figure Figure

Description: Key Points The mTOR pathway is constitutively activated in the TCL cells and is responsible for TCL proliferation. This is first trial to demonstrate that mTORC1 inhibitors (everolimus) have substantial antitumor activity (44% overall response rate) in patients with relapsed TCL.