ALBERT

Description: Aplastic anemia (AA), a potentially fatal disease, may be cured with marrow transplantation. Survival in pediatric patients has been excellent early after transplantation, but only limited data are available regarding late effects. This study evaluates late effects among 152 patients followed 1-38 years (median, 21.8 years). Transplantation-preparative regimes were mostly cyclophosphamide with or without antithymocyte globulin. Survival at 30 years for the acquired AA patients is 82%, and for the Fanconi anemia patients it is 58% (P = .01). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that chronic GVHD (P = .02) and Fanconi anemia (P = .03) negatively impacted survival. Two Fanconi patients and 18 acquired AA patients developed a malignancy that was fatal for 4. There was an increased incidence of thyroid function test abnormalities among those who received total body irradiation. Cyclophosphamide recipients demonstrated normal growth, basically normal development, and pregnancies with mostly normal offspring. Quality-of-life studies in adult survivors of this pediatric transplantation cohort indicated that patients were comparable with control patients except for difficulty with health and life insurance. These data indicate that the majority of long-term survivors after transplantation for AA during childhood can have a normal productive life.

Description: Building on a successful non-myeloablative conditioning regimen developed in Seattle (Blood 2003), Luznik and O´Donnell et al created a protocol that incorporates post-transplant cyclophosphamide (CY) after human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) (BBMT 2008). This method both promotes engraftment while selectively-depleting alloreactive donor T cells to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). We have previously shown that Fanconi Anemia (FA) patients can be treated with CY 60 mg/kg in a conditioning regimen with minimal toxicity (BBMT 2007), thus we adapted this post-HCT CY strategy for in vivo T-cell depletion in patients with FA. Between 2008 and 2012, four patients from three North American centers with FA and severe marrow failure in the absence of HLA-matched donors underwent HLA-haploidentical HCT. All four patients were referred for transplantation with minimal to no transfusion burden and all were in excellent clinical condition with HCT-CI scores of 0-2 and Lansky scores of 90-100%. Median age at transplant was 9.7 (6.9-11.9) years old. Patients were transplanted at a median of 1.6 (range, 0.6 -7.1) years after FA diagnosis. Conditioning consisted of fludarabine (150 mg/m2) and 2 Gy total body irradiation; one patient also received CY (10 mg/kg), which was deleted in subsequent patients to decrease the risk of mucositis. Marrow was infused on day 0, followed by post-grafting immunosuppression with CY (25 mg/kg/day, days +3, +4), mycophenolate mofetil, and cyclosporine, the latter two beginning at day +5 with plans to continue until days +35 and +180, respectively. Full donor engraftment was seen in all patients. Two patients developed acute grade I GVHD and none of the four patients has developed chronic extensive GVHD to date. With a follow-up of 5 years, 1 year, 11 months, and 9 months, all four patients are alive with stable, full donor chimerism, and are transfusion independent. While two patients required cyclosporine beyond day +180, only one patient currently remains on low-dose immunosuppression for treatment of limited chronic skin GVHD, which has now resolved. Our results confirm that modulated post-HCT CY can be used in patients with FA to promote engraftment across histocompatibility barriers. Despite concerns for both excessive toxicity related to CY and severe GVHD related to minimizing the dose of post-transplant CY, none of the FA patients in our small series experienced these problems. Our findings also suggest that transplant should not be delayed when there is lack of an HLA-matched donor. FA patients with few comorbidities and minimal transfusion burden can successfully undergo this HLA-haploidentical HCT approach. Disclosures: Off Label Use: MMF.

Description: This study was conducted to elucidate the influence of immunosuppressive treatment (IST) and GVHD on risk of recurrent malignancy after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The study cohort included 2656 patients who received allogeneic HCT after high-intensity conditioning regimens for treatment of hematologic malignancies. Rates and hazard ratios of relapse and mortality were analyzed according to GVHD and IST as time-varying covariates. Adjusted Cox analyses showed that acute and chronic GVHD were both associated with statistically similar reductions in risk of relapse beyond 18 months after HCT but not during the first 18 months. In patients with GVHD, resolution of GVHD followed by withdrawal of IST was not associated with a subsequent increase in risk of relapse. In patients without GVHD, withdrawal of IST was associated with a reduced risk of relapse during the first 18 months, but the risk of subsequent relapse remained considerably higher than in patients with GVHD. In summary, the association of GVHD with risk of relapse changes over time after HCT. In patients without GVHD, early withdrawal of IST might help to prevent relapse during the first 18 months, but other interventions would be needed to prevent relapse at later time points.

Description: Between 1996 and 1999, 172 patients (median age, 42 years) with hematologic malignancies were randomly assigned to receive either HLA-identical related bone marrow or G-CSF–mobilized peripheral blood mononuclear cells (G-PBMCs) after myeloablative conditioning. Early results showed that transplantation of G-PBMCs, compared with marrow, was associated with significantly superior 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival. Ten-year follow-up showed a sustained DFS benefit associated with G-PBMCs (mortality or relapse hazard ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.4-1.0; P = .03), although the likelihood of overall survival was not significantly different between the 2 groups (mortality hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.2; P = .20). The 10-year cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD and the duration of systemic immunosuppression were similar in the 2 groups. In summary, transplantation of HLA-identical related G-PBMCs, compared with marrow, was associated with superior short-term and long-term DFS, and there was no evidence that this benefit was outweighed by GVHD-related late mortality.

Description: Abstract 3450 Objective: Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) following a variety of reduced-intensity conditioning regimens has been reported to produce encouraging results in patients with AML. In these studies disease relapse was the main cause of treatment failure, with 2–4 year relapse rates ranging between 32–61% resulting in overall survivals of 28–45% at 2–4 years. Our goal here was to examine whether pre-HCT variables could identify patients at high risk for relapse following nonmyeloablative allogeneic HCT, who thus would become candidates for additional interventions to reduce the risk of AML relapse. Methods: The data were derived from 274 consecutive Seattle Consortium patients (median age: 60 years) with de novo or secondary AML who underwent allogeneic HCT from related or unrelated donors after conditioning with 2 Gy total body irradiation (TBI) with or without fludarabine (90 mg/m2) as recently reported (Gyurkocza et al., JCO 2010 Jun 10;28(17):2859–2867). Cox regression was used to perform multivariate analysis of risk factors for relapse in a subset of 231 patients in morphologic leukemia-free state (defined as less than 5% marrow blasts) with (n=134) or without (n=97) peripheral blood cell count recovery (defined as platelets 〉 100,000/ml and neutrophils 〉 1,000/ml) at the time of HCT. In this multivariate model, AML beyond 1st complete remission (CR1), unfavorable cytogenetics (according to SWOG criteria), incomplete peripheral blood cell count recovery before HCT, and shorter time between diagnosis and HCT were associated with statistically significantly higher risk of relapse (Table 1). From this multivariate model we developed a relapse risk score that summarizes the contribution of multiple risk factors by assigning weights based on the relative magnitude of the log hazard ratios associated with the principal risk factors. From a starting score of 0, points were added or subtracted based on the following factors: 2nd CR: +1 point; 3rd or later CR: +2 points; unfavorable cytogenetics: +1 point; absence of pre-HCT peripheral blood cell count recovery: +0.5 points; time from diagnosis to HCT 〉 18 months, -2 points (Table 2). Patients were then stratified into 2 relapse risk groups according to whether the total risk score was ≤0 (low-risk) or 〉0 (high-risk). Results: Stratification of patients according to the proposed Relapse Risk Score resulted in a clear separation of the two risk groups, with 5-year relapse rates of 50% and 17% in the high- and low-risk groups, respectively (Figure 1A). Five-year overall survival rates were 26% and 50% in the high- and low-risk groups, respectively (Figure 1B). Conclusion: Our Relapse Risk Score may be a useful tool to identify patients with AML at high risk for relapse, who could potentially benefit from additional interventions to reduce the risk of relapse following allogeneic HCT. We are currently attempting validation in an independent cohort of patients with AML to make this Risk Score more generalizable. Relapse/Progression (A) and Overall Survival (B) rates stratified by Relapse Risk Score. Disclosures: Off Label Use: Off label usage of fludarabine, cyclosporine, tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil is discussed.

Description: Abstract 525 Background: Role and timing of allografting in myeloma are hotly debated. Before the introduction of new drugs, we carried out a trial where the treatment assignment was based only on the presence/absence of an HLA-identical sibling (Bruno et al, N Engl J Med 2007). Methods: Overall, 162/199 (81%) of patients with at least one sibling were HLA-typed. First-line treatments included induction with VAD-based regimens and a cytoreductive autograft, followed by a nonmyeloablative allograft (Tandem auto-allo) or a second melphalan-based autograft (Double-auto). We now report an update at a median follow up of 7.1 years. Results: Response rates [complete (CR) and partial remissions (PR)] at the time and after the non-myeloablative allograft and at the time and after the second autograft did not differ between the two cohorts: 76% and 86%, and 76% and 91% respectively (p=1 and p=0,54). However, CR rate was significantly higher after the non-myeloablative allograft than after the second autograft: 55% versus 26% (p=0,0026). At a median follow up of 7.1 years (range 2.5 – 10.7+), by intention-to-treat analysis, median overall survival (OS) and event free survival (EFS) were significantly longer in patients with HLA-identical siblings (No.80) as compared with those without (No.82): not reached vs. 4.25 years (HR 0.51, CI 95% 0.34–0.76, p=0.001) and 2.8 vs. 2.4 years (HR 0.62, CI 95% 0.44–0.87, p=0.005). By multivariate analysis, independent of age, gender, myeloma protein isotype, Durie&Salmon stage, and disease status at the first autograft; the presence of an HLA-identical sibling was significantly associated with longer OS (HR 0.5, CI 95% 0.3–0.8, p=0.001) and EFS (HR 0.63, CI 95% 0.4–0.9, p=0.01). At a median follow up of 7.3 (range 5.4 – 10.7+ years), median OS was not reached in the 58 patients who received a non-myeloablative allograft and 5.3 years in the 46 who received a second high-dose melphalan autograft (HR 0.55, CI 95% 0.32–0.94, p=0.02), whereas EFS was 39 months and 33 months (HR 0.62, CI 95% 0.40–0.96, p=0.02) respectively. Cumulative incidence of transplant related mortality was 11% and 2% at 2 years respectively. At median follow-ups of 7.3 years from diagnosis (range 5.4 – 10.4+) and 6.5 years from the allograft (range 4.2 – 9.4+), and 7.4 years from diagnosis (range 5.6 – 10.7+) and 6.2 years from the second autograft (range 4.7 – 9.1+), 30/58 (52%) and 37/46 (80%) patients, respectively, were treated for disease relapse/progression. Salvage therapies included bortezomib- or thalidomide-containing regimens in most patients of both cohorts. After 1–3 lines of therapy, 22/30 (73%) had a response, including 5 CR and 17 PR, in the tandem auto-allo group, whereas 21/37 (54%) had a response, including 4 CR and 16 PR after the second autograft. Of note, at a median follow up of 3.9 years from the start of the first salvage therapy, OS was not reached and was 1.7 years in patients who had relapsed/progressed after the allograft and the second high-dose melphalan (HR 0.44, CI 95% 0.24–0.82, p=0.01) respectively. Conclusions: In this study, allografting conferred a long term survival advantage over standard autografting. Salvage therapy was associated with longer OS perhaps due to a synergistic effect between new drugs and residual graft-vs.-myeloma effects. In prospective clinical trials, the combination of graft-vs.-myeloma effects with “new drugs” should be explored and may increase the cure rate of myeloma patients. Disclosures: Bringhen: Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria. Palumbo:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Boccadoro:Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

Description: Abstract 33 Purpose: Non-myeloablative allogeneic transplantation (NMAT) can provide prolonged remissions in patients with advanced B-cell lymphoma (B-NHL) via the graft versus lymphoma (GVL) effect, though inferior results are seen in patients with chemoresistant, bulky, or aggressive disease. Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) can safely induce responses in B-NHL with little non-hematologic toxicity. We hypothesized that 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan-based NMAT would safely facilitate early cytoreduction in such patients promoting improved long-term disease control by the allogeneic graft which would also abrogate the hematologic toxicity of the RIT. Patients and Methods: Forty patients with relapsed, high-risk B-NHL and persistent disease who were not deemed appropriate for standard NMAT due to disease factors and not considered appropriate for myeloablative transplant due to age, pretreatment, or co-morbidities were enrolled in this phase II trial. Conditioning included 0.4 mCi/kg (max 32mCi) 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (day-14), fludarabine (days -7 to -5) and 2 Gy total body irradiation (day 0) followed by transplantation from matched related (n=15) or unrelated (n=25) donors along with post-grafting immunosuppression with cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil. Baseline features included: median age = 58 years (range 29–69 years), median prior regimens = 6 (range 3 to 12), chemosensitive disease = 6 (15%), CR pretransplant = 0 (0%), bulk 〉5 cm = 17 (range 5.2–18.6cm, 43%), 〉25% bone marrow involvement with B-NHL = 10 (25%, range of marrow involvement 40–95%), comorbidity score ≥1 = 35 (85%), median comorbiditiy score 3 (range 0–10), pretransplant IPI ≥3=21 (53%). Histologies included: DLBCL (14, including 6 that had transformed from indolent disease), CLL/SLL (10), mantle cell lymphoma (8), FL (6), hairy cell leukemia (1), and marginal zone lymphoma (1). Results: Early objective responses attributable to the conditioning regimen at 1 and 3 months were observed in 19 (48%, 3 CR/CRU, 16 PR) and 24 (60%, 13 CR/CRU, 11 PR) patients, respectively, including 17 (59%) objective responses in the 29 patients with known chemoresistant disease and 10 (59%) of 17 with bulk 〉 5cm. In total, 33 (83%) patients experienced reduction in the measurable disease burden by day 84. The estimated OS and PFS at 30 months were 54.1%, and 31.1%, respectively. The regimen was well tolerated and all patients experienced sustained engraftment with no graft rejection. The neutrophil and platelet nadirs were 50/μ L and 12,000/μ L and occurred a median of 12 and 8 days after transplant, respectively. The median duration of neutropenia

Description: Introduction Disease relapse is the leading cause of death in secondary AML (sAML), which evolves from antecedent hematologic disorders like myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) or following exposure to chemotherapy. Persistence of therapy-resistant leukemia stem cells (LSC) harboring enhanced survival and self-renewal capacity has been linked to high relapse rates in sAML. Previously, we showed that missplicing of a stem cell regulatory gene, GSK3 b, and splice isoform switching favoring pro-survival BCL2 family isoform expression promoted generation of therapy-resistant LSC (Abrahamsson et al PNAS 2009; Goff et al Cell Stem Cell 2013). However, whether aberrant pre-mRNA splicing promotes sAML LSC generation, in the absence of mutation, and if pharmacological splicing modulation impairs LSC maintenance, in a mutation-independent manner, has not been elucidated. Methods and Results Comparative RNA-sequencing and gene set enrichment analyses revealed significant alterations in splicing factor gene expression in purified progenitors from untreated sAML compared with normal samples. In addition, using an isoform-specific alignment algorithm, we established a sAML LSC splice isoform expression signature that identified increased expression of select transcripts, e.g. CD82 and PTK2B. Thus, we investigated the LSC inhibitory efficacy of a stable, potent splicing modulatory agent, 17S -FD-895, in humanized AML LSC stromal co-culture and primagraft assays. Notably, there was a dose-dependent reduction in AML LSC (n=4) survival and self-renewal after in vitro 17S -FD-895 treatment, with a favorable therapeutic index compared to normal controls (n=3, p

Description: Abstract 218 Background: Graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects are closely associated with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). In a reexamination of GVL effects, we evaluated acute and chronic GVHD defined by NIH consensus criteria and immunosuppressive treatment (IST) as risk factors for recurrent malignancy after HCT. Patients and methods: We analyzed a cohort of 2656 consecutive patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) who received allogeneic HCT after high-intensity conditioning between 1992 and 2005. The onset of NIH chronic GVHD was ascertained by retrospective chart review using follow-up information obtained by our Long Term Follow Up clinic. Rates and hazards of recurrent malignancy and mortality were analyzed according to GVHD and IST as time-varying covariates. To illustrate the effect of time-varying covariates, we calculated the rate of recurrent malignancy per patient-year according to prior GVHD within sequential 90-day intervals after HCT. Cox proportional hazard models were adjusted for potential factors affecting outcomes. Results: The median patient age at HCT was 39 years (range, 0 to 71 years). Donors were HLA-identical relatives (n=1088), HLA-matched unrelated volunteers (n=912), HLA-mismatched relatives (n=243), and HLA-mismatched unrelated volunteers (n=413). GVHD prophylaxis was mostly cyclosporine and methotrexate (n=1885, 71%). Relapse rates per patient-year declined from 3 months until at least 36 months after HCT for patients with prior acute GVHD or NIH chronic GVHD (Figure). Patients without prior GVHD showed a much less pronounced decline between 12 and 30 months after HCT. Adjusted Cox analysis showed that acute GVHD and NIH chronic GVHD were associated with statistically similar reductions in risk of late recurrent malignancy beyond 18 months after HCT, with no incremental effect of chronic GVHD in patients with prior acute GVHD (Table 1). GVL effects were demonstrable in patients with CML or AML but not in those with ALL or MDS/MPN. Discontinuation of IST was associated with a decreased risk of recurrent malignancy among patients without prior GVHD but not among those with prior GVHD (Table 2). Grades III–IV acute GVHD and NIH chronic GVHD with prior acute GVHD were associated with a statistically significant increase in risk of early mortality between 3 and 18 months, but grade II acute GVHD and NIH chronic GVHD without prior acute GVHD were not. Conclusion: Both acute and NIH chronic GVHD are associated with potent GVL effects, but NIH chronic GVHD does not confer any incremental benefit after acute GVHD. Withdrawal of IST was associated with a reduction in risk of recurrent malignancy in patients without prior GVHD. Analyses of GVL effects should account for time from HCT, the history of GVHD, type of malignancy and IST. Immune manipulations such as prophylactic donor lymphocyte infusion or early withdrawal of IST may represent reasonable approaches to decrease the risk of recurrent malignancy in patients without prior GVHD, if the risk of GVHD could be minimized. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Background Minimal residual disease (MRD) has been recognized as a strong, independent predictor of increased relapse risk and poor outcome for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR) undergoing myeloablative (MA) allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). As the relationship between MRD and outcome is less studied for AML patients undergoing nonmyeloablative (NMA) HCT, we herein conducted a comparative analysis to assess this association relative to that seen in MA HCT. Patients and Methods We studied 272 consecutive patients receiving NMA (n=63) or MA (n=209) HCT for AML in first CR or CR with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) between May 2006 and May 2012. Pre-HCT bone marrow aspirates were obtained in all patients and analyzed by routine karyotyping and ten-color flow cytometry. MRD was identified as a cell population showing deviation from normal antigen expression patterns as compared with normal or regenerating marrow. Any level of residual disease was considered MRDpos. Data are current as of April 1, 2013. Results Baseline characteristics of the study cohort are summarized in Table 1. Patients undergoing NMA HCT were significantly older than those undergoing MA HCT (p