ALBERT

Description: Introduction Mutant NRAS and KRAS lead to the activation of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway in approximately 50% of multiple myeloma (MM). Blocking this pathway with MEK1/2 inhibitors (MEKi) such as trametinib (Tram) is a therapeutic option but the response rate in MM varies between 30-50% (Heuck et al, Leukemia 2015). In MM it is unknown whether RAS mutation status correlates with sensitivity to Tram. The purpose of this study was to characterize factors which predict response to Tram and to identify mechanism mediating resistance. Methods We established the IC50 of Tram using MTT assays in 32 MM cell lines (HMCL) including 16 RAS mutant positive (RASm+), and 15 wildtype RAS (RASm-), and 1 BRAF mutant (BRAFm+) line which acted as a positive control. HMCLs were classified according to the IC50 value as sensitive (10μM). All lines underwent immunoblotting for pERK at baseline and following treatment with serial concentrations of Tram to identify correlation of activation with sensitivity. BrdU incorporation analyzed by FACS was performed to determine the molecular action of Tram. A lentiviral mediated expression system was used to engineer a MAF overexpressing cell line in a RASm+ HMCL lacking MAF (MMRASm+MAF) and silencing MAF in two lines with co-occurring MAF and RASm+ (MMRASm+shMAF). The clinical characteristics of 84 relapsed RASm+ patients who received Tram either as a single agent or in combination with other anti-MM therapies were also examined. Results 6/16 (37.5%) of RASm+ HMCLs were sensitive to Tram, 5/16 (31.1%) were IMS and 5/16 (31.1%) resistant. There was no difference in sensitivity to Tram between KRASm+ (IC50 = 9.5μM, n = 11) and NRASm+ (IC50 =12.5μM, n=4, p=0.65). In contrast, 13/15 (87%) RASm- HMCLs were resistant to Tram. Mechanistically, Tram blocked cell cycle progression in Tram-sensitive RASm+ cells with an increase in G0/G1 phase (22.25%) and a decrease in S phase (16.76%) compared with untreated controls (p

Description: Key Points Immune responses to FVIII sequence variants encoded by ns-SNPs do not contribute appreciably to inhibitor development in African Americans. African American HA subjects with an intron-22 inversion had a 2- to 3-times-higher inhibitor incidence than whites with the same mutation.

Description: Background: Activating mutations of NRAS and KRAS genes are common in newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML), occurring in 11-16% and 4-5% of patients, respectively. RAS mutations are frequently acquired at time of progression from MDS to AML and are associated with poor survival. Next generation sequencing (NGS) at diagnosis and during complete remission has shown that RAS mutations have high clearance rates with induction chemotherapy. In the CALGB 8525 study, RAS-mutant younger patients (age

Description: Juvenile and chronic myelomonocytic leukemias (JMML and CMML) are aggressive myeloid malignancies categorized as myelodysplastic syndromes/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN). Chemotherapy has little benefit for MDS/MPN patients, and new therapies are needed. We have used mouse models investigate the potential of signal transduction inhibitors in MDS/MPN, as JMML and CMML are associated with mutations in NRAS, KRAS, PTPN11, CBL, or NF1 that activate Ras signaling. Conditional Mx1-Cre, KrasLSL-D12 (designated KrasD12) mice develop an aggressive and fully penetrant MDS/MPN characterized by leukocytosis, splenomegaly, anemia, and death by 10-16 weeks of age. Mx1-Cre, Nf1flox/- mice (hereafter Nf1Δ/-) undergo conditional loss of Nf1. These mice also develop MDS/MPN, but the disease is more indolent. We and others have investigated inhibition of effector networks downstream of Ras, such as the Raf/MEK/ERK (MAPK) and phosphotidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathways. We previously showed that the MEK inhibitor PD0325901 induced sustained hematologic improvement in both KrasD12 and Nf1Δ/- mice. We also have reported that the class I PI3K inhibitor GDC-0941 improves hematologic function and prolongs survival in KrasD12 mice. However, GDC-0941 and other PI3K inhibitors attenuate both PI3K/Akt and Raf/MEK/ERK pathways due to effects of PI3K upstream of Ras. Therefore, the benefit from GDC-0941 could have been due to its modulation of Raf/MEK/ERK signaling. Here, we specifically test the importance of Akt signaling in MDS/MPN in KrasD12 and Nf1 mouse models using the allosteric inhibitor MK-2206. This compound binds to the interface of the PH and kinase domains of Akt1, Akt2, and Akt3, and does not inhibit any of 250 other kinases at 1 µM. MK-2206 induced substantial improvement in both KrasD12 and Nf1Δ/- mice. Mice treated with MK-2206 had pronounced reduction in leukocytosis, reticulocytosis and splenomegaly, increased hemoglobin concentration, and prolonged survival. MK-2206 had no hematologic effects in control WT mice, indicating some selectivity against aberrant hematopoiesis. Importantly, MK-2206 inhibited Akt but not Raf/MEK/ERK or Jak/STAT signaling. This demonstrates that canonical PI3K/Akt signaling plays an important role in Ras-driven MDS/MPN. Furthermore, combined inhibition of MEK and Akt with PD0325901+MK-2206 yielded a greater improvement in splenomegaly than either agent alone in both KrasD12 and Nf1Δ/- models. Akt has multiple effectors relevant to hematopoiesis and leukemia. Of these, mTOR is of particular interest for targeted cancer therapy. Therefore, we tested the response of KrasD12 mice to rapamycin, a partial inhibitor of mTOR with preferential activity against the mTORC1 complex. KrasD12 mice demonstrated variable responses to rapamycin, with approximately half undergoing a complete and durable hematologic response and the remainder having no response. Together, these studies further implicate PI3K/Akt signaling as a pathogenic effector downstream of Ras in MDS/MPN and support the idea that inhibitors targeting this pathway may have a role in treatment of JMML or CMML. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Background Measurable residual disease (MRD) is associated with inferior outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MRD monitoring enhances risk stratification and may guide therapeutic intervention. Post-induction MRD is frequently cleared with further therapy and the clearance may lead to better outcomes. In contrast, persistent MRD is associated with poor outcomes. At present it is not possible to predict which patients are likely to clear MRD with further therapy. Here we report a simple, objective, widely applicable and quantitative MFC approach using the ratio of blast/PDC to predict persistent MRD and poor outcomes in AML. Patients and Methods A cohort of 136 adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of AML by WHO criteria who underwent standard induction therapy at a single center between 4/2014 and 9/2017 was initially included. 69 patients achieved complete morphologic remission (36 MRD-neg. and 33 MRD-pos.). MRD status was assessed by MFC using a different from normal (DfN) approach. PDC were quantified as the percent of total WBC by flow cytometry based on low side scatter, moderate CD45, CD303, bright CD123 and HLA-DR expression. Results The proportion of PDC was markedly decreased in patients with AML (≥20% blasts) (N=136) with a median of 0.016% (interquartile range IQR: 0.0019%-0.071%, Figure 1A), more than 10-fold lower than observed in normal controls (median 0.23%, IQR 0.17%-0.34%) (N=20). While there was no difference between MRD-neg. and normal control groups (median 0.31%, IQR: 0.17%-0.49%; vs. 0.28%, IQR: 0.17%-0.34%), MRD-pos. group had significantly reduced PDC proportion compared to the control (median 0.074%, IQR: 0.022%-0.33%, Wilcoxon rank sum, p=0.019). In an attempt to achieve better separation and to eliminate possible effects of hemodilution, the ratio of blast/PDC was calculated by using the proportions of blasts and PDCs out of total WBCs as quantitated by flow cytometry. A cut-off threshold of the blast/PDC ratio of 10 was chosen to separate each group (Figure 1B). Importantly, a ratio cut-off of 10 had a corresponding specificity of 97.4% for predicting MRD positivity status. MRD positivity was significantly associated with inferior overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) in our study cohort (OS HR 4.11 (95% CI: 1.30-13.03), p=0.016; RFS HR 4.20 (95% CI: 1.49-11.82), p=0.007, Figure 1C and D). The 2-year cumulative incidence of relapse in the MRD-neg. group compared to MRD-pos. group was 10% (95% CI: 2-24%) vs. 37% (95% CI: 18-56%, p=0.014). Importantly, blast/PDC ratio ≥10 was also strongly associated with inferior OS and RFS (OS HR 3.12 (95% CI: 1.13-8.60), p= 0.028; RFS HR 4.05 (95% CI: 1.63-10.11), p=0.003, Figure 1E and F), which is similar in magnitude to MRD positivity. Furthermore, MRD-pos. patients with blast/PDC ratio

Description: Introduction Chromosome instability (CIN) is a driver of copy number aberrations (CNAs) in cancer, and is a major factor leading to tumor heterogeneity and resistance to therapy. By definition, CIN is an increased rate or ongoing acquisition and accumulation of CNAs and not simply the existence of structurally and numerically abnormal aneuploid clones. In multiple myeloma (MM), the most common whole-chromosome CNAs involve either hyperdiploid or non-hyperdiploid clones. Secondary segmental CNAs are associated with high-risk (HR) in MM and involve gains of 1q21 and deletions of 17p (del17p). These types of intra-chromosomal segmental CNAs are also found in the CIN phenotypes of the autosomal recessive (AR) chromosome instability syndromes. These syndromes include Fanconi anemia, Bloom's syndrome, and ICF syndrome (Immunodeficiency, Centromeric instability and Facial anomalies). These chromosome instability syndromes display a spectrum of aberrations characterized by higher rates of chromosomal breaks, chromatid exchanges, quadriradials, and pericentromeric aberrations. In particular, patients with ICF syndrome show a marked increase of 1q12 pericentromeric instability including 1q12 decondensation, triradials, multibranched chromosomes 1q, and 1q micronuclei. ICF patients also show transient 1q aberrations including isochromosome 1q (iso1q) and unbalanced translocations of 1q to 9q and 16q. In MM, we have previously reported increasing pericentromeric instability during tumor progression resulting in increasing CNAs of 1q21 by unbalanced jumping translocations of 1q12 (JT1q12). Strikingly, in a subset of MM patients with 1q21 CNAs of ≥ 5 a distinct cytogenetic phenotype emerges which demonstrates transient 1q12 aberrations including 1q12 decondensation, triradials, and multibranched chromosomes 1q morphologically identical to those seen in ICF patients. In MM this chromosome instability leads to a cascade of increasing clonal 1q21 duplications, iso 1qs, and unbalanced 1q translocations with 16q and 17p, resulting in losses in these receptor chromosomes (RC) and massive intra-clonal CNA heterogeneity. Methods To investigate the cytogenetic impact and progression of high CNAs of 1q21, we performed a comprehensive metaphase analysis of 50 patients showing segmental aneuploidies with 4 or more copies of 1q by G-banding. Locus specific FISH and spectral karyotyping were used to identify the key transient unstable and clonal structural aberrations of 1q12 resulting in segmental aneuploidies in the derivative RCs. Probe for 1q12 (Vysis) was used according to the manufacturer's protocol. Locus specific BAC clones for 1q21 (CKS1B) and 17p (TP53) were prepared and analyzed as previously described (Sawyer et al., Blood 123: 2014). IGH translocations were investigated with IGH break apart probes (Vysis). Results Data for 50 patients including CNAs of 1q21 of ≥ 4, IGH translocations, del(17p), derivative RCs, are presented. The t(4;14) was found in 15 patients, del(17p) in 23, and both aberrations were found in 8 patients. All patients showed unbalanced gains of 1q and deletions of RCs, the most frequent being 7 patients with der(1;16) and 6 with iso1q. In four of the 23 patients with del(17p), the deletion was due to a JT1q12 to 17p. Seven patients with 1q21 CNAs of ≥ 5 showed profound instability involving the 1q12 satellite DNA, demonstrating both transient and clonal aberrations driving the 1q21 CNAs. These aberrations included unstable 1q21 triplications, JT1q12s, iso1q formation with intra-arm 1q12 CNAs, and region specific breakage-fusion-bridge cycle amplifications. Conclusions Among patients with ≥ 5 CNAs of 1q21, a subset develop an acquired HR chromosome instability phenotype with an elevated rate of 1q12 pericentromeric instability characterized by concomitant deletions in 16q, iso1q, del(17p), and intra-arm segmental instability. These patients show pronounced instability in the 1q12 satellite DNA, morphologically identical to ICF syndrome, suggesting hypomethylation of this region as a driver of both 1q21 CNAs and deletions in RCs. We hypothesize that region specific hypomethylation of 1q12 provides the genomic background for the onset of an acquired 1q12 chromosome instability phenotype in MM similar to that found in ICF syndrome. For myeloma patients demonstrating this 1q12 chromosome instability phenotype we propose the term "jumping 1q syndrome." Disclosures Epstein: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: Employment. Davies:Amgen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; ASH: Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy; TRM Oncology: Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MMRF: Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria. Morgan:Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria.

Description: Introduction Myeloma bone marrow serum primes healthy donor (HD) bone marrow cells to support the survival and growth of myeloma plasma cells (MMPC) in co-culture. Following interaction with the MMPC, the phenotype of the HD bone marrow stroma changes and the expression of immune regulatory factors is increased while expression of genes associated with osteoblastogenesis and WNT signaling is suppressed. The aim of this study was to determine whether exosomes in the myeloma bone marrow serum have a role in priming the microenvironment. Methods Serum was separated from clotted bone marrow aspirates from myeloma patients obtained during scheduled clinic visits, and from healthy donors of similar ages. Exosomes were prepared from 1-2 ml of serum using Invitrogen's Total Exosome Isolation kit according to manufacturer's instruction. Exosomes were 30-130 nm in diameter as determined by Dynamic Light Scatter on a Brookhaven Instruments Corp. ZetaPlus Particle Sizing Software, and visualized by scanning electron microscopy. Small RNA (≤200 nucleotides) was isolated using Qiagen's miRNeasy kits, quality and quantity assessed with Qubit 2. 96 microRNAs (miRs) were analyzed by qRT-PCR on Fluidigm's BioMark platform using 96x96 multiplex chips and normalized to spiked in C. elegance miR mimetic. Primary CD138-expressing cells were isolated from EDTA-anticoagulated bone marrow aspirates. Luciferase-expressing stroma-dependent myeloma cells were described previously (Bam, BMC Cancer 2015:864). Healthy donor mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) were prepared from bone particles obtained during orthopedic surgery, and cultured in a-MEM supplemented with 10% FBS. Primary myeloma cells or luciferase-expressing stroma dependent myeloma cells were added to wells containing monolayers of MSC in α-MEM supplemented with 10% FBS in 96 well culture plates. For each experiment 3 conditions were used: A control group, a group to which 10% myeloma bone marrow serum was added, and a third group to which exosomes isolated from a matching bone marrow serum aliquot were added. The number of primary MMPC dictated that these experiments were carried out in duplicates, while the stroma dependent cells were plated in 5 replicates. Viable primary cells counts or luciferase bioluminescence were evaluated after 4 days of co-culture. Results Exosomes supported survival and growth of primary MMPC in co-culture with HD MSC, but had no effect on MMPC cultured alone, indicating that the myeloma bone marrow serum exosomes prime the MSC to support the MMPC. Exosomes from 5 of the 7 patients supported growth of stroma-dependent myeloma cells co-cultured with HD MSC. In a representative experiment, the bioluminescence of stroma-dependent myeloma cells was 46% higher in co-cultures supplemented with bone marrow serum (p=7.3E-6) and 23% higher (p=2.0E-6) when exosomes were used. The effect was reproduced when primary MMPC were used: in a representative experiment, the number of primary MPC recovered from the co-cultures supplemented with bone marrow serum was 41% higher, and when supplemented with exosomes 28% higher than in controls. Primary MMPC did not survive in the absence of MSCs and bone marrow serum or exosomes did not enhance their survival. Conclusions Exosome from bone marrow serum of myeloma patients prime the bone marrow microenvironment to support survival and growth of primary MMPC. Bone marrow serum is more effective, indicating that other factors in the serum are also important. The differences in microRNA contents between healthy donor and myeloma exosomes may provide an insight of the regulatory mechanisms molding the myeloma bone marrow microenvironment. Disclosures Morgan: Univ of AR for Medical Sciences: Employment; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol Meyers: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Research Funding.

Description: Introduction We previously reported on the generation of highly activated/expanded natural killer cells (ENKs) after coculture with K562 cells modified to express membrane bound IL15 and 41BB-ligand. These cells have potent antimyeloma properties in vitro, in a NGS mouse model, and are safe when given to advanced multiple myeloma (MM) patients. (Szmania et al, J Immunother 2015) A potential obstacle to the effectiveness of ENK-based immunotherapy of MM is the evasion of immune recognition. We have generated 4 MM cell lines (OPM2, JJN3, ANBL6, and INA-6) which are resistant to ENK-mediated lysis to study mechanisms of resistance. These lines were derived from parental lines by repeated challenge with ENKs and maintained resistance long term when cultured without further exposure to ENKs.(Garg et al, Blood 2012, 120:4020) We have shown by stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture-mass spectrometry, gene expression profiling (GEP), and flow cytometry that ICAM3 is downregulated in the ENK-resistant version of OPM2 (OPM2-R) compared to the parental OPM2. (OPM2-P; Garg et al, Blood 2013, 122:3105) We investigated OPM2-P and OPM2-R by whole exome sequencing (WES) and RNA sequencing (RNAseq) with a focus on ICAM3, evaluated ICAM3 cell surface expression on patient myeloma cells, and studied the importance of ICAM3 expression on ENK functionality. Methods DNA and RNA were extracted from OPM2-P and OPM2-R cells using the Qiagen AllPrep kit. WES libraries were prepared with the Agilent qXT and Agilent SureSelect Clinical Research Exome kits with additional baits covering the Ig and MYC loci. RNAseq libraries were prepared using the Illumina TruSeq stranded mRNA kit. Samples were sequenced 100bp PE on an Illumina HiSeq2500. Samples for WES were sequenced to a mean coverage of 〉120x and RNAseq to a target of 〉100M reads. WES data were aligned to the Ensembl GRCh37/hg19 human reference using BWA mem. Somatic variants were called MuTect. RNAseq data were analyzed using Tuxedo Suite. Data were aligned to the Ensembl GRCh37/hg19 human reference using TopHat with Bowtie2. Transcriptome reconstruction, quantification and differential analysis was performed using CuffLinks. ENK-mediated lysis of myeloma cells was measured by 4 hour chromium release assay in the presence of isotype or ICAM3 blocking antibody. Bone marrow aspirates were obtained from MM patients after informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Primary myeloma cells were selected with CD138-coated immunomagnetic beads and ICAM3 expression was assessed by flow cytometry gated on viable CD138 positive cells. Results There was no mutation in ICAM3 in OPM2-R by WES, but RNAseq found a significant reduction in ICAM3 RNA in OPM2-R compared to OPM2-P (p

Description: Introduction : Multiple myeloma (MM) patients with t(14;16)(p16;q32) leading to high expression of C-MAF mRNA and protein have a poor prognosis and have not benefitted from the recent advances in MM therapy. Our previous work showed that posttranslational modification up-regulated C-MAF (ASH Abstract # 281, ASH 2013) and MAF-B proteins (ASH Abstract #2091, 2014) conferred innate resistance to proteasome inhibitors (PI). In order to identify the molecular mechanism underlying this resistance in high C-MAF and MAFB-expressing patients, the present study investigated the downstream targets regulated by C-MAF in MM cells and analyzed the clinical association of target genes using a C-MAF-loss and gain of function cell line model as well as primary plasma cells from MM patients. Methods : To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the resistance of MAF expressing cells to PIs, we silenced the C-MAF gene in 3 MM cell lines that highly expressed C-MAF mRNA and protein using lentiviral shRNA. Annexin V staining and analyzed by FACS were used to determine the effect of manipulating MAF on PI-induced apoptosis and activation of the caspase family. Gene expression prolife (GEP) was utilized to determine downstream target genes regulated by MAF. To identify the proteins associated with C-MAF, we used mass spectrometry (MS)-based quantitative proteomics with stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC). Results: Our results demonstrated that apoptotic cell numbers were higher in shMAF cells, compared to shControl cells when cultured in the presence of serial concentrations of bortezomib (BZB) or carfilzomib (CFZ), indicating that silencing MAF expression enhances PI-induced apoptosis. The Annexin V + cells numbers were also higher in shMAF compared to shControl when cells were treated with BZB or CFZ in co-culture with bone marrow stromal cells. Furthermore, knockdown of C-MAF expression augmented the PI-induced activation of the caspase family with an increase in the cleavage fragments of caspases-3, -7, -8, PARP and LaminA/C. In contrast, PI-induced apoptotic numbers were lower in XG1/MAF, a stably induced MAF overexpressing MM cell line, than in XG1/EV, the control cell line carrying an empty vector when cultured in serial concentrations of BZB and CFZ. Similarly, the caspase cleavage fragments, PARP and lamin A/C were decreased in XG1/MAF compared with XG1/EV in response to BZB and CFZ. These results suggest that MAF confers MM resistance to PI by preventing the PI-induction of apoptosis. To further identify the downstream target genes regulated by C-MAF, we analyzed the gene expression between shMAF and shControl MM cells by microarray analysis and identified more than 150 genes differentially expressed. Of them, ATP2C1, CCNE2 , CCND2, ELK4 , IGFBP3, SUPT16 and TUBA1A were significantly (p=5.62e-5) lower in shMAF than shControl cells indicating that these genes might be regulated by C-MAF. Furthermore, expression of these genes in primary CD138 plasma cells were significant higher (p

Description: Introduction: Despite the enormous progress in MM therapy brought about by the rapid development of many novel agents, many patients end up with limited treatment options. We have previously reported on the efficacy and safety of metro16 in RRMM (Papanikolaou, Haematology 2013). Here we are reporting on an extension of such treatment to 28 d (metro28). Patients and Methods: The treatment consisted of a cycle of 28d continuous iv infusions of ADR and DDP each at 1mg/m2/d, along with thalidomide 50 to 100mg/d x 28; bortezomib 0.8 to 1.0mg/m2 on days 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28; DEX 8 to 12mg on days 1-4, 7-10, 13-16, 19-22, 25-28; some patients also received vincristine 0.07mg flat dose by CI for 28 days. This was off-protocol therapy that patients provided written informed consent for. The IRB permitted data retrieval and analysis. Results: 150 patients were identified, virtually all had received prior tandem transplants, bortezomib, lenalidomide, carfilzomib and pomalidomide. The median age was 64yr; B2M was elevated 〉=3.5mg/L in 48%, abnormal cytogenetics (CA) were present in 86%, and 44% had GEP70-defined high risk MM. Figure 1 portrays clinical outcomes. As of April 2015, 60 patients had died, and the 2-yr OS estimate was 45% (Figure 1A); the 6-mo PFS estimate was 31% although 15% had no progression at 18mo (Figure 1B). Analysis by GEP70 and GEP5 risk revealed 18-mo OS estimates of 80% among the 53 patients with low risk in both models, whereas the presence of high risk (HRMM) in either model conferred a significantly reduced 18-mo OS estimate of 25% (p