ALBERT

Description: Abstract 3882 Inflammation dominates both the histological and the clinical pictures of Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) and there are several clues that accessory cells (neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes) have an important role in the development and progression of the disease. Recent studies have also highlighted the importance of interim PET (after 2 cycles of chemotherapy) as the most important prognostic factor for HL. Indeed, the positivity of interim PET is linked to the persistence of the reactive microenvironment that promotes tumor cells survival. CD68+ tumour associated macrophages have been recently identified as new marker of disease and their putative progenitors in peripheral blood are identified as Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC). This subpopulation of cells has been studied in some solid tumors where it has been documented its ability to suppress T-cell immune responses by several mechanisms, including expression of arginase and nitric oxide synthase. In order to identify an additional HD marker with prognostic significance, we evaluated 35 HL patients for circulating levels of MDSC, identified as CD34+, CD45+, CD11b+, CD13+, CD14- in peripheral blood by flow cytometry at diagnosis and correlated lab findings to clinical features and response to early 18FDG-PET, performed after the 2nd cycle. We found that at diagnosis HL patients have higher levels of circulating MDSC when compared to matched for sex and age healthy controls (mean 3,66 ± 1,94/mmc vs 1,69 ± 0,87/mmc, p=0.0001). Absolute number of MDSC was not correlated to markers of inflammation (ferritin, ESR, CRP,) tumor burden (stage, IPS, presence of bulky disease) and SUV at diagnosis PET. However, an interesting correlation was found between MDSC count at diagnosis and positivity of interim PET: all patients with a positive interim PET (5/35) had increased MDSC count at diagnosis and 5/7 patients with a count larger than 4.5 cells/uL had a positive early PET, with documented progression/relapse of disease for 4 of them. In order to confirm the immunosuppressive abilities of MDSC, we co-cultured myeloid cells (isolated by CD33+ or CD66+) from three HL patients, together with lymphocytes obtained by Ficoll-Hypaque from healthy donors and we found that lymphocytes were unable to become effectors after stimulation with PMA as documented by reduction of CD25, CD69 expression and increase of CD62L in comparison with control lymphocytes incubated with PHA alone. In conclusion, MDSC 1) are increased in peripheral blood of HL patients at diagnosis 2) correlate with interim PET 3) have a strong prognostic value, that is earlier and more easily accessible than interim PET 4) represent a paradigma of how a myeloid compartment may favour the development of a lymphoid neoplasia through T-cell impairment. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Objectives: We recently identified the ratio between absolute neutrophils count and absolute lymphocyte count, NLR ≥2, as a predictor of progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients younger than 65 years with symptomatic Multiple Myeloma (MM). We retrospectively examined the NLR in a cohort of 140 smoldering Myeloma (sMM) defined accordingly to the updated IMWG 2014 guidelines accessed our Center between June 2006 and June 2014. Methods: NLR was calculated using data obtained from the complete blood count (CBC) at diagnosis and subsequently correlated with time to treatment (TTT) for symptomatic MM. All patients underwent bone marrow evaluation to estimate plasma cells infiltration (BMPC), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to detect bone lesions, serum free-lite chain evaluation (sFLC) starting from January 2012 when they became evaluable in our center. Results: The mean NLR was 2.0 ± 0.1, lower than the value previously found for MM (2.7 ± 0.2, p= 0.005). Higher NLR was independent of BMPC amount, cytogenetics and sFLC. Using NLR ≥2 as predictive biomarker we could not predict TTT. In univariate analysis only BMPC ≥ 30% (p

Description: Background: The prognostic utility of minimal residual disease (MRD) analysis in multiple myeloma (MM) patients has been well described in the last few years. The role of prolonged maintenance therapy even in persistent MRD negative patients is still unclear. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of MRD by allelic-specific oligonucleotide real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (ASO-RQ-PCR) as predictor of progression-free survival (PFS) in newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) patients receiving Lenalidomide maintenance after frontline treatment. Patients and Methods: NDMM patients enrolled in the RV-MM-EMN-441 (NCT01091831) and the RV-MM-COOP-0556 (EMN02/HO95 MM) phase III trials achieving ≥ very good partial response (VGPR) after consolidation/intensification were included in the pooled MRD molecular analysis. After induction therapy, patients in the RV-MM-EMN-441 study were randomized to Cyclophosphamide-Lenalidomide-Dexamethasone (CRD) or Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (ASCT); patients in the RV-MM-COOP-0556 were randomized to Bortezomib-Melphalan-Prednisone (VMP) vs ASCT (Gay F et al Lancet Oncol 2016, Cavo M et al J Clin Oncol 34, 2016 abstr 8000). All patients received Lenalidomide maintenance until progression or intolerance. MRD analysis was performed on bone marrow (BM) aspirates after intensification/consolidation, after 6 courses of maintenance and then every 6 months until clinical relapse. Patient-specific IgH rearrangements were amplified and directly sequenced from genomic DNA at diagnosis. IgH-based MRD detection by ASO-RQ-PCR was performed using an AbiPrism7900HT.MRD analysis was interpreted following the Euro-MRD guidelines(van der Velden VH et al. Leukemia 2007). Molecular-CR (m-CR) was defined as two consecutive negative MRD results by ASO-RQ-PCR with minimal sensitivity of 10−5. PFS was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method, curves were compared with the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: a total of 105 patients entered the molecular MRD pooled study: a specific IgH molecular marker was identified in 73 patients (70%), 32 (30%) did not obtain a successful sequencing. Median age was 57 years (37-65); 30 (41%) patients had International Staging System (ISS) stage I, 33 (45%) stage II and 10 (14%) stage III. FISH risk profile was standard in 43 (59%) patients, high in 24 (33%) and not available in 6 (8%). Thirty-eight (52%) patients did not receive ASCT consolidation and 35 (48%) underwent ASCT. After consolidation/intensification 33/73 (45%) patients achieved m-CR: 19/35 (54%) ASCT patients and 14/38 (37%) no ASCT patients. The impact of m-CR on outcome after consolidation was explored: after a median follow-up of 44 months, median PFS was 48.8 months versus not reached in no m-CR vs m-CR patients, respectively (p=0.01). Lenalidomide maintenance further improved depth of MRD response: 11/40 (27%) MRD positive patients after consolidation obtained a m-CR during maintenance and a median of 2 natural logarithms of tumor burden reduction was recorded. In multivariable Cox analysis the risk of progression/death was higher for ISS stage II/III versus I (HR, 2.91, CI: 1.01-8.41, p=0.048), high-risk FISH versus standard-risk (HR, 2.23 CI: 0.81-6.10, p=0.12), age 〉 60 years versus ≤60 years (HR: 3.55, CI: 1.26-10.04, p=0.017) and patients who did not achieve m-CR during treatment versus patients who did (HR, 7.65 CI: 2.77-21.11, p

Description: Abstract 1831 Introduction In Multiple Myeloma (MM), but not in the monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS), the immune function is impaired as consequence of an immunologically hostile microenvironment and cellular defects, including reduction of immuno-surveillance and T-cell immunoparesis. We conducted an study focused on the myeloid compartment in MM, and its role in the progression from MGUS to MM. Methods Between January 2009 and April 2011 peripheral blood obtained from 60 consecutive newly diagnosed MM and 70 MGUS plus 30 healthy subjects was studied for evaluation of myeloid subpopulations and lymphoid paresis. Myeloid dysfunction was evaluated as percentage and absolute count of circulating myeloid suppressor cells (MDSC) in peripheral blood assessed by flow cytometry as follows: im-MDSC (CD34+/CD11b+/CD13+/CD14-/ HLA-DR-/CD45+), neutrophilic-like N-MDSC (CD11b+/CD13+/CD15+/CD14-/HLA-DR-/Lin-) and monocytic-like mo-MDSC (CD14+/HLA-DRlow/-). Myeloid function was evaluated by phagocytic activity using a commercially available kit (Phagotest R). Further, we investigated whether MM-neutrophils were able to induce anergy in T-cells. Neutrophils isolated from healthy donor (N=6), MGUS (N=3) or MM (N=6) peripheral blood (PB) were co-cultured with T-lymphocytes obtained from healthy donors. Expression of markers of activation in response to stimulation with PHA-P for 2 hours was assessed by flow cytometry as antigen density expressed as normalized mean of fluorescence intensity (N-MFI) of CD71 at 48 hours. Results The capability of phagocytosis of in neutrophils and monocytes from MM patients at diagnosis was significantly reduced compared to healthy subjects (p

Description: Cardio-vascular (CV) events are common in patients (pts) with myeloma (MM) and may occur as a result of age-related comorbidities, the disease itself or as a complication of anti-MM treatment, including proteasome inhibitors.Carfilzomib is a novel second generation proteasome inhibitorapproved as a single agent and in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of relapsed MM. Here, we present the results of an integrated CV safety analysis of 148 newly diagnosed, elderly or transplant-ineligible pts enrolled in 3 phase I/II studies with the combination of Carfilzomib, cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone(IST-CAR-506, IST-CAR-561, IST-CAR-601).In all trials cyclophosphamide 300 mg/m2 was administered orally on days 1, 8, 15 and dexamethasone 40 mg was administered orally once weekly. Carfilzomib was administered intravenously at the dose of 36 mg/m2 on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16 in the IST-CAR-506 trial; at 3 dose levels escalated from 45 to 70 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15 in the IST-CAR-561 trial and on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16 in the IST-CAR-601 trial. In all studies, after completing 9 28-day cycles, pts received 28-day maintenance cycles with Carfilzomib until disease progression or intolerance. Adverse events (AEs) were graded based on NCI-CTCAE v4. Median age was 72 years (range 55-85), 38 pts (26%) were older than 75 years. The median follow-up was 21 months. Overall, any grade CV AEs were reported in 62 pts (42%): 40/110 pts (36%) younger than 75 years and 22/38 (58%) older than 75 years (p=0.02). The more frequent events were hypertension, aggregated cardiac failure events, thromboembolic events and arrhythmia (Table 1). Grade ≥ 3 events occurred in 29 pts (30%): 17/110 pts (15%) younger than 75 years and 13/38 (34%) older than that (p=0.01). Aggregated cardiac failure events of any grade were reported in 10 pts (7%), thromboembolic events in 5 pts (3%), hypertension in 4 pts (3%) and arrhythmia 2 pts (1%). In pts younger than 75 years, the most frequent grade ≥ 3 AEs were hypertension (10 patients, 9%) and dyspnea (11 patients, 10%). In pts older than 75 years, the most frequent grade ≥ 3 AEs were hypertension and pulmonary edema (5 pts each, 13%). Importantly, 34% of pts who experienced CV AEs had hypertension at baseline or developed it during treatment compared to 14% of pts who did not experience CV AEs. Diabetes was more frequent (33%) in pts older than 75 years who developed CV AEs compared to 10% of pts older than 75 years who did not report any CV AEs or those younger than 75 years. No difference was observed among different doses or different schedules of Carfilzomib. Among pts who developed a CV AE, one third had a Carfilzomib dose reduction or discontinuation (Table 1) compared to 12-18% of pts who did not experience CV toxicity (p

Description: BACKGROUND Multiple myeloma (MM) is a B-cell malignancy critically dependent for survival and proliferation on signals coming from its inflammatory microenvironment in which toll-like receptors (TLR) may be potential linking elements between inflammation and cancer. It has been recently demonstrated that TLR4 pathway provides a protective effect against bortezomib (BTZ)-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and pre-treatment of MM cells with LPS significantly reduces BTZ-induced apoptosis. AIM Since the acquisition of BTZ resistance is accompanied by an increased reliance on mitochondrial respiration, we investigated the role of TLR4 as stress-responsive mechanism that protect mitochondria during BTZ-induced ER stress as potential mechanism of drug resistance. RESULTS The activation of TLR4 signaling by LPS increased mitochondrial mass in human MM cell lines (HMCL: U266, MM1.S, OPM2, NCI-H929) and induced up-regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis markers (PGC1a, PRC and TFAM). After treatment with BTZ for 24h, all HMCL over-expressed TLR4 and its signaling was functional as suggested by up-regulation of MyD88 and MAPK activation. Compared to BTZ-sensitive cells (U266-S), U266-R showed higher levels of TLR4, p-p38 and p-ERK proteins and higher mitochondrial mass. Using a selective TLR4 inhibitor (TAK-242), we next treated U266-R cells with either 15nM BTZ, 20 μM TAK-242 or their combination. Combinatorial treatment significantly induced cell apoptosis (about 52%; p

Description: Introduction We have already demonstrated that myeloma mesenchymal stromal cells (MM-MSC) promote cancer immune evasion through the activation of myeloid derived suppressor cells and we hypothesized that MM-MSC could be polarized stromal cells to better 'serve' cancer (Giallongo et al, Oncotarget 2016). Since it has been demonstrated that specific Toll-like receptors (TLR) can drive MSC activation status, including two distinct phenotypes defined MSC1 (TLR4-dependent) or MSC2 (TLR3-dependent), we evaluated the effect of TLR activation on MM-MSC Methods Healthy Peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMC) were cultured with MSC for 6 days; then neutrophils were isolated using magnetic microbeads and their immunosuppressive activity was evaluated by their ability to suppress activation of CFSE+ T cells. Immunocompetent adult Zebrafish was used as in vivo model for myeloma cells engraftment. Tumor xenograft was measured by tomography 6 days post-injection. Results Using specific agonists for TLR4 (LPS) or TLR3 (poly(I:C)) for 24 h, we observed that healthy MSC acquired the same immunological alteration of MM-MSC after a pre-treatment with LPS. Indeed, MSC1 polarization of HC-MSC induced neutrophils to become immunosuppressive. Moreover, wester blotting analysis confirmed the activation of TLR4/MyD88 pathway in MM-MSC but not in healthy control-MSC (HC-MSC). To investigate if the polarization status of MM-MSC could promote tumor-growth in vivo, a mixtures of fluorescently labeled MM cells plus HC- or MM-MSC were implanted in zebrafish. After six days, the animals co-injected with plasma cells (PC) and MM-MSC showed enhanced tumor colonization and growth (calculated as tumor area) compared with zebrafish injected with PC and HC-MSC (control) (p

Description: INTRODUCTION: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is very common in patients with malignancies. Compared to the general population, patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have a 9-fold increased risk of developing VTE. In patients treated with thalidomide or lenalidomide, current guidelines recommend systematic VTE prophylaxis with ASA in low risk patients while vitamin K antagonists (VKA) or low weight molecular heparin (LWMH) or unfractionated heparin (UFH) in high-risk patients, based on the type of anti-MM treatment that patients receive and patient-related individual risk factors (e. g. history of VTE). However, little is known on VTE prophylaxis in patients treated with next generation anti-myeloma drugs, such as pomalidomide, carfilzomib and monoclonal antibodies daratumumab and elotuzumab. Here, we describe the incidence of VTE in MM patients treated with third generation novel agents in real life. In addition, we stratify patients on drugs category-based regimens to evaluate strategy of VTE prophylaxis between different groups of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 137 patients affected by relapsed and/ or refractory multiple myeloma treated with novel agents was analyzed. Patients were followed at the Division of Hematology of Catania from April 2013 to June2019. Our series includes 75 patients exposed to Pomalidomide and Dexametasone (PomaD), 46 patients receiving Carfilzomib, Lenalidomide and desamethasone regimen (KRd), 14 patients exposed to Daratumumab(Dara), 27 patients to Daratumumab, Bortezomib and desamethasone (DaraVD), 4 patients to Daratumumab lenalidomide and desamethasone (DaraRd), and12 patients exposed to Elotuzumab and Lenalidomide (EloRd). Several patients were exposed to multiple lines of treatment with novel agents: the total number of analyzed treatments are 178. Patients were stratified to high or low risk for VTE: risk factors taken into account were obesity, history of VTE, central venous catheter, inhered thrombophilia, surgical procedures and comorbidities such as infections, immobilization, cardiac disease, chronic renal disease. Low risk patients had no or one risk factor; in case of two or more risk factors, the patients were classified as high risk. Low-dose aspirin (ASA 100 mg per os once daily) or equivalent was prescribed in low risk patients, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) or equivalent was given to high risk patients. Only Dara treatment did not include standard prophylaxis in patients without risk factors. RESULTS: Real life observation revealed a low incidence of VTE (6 VTE-4,3%) in patients exposed to novel agents together with a standard prophylaxis in case of risk of thromboembolic complications. Forty patients were at high risk of VTE, while 97 patients were classified as low risk; VTE/PE occurred in 2 high risk patients who refused to make correct LMWH prophylaxis due to the discomfort of the subcutaneous administration, developing distal DVT respectively after cycle 1 and 2 of KRd. Two low risk patients treated with PomaD developed DVT of lower extremities during cycle 2 and 4; 2 low risk patients had pulmonary embolism during PomaD cycle 8. CONCLUSIONS: Low incidence of VTE in patients with RRMM receiving PomaD, KRd, EloRd, DaraVD, DaraRd, Dara or EloRd treatment is probably due to a correct risk assessment and subsequent prophylaxis in case of therapies including immunomodulators or in case of patients with high risk for thromboembolic complications. These data support the use of VTE risk stratification-based prophylactic strategies in myeloma patients treated with new drugs. Disclosures Conticello: Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Di Raimondo:Takeda: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.

Description: Introduction Elotuzumab (Elo), an immunostimulatory monoclonal antibody targeting signaling lymphocytic activation molecule F7 (SLAMF7), received marketing approval in Italy for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), in combination with lenalidomide (R) and dexamethasone (d) (EloRd) in April 2017. Here we report preliminary data of an Italian real-life experience on EloRd as salvage therapy for RRMM patients treated outside of controlled clinical trials. The primary objectives of this study were to assess the toxicity profile and the efficacy of EloRd administered as salvage therapy in a real-world setting. Methods Retrospective data collection received approval from local ethic committee. The cohort included 180 RRMM patients from 28 Italian centers who received at least one cycle of EloRd as salvage treatment between April 2017 and June 2018. Patients were treated with EloRD according to marketing approval as follows: Elo 10 mg/kg i.v. on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 during the first two cycles and then on days 1 and 15 of each following cycle, R 25 mg on days 1 to 21 of each cycle and d at a dose of 40 mg during the week without Elo, and 36 mg on the day of Elo administration. Responsive patients had to reach at least a partial remission (PR). Results Baseline characteristics are shown in Table 1. Median age of the 180 patients was 72 years (range 48-89 years); 53.9% were males (Table 1). The median number of previous therapy regimens was 1 (range 1-7); 69 patients (38.3%) received a previous autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). One hundred and ten patients (61.1%) showed a symptomatic relapse, 36 (20%) a biochemical relapse, and 34 cases (18.9%) were refractory to the last therapy, including bortezomib in 12.8% of patients. Forty-four patients (24.4%) had creatinine clearance ≤60 mL/min. Among the 138 cases evaluable for International Scoring System (ISS), 54 (39.1%) had stage I, 56 (40.6%) stage II, and 28 (20.3%) stage III. At last data collection (June 2018), 164 cases were evaluable for response. The median number of courses administered so far was 5 (range 1-18). The overall response rate (ORR) was 78%, with 9 complete remissions (CRs) (5.5%) and 49 very good partial remissions (VGPRs) (35.4%). A significant higher ORR was observed in patients who had received only 1 previous line of therapy than those who had received 〉1 line (64% vs 37.5%; p=0.004). Age (

Description: Background and Objective : There is an increasing interest about the role of amino acid degrading enzymes in cancer immunotherapy.In multiple myeloma (MM) disease progression depends on the ability of malignant plasma cells (PC) to subvert the local microenvironment and reshape host immunity to support tumor growth. Our previous work showed that i) MM cells have metabolic plasticity due to availability of external nutrients; ii) aminoacid shortage due to the tryptohan (trp) degrading enzyme IDO-1 was associated to clinical MM progression. Thus, we tested bio-energetic changes in MM upon trp deprivation. Experimental design : We evaluated the trascriptome changes in the adaptive response in four human MM cell lines (MM1.s, H929, U266, OPM2), chosen for their cytogenetic alterations and previously characterized for differential expression of CD38 and c-myc and primary BM samples of MGUS and MM to trp shortage. The pathway was confirmed looked at the expression levels of key metabolic genes in a large series of highly purified BM PC samples from healthy donors (4N), 129 MM, 24 primary plasma cell leukemia (pPCL), 12 secondary PCL (sPCL) cases from a proprietary dataset (GSE66293). Results Trp deprivation induced an adaptive response through increased expression, time and dose-dependent, of ATF4-ASNS-CHOP-GADD34, part of GCN2 signaling, associated to increased expression of p62 (the main autophagic receptor in MM) followed by autophagy flux induction, as shown by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence evaluations. In MM cell lines, trp deprivation altered the cellular dependence on mitochondrial ATP generation via oxidative phosphorylation, inducing in vitro increase of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and intracellular lactate and NAD/NADH with down-regulation of surface expression of the NAD-ase CD38. Similarly, short-term trp deprivation in CD138+ plasma cells isolated by magnetic sorting from MM patients, downregulated surface expression of CD38 and intra-cellular amount of c-myc, as detected by flow cytometry. This phenomenon was associated to increased isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH-1), enolase-1 (ENO-1), phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK-1), and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD), suggesting that branched chain amino acids with tolerogenic meaning like trp are used in MM to sustain NADH availability and energy production. In the GSE66293 MM progression was associated to increased expression of ENO-1, PGK-1, and DLD, suggesting that changes in transcription of genes involved in bioenergetics could be clinically relevant. Conclusion Overall, our study reveals that trp deprivation promotes an adaptive response of MM offering new putative targets in the bio-energetic pathway for synthetic lethality. Disclosures Palumbo: Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Di Raimondo:Takeda: Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria.