ALBERT

Description: Relapse of malignancy and lethal graft versus host disease (GVHD) are the principal causes of failure of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). Recently we have shown that at seven days after HCT an algorithm using two serum biomarkers (ST2 and REG3α) can predict severe GVHD (Hartwell et al. JCI Insight 2017). We determined whether serial testing (in the first month following HCT) of patients with low probability biomarkers would improve the predictive accuracy of the algorithm and identify patients with different risks of relapse and lethal GVHD. Patients who received an HCT at 18 centers in the Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium (MAGIC) for hematologic malignancy and who supplied three blood samples were divided into a training set and validation set with equal numbers of lethal GVHD events, which was defined as death from GVHD or infection during treatment for GVHD. Patients in the training set (n=702) underwent HCT from January 1, 2006 until June 30, 2015, whereas patients in the validation set (n=906) underwent HCT from July 1, 2015 to May 1, 2017. Serum samples were analyzed using the previously published algorithm of two biomarkers up to three times (day 7, day 14, day 28 or GVHD onset, if onset occurred within the first 28 days). The algorithm generates a predicted probability of lethal GVHD between 0 and 1 for each patient. Patients were categorized as either low probability (LP) or high probability (HP) for lethal GVHD. HP thresholds of 0.20 and 0.16 were used to classify patients with and without GVHD symptoms, respectively (once categorized as HP, patients remained in that category and were not retested). All results were similar between training and validation sets, and we present here the validation set results. Serial testing identified 28% of patients as HP with a three-fold greater cumulative incidence of lethal GVHD at one year (13% vs 4%, p

Description: Background: Consolidation therapy with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is recommended to prevent relapse and improve survival in patients with intermediate and poor risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Due to toxicity, older patients with comorbidities were historically not candidates for HSCT. The development of reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens has allowed more patients to proceed to HSCT by reducing toxicities associated with myeloablative conditioning (MAC).The cornerstone of reducing conditioning regimen intensity is modification of busulfan exposure, expressed as an area under the curve (AUC). This can be achieved by the use of patient-specific pharmacokinetic targets. Previous studies (including BMT CTN 0901) have demonstrated RIC regimens were associated with less toxicity at the cost of potentially decreased survival relative to weight-based MAC regimens. At OSU, we have utilized an AUC target of 4,000 μmol-min/L per day x 4 days in a subset of patients to balance reduced toxicity with risk of relapse. Here we compare outcomes of AUC 4,000 to weight-based RIC Flu/Bu2. Methods: To compare the two regimens, a retrospective, IRB-approved cohort study was conducted. The inclusion criteria were as follows: age 18-89 years, HSCT for a diagnosis of AML or MDS, and fludarabine + busulfan conditioning regimen ± antithymocyte globulin. In the AUC 4,000 group, the target busulfan exposure was 16,000 μmol-min/L divided over 4 daily doses. In the RIC group, patents received busulfan 0.8 mg/kg/dose for 8 doses (Flu/Bu2). The primary outcome was relapse free survival (RFS). Secondary outcomes included overall survival (OS); time to neutrophil recovery; time to platelet recovery; incidence of acute and chronic graft vs host disease (GVHD); sinusoidal obstructive syndrome; febrile neutropenia; graft failure; and grade 3-5 mucositis, acute kidney injury, or hepatic dysfunction. The log-rank test was used to compare RFS and OS, and Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratio. Gray's test was used for competing risks analysis of relapse, acute GVHD, and chronic GVHD. Fine and Gray regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratio. Results: Seventy-four patients who received conditioning from 2015-2018 with either AUC 4,000 or RIC were identified. Disease type was similar between groups with 61.8% AML in the AUC 4,000 group and 52.5% in the RIC group. There were no significant differences in disease risk status. In the AUC 4,000 group, 17.6% had either AML with myelodysplastic changes or therapy-related AML/MDS, compared to 17.5% in the RIC group. The percent of patients with HCT-Comorbidity Index score of ≥ 3 was 52.9% for AUC 4,000 and 77.5% for RIC. At 18 months, RFS was not significantly different, at 66.9% with AUC 4,000 compared to 57.5% with RIC (p=0.37) (A). Eighteen-month overall survival was also not significantly different with 66.9% alive in the AUC 4,000 group and 60% in the RIC group (p=0.63) (B). Cumulative incidence of acute and chronic GVHD were not significantly different (p=0.82, p=0.18, respectively) (C,D). There was, however, a statistically significant difference in the cumulative incidence of relapse over 18 months in favor of the AUC 4,000 regimen (hazard ratio 4.08, 95% confidence interval 1.15-14.5) (E). Grade 2-4 mucositis was more common in the AUC 4,000 group (85.3% vs 30%, p

Description: Background: Patients ≥55 years of age with rel/ref AML who have failed to achieve complete remission (CR) after standard induction & salvage therapies do not routinely undergo allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) due to inability to receive myeloablative conditioning and lack of efficacy. With the advent of recently approved targeted therapies (e.g. venetoclax, IDH inhibitors) more patients achieve CR, however durable responses in heavily pre-treated patient populations remain unsatisfactory with very few patients being transplanted. The SIERRA (Study of Iomab-B in Elderly Relapsed or Refractory AML) trial is a prospective, randomized, phase 3 trial designed to address this unmet need. We present the preliminary analysis of the first 50% of patients and analyze the proportion of patients who fail standard chemo and targeted therapies that can then successfully undergo HCT with Iomab-B-based conditioning. Study continues to enroll (N=150), primary end-point durable CR of ≥180 days. Methods: Eligible patients are ≥ 55 years with rel/ref AML (≥5% blasts), adequate organ function, and related/unrelated 8/8 HLA-matched donors. Patients are randomized (1:1) to receive Iomab-B followed 12-14 days later by reduced intensity conditioning (fludarabine(FLU)/TBI) and HCT, or to conventional care (CC). CC patients may receive investigator's choice of salvage therapy, including newly approved targeted agents such as venetoclax, IDH Inhibitors and may proceed to standard HCT if they achieve CR. If patients do not achieve CR, the study allows cross-over (CO) to Iomab-B with HCT. Results: Preliminary data are available from the first 75 patients enrolled on the SIERRA trial. Median age of 64 years (range: 55-77). All patients had active measurable disease (Table 1). Patients in this trial were heavily pretreated with 85% failing ≥2 induction therapies and 33% failing targeted therapies. Molecular and cytogenetics was 68% adverse risk. (NCCN, v1.2018) Following therapeutic dose of Iomab-B as a single agent, there was significant reduction of circulating blasts by day 3 (99%, p

Description: Introduction: Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), a T cell-mediated immunological disorder is the leading cause of non-relapse mortality in patients receiving allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) catalyzes symmetric dimethylation (me2s) of arginine (R) residues on histones (primarily H3R8 and H3R4) and other proteins. PRMT5 is overexpressed in many leukemias and lymphomas, and epigenetic changes driven by PRMT5 lead to repression of tumor suppressors and promote growth and survival of cancer cells. Recently it was shown that T cells are sensitive to R-methylation and PRMT5 promotes activation of memory T helper cells. Here we investigate: 1) mechanisms by which PRMT5 regulates T cell function; and 2) PRMT5 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for aGVHD. Materials and Methods: Splenic T cells were isolated from lethally irradiated B6D2F1 mice that received either T cell depleted bone marrow (TCD-BM) or TCD-BM with C57/BL6 (B6) allogeneic splenocytes on day 21 post-transplant. In vitro activation of B6 T cells was achieved with CD3/CD28 Dynabeads or co-culture with allogeneic BM-derived dendritic cells. PRMT5 expression (RT-PCR, western blot) and function (H3R8me2s western blot) were evaluated. PRT220, a novel inhibitor of PRMT5, was used to evaluate PRMT5 inhibition on T cell function in vitro and in vivo. We assessed T cell proliferation (Cell Trace Violet, Ki67), apoptosis (Annexin V), cytokine secretion (ELISA, flow cytometry), cell cycle (PI incorporation), and cell signaling (western blot). Lethally irradiated F1 recipients received TCD-BM only (10x106 cells) or TCD-BM + B6 splenocytes (20 x 106). Recipients of allogeneic splenocytes were treated with PRT220 (2mg/kg) or vehicle by oral gavage once weekly starting day 7 post-transplant. Mice were monitored for survival and clinical aGVHD scores. Results: PRMT5 expression and function is upregulated following T cell activation. Inhibition of PRMT5 reduces T cell proliferation and IFN-g secretion. PRMT5 inhibition in CD3/CD28 stimulated T cells results in disruption of multiple histone epigenetic marks, cell-cycle progression (via G1 arrest) and perturbation of ERK-MAPK signaling cascades. Finally, administration of PRT220 resulted in significantly prolonging the survival of allo-transplanted recipient mice (median survival, PRT220 vs. vehicle, 36.5 vs. 26 days, p=0.01). PRT220-treated recipients also exhibited significant lower aGVHD clinical (p

Description: Background: Haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (haplo-HCT) is an advancing and potentially curative therapy for patients with hematologic malignancies when the availability of HLA-matched donors are limited. The common source for haplo-HCT is donor bone marrow, but peripheral blood (PB) haplo-HCT is an emerging and less invasive option with similar survival outcomes. However, multiple series showed an increased incidence of culture negative fever early after haplo-HCT, which has been attributed to cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and more commonly observed with PB haplo-HCT. In this study, we investigated the incidence and impact of CRS on clinical outcomes and financial toxicity in PB haplo-HCT patients treated at a single center. Methods: A total of 40 patients who underwent PB haplo-HCT in the Ohio State University between Jan 2015 - Dec 2017 were included. CRS was defined and graded based on the criteria proposed by Lee, et al (Blood, 2014). Symptoms occurring before day +14 were included, patients with a documented infection (e.g. positive culture data) and clinical suspicion of sepsis were excluded. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the time from transplantation until death. Transplant-related mortality (TRM) was defined as death before day +28 from any cause and patients who died after day +28 with no evidence of disease. Results:. The median age at HCT was 53 years (range, 19 to 74), 63% were male. The most common diagnosis was acute myeloid leukemia (47.5%), followed by lymphoma (22.5%), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (7.5%) and myelodysplastic syndrome (7.5%). Two patients had undergone previous autologous HCT. At the time of haplo-HCT, 62% of patients were in complete remission, 38% had relapsed/refractory disease. Donor was the child in 58%, sibling in 24% and parent in 18% with an antigen match ratio of 5/10 in 50%, 6/10 in 30%, 7/10 in 12.5%, 8/10 in 7.5%. Mismatch for sex and ABO blood group were seen in 50% and 45%, respectively. Twenty percent of patients received myeloablative conditioning with fludarabine/busulfan/thiotepa, while 80% received reduced-intensity regimen with fludarabine/cyclophosphamide/total body irradiation. The incidence of CRS was 85%, including grade 1-2 CRS in 77.5% and grade 3-4 CRS in 7.5%. Time to the onset of CRS was

Description: Introduction: Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease (aGVHD) affects 30-70% of all allogeneic stem cell transplant (alloSCT) recipients, contributing to high non-relapse mortality. aGVHD is due to donor T cell cytotoxic inflammatory effects stimulated by exposure to foreign host antigens. Epigenetic modulation by BET inhibition boasts anti-inflammatory effects. BET proteins are a class of epigenetic "reader molecules," functioning as key mediators of transcription. BET proteins regulate inflammatory gene expression and are targetable. BET inhibition decreases NF-kB dependent cytokine expression and Th1/Th17 differentiation without affecting regulatory T cell differentiation. BET inhibition disrupts BRD4 interaction with the acetylated component of NF-kB, RelA. Therefore, we hypothesize that BET inhibition is a feasible and effective strategy to mitigate T cell mediated aGVHD inflammation. In this study, we have used PLX51107 and PLX2853 - novel BET inhibitors developed by Plexxikon Inc that possess a unique binding mode and high bioavailability ideal for preclinical evaluation. PLX2853 (second generation) was designed to increase potency and improve tolerability. Materials and Methods: aGVHD allogeneic mouse model: Lethally irradiated (1200 cGy) B6D2F1 recipients received T cell depleted bone marrow cells (TCD-BM, 10x106) and CD45.1+ B6 splenocytes (15x106) intravenously via tail vein injection. Recipients were treated by oral gavage, 3x weekly with PLX51107 (10 mg/kg), PLX2853 (4 mg/kg) or vehicle. We evaluated two dosing schedules - starting at day +1 or day +7 after transplant in the PLX51107 studies and day +1 only after infusion of allogeneic CD45.1+ B6 splenocytes in the PLX2853 studies. Survival and clinical aGVHD scores were assessed. Xenogeneic mouse model: NSG mice were conditioned with 50 cGy X-ray irradiation and injected with 15-20x106 human PBMCs and treated with PLX2853 (4 mg/kg) or vehicle starting day +1. Survival was assessed. Graft-versus-Tumor model: In vivo: Lethally irradiated F1 mice were intravenously injected with firefly luciferase-transduced murine mastocytoma P815 cells on day 0 with B6 TCD-BM ± allogeneic B6 splenocytes (n=8 per cohort). Recipients were treated with PLX2853 (4 mg/kg) or vehicle (oral gavage, 3x weekly) starting at day +1 post-transplant. Survival was assessed. In vitro: Murine CD45.1 B6 CD8+ T cells were stimulated in vitro with PMA/Ionomycin ± PLX2853 (10nM) for 5 days and then degranulation was analyzed in response to P815 tumor challenge to evaluate CTL capacity via flow cytometry of intracellular CD107a expression. Study designs are illustrated in the Figure (Panel A). Results: PLX51107 demonstrates potent biological activity and improves survival in a murine model of aGVHD. Administration of PLX51107 dramatically improved survival of recipient mice (B) and reduced aGVHD clinical scores (C). PLX2853 significantly improves survival in multiple mouse models of aGVHD. Our in-vitro data show that PLX2853 (IC50 ~10nM) is more potent than PLX51107 (IC50 ~500nM). Therefore, we validated the biological activity and efficacy of PLX2853 in mouse models of aGVHD. PLX2853 significantly prolonged survival of allogeneic transplanted recipient mice (D) and resulted in reduced clinical scores (E). Recipient mice in the xenogeneic mouse model showed improved survival with PLX2853 treatment (F). PLX2853 maintains Graft Versus Tumor response in vivo and does not abrogate CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses in vitro. BET inhibition retained beneficial GVT effects as seen by improvement in survival comparable to vehicle group (G). PLX2853 treated CD8+ T cells showed comparable degranulation to control as measured by CD107a mobilization (H, I). These results suggest that BET inhibition does not abrogate CD8+ CTL capacity, correlating to retention of GVT effects observed in vivo. Conclusions: PLX51107 was well tolerated at both day +1 and +7 initiation, demonstrating the future feasibility of BET inhibition as a prophylactic or therapeutic strategy for aGVHD. PLX2853 given at lower doses demonstrated similar improvements in survival and GVHD scoring, consistent with increased potency. Preliminary in vivo and in vitro studies of PLX2853 on GVT and on CD8+ CTLs show that PLX2853 retains GVT effects. Additional mechanistic in vivo and in vitro studies are ongoing. Figure Disclosures Powell: Plexxikon Inc.: Employment. Bollag:Plexxikon Inc.: Employment.

Description: Systemic glucocorticoids are the principal treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which remains the major cause of non-relapse mortality (NRM) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). However, there are no validated biomarkers that measure a patient's response to glucocorticoid therapy, and thus response is evaluated by the change in clinical symptom severity. A major weakness in the predictive power of clinical responses is that changes to all organs are weighted equally even though the major driver of NRM is irreversible damage to the crypts of the GI tract. Recent studies from the Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium (MAGIC) have validated an algorithm probability (MAP) that combines serum concentrations of two biomarkers of GVHD (REG3α and ST2) to generate an estimated probability of 6 month NRM for individual patients. The MAP has been considered a "liquid biopsy" that estimates the damage caused by GVHD to crypts throughout the lower GI tract (Hartwell et al., JCI Insight, 2017; Major-Monfried et al., Blood, 2018). We hypothesized that the change in MAP between start of treatment and 28 days later could serve as a response biomarker for GVHD and might compare favorably to the change in clinical symptoms that measures response to GVHD treatment, which is widely used as a surrogate for long term survival and is the primary endpoint in most GVHD treatment trials (Martin et al., BBMT, 2009; MacMillan et al., Blood, 2010). We prospectively collected serum samples and clinical staging from 368 sequential HCT patients who received systemic treatment for acute GVHD in one of 20 MAGIC centers between January 2016 and February 2018. We measured the serum concentrations of REG3α and ST2 before and after systemic therapy for acute GVHD and computed MAPs, the changes in MAPs, and clinical responses for each patient. MAPs of patients who experienced 6 month NRM showed significantly greater increases than MAPs of patients who survived (p=0.0004). In patients whose MAPs at the start of treatment were low (Ann Arbor 1, MAP 〈 0.141) or intermediate (Ann Arbor 2, 0.141 ≤ MAP ≤ 0.290), 6 month NRM clustered among those who had the greatest increases in MAP after 28 days (Fig 1A,B). In patients with high MAPs at the start of treatment (Ann Arbor 3, MAP 〉 0.290), those who survived tended to have the largest decreases in MAP (Fig 1C). These changes in MAP suggested crossing a single threshold could predict risk of mortality. We found that patients whose MAPs rose above a threshold MAP of 0.290 (5% of Ann Arbor 1, 27% of Ann Arbor 2) had significantly worse survival compared to those who remained below it, whereas the large number patients with initially high MAPs that remained above the threshold (66% of Ann Arbor 3) had a large increases in mortality (Fig 2). When measured at day 28, the MAP was significantly more accurate in predicting NRM than the gold standard of the clinical response, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.86 and 0.70, respectively (p

Description: Background: Patients ≥55 years of age with active, relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML) who have failed standard induction therapies most often receive salvage therapy with a wide variety of agents, but very few achieve remission. These patients do not routinely undergo allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) due to lack of efficacy using a standard HCT approach. The SIERRA trial is a prospective, randomized, phase 3, open-label, ongoing multicenter trial designed to address this significant unmet need in R/R AML. This trial compares Iomab-B, an 131I-radiolabeled anti-CD45 antibody as targeted conditioning prior to HCT against standard conventional care therapies with an accrual goal of 150 patients. We have performed a preliminary safety analysis, validating the initial feasibility of this multi-center trial. Methods: Eligible patients are ≥ 55 years of age with active, R/R AML, adequate organ function, and related/unrelated matched donor. Patients are randomized (1:1 ratio) to receive dosimetry directed Iomab-B followed 12 days later by HCT with fludarabine 30 mg/m2 x 3 days and 2 Gy of total body irradiation as transplant conditioning, or to a Conventional Care (CC) arm. Patients randomized to CC, may receive investigator's choice of salvage induction chemotherapy including approved targeted agents as well as Venetoclax (in combination with a hypomethylating agent) and proceed to standard HCT if they achieve complete remission (CR). If patients do not achieve CR, the study allows optional cross-over to the Iomab-B arm, evaluated between days 28-42 after CC therapy. The primary efficacy endpoint for the study is durable complete remission (dCR) of 6 months. The secondary efficacy objective is to evaluate overall survival at 1 year. Results: Forty patients have been enrolled to date and data are available for 38 patients (19 = Iomab-B, 19 = CC) as of July 5th, 2018. The median age was 63 years (range: 55-76). All patients had active disease at the time of enrollment with median bone marrow (BM) blasts of 30% in the Iomab-B arm and 47% in the crossover arm prior to receiving Iomab-B (Table 1). Of the patients in the CC arm, 88% did not achieve a CR and 65% of those crossed-over to receive Iomab-B. The most common reason preventing crossover was declining performance status. Time to HCT was not increased in the crossover patients receiving Iomab-B compared to those that underwent a standard of care transplant after achieving CR (median 65 vs 75 days), while the Iomab-B arm patients were transplanted at a median of 27 days after randomization. Iomab-B therapy was well-tolerated with no grade 3 or 4 infusion-related reactions reported. The median activity of Iomab-B was 626 mCi (range: 397-1027). All patients randomized to Iomab-B (N=13) engrafted, with median days to engraftment of ANC at 13 (range: 9-22) and platelets at 17 (range: 13-26). All patients who received Iomab-B after crossover (N=9) also engrafted with time to engraftment similar to patients initially randomized to the Iomab-B arm (Table 1). Donor chimerism (≥95%), within 100 days after HCT, was found in 9 of 10 patients in the Iomab-B arm and 8 of 9 patients in those that crossed over to receive Iomab-B, with two patient exceptions having mixed donor chimerism at day 28. A preliminary safety analysis for all randomized patients on either study arm showed the most frequent non-hematologic adverse events ≥ grade 3 occurring in 〉10% patients were febrile neutropenia (34.2%), stomatitis (15.8%), malnutrition (13.2%), epistaxis, sepsis, hypotension, hypobilirubinemia and fatigue (all 10.5%). There were no Iomab-B-related deaths. Interpretation: Preliminary safety analysis demonstrates the feasibility of delivering targeted conditioning with Iomab- B for HCT in R/R AML patients who have active disease and a high BM blast burden (median: ≥ 30%) prior to transplantation. All patients who received Iomab-B, including those crossed over after failing to achieve CR on CC salvage therapy, engrafted ANC within 13 days, despite active disease prior to transplant. In addition, the time to HCT from randomization was not increased in patients receiving Iomab-B after cross-over compared to those who underwent standard of care HCT after achieving CR on the CC arm. This study is currently enrolling and for full study details see www.sierratrial.com or clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02665065). Disclosures Tomlinson: Foundation Medicine: Consultancy. Foran:Xencor, Inc.: Research Funding; Agios: Research Funding. Chen:Bellicum Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding. Levy:Takeda (Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.): Consultancy. Lazarus:Pluristem Ltd.: Consultancy. Berger:Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership. Reddy:Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership; Pharmacyclics: Employment. Pagel:Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie Company: Consultancy; Gilead: Consultancy.

Description: Introduction: Acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in allogeneic hematopoietic stem marrow transplant (allo-HSCT), with rates ranging from 30% to 70%. Preventing GVHD without impairing the graft-versus-tumor effect remains an important goal for successful allo-HSCT. Tacrolimus (TAC), a calcineurin inhibitor that prevents T-cell activation, is commonly used as aGVHD prophylaxis. The influence of TAC has proved effective for preventing aGVHD after allo-HSCT. There is also variability in the serum concentrations of TAC and very little is known on the impact of early (first 4 weeks) TAC levels on aGVHD incidence. Given the immunologic events that lead to aGVHD, which occur within the first few days after transplant, we sought to assess whether early TAC levels were associated with aGVHD. Methods: Data were analyzed for 707 consecutive patients undergoing allo-HSCT at the Ohio State University between 2002- 2016. All patients received standard prophylaxis with TAC daily and methotrexate at a dose of 5mg/m2 on days +1, +3, +6, and +11 post allo-HSCT. Patients received anti-thymoglobulin (ATG) if receiving stem cells from an unrelated/mismatch related donor. The TAC target range was 5-12 ng/mL averaged over a 7-day period. The primary outcome of interest was the incidence of aGVHD and its association with the mean weekly TAC levels. Secondary endpoints included incidence of chronic GVHD (cGVHD), relapse and overall survival (OS). Fine and Gray's proportional hazard models accounting for competing risks were used to evaluate the association between TAC levels and outcome of aGVHD, cGVHD and relapse. Cox proportional hazard models were used for the association with OS. Mean weekly TAC levels were included in the analyses as continuous variables and then divided into tertiles. A multivariable model adjusted for confounding factors. Results: Among the 707 patients, median age was 53 years (range: 19-75) and 60.7% were male. In all, 68% patients received reduced-intensity conditioning and the remaining 32% received myeloablative conditioning. The median age of donors was 34 years (range: 18-81) with 74.7% male. Of the donors, 36.9% were match related and 55.9% match unrelated. Peripheral blood was the stem cell source for 90.2% of the patients. A total of 449 (63.5%) patients received ATG. The diagnosis included acute myeloid leukemia (36.3%), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (16.41%), myelodysplastic syndrome (11.7%), and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (11.88%). The mean weekly TAC concentrations at weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 8.0, 9.7, 11.3 and 10.5 ng/mL, respectively. The cumulative incidence of grades II-IV aGVHD was 40% (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 36%-43%) at day 100 and 45% (95% CI: 41%-48%) at day 180 post-transplant. In univariable analysis, high TAC level at week 1 was associated with lower grade II-IV aGVHD (Hazard ratio (HR), 0.96; 95%CI, 0.93-0.99; p = 0.006). We examined the effect of week 1 TAC levels categorized into tertiles (〈 5.85, 5.85-8.95 and 〉8.95 ng/ml). Higher level of TAC (〉8.95 ng/ml) was associated with lower risk of aGVHD (Figure 1a). In multivariable analysis, week 1 TAC levels 〉 5.85 ng/ml remained associated with a lower risk of grade II-IV aGVHD. However, only levels of 5.85-8.95 ng/ml were associated with statistically significant lower risk with HR=0.75 95% CI, 0.57-0.98; p=0.04 compared to the lower group (7.2 ng/ml (HR: 0.78, 95%CI: 0.62-0.98; p=0.03). The cumulative incidence of cGVHD was 41% (95% CI: 37%-44%) at 1 year post-allo-HSCT. Since GVHD is closely intertwined with the graft-versus-tumor effect, we examined whether early TAC levels influenced the risk of disease relapse. TAC levels at week 1 were not associated with relapse. However, week 2 TAC level 〉10.6 ng/ml was associated with an increased risk of relapse in multivariable analysis (HR, 1.37, CI, 1.01-1.85, p=0.043) (Figure 1b), after adjusting for confounding variables. The cumulative incidence of relapse at 1, 3 and 5 year post allo-HSCT was 33%, 38% and 40%, respectively. TAC levels at weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 were not associated with OS. Conclusion: Achieving mean whole-blood level of tacrolimus between 6.0-9.0 ng/ml within the first week post-allogenic bone marrow transplantation may reduce the risk of aGVHD. Disclosures Rosko: Vyxeos: Other: Travel support. Vasu:Boehringer Ingelheim: Other: Travel support; Seattle Genetics: Other: Clinical trial support. Jaglowski:Kite: Consultancy, Other: advisory board, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy, Other: advisory board; Novartis: Consultancy, Other: advisory board, Research Funding; Unum Therapeutics Inc.: Research Funding. William:Techspert: Consultancy; Guidepoint Global: Consultancy; Defined Health: Consultancy; Celgene Corporation: Consultancy; Kyowa Kirin, Inc.: Consultancy. Mims:Agios Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astellas Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; PTC Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Brammer:Bioniz Therapeutics, Inc.: Research Funding; Viracta Therapeutics, Inc.: Research Funding; Verastem, Inc: Research Funding. Saad:Actinium Pharma Inc: Consultancy; Amgen: Other: Research Support; Kadmon: Other: Research Support; OrcaBio: Other: Research Support. Efebera:Janssen: Speakers Bureau; Akcea: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Honoraria.