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Numerous studies have described the altered expression and the causal role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in human cancer. However, to date, efforts to modulate miRNA levels for therapeutic purposes have been challenging to implement. Here we find that nucleolin (NCL), a major nucleolar protein, posttranscriptionally regulates the expression of a specific subset of miRNAs, including miR-21, miR-221, miR-222, and miR-103, that are causally involved in breast cancer initiation, progression, and drug resistance. We also show that NCL is commonly overexpressed in human breast tumors and that its expression correlates with that of NCL-dependent miRNAs. Finally, inhibition of NCL using guanosine-rich aptamers reduces the levels of NCL-dependent miRNAs and their target genes, thus reducing breast cancer cell aggressiveness both in vitro and in vivo. These findings illuminate a path to novel therapeutic approaches based on NCL-targeting aptamers for the modulation of miRNA expression in the treatment of breast cancer.

Background:Real-world data (RWD) derived from electronic health records are becoming increasingly important for deriving insights from clinical practice to complement findings from clinical trials. Response to treatment in multiple myeloma (MM) is assessed using the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) response criteria based on MM-specific laboratory measures (i.e. monoclonal [M] protein in serum and urine, free light chain [FLC] levels), as well as radiological images and bone marrow (BM) investigations when appropriate. As healthcare providers do not routinely collect all the information required by the IMWG response criteria, RWD data are often incomplete. Here, we present a derived real-world response (dR) algorithm based on IMWG criteria that accounts for lab measures routinely collected in the clinical care of MM patients and evaluate its ability to accurately assess response to treatment using clinical trial patient-level data.

Background:Real world data (RWD) is one of the key components to our understanding of the treatment trajectory of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) in clinical practice. However, treatment responses recorded in patients' medical records are not often standardized. We have developed an algorithm to derive real-world response (dR) for MM patients based on the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria to overcome issues with missing values (Xu et al. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2021). In this study, we evaluate its association with overall survival (OS) in a RWD cohort.

Xu: F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG: Current Employment. Tyanova: F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Current Employment. Williamson: Amgen: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Genentech: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Rocci: Novartis: Other: Wife is and employee of Novartis and holds Novartis stocks; Sanofi Aventis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Received travel sponsorship ; AbbVie: Other: Received travel sponsorship ; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.: Current Employment; NHS: Ended employment in the past 24 months; Sanofi: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Received travel sponsorship , Speakers Bureau; Roche: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Owner of 100% stocks of Harlock Healthcare Consulting Ltd (UK privately-held company currently not active).: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Received travel sponsorship ; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen-Cilag Ltd: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Yousefi: Roche: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Kumar: Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Antengene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Roche-Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Tenebio: Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Carsgen: Research Funding; Beigene: Consultancy; KITE: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Adaptive: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding.

Tyanova: F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Current Employment. Xu: F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG: Current Employment. Williamson: Amgen: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Genentech: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Rocci: Novartis: Other: Wife is and employee of Novartis and holds Novartis stocks; Sanofi Aventis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Received travel sponsorship ; Janssen-Cilag Ltd: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Received travel sponsorship ; Owner of 100% stocks of Harlock Healthcare Consulting Ltd (UK privately-held company currently not active).: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Roche: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Received travel sponsorship , Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy; NHS: Ended employment in the past 24 months; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.: Current Employment; AbbVie: Other: Received travel sponsorship . Hong: Imago BioSciences: Current Employment; Genentech, Inc.: Ended employment in the past 24 months; Stock options in Imago BioSciences: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Jin: Genentech Inc: Current Employment; Roche: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Karve: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Roose: Flatiron Health, Inc.: Current Employment; Roche: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Sawas: Seattle Genetics: Honoraria; Affimed: Research Funding; Roche: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Flat Iron Health: Current Employment; Acrotech: Honoraria; Daiichi-Sankyo: Speakers Bureau; Seattle Genetics: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Speakers Bureau. Kumar: Antengene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Research Funding; Adaptive: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Astra-Zeneca: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Carsgen: Research Funding; Tenebio: Research Funding; Beigene: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; KITE: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; Roche-Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding.

Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is an inflammation-associated enzyme involved in the pathogenesis of many solid tumors, but little is known about its presence and role in hematologic neoplasms. Multiple myeloma (MM) is known to involve a deregulated cytokine network with secretion of inflammatory mediators. We thus decided to investigate the involvement of COX-2 in this neoplasm. Western blotting (WB) was used to evaluate 142 bone marrow (BM) specimens, including MM and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Selected cases under-went further evaluation by WB on purified CD138+cells, immunohistochemistry (IC), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for mRNA expression. COX-2 was expressed in 11% (2 of 18) of MGUS specimens, 31% (29 of 94) of MM at diagnosis, and 47% (14 of 30) of MM with relapsed/refractory disease. COX-2 positivity was associated with a poor outcome in terms of progression-free (18 vs 36 months; P< .001) and overall survival (28 vs 52 months; P< .05). Real-time PCR showed COX-2 mRNA overexpression. IC and cell separation studies demonstrated COX-2 expression to be restricted to malignant plasma cells. This is the first report of the presence and prognostic role of COX-2 expression in MM. Future studies will assess COX-2 involvement in other hematologic tumors and its potential use as a therapeutic or chemo-preventive target in onco-hematology. (Blood. 2005; 105:4784-4791)

Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is an inflammation-associated enzyme involved in the pathogenesis of many solid tumors, but little is known about its presence and role in hematologic neoplasms. Multiple myeloma (MM) is known to involve a deregulated cytokine network with secretion of inflammatory mediators. We thus decided to investigate the involvement of COX-2 in this neoplasm. Western blotting (WB) was used to evaluate 142 bone marrow (BM) specimens, including MM and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Selected cases under-went further evaluation by WB on purified CD138+ cells, immunohistochemistry (IC), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for mRNA expression. COX-2 was expressed in 11% (2 of 18) of MGUS specimens, 31% (29 of 94) of MM at diagnosis, and 47% (14 of 30) of MM with relapsed/refractory disease. COX-2 positivity was associated with a poor outcome in terms of progression-free (18 vs 36 months; P < .001) and overall survival (28 vs 52 months; P < .05). Real-time PCR showed COX-2 mRNA overexpression. IC and cell separation studies demonstrated COX-2 expression to be restricted to malignant plasma cells. This is the first report of the presence and prognostic role of COX-2 expression in MM. Future studies will assess COX-2 involvement in other hematologic tumors and its potential use as a therapeutic or chemo-preventive target in onco-hematology. (Blood. 2005; 105:4784-4791)

In this study we investigated telomere restriction fragment (TRF) length in a panel of mature B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (MBCLDs) and correlated this parameter with histology and histopathogenesis in relation to the germinal center (GC). We assessed 123 MBCLD samples containing 80% or more tumor cells. TRF length was evaluated by Southern blot analysis using a chemiluminescence-based assay. GC status was assessed through screening for stable and ongoing somatic mutations within the immunoglobulin heavy-chain genes. Median TRF length was 6170 bp (range, 1896-11 200 bp) and did not correlate with patient age or sex. TRF length was greater in diffuse large cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma (medians: 7789 bp, 9471 bp, and 7383 bp, respectively) than in mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (medians: 3582 bp and 4346 bp, respectively). GC-derived MBCLDs had the longest telomeres, whereas those arising from GC-inexperienced cells had the shortest (P < 10-9). We conclude that (1) TRF length in MBCLD is highly heterogeneous; (2) GC-derived tumors have long telomeres, suggesting that minimal telomere erosion occurs during GC-derived lymphomagenesis; and (3) the short TRF lengths of GC-inexperienced MBCLDs indicates that these neoplasms are good candidates for treatment with telomerase inhibitors, a class of molecules currently the subject of extensive preclinical evaluation. (Blood. 2004;103:4644-4649)

In this study we investigated telomere restriction fragment (TRF) length in a panel of mature B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (MBCLDs) and correlated this parameter with histology and histopathogenesis in relation to the germinal center (GC). We assessed 123 MBCLD samples containing 80% or more tumor cells. TRF length was evaluated by Southern blot analysis using a chemiluminescence-based assay. GC status was assessed through screening for stable and ongoing somatic mutations within the immunoglobulin heavy-chain genes. Median TRF length was 6170 bp (range, 1896-11 200 bp) and did not correlate with patient age or sex. TRF length was greater in diffuse large cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma (medians: 7789 bp, 9471 bp, and 7383 bp, respectively) than in mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (medians: 3582 bp and 4346 bp, respectively). GC-derived MBCLDs had the longest telomeres, whereas those arising from GC-inexperienced cells had the shortest (P< 10-9). We conclude that (1) TRF length in MBCLD is highly heterogeneous; (2) GC-derived tumors have long telomeres, suggesting that minimal telomere erosion occurs during GC-derived lymphomagenesis; and (3) the short TRF lengths of GC-inexperienced MBCLDs indicates that these neoplasms are good candidates for treatment with telomerase inhibitors, a class of molecules currently the subject of extensive preclinical evaluation. (Blood. 2004;103:4644-4649)

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Palumbo: Array BioPharma: Consultancy; Onyx Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genmab A/S: Consultancy; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Sanofi Aventis: Consultancy.

Introduction:Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy of clonal plasma cells (PCs) in the bone marrow (BM). MM cells are dependent on the BM microenvironment (e.g.BM stromal cells, macrophages etc) and create a network with surrounding cells. These cells play a pivotal role in the regulation of MM cell survival and drug resistance bydirect interactions through adhesion molecules causing cell adhesion mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR) or soluble factors including supportive cytokines (e.g.IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF) or exosomes (or extracellular vesicles). Exosomes (EV) are endosome-derived membrane-covered cell fragments, which contain specific protein and RNA cargo. The protein content of EVs in MM has not been readily explored. Recently our group established the use a global label-free quantification method to determine the relative amount of proteins identified from EVs obtained from MM cell lines. Here we are reporting a systematic proteomic analysis of EVs derived from MM cell lines, blood from MM patients, and BM from MM patients. We also report preliminary data showing the biological importance of specific EV enriched proteins in MM cell lines and MM patients.

Introduction:Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by the accumulation of plasma cells (PCs) in the bone marrow (BM). Over 50% of patients die within 5 years of diagnosis. The transition from normal PCs to active MM, viapremalignant condition (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance;MGUS), consists of many oncogenic events, including upregulation of cyclin D1 and IRF4 genes, as well as activating mutations in NRAS, and KRAS. Despite recent advances in oncogenomics, further studies are needed to identify critical players in MM pathogenesis that could be targeted for pharmacological intervention to improve outcome. Recently, aberrations in epigenetic modifications, including DNA modifications and miRNA expression have been shown to play a crucial role in development and progression of MM. miRNAs are short non-coding RNAs that bind to complementary sequences on target messenger RNA (mRNAs) and downregulate their expression by inhibiting mRNA translation, or inducing its degradation. miRNA analysis, may lead to improved understanding of MM biology and classification, by establishing associations between gene expression changes and MM molecular and clinical features. To assess whether miRNA deregulation plays a critical role in the development of MM we performed small RNA next generation sequencing in the PCs isolated from 3 patients at the MGUS stage and after that they developed active disease, but still untreated. miRNA deregulation was also validated in an independent set of newly diagnosed MM patients (n.34) compared to non-cancer age matched donors (n.6). Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and biological roles of the differentially expressed miRNAs were also analyzed.

Glavey: BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding. Palumbo:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genmab A/S: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria; Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria; Onyx Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria; Array BioPharma: Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria. Ghobrial:Onyx: Advisory board Other; BMS: Advisory board, Advisory board Other, Research Funding; Noxxon: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding.

Off Label Use: lenalidomide used as off-label. Ferrero:MUNDIPHARMA: Honoraria. Gay:Sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Patriarca:Merck Sharp & Dohme: Honoraria; Janssen and Cilag: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria. Petrucci:CELGENE: Honoraria; JANSSEN-CILAG: Honoraria; SANOFI: Honoraria; BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB: Honoraria. Caravita:Celgene: Honoraria. Di Raimondo:CELGENE: Honoraria; JANSSEN-CILAG: Honoraria. Musto:CELGENE: Honoraria; JANSSEN-CILAG: Honoraria. Boccadoro:Sanofi: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Onyx: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Palumbo:Array BioPharma: Honoraria; Onyx Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria; Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genmab A/S: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria.

Background.Minimal residual disease (MRD) detection by multi-parameter flow cytometry (MFC) and real time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) is highly predictive of outcome in multiple myeloma (MM) patients (pts). Less is known on the ability of maintenance therapy to modulate MRD levels. The primary end-point of this study was to monitor MRD during maintenance therapy and to evaluate the impact on outcome.

Background

While international stage (ISS) and the presence of absence of cytogenetic abnormalities on FISH somewhat define the clinical risk of MM patients, additional biomarkers are necessary for more precise risk-based classification. Emerging studies have shown that circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) can be detected in patients with a variety of malignancies, including MM, and they could be non-invasive biomarkers. We measured serum miRNA levels of a large cohort of well-characterized previously untreated MM patients and correlated results with clinical outcome to test their prognostic impact. Methods and Patients To profile the expression of circulating microRNAs in the serum of MM patients, we performed NanoString-nCounter microRNA assays on samples obtained from a discovery cohort of 54 newly diagnosed MM patients enrolled on a randomized GIMEMA phase 3 study comparing Velcade-Melphalan-Prednisone-Thalidomide versus Velcade-Melphalan-Prednisone followed by maintenance with Velcade-Thalidomide. To further analyze the expression of the differentially expressed microRNAs, stem-loop-RT-PCR was performed on a validation cohort of 234 MM patients enrolled in the same trial. The prognostic significance of differentially expressed microRNAs were evaluated in relation to progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. The utility of incorporating microRNA expression into a risk score with known risk factors – specifically ISS stage and the presence of del17, t(4;14) or t(14;16) by FISH – was also explored.Out of the 800 miRNAs evaluated, only 25 were detectable (≥100 counts) in at least 20% of the patients. The expression of these miRNAs were then measured in a validation set, but only 10 (miRs-92a, 21, 30a, 720, 451, 223, 126, 19b, 25 and miR-16) were validated to be differentially expressed. We found that levels of miR-16 and miR-25, used as continuous variables, had significant impact on OS duration: miR-16 (HR 0.87; p=0.019) and miR-25 (HR 0.81; p=0.0012) where low expression corresponded with worse survival. Based on these observations we generated a microRNA-based risk score which was significantly associated with OS duration (p=0.008). We then integrated this score with ISS stage and presence of high risk features by FISH, generating an integrated-microRNA risk score that was significantly associated with OS (p<0.0001), and was better than a risk score that combined ISS and FISH (p=0.014), see figure.Circulating miR-16 and miR-25 can risk stratify elderly, previously untreated, MM patients beyond ISS-stage and high risk genetic features. The opportunity to isolate circulating miRNAs allows us to sequentially sample cancer patients in a relatively non-invasive manner, opening new avenues of investigation for disease stratification and response to therapy.Bringhen: Onyx: Consultancy.

The current treatment for newly diagnosed elderly multiple myeloma (MM) patients, not eligible for transplant, induces approximately 30% near-complete response/complete response (nCR/CR). Carfilzomib is a novel, irreversible proteasome-inhibitor with significant activity and favourable toxicity profile, including very low rates of peripheral neuropathy and neutropenia. We evaluated efficacy and safety of the combination carfilzomib-cyclophosphamide-dexamethasone (CCd) in elderly newly diagnosed MM patients.The Bryant and Day two-stage design was used to evaluate both efficacy and safety. Patients received oral cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m2 on days 1,8,15), oral dexamethasone (40 mg on days 1, 8, 15, 22) and iv carfilzomib administered over 30 minutes (20 mg/m2 on days 1, 2, and 36 mg/m2 on days 8, 9, 15, 16, cycle 1; 36 mg/m2 on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, cycles 2-9) every 28 days for 9 cycles, followed by maintenance with iv carfilzomib (36 mg/m2 on days 1, 2, 15, 16) every 28 days until progression or intolerance.Enrollment is complete (58 pts): median age was 71 years, 28% of patients were older than 75 years, 40% had ISS stage III, 35% had unfavorable FISH profile [t(4;14) or t (14;16) or del17p] and 31% are frail, defined according to Charlson co-morbidity index (≥2), geriatric assessment score ADL (<4) and IADL (<5) and age with cut-off setting at 80 years. Twenty-five patients completed induction. After 9 induction cycles, 96% of patients achieved at least PR, 76% VGPR, 64% CR/nCR, including 24% stringent-CR. The 1-year PFS was 86% and the 1-year OS was 87%. Grade (G) 4 hematologic AE included neutropenia (3 pts, 5%). G3-4 non-hematologic AEs were infections (4 pts, 7%), cardiac (3 pts, 5%), constitutional (2 pts, 4%), renal (2 pts, 4%) and gastrointestinal complications (1 pt, 2%). Peripheral neuropathy was experienced by 11% of patients and was limited in severity to grade 1 or 2. Overall, the CCd regimen was well tolerated, 20% of patients required dose reduction and only 11% of patients required drug discontinuation during induction due to AEs. Twenty-five patients were assessable for maintenance treatment. After a median duration of maintenance of 6 months, the PR rate was 100%, including 68% CR/nCR (Table). The most frequent toxicity (all grades) during maintenance was fever (G1-2 in 6 pts [24%], G3 in 2 pts [8%]), occurring during the evening following the Carfilzomib infusion and not associated with chills, rigors, dyspnea and/or creatinine increase. There was only 1 (4%) G3 neutropenia and 1 (4%) G2 pericardial effusion. Peripheral neuropathy remained limited (2 pts [8%], all G 1-2).The CCd regimen is highly active, showing rapid and deep responses, reaching after 9 cycles, 64% (at least nCR) and 24% sCR, further improving approximately 10-15% during maintenance. These responses compare favorably with the best frontline regimens, showing a doubling in nCR rate. It is well tolerated with limited grade 3-4 AEs, only 11% of patients required drug discontinuation due to AEs. An update will be presented at the meeting.Bringhen: Onyx: Consultancy. Sonneveld:Onyx: Honoraria, Research Funding. Palumbo:Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria; Millenium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Onyx: Consultancy, Honoraria.

The quality of response and the residual disease after treatment are important prognostic factors in several hematological diseases including multiple myeloma (MM). Several papers demonstrated that the deeper the response after treatment, the longer the survival. However few data are available on the monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) during the maintenance therapy in transplant eligible MM patients.to evaluate the role of maintenance therapy in reducing MRD and the role of monitoring the response to predict clinical relapse.newly diagnosed MM patients enrolled in the RV-MM-EMN-441 trial (NCT01091831) and achieving at least a very good partial response (VGPR) after consolidation were included in the study. Patients received 4 Lenalidomide-Dexamethasone (RD) courses as induction, Cyclophosphamide to mobilize bone marrow stem cells (BMSC) and then were randomized to receive 6 cycles of Cyclophosphamide-Lenalidomide-Dexamethasone (CRD) or Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (ASCT) with Melphalan 200 mg/m2. All patients received maintenance therapy with Lenalidomide (R) or Lenalidomide-Dexamethasone (RD) until relapse. MRD analysis was performed in a single laboratory (University of Turin, Italy) using flow cytometry according to European Myeloma Network guideline (Rawstron AC, Haematologica 2008). Samples of bone marrow (BM) were collected at diagnosis, after consolidation, after 3 and 6 courses of maintenance and then every 6 months until clinical relapse. The samples were considered MRD +ve if ≥ 0.01% of PC were detected. Immunophenotypic (IF) relapse was defined as an increase of ≥ 25% in the amount of malignant plasma cells in BM compared to the previous determination.Fifty patients (27 female/23 male) with a median age of 57 yrs (40-65) entered the study. According to ISS, 27 patients were stage I, 15 stage II and 8 stage III. Fish risk profile was standard in 31 patients, high in 11 and not available in 8. Twenty-five patients received CRD as consolidation and 25 underwent ASCT. The median follow-up was 28.6 months. After consolidation 16 (32%) patients achieve a complete response (CR) and 34 (68%) a VGPR. MRD was negative in 19/48 (40%) patients, of which 12 received ASCT (out of 23, 52%) and 7 received CRD (out of 25, 28%). Patients receiving ASCT showed a lower value of residual cells (median 0.08%, range 0 – 1.00) compared to patients receiving CRD (median 0.5%, range 0 – 2.9%, p=0.0134). The lower MRD value was achieved after consolidation in 31 patients (62%), after 3 courses of maintenance in 6 patients (12%) and after 6 or more courses of maintenance in 13 patients (26%). The increase in quality of response was observed primarily in patients receiving CRD: the average amount of residual plasma cells in bone marrow was 71/uL after induction, lowering to 51/uL after 6 and 12 courses of maintenance therapy. Nine patients clinically relapsed after an average time of 25.6 months from the beginning of the therapy and in all patients this was anticipated by immunophenotypic relapse.1) consolidation therapy with ASCT determines a deeper response compared to CRD; 2) maintenance therapy can improve the quality of response, in particular in patients not receiving ASCT; 3) Immunophenotypic relapse anticipate the clinical relapse. These results suggest the possible role of MRD monitoring to better assess the response to therapy also during maintenance and as marker of early relapse.Ladetto: Celgene: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen Cilag: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Mundipharma: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. 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. Palumbo:Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Millenium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Onyx: Consultancy, Honoraria.

The extensive use of new drugs in multiple myeloma (MM) allowed the achievement of unprecedented levels of cytoreduction and major advantages in survival rates, though almost all patients still relapse after a successful treatment. PCR-based minimal residual disease (MRD) studies are powerful prognostic tools, able to indentify patients at high risk of relapse. Thus, there is a growing interest in MRD to modulate therapy also in MM, as already happens in other lymphoid neoplasms. However available reports have a too short follow-up to be conclusive. In particular some points need to be addressed: 1) which is the long-term outcome of patients achieving molecular remission (MR) in the absence of further treatment? 2) What is the prognostic impact of MR loss? 3) How long is the window between MR loss and clinical relapse? These issues have been addressed based on the mature results of the GIMEMA VEL-03-096 trial [EudraCT Number 2004-000531-28], which currently has a median follow-up (mFU) of 93 months.Inclusion criteria and treatment schedule have been already reported [Ladetto et al., J Clin Oncol 2010]. MRD was assessed on bone marrow at diagnosis, study entry, after two VTD courses, at the end of treatment and then every six months up to clinical relapse. Patients underwent MRD detection using both qualitative nested PCR and Real Time Quantitative (RQ)-PCR, employing immunoglobulin heavy chain-derived patient specific primers, as described [Voena et al., Leukemia 1997; Ladetto et al., Biol Bone Marrow Transpl 2000; van der Velden et al., Leukemia 2007]. MR was defined as negative MRD results by nested-PCR or less than 1EE-04 by RQ-PCR. Loss of MR was defined as an increase of MRD levels of at least one log in consecutive samples at whenever timepoint. For survival analysis duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), time to next treatment (TNT) and overall survival (OS) rates were used, as detailed in IMWG criteria [Rajkumar et al., Blood 2011].Thirty-nine patients were enrolled. So far 27 serological progressions, 22 clinical relapses needing salvage treatment and 12 deaths (two non-MM-related) were observed. Median PFS was 60 months, median TNT 67 months and OS at mFU was 64%. 270 of the planned samples for MRD monitoring (86%) were actually received by the centralized lab. Currently, 26 MR and 11 MR losses have been registered. The achievement of MR was strongly associated with a better outcome, in terms of median DOR (62 vs 9 months, p<0.001), PFS (67 vs 22 months, p<0.001), TNT (108 vs 30 months, p<0.001) and resulted significant for OS, too (72% vs 48% at mFU, p=0.04, Figure 1A-B). Moreover, patients with ongoing MR, MR loss or not achieving MR at all showed increasing risk of relapse, respectively (DOR not reached vs 38 vs 9 months, PFS 92 vs 63 vs 22 months, TNT not reached vs 72 vs 30 months, each p<0.001, Figure 2). Interestingly, the time lag between MR loss and clinical relapse for patients achieving and then loosing MR was comparable to that between end of consolidation and clinical relapse for patients never obtaining MR (TNT 19 vs 11 months p=0.34). Finally, analyzing the relationship between MR achievement, MR loss and need for a salvage treatment, of the 26 patients who obtained MR only 11 (42%) received a retreatment at a median time of 42 months (range: 22-87 months). Of these 11 clinical relapses, 7 were anticipated by a molecular relapse (64%), occurring at a median time of 9 months (range: 2-39 months). The 4 relapses not anticipated by MR loss occurred in cases with inadequate follow-up sampling or at least two years after the end of the planned molecular follow-up.Besides confirming the strong prognostic value of PCR-based MRD monitoring in MM, our long-term results indicate the following: 1) the 42 months TNT of patients achieving MR underlines the excellent disease control of MM patients once obtained MR; 2) the occurrence of MR loss heralds relapse, with a TNT from MR loss comparable to TNT of patients not achieving MR; 3) there is a 9 months lag between MR loss and need for salvage treatment. These observations will have increasing relevance considering that ongoing methodological developments will allow effective MRD monitoring in the vast majority of MM patients.Off Label Use: Bortezomib and thalidomide as post-transplant consolidation during first-line treatment of multiple myeloma. Ladetto:Celgene: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Jannsen Cilag: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Mundipharma: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Cavallo:Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Jannsen Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Caravita:Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Jannsen Cilag: Honoraria. Guglielmelli:Celgene: Research Funding. Boccadoro:Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Jannsen Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Palumbo:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria; Millenium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Onyx: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria.

The extensive use of new drugs in multiple myeloma (MM) allowed the achievement of unprecedented levels of cytoreduction and major advantages in survival rates, though almost all patients still relapse after a successful treatment. PCR-based minimal residual disease (MRD) studies are powerful prognostic tools, able to indentify patients at high risk of relapse. Thus, there is a growing interest in MRD to modulate therapy also in MM, as already happens in other lymphoid neoplasms. However available reports have a too short follow-up to be conclusive. In particular some points need to be addressed: 1) which is the long-term outcome of patients achieving molecular remission (MR) in the absence of further treatment? 2) What is the prognostic impact of MR loss? 3) How long is the window between MR loss and clinical relapse? These issues have been addressed based on the mature results of the GIMEMA VEL-03-096 trial [EudraCT Number 2004-000531-28], which currently has a median follow-up (mFU) of 93 months.

While international stage (ISS) and the presence of absence of cytogenetic abnormalities on FISH somewhat define the clinical risk of MM patients, additional biomarkers are necessary for more precise risk-based classification. Emerging studies have shown that circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) can be detected in patients with a variety of malignancies, including MM, and they could be non-invasive biomarkers. We measured serum miRNA levels of a large cohort of well-characterized previously untreated MM patients and correlated results with clinical outcome to test their prognostic impact.

The current treatment for newly diagnosed elderly multiple myeloma (MM) patients, not eligible for transplant, induces approximately 30% near-complete response/complete response (nCR/CR). Carfilzomib is a novel, irreversible proteasome-inhibitor with significant activity and favourable toxicity profile, including very low rates of peripheral neuropathy and neutropenia. We evaluated efficacy and safety of the combination carfilzomib-cyclophosphamide-dexamethasone (CCd) in elderly newly diagnosed MM patients.

The quality of response and the residual disease after treatment are important prognostic factors in several hematological diseases including multiple myeloma (MM). Several papers demonstrated that the deeper the response after treatment, the longer the survival. However few data are available on the monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) during the maintenance therapy in transplant eligible MM patients.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a clonal B-cell malignancy characterized by the aberrant expansion of clonal plasma cells (PCs) within the bone marrow. Malignant PCs produce intact or partial monoclonal immunoglobulin (M protein) and cause organ damage. More than 20,000 new cases of multiple myeloma (MM) are diagnosed every year in the US with approximately 10,700 deaths occurring. The pathogenesis of MM is still largely unclear, but several reports suggest that interaction of tumor cells with the bone marrow microenvironment and microRNAs (miRNAs) deregulation may play a role in the etiology and progression of MM. miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs capable of regulating protein expression by binding to mRNA, and have been implicated in the development of MM. First identified inside cells, miRNAs can also be detected in body fluids, including serum and plasma, and may be a valid biomarker. Few studies have investigated the agreement between circulating miRNAs and intracellular myeloma PC miRNAs at diagnosis.Using Nano-String nCounter technology we first performed a screening analysis on serum samples obtained from MM patients and healthy controls. We identified a candidate set of miRNAs differentially expressed in the serum of MM patients. The levels of these miRNA markers were validated by RT-PCR in both serum and bone marrow PCs from the same cohort. Agreement of the quantitative miRNA marker levels between sample types was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) (both for normalized and log2 measures).Thirty-nine MM patients (21 male, 18 female) with a median age of 72 years (range: 65 – 83) were included in the analysis. Most were ISS stage I or II (59% vs. 41% ISS stage III) and 39% were high risk according to FISH abnormalities – 21% of patients carried del17p, 24% t(4;14) and 5% t(14;16). Medians and ranges for lab markers were as follows: hemoglobin 10.0 g/dl (7.2 to 15.1), beta2-microglobulin 5.18 ug/ml (1.38 – 12.1), creatinine 0.94 mg/dl (0.65 – 2.49), CRP = 1.6 mg/dl (0.02 – 116.0). Nine age-matched healthy controls were also used for the analysis. After the screening analysis, the following miRNAs were differentially expressed between healthy subjects and MM patients in serum samples: miR-92a, miR-451, miR-19b, miR-21, miR-16, miR-25, miR-30a, and miR-126. There was no significant agreement or correlation between serum and myeloma cell samples using either untransformed as well as log2measures (all p>0.40) (Table 1).Our preliminary results suggest a difference between circulating miRNAs in myeloma patients from controls. This indicates that future studies are needed to better define the role of miRNAs in the peripheral blood as a prognostic and even diagnostic biomarker in myeloma. From our preliminary data it also appears that circulating miRNAs are not simply secreted into the peripheral blood by myeloma PCs as it seems that circulating miRNAs do not reflect those of myeloma PCs. Differential expression could be determined by other cells that can release and or modify their miRNA expression in response to MM. Ongoing studies are examining the origin and function of miRNAs in the peripheral blood.No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Abstract 4204This icon denotes a clinically relevant abstract

Abstract 1304

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Myeloablative allografting induces high rates of persistent molecular remissions (MR) in multiple myeloma (MM) [Corradini et al, J Clin Oncol 1999] and greatly reduces the risk of relapse. Similar results have also been reported after reduced-intensity conditioning [Kröger et al, Blood abstr.2011]. Long term data on minimal residual disease (MRD) kinetics after tandem autologous-nonmyeloablative allografting (auto-allo) are lacking. We here present the results of MRD analyses by nested qualitative PCR and real time quantitative (RQ) PCR on a series of 26 newly diagnosed MM patients treated with auto-allo on a prospective clinical trial [ClinicalTrial.gov, NCT-00702247, Bruno et al, Blood 2009].Between 1999 and 2009, 19/26 (73%) stage II-III MM patients, median age 52 years (range 42–65), who had a diagnostic bone marrow (BM) specimen suitable for immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangement (IGH) sequencing were evaluated for MRD by PCR-based methods. The tandem approach consisted of an autograft with melphalan, 200 mg/m2, followed, upon recovery, by non-myeloablative 200 cGy total body irradiation and allogeneic peripheral stem cell infusion. Post-grafting immunosuppression consisted of mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporine. BM samples were collected at diagnosis, after autograft, at month 1, 3, 6 after the allograft and then every 6 months. Nested-PCR and RQ-PCR analyses were carried out using IGH patient-specific primers, as previously described [Voena et al, Leukemia 1997; Ladetto et al, Biol Bone Marrow Transpl 2000]. For outcome analysis patients were grouped according to reported criteria [Ladetto et al, Blood abstr.2011]. Briefly, FullMR and StandardMR indicated MRD negativity on two consecutive samples by respectively nested-PCR or RQ-PCR (less sensitive but better standardized, according to European Study Group on MRD detection guidelines [van der Vendel et al, Leukemia 2007]). Clinical complete remission (CCR) required absence of serum and urine M-component by electrophoresis and immunofixation and less than 5% plasma cell infiltration in BM aspirates by flow-cytometry.In 19 of 26 patients (73%) a molecular marker was found. In these cases at a median follow-up of 10 years (4.4–12) from diagnosis and 8.9 years (3.5–11) from the allograft, overall survival (OS) was 61% and median time-to-progression (TTP) 5.6 years. Overall, transplant-related mortality occurred in 3/19 patients (16%), while four out of 19 patients (21%) died of disease progression. MRD studies carried out on a total of 148 BM samples showed that after the autograft 3/19 patients (16%) were negative by nested-PCR. After the allograft the rates of PCR-negativity gradually increased up to 4/18 (22%) at 1 and 3 months, 7/17 (41%) at 6 months and 8/15 (53%) at 1 year post-transplant. Overall, 8 patients achieved FullMR at a median time from allograft of 6 months (1–12) and for a median duration of 33 months (6–102). Overall, 8 relapses were observed, 6 in the 11 patients who never achieved FullMR and 2 in patients who reached FullMR: of these one showed a molecular relapse with persistent CCR after sustained FullMR of 3 years and the other relapsed 6 months after last PCR-negative sample. Patients in FullMR had a significantly better median TTP (not reached vs 1.6 years, p=0.043) and OS (not reached vs 3.3 years, p=0.008) than patients who did not achieve FullMR (Fig. 1). StandardMR occurred in 12/19 patients (63%) during the first 24 months post-transplant, at a median time of 2 months (1–18) and for a median duration of 27 months (3–102). Patients in StandardMR showed a significantly better median TTP (not reached vs 1 year, p=0.005) and OS (not reached vs 3.3 years, p=0.031) as compared to patients who not achieved StandardMR (Fig. 2). All patients in either FullMR or StandardMR were also in CCR. There was no significant correlation between occurrence of chronic graft-vs-host disease and MR, suggesting specific graft-vs-myeloma effects.Auto-allo approach in newly diagnosed MM induces high rates of prolonged FullMR and StandardMR (up to 50%), similar to those reported after myeloablative allografting. MR significantly associated with better TTP and OS and increased during the first year post-allografting, clearly documenting the existence of an effective and persistent graft-vs-myeloma effect, potentially curative in a subset of patients.No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Abstract 2921

We have recently shown that a consolidation therapy with bortezomib/thalidomide/dexamethasone (VTD) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients responding to autologous transplantation (ASCT) induces major tumor shrinking assessed by real time-quantitative (RQ)-PCR. Moreover we found that low levels of minimal residual disease (MRD) associated to a better progression-free survival (PFS) [GIMEMA VEL-03-096 trial, EudraCT Number 2004-000531-28: Ladetto et al, J Clin Oncol 2010]. We here present the updated results of this study at a median follow-up of 65 months. In the present analysis the following additional issues have been addressed: a) impact of MRD on PFS over time, with special interest to the role of MRD kinetics on outcome; b) impact of MRD on overall survival (OS).Inclusion criteria and treatment schedule for this study have been already reported [Ladetto et al., J Clin Oncol 2010] and included: 1) a documented complete or very good partial remission following ASCT delivered as first line treatment; 2) no previous therapy with thalidomide or bortezomib; 3) presence of a molecular marker based on the immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangement (IGH). MRD was assessed on bone marrow samples at diagnosis, study entry, after two VTD courses, at the end of treatment and then at six months intervals, up to clinical relapse. Patients underwent MRD detection using either qualitative nested PCR and RQ-PCR, employing IGH-derived patient specific primers as already described [Voena et al., Leukemia 1997; Ladetto et al., Biol Bone Marrow Transpl 2000]. For outcome analysis patients were grouped according to following definitions: a) MRD negativity on two consecutive samples by the most sensitive PCR method (nested PCR): full molecular remission (FMR); b) MRD negativity on two consecutive samples by RQ-PCR (less sensitive but currently better standardized, according to European Study Group on MRD detection guidelines [van der Vendel et al., Leukemia 2007]): standard molecular remission (SMR); c) post-treatment tumor load above the median by RQ-PCR: high tumor burden (HTB); d) post-treatment tumor load below the median by RQ-PCR: low tumor burden (LTB); e) recurrence of detectable MRD after FMR/SMR: molecular relapse (M-rel); f) increase of MRD levels of at least one log: active disease (AD).Feasibility, toxicity and clinical outcome of the trial have been already reported [Ladetto et al., J Clin Oncol 2010]. Thirty-nine patients were enrolled and median clinical follow-up from start of first line treatment is 65 months. 270 of the planned samples for MRD monitoring (86%) were actually received by the centralized lab. So far 17 relapses and six deaths have been reported. Following VTD consolidation, 7/38 evaluable patients achieved FMR (18%) and 15/38 achieved SMR (39%). Three M-rel were observed, two of them followed by clinical relapse within six months. Achievement of SMR proved highly predictive for PFS (5-years (y) PFS 82% vs 44%, p=0.009, figure 1A), as well as the presence of HTB and AD (5-y PFS 35% vs 87%, p<0.001, figure 2). Interestingly, patients with LTB and no evidence of M-rel or AD had an excellent outcome with a 5-y PFS of 87%, (even considering that molecular follow-up was incomplete due to lack of samples in the two events observed in the low risk group, figure 2). Most notably, none of the patients achieving FMR or SMR has so far died and both SMR and AD proved to be significant predictors for OS (respectively, 5y-OS 100% vs 74%, p=0.012, figure 1B, and 5y-OS 86% vs 100%, p=0.037, data not shown).Our long-term results indicate that: 1) the achievement of SMR following VTD consolidation in MM patients is associated with a better outcome in terms of PFS and OS; 2) a dynamic increase in molecular tumor burden (AD), detectable by RQ-PCR, predicts late disease relapses several months before clinical recurrence. Taken together these results suggest the importance of developing tailored treatment for patients with high residual burden or showing increasing levels of MRD during follow-up, as already pursued for example in mantle cell lymphoma [Andersen et al., J Clin Oncol 2009].Ladetto: Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Bayer: Honoraria; Mundipharma: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Research Funding; Italfarmaco: Research Funding. Cavallo:celgene: Honoraria. Guglielmelli:celgene: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria. 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. Palumbo:Merck: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Honoraria.

Abstract 827

Telomere are effective sensors of cell integrity and their accelerated shortening is a marker of genetic and/or proliferative stress in several tissues including the hematopoietic compartment. Severe telomere attrition has been indeed observed in aplastic anemia and post-transplant setting. Little is currently known on the genetic integrity of Ph-negative hematopoietic cells (HCs) repopulating the bone marrow (BM) after successful chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment. We thus decided to verify whether severe telomere shortening might occur in this setting and to assess whether its presence might correlate to genetic and functional impairment of Ph-negative hematopoiesis.We investigated 81 CML patients with persistent (≥12 months) complete cytogenetic remission (CCyR). Median age was 62 years (23-88), M/F ratio was 1.5. Median time from diagnosis and CCyR were 4 years (1-18) and 3 years (1-12) respectively. 15 patients had acquired cytogenetic abnormalities (CA) (del7: 4 patients, +8: 5 patients, del5q: 2 patients, del or +Y: 2 patients, other CA: 2 patients). Telomere length (TL) analysis was performed by Southern Blotting on polymorphonucleates (PMN) and on monocyte-depleted PBMC (MD-PBMC) to monitor both the myeloid and lymphoid compartments. As control group we analyzed 76 age-matched healthy donors. Prospective follow-up monitoring of TL was performed on 56 CML patients with a median time of 22 months from the first determination (range 12–20).PMN (but not MD-PBMC) from CML patients showed a major erosion of their telomeric DNA (median loss 1294 bp p<0.001). Correlations were sought by using a multivariate general linear model on the whole population (CML patients and controls) and then exclusively on the CML population. In the whole population a previous history of CML was a predictor of TL attrition together with age (both p <0.001). In the CML-only population we found no association between TL and sex, Sokal score, or treatment schedule. Most notably we found a correlation between TL attrition and presence of acquired CA (p=0.02, figure 1A), particularly in case of del7 and +8. Somehow more surprisingly we found an increased TL shortening among patients lacking complete molecular remission (CMolR) (p=0.001). The physiological correlation between age and TL persisted also among CML patients (p=0.003). Moreover we found an association between the presence of short telomeres and G≥2 hematological toxicity of any kind (p=0,005), anemia (p=0,007) and a trend with the presence of neutropenia (p=0,080). The association persisted also when G1-4 toxicities were considered (hematological toxicity of any kind p=0.030, anemia p=0.010). We than made a prospective assessment of the telomere dynamics over time performing a second TL determination after at least 12 months on 56 patients. The overall population showed further significant ongoing telomere shortening that was superior to the expected yearly loss for healthy subjects (median annual telomeric loss of 261 bp). We then performed a patient by patient analysis of TL dynamics over time. None of the patients had evidence of telomere recovery. Moreover even considering the maximal recorded interassay variability of 300 bp and the maximal physiological annual telomeric loss (50 bp), a non-physiological telomeric loss was observed in 17 patients (30% of CML population, median loss of 534 bp, range 1290-357 bp, figure 1C).i) Ph-negative HCs display severe telomeric loss, compared to healthy controls; ii) telomere erosion is more pronounced in patients with CA and without CMolR; iii) a strong association between shorter telomeres and hematological toxicity (particularly anemia) was observed; iv) telomere loss is persistent over time in the whole population. Moreover one third of them has a clear evidence of ongoing telomere erosion during the remission phase. Our results indicate that Ph-negative hematopoiesis emerging after successful CML treatment suffers from severe and ongoing telomeric stress whose biological and clinical consequences need to be carefully investigated.No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

The identification of stereotyped immunoglobulin (IG) receptors has improved our knowledge on the pathogenesis of several B-cell malignancies, suggesting the role of antigen-driven stimulation in chronic lymphocitic leukemia (CLL), marginal-zone lymphoma (MZL) and mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL). Multiple myeloma (MM) is a terminally-differentiated neoplasm no longer expressing surface IG; however some reports suggest the existence of early B-lymphocyte precursors which could be susceptible to antigen-driven stimulation. IG heavy chain (IGH) repertoire has not been extensively investigated in MM, with the largest available reports containing less than 80 complete sequences.To address this issue we created a database of MM IGH sequences including our institutional records (mostly derived from minimal residual disease studies) and sequences available from the literature. We planned a two-step analysis: a) first we characterized the MM repertoire and performed intra-MM clustering analysis; b) then we compared our MM series to a large public database of IGH sequences from neoplastic and non-neoplastic B-cells in search of similarities between MM sequences and other normal or neoplastic IGH repertoires.131 MM IGH genes were amplified and sequenced at our Institutions and belonged to Italian patients, while 214 MM IGH sequences from non-Italian patients were derived from published databases (NCBI-EMBL-IMGT/LIGM-DB) for a total of 345 fully interpretable MM sequences (out of 396). 28590 IGH sequences from other malignant and non-malignant B-cells were retrieved from the same public databases, including approximately 4500 CLL/Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) sequences and comprising 500 sequences from Italian patients. All sequences were analyzed using the IMGT database and tools (Lefranc et al., Nucleic Acid Res. 2005; http://imgt.cines.fr/) to identify IGHV-D-J gene usage, to assess the somatic hypermutation (SHM) rate and to identify HCDR3. HCDR3 aminoacidic sequences were aligned together using the ClustalX 2.0 software (Larkin et al., Bioinformatics, 2007; http://www.clustal.org/). Subsets of stereotyped IGH receptors were defined according to Stamatopoulos et al. (Blood, 2007).IGHV analysis in MM was almost in keeping with the normal B-cell repertoire, showing a less remarkably biased IGH usage compared to CLL, MCL and MZL (with seven genes accounting for 40% of cases, compared to respectively five, three and two genes). However, a modest but significant over-representation of IGHV1-69, 2–5, 2–70, 3–21, 3–30-3, 3–43, 5–51 and 6-1 genes and under-representation of the IGHV1-18, 1–8, 3–30, 3–53 and 4–34 was noticed. The rate of somatic hypermutation in MM followed a Gaussian distribution with a median value of 7.8%. Intra-MM search for HCDR3 similarities never met minimal requirements for stereotyped receptors. When MM sequences were compared to non-MM database, only a minority of MM sequences (2.6%, n=9) clustered with sequences from lymphoid tumors and normal B-cells (figure 1A). In particular two non-Italian MM sequences clustered with previously characterized, uncommon CLL subsets (n.37 and n.71 according to Murray et al., Blood 2008). Moreover, novel provisional clusters were observed including three MM-CLL subsets, one MM-NHL subset, and three MM-normal B-cell subsets. While the MM-normal B-cell clusters involved non-Italian patients, we unexpectedly noticed that the four MM-CLL/MM-NHL clusters were composed exclusively of Italian patients, as shown in figure 1B, although Italian subjects represented less than 12% of the entire CLL-NHL database.The analysis of the largest currently available database of MM IGH sequences indicates the following: 1) MM IGH repertoire is closer to physiological distribution than that of CLL, MCL and MZL; 2) MM specific clusters do not occur to a frequency detectable with currently available databases; 3) 98% of MM sequences are not related to other “highly-clustered” lymphoproliferative disorders; 4) Uncommon clustering phenomena may follow a geographical rather than a disease-related pattern.No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

The combination of Melphalan-Prednisone-Lenalidomide (MPR) has shown promising results in elderly newly diagnosed myeloma patients. In the transplant setting, low-dose chemotherapy (induction) precedes high-dose chemotherapy (autologous transplantation consolidation). This approach reduces tumor mass, with few side effects, before achieving the maximum cyto-reduction with autologous transplantation. The same approach has been designed for the elderly patients. Accordingly induction with lenalidomide plus corticosteroids precedes consolidation with MPR.A two-stage phase II clinical trial was planned to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Lenalidomide-Prednisone (RP) as induction, followed by Melphalan-Prednisone-Lenalidomide (MPR) as consolidation and Lenalidomide as maintenance in elderly myeloma patients.Unfit patients with newly diagnosed symptomatic myeloma older than 65 years were enrolled. No exclusion criteria were included in the protocol, to avoid the selection of fit elderly subjects only. Patients with low blood count, abnormal performance status, hepatic, renal, cardiac or pulmonary functions were enrolled. Patients received 4 RP courses (Lenalidomide 25 mg/day for 21 days every 4 weeks, plus Prednisone 50 mg three times/week for 4 weeks) followed by 6 MPR cycles (Melphalan 2 mg and Prednisone 50 mg three times/week, for 4 weeks plus Lenalidomide 10–15 mg/day for 21 days every 4 weeks) and maintenance with Lenalidomide alone (10 mg/day for 21 days every 4 weeks). Two different dose-levels of Lenalidomide were tested in combination with MP: 15 mg (dose-level 1) and 10 mg (dose-level 2). Each cohort included 12 patients, with additional 22 patients enrolled at dose-level 2. Patients were evaluated for efficacy and toxicity after completion of at least 2 MPR cycles.Forty-six patients (median age 75, range 65–88) were enrolled. Thirty-six patients were evaluable after a median of 7 cycles and a median follow-up of 8.5 months.During RP induction, the most frequent grade 3–4 hematological adverse events were neutropenia (19%), anemia (11 %), thrombocytopenia (6%). During MPR consolidation, grade 3–4 adverse events were neutropenia (45%), and thrombocytopenia (3%). Neutropenia was increased by the addition of melphalan, but both thrombocytopenia and anemia were reduced. Non-hematological toxicities were more frequent during RP cycles and reduced during MPR cycles (cutaneous rash and infections).After RP induction, at least partial response (PR) rate was 67%, at least very good partial response (VGPR) was 17%. After 2 MPR cycles, PR rate increase to 72%, including 22% of patients who achieved at least a VGPR.Induction with RP followed by consolidation with MPR showed a manageable safety profile and reduced the risk of anemia, thrombocytopenia and non-hematological toxicity in unfit elderly myeloma patients. These data will be updated at the meeting.Palumbo: Celgene Srl: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janseen-Cilag: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Off Label Use: Lenalidomide in combination with melphalan for multiple myeloma patients at diagnosis. Guglielmelli:Celgene: Honoraria; Janseen-Cilag: Honoraria. Gay:Celgene: Honoraria. Cavallo:Celgene: Honoraria. Boccadoro:Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janseen-Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

Multiple myeloma (MM) cells growth is sustained by several stimuli derived from surrounding cells of bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. Besides the increase in growth factors production, a constitutive activation of several pathways determining protection from apoptosis and growth advantage have been reported too. Aberrant activation of Met/HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) pathway has been described in several tumors causing cell proliferation, cell migration and neoplastic angiogenesis. A qualitative analysis demonstrated that Met transcription is present in MM plasma cells and increase plasmatic levels of HGF has been related to a bad prognosis subgroup of patients. However a comprehensive investigation of quantitative analysis on Met expression, plasmatic HGF values and correlation with clinical outcome on a large amount of MM patients treated with novel agents is still missing.: to investigate the role of Met mRNA expression and HGF levels in a large panel of myeloma patients treated with novel drugs.one hundred and five samples of purified plasma cells derived from newly diagnosed myeloma patients have been included in this study. Fifty two patients received 9 courses of Velcade-Melphalan-Prednisone (VMP) as part of the VMP-VMPT trial (Palumbo A, 2009 ASH Meeting, abs 128) while fifty three patients have been included in the PAD-MEL100-LP-L trial (Palumbo A, JCO 2010). Met and HGF mRNA quantitative expression have been investigated on both purified plasma cells (CD138+ bone marrow fraction) and on bone marrow CD138 negative fraction. mRNA expression has been evaluated using a quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) on Abi Prism 7900 (Applied Biosystems) with a relative quantification based on ΔΔCt approach. JUM2 cell line was used as calibrator and Gus as housekeeping gene. HGF serum level has been evaluated on 76 of those patients too. ELISA assay has been employed to determine HGF serum value. On 51 samples with higher levels of mRNA Met expression, a FISH analysis reaching for Met amplification has been performed. Purified plasma cells were treated with a dual-color FISH assay using a MET/CEP7 probe cocktail (Cytocell, Cambridge, UK).Met mRNA expression was higher in CD138+ cells than in CD138- fractions (median 76,90 range 0,81-916,51 vs 11,03 range 0–243,88 respectively; p=0,0001). Similarly HGF mRNA expression was higher in CD138+ cells than in CD138- population (median 2,07 range 0–65,34 vs 0,49 range 0,11-3,22 respectively; p=0,03). Patients with high and low Met levels were divided using the median value of Met expression as cutoff. At a median follow up of 30 months, patients with low Met mRNA expression displayed a higher progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared with those with high Met levels (PFS 73% vs 42% respectively, p<0,001; OS 94% vs 78%, p=0,01). No differences in baseline albumin, β2-microglobulin, BM plasma cell infiltration and cytogenetic profile have been observed between patients with high and low Met mRNA levels. No differences in outcome were demonstrated when patients were divided using HGF mRNA level as parameter. No correlation between Met and HGF mRNA values have been found. Quantification of HGF levels in serum confirmed the increase of this growth factor in myeloma patients in comparison with age-matched healthy subjects (median 2082 pg/ml range 740–9000 vs median 1586 pg/ml, range 420–3079 respectively; p=0.03). FISH analysis revealed amplifications of Met gene in 20 samples out of 50 (40%). In 13 samples three copies of Met gene have been detected in more than 50% of cells, while in 7 samples 4 or more copies have been found in more than 50% of cells.1) high Met mRNA expression levels identify a group of patients with worse prognosis even when treated with novel drugs containing regiments; 2) Met amplification has been described for the first time in myeloma cells and can determine high Met mRNA levels characterizing a more aggressive disease.Cavallo: Celgene: Honoraria. Patriarca:Roche: Honoraria; Janseen-Cilag: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Merck: 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; Janseen-Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Palumbo:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janseen-Cilag: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Abstract 2951

Abstract 1940

Abstract 1898

Abstract 3375

We have recently shown that multiple myeloma (MM) patients undergoing autologous transplantation (ASCT) followed by a consolidation with Bortezomib/Thalidomide/Dexamethasone (VTD) achieve molecular remission in 17% and major tumor shrinking assessed by real time-quantitative (RQ) PCR in the majority of cases (Ladetto et al, ASH Meeting 2008). However little is known on the minimal residual disease (MRD) kinetics occurring after such an extensive cytoreduction. In this study we have investigated the disease kinetics in the post-consolidation phase with the aim of identifying the RQ-PCR patterns associated with persistent remission or increased risk of relapse.Inclusion criteria and consolidation treatment for this study have been already reported and included: 1) a documented complete or very good partial remission following ASCT delivered as first line treatment; 2) no previous treatment with thalidomide and bortezomib; 3) presence of a molecular marker based on the immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangement (IgH-R). Consolidation consisted of four courses of: a) Bortezomib 1.6 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15, 22; b) Thalidomide at the initial dose of 50 mg/day with increments up to 200 mg; c) Dexamethasone 20 mg/day on days 1 to 4, 8 to 11 and 15 to 18. MRD was assessed on bone marrow samples at diagnosis, study entry, after two VTD courses, at the end of treatment and then at six months intervals. Qualitative and RQ-PCR analysis were carried out using IgH-R derived patient specific primers as already described (Voena et al, Leukemia 1997; Ladetto et al, Biol Bone Marrow Transpl 2000). MRD kinetics of relapsing vs non relapsing patients has been measured using observed marginal medians of ln RQ-PCR values. For the predictive value of MRD kinetics patients were defined as having low tumor burden (TB) if they reached after VTD a MRD level <100 IgH-R/106 diploid genomes and as having active disease whenever a 10-fold tumor burden increase was recorded.Feasibility, toxicity and clinical outcome of the trial have been already reported (Ladetto et al, ASH Meeting 2008). Thirty-nine patients were enrolled. Median follow-up from study entry is currently 32 months (50 from start of first line treatment). Following VTD, six patients achieved molecular remission (MR). Of these none has so far experienced a clinical relapse. MR was persistent in all patients, with an occasional PCR positive result in a patient who later reverted to PCR negativity. Among PCR positive patients 12 clinical relapses have been so far reported (50 months PFS: MR 100% vs no MR 62% - Figure 1A, p<0.001). Figure 2 shows the kinetics of MRD overtime in relapsing vs not relapsing patients (p<0.001), assessed on 230 RQ-PCR determinations at different timepoints. When RQ-PCR results of PCR positive patients were correlated with outcome we observed the following: 1) 14 patients achieved low TB and never had signs of active disease: none of them has so far relapsed except one who refused to undergo MRD monitoring and relapsed three year after the last PCR evaluation; 2) 13 patients never achieved a low TB and 8 of them relapsed; 3) 5 patients achieved a low TB but subsequently showed evidence of active disease: 3 of them relapsed. Patients in the first subgroup showed a 50 months PFS of 100% as opposed to those in group 2-3 who had a PFS of 37% (Figure 1B, p=0.001).Our results indicate that: 1) MRs following VTD are stable over time with no evidence of clinical and molecular relapse; 2) The vast majority of relapses occur in patients failing to achieve a low and stable TB; 3) Molecular monitoring of MRD allows to identify a large subset of patients (51% of cases) with an extremely low-risk of short-term relapse.Ladetto: CELGENE: Honoraria; JANSSEN-CILAG: Research Funding. Cavallo:CELGENE: Honoraria. Caravita:CELGENE: CONSULTANCY. Musto:JANSSEN-CILAG: Honoraria; CELGENE: Honoraria. Boccadoro:CELGENE: CONSULTANCY, ADIVISORY COMMITTEES, Research Funding; JANSSEN-CILAG: CONSULTANCY, ADIVISORY COMMITTEES, Research Funding; PHARMION: CONSULTANCY, ADIVISORY COMMITTEES, Research Funding. Palumbo:CELGENE: Honoraria; JANSSEN-CILAG: Honoraria.

Little is known on the functional and genetic integrity of Ph-negative hematopoietic cells (HC) repopulating the bone marrow after successful chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment, although the frequent detection of cytogenetic abnormalities (CA), reminiscent of those seen in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), suggests the presence of functional and genetic defects. Telomere attrition represents a useful marker of proliferative and oxidative stress and might provide useful insights to monitor the genetic integrity of the hematopoietic compartment. This approach has been used in combination with a functional study of short and long term progenitors.We investigated 78 CML patients with persistent (>12 months) complete cytogenetic remission (CCR). Median age was 64 (23-88), M/F ratio was 1.5. Median time from diagnosis and CCR were 64 months (25-915) and 39 months (12-150) respectively. Sokal score was low in 36 patients, intermediate in 28, and high in 14. Six patients were received IFN only, 45 Imatinib only, while 27 were currently on Imatinib, but received previous treatment with INF and/or chemotherapy. Complete and partial molecular responders were 35 and 28 respectively. Fifteen patients had acquired CA (del7: 4 patients, + 8: 5 patients, del5q: 2 patients, del or +Y: 2 patients, and 2 patients had other CA). Short term progenitors (CFU-GM, BFU-E CFU-Mix) and long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs)(Sutherland HJ et al Blood 1994) have been performed on 30 patients (requiring bone marrow examination for clinical purposes). Telomere length (TRF-L) analysis was performed by Southern Blotting as previously described (Ladetto M et Al, Blood 2004), both on polymorphonucleates (PMN) and on monocyte-depleted PBMC (MD-PBMC) (Rocci et al Exp Hematol 2007) to monitor both the myeloid and lymphoid compartment. Sixty four patients were assessed on repeated samples to monitor the kinetics of telomeric loss (median time 8 months, range 6-20). A control database of 109 healthy subjects has been used for comparison.Ph-negative HC of CML patients were functionally impaired compared to controls, with reduced number of CFU-Mix (median 2,62 vs 4, p=0,010), CFU-GM (median 99,5 vs 181, p<0,001) and particularly of LTC-IC (median 88 vs 198, p<0,001). PMN from CML patients showed a major erosion of their telomeric DNA (median telomeric loss 1536 bp p<0.001, figure 1A). This finding was even more striking in patients with acquired CA, who showed a median TRF-L loss of 1900 bp (p<0.001) compared to healthy subjects, and 500 bp compared to other CML patients (p=0.030, figure 1B). Interestingly telomere attrition was less pronounced in the 4 patients with del or +Y and del5q, compared to those with other CA, such as del7 and +8. Telomeric erosion is more severe in younger CML patients, resulting in loss of the association between TRF-L and age, typically seen in healthy subjects. Telomere shortening was observed regardless of the use of TK inhibitors and chemotherapy. We found no correlation between TRF-L and clinical and demographic parameters. When a multivariate analysis on patients and healthy controls was performed, the presence of CML resulted a stronger predictor of telomeric damage compared to age. Analysis of TRF-L kinetics on the whole population over time showed substantial stability or modest physiological shortening in the majority of patients. In none of the patients a relevant recovery of TRF-L over time was noticed. However in 16 (25%) patients a non-physiological telomeric loss was observed (>400bp obtained by considering maximal physiological loss plus technical variability of the assay) (Figure 2). Interestingly the four patients with the most extreme telomeric loss (>1000 bp/year) showed evidence of either CA or impaired hematopoietic fuction by colony assays. Moreover one of these patients progressed to an overt MDS six month after the second determination.Ph-negative HC repopulating the bone marrow after successful CML treatment: i) have major defects in their functional performances; ii) display severe telomeric loss (roughly comparable to 31 years of physiological aging), which is more pronounced in patients with CA. Moreover the lack of telomeric recovery over time and the presence of a subgroup of patients with ongoing accelerated non-physiological telomeric attrition suggest the need of strict monitoring of the long-term performances and genetic stability of Ph-negative hematopoiesis in CML patients.No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Abstract 1816

Abstract 960

Abstract 2164

Introduction: High-dose (hd) Zevalin® radioimmunotherapy (RIT) followed by tandem peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) reinfusion is a well tolerated myeloablative regimen with wide applicability for the treatment of NHL (Devizzi L et al, J Clin Oncol, in press). The risk of long-term hematopoietic damage and therapy-related myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS/AML) due to high radiation doses to the bone marrow (BM) is a matter of concern. The present study aimed to investigate BM hematopoietic abnormalities after hd-Zevalin®.

Background. Most chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients (pts) restore non-neoplastic hematopoiesis following treatment with tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors. However little is presently known on the functional and genetic integrity of Ph-negative hematopoietic cells (HC) repopulating the bone marrow after successful treatment. Indeed, the frequent detection of cytogenetic abnormalities (CA) reminiscent of those seen in myelodysplastic syndromes suggests the potential presence of functional and genetic defects. These issues have been addressed using short and long term HC cultures and telomere restriction fragment length (TRF-L) analysis, which is considered a reliable marker of proliferative and oxidative damage. Patients and methods. We investigated 71 CML pts in stable complete cytogenetic remission (CR) (CR had to be documented at least one year before the analysis). 62 pts were treated with Imatinib and 10 with α-interferon associated or not to ara-C. Median age was 64 (23–88), M/F ratio was 1.5, median time from diagnosis and from complete CR were 58 (7–915), and 40 months (12–150). 31 pts had low Sokal score, 27 intermediate, and 13 high. Complete and partial molecular responders were 35 and 21, respectively. 6 pts showed evidence of acquired CA in Ph-negative HC. TRF-L analysis was performed by Southern Blotting as previously described (Ladetto M et Al, Blood 2004), both on polymorphonucleates (PMN) and on monocyte-depleted PBMC (MD-PBMC) (as described by Rocci et al Exp Hematol 2007) to monitor both the myeloid and lymphoid compartment. Colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM), burst-forming unit erythroid (BFU-E) and colony forming unit-mix (CFU-Mix) along with long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs) have been so far performed on 30 patients, using bone marrow mononuclear cells as previously described (Sutherland HJ et al Blood 1994). For both TRF-L and cell culture studies a control database of 86 healthy subjects has been used for comparison. Results. PMN from CML patients showed a striking erosion of their telomeric DNA (figure 1A). Also MD-PBMC showed a degree of telomere shortening although the finding was much less pronounced (mean telomeric loss in PMN 1683 pb p<0.001; in MD-PBMC: 323 pb, p=0.04) We found no correlation between TRF-L and previously mentioned clinical parameters. Telomeric erosion is more severe in younger CML pts, resulting in loss of the association between TRF-L and age, typically seen in healthy subjects (figure 1B) Telomere shortening was observed regardless of the use of TK inhibitors. When a multivariate analysis on pts and healthy controls was performed, the presence of CML resulted a stronger predictor of telomeric damage compared to age. We found no correlation between TRF-L and previously mentioned clinical and demographic parameters. Telomeric erosion show no evidence of recovery on 40 follow-up samples taken after a median time of 10 months (range 6–13). Moreover, Ph-negative HC of CML pts were functionally impaired compared to controls with reduced numbers of CFU-Mix (median 2,62 vs 4, p=0,01), CFU-GM (median 99,5 vs 181, p<0,0001) and particularly of LTC-IC (median 88 vs 198, p<0,0001) (figure 1C). Discussion. Ph-negative HC repopulating the bone marrow after successful CML treatment display severe telomeric DNA erosion, roughly comparable to 34 years of physiological aging. Moreover they display major defects in their functional performances. These findings, underline the need of additional investigation and careful clinical monitoring of the Ph-negative haemopoietic compartment in these subjects. Figure Figure