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B Introduction: b Glofitamab is a CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody delivered in a fixed course of 12 three-weekly cycles. GLOFITAMAB MONOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH RELAPSED/REFRACTORY (R/R) LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA (LBCL): EXTENDED FOLLOW-UP AND LANDMARK ANALYSES FROM A PIVOTAL PHASE II STUDY. [Extracted from the article]

Demonstration of I TET2 i and I DNMT3A i mutations in B cells, myeloid cells, or hematopoietic progenitor cells have suggested that TFHL can emerge from clonal hematopoiesis (CH) in a multi-step process. Follicular helper T-cell lymphoma (TFHL) results from the oncogenic transformation of a TFH cell, driven by mutations in genes involved in epigenetic regulation ( I TET2 i , I DNMT3A, IDH2 i ) and T-cell signaling ( I RHOA i ). Meanwhile, bulk BM cells from 29 patients were sequenced with the same NGS panel and then compared to the mutations found in cfDNA (31 patients) and tumor biopsies (28 patients). [Extracted from the article]

Transfusion needs may impact patients' quality of life and CAR T-cells efficacy through transfusion-related immunomodulation. Transfusion needs after CD19 CAR T-cells for large B-cell lymphoma: predictive factors and impact on outcome. B Introduction: b Patients undergoing CAR T-cell therapy may experience severe cytopenias due to lymphodepleting chemotherapy and/or CAR T-cells. [Extracted from the article]

PROGNOSTIC SCORING SYSTEMS FOR SEVERE CRS AND ICANS AFTER AUTOLOGOUS ANTI-CD19 CAR T CELLS IN LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA: A DESCAR-T REGISTRY STUDY FORM THE LYSA B Background: b Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) are common immune-related toxicities associated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell therapy. B S. Legouill b Honoraria: Janssen-Cilag, Kite/Gilead and Novartis B G. Cartron b Honoraria: Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, Onwards Therapeutics, MedxCell, EmerCell, MabQ, Sanofi, Abbvie, Takeda, Roche, Janssen, Roche, Novartis and Myltenyi B D. Beauvais b Honoraria: Kite/Gilead B F. Gros b Honoraria: Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis and Kite/Gilead B P. Bories b Honoraria: Bristol Myers Squibb, Kite/Gilead, Novartis and Abbvie B M. Rubio b Honoraria: Novartis and Kite/Gilead. [Extracted from the article]

EARLY CTDNA CLEARANCE AFTER CAR T-CELL INFUSION PREDICTS OUTCOME IN PATIENTS WITH LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA: RESULTS FROM ALYCANTE, A PHASE 2 LYSA STUDY B Introduction: b CAR T-cells have significantly improved the outcome of patients with relapsed or refractory ( I R i / I R i ) large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). The aim of our study was to monitor ctDNA before and after CAR T-cell infusion and correlate the results with clinical outcome in the ALYCANTE trial. [Extracted from the article]

Eligibility criteria include age 18-80y, lymphoma cell expression of either or both CD20 and CD22, and >= 2 prior treatment regimens including autologous CD19 CAR T-cell therapy if eligible. NATHALI-01: A PHASE 1/2A TRIAL OF UCART20X22, AN ALLOGENEIC DUAL CAR T-CELL THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH RELAPSED/REFRACTORY B-CELL NON-HODGKIN LYMPHOMA (NHL) B Introduction: b Autologous CAR T-cell therapies have been transformative in the treatment of selected blood cancers. [Extracted from the article]

"Don't keep me waiting": estimating the impact on lifetime survival and QALYs of reduced vein-to-vein time for LBCL patients treated with CAR T in the 3L+ setting This modelling study was designed to compare potential outcomes of a "long" versus "short" V2VT for relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (r/r LBCL) patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy in the 3L+ setting. B Introduction: b Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have revolutionised the treatment of haematological cancers. [Extracted from the article]

Only one patient had detectable I TET2 i , I DNMT3A i , I IDH2 i , and I RHOA i mutations in the cfDNA and not in the tumor biopsy, corresponding to a tumor with low neoplastic cell content. By contrast, 3 patients had I DNMT3A i mutations, not affecting the R882 residue, detected in the cfDNA but not in the tumor likely corresponding to clonal hematopoiesis not related to the TFHL. Common I TET2 i mutations were detected in the tumor of 36/43 (84%) and in cfDNA of 33/43 (77%) patients, with a median variant allele frequency (VAF) of 17.75% vs. 9.8% respectively. [Extracted from the article]

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned co-primary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported. Primary analysis of the phase III randomized AATT study showed that younger patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) consolidated with autologous or allogeneic transplantation (alloSCT) had similar event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS). Seven-year EFS of patients randomly assigned to alloSCT was 38% (95% CI, 25 to 52) compared with 34% (95% CI, 22 to 47) for patients randomly assigned to autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (autoSCT); OS was 55% (95% CI, 41 to 69) and 61% (95% CI, 47 to 74). Among patients undergoing alloSCT (n = 26) or autoSCT (n = 41) on study, the cumulative progression/relapse rate was 8% (95% CI, 0 to 19) and 55% (95% CI, 35 to 74). Nonrelapse mortality (NRM) was 31% (95% CI, 13 to 49) and 3% (95% CI, 0 to 8) after alloSCT and autoSCT, respectively. Fifteen of 30 patients with early progression and 11 of 20 patients with progression/relapse after autoSCT received alloSCT. Seven-year OS after salvage alloSCT was 61% (95% CI, 47 to 74); NRM was 23% (95% CI, 6 to 40). Long-term follow-up documents the strong graft versus lymphoma effect of alloSCT independent of the timing of transplantation. Survival of patients unable to undergo transplantation was dismal. AlloSCT is the treatment of choice for younger, transplant-eligible patients with relapsed/refractory PTCL. AlloSCT is currently not recommended as part of first-line consolidation.

The arrival of CAR-T cell treatments in Europe in 2018 has considerably changed the clinical and logistical management of lymphoma patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate pathways of patients eligible for axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), particularly previously and afterwards of its administration, stages that are currently poorly documented in the literature. Ninety-eight patients from eleven French qualified centers eligible for axi-cel treatment between June 2020 and February 2021 were retrospectively included. Of all the stages in the care pathway evaluated, the median time observed between relapse after the previous line and prescription of axi-cel was 27days, and the median time between the multidisciplinary consultation meeting and axi-cel administration was 63days. The two main methods of discharge from hospital were a return home (65% of cases) or hospitalisation in a rehabilitation unit (20% of cases). Among all the geographical and organizational characteristics assessed, no factor was found to have a significant impact on the time length of the patient's journey, apart from the patient capacity of the qualified center, and the origin of the patient's referral (coming from a qualified or a referral center). Since the study was carried out, the number of qualified centers has continued to rise, improving territorial coverage and access to treatment., (Copyright © 2024 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

FCGR3A presents a single nucleotide polymorphism at location 158 (V/F), which affects its binding to the fragment crystallizable (Fc) of antibodies (Abs). FcγRIIIa-158 V allotype has the highest affinity and is associated with a better clinical response to IgG1 monoclonal Abs (mAb) treatment. We compared the allele frequency of FCGR3A- F158V polymorphism in cohorts of patients with B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders, including multiple myeloma (MM), monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and B-cell chronic leukemia (B-CLL). FCGR3A -158F homozygous were enriched and tended to be in MM and MGUS patients, respectively; but neither in B-CLL nor in NHL patients. We identified a significantly lower concentration of CD8 T-cells and resting memory CD4 T-cells in MM patients bone marrow with the F/F genotype, associated with an increase in the macrophage percentage. In contrast, natural killer cells increased in V/V homozygous patients. This suggests a deregulation of the immune microenvironment in FCGR3A -F/F homozygous patients. However, we did not observe difference in response following treatment combining chemotherapy associated or not with daratumumab, an IgG1 mAb direct against CD38. Our findings suggest that FCGR3A F158V polymorphism can regulate the immune environment and affect the development of tumor plasma cells., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.)

Autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are now used in routine practice for relapsed/refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). Severe (grade ≥ 3) cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity (ICANS) are still the most concerning acute toxicities leading to frequent intensive care unit (ICU) admission, prolonging hospitalization, and adding significant cost to treatment. We report on the incidence of CRS and ICANS and the outcomes in a large cohort of 925 patients with LBCL treated with axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) or tisagenlecleucel (tisa-cel) in France based on patient data captured through the DESCAR-T registry. CRS of any grade occurred in 778 patients (84.1%), with 74 patients (8.0%) with grade 3 CRS or higher, while ICANS of any grade occurred in 375 patients (40.5%), with 112 patients (12.1%) with grade ≥ 3 ICANS. Based on the parameters selected by multivariable analyses, two independent prognostic scoring systems (PSS) were derived, one for grade ≥ 3 CRS and one for grade ≥ 3 ICANS. CRS-PSS included bulky disease, a platelet count < 150 G/L, a C-reactive protein (CRP) level > 30 mg/L and no bridging therapy or stable or progressive disease (SD/PD) after bridging. Patients with a CRS-PSS score > 2 had significantly higher risk to develop grade ≥ 3 CRS. ICANS-PSS included female sex, low level of platelets (< 150 G/L), use of axi-cel and no bridging therapy or SD/PD after bridging. Patients with a CRS-PSS score > 2 had significantly higher risk to develop grade ≥ 3 ICANS. Both scores were externally validated in international cohorts of patients treated with tisa-cel or axi-cel., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The IELSG38 trial was conducted to investigate the effects of subcutaneous (SC) rituximab on the complete remission (CR) rate and the benefits of SC rituximab maintenance in patients with extranodal marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) who received front-line treatment with chlorambucil plus rituximab. Study treatment was an induction phase with oral chlorambucil 6 mg/m2/day on weeks 1-6, 9-10, 13-14, 17-18, and 21-22, and intravenous rituximab 375 mg/m2 on day 1 of weeks 1-4, and 1,400 mg SC on weeks 9, 13, 17, and 21. Then, a maintenance phase followed with rituximab administered at 1,400 mg SC every two months for two years. Of the 112 patients enrolled, 109 were evaluated for efficacy. The CR rates increased from 52% at the end of the induction phase to 70% upon completion of the maintenance phase. With a median follow-up of 5.8 years, the 5-year event-free, progression-free, and overall survival rates were 87% (95% CI: 78-92), 84% (95% CI: 75-89), and 93% (95% CI: 86-96), respectively. The most common grade ≥3 toxicities were neutropenia (33%) and lymphocytopenia (16%). Six patients experienced treatment-related serious adverse events, including fever of unknown origin, sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, severe cerebellar ataxia, and fatal acute myeloid leukemia. The trial showed that SC rituximab did not improve the CR rate at the conclusion of the induction phase, which was the main endpoint. Nevertheless, SC rituximab maintenance might have facilitated long-term disease control, potentially contributing to enhanced event-free and progression-free survival.

An unmet need exists for patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma (FL) and high-risk disease features, such as progression of disease within 24 months (POD24) from first-line immunochemotherapy or disease refractory to both CD20-targeting agent and alkylator (double refractory), due to no established standard of care and poor outcomes. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is an option in R/R FL after two or more lines of prior systemic therapy, but there is no consensus on its optimal timing in the disease course of FL, and there are no data in second-line (2L) treatment of patients with high-risk features. Lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) is an autologous, CD19-directed, 4-1BB CAR T cell product. The phase 2 TRANSCEND FL study evaluated liso-cel in patients with R/R FL, including 2L patients who all had POD24 from diagnosis after treatment with anti-CD20 antibody and alkylator ≤6 months of FL diagnosis and/or met modified Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes Folliculaires criteria. Primary/key secondary endpoints were independent review committee-assessed overall response rate (ORR)/complete response (CR) rate. At data cutoff, 130 patients had received liso-cel (median follow-up, 18.9 months). Primary/key secondary endpoints were met. In third-line or later FL (n = 101), ORR was 97% (95% confidence interval (CI): 91.6‒99.4), and CR rate was 94% (95% CI: 87.5‒97.8). In 2L FL (n = 23), ORR was 96% (95% CI: 78.1‒99.9); all responders achieved CR. Cytokine release syndrome occurred in 58% of patients (grade ≥3, 1%); neurological events occurred in 15% of patients (grade ≥3, 2%). Liso-cel demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with R/R FL, including high-risk 2L FL. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04245839 ., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose: Selinexor is an oral selective inhibitor of exportine-1 (XPO1) with efficacy as a single agent in heavily pretreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We conducted a study investigating the combination of selinexor with rituximab and platinum-based chemotherapy in B-cell lymphoma., Patients and Methods: We conducted a phase 1b, dose-escalation, and expansion trial, which enrolled patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Patients received oral selinexor according to a 3 + 3 design in combination with rituximab and dexamethasone, high-dose cytarabine, oxaliplatine (DHAOX) or gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) chemotherapy., Results: A total of 39 patients were enrolled, 27 during the escalation phase and 12 during the expansion phase. Most patients had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL; 77%). Group R-DHAOX was prematurely closed to inclusion due to a recommendation from the French drug agency, independent of this trial. A recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) of selinexor in association with R-GPD was established at 40 mg on days 1, 8, and 15 of each 21-day cycle. In a population of 18 patients treated at this dose of selinexor, the most frequent grade 3-4 adverse events were hematological. With this regimen, seven obtained a complete metabolic response and five a partial response. The median PFS was 5.8 months., Conclusions: Among the patients with R/R B-cell lymphoma, selinexor at a weekly dose of 40 mg with R-GDP is feasible for outpatients, with a generally acceptable safety profile.

Background: Natural killer (NK) cell therapy is considered an attractive and safe strategy for anticancer therapy. Nevertheless, when autologous or allogenic NK cells are used alone, the clinical benefit has been disappointing. This is partially due to the lack of target specificity. Recently, CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cells have proven to be safe and potent in patients with B-cell tumors. However, the generation of CAR-NK cells is a complicated manufacturing process. We aim at developing a targeted NK cell therapy without the need for cellular genetic modifications. We took advantage of the natural expression of the IgG Fc receptor CD16a (FcγRIIIa) to induce strong antigen-specific effector functions through antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). We have generated the new technology "Pin", which enables the arming of modified monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) onto the CD16a of ex vivo expanded NK (eNK) cells. Methods Ex vivo eNK were prepared from umbilical cord blood cells and expanded using interleukin (IL)-2/IL-15 and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed B-lymphoblastoid feeder cells. mAbs were engineered with four substitutions called Pin mutations to increase their affinity to CD16a. eNK were incubated with anti-CD20 or anti-CD19 Pin-mAbs to generate "armed" eNK and were used to assess effector functions in vitro on cancer cell lines, lymphoma patient cells and in vivo., Results: CD16a/Pin-mAb interaction is stable for several days and Pin-mAb eNK inherit the mAb specificity and exclusively induce ADCC against targets expressing the cognate antigen. Hence, Pin-mAbs confer long-term selectivity to eNK, which allows specific elimination of the target cells in several in vivo mouse models. Finally, we showed that it is possible to arm eNK with at least two Pin-mAbs simultaneously, to increase efficacy against heterogenous cancer cell populations., Conclusions: The Pin technology provides an off-the-shelf NK cell therapy platform to generate CAR-like NK cells, without genetic modifications, that easily target multiple tumor antigens., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The patent of PINTM technology has been licensed to CYTEA BIO (WO2022023581A1 “Armed NK cells for universal cell therapy”). ER, HC, BF and JP are currently employees of CYTEA BIO. BR, PM and MV were initial creators of CYTEA BIO., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Abstract: In this retrospective study, chimeric antigen receptor T cells remained effective in patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma after prior exposure to bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) targeting different antigens. These results are relevant to clinical practice, particularly given the increasing use of BsAbs in earlier treatment lines., (© 2024 American Society of Hematology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.)

Abstract: Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR T) has revolutionized the treatment of hematological cancers. Its production requires a complex logistical process, and the time from leukapheresis to patient infusion (known as the vein-to-vein time [V2VT]) can be long during which a patients clinical condition may deteriorate. This study was designed to estimate the benefits of reduced V2VT for third-line or later (3L+) relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL) patients treated with CAR T. A mathematical model was developed to estimate the lifetime outcomes of a hypothetical cohort of patients who had either a long or short V2VT. Life-years (LYs), quality-adjusted LYs (QALYs), and costs were estimated. Scenario analyses were performed to assess the robustness of results to key assumptions. The results of the model show that reducing V2VT from 54 days (tisa-cel median V2VT; JULIET) to 24 days (axi-cel median V2VT; ZUMA-1) led to a 3.2-year gain in life expectancy (4.2 vs 7.7 LYs), and 2.4 additional QALYs (3.2 vs 5.6) per patient. Furthermore, a shorter V2VT was shown to be cost-effective under conventional willingness-to-pay thresholds in the United States. Results are driven by a higher infusion rate and a better efficacy of CAR T for those infused. Scenario analyses using a smaller difference in V2VT (24 vs 36 days) produced consistent results. Our study is the first to quantify lifetime V2VT-related outcomes for 3L+ R/R LBCL patients treated with CAR T utilizing currently available evidence. Shorter V2VTs led to improved outcomes, demonstrating the importance of timely infusion achievable by faster manufacturing times and optimization of hospital delivery., (© 2024 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

Not available.

Background: Follicular helper T-cell lymphomas (TFHL) harbour frequent alterations in genes that regulate DNA methylation. Preliminary reports suggest that treatment with 5-azacitidine has clinical activity in patients with relapsed or refractory TFHL. We aimed to compare the oral form of azacitidine with investigator's choice standard therapy (ICT; ie, gemcitabine, bendamustine, or romidepsin) in patients with relapsed or refractory TFHL., Methods: Patients older than 18 years with relapsed or refractory TFHL (angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, or nodal T-cell lymphoma with phenotype, ie, positive with two or more markers among CD10, BCL6, CXCL13, PD1, or ICOS) based on the 2017 WHO classification of haematological neoplasms, with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0-3, were recruited in university hospitals from five European countries and from Japan. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to treatment with either azacitidine given at a dose of 300 mg once a day (200 mg in Japanese patients) for 14 days in a 28-day cycle or gemcitabine, bendamustine, or romidepsin according to the investigator's choice. Random assignment was stratified by the number of previous lines of therapy and by the presence of previous or concomitant myeloid malignancy. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed progression-free survival, presented in the intention-to-treat population. This Article is the final analysis of this trial, registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Europe NCT03593018 and Japan NCT03703375)., Findings: 86 patients (median age 69 years [IQR 62-76], 50 patients were male, 36 were female) were enrolled between Nov 9, 2018, to Feb 22, 2021; 42 in the azacitidine group and 44 in the ICT group. With a median follow-up of 27·4 months (IQR 20·2-32·9), the median progression-free survival was 5·6 months (95% CI 2·7 -8·1) in the azacitidine group versus 2·8 months (1·9-4·8) in the ICT group (hazard ratio of 0·63 (95% CI 0·38-1·07); 1-sided p=0·042). Grade 3-4 adverse events were reported in 32 (76%) of 42 patients in the azacitidine group versus 42 (98%) of 43 patients in the ICT group. The most adverse grade 3 or worse adverse events were haematological (28 [67%] of 42 patients vs 40 [93%] of 43 patients), infection (8 [19%] and 14 [33%]), and gastrointestinal (5 [12%] vs 1 [2%] for azacitidine and ICT, respectively). There were two treatment-related deaths in the azacitidine group (one endocarditis and one candidiasis) and three in the ICT group (one heart failure, one COVID-19, and one cause unknown)., Interpretation: Although the pre-specified primary outcome of the trial was not met, the favourable safety profile suggests that azacitidine could add to the treatment options in these difficult to treat diseases especially in combination with other drugs. Trials with combination are in preparation in a platform trial., Funding: Bristol-Myers Squibb., Translation: For the French translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests EB reports receiving research funding from Amgen and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS); honoraria from Kite, Gilead, Novartis, Roche, Incyte, Miltenyi Biotech, Takeda, and Sanofi; and participation on an advisory committee for Roche, Gilead, ADC Therapeutics, Takeda, Novartis, and Incyte. FM reports receiving consultancy fees from Roche, Gilead, and AbbVie and participation on advisory committees for Roche, Gilead, Novartis, BMS, AbbVie, Genmab, Miltenyi, Allogene Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. GC reports receiving honoraria from Gilead, Novartis, Mylteni, Sanofi, AbbVie, Takeda, Roche, Janssen, Roche, Celgene, Novartis and participation on advisory committees for MabQi, Ownards Therapeutics, AbbVie, Roche, and BMS. NF reports receiving consultancy fees from AstraZeneca, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, HUYA, and Novartis; research funding from Bayer, BMS, Chugai Pharma, Celgene, Genmab, and Incyte; honoraria from AstraZeneca, BMS, Chugai Pharma, Dainippon Sumitomo, Eisai, Janssen, Kyowa Kirin, Nippon Shinyaku, Novartis, Ono, Sanofi, Symbio, Takeda, and Celgene. R-OC reports receiving honoraria from Roche, Takeda, Merck, BMS, Gilead and Kite, AbbVie, ADC Therapeutics, and Incyte; research funding from Takeda and Gilead and Kite; honoraria from Roche, Takeda, Merck, BMS, Gilead and Kite, AbbVie, ADC Therapeutics, Incyte and AstraZeneca; and participation on advisory committees for Roche, Takeda, Merck, BMS, Gilead and Kite, ADC Therapeutics, Janssen, and Incyte. CPF reports receiving consultancy fees from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Atarabio, Celgene and BMS, GenMab, Gilead and Kite, Incyte, Janssen, Morphosys, Ono Pharmaceutical, Roche, and Takeda; research funding from BeiGene; and speaker bureau fees from Celgene and BMS, Gilead and Kite, Incyte, Janssen, Roche, and Takeda; and travel support from Roche. FAd’A reports receiving research funding from Servier and Nordic Nanovector. PBS reports receiving consultancy fees from Amgen, Roche, Janssen, Gilead, Incyte, Morphosys, CTI Biopharma, BMS, Celegene, AbbVie, Takeda, BMS, Beigene, and Lilly; research funding from Roche; and honoraria from Amgen, Roche, Janssen, Gilead, Incyte, Morphosys, CTI Biopharma, BMS, Celegene, AbbVie, Takeda, BMS, Beigene, and Lilly. AG and MN are current employees and stock option holders at BMS. L-MF reports receiving honoraria from Roche, AbbVie, Janssen, and AstraZeneca. M-HD-L reports receiving research funding from Roche and Celgene; honoraria from Gilead and Amgen and travel support from Mundipharma. LdL reports receiving consultancy fees from Lunaphore Technologies and Bayer and honoraria from Novartis. PG reports receiving consultancy fees from Takeda; research funding from Takeda, Innate Pharma, Alderan, and Sanofi; and honoraria from Takeda Gilead. KT reports receiving consultancy fees from Ono Pharma, Meiji Seika Pharma, Yakuruto, Solasia Pharma, Meiji Seika Pharma, and HUYABIO; research funding from Kyowa-hakko and Kirin, Meiji Seika Pharma, BMS, Byer, Daiich-Sankyo, HUYABIO, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; and honoraria from Chugai Pharma, Eizai, and Meiji Seika Pharma. FL reports receiving honoraria from Kiowa, Miltenyi, and BMS; research funding from Roche and BMS; and travel support from Roche and Gilead. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.)

Abstract: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells targeting CD19 have been approved for the treatment of relapse/refractory large B-cell lymphoma. Hematotoxicity is the most frequent CAR T-cell-related adverse event. Transfusion support is a surrogate marker of severe cytopenias. Transfusion affects patients' quality of life, presents specific toxicities, and is known to affect immunity through the so-called transfusion-related immunomodulation that may affect CAR T-cell efficacy. We analyzed data from 671 patients from the French DESCAR-T registry for whom exhaustive transfusion data were available. Overall, 401 (59.8%) and 378 (56.3%) patients received transfusion in the 6-month period before and after CAR T-cell infusion, respectively. The number of patients receiving transfusion and the mean number of transfused products increased during the 6-month period before CAR T-cell infusion, peaked during the first month after infusion (early phase), and decreased over time. Predictive factors for transfusion at the early phase were age >60 years, ECOG PS ≥2, treatment with axicabtagene ciloleucel, pre-CAR T-cell transfusions, and CAR-HEMATOTOX score ≥2. Predictive factors for late transfusion (between 1 and 6 months after infusion) were pre-CAR T-cell transfusions, CAR-HEMATOTOX score ≥2, ICANS ≥3 (for red blood cells [RBC] transfusion), and tocilizumab use (for platelets transfusion). Early transfusions and late platelets (but not RBC) transfusions were associated with a shorter progression-free survival and overall survival. Lymphoma-related mortality and nonrelapse mortality were both increased in the transfused population. Our data shed light on the mechanisms of early and late cytopenia and on the potential impact of transfusions on CAR T-cell efficacy and toxicity., (© 2024 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

Acute myeloid leukemias (AML) are severe hematomalignancies with dismal prognosis. The post-translational modification SUMOylation plays key roles in leukemogenesis and AML response to therapies. Here, we show that TAK-981 (subasumstat), a first-in-class SUMOylation inhibitor, is endowed with potent anti-leukemic activity in various preclinical models of AML. TAK-981 targets AML cell lines and patient blast cells in vitro and in vivo in xenografted mice with minimal toxicity on normal hematopoietic cells. Moreover, it synergizes with 5-azacytidine (AZA), a DNA-hypomethylating agent now used in combination with the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax to treat AML patients unfit for standard chemotherapies. Interestingly, TAK-981+AZA combination shows higher anti-leukemic activity than AZA+venetoclax combination both in vitro and in vivo, at least in the models tested. Mechanistically, TAK-981 potentiates the transcriptional reprogramming induced by AZA, promoting apoptosis, alteration of the cell cycle and differentiation of the leukemic cells. In addition, TAK-981+AZA treatment induces many genes linked to inflammation and immune response pathways. In particular, this leads to the secretion of type-I interferon by AML cells. Finally, TAK-981+AZA induces the expression of natural killer-activating ligands (MICA/B) and adhesion proteins (ICAM-1) at the surface of AML cells. Consistently, TAK-981+AZA-treated AML cells activate natural killer cells and increase their cytotoxic activity. Targeting SUMOylation with TAK-981 may thus be a promising strategy to both sensitize AML cells to AZA and reduce their immune-escape capacities.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy characterized by an abnormal clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells. Despite the introduction of novel agents that have significantly improved clinical outcome, most patients relapse and develop drug resistance. MM is characterized by genomic instability and a high level of replicative stress. In response to replicative and DNA damage stress, MM cells activate various DNA damage signaling pathways. In this study, we reported that high CHK1 and WEE1 expression is associated with poor outcome in independent cohorts of MM patients treated with high dose melphalan chemotherapy or anti-CD38 immunotherapy. Combined targeting of Chk1 and Wee1 demonstrates synergistic toxicities on MM cells and was associated with higher DNA double-strand break induction, as evidenced by an increased percentage of γH2AX positive cells subsequently leading to apoptosis. The therapeutic interest of Chk1/Wee1 inhibitors' combination was validated on primary MM cells of patients. The toxicity was specific of MM cells since normal bone marrow cells were not significantly affected. Using deconvolution approach, MM patients with high CHK1 expression exhibited a significant lower percentage of NK cells whereas patients with high WEE1 expression displayed a significant higher percentage of regulatory T cells in the bone marrow. These data emphasize that MM cell adaptation to replicative stress through Wee1 and Chk1 upregulation may decrease the activation of the cell-intrinsic innate immune response. Our study suggests that association of Chk1 and Wee1 inhibitors may represent a promising therapeutic approach in high-risk MM patients characterized by high CHK1 and WEE1 expression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Bruyer, Dutrieux, de Boussac, Martin, Chemlal, Robert, Requirand, Cartron, Vincent, Herbaux, Lutzmann, Bret, Pasero, Moreaux and Ovejero.)

CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells can induce prolonged remissions and potentially cure a significant proportion of patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphomas. However, some patients may die of causes unrelated to lymphoma after CAR T-cell therapy. To date, little is known about the nonrelapse mortality (NRM) after CAR T-cell therapy. Using the French DESCAR-T registry, we analyzed the incidence and causes of NRM and identified risk factors of NRM. We report on 957 patients who received standard-of-care axicabtagene ciloleucel (n = 598) or tisagenlecleucel (n = 359) between July 2018 and April 2022, in 27 French centers. With a median follow-up of 12.4 months, overall NRM occurred in 48 patients (5.0% of all patients): early (before day 28 after infusion) in 9 patients (0.9% of all patients and 19% of overall NRM), and late (on/after day 28 after infusion) in 39 patients (4.1% of all patients and 81% of overall NRM). Causes of overall NRM were distributed as follows: 56% infections (29% with non-COVID-19 and 27% with COVID-19), 10% cytokine release syndromes, 6% stroke, 6% cerebral hemorrhage, 6% second malignancies, 4% immune effector cell associated neurotoxicities, and 10% deaths from other causes. We report risk factors of early NRM and overall NRM. In multivariate analysis, both diabetes and elevated ferritin level at lymphodepletion were associated with an increased risk of overall NRM. Our results may help physicians in patient selection and management in order to reduce the NRM after CAR T-cell therapy., (© 2023 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

Axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) demonstrated superior efficacy compared to standard of care as second-line therapy in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory (R/R) large B cell lymphoma (LBCL) considered eligible for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT); however, in clinical practice, roughly half of patients with R/R LBCL are deemed unsuitable candidates for ASCT. The efficacy of axi-cel remains to be ascertained in transplant-ineligible patients. ALYCANTE, an open-label, phase 2 study, evaluated axi-cel as a second-line therapy in 62 patients with R/R LBCL who were considered ineligible for ASCT. The primary end point was investigator-assessed complete metabolic response at 3 months from the axi-cel infusion. Key secondary end points included progression-free survival, overall survival and safety. The study met its primary end point with a complete metabolic response of 71.0% (95% confidence interval, 58.1-81.8%) at 3 months. With a median follow-up of 12.0 months (range, 2.1-17.9), median progression-free survival was 11.8 months (95% confidence interval, 8.4-not reached) and overall survival was not reached. There was no unexpected toxicity. Grade 3-4 cytokine release syndrome and neurologic events occurred in 8.1% and 14.5% of patients, respectively. These results support axi-cel as second-line therapy in patients with R/R LBCL ineligible for ASCT. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04531046 ., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Genotoxicants have been used for decades as front-line therapies against cancer on the basis of their DNA-damaging actions. However, some of their non-DNA-damaging effects are also instrumental for killing dividing cells. We report here that the anthracycline Daunorubicin (DNR), one of the main drugs used to treat Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), induces rapid (3 h) and broad transcriptional changes in AML cells. The regulated genes are particularly enriched in genes controlling cell proliferation and death, as well as inflammation and immunity. These transcriptional changes are preceded by DNR-dependent deSUMOylation of chromatin proteins, in particular at active promoters and enhancers. Surprisingly, inhibition of SUMOylation with ML-792 (SUMO E1 inhibitor), dampens DNR-induced transcriptional reprogramming. Quantitative proteomics shows that the proteins deSUMOylated in response to DNR are mostly transcription factors, transcriptional co-regulators and chromatin organizers. Among them, the CCCTC-binding factor CTCF is highly enriched at SUMO-binding sites found in cis-regulatory regions. This is notably the case at the promoter of the DNR-induced NFKB2 gene. DNR leads to a reconfiguration of chromatin loops engaging CTCF- and SUMO-bound NFKB2 promoter with a distal cis-regulatory region and inhibition of SUMOylation with ML-792 prevents these changes., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)