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In the post-pandemic COVID-19 period, human activities have returned to normal and COVID-19 cases are usually mild. However, patients with multiple myeloma (MM) present an increased risk for breakthrough infections and severe COVID-19 outcomes, including hospitalization and death. The European Myeloma Network has provided an expert consensus to guide patient management in this era. Vaccination with variant-specific booster vaccines, such as the bivalent vaccine for the ancestral Wuhan strain and the Omicron BA.4/5 strains, is essential as novel strains emerge and become dominant in the community. Boosters should be administered every 6–12 months after the last vaccine shot or documented COVID-19 infection (hybrid immunity). Booster shots seem to overcome the negative effect of anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies on humoral responses; however, anti-BCMA treatment remains an adverse predictive factor for humoral immune response. Evaluation of the immune response after vaccination may identify a particularly vulnerable subset of patients who may need additional boosters, prophylactic therapies and prevention measures. Pre-exposure prophylaxis with tixagevimab/cilgavimab is not effective against the new dominant variants and thus is no longer recommended. Oral antivirals (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and molnupiravir) and remdesivir are effective against Omicron subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, BA.5, BQ.1.1 and/or XBB.1.5 and should be administered in MM patients at the time of a positive COVID-19 test or within 5 days post symptoms onset. Convalescent plasma seems to have low value in the post-pandemic era. Prevention measures during SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, including mask wearing and avoiding crowded places, seem prudent to continue for MM patients.

Pleiotropy, which consists of a single gene or allelic variant affecting multiple unrelated traits, is common across cancers, with evidence for genome-wide significant loci shared across cancer and noncancer traits. This feature is particularly relevant in multiple myeloma (MM) because several susceptibility loci that have been identified to date are pleiotropic. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify novel pleiotropic variants involved in MM risk using 28 684 independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from GWAS Catalog that reached a significant association (P < 5 × 10−8) with their respective trait. The selected SNPs were analyzed in 2434 MM cases and 3446 controls from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology Consortium (InterLymph). The 10 SNPs showing the strongest associations with MM risk in InterLymph were selected for replication in an independent set of 1955 MM cases and 1549 controls from the International Multiple Myeloma rESEarch (IMMEnSE) consortium and 418 MM cases and 147 282 controls from the FinnGen project. The combined analysis of the three studies identified an association between DNAJB4-rs34517439-A and an increased risk of developing MM (OR = 1.22, 95%CI 1.13-1.32, P = 4.81 × 10−7). rs34517439-A is associated with a modified expression of the FUBP1 gene, which encodes a multifunctional DNA and RNA-binding protein that it was observed to influence the regulation of various genes involved in cell cycle regulation, among which various oncogenes and oncosuppressors. In conclusion, with a pleiotropic scan approach we identified DNAJB4-rs34517439 as a potentially novel MM risk locus.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of multiple myeloma in populations of European ancestry (EA) identified and confirmed 24 susceptibility loci. For other cancers (e.g., colorectum and melanoma), risk loci have also been associated with patient survival. Methods: We explored the possible association of all the known risk variants and their polygenic risk score (PRS) with multiple myeloma overall survival (OS) in multiple populations of EA [the International Multiple Myeloma rESEarch (IMMEnSE) consortium, the International Lymphoma Epidemiology consortium, CoMMpass, and the German GWAS] for a total of 3,748 multiple myeloma cases. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to assess the association between each risk SNP with OS under the allelic and codominant models of inheritance. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, country of origin (for IMMEnSE) or principal components (for the others) and disease stage (ISS). SNP associations were meta-analyzed. Results: SNP associations were meta-analyzed. From the meta-analysis, two multiple myeloma risk SNPs were associated with OS (P < 0.05), specifically POT1-AS1-rs2170352 [HR = 1.37; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09–1.73; P = 0.007] and TNFRSF13B-rs4273077 (HR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.01–1.41; P = 0.04). The association between the combined 24 SNP MM-PRS and OS, however, was not significant. Conclusions: Overall, our results did not support an association between the majority of multiple myeloma risk SNPs and OS. Impact: This is the first study to investigate the association between multiple myeloma PRS and OS in multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND: The aetiology of multiple myeloma (MM) is unknown but various environmental exposures are suspected as risk factors. We present the first paper analysing the geographical distribution of MM in Denmark at the municipal level to investigate variations that could be explained by environmental exposures.METHODS: Patients diagnosed with MM in Denmark during 2005-2020 were identified from nationwide registries and grouped into the 98 Danish municipalities based on residence. The age- and sex-standardised incidence rate (SIR) of each municipality was compared to the national incidence in a funnel plot with 95% control limits. Differences in SIRs of rural, suburban, and urban areas were evaluated with incidence rate ratios.RESULTS: In total, 5243 MM patients were included. Overall, we found a heterogeneous geographical distribution of MM and a potential hotspot in southern Denmark. This hotspot contains three municipalities with SIRs above the 95% control limit assuming considerably higher rate of MM compared to the national incidence rate. A significant higher SIR was found in rural areas compared to urban areas.CONCLUSION: The geographical distribution of MM in Denmark indicates that the risk of developing MM depends on place of residence probably due to environmental factors.

Autophagy; Genetic variants; Multiple myeloma Autofagia; Variantes genéticas; Mieloma múltiple Autofàgia; Variants genètiques; Mieloma múltiple Multiple myeloma (MM) arises following malignant proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow, that secrete high amounts of specific monoclonal immunoglobulins or light chains, resulting in the massive production of unfolded or misfolded proteins. Autophagy can have a dual role in tumorigenesis, by eliminating these abnormal proteins to avoid cancer development, but also ensuring MM cell survival and promoting resistance to treatments. To date no studies have determined the impact of genetic variation in autophagy-related genes on MM risk. We performed meta-analysis of germline genetic data on 234 autophagy-related genes from three independent study populations including 13,387 subjects of European ancestry (6863 MM patients and 6524 controls) and examined correlations of statistically significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; p < 1 × 10−9) with immune responses in whole blood, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) from a large population of healthy donors from the Human Functional Genomic Project (HFGP). We identified SNPs in six loci, CD46, IKBKE, PARK2, ULK4, ATG5, and CDKN2A associated with MM risk (p = 4.47 × 10−4−5.79 × 10−14). Mechanistically, we found that the ULK4rs6599175 SNP correlated with circulating concentrations of vitamin D3 (p = 4.0 × 10−4), whereas the IKBKErs17433804 SNP correlated with the number of transitional CD24+CD38+ B cells (p = 4.8 × 10−4) and circulating serum concentrations of Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein (MCP)-2 (p = 3.6 × 10−4). We also found that the CD46rs1142469 SNP correlated with numbers of CD19+ B cells, CD19+CD3− B cells, CD5+IgD− cells, IgM− cells, IgD−IgM− cells, and CD4−CD8− PBMCs (p = 4.9 × 10−4−8.6 × 10−4) and circulating concentrations of interleukin (IL)-20 (p = 0.00082). Finally, we observed that the CDKN2Ars2811710 SNP correlated with levels of CD4+EMCD45RO+CD27− cells (p = 9.3 × 10−4). These results suggest that genetic variants within these six loci influence MM risk through the modulation of specific subsets of immune cells, as well as vitamin D3−, MCP-2−, and IL20-dependent pathways. This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, N° 856620 and by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and FEDER (Madrid, Spain; PI17/02256 and PI20/01845), Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades and FEDER (PY20/01282), from the CRIS foundation against cancer, from the Cancer Network of Excellence (RD12/10 Red de Cáncer), from the Dietmar Hopp Foundation and the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF: CLIOMMICS [01ZX1309]), and from National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers: R01CA186646, U01CA249955 (EEB). This work was also funded d by Portuguese National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)—project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020 and by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000055, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

This work was partially supported by intramural funds of the University of Pisa, DKFZ, and University Hospital of Southern Jutland, Denmark, and by a grant of the French National Cancer Institute (INCA). The authors wish to thank Dr. Dominic Edelmann (Division of Biostatistics, DKFZ) for helpful advice about data analysis., There is overwhelming epidemiologic evidence that the risk of multiple myeloma (MM) has a solid genetic background. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 23 risk loci that contribute to the genetic susceptibility of MM, but have low individual penetrance. Combining the SNPs in a polygenic risk score (PRS) is a possible approach to improve their usefulness. Using 2361 MM cases and 1415 controls from the International Multiple Myeloma rESEarch (IMMEnSE) consortium, we computed a weighted and an unweighted PRS. We observed associations with MM risk with OR = 3.44, 95% CI 2.53-4.69, p = 3.55 x 10(-15) for the highest vs. lowest quintile of the weighted score, and OR = 3.18, 95% CI 2.1 = 34-4.33, p = 1.62 x 10(-13) for the highest vs. lowest quintile of the unweighted score. We found a convincing association of a PRS generated with 23 SNPs and risk of MM. Our work provides additional validation of previously discovered MM risk variants and of their combination into a PRS, which is a first step towards the use of genetics for risk stratification in the general population., University of Pisa, DKFZ, University Hospital of Southern Jutland, Denmark, Institut National du Cancer (INCA) France

Daratumumab is an integral part of the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) but its real-world efficacy has only been described in small cohorts. MAMMOTH is the only large multi-center study that reported the outcomes of CD38-refractory MM. The present study includes a complete, Danish, nation-wide cohort of 635 MM patients who initiated treatment a daratumumab-containing index regimen (IR) prior to 1.1.2019, and describes the outcomes of 472 patients who discontinued their IR until 1.1.2021. Patients received a median of 3 lines of therapy (LOT) prior to the IR. The median time from diagnosis to discontinuation of the IR (T 0) was 4 years. At T 0, 73% of patients were quadruple drug class exposed (CE). The median overall survival (mOS) after T 0 was 12.2 months in the entire cohort, 15.3 months in double CE, 22.5 months in triple CE, 12.6 months in quadruple CE and 8.3 months in alkylator-bortezomib-carfilzomib-daratumumab-lenalidomide-pomalidomide-exposed patients. After T 0, 79%, 48%, 29%, 17%, 10% and 6% of patients received 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 additional LOT, respectively, achieving overall response rates ranging from 44% to 11% and median time to next treatment (TNT) from 138 to 54 days. In the first subsequent LOT after T 0, 51% of patients were retreated with daratumumab. Despite the lack of benefit in terms response and TNT, daratumumab retreatment was associated with superior OS on multivariate analysis adjusting for age, previous transplantation, IR, drug class exposure at T 0, treating site, time from diagnosis to T 0 and presence of cytogenetic high-risk markers. Median OS was 24.6 months in patients retreated with and 11.3 months in patients treated without daratumumab (p Legends to Figure: A: Overall survival after T 0; B: Overall survival after T 0 by cytogenetic risk; C: Overall survival after T 0 by IR; D: Overall survival after T 0 by prior exposure. Abbreviations: T 0=time of discontinuation of the first daratumumab-containing line of therapy; IR=index regimen; high-risk=t(4;14), t(14;16) or del17p by FISH; D-mono=daratumumab monotherapy; D-bor=daratumumab-bortezomib-dexamethasone; D-len=daratumumab-lenalidomide-dexamethasone; D-other=daratumumab in other combinations; Double_CE=exposed to daratumumab and another class of drugs; Triple_CE=exposed to daratumumab and two other classes of drugs; Quadruple_CE=exposed to daratumumab and three other classes of drugs; ABCDLP-exposed=exposed to daratumumab, bortezomib, carfilzomib, lenalidomide and pomalidomide Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Szabo: Takeda: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy.

Objective: We describe real-world evidence (RWE) from the nationwide Swedish and Danish registries that provide important information on incidence and outcome in multiple myeloma (MM). Method: First line treatment data on more than 10.000 MM patients from Denmark and Sweden between 2005–2018 are presented. Key results from research conducted within the Swedish and Danish myeloma registries are summarized, describing subgroups of patients with comorbidity, myeloma complications, and early relapse. Results: We show that national guidelines, generated on results from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are rapidly implemented and improve overall survival (OS). We find that both the incidence of MM and the median age at diagnosis is higher in national registries compared to results from referral centres, indicating a more complete coverage. This highlights the need of validation of prognostic scoring systems and indices in e.g., SMM and high-risk MM in a real- world-population. We show that these subgroups are unlikely to be captured in RCTs with narrow inclusion and exclusion criteria, that they have worse survival, and are in need of new treatment approaches. Conclusion: National registries that include all MM patients are an important source of knowledge on epidemiology, treatment and outcome with implications for the planning of MM care. Despite the introduction of new and better treatments, rapidly implemented in our countries, our registries uncover subgroups of patients that still have inferior outcome. Our RWE can help to identify important research questions to be studied in further clinical trials also in patients currently not included in RCTs.

Background: Current therapies for multiple myeloma (MM) delay disease progression and prolong survival but most patients (pts) eventually relapse or become refractory (RR). Daratumumab (D), an anti-CD38 antibody (Ab), plus bortezomib (V), a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and dexamethasone (d), is approved for the treatment of MM in pts who have received ≥1 prior line of therapy. Venetoclax (Ven), a potent and selective oral BCL-2 inhibitor, demonstrated anti-myeloma activity in pts with t(11;14) RRMM. This 3-part Phase 1/2 study is investigating the combination therapy VenDd +/- V in pts with RRMM. Treatment of pts with t(11;14) RRMM using VenDd (part 1) and pts with RRMM (irrespective of t(11;14) status; part 2) with VenDVd demonstrated a tolerable safety profile and an overall response rate (ORR) of 95.8% and 91.7%, respectively (Bahlis N et al. J Clin Oncol 2021). Part 3 further evaluates the safety and efficacy of VenDd vs DVd in pts with t(11;14) RRMM, with preliminary results presented here. Methods: Part 3 of this Phase 1/2, multicenter, dose-escalation and expansion study (NCT03314181) evaluates the safety and efficacy of VenDd vs DVd in pts with t(11;14) RRMM. The study was expanded to further interpret the pt safety profile in light of the increased incidence of infections in pts in the Ven arm of the BELLINI study (Kumar SK et al. Lancet Oncol 2020). Pts were randomized 4:2:5 to receive VenDd at 400 (Ven400Dd) or 800 mg (Ven800Dd), or DVd. Randomization was not stratified due to small sample size. Eligible pts must have received ≥1 prior line of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent (IMiD), and be non-refractory to PIs or anti-CD38 Ab. This interim analysis was conducted to evaluate the safety profile of pts in part 3 only. No statistical comparisons were conducted for safety or efficacy. Treatments in Part 3 were as follows: VenDd cycles (C) were 28-day: daily, oral Ven (400 mg or 800 mg) + D (1800 mg SC [Cycle, C1, 2: Days 1, 8, 15, 22; C3-6: Days 1, 15; C7+: Day 1]) + d (40 mg total weekly); DVd C1 - 8 were 21-day, C9+ were 28-day: D (1800 mg SC [C1 - 3: Days 1, 8, 15; C4 - 8: Day 1; C9+: Day 1]) + V (1.3mg/m 2 [C1 - 8: Days 1, 4, 8 and 11]) + d (20 mg [C1 - 3: Days 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 ,15; C4 - 8: Days 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11,12; C9+: Day 1]). Results: As of 10 May 2021, 11, 7 and 16 pts were enrolled in the Ven400Dd, Ven800Dd and DVd arms, respectively. The median age (range) was Ven400Dd: 58.0 (42 - 75); Ven800Dd: 57 (53 - 82); and DVd: 68.5 (51 - 77). Median prior lines of therapy (range) were 1.0 (1 - 6) in Ven400Dd; 1.0 (1 - 3) in Ven800Dd; and 2.0 (1 - 3) in DVd. Pts with ISS I%/II%/III% disease were Ven400Dd: 54.5/9.1/0; Ven800Dd: 57.1/14.3/0; DVd: 25.0/25.0/31.3. All pts in the Ven400Dd and Ven800Dd arms had an ECOG performance status of ≤1. In the DVd arm, 87.5% and 12.5% of pts had a ECOG performance status of ≤1 and 2, respectively. Prior PI%/IMiD%/anti-CD38 Ab% exposure were Ven400Dd: 100/90.9/0; Ven800Dd: 100/100/0; DVd: 93.8/100/0. The most common adverse events (AEs) occurring in ≥5% of pts in ≥2 treatment groups included insomnia, fatigue, diarrhea, and nausea (Table). Grade 3/4 AEs (≥5% of pts in ≥2 treatment groups) were mainly hematologic toxicities (Table). There were no grade 3/4 infections occurring in ≥2 treatment groups. Serious AEs were observed in a total of 6 pts. In the Ven400Dd arm, 1 pt had a femur fracture and 1 pt had non-cardiac chest pain. In the Ven800Dd arm, 1 pt had febrile neutropenia and 1 pt had tonsil cancer. In the DVd arm, 1 pt had pyrexia and upper respiratory tract infection, and a second pt had hyperglycemia, autonomic neuropathy, distributive shock, disseminated cryptococcosis, and cytomegalovirus infection. No deaths were reported in part 3 of the study. The median treatment duration based on D exposure at the time of data cut was 6.5, 5.6, and 3.9 months for the Ven400Dd, Ven800Dd, and DVd arms, respectively. The preliminary ORR was 72.7%, 100%, and 62.5% for the Ven400Dd, Ven800Dd, and DVd arms. The preliminary rate of very good partial response or better (≥VGPR) was 72.7%, 100%, and 31.3% for the Ven400Dd, Ven800Dd, and DVd arms. Follow-up is still immature, and responses may deepen with time. Conclusion: The preliminary results from part 3 of this novel randomized, phase 2 study of t(11;14)-selected RRMM pts treated with VenDd vs DVd demonstrate a tolerable safety profile. Updated analyses, including response rates with longer follow-up and minimal residual disease status, will be included at presentation. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Kaufman: Roche/Genetech, Tecnopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Heidelberg Pharma: Research Funding; Sutro, Takeda: Research Funding; Fortis Therapeutics: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Incyte, TG Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tecnofarma SAS, AbbVie: Honoraria; Incyte, celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Honoraria; Genentech, AbbVie, Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Quach: Janssen/Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; CSL: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Antengene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Baz: GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Merck: Research Funding; BMS, sanofi, Karyopharm, Janssen, AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding. Harrison: Janssen Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche/Genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Eusa: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Terumo BCT: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene/ Juno/ BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Haemalogix: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Plesner: Janssen, Celgene, Takeda, Oncopeptides, AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genmab, Genentech, Roche: Research Funding. Moreau: Oncopeptides: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Celgene BMS: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria. Gibbs: AbbVie: Consultancy; Janssen, Celgene, Amgen, Takeda, BMS and Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria. Sehgal: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Kang: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Ross: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Lash-Fleming: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Luo: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Bahlis: Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genentech: Consultancy; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria. OffLabel Disclosure: Venetoclax is a potent and selective oral BCL-2 inhibitor being investigated in the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Background: Venetoclax (Ven) is a highly selective, potent, oral BCL-2 inhibitor that is currently being evaluated as a targeted therapy for the treatment of t(11;14) relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). The combination of Ven with daratumumab (D) and dexamethasone (d) has shown promising efficacy with a tolerable safety profile in the phase 1/2 study (NCT03314181). VenDd is hypothesized to have increased anti-myeloma activity based upon complementary mechanisms of pro-apoptotic effects on tumor cells as well as potentially enhanced T-cell activation and clonal expansion, which has been shown to be associated with achieving deep sustained response to D-based therapy in MM. Results presented herein describe the immunomodulatory effects observed upon VenDd treatment in t(11;14) RRMM patients, including effects on the T-cell repertoire. Methods: Peripheral blood samples from t(11;14) RRMM patients (n=18) treated with VenDd (NCT03314181) were collected at day 1 of cycles 1-5 to characterize effects on B-, T-, and NK-cell populations by multicolor flow cytometry. TCRβ sequencing (ImmunoSEQ, Adaptive Biotechnologies) was also conducted on peripheral blood samples collected from t(11;14) RRMM patients (n=31) treated with VenDd at day 1 of cycles 1, 3, 5, and 9 to assess changes in T-cell clonality, defined as the extent of mono- or oligoclonal expansion by Simpson clonality index, and T-cell richness, defined as the number of clones with unique TCRβ rearrangements after computationally down-sampling to a common number of T-cells. Results: Consistent with previous findings with Ven, rapid and sustained depletion of B-cells (CD19+/CD5-) was observed in patients treated with VenDd (median absolute count: 115 cells/ml at baseline vs 13 cells/ml at C2D1 (89% decrease), p Conclusions: Treatment of t(11;14) RRMM patients with VenDd resulted in selective depletion of B-cells, NK-cells, and immunosuppressive regulatory T-cells, but not CD8+ T-cell subsets. Increased T-cell clonality indicates focusing of the T-cell repertoire and generation of an adaptive anti-myeloma immune response upon treatment with VenDd. The study is continuing with a randomized, open-label expansion that will further evaluate the safety and efficacy of VenDd in patients with t(11;14) RRMM, including correlative studies between the observed immune modifications and patient outcome. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Bahlis: Genentech: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria. Kaufman: Fortis Therapeutics: Research Funding; Sutro, Takeda: Research Funding; Roche/Genetech, Tecnopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Heidelberg Pharma: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria; Incyte, TG Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Tecnofarma SAS, AbbVie: Honoraria; Amgen: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Incyte, celgene: Consultancy; Genentech, AbbVie, Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Baz: BMS, sanofi, Karyopharm, Janssen, AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; Merck: Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Consultancy. Quach: Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen/Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; CSL: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Antengene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Plesner: Genmab, Genentech, Roche: Research Funding; Janssen, Celgene, Takeda, Oncopeptides, AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding. Moreau: Celgene BMS: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Honoraria. Gibbs: AbbVie: Consultancy; Janssen, Celgene, Amgen, Takeda, BMS and Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria. Bueno: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Luo: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Mantis: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Vishwamitra: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Ross: AbbVie: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Harrison: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche/Genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Eusa: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Haemalogix: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Terumo BCT: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene/ Juno/ BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. OffLabel Disclosure: Venetoclax is a highly selective, potent, oral BCL-2 inhibitor that is being investigated as therapy for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Real world evidence is important since most patients cannot be included in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). In a nationwide, cohort of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients treated with daratumumab (N = 635), we retrospective studied patients treated with carfilzomib (N = 251). Data were collected by audit of medical records. We compared characteristics of patients treated with carfilzomib before daratumumab (Car-Da; N = 150) and after daratumumab (Da-Car; N = 101) with those not treated with carfilzomib (N = 384). Furthermore, we examined effectiveness and safety of carfilzomib. The group of patients treated with carfilzomib differed from patients not treated with carfilzomib in the following parameters: They were younger, more were treated up-front with high dose melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDM-ASCT)and had relapse within 18 months thereafter, and more had high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities (CA) and amplification 1q (amp1q). In patients treated with Car-Da, 30.3% had high-risk CA and 30.1% had amp1q and in Da-Car it was 43.3% and 41%, respectively. In the Car-Da cohort, 34.4% experienced early relapse after HDM-ASCT versus 47.4% in the Da-Car cohort. The percentage of patients with very good partial remission was higher in patients treated with Car-Da compared to Da-Car (31.7% vs. 17.4%). The median duration of treatment and time to next treatment (TNT) of Car-Da/Da-Car were 4.6/4.3 months and 7.1/4.3 months and only a trend toward superior TNT for Car-Da was found (p = 0.06). Toxicity of carfilzomib was the same as reported in RCT. A similar poor TNT of daratumumab was found when used before (5.6 months) or after carfilzomib (4.9 months). In this cohort of patients with sequential treatment with carfilzomib and daratumumab or vice versa, a high percentage of patients were high-risk by CA, amp1q, and early relapse after HDM-ASCT. Outcome of Car-DA and outcome of Da-Car were equally poor. These patients should be considered for new promising treatment strategies.

PURPOSE Venetoclax is an oral BCL-2 inhibitor with single-agent activity in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) with t(11;14) translocation. Venetoclax efficacy in RRMM may be potentiated through combination with agents including bortezomib, dexamethasone, and daratumumab. METHODS This phase I study ( NCT03314181 ) evaluated venetoclax with daratumumab and dexamethasone (VenDd) in patients with t(11;14) RRMM and VenDd with bortezomib (VenDVd) in cytogenetically unselected patients with RRMM. Primary objectives included expansion-phase dosing, safety, and overall response rate. Secondary objectives included further safety analysis, progression-free survival, duration of response, time to progression, and minimal residual disease negativity. RESULTS Forty-eight patients were enrolled, 24 each in parts 1 (VenDd) and 2 (VenDVd). There was one dose-limiting toxicity in part 1 (grade 3 febrile neutropenia, 800 mg VenDd). Common adverse events with VenDd and VenDVd included diarrhea (63% and 54%) and nausea (50% and 50%); grade ≥ 3 adverse events were observed in 88% in the VenDd group and 71% in the VenDVd group. One treatment-emergent death occurred in part 2 (sepsis) in the context of progressive disease, with no other infection-related deaths on study with medians of 20.9 and 20.4 months of follow-up in parts 1 and 2, respectively. The overall response rate was 96% with VenDd (all very good partial response or better [≥ VGPR]) and 92% with VenDVd (79% ≥ VGPR). The 18-month progression-free survival rate was 90.5% (95% CI, 67.0 to 97.5) with VenDd and 66.7% (95% CI, 42.5 to 82.5) with VenDVd. CONCLUSION VenDd and VenDVd produced a high rate of deep and durable responses in patients with RRMM. These results support continued evaluation of venetoclax with daratumumab regimens to treat RRMM, particularly in those with t(11;14).

In 2019 the UK Myeloma Research Alliance introduced the Myeloma Risk Profile (MRP) for prediction of outcome in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM), ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation. To validate the MRP in a population-based setting we performed a study of the entire cohort of transplant ineligible MM patients above 65 years in the Danish National MM Registry. Our data confirmed the value of the MRP. In a cohort of 1,377 patients, the MRP score separated patients into three distinct risk-groups with an observed hazard ratio of 2.91 for early death in high-risk versus low-risk patients.

Background Elderly multiple myeloma (MM) patients are underrepresented in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Prospective registries provide insight into real-world patient characteristics, treatment and outcome. The Danish Multiple Myeloma Registry (DMMR) and the Swedish Myeloma Registry (SMR), established in 2005 and 2008 respectively, are nationwide prospective registries with near 100% coverage. Methods We describe baseline characteristics, treatment and survival for patients diagnosed with active myeloma in the DMMR January 1st 2005-February 18th 2020, and the SMR January 1st 2008-December 31st 2019. We performed a retrospective comparison of patients aged ≥75 years at diagnosis to MM patients Results In total, we report on 4647 Swedish and Danish MM patients ≥75 years at diagnosis compared with MM patients 75 years, while the MAIA trial (Dara-Rd vs Rd) has the largest proportion of elderly patients among these studies (43.6%). However, in the MAIA trial only 29% of patients presented with ISS III, compared to 46% of patients ≥75 years in our real-world population. Similarly, 35% of patients in VISTA and 38% in ALCYONE had ISS III. The FIRST trial had a composition more similar to the Swedish and Danish registry population with 35% of patients >75 years, and 48% of these patients with ISS stage III. The treatment strategies in the elderly were similar in Denmark and Sweden. Melphalan and prednisolone (MP) were replaced by bortezomib-based regimes from around 2012, while lenalidomide-based treatment increased in recent years. Median relative survival (RS) for patients ≥75 years in Denmark increased from 25 months to 36 months for patients diagnosed 2005-2007 and 2015-2016, respectively. Similarly, in Sweden the median RS increased from 24 months to 42 months for patients ≥75 years diagnosed 2008-2009 and 2016-2017, respectively. Conclusion The real-world MM population is older and has a higher proportion of patients with ISS III disease than patients included in the pivotal RCTs, and compared to the younger patient cohort. Future studies in MM patients should take this into account.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is caused by the uncontrolled, clonal expansion of plasma cells. While there is epidemiological evidence for inherited susceptibility, the molecular basis remains incompletely understood. We report a genome-wide association study totalling 5,320 cases and 422,289 controls from four Nordic populations, and find a novel MM risk variant at SOHLH2 at 13q13.3 (risk allele frequency = 3.5%; odds ratio = 1.38; P = 2.2 × 10−14). This gene encodes a transcription factor involved in gametogenesis that is normally only weakly expressed in plasma cells. The association is represented by 14 variants in linkage disequilibrium. Among these, rs75712673 maps to a genomic region with open chromatin in plasma cells, and upregulates SOHLH2 in this cell type. Moreover, rs75712673 influences transcriptional activity in luciferase assays, and shows a chromatin looping interaction with the SOHLH2 promoter. Our work provides novel insight into MM susceptibility.

This Policy Review presents the International Myeloma Working Group's clinical practice recommendations for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Based on the results of phase 2 and phase 3 trials, these recommendations are proposed for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory disease who have received one previous line of therapy, and for patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have received two or more previous lines of therapy. These recommendations integrate the issue of drug access in both low-income and middle-income countries and in high-income countries to help guide real-world practice and thus improve patient outcomes.

Contains fulltext : 232394.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) We evaluated the association between germline genetic variants located within the 3'-untranlsated region (polymorphic 3'UTR, ie, p3UTR) of candidate genes involved in multiple myeloma (MM). We performed a case-control study within the International Multiple Myeloma rESEarch (IMMEnSE) consortium, consisting of 3056 MM patients and 1960 controls recruited from eight countries. We selected p3UTR of six genes known to act in different pathways relevant in MM pathogenesis, namely KRAS (rs12587 and rs7973623), VEGFA (rs10434), SPP1 (rs1126772), IRF4 (rs12211228) and IL10 (rs3024496). We found that IL10-rs3024496 was associated with increased risk of developing MM and with a worse overall survival of MM patients. The variant allele was assayed in a vector expressing eGFP chimerized with the IL10 3'-UTR and it was found functionally active following transfection in human myeloma cells. In this experiment, the A-allele caused a lower expression of the reporter gene and this was also in agreement with the in vivo expression of mRNA measured in whole blood as reported in the GTEx portal. Overall, these data are suggestive of an effect of the IL10-rs3024496 SNP on the regulation of IL10 mRNA expression and it could have clinical implications for better characterization of MM patients in terms of prognosis.

This work was partially supported by intramural funds of Univerity of Pisa and DKFZ; by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (Madrid, Spain) [PI12/02688 to J. S., PI17/02276 to J.S.]; by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, co-funded by FEDER funds —a way to build Europe—[PI14-00613 to V.M.] and by Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Catalan Government (Barcelona, Spain) [2017SGR723 to V.M.]. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL., Telomeres are involved in processes like cellular growth, chromosomal stability, and proper segregation to daughter cells. Telomere length measured in leukocytes (LTL) has been investigated in different cancer types, including multiple myeloma (MM). However, LTL measurement is prone to heterogeneity due to sample handling and study design (retrospective vs. prospective). LTL is genetically determined; genome-wide association studies identified 11 SNPs that, combined in a score, can be used as a genetic instrument to measure LTL and evaluate its association with MM risk. This approach has been already successfully attempted in various cancer types but never in MM. We tested the "teloscore" in 2407 MM patients and 1741 controls from the International Multiple Myeloma rESEarch (IMMeNSE) consortium. We observed an increased risk for longer genetically determined telomere length (gdTL) (OR = 1.69; 95% CI 1.36-2.11; P = 2.97 x 10(-6) for highest vs. lowest quintile of the score). Furthermore, in a subset of 1376 MM patients we tested the relationship between the teloscore and MM patients survival, observing a better prognosis for longer gdTL compared with shorter gdTL (HR = 0.93; 95% CI 0.86-0.99; P = 0.049). In conclusion, we report convincing evidence that longer gdTL is a risk marker for MM risk, and that it is potentially involved in increasing MM survival., Univerity of Pisa, Helmholtz Association, Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI12/02688 PI17/02276, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, European Commission, FEDER funds-a way to build Europe PI14-00613, Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Catalan Government (Barcelona, Spain) 2017SGR723, Projekt DEAL

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the efficacy and safety of carfilzomib-containing induction before salvage high-dose melphalan with autologous stem-cell transplantation (salvage ASCT) and maintenance with carfilzomib and dexamethasone after salvage ASCT in multiple myeloma.METHODS: This randomised, open-label, phase 2 trial included patients with first relapse of multiple myeloma after upfront ASCT who were re-induced with four cycles of carfilzomib, cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone. Two months after salvage, ASCT patients were randomised to either observation or maintenance therapy with iv carfilzomib 27 → 56 mg/sqm and p.o. dexamethasone 20 mg every second week. The study enrolled 200 patients of which 168 were randomised to either maintenance with carfilzomib and dexamethasone (n = 82) or observation (n = 86).RESULTS: Median time to progression (TTP) after randomisation was 25.1 months (22.5-NR) in the carfilzomib-dexamethasone maintenance group and 16.7 months (14.4-21.8) in the control group (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.30-0.71; P = .0004). The most common adverse events during maintenance were thrombocytopenia, anaemia, hypertension, dyspnoea and bacterial infections.CONCLUSION: In summary, maintenance therapy with carfilzomib and dexamethasone after salvage ASCT prolonged TTP with 8 months. The maintenance treatment was in general well-tolerated with manageable toxicity.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Grant/ Award Number: 81274; Huntsman Cancer Institute Pilot Funds; Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Grant/Award Number: 6067-09; the National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute, Grant/Award Numbers: P30 CA016672, P30 CA042014, P30 CA13148, P50 CA186781, R01 CA107476, R01 CA134674, R01 CA168762, R01 CA186646, R01 CA235026, R21 CA155951, R25 CA092049, R25 CA47888, U54 CA118948; Utah Population Database, Utah Cancer Registry, Huntsman Cancer Center Support Grant, Utah State Department of Health, University of Utah; VicHealth, Cancer Council Victoria, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, Grant/Award Numbers: 1074383, 209057, 396414; Victorian Cancer Registry, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian National Death Index, Australian Cancer Database; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center; University of Pisa and DKFZ, The authors thank all site investigators that contributed to the studies within the Multiple Myeloma Working Group (Interlymph Consortium), staff involved at each site and, most importantly, the study participants for their contributions that made our study possible. This work was partially supported by intramural funds of University of Pisa and DKFZ. This work was supported in part by the National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute (R25 CA092049, P30 CA016672, R01 CA134674, P30 CA042014, R01 CA186646, R21 CA155951, U54 CA118948, P30 CA13148, R25 CA47888, R01 CA235026, R01 CA107476, R01 CA168762, P50 CA186781 and the NCI Intramural Research Program), Leukemia Lymphoma Society (6067-09), Huntsman Cancer Institute Pilot Funds, Utah PopulationDatabase, Utah Cancer Registry, Huntsman Cancer Center Support Grant, Utah StateDepartment of Health, University of Utah, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant number 81274), VicHealth, Cancer Council Victoria, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (Grants 209057, 396414, 1074383), Victorian Cancer Registry, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian National Death Index, Australian Cancer Database and the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center.Open Access funding enabled and organized by ProjektDEAL., The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions., Gene expression profiling can be used for predicting survival in multiple myeloma (MM) and identifying patients who will benefit from particular types of therapy. Some germline single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) act as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) showing strong associations with gene expression levels. We performed an association study to test whether eQTLs of genes reported to be associated with prognosis of MM patients are directly associated with measures of adverse outcome. Using the genotype-tissue expression portal, we identified a total of 16 candidate genes with at least one eQTL SNP associated with their expression with P < 10(-7) either in EBV-transformed B-lymphocytes or whole blood. We genotyped the resulting 22 SNPs in 1327 MM cases from the International Multiple Myeloma rESEarch (IMMEnSE) consortium and examined their association with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), adjusting for age, sex, country of origin and disease stage. Three polymorphisms in two genes (TBRG4-rs1992292, TBRG4-rs2287535 and ENTPD1-rs2153913) showed associations with OS at P < .05, with the former two also associated with PFS. The associations of two polymorphisms in TBRG4 with OS were replicated in 1277 MM cases from the International Lymphoma Epidemiology (InterLymph) Consortium. A meta-analysis of the data from IMMEnSE and InterLymph (2579 cases) showed that TBRG4-rs1992292 is associated with OS (hazard ratio = 1.14, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.26, P = .007). In conclusion, we found biologically a plausible association between a SNP in TBRG4 and OS of MM patients., Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) 81274, Huntsman Cancer Institute Pilot Funds, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 6067-09, United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI) P30 CA016672 P30 CA042014 P30 CA13148 P50 CA186781 R01 CA107476 R01 CA134674 R01 CA168762 R01 CA186646 R01 CA235026 R21 CA155951 R25 CA092049 R25 CA47888 U54 CA118948, Utah Population Database, Utah Cancer Registry, Huntsman Cancer Center Support Grant, Utah State Department of Health, University of Utah, VicHealth, Cancer Council Victoria, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council 1074383 209057 396414, Victorian Cancer Registry, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian National Death Index, Australian Cancer Database, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, University of Pisa, Helmholtz Association

Presentation with severe acute kidney injury due to cast nephropathy (CN) is a medical emergency in multiple myeloma (MM), with high risk of dialysis-dependent renal failure and death. Accrual of patients with CN into interventional studies is difficult, while phase III trials exclude patients with severe renal insufficiency. Real-world data are warranted. We assessed 2252 patients from the population-based Danish Multiple Myeloma Registry (DMMR) who were diagnosed between 2013 and 2017. We identified 204 patients with clinically-suspected CN, defined as serum creatinine concentration >177 μmol/L and serum free light chain (sFLC) concentration >1000 mg/L at the time of diagnosis. The median age was 72 years. Thirty-one percent of patients presented with dialysis-dependent renal failure. Kidney biopsies were performed in 19% of patients and showed CN in 74% of cases. Despite prompt initiation of bortezomib-based therapy in 94% of patients, 33% of patients died in the first year after diagnosis. Compared with the rest of the patients in the DMMR with symptomatic MM, patients with clinically-suspected CN had worse overall survival (OS) irrespective of transplant eligibility. Achievement of renal recovery was associated with deep reductions of involved sFLC. Achievement of very good partial response or better in the first line of therapy and/or deep reduction of involved sFLC at 3 months after initiation of therapy were associated with superior OS. In conclusion, MM patients presenting with clinically-suspected CN have an alarmingly high one-year mortality when treated with current standards of care. Early and deep hematologic response is crucial for survival.

Multiple myeloma is a malignant expansion of plasma cells and aggressively affects bone health. We show that P2X7 receptor altered myeloma growth, which affects primary bone cells in vitro. Expression on six human myeloma cell lines confirmed the heterogeneity associated with P2X7 receptor. Pharmacology with 2&prime, (3&prime, )-O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl) adenosine 5&prime, triphosphate (BzATP) as agonist showed dose-dependent membranal pores on RPMI-8226 (p = 0.0027) and blockade with P2X7 receptor antagonists. Ca2+ influx with increasing doses of BzATP (p = 0.0040) was also inhibited with antagonists. Chronic P2X7 receptor activation reduced RPMI-8226 viability (p = 0.0208). No apoptosis or RPMI-8226 death was observed by annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) labeling and caspase-3 cleavage, respectively. However, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labelling showed an accumulation of RPMI-8226 in the S phase of cell cycle progression (61.5%, p = 0.0114) with significant decline in G0/G1 (5.2%, p = 0.0086) and G2/M (23.5%, p = 0.0015) phases. As myeloma pathology depends on a positive and proximal interaction with bone, we show that P2X7 receptor on RPMI-8226 inhibited the myeloma-induced suppression on mineralization (p = 0.0286) and reversed the excessive osteoclastic resorption. Our results demonstrate a view of how myeloma cell growth is halted by P2X7 receptor and the consequences on myeloma&ndash, osteoblast and myeloma&ndash, osteoclast interaction in vitro.

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) seem to be at increased risk for more severe COVID-19 infection and associated complications due to their immunocompromised state, the older age and comorbidities. The European Myeloma Network has provided an expert consensus statement in order to guide therapeutic decisions in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patient education for personal hygiene and social distancing measures, along with treatment individualization, telemedicine and continuous surveillance for early diagnosis of COVID-19 are essential. In countries or local communities where COVID-19 infection is widely spread, MM patients should have a PCR test of nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 before hospital admission, starting a new treatment line, cell apheresis or ASCT in order to avoid ward or community spread and infections. Oral agent-based regimens should be considered, especially for the elderly and frail patients with standard risk disease, whereas de-intensified regimens for dexamethasone, bortezomib, carfilzomib and daratumumab should be used based on patient risk and response. Treatment initiation should not be postponed for patients with end organ damage, myeloma emergencies and aggressive relapses. Autologous (and especially allogeneic) transplantation should be delayed and extended induction should be administered, especially in standard risk patients and those with adequate MM response to induction. Watchful waiting should be considered for standard risk relapsed patients with low tumor burden, and slow biochemical relapses. The conduction of clinical trials should continue with appropriate adaptations to the current circumstances. Patients with MM and symptomatic COVID-19 disease should interrupt anti-myeloma treatment until recovery. For patients with positive PCR test for SARS-CoV-2, but with no symptoms for COVID-19, a 14-day quarantine should be considered if myeloma-related events allow the delay of treatment. The need for surveillance for drug interactions due to polypharmacy is highlighted. The participation in international COVID-19 cancer registries is greatly encouraged.

OBJECTIVES Multiple myeloma (MM) patients are at high risk of developing infections. The risk factors for blood stream infections (BSI) in MM patients are, however, less described. The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiology of and risk factors for BSI in an unselected MM population. METHODS Nationwide Danish MM data of 1154 patients diagnosed from 2010 to 2013 were linked with nationwide data on blood cultures (BCs; from 2010 to 2016) to assess the peak period of having a BC taken and BC positive for pathogenic microorganisms. RESULTS The highest number of BC was taken in the period from day -30 to day +180 from date of MM diagnosis. Risk factors for having a BC sampling within the peak period were as follows: immunoparesis (HR 1.5 [1.1-2.1]; P = .007), ISS-III (HR 1.3 [1.0-1.7]; P = .035), high creatinine (HR 1.4 (1.0-2.0); P = .046), and high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (HR 2.8 (1.6-4.7; P

Lenalidomide (Len) plus dexamethasone (Dex) is approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). It is possible that single‐agent Len may be effective as prolonged treatment regimen in RRMM once patients demonstrate an initial response to Len+Dex induction. Patients with RRMM who responded to first‐line Len+Dex in an observational study (NCT01430546) received up to 24 cycles of either Len (25 mg/day) or Len+Dex (25 mg/day and 40 mg/week) as prolonged treatment in a subsequent phase 2 clinical trial (NCT01450215). In the observational study (N = 133), median time to response was 1.7 (range 0.6–9.6) months. A complete response to all treatments received in both studies was observed in 11% of patients; very good partial response and partial response rates were 31% and 38%, respectively. Corresponding response rates in the subgroup of patients who did not enter the phase 2 trial (n = 71) were 3%, 18%, and 39%, respectively. Rates of disease progression at 2 years in the phase 2 trial were 47% versus 31% for Len versus Len+Dex (P = 0.14). After 36 months median follow‐up in surviving patients, median time to progression was not reached with Len+Dex and was 24.9 months (95% confidence interval 12.5–not calculable, P < 0.001) with Len. Three‐year OS among the total observational study population was 61% (95% CI, 52–69%). The corresponding rate among patients who entered the phase 2 clinical trial was 73% (95% CI, 60–83%) and was significantly lower among those patients who achieved ≥PR but did not proceed into the phase 2 trial (55%; P = 0.01). In the phase 2 trial, OS was 73% in both treatment arms (P = 0.70). Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were more common with prolonged (phase 2 trial) versus short‐term (observational study) Len administration but remained manageable. Prolonged treatment with Len with or without Dex provides sustained, clinically relevant responses and demonstrates an acceptable safety profile. © 2018 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A Drug Response Prediction (DRP) score was developed based on gene expression profiling (GEP) from cell lines and tumor samples. Twenty percent of high-risk patients by GEP70 treated in Total Therapy 2 and 3A have a progression-free survival (PFS) of more than 10years. We used available GEP data from high-risk patients by GEP70 at diagnosis from Total Therapy 2 and 3A to predict the response by the DRP score of drugs used in the treatment of myeloma patients. The DRP score stratified patients further. High-risk myeloma with a predicted sensitivity to melphalan by the DRP score had a prolonged PFS, HR=2.4 (1.2-4.9, P=0.014) and those with predicted sensitivity to bortezomib had a HR 5.7 (1.2-27, P=0.027). In case of predicted sensitivity to bortezomib, a better response to treatment was found (P=0.022). This method may provide us with a tool for identifying candidates for effective personalized medicine and spare potential non-responders from suffering toxicity.

Background: RO7297089 is a bispecific tetravalent antibody targeting BCMA (Genentech licensed from Affimed GMBH), which is highly expressed on MM cells and CD16a, which is expressed on innate immune cells including natural killer (NK) cells, macrophages, and monocyte subsets. Here we report findings from a Phase I dose-escalation study of RO7297089 in patients with RRMM (GO41582, Study registration NCT04434469). Methods: All patients had RRMM for which no established therapy is available, appropriate, or tolerated. Prior exposure to CAR-T cells, T-cell engaging bispecific antibodies, and therapies targeting BCMA was permitted. Patients received RO7297089 as weekly IV infusions in 14-day cycles with dose escalation guided by a model implementing the Bayesian continuous reassessment method with overdose control. In Arm A the first dose was given over a single-day infusion, and in Arm B the first dose was divided over two consecutive days. Dose limiting toxicities (DLT) were assessed from Cycle 1. Study objectives included safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and biologic activity as assessed by the IMWG Uniform Response Criteria. Results: As of 30 April 2021, 21 patients received RO7297089 at 5 dose levels (60 mg [n=3], 180 mg [n=5], 360 mg [n=4], 1080 mg [n=6], and 1850 mg [n=3]). Median age was 63 years (range 41-76) and median number of prior lines of therapy was 8 (range 2-11). Patients received a median of 8 doses (range 2-42) of RO7297089; 5 patients had prior BCMA-targeted therapy. The most common AEs were anemia (n=11), infusion related reaction (IRR; n=10), back pain (n=5), ALT increased (n=4), and thrombocytopenia (n=4). Eleven (52%) patients had ≥1 treatment-related adverse event (AE) which included IRR (n=9), C-reactive protein increase (n=3), ALT increase (n=3), AST increase (n=2), and thrombocytopenia (n=2). Grade ≥ 3 AEs included anemia (n=9), and platelet count decreased (n=5). Related Grade ≥ 3 AEs were ALT increase and AST increase and lymphocyte count decreased (both n=1). No DLTs or dose-dependent toxicities were reported. Fifteen patients discontinued study treatment due to disease progression (n=12), clinical relapse (n=2), and symptomatic deterioration (n=1). Four deaths were reported in the AE follow-up period, all due to disease progression. Thirteen IRR events (1 Grade 1, 12 Grade 2) were observed in 10 patients (48%). IRR was most common in Cycle 1 (12 events in 10 patients) and was uncommon in subsequent cycles (1 patient). Symptoms of IRR occurring in >1 patient included fever, rigors/chills, and dyspnea. To mitigate IRRs, additional measures were implemented from the 180 mg dose level including steroid premedication and slow infusion for the first dose. Dividing the first dose over 2 days (Arm B) was also implemented from the 1080 mg dose level for improved convenience. Preliminary PK assessments demonstrated a more than dose proportional increase in the exposure of RO7297089 with increasing dose levels from 60-1080 mg, suggesting non-linear PK and target-mediated drug disposition, with a trend of approaching linear PK at doses higher than 1080 mg. The estimated half-life was supportive of weekly dosing. Preliminary observation showed 1/18 patients with treatment-induced anti-drug antibodies, which did not appear to impact PK. BCMA expression was detected in the bone marrow in all patients regardless of prior BCMA-targeted therapy. Levels of total soluble BCMA and soluble CD16a increased immediately after the first dose as expected suggesting engagement and stabilization of soluble factors by RO7297089. Of the 18 response-evaluable patients, 1 patient experienced a partial response (1080 mg cohort) per IMWG criteria. Ten patients had stable disease as their best response at dose levels of 60 mg (1/3 patients), 180 mg (2/5 patients), 360 mg (3/4 patients), 1080 mg (4/6 patients). One patient who started at the 60 mg dose and gradually escalated to the 1080 mg dose has been on treatment for 9.5 months with stable disease at the time of the clinical cut-off date. Conclusions: Treatment with RO7297089 was well-tolerated at the dose levels tested, although infusion reactions necessitated long infusion duration for the first dose. Modest activity has been observed to date with doses up to 1080 mg. There were no DLTs and a recommended phase 2 dose has not been identified. The latest clinical, biomarker, and PK data will be presented including data from higher dose level cohorts. Disclosures Plesner: AbbVie: Other: Advisor, Research Funding; CSL Behring: Other: Advisor; Genentech: Other: Advisor, Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Other: Advisor, Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Other: Advisor, Research Funding; Genmab: Research Funding; Janssen: Other: Advisor, Research Funding. Harrison: Celgene/ Juno/ BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche/Genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Terumo BCT: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Haemalogix: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Eusa: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Quach: GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen/Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Antengene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; CSL: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Lee: BMS: Other: Advisor, Research Funding; Janssen: Other: Advisor; Amgen: Other: Advisor. Bryant: Sandoz: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria. Estell: Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen-Cilag: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Delforge: Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Twomey: Genentech: Current Employment. Choeurng: Genentech: Current Employment. Li: Genentech: Current Employment. Hendricks: Genentech: Current Employment. Sumiyoshi: Genentech: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Divested equity in a private or publicly-traded company in the past 24 months. Miller: Genentech: Current Employment. Choi: Genentech: Current Employment. Schjesvold: Schain: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy; Nordics Nanovector: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; SkyliteDX: Honoraria; Bayer: Consultancy; Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria. OffLabel Disclosure: RO7297089 is a Bâ€'Cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-CD16a bispecific antibody intended for use if approved in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma

Background: [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) positivity after first line treatment with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), is strongly correlated with reduced progression free survival and overall survival (Moreau et al., JCO, 2017). However, FDG PET/CT positive patients who obtain FDG PET/CT negativity after treatment seem to have comparable outcomes to patients who were FDG PET/CT negative at baseline (Davies et al., Haematologica 2018). Aiming for FDG PET/CT negativity may therefore be an important goal in myeloma treatment. The use of FDG PET/CT positivity as an indication for consolidation therapy after ASCT has not been studied before. Methods: This is an ongoing, multicenter phase II study. Patients with multiple myeloma who have received standard first line treatment including ASCT and achieved very good partial response (VGPR) or better, are eligible for the study and examined by FDG PET/CT. Patients who are FDG PET/CT positive defined by the Italian Myeloma criteria for PET USe (IMPETUS) (Nanni C et al., EJNMMI 2016 and 2018) are included in the treatment phase of the study and are assessed for minimal residual disease (MRD) by Euroflow (sensitivity: 10 -5) before treatment. FDG PET/CT examinations are centrally read by two experienced nuclear medicine radiologists. The treatment consists of four 28-day cycles of KRd (carfilzomib 36 mg/m 2 day 1,2,8,9,15 and 16 (except 20 mg/m 2 day 1 and 2 first cycle), lenalidomide 25 mg day 1-21 all cycles and dexamethasone 40 mg day 1,8,15 and 22 all cycles). After 4 cycles, FDG PET/CT and Euroflow for MRD are repeated for response evaluation. Both patients with FDG PET/CT negativity and patients with FDG PET/CT positivity at baseline are followed for progression free survival and overall survival. Results: As of the 1st of July 2021, 149 patients have been screened in the study. Fifty-one patients (34%) had a positive FDG PET/CT post-ASCT. Twenty-eight of 50 (56%) patients with positive FDG PET/CT were MRD negative. Forty-four patients have completed four cycles of KRd consolidation; Twelve (27%) patients converted into FDG PET/CT negativity. Nine of them were MRD negative both before and after consolidation; two were MRD positive both before and after consolidation and one turned MRD negative after consolidation. In all patients who were FDG-PET positive before treatment, the rate of MRD negativity after consolidation treatment was 78%. Eleven of twenty (55%) patients who were MRD positive before consolidation treatment turned MRD negative after treatment. Conclusion: A significant proportion (34%) of patients treated with standard first line treatment including ASCT with achieved very good partial response or better was FDG PET/CT positive post-ASCT. Fifty-six percent of them were MRD negative by Euroflow, confirming the complementary features of these two methods. Treatment with four cycles of KRd converted 12 of 44 (27%) patients to FDG PET/CT negativity, and 78% of all patients were MRD negative after treatment. The study is ongoing and we will follow up on data for progression free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). At the congress, complete post-consolidation data for all patients (n=50) will be presented. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Nørgaard: Bayer: Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Honoraria; Ultimovacs: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Targovax: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Photocure: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Tsykunova: Sobi: Consultancy; Ablynx: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy. João: Janssen: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding. Schjesvold: Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Research Funding; Nordics Nanovector: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; SkyliteDX: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria; Bayer: Consultancy; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy; Schain: Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria.

Most patients cannot be included in randomized clinical trials. We report real-world outcomes of all Danish patients with multiple myeloma (MM) treated with daratumumab-based regimens until 1 January 2019. Methods Information of 635 patients treated with daratumumab was collected retrospectively and included lines of therapy (LOT), hematologic responses according to the International Myeloma Working Group recommendations, time to next treatment (TNT) and the cause of discontinuation of treatment. Baseline characteristics were acquired from the validated Danish Multiple Myeloma Registry (DMMR). Results Daratumumab was administrated as monotherapy (Da-mono) in 27.7%, in combination with immunomodulatory drugs (Da-IMiD) in 57.3%, in combination with proteasome inhibitors (Da-PI) in 11.2% and in other combinations (Da-other) in 3.8% of patients. The median number of lines of therapy given before daratumumab was 5 for Da-mono, 3 for Da-IMiD, 4 for Da-PI, and 2 for Da-other. In Da-mono, overall response rate (ORR) was 44.9% and median time to next treatment (mTNT) was 4.9 months. In Da-IMiD, ORR was 80.5%, and mTNT was 16.1 months. In Da-PI, OOR was 60.6% and mTNT was 5.3 months. In patients treated with Da-other, OOR was 54,2% and mTNT was 5.6 months. The use of daratumumab in early LOT was associated with longer TNT (p Conclusion The real-world outcomes of multiple myeloma patients treated with daratumumab are worse than the results of clinical trials. Outcomes achieved with daratumumab were best when daratumumab was used in combination with IMIDs and in early LOT. Patients with high-risk CA had worse outcomes, but patients with amp1q had similar outcomes to standard-risk patients.

Introduction: CC-92480 is an oral novel cereblon (CRBN) E3 ligase modulator (CELMoD) agent currently in phase 1/2 development in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). CC-92480 induces rapid degradation of the transcription factors Ikaros and Aiolos, leading to apoptosis of myeloma cells and immune-stimulatory effects. The innovative CC-92480-MM-001 phase 1 study design investigated the effects of a broad range of CC-92480 doses and schedules. The pharmacodynamic effects will be discussed in this analysis with a focus on modulation of immune cell subsets. Methods: An adaptive Bayesian dose-escalation design was used in the CC-92480-MM-001 study (NCT03374085) that allowed for evaluation of several dosing schedules. The continuous schedules included 10 days on followed by 4 days off × 2, and 21 days on followed by 7 days off in a 28-day cycle. The intensive schedules included 3 days on followed by 11 days off × 2, and 7 days on followed by 7 days off × 2. An intensive biomarker sampling program was included in the study to allow for characterization of pharmacodynamic changes. Peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirates (BMA) were obtained from patients enrolled in part 1 of the dose-escalation study for biomarker analysis. Samples were taken pre-dose and during treatment at multiple time points. Biomarker analyses included Ikaros and Aiolos levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by flow cytometry; CRBN, Aiolos, Ikaros, and ZFP91 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in BMA; weekly levels of serum free light chain (sFLC) and soluble B-cell maturation antigen (sBCMA), and effects on immune cells in peripheral blood. CC-92480 plasma exposures were collected at several time points in Cycle 1. Results: CC-92480 1.0 mg, 21/28-days was selected as the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) based on tolerability, efficacy, and pharmacodynamic effects. Degradation of Ikaros and Aiolos was evident at all dose levels in bone marrow plasma cells independent of baseline CRBN staining intensity and prior treatment. In these heavily pretreated patients with RRMM, CC-92480 induced rapid and sustained decreases in sFLC (median 94%) and sBCMA (median 78%) in Cycle 1 at the RP2D. Ikaros and Aiolos degradation in peripheral blood T cells was dose-dependent and reached > 80% degradation at 0.6 mg and above. Substrate recovery occurred during drug holidays, with faster recovery at lower doses, and reached full recovery with ≥ 7-day breaks. Focusing on the immunomodulatory effects, dynamic and dose- and schedule-dependent changes were demonstrated in immune cell subtypes. B cells decreased with increasing dose and reached > 90% at 0.8 mg and above in the continuous schedules. Recovery was evident during drug holidays, especially at lower doses. T-cell proliferation by Ki-67 staining increased between 30% and 350% during treatment and returned toward baseline during drug holidays at lower doses and with longer breaks. NK-cell proliferation by Ki-67 staining was evident at all doses and peaked at approximately 1 week post dose regardless of schedule. T cells demonstrated a shift from naïve to effector phenotype at all doses and schedules, and showed an increase in activation markers, HLA-DR, CD38, and ICOS. Regulatory T cells increased by 90% and 130% at 0.8 mg and 1.0 mg, respectively. At the 1.0 mg dose (RP2D) and more continuous schedules (10/14 days × 2 and 21/28 days), higher percentages of proliferating CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells associated with a clinical response. Conclusions: The novel study design and biomarker sampling have allowed us to understand how depth, duration, and recovery of Ikaros and Aiolos degradation lead to specific immune changes. CC-92480 pharmacodynamic activity was dose-dependent from 0.1 mg to 1.0 mg and recovery was dose- and schedule-dependent. These changes were also demonstrated in immune cell subsets. Dynamic changes of immune cell subsets in peripheral blood occurred in concert with Ikaros and Aiolos degradation and recovery, suggesting that immune profiles may be modified and optimized by dose and schedule. This new insight may be utilized to provide the rationale for dose and schedule for specific immune effects when combining with other immunotherapies, such as bispecific antibodies and CAR T cells. Disclosures Wong: Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Lamba:Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Pfizer: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Jiménez Nuñez:CITRE, a Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Spain: Current Employment. Bauer:Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Richardson:Celgene/BMS, Oncopeptides, Takeda, Karyopharm: Research Funding. Bahlis:Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS/Celgene and Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria. Ramasamy:Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Trudel:Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda, Karyopharm, AstraZeneca, Sanofi: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Martínez-Lopez:Altum, Hosea: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties; Vivia Biotech: Honoraria; Amgen: Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Speakers Bureau; Roche: Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Bristol Myers Squibb: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Research Funding. Mateos:EDOMundipharma: Consultancy; Adaptive: Consultancy; Pharmamar: Consultancy; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy. Rodriguez-Otero:Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Medscape: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene/Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Honoraria; Kite: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria. Lonial:TG Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees, Research Funding; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; Abbvie: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Other: Personal fees, Research Funding; Genentech: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees, Research Funding; JUNO Therapeutics: Consultancy; Millennium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Personal fees; Onyx: Honoraria. Popat:AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria; GSK: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES (paid by any for-profit health care company); Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria. Oriol:Amgen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy; Sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GlaxoSmithKline: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Orlowski:Amgen, Inc., AstraZeneca, BMS, Celgene, EcoR1 Capital LLC, Forma Therapeutics, Genzyme, GSK Biologicals, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Janssen Biotech, Juno Therapeutics, Kite Pharma, Legend Biotech USA, Molecular Partners, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Founder of Asylia Therapeutics, Inc., with associated patents and an equity interest, though this technology does not bear on the current submission.: Current equity holder in private company, Patents & Royalties; Sanofi-Aventis, Servier, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; STATinMED Research: Consultancy; Laboratory research funding from BioTheryX, and clinical research funding from CARsgen Therapeutics, Celgene, Exelixis, Janssen Biotech, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.: Research Funding. Berdeja:Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Bluebird: Research Funding; Servier: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Vivolux: Research Funding; Kesios: Research Funding; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Glenmark: Research Funding; Genentech, Inc.: Research Funding; EMD Sorono: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Cellularity: Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; CRISPR Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; CURIS: Research Funding; Poseida: Research Funding; Prothena: Consultancy; Kite Pharma: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy; Lilly: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Teva: Research Funding; Acetylon: Research Funding; Bioclinica: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding. Pourdehnad:Celgene: Ended employment in the past 24 months, Patents & Royalties: Various CC-122 patents; Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Patents & Royalties: Various CC-122 patents. Pierce:Bristol Myers Squibb: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company.

Background : The UK Myeloma Research Alliance recently introduced a new clinical prediction model for outcome in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients not eligible for autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) (Lancet Haematology 2019; 6: e154-66). The score or Myeloma Risk Profile, MRP, includes WHO performance status (PS), the International Staging System (ISS), age, and C-reactive protein (CRP) as prognostic variables. First a score is calculated by the formula: Score = (PS - 2) * 0.199 + (age - 74.4) * 0.0165 + (ISS - 2) * 0.212 + (log(CRP + 1) - 2.08) * 0.0315, where PS and ISS are defined as numbers between 0-4 and 1-3, respectively, and CRP is in mg/L. Next, three risk groups are defined as 1) low risk: score < -0.256, 2) medium risk: -0.256 ≤ score ≤ -0.0283, or 3) high risk: score > -0.0283. The MRP score was generated based on two prospective clinical trial cohorts, the NRCI-Myeloma XI study (ISRCTN49407852) as training set or internal validation, and the NRCI-Myeloma IX study (Blood 2011; 118, 1231-38) as test set or external validation. Both trials investigated conventional oral alkylating agents, cyclophosphamide or melphalan, in combination with thalidomide, lenalidomide, and/or bortezomib; thus including drugs typically used in treatment of elderly MM patients. Establishment of the model included 1852 patients in the training set, and 520 patients in the test set. All patients were recruited as part of clinical trials and therefore fulfilled defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. To validate the MRP score in a population-based setting we performed a study of the entire cohort of transplant ineligible MM patients in the Danish National MM Registry. Methods : The Danish MM registry started 01 January 2005. It includes registration of all diagnosed MM patients in Denmark and given first- and second-line treatment. A data validation study has been performed (J Clin Epidemiology, 2016; 8: 583-587). At 31 December 2014, 2,926 newly diagnosed treatment demanding MM patients were registered, hereof 1,803 patients were above 65 years and found ineligible for ASCT, and constituted the patient population for this study. Results: Of 1,803 transplant in-eligible but treatment demanding newly diagnosed MM patients above 65 years 426 patients had one or more missing values for calculation of the MRP score, most often this was caused by missing ISS. Thus, 1,377 patients were evaluable with a median follow-up of 40.9 months. Patients were treated according to standard of care in Denmark during the 10-years registration period which included upfront conventional alkylating agent, mostly melphalan in 37.7%, thalidomide-based in 25.6%, bortezomib-based in 26.1%, lenalidomide based in 2.7%, and only palliative, mostly steroid-based in 7.9%. The distribution of the risk groups according to MRP was as follows: low risk 28.5%, medium-risk 25.1%, and high-risk 46.4%. Ccompared to the UK datasets we had a higher proportion of high-risk patients which undoubtedly reflects that our cohort is population based. Median survivals for the 3 risk groups are presented in Table 1 and overall survival curves illustrated in Figure 1. The model performed well in separating the patients into subgroups with different survival risks. In conclusion, our real life population-based data confirm that the MRP score is a robust and valuable risk assessment tool for elderly newly diagnosed MM patients older than 65 and not eligible for ASCT. An important advantage of the MRP score is that it is calculated from simple parameters that should be part of everyday diagnostic work-up. Disclosures Vangsted: Oncopeptides: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Honoraria; Jansen: Honoraria. Plesner:Takeda: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Genmab: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy, Research Funding. Frederiksen:Novartis: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; Alexion: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding. Abildgaard:Amgen: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding.

Genetic variants in genes acting during the maturation process of immature B-cell to differentiated plasma cell could influence the risk of developing multiple myeloma (MM). During B-cell maturation, several programmed genetic rearrangements occur to increase the variation of the immunoglobulin chains. Class switch recombination (CSR) is one of the most important among these mechanisms. Germline polymorphisms altering even subtly this process could play a role in the etiology and outcome of MM. We performed an association study of 30 genetic variants in the key CSR genes, using 2632 MM patients and 2848 controls from the International Multiple Myeloma rESEarch (IMMEnSE) consortium, the Heidelberg MM Group and the ESTHER cohort. We found an association between LIG4-rs1555902 and decreased MM risk, which approached statistical significance, as well as significant associations between AICDA-rs3794318 and better outcome. Our results add to our knowledge on the genetic component of MM risk and survival., Partially supported by intramural funds of DKFZ, by grants PI12/02688 and PI17/02276 from Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (Madrid, Spain), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, co-funded by FEDER funds –a way to build Europe– grant PI14-00613 and Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Catalan Government grant 2017SGR723. The ESTHER study was funded by grants from the Baden-Württemberg state Ministry of Science, Research and Arts (Stuttgart, Germany), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Berlin, Germany), the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Berlin, Germany) and the Saarland Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Women and Family (Saarbrücken, Germany)

French National Cancer Institute (INCA) and the Fondation Francaise pour la Recherche contre le Myelome et les Gammapathies (FFMRG), the Intergroupe Francophone du Myelome (IFM), NCI R01 NCI CA167824 and a generous donation from Matthew Bell. This work was supported in part through the computational resources and staff expertise provided by Scientific Computing at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Research reported in this paper was supported by the Office of Research Infrastructure of the National Institutes of Health under award number S10OD018522. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors thank the Association des Malades du Myelome Multiple (AF3M) for their continued support and participation. Where authors are identified as personnel of the International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization, the authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this article and they do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy or views of the International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have transformed our understanding of susceptibility to multiple myeloma (MM), but much of the heritability remains unexplained. We report a new GWAS, a meta-analysis with previous GWAS and a replication series, totalling 9974 MM cases and 247,556 controls of European ancestry. Collectively, these data provide evidence for six new MM risk loci, bringing the total number to 23. Integration of information from gene expression, epigenetic profiling and in situ Hi-C data for the 23 risk loci implicate disruption of developmental transcriptional regulators as a basis of MM susceptibility, compatible with altered B-cell differentiation as a key mechanism. Dysregulation of autophagy/apoptosis and cell cycle signalling feature as recurrently perturbed pathways. Our findings provide further insight into the biological basis of MM.

OBJECTIVES: The Danish Myeloma Study Group initiated a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded phase II study to investigate the efficacy of adding clarithromycin to cyclophosphamide-bortezomib-dexamethasone (VCD) induction therapy in transplant eligible, newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. The study was prematurely terminated due to severe complications, and no effect of adding clarithromycin was found. The aim of this study was to compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between the two groups and to explore the coherence hereof with adverse event (AE) registration by clinicians.METHODS: Patients completed three validated HRQoL questionnaires at inclusion, before cyclophosphamide priming, and two months after high-dose therapy (HDT). The mean score difference was interpreted by clinically relevant differences between groups. Spearman correlation analysis was used to compare patient-reported toxicities with AEs.RESULTS: Of 58 included patients, 55 participated in the HRQoL reporting. Before cyclophosphamide priming, patients in the clarithromycin group reported clinically relevant reduced HRQoL for eleven domains with persistent reduction in four domains two months after HDT. Poor correlation between patient-reported toxicities and clinician-reported AEs was observed.CONCLUSIONS: Despite the premature study termination, our data demonstrate impaired HRQoL when clarithromycin was added to the VCD regimen. We found clear underreporting of toxicities by clinicians. ClinicalTrials. gov number NCT02573935. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.