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We analyzed 160 young Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM) patients with a median age of 49 years (range 23-55 years), diagnosed between January 2000 and January 2019 in 14 Italian centers. At diagnosis, 70% of patients were asymptomatic. With a median follow-up of 5.6 years, 57% have been treated. As initial therapy 79% of patients received chemo-immunotherapy, 13% a chemo-free induction and 8% chemotherapy only. At relapse or progression, 6% underwent an autologous stem cell transplantation. Overall, 19% of patients received ibrutinib during the course of the disease. According to IPSSWM, 63% were classified as low risk, 27% as intermediate risk and 10% as high risk. Five-year OS was shorter in high-risk as compared with low or intermediate risk patients (92.9% vs 100% P = .002). According to revised IPSSWM, 92% were classified as very low or low risk and 8% as intermediate risk, with a shorter 5-year OS in the latter group (87.5% vs 100%, P = .028). The OS of young WM patients was not significantly reduced as compared with age-matched, sex-matched and calendar year-matched general population. Early diagnosis, absence of high-risk features in symptomatic patients and high efficacy of modern treatments are the main determinants of the excellent outcome of young WM patients.

// Giorgio Malpeli 1, 2 , Stefano Barbi 2 , Gabriele Tosadori 3 , Corinna Greco 4 , Simonetta Zupo 5 , Serena Pedron 2 , Matteo Brunelli 2 , Anna Bertolaso 2 , Maria Teresa Scupoli 6 , Mauro Krampera 4 , Paul Takam Kamga 3 , Carlo Maria Croce 7 , George Adrian Calin 8 , Aldo Scarpa 2, 9 and Alberto Zamo 10 1 Department of Surgical Sciences, Dentistry, Gynecology and Pediatrics, Section of Surgery, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 2 Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 3 Center for BioMedical Computing, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 4 Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology, Stem Cell Research Laboratory, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 5 Laboratory of Molecular Diagnostics, IRCCS-AOU San Martino-IST, Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Genoa, Italy 6 Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 7 Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA 8 Department of Experimental Therapeutics and The Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNAs, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA 9 Applied Research on Cancer-Network (ARC-NET), University of Verona, Verona, Italy 10 Department of Oncology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy Correspondence to: Giorgio Malpeli, email: giorgio.malpeli@univr.it Keywords: microRNAs; MYC; non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma; cell lines; network analysis Received: October 26, 2017 Accepted: April 28, 2018 Published: July 03, 2018 ABSTRACT In order to investigate the role of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of different B-cell lymhoma subtypes, we have applied an array-based assay to a series of 76 mixed non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas, including Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and follicular lymphoma. Lymphomas clustered according to histological subtypes, driven by two miRNA clusters (the miR-29 family and the miR-17-92 cluster). Since the two miRNA clusters are known to be MYC-regulated, we investigated whether this would be supported in MYC-driven experimental models, and found that this signature separated BL cell lines and a MYC -translocated MCL cell lines from normal germinal center B-cells and other B-cell populations. Similar results were also reproduced in tissue samples comparing BL and reactive lymph node samples. The same series was then quantitatively analyzed for MYC expression by immunohistochemistry and MYC protein levels were compared with corresponding miRNA signatures. A specific metric was developed to summarize the levels of MYC-related microRNAs and the corresponding protein levels. We found that MYC-related signatures are directly related to MYC protein expression across the whole spectrum of B-cells and B-cell lymphoma, suggesting that the MYC-responsive machinery shows predominantly quantitative, rather than qualitative, modifications in B-cell lymphoma. Novel MYC-related miRNAs were also discovered by this approach. Finally, network analysis found that in BL MYC-related differentially expressed miRNAs could control, either positively or negatively, a limited number of hub proteins, including BCL2, CDK6, MYB, ZEB1, CTNNB1, BAX and XBP1.

Background. Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare indolent lymphoma typical of the elderly population, with a median age at diagnosis of 65-70 years and median overall survival of approximately 10 years. Age is the most important prognostic factor in WM, and unrelated mortality significantly impacts survival in elderly patients. The past two decades have witnessed important treatment advances in WM, with the introduction of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in the early 2000s and of ibrutinib in more recent years. Less than 10% of WM patients are diagnosed at young age, and few studies have addressed their characteristics and outcome in the era of immunotherapy and targeted therapies. Here we report the presenting features, treatment and outcome of WM patients younger than 55 years diagnosed in 12 Hematologic Centers across Italy between 2000 and 2018. Patients and Methods. Diagnostic criteria were those established during the second International Workshop on WM (Owen et al, 2003) and were retrospectively applied to patients diagnosed before 2003. The overall survival (OS) observed in the study cohort was compared with the expected survival of the general Italian population matched by sex, age and calendar year. The expected survival estimates were derived from Italian life tables (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, ISTAT). Results. The median age of patients included in the study was 50 years (interquartile range, IQR: 46-52). Their clinical characteristics at diagnosis are reported in Table 1. With a median follow-up of 5.6 years (IQR 3.1-9.1), 76 of 129 patients (59%) have been treated, at diagnosis (n=31, 41%) or after initial observation (n=45, 59%). The median treatment-free survival was 39 months. According to ISS-WM prognostic score, 58% were classified as low risk, 30% as intermediate risk and 12% as high risk. Frontline therapy included Rituximab in 71/76 patients (93%). Rituximab was associated with chemotherapy in 62 patients (82%), whereas 9 patients (12%) received a chemo-free induction. Five patients (7%) received chemotherapy only as first-line therapy (Table 2). The overall response rate (ORR) to induction therapy was 85%, including 39% CR+VGPR. Two patients received Rituximab maintenance for 2 years. The median progression-free survival (PFS) after first-line therapy was 76 months. Four of 76 patients (5%) received an autologous stem cell transplantation at relapse/progression. Overall, 14/76 patients (18%) received ibrutinib as first (n=2) or as subsequent line of therapy (n=12). During follow-up, 4/76 patients (5%) developed a solid cancer (bladder n=2, breast n=1, prostate n=1) and 2 a second hematologic cancer (chronic myelomonocytic leukemia n=1, secondary MDS n=1). Using a competing-risk model, accounting for death from any cause as the competing event, the cumulative incidence of second cancers was 2% at 5 years and 5.8% at 10 years. Three patients have died, 2 due to WM and 1 due to acute myeloid leukemia. The 5-and 10-year OS from diagnosis were 99% and 96% respectively. In a time-dependent survival analysis, considering therapy as a time-dependent covariate, the OS of treated and untreated WM patients was not significantly different (P = 0.162) (Figure 1). Among treated patients, the OS was significantly shorter in high-risk patients as compared with low- and intermediate-risk patients (5-year OS 85.7% versus 100%, P=0.018) (Figure 2). The OS of young WM patients was not significantly reduced as compared with age-, sex- and calendar year- matched general population (P > 0.05) (Figure 3). Conclusions. The presenting features of young WM patients resemble those typically described in the elderly WM population. Among treated patients, more than half are low-risk according to ISS-WM, confirming age as the most important prognostic factor. More than 90% of patients received Rituximab as part of the upfront treatment, mainly in combination with chemotherapy. Ibrutinib seems to be preferred over autologous stem cell transplantation in the relapsed/refractory setting. The outcome of young WM patients treated in Italy in the contemporary era was excellent in terms of both PFS and OS, with a life expectancy not significantly reduced as compared with the general population. Figure 1 Disclosures Varettoni: Gilead: Other: travel expenses; Janssen: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy; ABBVIE: Other: travel expenses. Tedeschi:AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen spa: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BeiGene: Honoraria; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; SUNESIS: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AbbVie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Consultancy. Benevolo:Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Del Fabro:Janssen: Consultancy. Luminari:ROCHE: Other: Role as Advisor ; CELGENE: Other: Role as Advisor & Travel Grant; TAKEDA: Other: Travel Grant; GILEAD: Other: Lecturer . Arcaini:Gilead Sciences: Research Funding; Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Celgene, Roche, Janssen-Cilag, Gilead: Other: Travel expenses; Bayer, Celgene, Gilead Sciences, Roche, Sandoz, Janssen-Cilag, VERASTEM: Consultancy.

// Giorgio Malpeli 1, 2 , Stefano Barbi 2 , Corinna Greco 3 , Simonetta Zupo 4 , Anna Bertolaso 2 , Maria Teresa Scupoli 5 , Mauro Krampera 3 , Paul Takam Kamga 3 , Carlo Maria Croce 6 , Aldo Scarpa 2, 7 and Alberto Zamo 2, 8 1 Department of Surgical Sciences, Dentistry, Gynecology and Pediatrics, Section of Surgery, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 2 Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 3 Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology, Stem Cell Research Laboratory, University of Verona, Italy 4 Laboratory of Molecular Diagnostics, IRCCS-AOU San Martino-IST, Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Genoa, Italy 5 Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 6 Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA 7 Applied Research on Cancer-Network, ARC-NET, University of Verona, Verona, Italy 8 Department of Oncology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy Correspondence to: Giorgio Malpeli, email: giorgio.malpeli@univr.it Keywords: follicular lymphoma; relapse; microRNAs; Foxp3; heterogeneity Received: August 23, 2017 Accepted: January 30, 2018 Published: April 13, 2018 ABSTRACT First line drug treatment of follicular lymphoma (FL) patients is followed by a highly variable disease-free time before relapse in about one third of patients. No molecular marker is able to predict efficiently the risk of relapse. We investigated the expression profile of microRNAs (miRNAs) by microarrays and of the tumor microenvironment by immunohistochemistry in 26 FLs and 12 reactive lymph nodes (rLN) as reference. Twenty-nine miRNAs were differentially expressed in FLs compared to rLNs and some of them discriminated grade 1 from 3a FLs. Both FLs and rLNs displayed molecular heterogeneity. FLs grouped into two clusters mostly driven by the tumor T-cell content. Among 21 drug-treated FL patients with an average follow-up of 13.5 years, eight cases relapsed. Twenty-six miRNAs discriminated between relapsed and non-relapsed FLs. Ten miRNAs also correlated with Foxp3 + cells number. Notably, Foxp3 + cells were significantly less in relapsed patients and lower Foxp3 + cell number associated with shorter time-to-relapse. Foxp3 + cells did not co-expressed follicular helper T-cell markers and were therefore classified as regulatory T cells rather than follicular regulatory T-cells. These findings introduce new knowledge about the relationship between miRNA alterations and infiltrating immune cells and show that Foxp3 + cells might be predictive of disease relapse.