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Breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (BI-ALCL) is an uncommon peripheral T cell lymphoma usually presenting as a delayed peri-implant effusion. Chronic inflammation elicited by the implant has been implicated in its pathogenesis. Infection or implant rupture may also be responsible for late seromas. Cytomorphological examination coupled with CD30 immunostaining and eventual T-cell clonality assessment are essential for BI-ALCL diagnosis. However, some benign effusions may also contain an oligo/monoclonal expansion of CD30 + cells that can make the diagnosis challenging. Since cytokines are key mediators of inflammation, we applied a multiplexed immuno-based assay to BI-ALCL seromas and to different types of reactive seromas to look for a potential diagnostic BI-ALCL-associated cytokine profile. We found that BI-ALCL is characterized by a Th2-type cytokine milieu associated with significant high levels of IL-10, IL-13 and Eotaxin which discriminate BI-ALCL from all types of reactive seroma. Moreover, we found a cutoff of IL10/IL-6 ratio of 0.104 is associated with specificity of 100% and sensitivity of 83% in recognizing BI-ALCL effusions. This study identifies promising biomarkers for initial screening of late seromas that can facilitate early diagnosis of BI-ALCL. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00262-020-02778-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

PURPOUSE: to assess the clinicopathologic features of a poorly defined subset of diffuse large b-cell lymphoma, which is characterized by the secretion of an IgM paraprotein (IgMs-DLBCL). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: multicentre, retrospective, and comparative study to analyse with an integrated diagnostic approach the IgMs-DLBCL subset.RESULTS: Overall, 650 DLBCL were enrolled: 102 had an associated serum IgM and 56 other paraproteins (OP), the remaining 492 cases were the reference group (REF). IgMs-DLBCL were characterized by older age, advanced stage, dissemination to extra-nodal organs, elevated LDH and poor PS. As a result, the majority of IgMs had a high IPI, NCC-IPI and CNS-IPI score (p

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease characterized by progressive scarring of the lung that involves the pulmonary interstitium. The disease may rapidly progress, leading to respiratory failure, and the long-term survival is poor. There are no accurate biomarkers available so far. Our aim was to evaluate the expression of the B4GALT1 in patients with IPF. Analysis of B4GALT1 gene expression was performed in silico on two gene sets, retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Expression of B4GALT1 was then evaluated, both at the mRNA and protein levels, on lung specimens obtained from lung biopsies of 4 IPF patients, on one IPF-derived human primary cell and on 11 cases of IPF associated with cancer. In silico re-analysis demonstrated that the B4GALT1 gene was overexpressed in patients and human cell cultures with IPF (p = 0.03). Network analysis demonstrated that B4GALT1 upregulation was correlated with genes belonging to the EMT pathway (p = 0.01). The overexpression of B4GALT1 was observed, both at mRNA and protein levels, in lung biopsies of our four IPF patients and in the IPF-derived human primary cell, in other fibrotic non-lung tissues, and in IPF associated with cancer. In conclusion, our results indicate that B4GALT1 is overexpressed in IPF and could represent a novel marker of this disease.

MYCN drives aggressive behavior and refractoriness to chemotherapy, in several tumors. Since MYCN inactivation in clinical settings is not achievable, alternative vulnerabilities of MYCN-driven tumors need to be explored to identify more effective and less toxic therapies. We previously demonstrated that PARP inhibitors enhance MYCN-induced replication stress and promote mitotic catastrophe, counteracted by CHK1. Here, we showed that PARP and CHK1 inhibitors synergized to induce death in neuroblastoma cells and in primary cultures of SHH-dependent medulloblastoma, their combination being more effective in MYCN amplified and MYCN overexpressing cells compared to MYCN non-amplified cells. Although the MYCN amplified IMR-32 cell line carrying the p.Val2716Ala ATM mutation showed the highest sensitivity to the drug combination, this was not related to ATM status, as indicated by CRISPR/Cas9-based correction of the mutation. Suboptimal doses of the CHK1 inhibitor MK-8776 plus the PARP inhibitor olaparib led to a MYCN-dependent accumulation of DNA damage and cell death in vitro and significantly reduced the growth of four in vivo models of MYCN-driven tumors, without major toxicities. Our data highlight the combination of PARP and CHK1 inhibitors as a new potential chemo-free strategy to treat MYCN-driven tumors, which might be promptly translated into clinical trials.

The lack of a non-invasive test for malignant thyroid nodules makes the diagnosis of thyroid cancer (TC) challenging. Human galectin-3 (hGal3) has emerged as a promising target for medical TC imaging and diagnosis because of its exclusive overexpression in malignant thyroid tissues. We previously developed a human-chimeric αhGal3 Fab fragment derived from the rat monoclonal antibody (mAb) M3/38 with optimized clearance characteristics using PASylation technology. Here, we describe the elucidation of the hGal3 epitope recognized by mAb M3/38, X-ray crystallographic analysis of its complex with the chimeric Fab and, based on the three-dimensional structure, the rational humanization of the Fab by CDR grafting. Four CDR-grafted versions were designed using structurally most closely related fully human immunoglobulin VH/VL regions of which one—employing the acceptor framework regions of the HIV-1 neutralizing human antibody m66—showed the highest antigen affinity. By introducing two additional back-mutations to the rodent donor sequence, an affinity toward hGal3 indistinguishable from the chimeric Fab was achieved (KD = 0.34 ± 0.02 nM in SPR). The PASylated humanized Fab was site-specifically labelled with the fluorescent dye Cy7 and applied for the immuno-histochemical staining of human tissue sections representative for different TCs. The same protein was conjugated with the metal chelator Dfo, followed by radiolabelling with 89Zr(IV). The resulting protein tracer allowed the highly sensitive and specific PET/CT imaging of orthotopic tumors in mice, which was confirmed by quantitative analysis of radiotracer accumulation. Thus, the PASylated humanized αhGal3 Fab offers clinical potential for the diagnostic imaging of TC.

Rationale: The high expression of Galectin-3 (Gal3) in macrophages of atherosclerotic plaques suggests its participation in atherosclerosis pathogenesis, and raises the possibility to use it as a target to image disease severity in vivo. Here, we explored the feasibility of tracking atherosclerosis by targeting Gal3 expression in plaques of apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE-KO) mice via PET imaging. Methods: Targeting of Gal3 in M0-, M1- and M2 (M2a/M2c)-polarized macrophages was assessed in vitro using a Gal3-F(ab')2 mAb labeled with AlexaFluor®488 and 89Zr- desferrioxamine-thioureyl-phenyl-isothiocyanate (DFO). To visualize plaques in vivo, ApoE-KO mice were injected i.v. with 89Zr-DFO-Gal3-F(ab')2 mAb and imaged via PET/CT 48 h post injection. Whole length aortas harvested from euthanized mice were processed for Sudan-IV staining, autoradiography, and immunostaining for Gal3, CD68 and α-SMA expression. To confirm accumulation of the tracer in plaques, ApoE-KO mice were injected i.v. with Cy5.5-Gal3-F(ab')2 mAb, euthanized 48 h post injection, followed by cryosections of the body and acquisition of fluorescent images. To explore the clinical potential of this imaging modality, immunostaining for Gal3, CD68 and α-SMA expression were carried out in human plaques. Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) analyses were performed to measure LGALS3 (i.e. a synonym for Gal3) gene expression in each macrophage of several subtypes present in murine or human plaques. Results: Preferential binding to M2 macrophages was observed with both AlexaFluor®488-Gal3-F(ab')2 and 89Zr-DFO-Gal3-F(ab')2 mAbs. Focal and specific 89Zr-DFO-Gal3-F(ab')2 mAb uptake was detected in plaques of ApoE-KO mice by PET/CT. Autoradiography and immunohistochemical analyses of aortas confirmed the expression of Gal3 within plaques mainly in macrophages. Moreover, a specific fluorescent signal was visualized within the lesions of vascular structures burdened by plaques in mice. Gal3 expression in human plaques showed similar Gal3 expression patterns when compared to their murine counterparts. Conclusions: Our data reveal that 89Zr-DFO-Gal3-F(ab')2 mAb PET/CT is a potentially novel tool to image atherosclerotic plaques at different stages of development, allowing knowledge-based tailored individual intervention in clinically significant disease.

Paradoxical psoriasis (PP) may occur during treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&alpha, ) drugs in various chronic immune-mediated diseases, mainly inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and psoriasis. In this study, clinical and genetic characteristics of PP arising in IBD and psoriatic patients were investigated to identify disease-specific markers of the paradoxical effect. A total of 161 IBD and psoriatic patients treated with anti-TNF-&alpha, drugs were included in the study. Of these patients, 39 developed PP. All patients were characterized for the main clinical&ndash, pathologic characteristics and genotyped for six candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected for their possible role in PP susceptibility. In IBD patients, the onset of PP was associated with female sex, presence of comorbidities, and use of adalimumab. IBD patients with PP had a higher frequency of the TNF-&alpha, rs1799964 rare allele (p= 0.006) compared with cases without the paradoxical effect, and a lower frequency of the human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-Cw06 rs10484554 rare allele (p= 0.03) compared with psoriatic patients with PP. Overall, these findings point to specific clinical and genetic characteristics of IBD patients with PP and provide data showing that genetic variability may be related to the paradoxical effect of anti-TNF-&alpha, drugs with possible implications into clinical practice.

BackgroundImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) provide significant survival benefits in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nevertheless, while some patients obtain a prolonged benefit, a non-negligible fraction of patients experiences an ultrarapid disease progression. Identifying specific molecular backgrounds predicting opposite outcomes is instrumental to optimize the use of these agents in clinical practice.MethodsWe carried out an observational study with prospective design envisioning targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) with an approved assay in 55 patients with metastatic NSCLC (Rome cohort), of whom 35 were treated with ICIs. Data from three clinically comparable datasets were collected and combined into a metadataset containing 779 patients. The datasets were related to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) cohort (tissue-based NGS) and the randomized phase II and III POPLAR and OAK trials (blood-based NGS).ResultsIn patients treated with ICIs in the Rome cohort, co-occurring mutations in NOTCH1-3 and homologous repair (HR) genes were associated with durable clinical benefit. Using the MSKCC/POPLAR/OAK metadaset, we confirmed the relationship between the NOTCHmut/HRmut signature and longer progression-free survival (PFS) in ICI-treated patients (multivariate Cox: HR 0.51, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.76, p=0.001). The NOTCHmut/HRmut genomic predictor was also associated with longer survival (log-rank p=0.008), despite patients whose tumors carried the NOTCHmut/HRmut signature had higher metastatic burden as compared with their negative counterpart. Finally, we observed that this genomic predictor was also associated with longer survival in patients with other tumor types treated with ICIs (n=1311, log-rank p=0.002).ConclusionsCo-occurring mutations in the NOTCH and HR pathways are associated with increased efficacy of immunotherapy in advanced NSCLC. This genomic predictor deserves further investigation to fully assess its potential in informing therapeutic decisions.

BACKGROUND: In 2014 we identified a new subset of DLBCL, defined as "IgM-secreting" (Cox MC & Di Napoli A , PLOS One 2014). This was characterised by poor prognostic features and outcome as well as frequent central nervous (CNS) system localizations. Furthermore, IgM-secretion, was an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis. Here we report on the largest series of IgM-secreting-DLBCL, from a multicentre Italian study. METHODS: The observational and biological study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the AUO Sant'Andrea, Italy. Enrolment criteria were: DLBCL with an associated IgM paraprotein diagnosed between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2018 (IgM-secreting). Data were collected both prospectively and retrospectively from 17 Centres participating in the study. In addition, histopathology samples were centrally revised for immunohistochemistry (IHC) and FISH analyses. The control group (CTRL) consisted in a series of consecutive DLBCL, without an associated IgM-paraprotein (diagnosed between 01/01/2013 and 30/06/2016, enrolled in the Lymphoma Registry of the Lazio region (ReLLi Network). Last follow-up was carried out on 31st December 2019. RESULTS: 569 DLBCL cases were enrolled: 102 (17.9%) were IgM-secreting; 48 (8.4%) had a non-IgM paraprotein (IgA, IgG, or other), and 414 (72.7%) had no associated paraprotein (CTRL). IgM-secreting cases within the consecutive DLBCL patients enrolled in the ReLLi Registry were 41/466 (8.8%, 95CI 6.4-11.7%) while non IgM-paraprotein DLBCL cases were 11/466 (2.4%, 95CI 1.2-4.2%). The median level of IgM paraprotein was 17gr/L (range: 60 (p=.001); 2] advanced stage (pUNL (p=.008) ; 5] ≥2 Extra-nodal sites involved (p60, B-symptoms, bulky disease, IPI >low risk and IgM-secreting IgM showed a worse survival (all with p CONCLUSION: Our data confirm that IgM-secreting DLBCL: 1) represents a sizable proportion of non-DH DLBCL; 2) have poor prognostic features and 3) have mostly a non-GC phenotype. Furthermore, IgM secretion appears to be an independent prognostic factor for both PFS and OS. Studies to define the biological features of this new subset are ongoing. Disclosures Cantonetti: Mundipharma: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Vifor: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy. Re:BerGenBio ASA: Research Funding. Abruzzese:Incyte: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bms: Honoraria.

Background: OSAS is characterized by a chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) and sleep fragmentation. PSG is the gold standard for diagnosis. New biomarkers have been proposed. BDNF is a key mediator of cognitive functions. Changes of BDNF serum levels follow CIH. OSAS patients have mucosal upper airways inflammation. BDNF has been identified in various chronic inflammatory airways diseases. Objectives: BDNF serum levels and mucosal expression in severe OSAS patients compared to controls. Relationship of serum BDNF with neurocognitive function. Changes in serum BDNF after CPAP. Methods: Serum BDNF, upper airways mucosal biopsy and Montreal Cognitive Assestment (MoCA) are performed in 12 naive severe OSAS patients and in 8 controls. In OSAS patients serum BDNF and MoCA were reassessed after 45 days of CPAP treatment. Results: BDNF in OSAS was significantly higher than controls (p=0.01) and showed a positive correlation with ODI (p=0.01, r=0.6). Serum BDNF had a decreasing trend after CPAP treatment. Before the treatment, MoCA scores were lower in OSAS than controls and are positively correlated with serum BDNF levels (p=0.02, r=0.57). MoCA is normalized by CPAP therapy. Immunohistochemistry of mucosal biopsy in OSAS patients showed higher inflammatory infiltrate CD3+ CD79a+ (BDNF positive) than controls. Conclusions: OSAS patients showed higher serum BDNF levels and lower MoCA scores than controls. The positive correlation between BDNF values and MoCA might reveal a peculiar BDNF-mediated neuroprotective mechanism against neuroinflammation induced by hypoxia. OSAS have mucosal upper airway lymphocytic inflammation BDNF positive.

Checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy is opening a promising scenario in oncology, with objective responses registered in multiple cancer types. However, reliable predictive markers of tumor responsiveness are still lacking. These markers need to be urgently identified for a better selection of patients that can be candidates for immunotherapy. In this pilot study, a cohort of 34 consecutive patients bearing programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), treated with pembrolizumab, was considered. The retrospective immuno-phenotypic analysis performed on the original tumor biopsies allowed for the identification of a specific “galectin signature”, which strongly correlated with tumor responsiveness to anti PD-1 immunotherapy. We observed that the large majority of patients (about 90%) with high galectin-3 tumor expression (score 3+) showed an early and dramatic progression of the disease after three cycles of treatments. In contrast, all patients with negative or low/intermediate expression of galectin-3 in tumor cells showed an early and durable objective response to pembrolizumab, indicating galectin-3 as an interesting predictive marker of tumor responsiveness. The galectin-3 signature, at least in NSCLCs, promises a better selection of patient candidates for immunotherapy, reducing unnecessary treatment exposures and social costs. A large multicenter study is ongoing to validate this finding.

e20628 Background: Hyperprogressive disease (HPD) incidence ranges from 8% to 21% in patients treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 mAbs in NSCLC and is associated with poor survival. Previously published data underlined a link between HPD across different cancers types and specific genetic alterations, such as MDM2 amplification and EGFR aberrations. We present a single-center cohort of patients with NSCLC and PD-L1 > 50% treated with 1st-line pembrolizumab. We performed NGS, IHC and FISH analysis to evaluate genetic correlations with the clinical phenotype. Methods: Clinical data from 20 patients with diagnosis of advanced NSCLC treated with 1stline immunotherapy pembrolizumab were retrospectively collected. HPD was defined by Time to Treatment Failure ≤2 months and raising in Tumor Burden ≥50% compared with basal CT-scan. MDM2 amplification was investigated by FISH on FFPE tissue sections using the MDM2/CON12 break apart FISH Probe. Positive cases were defined as those with > 10% positive tumor cells. We performed IHC for MDM2 protein on FFPE tissue sections. The staining was semiquantitatively graded for the intensity as: 0, negative; 1+, weak positive; 2+, moderately positive; 3+, strongly positive, and for the extent as 0– < 1% (negative), 1–50% (focal), and > 50% (diffuse). We also performed NGS analysis (FoundationOne CDX, Foundation Medicine Inc.) on 324 preidentified genes. Results: We identified 5 cases of HPD; all five cases showed MDM2amplification by FISH analysis and a focal protein expression by IHC with the strongest nuclear staining observed in the cases showing a higher degree of MDM2 amplification (8/9 dots) and a weaker expression in those with a lower MDM2amplification (4/5 dots). NGS analysis showed MDM2amplification in 1/5 HPD patient and a loss of CDKN2A/B in 4/5 patients. None of the non-HPD patients had IHC expression of MDM2 or amplification of the gene. Among the non-HPD patients no genetic alterations regarding MDM2 and/or CDKN2A/B were found on NGS analysis. Conclusions: Our data suggest a potential role of CDKN2A/B gene loss and alteration of MDM2 on the establishment of HPD in NSCLC patients treated with immunotherapy. Because the HPD logic is not yet clear, more data is needed to better understand the link between this genomic signature and the development of HPD.

111 Background: Checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy is opening a promising scenario in oncology with objective responses registered in several tumors. However reliable predictive markers of tumor responsiveness are still lacking. These markers need to be urgently identified for a better selection of patients candidate to immunotherapy. In NSCLC setting, the pleiotropic molecules Galectin 1 and 3 regulate apoptosis and tumor immune-escape and are in the right position to play as predictive marker in anti-PD1 based immunotherapy. Methods: 27 consecutive patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) stage IV, treatment-naive, selected on the basis of PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS) ≥ 50 % were considered for immunotherapy with anti PD-1 antibodies as a first-line treatment. Patients assessments were conducted at baseline and after 3 cycles of therapy (week 12) and classified according to immune-related response criteria (iRECIST). Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on primary tumor biopsies before treatment in order to evaluate Gal-1 and Gal-3 expression both in cancer cells and tumor interstitium. Tumors were grouped in 2 different classes depending on the expression level of these molecules. Results: In our preliminary data there seems to be a strong correlation between the responses to anti-PD-1 treatment and a low-intermediate expression of intratumoral Gal-3 and interstitial Gal-1. In fact, all patients in the intratumoral Gal-3 low-intermediate expression group had an excellent response to immunotherapic treatment (10/10 patients), while 15/17 patients with high intracellular Gal-3 expression had clinical and radiographic progression of the disease after only three cycles of treatment, despite the high expression of PD-L1. In contrast, 8/11 patients with a low-intermediate interstitial expression of Gal-1 had an excellent response to treatment, whereas in the group with high interstitial expression of Gal-1, the response rate was drastically lower (5/15 patients). Conclusions: The expression of interstitial Gal-1 protein and intratumoral Gal-3 protein appear to be a good candidates as predictive markers of response to immunotherapy.