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Secondary central nervous system lymphoma (SCNSL) is associated with poor prognosis and new therapeutic approaches are needed. The pivotal trial that led to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of axicabtagene ciloleucel excluded patients with SCNSL and human immunodeficiency virus. In this multi-institutional retrospective study, 14 SCNSL patients treated with axicabtagene ciloleucel, 3 of whom had human immunodeficiency virus, experienced rates of severe neurotoxicity and complete response of 32% and 58%, respectively. This is similar to rates observed in the pivotal ZUMA-1 trial that led to the approval of axi-cel at median follow-up of 5.9 months. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is potentially a life-saving therapy for SCNSL patients and should not be withheld.

Aims Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) harnesses a patient’s immune system to target cancer. There are sparse existing data characterizing death outcomes after CAR-T-related cardiotoxicity. This study examines the association between CAR-T-related severe cardiovascular events (SCE) and mortality. Methods and results From a multi-centre registry of 202 patients receiving anti-CD19 CAR-T, covariates including standard baseline cardiovascular and cancer parameters and biomarkers were collected. Severe cardiovascular events were defined as a composite of heart failure, cardiogenic shock, or myocardial infarction. Thirty-three patients experienced SCE, and 108 patients died during a median follow-up of 297 (interquartile range 104–647) days. Those that did and did not die after CAR-T were similar in age, sex, and prior anthracycline use. Those who died had higher peak interleukin (IL)-6 and ferritin levels after CAR-T infusion, and those who experienced SCE had higher peak IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, and troponin levels. The day-100 and 1-year Kaplan–Meier overall mortality estimates were 18% and 43%, respectively, while the non-relapse mortality (NRM) cumulative incidence rates were 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively. In a Cox model, SCE occurrence following CAR-T was independently associated with increased overall mortality risk [hazard ratio (HR) 2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–4.7] after adjusting for age, cancer type and burden, anthracycline use, cytokine release syndrome grade ≥ 2, pre-existing heart failure, hypertension, and African American ancestry; SCEs were independently associated with increased NRM (HR 3.5, 95% CI 1.4–8.8) after adjusting for cancer burden. Conclusion Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy recipients who experience SCE have higher overall mortality and NRM and higher peak levels of IL-6, CRP, ferritin, and troponin.

PTCL with T-follicular helper phenotype (PTCL-TFH) has recurrent mutations affecting epigenetic regulators, which may contribute to aberrant DNA methylation and chemoresistance. This phase 2 study evaluated oral azacitidine (CC-486), a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, plus CHOP as initial treatment for PTCL (ClinicalTrials.gov - NCT03542266). CC-486 at 300 mg daily was administered for 7 days prior to C1 of CHOP, and for 14 days before CHOP C2-6. The primary endpoint was end-of-treatment CR. Secondary endpoints included ORR, safety and survival. Correlative studies assessed mutations, gene expression and methylation in tumor samples. Grade 3-4 hematologic toxicities were mostly neutropenia (71%), with febrile neutropenia uncommon (14%). Non-hematologic toxicities included fatigue (14%) and GI symptoms (5%). In 20 evaluable patients, CR was 75%, including 88.2% for PTCL-TFH (n=17). At a median follow-up of 21 months, 2-yr PFS was 65.8% for all and 69.2% for PTCL-TFH, while 2-yr OS was 68.4% for all and 76.1% for PTCL-TFH. The frequencies of the TET2, RHOA, DNMT3A, and IDH2 mutations were 76.5%, 41.1%, 23.5% and 23.5%, respectively, with TET2 mutations significantly associated with CR (p=0.007), favorable PFS (p=0.004) and OS (p=0.015), and DNMT3A mutations associated with adverse PFS (p=0.016). CC-486 priming contributed to the reprograming of the tumor microenvironment by upregulation of genes related to apoptosis (p

Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathies (TA-TMAs) are inflammatory and thrombotic disorders of the microvasculature characterized by hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and organ dysfunc...

The incidence of adenovirus viremia and the role of screening in preventing adenovirus disease in adult transplant recipients are not well defined. Between January 2017 and May 2020, 262 allogeneic transplants were performed using in vivo T-cell depletion. Adenovirus viremia was found in 59 patients for a cumulative incidence of 10% by one hundred days and 23% (95% CI 20-26%) by one year. There was a higher incidence of viremia associated with cord blood transplant (p = .04). No other patient, donor or transplant characteristics were identified that predicted for viremia. In 47 patients (80%), viremia remained well below 200,000 copies/mL and resolved. Twelve patients developed high level viremia. Treatment with antivirals and in some cases adoptive cell therapy, was often ineffective and only two survived. Low lymphocyte count at initial detection of adenovirus viremia was the best predictor of uncontrolled disease.

Background Levofloxacin prophylaxis is recommended to prevent gram-negative bloodstream infections (BSIs) in patients with prolonged chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. However, increasing fluoroquinolone resistance may decrease the effectiveness of this approach. Methods We assessed the prevalence of colonization with fluoroquinolone-resistant Enterobacterales (FQRE) among patients admitted for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from November 2016 to August 2019 and compared the risk of gram-negative BSI between FQRE-colonized and noncolonized patients. All patients received levofloxacin prophylaxis during neutropenia. Stool samples were collected upon admission for HCT and weekly thereafter until recovery from neutropenia, and underwent selective culture for FQRE. All isolates were identified and underwent antimicrobial susceptibility testing by broth microdilution. FQRE isolates also underwent whole-genome sequencing. Results Fifty-four of 234 (23%) patients were colonized with FQRE prior to HCT, including 30 of 119 (25%) allogeneic and 24 of 115 (21%) autologous HCT recipients. Recent antibacterial use was associated with FQRE colonization (P = .048). Ninety-one percent of colonizing FQRE isolates were Escherichia coli and 29% produced extended-spectrum β-lactamases. Seventeen (31%) FQRE-colonized patients developed gram-negative BSI despite levofloxacin prophylaxis, compared to only 2 of 180 (1.1%) patients who were not colonized with FQRE on admission (P Conclusions Nearly one-third of HCT recipients with pretransplant FQRE colonization developed gram-negative BSI while receiving levofloxacin prophylaxis, and infections were typically caused by their colonizing strains. In contrast, levofloxacin prophylaxis was highly effective in patients not initially colonized with FQRE.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation and EBV-related post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) are often fatal complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The risk of EBV reactivation may be mitigated by depletion of B cells with rituximab. Starting in January 2020, allo-HSCT recipients undergoing T-cell depletion with alemtuzumab received 1 dose of rituximab before transplantation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cumulative incidence of EBV reactivation and EBV-PTLD in recipients of allo-HSCT and in vivo T-cell depletion with alemtuzumab who received pre-HSCT rituximab compared to patients who did not. This was a single-center retrospective analysis of adult patients who consecutively received an HLA-identical allo-HSCT between January 2019 and May 2021 and in vivo T-cell depletion with alemtuzumab. Patients were included in the rituximab cohort if they received rituximab within 6 months before their transplantation. The primary endpoint was incidence of EBV reactivation at day 180 among those receiving pre-HSCT rituximab versus those not receiving rituximab. Secondary endpoints included cumulative incidence of EBV-PTLD at 1 year, time to engraftment, immune reconstitution, and incidence of infections and acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) at day 180. Eighty-six consecutive patients who received an allo-HSCT with alemtuzumab T-cell depletion were reviewed; 43 patients who received pre-HSCT rituximab after our protocol modification were compared to 43 patients who did not receive pre-HSCT rituximab before this change. Median age was 57 (interquartile range [IQR] 40-69) years, and the majority of patients had acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome. Baseline characteristics were similar between the cohorts. EBV reactivation at day 180 occurred in 23 (53%) patients without prior rituximab exposure versus 0 patients with pre-HSCT rituximab exposure (P.0001). Similarly, 6 patients without prior rituximab exposure developed PTLD at 1 year compared to no cases of PTLD among patients receiving pre-HSCT rituximab. There was no difference in neutrophil engraftment, incidence of infections, or aGVHD at day 180 between the 2 cohorts. There was a delay in time to platelet engraftment in the rituximab cohort (median 16 [IQR 15-20] days versus 15 [IQR 14-17] days; P = .04). Administration of pre-HSCT rituximab before allo-HSCT in patients receiving T-cell depletion with alemtuzumab was associated with a significant decrease in the risk for EBV reactivation and EBV-PTLD, without increasing aGVHD or infection rates.

We evaluate the safety of bendamustine as a bridge to stem cell transplantation (SCT) in patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoma and residual disease after salvage therapy. Thirty-four subjects without complete responses (CR) received bendamustine 200 mg/m

Cord blood transplantation (CBT) is associated with low risk of leukemia relapse. Mechanisms underlying antileukemia benefit of CBT are not well understood, however a previous study strongly but indirectly implicated cells from the mother of the cord blood (CB) donor. A fetus acquires a small number of maternal cells referred to as maternal microchimerism (MMc) and MMc is sometimes detectable in CB. From a series of 95 patients who underwent double or single CBT at our center, we obtained or generated HLA-genotyping of CB mothers in 68. We employed a technique of highly sensitive HLA-specific quantitative-PCR assays targeting polymorphisms unique to the CB mother to assay CB-MMc in patients post-CBT. After additional exclusion criteria, CB-MMc was evaluated at multiple timepoints in 36 patients (529 specimens). CB-MMc was present in seven (19.4%) patients in bone marrow, peripheral blood, innate and adaptive immune cell subsets, and was detected up to 1-year post-CBT. Statistical trends to lower relapse, mortality, and treatment failure were observed for patients with vs. without CB-MMc post-CBT. Our study provides proof-of-concept that maternal cells of the CB graft can be tracked in recipients post-CBT, and underscore the importance of further investigating CB-MMc in sustained remission from leukemia following CBT.

Alternative donor transplantation with the haplo-cord platform allows the use of a lower-dose single umbilical cord blood unit (CBU) by co-infusion of third-party CD34+-selected cells from a haploidentical relative, which provides early transient engraftment while awaiting durable CBU engraftment. In our experience, ~15% of patients lack a suitable haploidentical donor. Here we report 26 patients who underwent haplo-cord transplant using CD34+-selected partially matched unrelated donor grafts. Twenty-four were conditioned with fludarabine/melphalan +/− low-dose TBI (n = 16). Twenty-five received ATG and all received posttransplant tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil. Median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 11 and 18 days. CBU engraftment, with CD33 and CD3 >5% cord chimerism in the myeloid/lymphoid compartment by day +60, occurred in 20 of 24 patients (83%). Incidence of grade 2–4 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was 27% at day +100, and chronic GVHD was 4% at 1 year. Overall survival at 1 year was 54%. For patients in need of an alternative transplant who lack a haploidentical donor, haplo-cord transplantation using CD34+-selected partially matched unrelated donor grafts results in rapid engraftment with no increased rate of cord graft failure or GVHD.

Optimal conditioning chemotherapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) remains uncertain. Myeloablative regimens such as fludarabine/busulfan are favored over reduced-intensity fludarabine/melphalan (Flu/Mel); however, it is not known if Flu/Mel is inferior. We analyzed hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients with AML and MDS who received fludarabine with once-daily intravenous busulfan targeted to either area under the curve (AUC) 5300 μM*L/min (Flu/Bu 5300) (n=246) or AUC 3500 μM*L/min (Flu/Bu 3500) (n=81), or Flu/Mel (n=69). Flu/Bu regimens were compared separately to Flu/Mel. After 2-year follow-up, no differences in overall or relapse-free survival were found between Flu/Bu 5300 or 3500 versus Flu/Mel though relapse rates were significantly higher; 33.1% (p=0.024), 44.6% (p=0.002), versus 19.4%, respectively. Flu/Bu 5300 (p=0.008) and Flu/Bu 3500 (p

With the emerging application of novel targeted agents in the induction, maintenance and salvage strategies, management of aggressive mantle cell lymphoma is being transformed from high-intensity chemo-immunotherapy applicable to only selected patients, to more personalized treatment incorporating novel agents that are effective and accessible for the majority of the patients. This review summarizes risk-stratified management paradigm for aggressive mantle cell lymphoma, providing context for clinical applications of novel agents and cellular therapy including stem cell transplant and CAR-T.

Reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens, improved HLA matching, and better supportive care allow allogeneic stem cell transplant (alloSCT) to be offered to older patients. Only a small percentage of eligible patients between ages 65 and 74 years actually undergo alloSCT, and comprehensive outcome data from the aging population are still lacking. We examined the outcome of older patients who underwent alloSCT using melphalan-based RIC for hematologic malignancies at our institution. We identified 125 patients older than 65 years (median, 69; range, 66 to 77) who underwent matched related donor, matched unrelated donor, or combined haploidentical/umbilical cord alloSCT between 2012 through November, 2017. Among them, 52 (41.6%) and 70 (56%) had, respectively, intermediate and high/very high Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) disease risk index (DRI). One hundred six patients (85%) received fludarabine/melphalan-based RIC regimen with either antithymocyte globulin (ATG) or alemtuzumab. The median time to neutrophil engraftment was 13 days (range, 8 to 37) and platelet engraftment 17 days (range, 9 to 169). The cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality was 11.5% at 100 days and 30.1% and 34.8% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. The cumulative incidence of relapse was 35% and 40% at 1 and 2 years. The cumulative incidence of grades II to IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) at day 100 and 6 months was 29.5% and 34.5%, and chronic GVHD at 6, 12, and 24 months was 2.5%, 5.2%, and 6.3%, respectively. With a median follow-up of 32 months, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 34.6%, 24.4%, and 16.5%, respectively. The graft GVHD-free survival was 24.6%, 16.1%, and 9.3%, respectively. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival (OS) was 44.5%, 30.7%, and 26.5%, respectively. In multivariable analysis, low albumin was predictive of poor PFS and OS and high hematopoietic cell transplantation–specific comorbidity index, and CIBMTR DRI was predictive of worse graft GVHD-free survival. Among long-term survivors the median Karnofsky performance status was 80. Older patients, even when referred with advanced disease, can benefit from melphalan-based alloSCT with HLA-matched or alternative donor sources without discernible impact of donor source on outcome. Using alemtuzumab- or ATG-based in vivo T cell depletion, the incidence of chronic GVHD is extremely low. Performance status in survivors is excellent. Better predictors for outcome in this patient population need to be identified.

The authors discuss a case of CD19-negative diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with central nervous system relapse following CD19-directed CAR T-cell treatment. Absence of CD19 expression by the tumour cells presented a challenge for flow cytometry evaluation.

Introduction: Chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy harnesses a patient’s own immune system to target cancer. Cardiotoxicity occurs in up to 25% of patients treated with CAR-T. There are limited data characterizing the association between the development of cardiotoxicity after CAR-T and mortality among patients following CAR T cell therapy. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that cardiotoxicity following CAR-T treatment would be associated with a higher rate of mortality. Cardiotoxicity was a composite outcome defined as the development of heart failure, cardiogenic shock, or myocardial infarction. Methods: We included the first 202 adult patients entered into a multicenter registry receiving anti-CD 19 CAR-T for lymphoma or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Of these, 108 died and 94 survived. Covariates included standard baseline cardiovascular and cancer parameters, the occurrence of cardiotoxicity and mortality. Results: Those that did and did not die after CAR-T were similar in age, sex, and pre-lymphodepletion chemotherapy regiment. Death after CAR-T was more common in patients with than without hypertension (66% vs. 47%, p=0.009) or ALL (66% vs. 48%, p=0.02), and less common with baseline coronary artery disease (25 vs. 56%, p=0.04). There was no difference in mean cytokine release syndrome (CRS) grade, rate of ≥2 CRS, or in the use of tocilizumab or steroids between those who did and did not die after CAR-T. During a mean follow-up of 372±284 days, 33 (16%) patients experienced cardiotoxicity. Patients with vs. without cardiotoxicity died more often (76% vs. 49%, OR 3.2, CI 1.4 - 7.6, p=0.005). In a Cox model adjusted for covariates identified in univariate analyses, occurrence of cardiotoxicity with CAR-T was independently associated with an increased risk of mortality (adjusted HR: 1.85, 95% CI: 1.17-2.92, p=0.009). Conclusions: CAR-T recipients who experience cardiotoxicity have higher mortality.

INTRODUCTION Patients with secondary CNS lymphoma (SCNSL) were excluded from the pivotal trials that led to the approval of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell lymphomas due to concern for neurotoxicity (NT). Limited evidence exists for axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel, Yescarta®) in SCNSL patients. METHODS In this retrospective study, 15 R/R lymphomas patients with SCNSL (14 DLBCL, 1 chronic lymphocytic leukemia) were treated with commercial axi-cel between March 2019 and April 2021 for systemic disease and assessed for NT using the Immune Effector Cell-Associated Neurotoxicity Syndrome (ICANS) and CTCAE toxicity grading systems. RESULTS Seven of 15 patients (47%) developed NT, all of whom had cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Four (27%) developed severe NT (Grade III-IV). In the 8 patients (53%) with active SCNSL, 6 (75%) did not develop NT and 2 (25%) developed severe NT. In the 4 severe NT patients, all had multifocal CNS disease and 3/4 (75%) had leptomeningeal disease. Two thirds of patients previously treated with RT developed severe NT (1 whole brain RT, 1 skull base). The third patient had RT to the eye. Four of 8 (50%) patients with prior intrathecal chemotherapy developed severe NT. Five patients relapsed (3 in the CNS), none of whom had NT. At 11.7 month median follow-up, 8 patients remain alive, 5 are deceased (1 from NT, 3 from progression, 1 from infection), 2 lost to follow-up. The patient who died from NT had prior temporal arteritis. Three additional patients with autoimmune disease did not develop severe NT. CONCLUSION In this limited cohort, presence of SCNSL did not increase NT incidence compared to historical outcomes of CAR T-cell therapy patients without SCNSL. This cohort will be compared to CAR T-cell therapy patients without SCNSL. Prospective studies of CAR T-cell therapy in SCNSL patients will be informative.

The incidence of adenovirus viremia and the role of screening in preventing adenovirus disease in adult transplant recipients are not well defined. Between January 2017 and May 2020, 262 allogeneic transplants were performed using

The in vivo depletion of recipient and donor T lymphocytes using antithymocyte globulin (ATG; Thymoglobulin) is widely adopted in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) to reduce the incidence of both graft failure and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). However, excess toxicity to donor lymphocytes may hamper immune reconstitution, compromising antitumor effects and increasing infection. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) administered early after HCT may increase ATG-mediated lymphotoxicity. This study aimed to investigate the effect of an interaction between ATG and post-transplantation granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on allogeneic HCT outcomes, using the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) registry. We studied patients age ≥18 years with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who received Thymoglobulin-containing preparative regimens for HLA-matched sibling/unrelated or mismatched unrelated donor HCT between 2010 and 2018. The effect of planned G-CSF that was started between pretransplantation day 3 and post-transplantation day 12 was studied in comparison with transplantations that did not include G-CSF. Cox regression models were built to identify risk factors associated with outcomes at 1 year after transplantation. A total of 874 patients met the study eligibility criteria, of whom 459 (53%) received planned G-CSF. HCT with planned G-CSF was associated with a significantly increased risk for nonrelapse mortality (NRM) (hazard ratio [HR] 2.03; P.0001; 21% versus 12%) compared to HCT without G-CSF. The 6-month incidence of viral infection was higher with G-CSF (56% versus 47%; P = .007), with a particular increase in Epstein-Barr virus infections (19% versus 11%; P = .002). The observed higher NRM with planned G-CSF led to lower overall survival (HR, 1.52; P = .0005; 61% versus 72%). There was no difference in GVHD risk between the treatment groups. We performed 2 subgroup analyses showing that our findings held true in patients age ≥50 years and in centers where G-CSF was used in some, but not all, patients. In allogeneic peripheral blood HCT performed with Thymoglobulin for AML and MDS, G-CSF administered early post-transplantation resulted in a 2-fold increase in NRM and a 10% absolute decrement in survival. The use of planned G-CSF in the early post-transplantation period should be carefully considered on an individual patient basis, weighing any perceived benefits against these risks.

Allogeneic transplantation rightly considered the most effective treatment for acute leukemia also has many limitations, not least a high rate of recurrence. Many studies have been conducted to dec...

Background: Patients ≥55 years of age with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may benefit from an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), which is often the only potentially curative therapy available. However, complete remission (CR) is usually a pre-requisite for most centers to perform HCT, as CR predicts an optimal outcome. Many older patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) AML are not transplanted as they do not achieve the required CR. In addition, due to their advanced age, they are unable to tolerate the myeloablative conditioning required for eradication of disease, while the more tolerable reduced intensity conditioning often exhibits high rates of relapse. The SIERRA trial is a prospective, randomized, phase 3 trial for older patients with R/R AML to address this unmet need. We hypothesized that a targeted delivery of radiation to the marrow, achieved with a limit of 24 Gray (Gy) radiation dose to the liver, via an infusion of a therapeutic dose of Iomab-B enables successful engraftment despite active disease in the marrow. Methods: Eligible patients were ≥55 years with active R/R AML (≥5% blasts), adequate organ function, and related/unrelated 8/8 HLA-matched donors. Patients were randomized (1:1) to the Iomab-B or Conventional Care (CC) arm. Patients randomized to Iomab-B received an outpatient dosimetric dose of Iomab-B followed by nuclear medicine imaging to determine the personalized therapeutic dose that would deliver radiation to the marrow while limiting the delivery of radiation to the liver to 24 Gy. HCT is performed 12-14 days following the infusion of a therapeutic dose of Iomab-B, and a non-myeloablative conditioning backbone of fludarabine (30 mg/m2 x 3) and low-dose Total Body Irradiation (TBI 2 Gy x 1 dose). Patients on the CC arm received investigator's choice of salvage therapy, including newly approved targeted agents, and could proceed to physician's choice of conditioning and HCT if they achieved CR. If CC patients did not achieve CR, the study allowed them to cross-over and receive Iomab-B-based conditioning followed by allogeneic HCT. Results: Preliminary data were available from 106 patients (Table 1). 53 patients (median age 64) were randomized to Iomab-B and received allogeneic transplant. All Iomab-B patients engrafted, despite a pre-therapy median of 26% marrow blasts. After randomization, 83% (44/53) CC patients failed salvage therapy, including 45% (24/53) who received targeted agents. 26 of 44 (60%) CC patients, with a median 33% marrow blasts, crossed over and received Iomab-B followed by allogeneic HCT. Patient age, donor type (MRD, MUD), bone marrow cellularity, blast percentage, type of donor, stem cell dose, administered Iomab-B activity (mCi), and absorbed radiation dose to the marrow (Gy), were analyzed for time to engraftment among each group. Median time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment were 14 days (range 9-22) and 17 days (range 4-39) respectively, with 91% of evaluable patients achieving full donor chimerism (>95% by day 100, Table 1). Neither the radiation dose delivered to the marrow (median 14.7 Gy; range, 4.6-32 Gy; Table 1) nor the total administered activity (median 632 mCi; range, 354-1027 mCi) showed correlation with the time to either neutrophil (p value=0.525) or platelet engraftment (p value=0.952). Regression analyses, considering all of the variables individually, did not indicate a statistically significant correlation (p > 0.1) between days to engraftment and radiation dose delivered to the marrow. These results were consistent for the Iomab-B cross-over group as well. Furthermore, the marrow absorbed dose did not show a significant correlation with % chimerism at day 28 in patients on the Iomab-B arm or in cross-over patients. Conclusion: Dosimetry to determine a patient-specific therapeutic dose of Iomab-B of 24 Gy to the liver provided absorbed marrow radiation doses that allowed for reliable engraftment after allogeneic HCT in older patients with R/R AML, despite a heavy leukemia burden with median bone marrow blasts of 26% prior to HCT (Iomab-B arm). There was no relationship between total administered activity or radiation dose delivered to the marrow with the speed of engraftment. The SIERRA trial is currently enrolling patients (www.sierratrial.com or clinicaltrials.gov NCT02665065). Disclosures Gyurkocza: Actinium: Research Funding. Nath:Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Actinium: Consultancy, Honoraria; Astellas: Consultancy, Honoraria. Stiff:Kite, a Gilead Company: Research Funding; Gamida Cell: Research Funding; Atara: Research Funding; Unum: Research Funding; Macrogenics: Research Funding; Delta-Fly: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding. Hari:Takeda: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Incyte Corporation: Consultancy. Al-Kadhimi:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Research Funding; Genzyme: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Gilead Science: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Moderna: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Novavax: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Abboud:BMS: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; AbbVie Inc: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Forty Seven Inc: Research Funding; Abbott Labs: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; AlloVir: Research Funding; Ryvu: Research Funding; Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Research Funding; Johnson & Johnson: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Pfizer: Research Funding. Magalhaes-Silverman:Incyte: Research Funding; Kadmon Holdings: Research Funding; Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding. Foran:BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; H3Biosciences: Research Funding; Agios: Honoraria, Research Funding; Xencor: Research Funding; Trillium: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Kura Oncology: Research Funding; Aptose: Research Funding; Aprea: Research Funding; Actinium: Research Funding; Boehringer Ingelheim: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Revolution Medicine: Consultancy; Servier: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Schuster:Amgen, Abbvie, Gilead, Takeda, Celgene, Pharmacyclics, Astellas, Verastem, Merck, Novartis, Takeda, Genentech,, Seattle Genetics: Other: Personal Fees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Kebriaei:Amgen: Other: Research Support; Pfizer: Other: Served on advisory board; Ziopharm: Other: Research Support; Jazz: Consultancy; Novartis: Other: Served on advisory board; Kite: Other: Served on advisory board. Levy:Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Bristol Meyers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; BeiGene: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Baylor University Med Center: Current Employment. Giralt:ACTINUUM: Consultancy, Research Funding; MILTENYI: Consultancy, Research Funding; KITE: Consultancy; TAKEDA: Research Funding; CELGENE: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; JAZZ: Consultancy, Honoraria; AMGEN: Consultancy, Research Funding; OMEROS: Consultancy, Honoraria; NOVARTIS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Liang:Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Current Employment. Berger:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Reddy:Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company.

Access to HLA-matched unrelated donors (MUD) has long been a barrier to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In more recent years however, the development and optimization of alternate d...

The anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)–T cell therapy tisagenlecleucel was evaluated in the global, phase 2 JULIET study in adult patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We correlated tisagenlecleucel cellular kinetics with clinical/product parameters in 111 patients treated in JULIET. Tisagenlecleucel persistence in responders and nonresponders, respectively, was demonstrated for 554 and 400 days maximum by flow cytometry and for 693 and 374 days maximum by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). No relationships were identified between cellular kinetics (qPCR) and product characteristics, intrinsic/extrinsic factors, dose, or immunogenicity. Most patients with 3-month response had detectable transgene at time of response and continued persistence for ≥6 months. Expansion (maximal expansion of transgene/CAR-positive T-cell levels in vivo postinfusion [Cmax]) was potentially associated with response duration but this did not reach statistical significance (hazard ratio for a twofold increase in Cmax, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-1.01). Tisagenlecleucel expansion was associated with cytokine-release syndrome (CRS) severity and tocilizumab use; no relationships were observed with neurologic events. Transgene levels were associated with B-cell levels. Dose was associated with CRS severity, but this was not statistically significant after adjusting for baseline tumor burden. In contrast to the results from B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, similar exposure was observed in DLBCL in this study regardless of response and expansion was lower in DLBCL than B-ALL, likely from differences in cancer location and/or T-cell intrinsic factors. Relationships between expansion and CRS severity, and lack of relationships between dose and exposure, were similar between DLBCL and B-ALL. Tisagenlecleucel cellular kinetics in adult relapsed/refractory DLBCL improve current understanding of in vivo expansion and its relationships with safety/efficacy endpoints. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02445248.