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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) emerges as a major cause of death in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), but predictors of fatal CVD and the effect of MDS-specific treatments on CVD mortality remain largely unknown. In an analysis involving 831 patients with MDS with known causes of death, we noted an independent association of lower risk MDS, age70 years, pre-existing CVD, and treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents with a higher risk of death from CVD. If externally validated, these simple risk factors could increase clinicians' awareness toward CVD complications and guide early introduction of intensive monitoring and preventive interventions in MDS patients.

BackgroundMyelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are characterised by abnormal epigenetic repression and differentiation of bone marrow haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Drugs that reverse epigenetic repression, such as 5-azacytidine (5-AZA), induce haematological improvement in half of treated patients. Although the mechanisms underlying therapy success are not yet clear, induction of endogenous retroelements (EREs) has been hypothesised.MethodsUsing RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), we compared the transcription of EREs in bone marrow HSCs from a new cohort of MDS and chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) patients before and after 5-AZA treatment with HSCs from healthy donors and AML patients. We further examined ERE transcription using the most comprehensive annotation of ERE-overlapping transcripts expressed in HSCs, generated here by de novo transcript assembly and supported by full-length RNA-seq.ResultsConsistent with prior reports, we found that treatment with 5-AZA increased the representation of ERE-derived RNA-seq reads in the transcriptome. However, such increases were comparable between treatment responses and failures. The extended view of HSC transcriptional diversity offered by de novo transcript assembly argued against 5-AZA-responsive EREs as determinants of the outcome of therapy. Instead, it uncovered pre-treatment expression and alternative splicing of developmentally regulated gene transcripts as predictors of the response of MDS and CMML patients to 5-AZA treatment.ConclusionsOur study identifies the developmentally regulated transcriptional signatures of protein-coding and non-coding genes, rather than EREs, as correlates of a favourable response of MDS and CMML patients to 5-AZA treatment and offers novel candidates for further evaluation.

Azacytidine (AZA) remains the mainstay of therapy for patients with high-risk Myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS). The antineoplastic effects of AZA are thought to be mediated by two core mechanisms,...

Background Osteoporosis affects millions of postmenopausal women worldwide. Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) are important cells for bone homeostasis. The sim of this study was to investigate the contribution of invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) in the increased receptor activator of the nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) pool and bone resorption, a characteristic of patients with osteoporosis. Material/Methods Whole blood was collected from 79 female patients. The dual energy x-absorptiometry scan was performed in all patients, and the T-score was calculated in order to classify our patients according to the World Human Organization (WHO) criteria for diagnosis and classification of osteoporosis. Eleven patients had a T-score −2.5 and were included in the osteoporosis group. We performed a-galactosylceramide activation of iNKT cells in vitro. Surface RANKL expression was detected by multicolor flow cytometry in naive and activated lymphocytes. Beta-Crosslaps (β-CTx) levels were measured in whole blood plasma by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Results Although iNKT cells were not clonally expanded in patients with osteoporosis, iNKT cells from osteoporotic patients overexpressed RANKL compared to ND and osteopenic patients. This is a distinctive feature of iNKT cells and is not seen in conventional T-lymphocytes. RANKL expression in iNKT cells was not related to β-CTx levels in the blood. Finally, iNKT cell activation by the prototypal glycolipid ligand α-galactosylceramide increased by 8 times their RANKL expression. Conclusions In patients with osteoporosis, iNKT cells specifically overexpress RANKL, a cytokine that regulates osteoclast activity. It seems that iNKT cells have a long-standing effect of on the bone physiology, which plays an important role in the bone loss of patients with osteoporosis.

Higher-risk Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients undergoing treatment with 5-azacytidine (AZA) are typically elderly with several comorbidities. However, the effect of comorbidities on the effectiveness and safety of AZA in real-world settings remains unclear. We analyzed data from 536 AZA-treated patients with higher-risk MDS, Myelodysplastic/Myeloproliferative neoplasms and low blast count Acute Myeloid Leukemia enrolled to the Hellenic National Registry of Myelodysplastic and Hypoplastic Syndromes. Multivariate analysis adjusted also for the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), its revised version (IPSS-R) and the French Prognostic Scoring System (FPSS), demonstrated independent associations of overall and leukemia-free survival with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 2 mg/dL, can be utilized as a more precise indicator of renal comorbidity during AZA therapy. Incorporation of eGFR in the prognostic assessment of AZA-treated MDS patients may prove useful not only in routine practice, but also for the appropriate patient stratification in clinical trials with AZA combinations.

Introduction: Less than 5% of patients with MDS present with thrombocytopenia as an isolated abnormality (MDS-IT). There have been few systematic studies on MDS-IT and data regarding its course and prognosis are conflicting. Previous studies have defined MDS-IT based on the IPSS thresholds (Hb ≥10 g/dL; ANC ≥1.8×10 9/L; PLT Methods: We identified patients who had PLT 13 g/dL (men) or >12 g/dL (women), and ANC ≥1.8 ×10 9/L, registered in the Hellenic National Registry of Myelodysplastic and Hypoplastic Syndromes which includes 2792 patients (analysis cut-off date; July 7, 2016). Patients were divided into 4 groups: group 1 had PLT 149-100 ×10 9/L; group 2, 99-50 ×10 9/L; group 3, Results: A total of 77 patients (45 men; 32 women) with MDS-IT were identified (2.9% of total MDS cohort). Of these, 28.6% were classified in group 1; 49.4% in group 2; 14.3% in group 3; and 7.8% in group 4. Median PLT count was 87 ×10 9/L (12-139 ×10 9/L), WBC count 4.6 ×10 9/L, and Hb 13.6 g/dL. Bone marrow (BM) blasts ranged from 0-9% (median, 2%). Median follow-up was 51.0 months (41.6-60.4), during which 15 (19.5%) patients died. AML developed in 9 patients (11.7%). Histologically, MDS with multilineage dysplasia (MLD) was seen in 77.6% whereas MDS with excess blasts (EB) and MDS with single lineage dysplasia (SLD) comprised 10.7% and 11.9% of cases, respectively. Most patients (73.5%) had lower-risk MDS on the IPSS-R (i.e. IPSS-R ≤3.5). Of the 59 patients with cytogenetic data, 83.1% had favorable, 13.5% intermediate, and 3.4% poor risk cytogenetics. Most (40) had a normal karyotype followed by isolated del(20q) (6). All patients with del(20q) showed a characteristic set of clinical features: age >60 years, blasts 0-3%, bilineage (erythroid/megakaryocytic) dysplasia, and increased reticulin fibrosis. There were no significant differences between any of the 4 PLT groups regarding age, sex, IPSS-R, cytogenetics, BM blasts, and histology. Median OS was 109 months (95% CI 103-115) and LFS 108 months (101-115). Our results showed no significant difference in OS (P=0.891) and LFS (P=0.871) between the 4 PLT groups. As compared with total MDS cohort, MDS-IT occurred at younger age (64.7 vs. 72.4 years, P In comparing MDS-IT with ITP, the median age at diagnosis was 66.0 years for MDS-IT and 49.0 years for ITP (P80 years. Its incidence reached a peak between the ages of 70-79 years, whereas ITP occurred at a more constant level over time (Figure 1B). Women predominated in ITP and men in MDS-IT (P=0.007). Overall, ITP was associated with more marked thrombocytopenia than MDS-IT (15.0 ×10 9/L vs. 87.0 ×10 9/L) (P Conclusions: In one of the largest reported series, we conclude that MDS-IT is associated with MDS-MLD, favorable cytogenetics, lower-risk IPSS-R, high survival rate, and a low risk of AML evolution. Our data suggest that the superior prognosis in MDS-IT than general MDS may have intrinsic genomic underpinnings as survival curves remained unchanged after correcting for age, sex, blasts and IPSS-R. Importantly, no significant differences in OS and LFS were noted between the 4 PLT subgroups, suggesting that the degree of thrombocytopenia does not correlate with mortality in MDS-IT. From the diagnostic standpoint, age 80 years and PLT Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Viniou: Sandoz: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Abbvie: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Astellas: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding. Vassilakopoulos: Dr. Reddy's: Research Funding; Amgen: Honoraria, Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria, Other: Travel; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Integris: Honoraria; Pfizer: Research Funding; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, Research Funding; Genesis Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel; Merck: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Karyopharm: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria. Hatzimichael: Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MSD: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; Janssen Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genesis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Honoraria; Pharmathen- Innovis: Honoraria; GSK: Honoraria; Bristol Myersr Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: 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. Symeonidis: Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi/Genzyme: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Demo: Research Funding; MSD: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; WinMedica: Research Funding; Astellas: Consultancy, Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; GenesisPharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

Prolymphocytic leukemia (PLL) is a rare disorder, comprising less than 1% of chronic lymphocytic leukemias [1]. T-cell origin is more common, while B-PLL is rarely encountered. It is mostly affecti...

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable B-cell malignancy. The immunotherapeutic approach for MM therapy is evolving. The Cd1d/invariant natural killer T-cell/glycolipid immune axis belongs to the innate immunity, and we have highlighted role in myeloma pathogenesis in the present study. The recent development of the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR19)-invariant natural killer T-cells resulted in our renewed interest in this immune system and offer new perspectives for future anti-MM immunotherapies.

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Background: 5-azacytidine (5-AZA) improves survival of patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) and oligoblastic acute myeloid leukemia (AML); however, predictive factors for response and outcome have not been consistently studied. Methods: This study of the Hellenic MDS Study Group included 687 consecutive patients with higher-risk MDS and oligoblastic AML treated with 5-AZA. Results: The International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) revised version (IPSS-R), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS) (0 or 1 versus ⩾2) and baseline serum ferritin (SF) levels > 520 ng/ml were shown to independently predict response to 5-AZA. In the survival analysis, the IPSS and IPSS-R risk classification systems along with the ECOG PS and SF levels > 520 ng/ml proved to be independent prognosticators for overall survival (OS), as well as for leukemia-free survival (LFS). Next, we built new multivariate models for OS and LFS, incorporating only ECOG PS and SF levels besides IPSS or IPSS-R risk classification systems. Thereby, the new modified IPSS and IPSS-R risk classification systems (H-PSS, H-PSS-R) could each discriminate a low, an intermediate and a high-risk patient group regarding OS and LFS. The H-PSS and H-PSS-R proved to be better predictors of OS than their previous counterparts as well as the French prognostic score, while the most powerful OS predictor was the new, H-PSS-R system. Conclusions: ECOG PS and SF levels > 520 ng/ml independently predict response to 5-AZA, OS and LFS. Their incorporation in the IPSS and IPSS-R scores enhances these scores’ predictive power in 5-AZA-treated higher-risk MDS and oligoblastic AML patients.

Hypomethylating agents are widely used in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). We analyzed the characteristics of 88 patients with CMML homogeneously treated with 5-azacytidine (Hellenic 5-Azacytidine Registry). The overall response rate was 48.9% and the median overall survival (OS) 29.7 months. Out of the seven most widely used prognostic scoring systems for CMML, the Dusseldorf score (DUSS) showed the best prognostic capability (HR, 2.27

JAK2V617F is a gain of function point mutation that occurs in Myeloproliferative Neoplasm (MPN) patients and deranges their hemopoiesis at cellular level. We speculate that hyperfunctioning JAK2 can modify osteoclast (OCL) homeostasis in MPN patients. We studied 18 newly diagnosed MPN patients and four age-matched normal donors (ND). Osteoclast forming assays started from selected monocytes also and under titrated concentrations of the JAK2 Inhibitor AG-490 (Tyrphostin). Genomic DNA was extracted from the formed osteoclasts, and the JAK2V617F/JAK2WT genomic DNA ratio was calculated. OCLs formed from monocytes derived from heterozygous (Het) for the JAK2V617F mutation MPN patients, were three times more compared to those from JAK2 wild type (WT) MPN patients (p=0,05) and from ND as well (p=0,03). The ratio of JAK2V617F/JAK2WT genomic DNA was increased in OCLs compared to the input monocyte cells showing a survival advantage of the mutated clone. In comparison to ND and JAK2 WT MPN patients, OCLs from patients JAK2V617F (Het) were more susceptible to JAK2 inhibition. These alterations in osteoclast homeostasis, attributed to mutated JAK2, can deregulate the hemopoietic stem cell niche in MPN patients.

It has been suggested that myeloid neoplasms with isolated isochromosome 17q [ MN i(17q)] comprise a distinct entity with poor prognosis . However, literature reports show a considerable clinical and molecular heterogeneity. We describe a 58-year-old male patient who was diagnosed as refractory anemia with multilineage dysplasia and ringed sideroblasts with isolated i(17q) . Though he initially responded well to erythropoietin, he gradually progressed to an aggressive form of MDS/MPN refractory to azacytidine and died 29 months after first diagnosis. Notably, in contrast to disease advancement, his karyotype reverted to normal, whereas his mutational profile remained unchanged. To our knowledge this is the first report of karyotype normalization during disease progression in patients with MN i(17q) , suggesting that the i(17q) anomaly is dispensable for the leukemic transformation and highlighting the underlying clinical and molecular complexity which both have to be resolved before the establishment of MN with isolated i(17q) as a distinct entity.

Data derived from clinical trials consistently show a prolongation of overall survival of late-stage MDS patients with the introduction of azacytidine. Nevertheless, the applicability of the above results to real-world clinical settings may be questionable due to the strict design, the controlled medical environment, and the limited patient sample of explanatory studies. We retrospectively compared the outcome of two well-balanced groups of late-stage MDS patients. The first consisted of 46 patients treated with azacytidine (AZA cohort) and the second of 41 patients treated with other agents (non-AZA cohort). Patients in the AZA cohort displayed superior survival compared to the non-AZA ones. However, subgroup analysis revealed that azacytidine conferred a significant survival advantage only in patients with AML–MDS and those who attained a CR at any time after treatment initiation, while all other patients displayed comparable outcome with the non-AZA cohort. Larger series are needed to determine which patients benefit most from azacytidine therapy.

The role of thrombophilia and LMWH use in pregnancy loss (PL) and pregnancy complications (PC) is debated. In this retrospective study from a single center we analyzed the clinical outcome of pregnancies in relation to thrombophilic factors and the use of LMWH, aspirin and folic acid in 143 women followed up for a total of 173 pregnancies referred to our center from 2003 to 2016. Methods: Women were referred to our unit for: more than 2 unexplained PL (n=96, 78 experienced only early PL, 11 had only late PL, 7 had both early and late), one pregnancy loss(n=45) or one pregnancy complication (placenta abruption, intrauterine growth restriction, eclampsia, n=2). Mutations in Factor V-Leiden (FVL, G1691A), Prothrombin (PTG, G20210A) and MTHFR (C677T, A 1206C) were checked by DNA hybridization Kit. Plasma levels of antithrombin-III, protein-C, free Protein-S, APCR, FVIII, FXII, PT aPTT, fibrinogen, homocysteine and La-test were measured by photometry (DACO). Anticardiolopin and anti-β2GPI antibodies (IGG and IGM) were measured by ELISA in serum (APLA). End points were live birth and pregnancy complications. The prevalence of thrombophilia in our cohort was similar with previous studies and 34/143 (23,4%) women were negative for all thrombophilic factors. We observed mutations in FVL(11,6%), PTG (9,6%), MTHFR (homozygous or double heterozygous, 33,3%) and deficiencies of AT-III (3,3%), Prot-C (1,6%), Prot-S (8,8%), APS (8,7%). Combined severe trombophilic factors were found in 31 women (21,5%) (FVL+PTG 4/31, Natural Anticoagulants one out 3 Def + MTHFR 3/31, APS + MTHFR 2/31, FVL+MTHFR 16/31, PTG + MTHFR 6/31). We then separated our cohort into women with 2 complications. The second group had significantly higher incidence of FVL mutation (12,5 vs 8,3%, p=0.05) and deficiencies of AT-III and Free Prot-S ( 6,5 vs 0 %, p=0.01) compared to the first one. By contrast, women in the first group had higher incidence of La-test (12,5 vs 4,5%, p=0,03), APLA ( 12 vs 6,6%, p=0.03) and Prot.C deficiency (4,5 vs 0%, p=0.01). In univariate analysis both hereditary and acquired thrombophilic factors did not correlated with pregnancy outcome (live birth or pregnancy complications). Only age as a continuous parameter correlated negatively with live birth and positively with pregnancy complications (p=0.01 and p=0.025, respectively), whereas high BMI as a continuous parameter also negatively affected live births (p= 0.049). Logistic regression analysis reveals that the age of 35 is the cut off for unfortunate pregnancy outcome. Pregnancies were proceeded with (n=143, 81,7%) or without (n=32, 18,3%,) LMWH. The decision to use LMWH were based in a positive thrombophilia screening test (n=84) or to prior history >2 pregnancy complications with negative trombophilia testing (n=59). Concomitant use of ASA was prescribed in 78 pregnancies (dose less than 100 mg/day) and concomitant follic acid in 143 pregnancies. The percentage of live births were identical in women treated with LMWH (87,4%) or not (87,5%, p=0.9). In multivariate analysis, the only factor that was strongly correlated to live birth was the duration of LMWH treatment (odds ratio, OR =3,567, 95% CI (1.845, 6,894), p= 0,01) and the titration of the dose with anti-Xa (OR=5,138, 95% CI (1,717, 15,376), p = 0,01, fig.1a). By ROC analysis the duration of LMWH which correlated to live birth was ≥ 5.5 months(fig. 1b). The addition of ASA was insignificant for live birth (p=0.7), while the duration (>6months) of follic acid also appeared to add a benefit in combination with LMWH (p=0.01). Moreover, pregnancies proceeded without LMWH exhibited higher rates of pregnancy complications (18,75 vs 11,2%, p=0.08) and prematurity (14,3 vs 8,8%, p=0.05). In summary, our findings argue against hereditary thrombophilia screening in the cases of previous pregnancy loss or pregnancy complications. On the contrary, testing for APS even after the first event might be of value as this population often has laboratory evidence of APS and may benefit from proper anticoagulation. The use of LMWH and folic acid but not of ASA was related to less pregnancy complications or prematurity, whereas proper titration of LMWH by using anti-Xa and long duration of therapy were the only important factors for successful pregnancy outcome. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

INTRODUCTION: The hypomethylating agents 5-azacitidine (5-AZA) and decitabine are recently considered the most preferable treatment option for patients with intermediate-2 and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), by International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS). 5-AZA responders experience improved survival both in clinical trials (AZA 001) and in the real-life setting. Thrombocytopenia is a common event in MDS, during the course of the disease; recently, severe thrombocytopenia (≤30,000 platelets/μL) has been suggested as an important factor regarding the survival of MDS patients. In the present study, we examined the potential prognostic significance of severe thrombocytopenia, in intermediate-2- and high-risk MDS patients, being treated with 5-AZA, during the first 3 years of treatment. METHODS: This retrospective study included 850 higher-risk patients (intermediate-2- and high-risk), registered in the the Hellenic MDS Registry, treated with 5-AZA from 2010 to 2018 and were followed up for a time period up to 3 years. Complete patient data were available for 225 patients. Biostatistical analysis performed in this study included Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression. The level of statistical significance was set at a probability value of less than 0.050 (P RESULTS: The current study included 225 patients (159 male and 66 women) with intermediate-2- or high-risk MDS treated with 5-AZA, with a median age of 74 years (range: 47 - 89). WHO diagnosis included 1 (0.4%) case of RCUD, 8 (3.6%) cases of RCMD, 3 (1.3%) cases of RCMD-RS, 43 (19.1%) cases of RAEB-1, and 170 (75.6%) cases of RAEB-2. According to IPSS, 174 (77.3%) patients were classified in the intermediate-2 risk group and 51 (22.7%) patients in the high-risk group. In addition, according to IPSS-R, 24 (10.7%) patients were categorized in the intermediate risk group, 106 (47.1%) patients in the high-risk group, and 95 (42.2%) patients in the very-high risk group. All patients were evaluated regarding response to 5-AZA treatment. The initial response at 6 months was: complete remission (CR) in 40 (18.4%) patients, partial remission (PR) in 24 (11.1%) patients, hematological improvement (HI) in 35 (16.1%) patients; therefore, the initial overall response rate (CR, PR, and HI) was 45.6%. Stable disease (SD) was achieved by 56 (25.8%) MDS patients, while 62 (28.5%) patients showed progression of disease (PD) or treatment failure. Severe thrombocytopenia was not predictive of response, as shown using logistic regression analysis. However, severe thrombocytopenia predicted poor overall survival (OS) in the first 3 years of treatment with 5-AZA, as shown by the Kaplan-Meier analysis (Figure 1; P=0.016). Regarding AML-free survival, a strong trend was observed for thy unfavorable prognostic role of this severe cytopenia (P=0.096). Univariate Cox regression analysis for OS revealed a statistically significant hazard ratio (HR) of 1.6 for MDS patients with severe thrombocytopenia (HR=1.6, 95% CI=1.08, P=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that severe thrombocytopenia (≤ 30,000 platelets/μL) in intermediate-2- and high-risk MDS patients, treated with 5-AZA, predicts lower OS rates during the first 3 years of treatment. Figure 1. Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Hypomethylating agents (HMA) such as azacytidine and decitabine are the mainstay of treatment for higher risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and are also used to treat older, unfit patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Being cytidine analogues, both azacytidine and decitabine are incorporated into DNA of highly proliferating cells leading to genome-wide decrease of methylation levels (Stresemann & Lyko., 2008; Gnyszka et al., 2013), whereas azacytidine is additionally incorporated into RNA molecules. Although several putative modes of action have been suggested for HMA, the precise mechanism underlying treatment success or failure remains incompletely understood. One possible mechanism of HMA action is through 'viral mimicry' of transcriptionally repressed endogenous retroelements (EREs), which is thought to trigger innate immune pathways. EREs comprise nearly half of the human genome and their transcriptional activity is repressed by diverse mechanisms including DNA methylation. According to the 'viral mimicry' hypothesis, HMA induce unphysiological levels of ERE transcription in transformed cells, which in turn generated nucleic acid species, such as double-stranded RNAs from complementary ERE transcripts, activating innate immune sensors. Although support and a mechanistic basis for this hypothesis is provided from a number of in vitro studies, in vivo evidence from the clinical use of HMA is currently lacking. To explore the possible involvement of EREs in the HMA mode of action, we have compared the transcriptional profiles of CD34+ HSCs isolated from bone marrow samples of healthy donors (n=9) and patients diagnosed with AML (n=9), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia - II (CMML-II, n=9) or high-risk MDS (n=11). For MDS and CMML, samples were obtained before, 15 days (D15) after the initiation of azacytidine and/or after cycle 6. Our analysis revealed that ERE transcription, measured as a proportion of the total polyA-selected transcriptome, is globally repressed in untreated MDS and CMML, in line with the proposed epigenetic repression that characterizes these conditions. Treatment with azacytidine had a measureable effect in overall ERE transcription in HSCs from MDS and CMML patients, which by the 6th cycle was raised to levels equivalent to those seen in HSCs healthy controls. Comparable results were also obtained following analysis of a publicly available dataset from CD34+ HSCs isolated from MDS and CMML patients prior to and after the 6th cycle of azacytidine treatment (GSE76203). However, despite noticeable upregulation of overall ERE transcription relative to gene transcription by azacytidine, the therapeutic response was not correlated with or predicted by ERE activity. Indeed, ERE transcriptional activation was frequently observed in azacytidine-treated patients who failed to respond to treatment, whereas it was frequently low or absent in patients who attained complete remission (figures 1a & b). It remained theoretically possible that a therapeutic response to azacytidine depended on the transcriptional activation of a select few ERE loci with innate immune stimulatory properties, which might have been masked by the analysis of global ERE activity. However, few individual ERE loci differed in their activity between patients who responded or not to azacytidine treatment. Moreover, our analysis failed to detect induction of either interferon-inducible genes or interferon-inducible EREs, irrespective of treatment outcome(figures 2a & b). Together, our current results do not support a role for transcriptional activation of EREs or for innate sensing of their nucleic acid products in the therapeutic response of MDS and CMML patients to azacytidine. Investigation of alternative potential mechanisms of azacytidine is therefore warranted. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients with renal impairment (RI) were not assessed in the approval trials of 5-azacytidine, thus the optimal use of 5-azacytidine in such patients is currently undefined. We retrospectively analyzed 42 IPSS intermediate-2 and high-risk patients with moderate, mild or no RI undergoing 5-azacytidine therapy in a non-trial setting. We demonstrate that patients in all three groups achieved comparable responses and had similar overall and event-free survival. Likewise, both treatment toxicity and dose adjustments were not significantly influenced by renal function status. A transient but reversible decline in glomerular filtration rate was observed in patients either with or without RI, without affecting the therapeutic schedule. Our results provide the first evidence that 5-azacytidine is effective and well-tolerated in patients with mild and moderate RI and, if confirmed by prospective randomized studies, advocate that such patients can be managed in an analogous fashion to patients with normal renal function.

Abstract 1716 Myelodysplastic syndrome patients with renal impairment (RI) were excluded for the approval trials of azacitidine, thus the optimal use of the latter in such patients is currently undefined. Only one single center, retrospective study addressed the efficacy and toxicity of azacytidine in patients with RI (Batty GN et al), but no comparative analysis between patients with or without RI has been performed yet. We retrospectively analyzed 42 MDS patients treated with azacitidine in a non-trial clinical setting. Patients were classified according to WHO as RAEB-II (n=18), AML/MDS (n=5), CMML-II (n=8), MDS/MPN (n=4), RAEB-I (n=3) and RCMD (n=3). All patients had normal hepatic function and ECOG performance status of 0–2. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated using the MRDM or the Cockroft-Gault formulas depending on patient's weight. Response to therapy and toxicity were evaluated using the IWG 2006 response criteria for MDS and CTCAE 3.0, respectively. In all patients azacitidine was started at 75mg/m2 SC for 7 days on 28-day cycles. Significance of differences was assessed by Kruskal-Wallis, Chi square or Fisher Exact tests as appropriate. Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test was used for survival analysis. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the time from first azacitidine administration to death from any cause and Event-free survival (EFS) as the time from first azacitidine administration to leukemic transformation or death. Table I lists patients' characteristics. Based on GFR levels 3 groups were defined: no RI (n=14), mild RI (n=16) and moderate RI (n=12). Median follow up and number of completed cycles for all patients were 9.5 (1–37.2) months and 5.5(1–29), respectively. No differences in response rates were observed among the 3 groups (Fig 1A), though hematological improvement was more frequent in patients with moderate RI (p=0.052). The median OS and EFS were similar among the no RI (20.2 and 15.5 months for OS and EFS, respectively), mild RI (17.1 and 16.3 months) and moderate RI (11.7 and 10.4 months) groups (Fig 1B). Also, patients in all groups experienced comparable rates of adverse events (Table II). No significant fluctuations in GFR were observed both during the first and the subsequent cycles of azacitidine, though patients with mild RI and two no RI patients displayed a transient decline in GFR on day 7 of the first cycle, which recovered afterwards without requiring dose and/or schedule adjustments (Fig 2). Our results provide the first evidence that azacitidine is effective and well-tolerated in patients with mild and moderate RI and, if confirmed by prospective randomized studies, advocate that such patients can be managed in an analogous fashion to patients with normal renal function. Table I. Patients' characteristics Parameter No RI (n=14) Mild RI (n=16) Moderate RI (n=12) p-value Age (median) 70.3 (52–79) 68.8 (59–79) 77 (65–81) 0.006 Sex (Male/Female) 10/4 13/3 8/4 0.665 Median GFR (ml/min /1.73m2) 93.5 (87–140) 66.5 (57–76) 40.5 (33–48) >0.001 Karyotype risk (Good/Intermediate/Poor) 7/5/2 5/2/9 4/6/2 0.052 IPSS risk group (Int-2/High) 9/4 7/7 7/3 0.492 WPSS risk group (High/Very high) 7/7 7/7 7/3 0.6 ANC(x 10 9 /L) 0.7 (0.08–13.3) 1.99 (0.05–15.5) 3.75 (0.74–6,3) 0.115 Hemoglobin (g/dl) 8.35 (6.1–10.1) 9.1 (6,8–11,5) 9.35 (6.2–12.8) 0.321 Platelets (x 10 9 /L) 139.5 (11–311) 64 (12–150) 51.5 (15–160) 0.178 Heavily transfused (Yes/No) 9/5 9/7 9/3 0.592 Median number of cycles 5.5 (1–29) 5.5 (1–24) 5 (1–21) 0.48 Median follow up time (months) 8.9 (4.9–37,2) 10.4 (1.2–35.3) 7.8 (1–22) 0.4 Table II. Toxicity and adverse events Parameter No RI (n=14) Mild RI (n=16) Moderate RI (n=12) p-value Neutropenia (grade 3/4) 8 (57%) 10 (62.5%) 6 (50%) 0.8 Thrombocytopenia (grade 3/4) 7 (50%) 12 (75%) 9 (75%) 0.269 Infections (grade 1/2) 3 (21.5%) 4 (25%) 3 (25%) 0.269 Infections (grade 3/4) 5 (36%) 9 (56%) 7 (58%) 0.535 Bleeding (grade 1/2) 1 (7%) 0 (0%) 1 (8%) 0.513 Bleeding (grade 3/4) 3 (21.5%) 7 (43%) 7 (58%) 0.152 Dose adjustments 3 (21.5%) 5 (31%) 4 (33%) 0.832 Discontinuation of treatment due to toxicity 4 (28.5%) 4 (25%) 7 (58%) 0.151 Hospitalization (times) 6 (0–16) 9 (1–15) 5.5 (1–10) 0.141 Hospitalization (days) 16.5 (0–34) 20 (10–43) 16 (4–34) 0.427 Figure 1. Response and outcomes Figure 1. Response and outcomes Figure 2. Kinetics of GFR in patients with moderate (A), mild (B) and no (C) RI. Figure 2. Kinetics of GFR in patients with moderate (A), mild (B) and no (C) RI. Disclosures: Kotsianidis: Genesis-Pharma: Honoraria, Research Funding.

Abstract 4049 RANKL upregulation in the multiple myeloma (MM) microenvironment and in particular in malignant plasma cells, osteoblasts and T-cells is pivotal for the pathological activation of osteoclasts and development of bone disease in multiple myeloma. Invariant NKT cells (iNKT) is a small but powerful subset of CD1d-restricted, glycolipid-specific immunoregulatory T-cells. iNKT cells are dysfunctional in MM in that they display reduced ability to secrete interferon-gamma contributing thus to myeloma immune evasion. Whether iNKT cells also contribute to the enhanced RANKL production in the (MM) microenvironment is not known. To address this we studied the dynamics of RANKL expression in iNKT cells of normal individuals and compared it to patients with myeloma and the pre-myeloma disorder monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS). Ex vivo assessment by 4-color flow-cytometry showed that a significantly higher proportion of peripheral blood iNKT than conventional T-cells from healthy donors expressed surface RANKL (mean±SD: 18,29%±2,6 vs 1,75%±0,5 respectively; n=48, p Notably, while expression of surface RANKL on T cells remains constant with age (r of Pearson=0,007, p=0,96), on iNKT cells it increases linearly in an age-dependent manner (r of Pearson=0,31, p=0,03). Upon TCR stimulation of total T cells with CD3/CD28 beads, surface RANKL on iNKT cells increased from baseline faster and at higher levels than the rest of the T-cells (mean fold increment at 36 hours: iNKT 5,6±2,27 vs T-cells 1,97±0,9, n=8; p=0,04). In the presence of limiting concentrations of RANKL, activated iNKT cells were able to generate TRAP+ osteoclasts (>3nuclei) from autologous monocytes confirming that surface RANKL on iNKT cells is functional. Thus, in normal individuals, RANKL expression on per cell basis is higher in iNKT cells than in conventional T cells, and increases further upon TCR stimulation. Having established the status of RANKL expression in iNKT cells of normal individuals directly ex vivo and upon activation we next investigated surface RANKL expression in iNKT and conventional T cells in MM. We found that as in normal controls, in patients with MM (n=43) a higher proportion of iNKT than conventional T-cells expressed surface RANKL (mean±SD: 34,663%±4.214 vs 4,534%±1,64 respectively; n=48, p45yrs) normal donors (mean±SD: 34,6%±4.2 vs 23,2%±3,1 respectively; p=0.04). By contrast, in patients with MGUS or asymptomatic myeloma (n=13) the proportion of iNKT cells that expressed RANKL was similar to age-matched controls (mean±SD: 13,97%±5,73 vs 23,2%±3,1 respectively; p=0,136) but significantly lower when compared to MM patients (13,97%±5,73 vs 34,663%±4.214 respectively; p=0,005) suggesting that increased surface RANKL on iNKT cells is a phenomenon characteristic of active MM. Taken together these data establish for the first time the dynamics of RANKL expression in iNKT cells in normal individuals and raise the possibility of an important role of these cells in the age-dependent bone homeostasis. Furthermore our observations of enhanced expression of RANKL in iNKT cells in active MM but not in MGUS/AMM suggest that as well as to immune evasion these cells could also contribute to osteoclast activation and development of bone disease in MM. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Introduction - Aims: Several prognostic scoring systems have been developed for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), including the International Prognostic System (IPSS), the WHO Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS) and the Revised IPSS (IPSS-R). We evaluated the prognostic value of the IPSS-R on an independent group of 2,582 Greek patients with MDS, registered in the Hellenic National MDS Registry. The aim of this multicenter study was to validate the IPSS-R as a predictor for leukemia-free survival (LFS) and overall survival (OS), in newly-diagnosed MDS patients and to compare its prognostic significance with that of IPSS and WPSS. Moreover, to investigate the predictive value of IPSS-R in association with other recognized prognostic variables, such as patient's age, baseline serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and ferritin concentrations, IPSS, WPSS, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, transfusion dependency, and response to first-line treatment. Methods: Clinicopathological data from 2,582 MDS patients, diagnosed between 1/2000 - 1/2015 and registered in the Hellenic National MDS Registry were analyzed. Patients with MDS/MPN were excluded. Data included age, gender, date of diagnosis, clinical characteristics, WHO-2008 classification, laboratory parameters, transfusion dependency, bone marrow aspirate and biopsy morphology, cytogenetic findings, and type of treatment. LFS was calculated from the date of initial diagnosis of MDS until bone marrow blast increased to ≥20% [transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to the WHO classification], or last contact. OS was defined as the time from MDS diagnosis to death, or last contact. Patients alive and not having developed AML until last follow-up were censored for OS and LFS, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were performed with regard to LFS and OS. Differences between Kaplan-Meier curves were evaluated using the Mantel-Cox (log-rank) test. All significant variables identified by univariate Cox regression analysis and clinical factors important for MDS were used to build the multivariate Cox regression models. Multivariate Cox regression analysis included only those patients for whom the status of all variables was known, and comprised age, serum LDH, and ferritin levels, transfusion dependency, response to first-line treatment, IPSS, WPSS, and IPSS-R. Confidence intervals (CI) were estimated at the 95% level; all tests were two-sided, accepting p Results: 1,623 male (62.9%) and 959 female MDS patients with a median age of 74 years at diagnosis were included in the current study. Complete follow-up information was available for 2,376 patients. The estimated median OS was 58 months (95% CI = 52.9 - 63.1 months). For 1,974 patients, data used in the calculation of all three scoring systems were complete, thus allowing risk score calculation and comparison of the three risk assessment systems. Median OS was significantly different in patient subgroups classified according to IPSS, WPSS, and IPSS-R, as shown by the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (p Conclusions: Our data support the notion that all three prognostic scores are very useful predictors for both, LFS and OS in MDS, yet IPSS-R is superior to IPSS and WPSS as a prognostic tool, with regard to OS. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.