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CCTG CLC.2/Alliance A041202 demonstrated superior progression-free survival at 2 years with ibrutinib alone (87%; HR 0.39) or ibrutinib-rituximab (IR 88%; HR 0.38) compared to chemo-immunotherapy with bendamustine-rituximab (BR 74%) in treatment-naïve patients (pts) with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who were 65 or older (Woyach NEJM 2018). We hypothesized that ibrutinib-based therapies would be more costly than BR but that costs would be offset by less toxicity and improved quality of life (QOL). We completed a prospective trial-based economic analysis to study the direct medical costs and quality-adjusted benefit associated with ibrutinib-based therapies compared to BR in the Canadian (CDN) subset of patients enrolled in CLC.2/Alliance 041202. All CDN pts were invited to participate in the companion analysis. Health utilities were collected using the EuroQOL EQ-5D and calculated using CDN population valuations (Bansback PLOS One 2012). Resource utilization forms were administered to collect off-protocol health care encounters. The planned analysis was a cost-utility analysis from the perspective of a public healthcare system, examining the costs and outcomes (quality-adjusted life years or QALYs) of ibrutinib-based therapy compared to BR. Unit costs were applied to resource data based on publicly available provincial/national databases; all costs were expressed in 2019 US dollars (1 CDN = 0.75 US dollar). Total and disaggregated direct medical costs are presented descriptively. Mean survival was calculated using the restricted mean survival method from randomization to the study time-horizon of 24 months; derived utilities were used to calculate QALYs. A discount rate for costs and benefits (r=0.05) was applied. The analysis was based on estimation (with bootstrapping) of an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and/or direct medical costs. A total of 55 pts were enrolled; two pts who did not receive any treatment were censored at day 1 and 3 after randomization and excluded from analysis. Of the 53 analysed, pt demographics were well balanced between treatments and were reflective of the entire population: mean age was 71.6 (SD 6.34) in pts receiving ibrutinib alone (n=17), 72.2 (SD 3.85) in pts receiving IR (n=18), and 71.7 (SD 4.1) in pts receiving BR (n=18). A total of 3 pts, one in each arm, had 17p deletion. Progression-free survival at 2 years for CDN pts was 94% (95% CI 65-99%) for ibrutinib, 100% (95% CI 100-100%) for IR, and 72% (95% CI 45-87%) for BR (Figure 1). At 24 months, 1 pt on the BR arm had crossed over to ibrutinib (as per protocol); there was no overall survival difference between the three arms. On-protocol costs (including protocol treatment, ambulatory care, and imaging) and off-protocol costs (including hospitalizations, concomitant medications, and ambulatory care) are highlighted in Figure 2. On-protocol costs were higher for pts receiving ibrutinib (mean $142,001 USD; SD 48,417) and IR ($164,931; SD 46,208) compared to BR ($38,509; SD 10,351), driven by higher drug acquisition costs associated with ibrutinib (list price $6422 for 420mg/30 days). In contrast, off-protocol costs were modestly higher for pts on BR (mean $3050; SD 3812) compared to the ibrutinib ($2460; SD 3863) or IR ($2890; SD 4206); hospitalizations were the key off-protocol cost drivers and were highest for pts on IR and BR. Overall mean costs over the 2-year time horizon were $144,461 (SD 47,910) for pts on ibrutinib, $167,820 (SD 46,830) for pts on IR, and $41,560 (SD 11,849) for pts on BR. Discounted QALYs were similar between the three treatment arms: 1.66 (0.16) for ibrutinib alone, 1.65 (0.24) for IR, and 1.66 (0.17) for BR. Given the similar quality-adjusted survival between arms at the time of this analysis, a formal ICER was not calculated. Direct medical costs are substantially higher for pts receiving continuous ibrutinib-based therapies, compared to chemo-immunotherapy of fixed duration, in frontline CLL management; the key cost driver is the cost of ibrutinib. The PFS benefit with ibrutinib-based therapy has not translated into an advantage in quality-adjusted survival to date; further follow-up may be required to demonstrate any cost or QOL benefits associated with fewer progression events for those on ibrutinib. Support: U10CA180821, U10CA180882; U10CA180863 and #704970 CCTG. https://acknowledgments.alliancefound.org ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01886872 Figure Disclosures Owen: AbbVie, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Astrazeneca, Merck, Servier, Novartis, Teva: Honoraria. Lam:Roche: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Crump:Servier: Consultancy; Kite/Gilead: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy. Sperlich:Lundbeck Canada: Honoraria. Woyach:Pharmacyclics, Janssen, Morphosys, Karyopharm, Verastem, Abbvie, Lox: Research Funding; Janssen, Pharmacyclics, AstraZeneca, Abbvie, Arqule: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie Company, AbbVie, Janssen, AstraZeneca, ArQule: Honoraria. Prica:astra zeneca: Honoraria; seattle genetics: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria. Hay:Roche: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding.

INTRODUCTION: The Alliance A041202/ CCTG CLC.2 trial demonstrated superior progression-free survival with ibrutinib-based therapy compared to chemoimmunotherapy with bendamustine-rituximab (BR) in previously untreated older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We completed a prospective trial-based economic analysis of Canadian patients to study the direct medical costs and quality-adjusted benefit associated with these therapies. METHODS: Mean survival was calculated using the restricted mean survival method from randomization to the study time-horizon of 24 months. Health state utilities were collected using the EuroQOL EQ-5D instrument with Canadian tariffs applied to calculate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Costs were applied to resource utilization data (expressed in 2019 US dollars). We examined costs and QALYs associated ibrutinib, ibrutinib with rituximab (IR), and BR therapy. RESULTS: A total of 55 patients were enrolled; two patients were excluded from the analysis. On-protocol costs (associated with protocol-specified resource use) were higher for patients receiving ibrutinib (mean $189,335; p

Deregulation of histone deacetylase (HDAC) is important in the pathogenesis of follicular lymphoma (FL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Mocetinostat, an isotype-selective HDAC inhibitor, induces accumulation of acetylated histones, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in several cancers. This phase 2 study evaluated mocetinostat in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) DLBCL and FL. Seventy-two patients received mocetinostat (starting doses: 70-110mg TIW, 4-week cycles). The best overall response rate (95% CI) was 18·9% (7·2, 32·2) for the DLBCL cohort (n=41), and 11·5% (1·7, 20·7) for the FL cohort (n=31). Responses were durable (≥90days in 7 of 10 responses). Overall, 54·1% and 73·1% of patients derived clinical benefit (response or stable disease) from mocetinostat in the DLBCL and FL cohorts, respectively. Progression-free survival ranged from 1·8 to 22·8months and 11·8 to 26·3months in responders with DLBCL and FL, respectively. The most frequent treatment-related adverse events were fatigue (75·0%), nausea (69·4%) and diarrhoea (61·1%). Although mocetinostat had limited single-agent activity in R/R DLBCL and FL, patients with clinical benefit had long-term disease control. The safety profile was acceptable. This drug class warrants further investigation, including identifying patients more likely to respond to this agent, or in combination with other agents.

Summary Despite the long history of bendamustine as treatment for indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, long-term efficacy and toxicity data are minimal. We reviewed long-term data from three clinical trials to characterize the toxicity and efficacy of patients receiving bendamustine. Data were available for 149 subjects at 21 sites. The median age was 60 years at the start of bendamustine (range 39–84), and patients had received a median of 3 prior therapies. The histologies included grades 1–2 follicular lymphoma (FL; n = 73), grade 3 FL (n = 23), small lymphocytic lymphoma (n = 20), marginal zone lymphoma (n = 15), mantle cell lymphoma (n = 9), transformed lymphomas (n = 5), lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (n = 2) and not reported (n = 2). The median event-free survival was 14·1 months. Nine of 12 attempted stem cell collections were successful. With a median follow-up of 8·9 years, 23 patients developed 25 cancers, including 8 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukaemia. These data provide important information regarding the long-term toxicity of bendamustine in previously treated patients. A small but meaningful number of patients achieved durable remissions following bendamustine. These rigorously collected, patient-level, long-term follow-up data provide reassurance that bendamustine or bendamustine plus rituximab is associated with efficacy and safety for patients with relapsed or refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cognitive disturbance in lymphoma survivors and to explore relationships between cognitive function and other psychosocial factors. A package of standardized questionnaires was sent to 622 lymphoma patients treated at the Ottawa Hospital in the preceding 5 years. Patients with central nervous system involvement were excluded. The questionnaires addressed cognitive function, pain, insomnia, fatigue, and mood. Of the patients in the sampling frame, 54 % responded to the survey and 42 % met inclusion/exclusion criteria. Sixteen percent (99/622) agreed to undergo computerized neuropsychological testing with CNS vital signs (CNSVS). Scores on the objective and subjective cognitive measures were compared to those of a healthy female control group from a previous study. The lymphoma group scored significantly lower than the controls on a cognitive rating scale (p = .018) and on CNSVS (p = .035). The difference on the CNSVS was primarily due to poorer attention and executive function scores in the lymphoma patients. The patients also had a higher frequency of impairment on both the objective (p = .009) and subjective (p

PURPOSE The BRIGHT study ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00877006) was initiated to compare the efficacy and safety of bendamustine plus rituximab (BR) with either rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) or rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CVP) for treatment-naive patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma or mantle-cell lymphoma. This publication provides long-term follow-up data. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients were monitored for a minimum of 5 years after completion of study treatment for the time-to-event end points of progression-free survival (PFS), event-free survival, duration of response, and overall survival per investigator assessment. Data on the number of patients who received second-line anticancer treatment and the occurrence of other malignancies were also collected. RESULTS The medians were not reached for any of the time-to event end points for either the BR or R-CHOP/R-CVP study treatment groups by study completion. PFS rates at 5 years were 65.5% in the BR treatment group and 55.8% in the R-CHOP/R-CVP group. The difference in PFS was considered significant with a hazard ratio of 0.61 (95% CI, 0.45 to 0.85; P = .0025). The hazard ratio for event-free survival and duration of response ( P = .0020 and .0134, respectively) also favored the BR regimen over R-CHOP/R-CVP. However, no significant difference in overall survival was observed. The overall safety profiles of BR, R-CHOP, and R-CVP were as expected; no new safety data were collected during long-term follow-up. A higher number of secondary malignancies was noted in the BR treatment group. CONCLUSION Overall, BR demonstrated better long-term disease control than R-CHOP/R-CVP and should be considered as a first-line treatment option for patients with indolent and mantle-cell lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Initial results from the ongoing GALLIUM trial have shown that patients with follicular lymphoma have a longer progression-free survival after first-line immunochemotherapy with obinutuzumab than with rituximab. The aim of this secondary analysis was to evaluate the prognostic value of PET-CT responses after first-line immunochemotherapy in the GALLIUM study.METHODS: GALLIUM is an open-label, parallel-group randomised, phase 3 trial, which recruited previously untreated patients with CD20-positive follicular lymphoma (grades 1-3a; disease stage III/IV, or stage II with largest tumour diameter ≥7 cm) who were aged 18 years or older and met the criteria for needing treatment. Eligible patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive intravenous administration of obinutuzumab (1000 mg on days 1, 8, and 15 of cycle 1, then day 1 of subsequent cycles) or rituximab (375 mg/m2 on day 1 of each cycle), in six 21-day cycles with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (known as CHOP; oral administration) followed by two 21-day cycles of antibody alone, or eight 21-day cycles cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (known as CVP; oral administration), or six 28-day cycles with bendamustine, followed by maintenance antibody every 2 months for up to 2 years. The primary endpoint of the trial, investigator-assessed progression-free survival, has been reported previously. This secondary analysis reports PET and CT-based responses at end-of-induction therapy and explains their relation with progression-free and overall survival outcomes in patients with available scans. As per protocol, during the trial, PET scans (mandatory in the first 170 patients enrolled at sites with available PET facilities, and optional thereafter), acquired at baseline and end of induction (PET population), were assessed prospectively by investigators and an independent review committee (IRC) applying International Harmonisation Project (IHP) 2007 response criteria, and retrospectively by the IRC only applying current Lugano 2014 response criteria. IRC members (but not study investigators) were masked to treatment and clinical outcome when assessing response. The landmark analyses excluded patients who died or progressed (contrast enhanced CT-based assessment of progressive disease, or started next anti-lymphoma treatment) before or at end of induction. GALLIUM is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01332968.FINDINGS: 1202 patients were enrolled in GALLIUM between July 6, 2011, and Feb 4, 2014, of whom 595 were included in the PET population; 533 (IHP 2007; prospective analysis), and 508 (Lugano 2014; retrospective analysis) were analysed for progression-free survival (landmark analysis). At end of induction, 390 of 595 patients (65·5% [95% CI 61·6-69·4]) achieved PET complete response according to IHP 2007 criteria, and 450 (75·6% [95% CI 72·0-79·0]) obtained PET complete metabolic response according to Lugano 2014 criteria. With a median of 43·3 months of observation (IQR 36·2-51·8), 2·5-year progression-free survival from end of induction was 87·8% (95% CI 83·9-90·8) in PET complete responders and 72·0% (63·1-79·0) in non-complete responders according to IRC-assessed IHP 2007 criteria (hazard ratio [HR] 0·4, 95% CI 0·3-0·6, pINTERPRETATION: Our results suggest that PET is a better imaging modality than contrast-enhanced CT for response assessment after first-line immunochemotherapy in patients with follicular lymphoma. PET assessment according to Lugano 2014 response criteria provides a platform for investigation of response-adapted therapeutic approaches. Additional supportive data are welcomed.FUNDING: F Hoffmann-La Roche.

Bendamustine is used in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (first-line) and indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that progressed during/within 6 months of treatment with rituximab or a rituximab-containing regimen. This study was a postapproval commitment to investigate bendamustine’s effect on cardiac repolarization in treatment-naive adults with advanced indolent NHL/mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). In this multicenter, open-label, phase 3 study, patients received 6–8 28-day cycles of bendamustine (90 mg/m2, days 1 and 2) and rituximab (375 mg/m2, day 1). Exclusions included a history of cardiac conditions with potential for QT prolongation. The primary endpoint was change in Fridericia-corrected QT (QTcF; 3 electrocardiograms per time point) on day 2 of cycle 1, from just before infusion to end of infusion (immediately postinfusion, coinciding with maximum plasma concentration of bendamustine). Change 1 h postinfusion was also measured. Exploratory assessments included specific QTcF outlier analyses (new QTcF >500 ms, change >60 ms) and morphological changes. Of the 54 enrolled patients (mean age, 62.9 years), 53 received ≥1 dose; 49 completed ≥6 cycles. Mean QTcF change from baseline was 6.7 ms at end of infusion; no mean changes >20 ms were detected ≤1 h postinfusion. No patients met specific outlier criteria at end of infusion or 1 h postinfusion. No morphological changes were detected. In this small treatment-naive population with advanced NHL/MCL, bendamustine did not produce a clinically relevant increase in mean QTcF on the second infusion day. The potential for delayed effects on QT interval after 1 h was not evaluated.

BACKGROUND Patients with T-cell lymphomas face a poorer prognosis compared with patients with B-cell lymphomas. New therapeutic approaches need to be developed to improve outcomes for these patients. METHODS Forty patients with recurrent and refractory T-cell lymphomas other than mycosis fungoides and patients with untreated T-cell lymphoma who were not candidates for combination chemotherapy were prescribed oral lenalidomide at a dose of 25 mg daily on days 1 to 21 of each 28-day cycle, with standardized dose reductions for toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR), and secondary endpoints were complete and partial response rates, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. The authors also determined duration of response (DoR). RESULTS A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the current study; 1 patient was subsequently deemed ineligible. The ORR was 10 of 39 patients (26%); 3 patients (8%) achieved complete responses and 7 patients achieved partial responses. Three patients had stable disease for ≥5 cycles. The median OS was 12 months (range 1 year. Toxicity was in keeping with the known safety profile of lenalidomide. Among the patients who had recurrent/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (29 patients), the ORR was 24%, the median OS was 12 months, the median PFS was 4 months, and the median DoR was 5 months (range, 2 months to ≥37 months). CONCLUSIONS In the current study, the use of oral lenalidomide monotherapy demonstrated clinically relevant efficacy among patients with systemic T-cell lymphomas. It appears to have excellent potential as an agent in combination therapy for patients with T-cell lymphoma. Cancer 2015;121:716–723. © 2014 American Cancer Society.

Bendamustine is an agent with mostly alkylating properties, which acts on dividing cells through multiple pathways. As an agent with little cross-resistance with other chemotherapeutic agents, bendamustine has received approval for second-line use in relapsed/refractory indolent lymphomas. A growing body of data showing good efficacy and acceptable tolerability of bendamustine in first-line use has led to recognition that this agent has an important role in this setting. This article outlines the pharmacology and clinical studies supporting the use of bendamustine and discusses the role of this agent in the first- and second-line treatment of indolent lymphomas.

[Figure][1] A 37-year-old man of Pakistani origin presented with a 5-week history of fever, night sweats, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, lymphadenopathy, and splenomegaly. He had similar symptoms 5 years prior with a cervical lymph node (LN) biopsy showing histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis

Introduction: Minimal residual disease (MRD) status reflects depth of response and informs prognosis after first-line therapy in patients (pts) with follicular lymphoma (FL). In the GALLIUM study (NCT01332968), the primary endpoint of investigator (INV)-assessed progression-free survival (PFS) in previously untreated FL pts was significantly improved with obinutuzumab (GA101; G)- versus rituximab (R)-based immunochemotherapy treatment. We previously reported consistently higher MRD response rates with G- versus R-based treatment at the end of induction (EOI) (92% vs 85%, respectively; p=0.0041; Pott et al. ASH 2016). Here we report the correlation of MRD response at EOI with updated PFS data and the results of MRD response assessment during maintenance treatment and follow-up. We also assessed MRD responses and outcome in pts who remained MRD-positive at EOI. Methods: Previously untreated pts aged ≥18 years with FL requiring treatment were randomized 1:1 to receive 6-8 cycles of G (1000mg IV on days [D] 1, 8, and 15 of cycle [C] 1 and D1 of C2-6 or 8) or R (375mg/m2 IV on D1) plus standard chemotherapy (CHOP, CVP, or bendamustine). Responding pts received the same antibody as maintenance every 2 months for up to 2 years. MRD status was assessed by real-time quantitative (RQ)-PCR assays at mid-induction (MI) in peripheral blood (PB), at EOI in PB and bone marrow, at 4-monthly intervals during maintenance in PB, and at 6-monthly intervals during follow-up in PB, and was defined as negative (MRD response) if RQ-PCR and subsequent nested PCR were negative in all samples analyzed at the respective time point. INV-assessed PFS was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods (data cut-off, February 12, 2018). Pts were included in the various analyses if they had evaluable MRD data and achieved a complete or partial response at EOI. Results: After 57 months' median follow-up, MRD evaluable pts (n=634/1202 randomized FL pts) who had a MRD-negative response at EOI (n=564) continued to have a longer PFS than those who had a MRD-positive response at EOI (n=70; hazard ratio 0.38; 95% confidence interval 0.26, 0.56; p Conclusions: These data confirm the prognostic value of MRD status at EOI in previously untreated FL pts receiving immunochemotherapy. Analysis of MRD kinetics revealed that most of the pts who achieved MRD negativity at EOI sustained their responses during maintenance. The majority of pts who were MRD positive at EOI achieved MRD negativity during the first 4 months of maintenance. While this is likely to be indicative of the efficacy of continued treatment, it also suggests that response kinetics can be slower than in those pts who have an early MRD response at MI, and that responses that are beyond the sensitivity of the MRD assay may be less deep. Importantly, pts who failed to achieve MRD negativity at EOI or during early maintenance had a high chance of experiencing early progression or death. These data demonstrate the prognostic value of MRD response assessments in previously untreated FL pts receiving immunochemotherapy. Disclosures Hoster: F. Hoffman-La Roche: Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Roche Pharma AG: Other: Travel support, Research Funding. Unterhalt:F. Hoffman-La Roche: Other: Travel support. van der Jagt:F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd: Employment, Honoraria, Research Funding. Janssens:Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Ad board, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi-Genzyme: Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Ad board, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Kneba:Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria. Mayer:Affimed: Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Johnson & Johnson: Research Funding; Eisai: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding. Pocock:Kent & Canterbury Hospital: Employment. Knapp:Roche: Employment. Danesi:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment. Nielsen:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment, Other: Ownership interests PLC. Brown:PAREXEL, external business partner with Roche Products Ltd, Welwyn, UK: Employment. Mundt:Roche: Employment, Other: Ownership interests PLC. Marcus:Gilead: Consultancy; F. Hoffman-La Roche: Other: Travel support and lecture fees; Roche: Consultancy, Other: Travel support and lecture fees . Hiddemann:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding; F. Hoffman-La Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

Background Although initially responsive to therapy, indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) are generally incurable. Therefore, active and tolerable treatments for patients with relapsed or refractory disease are needed. Bendamustine, a mechlorethamine alkylator with novel mechanisms of action, is approved in the United States for rituximab-refractory indolent B-cell NHL. Patients and Methods Data from 2 North American multicenter studies with similar design, enrollment, and response criteria were pooled to evaluate safety and durability of response. Bendamustine was administered at 120 mg/m 2 days 1 and 2 every 21 days for 6-8 cycles. Endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. Results The studies enrolled 161 patients with a median of 2 previous chemotherapy regimens. Histologies included follicular (68%), small lymphocytic (20%), marginal zone (11%), and lymphoplasmacytic (1%) lymphoma. Sixty patients (34.1%) were refractory to their last chemotherapy, 53 (30.1%) were alkylating agent refractory. Overall response rate was 76% with 23% complete remissions (CRs) and unconfirmed CR (CRu). The median follow-up was 25.3 months (range, 24-27.8 months) and DOR was 10 months (range, 8.3-14 months). At 1 and 2 years, 45% and 23% of responders continued to respond. Among 127 patients previously treated with alkylators, ORR was 88% (28% CR/CRu) in responsive and 59% (12% CR/CRu) in refractory patients. Fifty opportunistic infections were reported in 48 patients. Second malignances occurred in 9 patients (5.6%; 5 myelodysplastic syndromes, 2 acute myelogenous leukemia, 1 chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and 1 squamous cell carcinoma). Conclusion Bendamustine induces durable responses with acceptable long-term safety in rituximab-refractory indolent NHL.

The Canadian Leukemia Studies Group (CLSG) sought to test the safety and efficacy of response-adapted, non-cross resistant chemotherapy in de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The combinations of idarubicin 12 mg/m(2)/d on days 1 - 3 and Ara-C (200 mg/m(2)/d) on days 1 - 7 (IDAC) followed by mitoxantrone 10 mg/m(2)/day, and etoposide 100 mg/m(2)/day, on days 1 - 5 (NOVE) were used according to patient response to induction and consolidation.In this multi-centre open-label phase II study, 140 patients up to age 80 were given induction with IDAC. Patients were entered between March 1993 and August 1995. If patients had persistent blasts at day 14 or on recovery, they were given NOVE. As consolidation, patients achieving complete remission (CR) with IDAC were given 1 further cycle of IDAC and 1 cycle of NOVE. Patients achieving CR after NOVE were given 2 further cycles of NOVE.76% of all patients achieved remission after IDAC +/- NOVE, 81% in patients agedor =60 years and 67% in patients aged60. Overall, induction mortality was 11% and toxicity was similar to other cooperative group studies. Median follow-up was 104.0 months with 95% CI: (100.0, 105.2). Median overall survival (OS) in responding patientsor =60 was not reached: of the 79 respondersor =60, 35 died. The median disease free survival (DFS) in these responding patients was 22.7 (14.9, na) months. Median OS and DFS in responding patients60 was 10.0 (7.3, 15.2) months and 7.5 (6.2, 15.2) months, respectively.The results of this trial are very encouraging and suggest that there may be long-term benefit to this method. On the basis of these results, a randomized phase III trial has been performed.

Patients with T-cell lymphomas face a poorer prognosis compared with patients with B-cell lymphomas. New therapeutic approaches need to be developed to improve outcomes for these patients.Forty patients with recurrent and refractory T-cell lymphomas other than mycosis fungoides and patients with untreated T-cell lymphoma who were not candidates for combination chemotherapy were prescribed oral lenalidomide at a dose of 25 mg daily on days 1 to 21 of each 28-day cycle, with standardized dose reductions for toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR), and secondary endpoints were complete and partial response rates, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. The authors also determined duration of response (DoR).A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the current study; 1 patient was subsequently deemed ineligible. The ORR was 10 of 39 patients (26%); 3 patients (8%) achieved complete responses and 7 patients achieved partial responses. Three patients had stable disease for ≥5 cycles. The median OS was 12 months (range1 month to ≥69 months), the median PFS was 4 months (range,1 month to ≥50 months), and the median DoR was 13 months (range 2 months to ≥37 months), including 5 responses that lasted1 year. Toxicity was in keeping with the known safety profile of lenalidomide. Among the patients who had recurrent/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (29 patients), the ORR was 24%, the median OS was 12 months, the median PFS was 4 months, and the median DoR was 5 months (range, 2 months to ≥37 months).In the current study, the use of oral lenalidomide monotherapy demonstrated clinically relevant efficacy among patients with systemic T-cell lymphomas. It appears to have excellent potential as an agent in combination therapy for patients with T-cell lymphoma.

This randomized, noninferiority (NI), global, phase 3 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of bendamustine plus rituximab (BR) vs a standard rituximab-chemotherapy regimen (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone [R-CHOP] or rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone [R-CVP]) for treatment-naive patients with indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or mantle cell lymphoma. Investigators preassigned the standard treatment regimen they considered most appropriate for each patient; patients were randomized to receive BR (n = 224) or standard therapy (R-CHOP/R-CVP, n = 223) for 6 cycles; 2 additional cycles were permitted at investigator discretion. Response was assessed by a blinded independent review committee. BR was noninferior to R-CHOP/R-CVP, as assessed by the primary end point of complete response rate (31% vs 25%, respectively; P = .0225 for NI [0.88 margin]). The overall response rates for BR and R-CHOP/R-CVP were 97% and 91%, respectively (P = .0102). Incidences of vomiting and drug-hypersensitivity reactions were significantly higher in patients treated with BR (P < .05), and incidences of peripheral neuropathy/paresthesia and alopecia were significantly higher in patients treated with standard-therapy regimens (P < .05). These data indicate BR is noninferior to standard therapy with regard to clinical response with an acceptable safety profile. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00877006.

Background: Minimal residual disease (MRD) status reflects treatment efficacy and may predict prognosis after first-line therapy in patients (pts) with follicular lymphoma (FL). GALLIUM (NCT01332968) is an ongoing, randomized global Phase 3 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of obinutuzumab (GA101; GAZYVA/GAZYVARO; G) vs rituximab (R) as induction (with chemotherapy [chemo]; bendamustine, CHOP or CVP) and maintenance (in responders) in previously untreated pts with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In GALLIUM, the primary endpoint of investigator-assessed PFS in pts with FL was significantly improved with G- vs R-based treatment. We report the results of MRD assessment at mid induction (MI) and end of induction (EOI) in FL pts in GALLIUM. Methods: Diagnostic peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) samples from FL pts were screened by consensus PCR to detect a t(14;18) translocation and/or clonal Ig variable domain rearrangement suitable for MRD assessment. In pts with a detectable clonal marker, allele- or translocation-specific real-time quantitative (RQ)-PCR assays were designed with a sensitivity ≤10-4. RQ-PCR data were evaluated by European Study Group criteria for MRD detection (van der Velden, Leukemia 2007). MRD status was assessed at MI in PB, and at EOI in PB and BM, and defined as negative (MRD response) if RQ-PCR and subsequent nested PCR were negative in all samples analyzed at the respective time point. Results: Of the 1202 FL pts enrolled in GALLIUM, 1138 provided consent for MRD analyses. Baseline PB or BM samples were available for 1101 pts; a clonal marker was detected in 968 (88%) of these pts and 815 (74%) had an RQ-PCR assay fulfilling sensitivity criteria. Pts with a detectable clonal marker had baseline characteristics comparable to pts without a marker, with the exception of higher-stage disease (61% vs 34% Ann Arbor stage IV), reflecting increased BM involvement. Among 696 pts with an available PB or BM sample at EOI, MRD response was significantly higher in the G-chemo arm than the R-chemo arm (92% vs 85%; p=0.0041; Table 1). BM clearance of residual tumor cells at EOI was higher in the G-chemo vs R-chemo arm (93% [199/214] vs 83% [165/200]; p=0.0014), whereas PB clearance at EOI was similarly high in both arms (96% [323/336] vs 94% [320/341]; p=0.22). MRD clearance occurred early during treatment: at MI, 94% of pts in the G-chemo arm achieved MRD-negative status in PB compared with 89% in the R-chemo arm (p=0.013; Table 2). The anti-lymphoma activity of G-chemo induction was confirmed by analyzing quantitative MRD data in PB at MI: all 20 (100%) pts who remained MRD-positive at MI in the G-chemo arm had low-level MRD (below the limit of quantification) compared with 24/38 (63%) pts in the R-chemo arm. The chemo backbone in the R-chemo arm affected MRD status in PB at EOI giving an MRD response rate of 96% (201/209) after R-bendamustine (B), 93% (100/108) after R-CHOP, and 79% (19/24) after R-CVP. No such effect was seen in the G-chemo arm, where MRD response rates in PB at EOI were high and similar with all three chemo regimens: 96% (187/194), 96% (105/109), and 94% (31/33), respectively. Similarly, in BM, chemo had a large influence on MRD-negative status at EOI in the R-chemo arm (87% [100/115] after R-B, 74% [55/74] after R-CHOP), but negligible impact in the G-chemo arm (93% [109/117] after G-B, 93% [76/82] after G-CHOP). Achievement of MRD negativity at EOI in PB/BM for pts with CR/PR at EOI was associated with longer subsequent PFS, with a hazard ratio of 0.35 (95% CI, 0.22, 0.56; p Conclusions: Data from this exploratory analysis support the potential prognostic value of MRD assessment after EOI in FL pts treated with immunochemotherapy. The higher proportion of pts achieving MRD-negative status at MI and EOI, and of pts with low-level MRD among MRD-positives at MI, in the G-chemo arm suggests that G-based induction induces rapid and more effective tumor cell clearance than R-containing therapy. G was more effective than R at enhancing the depth of response to induction therapy in PB and BM, potentially leading to a compensation of differential chemo activity. Future analyses of MRD kinetics during maintenance/follow-up will investigate the pattern and prognostic value of changes in MRD status before relapse, and further evaluate the impact of different chemo regimens. Figure 1. PFS from date of EOI sample by MRD status in PB and/or BM Figure 1. PFS from date of EOI sample by MRD status in PB and/or BM Disclosures Herold: Roche: Honoraria, Other: Grants; Genentech: Other: Grants; Celgene: Honoraria; Gilead: Other: Personal fees from member advisory board. Kneba:AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel grants; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel grants, Research Funding; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel grants; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel grants, Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Glaxo-SmithKline: Other: Travel grants. Mayer:AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding. Danesi:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment. Fingerle-Rowson:Roche: Employment, Equity Ownership. Harbron:Roche: Employment, Equity Ownership; AstraZeneca: Equity Ownership. Mundt:Roche: Employment. Marcus:Takeda: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Hiddemann:Janssen: 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; Gilead: Research Funding.

Checkpoint blockade using monoclonal antibodies has been a significant breakthrough for patients that are non-responsive to conventional therapy. Anti-PD-1 therapy can reactivate tumor infiltrating leukocytes (TILs) that were rendered exhausted due to suppression mediated by PD-L1-upregulation on tumor or antigen presenting cells. However if there are no pre-existing TILs, anti-PD-1 therapy is believed to be less effective. DPX-Survivac is a potent, peptide-based T cell activation therapy that contains multiple HLA class 1 restricted antigens from the oncoprotein survivin and is formulated in the DepoVaxTM platform, a unique lipid-in-oil formulation. In Phase 1/1b clinical trials, DPX-Survivac in combination with metronomic cyclophosphamide (mCPA; 50 mg BID) could enhance systemic immune responses detected by IFN-γ ELISPOT and tetramer analysis of PBMCs. We evaluated if this combination could potentially facilitate treatment of anti-PD-1 non-responsive tumors in a HPV-expressing murine tumor model (C3). Untreated C3 tumors had low expression of PD-L1 in vivo and low TILs. Anti-PD-1 treatment alone provided no protection from tumor growth. Treatment of mice bearing advanced tumors with DPX peptide vaccine and mCPA (20 mg/kg PO) increased the levels of antigen-specific CD8a+ T cells within the tumor microenvironment, detected using flow cytometry. We also detected increased expression of PD-1 on the T cells and PD-L1 on the tumor cells, suggesting that the tumor microenvironment (TME) was mediating immune suppression through increased PD-1:PD-L1 signaling. Treatment of tumor bearing mice with vaccine, mCPA and anti-PD-1 resulted in better tumor control of established tumors. Analysis of tumor infiltrating leukocytes by flow cytometry demonstrated that anti-PD-1 treatment did not further enhance tumor infiltration with antigen-specific CD8+ T cells induced by the vaccine/ mCPA treatment. However, RT-qPCR analysis of the tumor detected an increase in expression of cytotoxic T cell gene signatures within the tumor in combination with anti-PD-1 treatment. Clonal analysis was performed of the total TCRβ sequences using gDNA extracted from the tumors. Vaccine and mCPA treatment resulted in selective expansion of clones, as the top 10 clones accounted for 35% of the total TCRβ sequences; tri-therapy including anti-PD-1 significantly enhanced the expansion of T cells within the TME so that the top 10 clones accounted for 46% of the total TCRβ sequences (p Citation Format: Genevieve Weir, Olga Hrytsenko, Richard van der Jagt, Matthew Cheung, Rena Buckstein, Tara Quinton, Lisa MacDonald, Rita Nigam, Marc Mansour, Neil L. Berinstein, Marianne Stanford. Translational studies demonstrate that treatment with anti-PD-1 in unresponsive tumors can be improved by enhancing T cell activation in the tumor microenvironment with vaccine based immune therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; 2016 Sept 25-28; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B113.

e14578Background: Survivin is strongly expressed in tumors of about 60% of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. DPX-Survivac contains survivin HLA class I peptides in a novel formulation...

A uniquely indolent case of necrobiotic xanthogranuloma with bilateral, periorbital involvement was presented. This patient presented with cutaneous eyelid lesions of 20 years' duration. Although symptomless, the patient underwent testing for hematologic malignancy, which led to a diagnosis of multiple myeloma. A review of the literature revealed that this is the longest interval between the onset of the skin manifestations and the diagnosis of the systemic malignancy in this rare disease.

FK-506 was evaluated either alone or combined with methotrexate (MTX) for prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in dogs given 9.2 Gy total body irradiation and dog leukocyte antigen-nonidentical unrelated marrow grafts. Studies with marrow autografts showed gut toxicity and weight loss to be major side effects of FK-506. There was no hematopoietic toxicity with FK-506. In an initial allograft study, 5 dogs were given FK-506 intramuscularly at 0.3 mg/kg/day from days 0 to 8 and then orally at 0.5 mg/kg/day. All 5 died, 3 with intussusception most likely due to FK-506 toxicity, 1 with graft failure, and 1 with GVHD. Subsequently, the FK-506 dose was reduced and these drug schedules were used: FK-506 days 0-8 at 0.15 mg/kg/day i.m. and then orally at 0.5 mg/kg/day until day 90, with or without MTX intravenously at 0.4 mg/kg days 1, 3, 6, and 11. Twenty allografts were done, 10 with FK-506 alone, and 10 with MTX/FK-506. Results were compared with those in concurrent and historical controls given either no immunosuppression (n = 64), MTX (n = 114), CsA (n = 15), or MTX/CsA (n = 17). Five of 20 current dogs died with intussusception, too early to be evaluated for GVHD. The 10 dogs given FK-506 alone survived significantly better than those not given immunosuppression but not differently from those given short-term MTX or CsA alone. Three died from toxicity, 2 with graft failure, and 4 with GVHD. Only 1 dog became a long-term survivor, and this dog inadvertently received a single dose of MTX on day 7. Two of 10 dogs given MTX/FK-506 died from toxicity, 1 died with graft failure, 2 died with GVHD, and 5 became long-term survivors, a result that is significantly better than seen with either drug alone and similar to that seen with MTX/CsA. Four of the 5 survivors had no clinical GVHD. FK-506 blood levels were 15-35 ng/ml between days 8 and 15, when gut toxicity was most severe. Thereafter, levels were approximately 5 ng/ml. In conclusion, FK-506 prolonged survival of recipients of dog leukocyte antigen-nonidentical unrelated marrow grafts. When FK-506 was combined with MTX, graft-host tolerance was induced in 50% of dogs, even though FK-506 was stopped on day 90.

BACKGROUND: Novel therapies are needed to improve outcomes in T-cell lymphomas. The authors report the interim results of a prospective multicenter trial evaluating lenalidomide in T-cell lymphomas. METHODS: Patients with recurrent and refractory T-cell lymphomas other than mycosis fungoides and untreated patients ineligible for combination chemotherapy were prescribed oral lenalidomide (25 mg daily) on Days 1 to 21 of each 28-day cycle until disease progression, death, or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response rate. Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. The 2-stage design allows for up to 40 patients. RESULTS: At the time of this interim analysis, 24 patients were enrolled in this study, and 23 were evaluable for response. The median age was 65 years. The overall response rate was 7 (30%) of 23; all were partial responses. Two patients had stable disease for ≥5 cycles. Responses were seen in anaplastic, angioimmunoblastic, and peripheral T-cell unspecified histologies. Median PFS was 96 days (range, 8-696+ days). Median OS was 241 days (range, 8-696+ days). The most common grade 4 adverse event was thrombocytopenia (33%). The most common grade 3 adverse events were neutropenia (21%), febrile neutropenia (17%), and pain not otherwise specified (17%). Rash correlated with response to therapy (P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with recurrent and refractory T-cell lymphomas, oral lenalidomide monotherapy has clinical activity, and toxicity is consistent with the known safety profile of lenalidomide. Further study of lenalidomide in these diseases is warranted. Cancer 2010. © 2010 American Cancer Society.

This report demonstrates the production and use of 3-D reconstruction of a coronary sinus from a single-injection rotational angiogram. The detailed virtual model enabled easy magnetic navigation of a wire for device placement in cardiac resynchronization therapy.

MGCD0103, an orally available class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, was examined for pre-clinical activity in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). A phase II clinical trial was performed, starting at a dose of 85 mg/d, three times per week. Dose escalation to 110 mg or the addition of rituximab was permitted in patients without a response after two or more cycles. MGCD0103 demonstrated pre-clinical activity against CLL cells with a LC(50) (concentration lethal to 50%) of 0.23 micromol/l and increased acetylation of the HDAC class I specific target histone H3. Twenty-one patients received a median of two cycles of MGCD0103 (range, 0-12). All patients had previously received fludarabine, 33% were fludarabine refractory, and 71% had del(11q22.3) or del(17p13.1). No responses according to the National Cancer Institutes 1996 criteria were observed. Three patients received 110 mg and four patients received concomitant rituximab, with no improvement in response. Grade 3-4 toxicity consisted of infections, thrombocytopenia, anaemia, diarrhoea, and fatigue. HDAC inhibition was observed in six out of nine patients on day 8. Limited activity was observed with single agent MGCD0103 in high risk patients with CLL. Future investigations in CLL should focus on broad HDAC inhibition, combination strategies, and approaches to diminish constitutional symptoms associated with this class of drugs.

This phase 3 prospective randomized trial evaluated the efficacy and long-term safety of erythropoietin (EPO) with or without granulocyte colony-stimulating factor plus supportive care (SC; n = 53) versus SC alone (n = 57) for the treatment of anemic patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. The response rates in the EPO versus SC alone arms were 36% versus 9.6%, respectively, at the initial treatment step, 47% in the EPO arm, including subsequent steps. Responding patients had significantly lower serum EPO levels (45% vs 5% responses for levels < 200 mU/mL vs ≥ 200 mU/mL) and improvement in multiple quality-of-life domains. With prolonged follow-up (median, 5.8 years), no differences were found in overall survival of patients in the EPO versus SC arms (median, 3.1 vs 2.6 years) or in the incidence of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (7.5% and 10.5% patients, respectively). Increased survival was demonstrated for erythroid responders versus nonresponders (median, 5.5 vs 2.3 years). Flow cytometric analysis showed that the percentage of P-glycoprotein+ CD34+ marrow blasts was positively correlated with longer overall survival. In comparison with SC alone, patients receiving EPO with or without granulocyte colony-stimulating factor plus SC had improved erythroid responses, similar survival, and incidence of acute myeloid leukemia transformation.

Bendamustine hydrochloride is a novel alkylating agent. In this multicenter study, the authors evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of single-agent bendamustine in patients with rituximab-refractory, indolent B-cell lymphoma.Eligible patients (N = 100, ages 31-84 years) received bendamustine at a dose of 120 mg/m(2) by intravenous infusion on Days 1 and 2 every 21 days for 6 to 8 cycles. Histologies included follicular (62%), small lymphocytic (21%), and marginal zone (16%) lymphomas. Patients had received a median of 2 previous regimens (range, 0-6 previous regimens), and 36%were refractory to their most recent chemotherapy regimen. Primary endpoints included overall response rate (ORR) and duration of response (DOR). Secondary endpoints were safety and progression-free survival (PFS).An ORR of 75% (a 14% complete response rate, a 3% unconfirmed complete response rate, and a 58% partial response rate) was observed. The median DOR was 9.2 months, and median PFS was 9.3 months. Six deaths were considered to be possibly treatment related. Grade 3 or 4 (determined using National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria [version 3.0.19]. reversible hematologic toxicities included neutropenia (61%), thrombocytopenia (25%), and anemia (10%). The most frequent nonhematologic adverse events (any grade) included nausea (77%), infection (69%), fatigue (64%), diarrhea (42%), vomiting (40%), pyrexia (36%), constipation (31%), and anorexia (24%).Single-agent bendamustine produced a high rate of objective responses with acceptable toxicity in patients with recurrent, rituximab-refractory indolent B-cell lymphoma.

Purpose Bendamustine HCl is a bifunctional mechlorethamine derivative with clinical activity in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This study evaluated bendamustine plus rituximab in 67 adults with relapsed, indolent B-cell or mantle cell lymphoma without documented resistance to prior rituximab. Patients and Methods Patients received rituximab 375 mg/m2 intravenously on day 1 and bendamustine 90 mg/m2 intravenously on days 2 and 3 of each 28-day cycle for four to six cycles. An additional dose of rituximab was administered 1 week before the first cycle and 4 weeks after the last cycle. Sixty-six patients (median age, 60 years) received at least one dose of both drugs. Results Overall response rate was 92% (41% complete response, 14% unconfirmed complete response, and 38% partial response). Median duration of response was 21 months (95% CI, 18 to 24 months). Median progression-free survival time was 23 months (95% CI, 20 to 26 months). Outcomes were similar for patients with indolent or mantle cell histologies. The combination was generally well tolerated; the primary toxicity was myelosuppression (grade 3 or 4 neutropenia, 36%; grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia, 9%). Conclusion Bendamustine plus rituximab is an active combination in patients with relapsed indolent and mantle cell lymphoma.

Purpose Bendamustine hydrochloride is an alkylating agent with novel mechanisms of action. This phase II multicenter study evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of bendamustine in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) refractory to rituximab. Patients and Methods Patients received bendamustine 120 mg/m2 intravenously on days 1 and 2 of each 21-day cycle. Outcomes included response, duration of response, progression-free survival, and safety. Results Seventy-six patients, ages 38 to 84 years, with predominantly stage III/IV indolent (80%) or transformed (20%) disease were treated; 74 were assessable for response. Twenty-four (32%) were refractory to chemotherapy. Patients received a median of two prior unique regimens. An overall response rate of 77% (15% complete response, 19% unconfirmed complete response, and 43% partial) was observed. The median duration of response was 6.7 months (95% CI, 5.1 to 9.9 months), 9.0 months (95% CI, 5.8 to 16.7) for patients with indolent disease, and 2.3 months (95% CI, 1.7 to 5.1) for those with transformed disease. Thirty-six percent of these responses exceeded 1 year. The most frequent nonhematologic adverse events included nausea and vomiting, fatigue, constipation, anorexia, fever, cough, and diarrhea. Grade 3 or 4 reversible hematologic toxicities included neutropenia (54%), thrombocytopenia (25%), and anemia (12%). Conclusion Single-agent bendamustine produced durable objective responses with acceptable toxicity in heavily pretreated patients with rituximab-refractory, indolent NHL. These findings are promising and will serve as a benchmark for future clinical trials in this novel patient population.

Background Given the widespread use of bendamustine, data on long-term outcomes are essential for patients and clinicians to understand potential risks and benefits of therapy. Despite a long history as treatment for indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL), such information has been limited. We retrospectively reviewed the registration SDX-105-01 and SDX-105-03 trials (bendamustine 120 mg/m2 days 1+2 q21 days) and SDX-105-02 trial (bendamustine 90 mg/m2 days 1+2 plus rituximab 375 mg/m2 day 1 q28 days) to characterize long-term toxicity and efficacy of patients treated with bendamustine. Methods Patient level data was retrospectively collected from patients treated on the SDX-01, 02, and 03 trials. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient characteristics and events. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to report time-to-event outcomes. Wilcoxon Rank sum test was used to test the difference between events for continuous variables. Results Out of the total 245 subjects at 45 sites, data were available for 149 subjects (60 men, 89 women; SDX-01 N = 40, SDX-02 N = 43, SDX-03 N = 66) at 21 sites (included based on willingness to participate). The median age was 60 years at the start of bendamustine (range 39-84). The histologies included grade 1-2 follicular lymphoma (FL; N = 73), grade 3 FL (N = 23), SLL (N = 20), marginal zone lymphoma (N = 15), mantle cell lymphoma (N = 9), transformed lymphomas (N = 5), lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (N = 2), and not reported (N = 2). The average time from diagnosis to study entry was 41 months (range 2-229). The median number of therapies prior to bendamustine was 2.5 (range 1-8). Patients received a median of 6 cycles and a median total dose of bendamustine of 1408 mg (max 5216, min 240). With a median follow up of 8.8 years after study entry, 80 patients had experienced progression. The median PFS was 18.4 months (95% C.I. 11.9-27.8); the 3-year PFS was 37%. During follow up, 93 patients had died at a median time of 22.3 months after the start of bendamustine. The median OS after start of bendamustine was 65.9 months (95% C.I. 38.8-91.8). The causes of death were lymphoma (N = 45), bendamustine toxicity (N = 2), subsequent treatment toxicity (N = 8), MDS/AML (N = 5), other cancer (N = 2), other (N = 6), and unknown (N = 25). A total of 98 patients received a median of 2 therapies following bendamustine (range 1-9), with the first treatment occurring a median of 13.2 months (range 0-111.3) following the final dose of bendamustine. The reported best response to the first subsequent treatment was CR (N = 11), PR (N = 6), SD (N = 21), PD (N = 12), not evaluable (N = 25), and unknown (N = 22) and the median OS of these patients was 51.3 months (95% C.I. 33.4-80.3). Fourteen patients had attempted stem cell collection following bendamustine, 10 of which had stem cells collected successfully. Eight patients had stem cells collected with GCSF alone (N = 7) or GCSF plus chemotherapy (N = 1). Twenty-three patients developed 25 cancers following bendamustine. Six patients developed MDS and 2 more developed AML. The median time to MDS/AML following bendamustine was 24 months (range 10-103) with an annualized incidence rate of 0.52%/year. One of patient had a prior myeloid neoplasm and one had a prior germ cell tumor. In univariate analysis, neither age at lymphoma diagnosis (P=0.438), nor total number of systemic regimens (P=0.443), nor total dose of bendamustine (P=0.291) was associated with MDS/AML. Other cancers included adenocarcinoma (colon N = 2; prostate N = 2; lung N = 2; breast N = 1), non-melanoma skin cancer (N = 6), squamous cell carcinoma (N = 2), hepatocellular carcinoma (N = 1), and bladder cancer (N = 1). None of these occurred in the 12 patients with a history of solid tumor before bendamustine. Conclusions With a median follow up of survivors of > 8 years, there was no evidence that bendamustine in the setting of previously treated iNHL was associated with a high rate of long-term bone marrow toxicity. Rates of MDS/AML and failure to collect stem cells were lower than expected. However, roughly half of all patients died within 5 years of starting bendamustine, thereby limiting the long-term follow up. A small but meaningful number of patients achieved durable remissions following bendamustine. These rigorously collected, patient-level, long-term follow up data provide reassurance that bendamustine or bendamustine plus rituximab is associated with efficacy and safety for many patients with relapsed or refractory iNHL. Disclosures Martin: Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Acerta: Consultancy; Gilead: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Bayer: Consultancy. Cheson:AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Ascenta: Research Funding; Spectrum: Consultancy; Astellas: Consultancy; MedImmune: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Teva: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Research Funding; Roche/Genentech: Consultancy, Research Funding. Williams:Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Research funding to my institution; Takeda: Consultancy, Other: Research Funding to my institution; Genentech: Other: Research funding to my institution. Bartlett:Gilead: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Millennium: Research Funding; Colgene: Research Funding; Medimmune: Research Funding; Kite: Research Funding; Insight: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Research Funding; MERC: Research Funding; Dynavax: Research Funding; Idera: Research Funding; Portola: Research Funding; Bristol Meyers Squibb: Research Funding; Infinity: Research Funding; LAM Theapeutics: Research Funding. Szer:Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Alexion: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Alexion: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Alexion Australia: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Shire: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Shire: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Smith:celegene, spectrum, genentech: Honoraria. Leonard:Weill Cornell Medical College: Employment; Genentech: Consultancy; Medimmune: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Spectrum: Consultancy; Boehringer Ingelheim: Consultancy; Vertex: Consultancy; ProNAI: Consultancy; Biotest: Consultancy; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy; Mirati Therapeutics: Consultancy; Gilead: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy.

Pesticide regulation is examined in the context of Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s assessment of the chlorophenoxy herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) for turf. 2,4-D is the most common herbicide used to kill weeds in grass. The medical literature does not uniformly indicate harms from herbicides. However, the balance of epidemiological research suggests that 2,4-D can be persuasively linked to cancers, neurological impairment and reproductive problems. These may arise from 2,4-D itself, from breakdown products or dioxin contamination, or from a combination of chemicals. Regulators rely largely on toxicology, but experiments may not replicate exposures from 2,4-D application to lawns because environmental breakdown products (eg, 2,4-dichlorophenol) may not accumulate and selected herbicides are possibly less contaminated. Dioxins are bioaccumulative chemicals that may cause cancer, harm neurological development, impair reproduction, disrupt the endocrine system and alter immune function. No dioxin analyses were submitted to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, and the principal contaminants of 2,4-D are not among the 17 congeners covered in pesticide regulation. Independent assessment of all dioxins is needed, in tissues and in the environment. The 2,4-D assessment does not approach standards for ethics, rigour or transparency in medical research. Canada needs a stronger regulator for pesticides. Potentially toxic chemicals should not be registered when more benign solutions exist, risks are not clearly quantifiable or potential risks outweigh benefits. Until landscaping pesticides are curtailed nationally, local bylaws and Quebec’s Pesticide Code are prudent measures to protect public health. Physicians have a role in public education regarding pesticides.

Background: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma that usually presents as advanced-stage disease. Relapse is common, and management of relapsed/refractory MCL is difficult due to a limited number of approved agents and numerous comorbidities seen in this typically elderly patient population. We conducted a study of bendamustine plus rituximab (BR) in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL and presented preliminary results (Czuczman et al, ASH 2012, Abstract 3662). Final data are being analyzed in a multivariate analysis of baseline demographic and disease factors affecting outcomes for this study, and we present below the final data for individual subgroups for best overall response, DOR, and progression free survival (PFS). Patients and Methods: This multicenter, open-label, single-arm, phase 2 study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of BR in adults with relapsed or refractory CD20-positive B-cell MCL. Relapsed disease was defined as having achieved CR with a previous therapy but demonstrating recurrent disease >6 mo after the last dose. Refractory disease was defined as either a lack of CR while undergoing previous therapy or the loss of CR Results: Forty-five patients received ≥1 dose of BR. Median age was 70 years, 71% were male, and 82% had stage IV disease. Median treatment duration was 6 cycles. For the entire cohort, the overall response rate (ORR) was 82%. Results of a multivariate analysis, which is designed to identify baseline characteristics predictive of response to BR study treatment and to examine the association of response with survival in patients, will be presented. Final data among patients with relapsed (n=21) and refractory (n=24) MCL show overall response rates (ORRs) of 90% (n=19; CR 16 [76%], PR 3 [14%], 2 not calculable [NC]); and 75% (n=18; CR 5 [21%], PR 13 [54%], 1 NC), respectively. Median DOR (95% CI) was 19.7 mo (11.1, 38.8) and 15.3 mo (7.9, 35.3), and median PFS was 23.1 mo (13.2, 41.5) and 17.1 (8.3, 24.0), for relapsed and refractory patients, respectively. ORRs based on patients’ response to most recent prior rituximab treatment were CR, 95% (n=18; CR 15, PR 3); PR, 89% (n=8; CR 3, PR 5); stable disease (SD), 56% (n=5; CR 1, PR 4); progressive disease (PD), 71% (n=5; CR 1, PR 4); unknown, 100% (n=1; CR 1). DORs based on response to prior rituximab: CR, 17.0 mo (10.7, 38.8); PR, 17.9 mo (4.9, 35.9); SD, 35.3 mo (7.9, 35.3); PD, 14.3 mo (3.9, NC); unknown was NC. PFS results were: CR, 22.1 mo (13.2, 41.5); PR, 18.1 mo (4.7, 38.7); SD, 17.9 mo (2.4, 40.4); PD, 13.8 mo (5.4, NC); unknown was NC. In subgroups based on MIPI category, the ORR of patients in categories ≤3 was 92% (n=22; CR 14, PR 8); in 4–5 was 92% (n=11; CR 5, PR 6); in >5 was 44% (n=4; CR 2, PR 2). DORs based on risk category: ≤3, 20.6 mo (14.3, 35.5); 4–5, 11.1 mo (5.1, 21.3); >5, NC (5.1, NC). PFS results were: ≤3, 23.2 mo (16.2, 40.4); 4–5, 12.8 mo (8.3, 24.0); >5, 7.9 mo (2.0, NC). Main treatment-emergent grade 3/4 adverse events (>10%) were hematologic: neutropenia (n=15), lymphopenia (n=6), and leukopenia (n=5). Conclusion: The multivariate analysis is intended to indicate which patient characteristics are most closely associated with efficacy endpoints such as durability of response to BR. BR showed efficacy across a wide range of patient subgroups with relapsed/refractory MCL. In the subgroup of patients with relapsed MCL, CR was more common than PR, while patients with refractory MCL were more likely to achieve PR than CR. This information may be used to help guide treatment decisions when considering BR in heavily treated MCL patients. The BR regimen is generally well-tolerated and may serve as the backbone to which other active agents can be added in the study regimens to further improve anti-lymphoma activity. Support: Teva BPP R&D, Inc. Disclosures Czuczman: Teva: Consultancy. Off Label Use: Bendamustine is FDA-approved for adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that has progressed during or within six months of treatment with rituximab or a rituximab-containing regimen.. Goy:JNJ: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research funding for clinical trials through institution, Research funding for clinical trials through institution Other, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research funding for clinical trials through institution, Research funding for clinical trials through institution Other; Millennium: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research fundiing for clinical trials through institution, Research fundiing for clinical trials through institution Other, Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research funding for clinical trials through institution Other, Speakers Bureau. Munteanu:Teva: Employment, Equity Ownership. van der Jagt:Teva: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Lundbeck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.

Background: Approximately 20–40% of pts with NDMM present with RI, which is associated with a negative impact on survival (Rajkumar, 2005). In the pivotal phase 3 FIRST trial (median follow-up 37 months [mos]), continuous Rd improved progression-free survival (PFS) vs. melphalan-prednisone-thalidomide (MPT) in elderly NDMM pts by 28% (25.5 vs. 20.7 mos; HR = 0.72; P < 0.01) (Facon, Blood 2013). Although 121 pts receiving continuous Rd are still on Tx, the interim overall survival (OS) analysis showed a 22% reduction in the risk of death in favor of continuous Rd vs. MPT (HR = 0.78; P = 0.02). The present analysis was conducted to determine the impact of RI on PFS, OS, and time to 2nd antimyeloma Tx (AMT) as clinical study outcomes. Methods: Pts were randomized to 3 Tx arms: continuous Rd until progression (n = 535); Rd for 18 cycles (72 weeks) (Rd18; n = 541); or MPT for 12 cycles (72 weeks) (n = 547). Enrolled NDMM pts were categorized according to their renal function: 24% had normal renal function (creatinine clearance [CrCl] ≥ 80 mL/min), 44% presented with mild RI (≥ 50 and < 80 mL/min), 23% had moderate RI (≥ 30 and < 50 mL/min), and 9% had severe RI (< 30 mL/min). Pts requiring dialysis were excluded. Lenalidomide starting dose was 25 mg QD for pts with normal renal function or mild RI, 10 mg QD for moderate RI, and 15 mg QOD for severe RI. Melphalan dose was reduced by 50% in pts with moderate or severe RI. The primary endpoint was PFS (continuous Rd vs. MPT); secondary endpoints were OS, overall response rate, time to response, duration of response, time to Tx failure, time to 2nd AMT, health-related quality of life, safety, and improvement in renal function from baseline. Improvement in RI was defined as shifts from baseline to most extreme post-baseline value of the calculated CrCl as a measure of renal function during the active Tx (N = 1484). Results: A PFS benefit favored continuous Rd vs. MPT irrespective of the degree of renal function (Table 1): there was a benefit in pts with normal renal function (HR = 0.72 (0.51–1.02); P = 0.06), and better in pts with mild RI (HR = 0.79 (0.62–1.00); P = 0.05) and moderate RI (HR = 0.62 (0.45–0.85); P < 0.01). A PFS benefit was also seen with continuous Rd vs. Rd18 (a secondary comparison) in pts with mild RI and moderate RI (P < 0.01 for both). An interim OS benefit with continuous Rd vs. MPT was observed in most renal subgroups. Similar results were observed between Rd18 and MPT in terms of PFS or interim OS in any of the renal subgroups. Continuous Rd, compared with Rd18 or MPT, extended time to 2nd AMT in most renal groups except severe RI (CrCl < 30mL/min) (Table 2). Improvement in RI was observed more frequently in pts treated with continuous Rd than those with Rd18 or MPT: improvement of mild RI, 48%, 43%, and 48%, respectively; of moderate RI, 67% 61%, and 62%; and of severe RI, 64%, 59%, and 56%. Overall, < 5% of pts in any Tx group experienced a worsening in renal function status during Tx (continuous Rd 2.2%; Rd18 2.8%; MPT 2.7%). The most common grade 3–4 adverse events (AEs) for these Txs were anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, deep-vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE), and peripheral sensory neuropathy (Table 3). Tx discontinuation due to AEs increased in pts with moderate and severe RI, regardless of the type of Tx (Table 3). Conclusions: PFS, OS (at interim analysis), and time to 2nd AMT outcomes generally improved continuous Rd vs. Rd18 or MPT in transplant-ineligible NDMM pts with normal renal function, and in those with mild or moderate RI. The small number of pts in the severe RI group precluded a meaningful conclusion. Continuous Rd was generally well tolerated and renal function improved in the majority of pts during Tx with continuous Rd vs. Rd18 or MPT. Disclosures Dimopoulos: Celgene Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria. Off Label Use: Lenalidomide used in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. Roussel:Celgene: Consultancy, Lecture fees Other, Research Funding. van der Jagt:Celgene Corporation: Research Funding. Jaccard:Celgene Corporation: Honoraria, Research Funding. Tosikyan:Celgene: Consultancy. Karlin:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sandoz: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Bensinger:Celgene Corporation: Consultancy, Research Funding. Schots:Celgene: Research Funding. Chen:Celgene Corporation: Employment. Marek:Celgene Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Ervin-Haynes:Celgene Corporation: Employment. Facon:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau.

e19518 Background: Clinical data on the arrhythmogenic potential of bendamustine are limited. Bendamustine and rituximab (BR) are commonly combined, and rituximab concentrations are essentially constant ≥1.5 hours due to its long half-life. This BR single-arm study assessed the effects of bendamustine on QTcF over 1.5 hours in previously untreated adults with advanced indolent NHL or MCL. Methods: Patients in this open-label study were aged ≥18 years with QTc on screening electrocardiogram (ECG) ≤450 ms. Exclusion criteria included low serum potassium or magnesium and history of cardiac conditions with QT prolongation risk. Bendamustine 90 mg/m2 was given on days 1 and 2 and rituximab 375 mg/m2 on day 1 of each 28-day cycle. On day 2 of cycle 1, ECGs and blood sampling were performed ~15 min prior to bendamustine infusion (baseline), at the end of infusion (EOI)/Cmax, and 1 h post-EOI. The primary measure was change in QTcF at EOI. Secondary measures included outlier analyses of QTcF intervals, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) analysis, and changes in ECG morphology. The ECG analysis included patients with ≥1 ECG at baseline and on treatment. Results: There were 53 enrolled patients (92% white; 60% male; mean age 63.0 y, range 37-84 y; mean body surface area 2.0 m2, range 1.4-2.6 m2). No clinically relevant signal of any bendamustine effect on cardiac repolarization was detected based on the mean change in QTcF from baseline and outlier analyses (Table). In the PK/PD analyses, predicted change in QTcF for bendamustine and its metabolites, M3 and M4, were not significant: 5.4 ms (upper CI 7.6 ms), 6.0 ms (8.8 ms), and 7.1 ms (10.1 ms), respectively, but there were few data. No new ECG morphologic changes were seen. Conclusions: In this small population with previously untreated advanced NHL or MCL, bendamustine was associated with a small increase in mean QTcF that was not clinically meaningful. Support: Teva BPP R&D, Inc. Clinical trial information: NCT01073163. [Table: see text]

8537 Background: BR was previously reported to be statistically noninferior to R-CVP/R-CHOP for complete response rate in the treatment of patients with indolent NHL or MCL. Evaluation of time-to-event outcomes is immature. This subanalysis reports response by histology. Methods: Indolent NHL or MCL was histologically confirmed 2 on days 1 and 2, rituximab 375 mg/m2on day 1) or standard treatment (21-day cycles at standard doses) for 6-8 cycles. Responses were assessed by a blinded independent review committee. The primary efficacy measure was noninferiority of BR complete response (CR) rate for evaluable patients with ≥1 postbaseline efficacy assessment. If the noninferiority threshold was met, superiority was assessed. Secondary measures included tolerability. Results: Of 447 patients enrolled in the study, 213 receiving BR and 206 receiving R-CHOP/R-CVP were evaluable with postbaseline data (Table). BR achieved a statistically noninferior CR rate compared with R-CHOP/R-CVP in patients with indolent NHL and MCL. Conclusions: In patients with treatment-naïve indolent NHL and MCL, BR achieved the primary endpoint of noninferior CR rate. Most CR rates were numerically, but not significantly, higher with BR. Small subgroup results should be interpreted with caution. Support: Teva BPP R&D, Inc. Clinical trial information: NCT00877006. [Table: see text]

8535 Background: Mocetinostat (MGCD0103) is an orally available, isotype-selective, non-hydroxamate HDAC inhibitor targeting HDACs 1,2, 3 and 11 with single-agent activity in Hodgkin’s lymphoma and in AML and MDS (in combination with 5-azacitidine). More than 430 patients have been treated to date. Methods: This open-label, phase II trial enrolled patients with DLBCL and FL. Patients received mocetinostat at doses ranging from 70-110 mg 3x/wk every 28 days. Anticancer activity, safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics were evaluated. Results: Sixty-nine patients with DLBCL (n=41) and FL (n=28) were enrolled for treatment at starting doses of 85-110 mg. Median age was 62 years (range: 32 to 81). Median duration of treatment was ~3 months (range

Abstract 902 Background Bendamustine (B) is an active agent for relapsed and refractory indolent NHL, both as monotherapy and combined with rituximab (R), results recently updated by the StiL study group. This study compared efficacy and safety of BR with standard treatment regimens of R-CHOP and R-CVP as first-line treatment for indolent NHL or MCL. Methods Patients were randomized to 6–8 cycles of BR or R-CHOP/R-CVP (R-CHOP or R-CVP determined by investigator prior to randomization). BR regimen was B 90 mg/m2/day on days 1 and 2 plus R 375 mg/m2on day 1 of a 28-day cycle. Standard dosing and 21 day cycles were used for R-CHOP and R-CVP. Primary objective was to demonstrate noninferiority of complete response (CR) rate of BR vs standard treatment (noninferiority margin [ratio] 0.88). Secondary measures included overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival, and overall survival. Tumor response was determined by a blinded independent review committee (IRC) using International Working Group revised response criteria for malignant lymphoma. Investigator assessments were compared with those of the IRC. Results Of 447 randomized patients, 436 received treatment (BR n=221; R-CHOP/R-CVP n=215 [R-CHOP n=99; R-CVP n=116]) and were evaluable for safety. Of these, 419 patients (BR n=213; R-CHOP/R-CVP n=206 [R-CHOP 97; R-CVP n=109]) were evaluable for efficacy. The randomized groups were well matched for age (median 60 and 58 years), sex (male, 61% and 59%), ECOG status (64% performance status 0, both groups), lymphoma type (83% indolent NHL, both groups), and Ann Arbor stage (62% stage IV, both groups). Among randomized patients and efficacy evaluable patients, the IRC-assessed CR rate was numerically higher for BR than R-CHOP/R-CVP and statistically noninferior (Table). In the randomized groups, CR rates for indolent NHL were numerically similar between BR and R-CHOP/R-CVP; however, in MCL, BR was statistically superior (P=0.018) (Table). Investigator-assessed response in randomized patients found superiority of BR vs R-CHOP/R-CVP (P=0.0013). IRC and investigator assessments differed mainly in quality of response (CR vs partial) rather than in whether a patient was a responder. For randomized patients, the ORR was 94% for BR and 84% for R-CHOP/R-CVP. Time-to-event data are immature and will be analyzed later. At time of data cut-off, 8% of the BR group had progressed, relapsed, or died, compared with 4% of R-CHOP/R-CVP group. Most patients completed 6 cycles (92% for BR and 91% for R-CHOP/R-CVP), with high relative dose intensity (>96%). Dose delays were more common for BR-treated patients (35% vs 19%), and dose reductions were less common (22% vs 29%). Most common AEs for BR and R-CHOP/R-CVP, respectively, were nausea (139 vs 102 patients), fatigue (113 vs 107), neutropenia (76 vs 85), constipation (65 vs 90), and alopecia (8 vs 74). Laboratory grade 3/4 hematologic toxicities for BR and R-CHOP/R-CVP were lymphopenia (137 vs 64), neutropenia (98 vs 151), leukopenia (84 vs 116), thrombocytopenia (16 vs 15), and anemia (6 vs 9), respectively. The most frequent investigator-reported nonhematologic grade 3/4 AEs for BR and R-CHOP/R-CVP were infusion-related reaction (13 vs 8 patients). Granulocyte colony stimulating factors were given at investigator discretion (per ASCO recommendations) to 29% of the BR group and 43% of the R-CHOP/R-CVP group. Fatal AEs occurred in 6 BR patients (pneumonia, respiratory failure, and sepsis; acute respiratory failure; cardiac arrest; pneumonia; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; lung cancer) and 1 R-CHOP/R-CVP patient (sepsis). Conclusion In patients with advanced indolent NHL and MCL, BR produces a CR rate that is noninferior to that of R-CHOP/R-CVP. In the subgroup of patients with MCL, BR produces a significantly higher CR rate (51% vs 24%). High ORRs were attained in both treatment groups. The AE profile of BR was distinct from that of R-CHOP/R-CVP. Support: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Disclosures: Flinn: Teva Pharmaceuticals : Research Funding. Off Label Use: Bendamustine is FDA-approved for adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that has progressed during or within six months of treatment with rituximab or a rituximab-containing regimen. Van der Jagt:Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding, Sponsorship Other; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding, sponsorship, sponsorship Other; Roche: Consultancy, sponsorship, sponsorship Other; Cephalon: Consultancy, Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Xanthus: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb : Consultancy. Kahl:Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Genentech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Teva Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. MacDonald:Lundbeck: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Munteanu:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.: Employment. Clementi:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.: Employment. Chen:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.: Employment. Burke:Spectrum Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy.

Abstract 155 Background Bendamustine is a unique alkylating agent, active as monotherapy and in combination with rituximab for relapsed and refractory indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). This study compared efficacy and safety of bendamustine-rituximab (BR) with standard treatment regimens of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) and rituximab, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CVP) in first-line treatment of patients with indolent NHL or mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). The primary objective was to determine whether the complete response rate for BR was noninferior to R-CHOP/R-CVP (presented separately). The present analysis reports results for quality of life (QOL) as measured by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30). Methods Previously untreated patients with indolent NHL or MCL were randomized to receive BR (bendamustine 90 mg/m2/day on days 1 and 2; rituximab 375 mg/m2 on day 1 of each 28-day cycle) or R-CHOP/R-CVP (rituximab 375 mg/m2 and vincristine 1.4 mg/m2 (up to maximum 2 mg) on day 1 and prednisone at 100 mg on days 1–5 (of a 21-day cycle), plus either [1] cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m2 and doxorubicin 50 mg/m2 on day 1 or [2] cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m2 or 1000 mg/m2(investigator choice) on day 1. QLQ-C30 was administered at screening (baseline); after cycles 1, 3, 6, 8; and at the end-of-treatment visit. Linear transformation to standardize raw scores was performed. The QLQ-C30 is composed of 5 multi-item functional scales, 1 global health status (GHS)/QOL scale, 3 symptom scales, and 6 single-item measures; all scores could range from 0 to 100. Rising scores for functional scales and GHS/QOL indicate improvement. Rising scores for symptom scales/single items indicate worsening. GHS/QOL score change at last QLQ-C30 administration postbaseline was interpreted using analysis of covariance. Data from the last observation (end-of-treatment visit) were analyzed. Results The 447 enrolled patients were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 treatments; 224 to BR (NHL n=187, MCL n=36, missing n=1) and 223 to R-CHOP/R-CVP (NHL n=184, MCL n=38, missing n=1). Treatment groups were well matched for demographic and clinical characteristics. Among all randomized patients, mean change in GHS/QOL score from baseline to final visit was significantly higher (indicating relative improvement) for patients treated with BR than those treated with R-CHOP/R-CVP (3.6 vs −5.1 respectively, P=0.0005). For patients with indolent NHL, mean change in GHS/QOL score by final visit was significantly higher in patients treated with BR than those receiving R-CHOP/R-CVP (2.1 vs −6.3, respectively, P=0.0021); in patients with MCL, mean change in GHS/QOL score was numerically higher in the BR group, but the difference was not statistically significant (10.9 vs 1.6, P=0.0654). All randomized patients receiving BR showed greater improvement in QLQ-C30 Emotional Functioning (from baseline to final visit), compared with patients receiving R-CHOP/R-CVP. Mean change from baseline scores (± SEM) for QLQ-C30 for Cognitive, Physical, Role, and Social Functioning scales of the QLQ-C30 decreased (signifying deteriorating effect) in both treatment groups, with patients treated with BR deteriorating less than patients treated with R-CHOP/R-CVP (Figure). For symptom scales/item measures, patients treated with BR showed larger reductions in mean scores from elevated baseline levels (signifying greater improvement), compared with R-CHOP/R-CVP for Appetite Loss (−2.9 for BR vs −1.1 for R-CHOP/R-CVP), Pain (−5.6 vs −1.7), and Constipation (−0.7 vs 1.8). For symptom scales/item measures of Dyspnea, Fatigue, and Financial Difficulties, both treatments showed deteriorating effects, with BR showing less than R-CHOP/R-CVP: Dyspnea (0.8 vs 4.8), Fatigue (0.5 vs 7.2), and Financial Difficulties (0.9 vs 1.3). Patients receiving R-CHOP/R-CVP had larger reductions in mean scores for Insomnia (−2.1 for BR vs −6.7 for R-CHOP/R-CVP), Diarrhea (0.5 vs −1.3), and Nausea and Vomiting (1.8 vs 0.9). Conclusions In this study, BR significantly improved GHS/QOL, compared with R-CHOP/R-CVP treatment, in previously untreated patients with indolent NHL or MCL. In addition, BR provided improved patient QOL scores for most aspects of functioning and symptoms, as measured by the QLQ-C30. Support: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Disclosures: Burke: Spectrum Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Off Label Use: Bendamustine is FDA-approved for adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that has progressed during or within six months of treatment with rituximab or a rituximab-containing regimen. Van der Jagt:Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding, Sponsorship Other; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding, Sponsorship, Sponsorship Other; Roche: Consultancy, Sponsorship, Sponsorship Other; Teva: Consultancy, Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Xanthus: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy. Kahl:Genentech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Teva: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. MacDonald:Lundbeck: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. White:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.: Employment. Munteanu:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.: Employment. Clementi:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.: Employment. Chen:Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.: Employment. Flinn:Teva: Research Funding.

Abstract 1605 Introduction: CHOP-R is standard therapy for patients with untreated DLBCL. Pixantrone dimaleate (P) is a novel aza-anthracenedione that, unlike doxorubicin (D), forms stable DNA adducts and has enhanced efficacy compared to D in preclinical lymphoma models. Due to its inability to bind iron or form alcohol metabolites, P has substantially less cardiotoxicity than D or mitoxantrone in preclinical studies. In a Phase I-II study in 65 patients with relapsed aggressive B cell NHL after CHOP (±R), patients treated with CPOP (P replaced D in CHOP) had CR/CRu rate of 52% and an overall response rate (ORR) of 77% with median progression-free survival (PFS) of 8.2 months and overall survival (OS) of 17.9 months (Leuk Lymph 2011;52: 620–8). The present Phase II study evaluated efficacy and safety, particularly cardiotoxicity, of CPOP-R vs CHOP-R as first-line therapy in patients with DLBCL. Patients and Methods: Patients with untreated DLBCL (CD20+, stage II-IV disease) were randomized to CPOP-R or CHOP-R (1: 1). CHOP-R was administered at standard doses; in CPOP-R, P (150 mg/m2) was substituted for D. After 4 cycles, patients with a partial response (PR) received 4 more cycles of treatment; those with CR received 2 more cycles. Follow-up after treatment was 36 months. Response was assessed by an independent assessment panel. A primary objective to evaluate non-inferiority of CPOP-R to CHOP-R, measured by CR/CRu rates, required 280 patients. Secondary endpoints included ORR, PFS, OS, and time to progression (TTP) and safety. Enrollment was stopped after 124 patients because of resource constraints; the study was no longer powered to detect non-inferiority. Results: Of the 124 patients enrolled, 61 were randomized to CPOP-R and 63 to CHOP-R. Treatments were administered to 122 patients (98%). Demographics and baseline disease characteristics were balanced between arms. Median age was 68 years in both arms, 79% of patients in CPOP-R vs 78% in CHOP-R were Ann Arbor stage 3–4, 48% vs 54% had IPI ≥3, and 20% vs 11% had ≥3 comorbid conditions. Median number of cycles delivered was 8 for CPOP-R vs 6 for CHOP-R. CR/CRu rate in the ITT population was 72.1% for CPOP-R vs 79.4% for CHOP-R (95% CI for the difference = −7.8%, 22.3%) and ORR (CR+CRu+PR) was 82.0% vs 87.3%. PFS appeared similar for CPOP-R and CHOP-R (HR=1.08). TTP was also similar (median not reached in either arm). Median OS was not reached in either arm (HR=2.34, 95% CI=1.05, 5.22, P =.032). The 3-year survival rates were 66% in CPOP-R vs 85% in CHOP-R. Three-year survival for patients with IPI ≤2 was 82% for CPOP-R vs 86% for CHOP-R; IPI ≥3, survival was 50% vs 84%. It was unusual that in the CHOP-R arm, patients with the modal IPI score=3 (n=25) had a better survival than patients with IPI ≤2 with only 8% mortality at 3 years. This historically high survival rate for CHOP-R patients with IPI=3 appeared responsible for the disparate survival rates between CPOP-R and CHOP-R. Eight patients in CPOP-R and 2 in CHOP-R had a history of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure (CHF), or myocardial infarction. Overall, adverse events (AEs) were similar between arms; grade 3/4 AEs occurred in about 85% of patients in both arms. Incidence of grade 3/4 AEs was similar for neutropenia (61.0% vs 60.3%), febrile neutropenia (15.3% vs 15.9%), thrombocytopenia (5.1% vs 6.3%), and infections (16.9% vs 17.5%). Stomatitis was less common in CPOP-R (6.8% vs 17.5%). LVEF was measured prospectively at intervals through 24 months. LVEF values were generally stable in CPOP-R, but declined significantly from baseline in CHOP-R (P Conclusions: This study compared CPOP-R, a pixantrone-containing regimen, with CHOP-R as first-line therapy for DLBCL and showed comparable efficacy as measured by response, PFS, and TTP. Hematopoietic toxicities were similar; however, CPOP-R had reduced cardiotoxicity as determined by overall and serious declines in LVEF, elevations in troponin T, and CHF occurrence. Non-inferiority of CPOP-R to CHOP-R could not be established. Disclosures: Herbrecht: Cell Therapeutics, Inc: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Cernohous:Cell Therapeutics, Inc: Employment. Singer:Cell Therapeutics, Inc: Employment. van der Jagt:Cell Therapeutics, Inc: Consultancy, Research Funding.

Abstract 2681 Poster Board II-657 Background: Although initially very responsive to therapy, indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) are generally incurable. Therefore, it is important to identify active and tolerable treatments for patients (pts) with relapsed or refractory disease. Bendamustine (B, Treanda®), a mechlorethamine alkylator with novel mechanisms of action, is approved in the US for the treatment of indolent B-cell NHL that has progressed during or after rituximab (R) or an R-containing regimen. Methods: Data from 2 North American, multicenter studies with similar design and enrollment and response assessment criteria were pooled to examine safety and durability of response and allow meaningful comparisons between groups receiving prior therapies. B 120 mg/m2 was given IV on D 1, 2 q 21 days × 6-8 cycles to pts with R-refractory indolent NHL. Pts with transformed disease were excluded from efficacy analyses. Endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. Results: The primary analysis set consisted of all randomized pts (N=176; median 61 yr; 81% stage III/IV; median 2 prior chemotherapy- and 2 R-containing courses) and comprises the population for safety analyses. Histologies included follicular (68%), small lymphocytic (20%), marginal zone (11%), and lymphoplasmacytic (1%) lymphomas. Fifty-four (35%) pts were refractory to their last chemotherapy; 49 (28%) were refractory to their last alkylator-based regimen. Sixty-six (38%) pts received prior purine analogs (PA); 22 (33%) of these pts were PA refractory. Ninety-four (53%) pts received ≥6 cycles of B; early withdrawals were primarily due to adverse events (AEs, 28%, mostly myelosuppression [18%]) or disease progression (14%). Dose reduction occurred in 14% of cycles; 18% of cycles involved a treatment delay. Common nonhematologic AEs, primarily grade 1/2, were nausea (75%), fatigue (57%), vomiting (40%), and diarrhea (37%). 97% of pts received antiemetic therapy during study treatment. Grade 3/4 hematologic AEs included neutropenia (58%), thrombocytopenia (25%), and anemia (11%). Overall, 50 opportunistic infections in 48 pts were reported: herpes zoster (HZ, 18), herpes simplex (7), candidiasis (16), cytomegaloviral infection (5), Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (2), atypical mycobacterial infection (1), and tuberculosis (1). HZ reactivation tended to be higher in pts with prior PA exposure (13% vs 8 %, P=NS); pts receiving prophylactic antivirals (n=18) did not experience HZ outbreaks, while an 11% incidence of outbreaks was observed in those not prophylaxed. Second malignancies occurred in 6 pts: 3 MDS, 1 CMML, 1 squamous cell carcinoma, and 1 AML. Two pts had tumor lysis syndrome (1 each grades 3 and 4) in the first cycle. Grade 3/4 AE frequencies were similar by prior PA exposure, except for neutropenia (41% vs 29%) and infection rate (26% vs 14%), which were higher in PA-pretreated pts. Grade 3/4 AEs were higher in pts '60 yr vs 65 yr), gender, histology, prior chemotherapy (' or >1). Conclusions: Durable responses and acceptable safety support the use of bendamustine in R-refractory pts with indolent NHL, even those who were refractory to prior alkylator- and PA-based treatments. PFS will be updated and pooled, and presented at the ASH meeting. Disclosures: Cheson: Cephalon, Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria. Friedberg:Cephalon, Inc.: Research Funding. Kahl:Cephalon, Inc.: Consultancy, Research Funding. van der Jagt:Cephalon, Inc.: Research Funding. Tremmel:Cephalon, Inc.: Employment, Equity Ownership. Zaks:Cephalon, Inc.: Employment, Equity Ownership.

The CHOP-R regimen is the standard regimen for first-line therapy of patients with DLBCL. Pixantrone (BBR 2778) is a novel aza-anthracenedione with structural similarities to mitoxantrone. In a phase 1/2 study of CPOP in 65 patients with relapsed NHL who had received a first-line anthracycline-containing regimen, patients received pixantrone at 80–180 mg/m2. This study indicated substantial activity with an overall response rate of 77% and complete response (CR) rate of 54% with acceptable toxicity. Studies in indolent NHL demonstrated that the combination of pixantrone with rituximab is well tolerated and more active than rituximab alone (JCO, 24(18S), 2006:7578). To evaluate the safety and activity of CPOP-R with special regard to cardiac safety in the first-line setting, a randomized phase 2 study in untreated patients with DLBCL comparing CPOP-R to CHOP-R is being conducted. Patients with untreated, histologically confirmed CD20-positive DLBCL receive CHOP-R or CPOP-R every 21 days for 6–8 cycles. An interim analysis for efficacy was prospectively planned to be performed when 40 patients had completed 4 cycles of therapy to test whether the CR rate of CPOP-R (pixantrone dose of 150 mg/m2) is, with 95% confidence, not more than 15% less than the CR rate of CHOP-R. We report the results of this analysis, which included 40 patients (21 CPOP-R and 19 CHOP-R) who had completed 4 cycles or had prematurely withdrawn from the study. Preliminary safety data (CPOP-R=27 patients, CHOP-R=30 patients) were also evaluated. CR rates after 4 cycles based on investigators’assessment were similar between arms (CPOP-R=33%, CHOP-R=37%). In general, adverse events were equal between arms. There were no more grade 3–4 adverse events (41% CPOP-R vs 50% CHOP-R) and no more grade 3–4 treatment-related adverse events (33% in CPOP-R vs 40% in CHOP-R) in the CPOP-R arm compared to the CHOP-R arm. 8 patients in each arm had asymptomatic absolute LVEF declines of ≥10%. 3 patients in the CPOP-R arm had a LVEF decline of >15% and ≤20% compared to 5 patients in the CHOP-R arm. No patients in the CPOP-R arm had a >20% LVEF decline compared to 2 patients in the CHOP-R arm. No heart failure or deaths resulting from heart failure have been reported. Infections reported as serious adverse events occurred in 1 patient (4%) in the CPOP-R arm and 3 patients (10%) in the CHOP-R arm. Grade 3–4 neutropenia was similar (CPOP-R = 34%, CHOP-R = 30%). Febrile neutropenia was less frequent in the CPOP-R arm (4% vs 23%). There were 2 deaths within 30 days of the last dose of study drug on CPOP-R arm. Both patients were > 80 years; 1 of the events was attributed to study treatment secondary to neutropenic infection. No deaths were reported in the CHOP-R arm. Based on this preliminary analysis, we conclude that for 1st-line therapy of patients with DLBCL, CPOP-R has similar activity to CHOP-R with no more toxicity. Further follow-up is required.

BACKGROUND: Lenalidomide has immunomodulatory and anti-neoplastic properties, with demonstrated activity in myelodysplastic syndrome and multiple myeloma. Preliminary reports indicate that lenalidomide has activity against cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (mycosis fungoides) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. We hypothesized that lenalidomide should be studied as a non chemotherapy approach for Peripheral T- Cell Lymphoma (PTCL). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In this Canadian multi-center, open label, single-arm, phase II clinical trial, patients with PTCL were treated with lenalidomide 25 mg po qd × 21 days on a 28-day cycle until disease progression, death or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with ECOG 0-2 and relapsed/refractory disease were eligible, as well as patients who had not previously had systemic therapy but who were ineligible for standard curative chemotherapy regimens due to comorbid illness. We report on the first ten patients enrolled. The primary endpoint is response rate defined according to the 1999 Cheson criteria. RESULTS: Median age of participants was 56y (range, 42–76y), 9M, 1F. Histologies included PTCL not otherwise specified (n=4), angioimmunoblastic (n=4), cutaneous anaplastic large cell (n=1), hepatosplenic gamma/delta (n=1). 8 were relapsed, 2 previously untreated. 2 were refractory to their previous regimen. Median number of prior lines of systemic therapy is 1 (range, 0–3). Median number of cycles delivered to date, 2 (range: 1–8). Therapy has generally been well tolerated. 3 patients experienced grade 3–4 hematological toxicity, 3 experienced grade 3+ infectious complications and 1 had grade 3 rash. No thrombotic events have been seen to date. Best responses to date include 0 CR, 4 PR (2 angioimmunoblastic, 2 PTCL NOS), 1 SD (PTCL NOS), 2 PD (1 angioimmunoblastic, 1 PTCL NOS). Three deaths have occurred on study, due to disease progression (n=2) and pneumonia during cycle 1 (n=1, angioimmunoblastic). One patient has withdrawn from study post cycle 1 due to treatment related asthenia. One previously untreated patient still awaits the first response assessment; the overall response rate (CR+PR) to date in the remaining patients on an intent-to-treat basis is 4/9 (44%). 5 of 9 (56%) patients have achieved stable disease or better, for 2+, 3+, 5, 6 and 8+ months. For the two patients with previously refractory disease, best response was 1 PR for 6 months and 1 PD. CONCLUSION: Lenalidomide appears to be an active agent in the treatment of relapsed PTCL with an acceptable tolerability profile. Further recruitment and follow-up will allow us to better define the response rate, tolerability, TTP and OS with this regimen.

Background: Bendamustine (Treanda®) is a purine analog/alkylator hybrid with single-agent activity in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), multiple myeloma, and breast cancer. The objective of this phase 3 multicenter study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of single-agent bendamustine HCl in patients with relapsed, rituximab-refractory NHL. Methods: Eligible patients had previously treated, rituximab-refractory, indolent-histology NHL. Rituximab-refractory was defined as no response or progression within 6 months of first dose of rituximab induction, completion of rituximab maintenance therapy or progression before the next scheduled rituximab dose, or completion of a combination of rituximab and chemotherapy. Patients received bendamustine 120 mg/m2 intravenously over 60 minutes on days 1 and 2 every 21 days for 6 cycles (2 additional cycles at investigator discretion; max 8). Tumor response was determined by modified International Working Group Response Criteria for NHL. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) with secondary endpoints of response duration (RD) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: Results for the first 38 of 100 enrolled patients are presented. The median age was 60 years, 63% were male, and 63% had stage III/IV disease. Histologies included follicular (53%), CLL/small lymphocytic lymphoma (26%), and marginal zone (21%) lymphoma. Patients had received a median of 3 prior courses of treatment (range 1–10) and 2 prior rituximab-containing courses (range 1–6). Prior alkylator or purine analog-based treatment was administered to 79% and 37% of patients, respectively. Eighteen (47%) patients were considered to be chemoresistant. Four (11%) patients received prior radioimmunotherapy. The ORR in the primary analysis population was 84%, including 29% complete responses (CR), 3% CR unconfirmed, and 53% partial responses. The median RD was 9.3 months and the median PFS was 9.7 months. The primary hematologic toxicity was reversible myelosuppression; grade 3/4 hematologic side effects included leukopenia (60%), neutropenia (60%), thrombocytopenia (24%), lymphocytopenia (95%), and anemia (5%). Febrile neutropenia was not observed. Common nonhematologic adverse events (grades 1/2, 3, 4) were nausea (68%, 5%, 0%), vomiting (42%, 0%, 0%), and fatigue (42%, 13%, 3%). Conclusions: In this multicenter study, single-agent bendamustine was well tolerated and produced a high rate (84%) of durable responses. It is the first chemotherapeutic agent to demonstrate significant clinical activity in rituximab-refractory indolent lymphoma. These results compare favorably with prior reports of radioimmunotherapy in this patient population. An updated analysis of all 100 patients will be available for the annual meeting.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bendamustine HCl (TREANDA®) in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Background: Bendamustine is a novel hybrid, alkylating agent with single-agent activity in multiple hematologic and solid tumors. It induces cell death via both apoptosis and the apoptosis-independent pathway of mitotic catastrophe. The combination of bendamustine and rituximab has been shown to exhibit a synergistic antitumor effect on NHL cells. Methods: This Phase II, multicenter study enrolled adult patients with relapsed, indolent B-cell or mantle-cell NHL who were not refractory to rituximab (defined as progression ≤6 months of last rituximab dose). Patients received rituximab 375 mg/m2 intravenously (IV) on day 1 and bendamustine 90 mg/m2 IV on days 2 and 3 of a 28-day cycle for 4 to 6 cycles. An additional dose of rituximab 375 mg/m2 IV was given 1 week before the first cycle of bendamustine and 4 weeks after the last cycle. Results: The intent-to-treat (ITT) population included 66 patients (59% men) with a median age of 60 years (range, 40–84). Indolent histologic phenotype was seen in 54 patients with the following histologic subtypes: follicular center cell (61%), small lymphocytic (15%), lymphoplasmacytic (3%), and marginal zone (3%); 18% had mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL). A total of 85% of patients had stage III/IV disease. These patients relapsed from a median of 1 prior chemotherapy (range: 0–5), with 56% having had prior treatment with rituximab. Patients with no prior chemotherapy relapsed following biologic therapy. In the ITT population, the overall objective response rate (ORR) was 94% (complete response [CR]/complete response unconfirmed [CRu], 41%; partial response [PR], 53%); 6% had stable disease. The ORR for the 12 MCL patients was 92% (CR/CRu, 42%; PR 50%). For all patients, the median duration of response and progression-free survival has not been reached after a median follow-up of 8.3 months (range, 0.14–31 months). Grade 3/4 neutropenia was seen in 41% of patients (7%, febrile neutropenia). Common nonhematologic toxicities (grade 1/2, grade 3, grade 4) were nausea (68%, 0%, 0%) and fatigue (53%, 5%, 0%); one patient had grade 3 sepsis. No alopecia was observed. Conclusions: Bendamustine administered in combination with rituximab produced a high objective response rate and was generally well tolerated in patients with relapsed indolent and mantle-cell NHL who were not refractory to rituximab. These results suggest that the combination of bendamustine and rituximab may be comparable in activity to R-CHOP, and further studies of this combination are warranted.

Background: A CLSG pilot rx’d 140 pts.with Response Adapted Rx(RA) with Idarubicin 12 mg/m2 d1-3 & Ara-C 200 mg/m2 d1-7(IDAC);followed by IDAC II, then Mitoxantrone10 mg/m2&VP-16 100 mg/m2d1-5(NOVE), if in CR after IDAC, & NOVE x2 if they had persistent blasts @ d14 or @ recovery. CR rate was 74% in pts age15–80.DFS and OS were favourable @ 20 mos & 47 mos in pts ≤ 60. A CALGB study demonstrated the advantage of consolidation with high dose Ara-C(HDAC).We chose to compare HDAC with RA. Methods: All pts with AML, age15–80, with a performance of 0–2,were included except those with a hx of MDS>3 mos,bili>85 mmol/l, creatinine>220 mmol/l, hx of chemoRx or radiation Rx for another malignancy,CML, ejection fraction60. Dosage adjustments were made to VP-16 according to ↑ AST, to Idarubicin according to↑ bilirubin, and to HDAC according to ↑ ALP and/or ↑ creatinine. Pts with M3 were to be treated at least 45 days with ATRA. Pts were stratified according to age and # of inductions required to achieve CR and were followed until death, relapse, or BMT. Pts were followed for quality of life using both the SF-36 and the FLIC surveys which pts completed at baseline,1,4 and 12 mos post discharge from consolidation. Data went through annual analyses by an independent data monitoring committee comprised of a non-blinded statistician, a hematologist, and a an oncologist not participating in the study who were blinded to treatment allocation. Their analysis was done using group sequential design with early stopping boundaries. Results: The comparison was made between the RA approach (Arms A+D) vs. consolidation with HDAC (Arms B+C). Analysis was done on an intent-to-treat basis. 503 patients were recruited into the study from 5/96 until 12/01, of whom 461 were assessable. 201 age ≤ 60 and 95 age > 60 were randomized with a median time since randomization of 65.7 mos.Median DFS in RA pts > 60 was 20 mos vs. 13.3 mos in the HDAC arm (p=.15). The overall DFS hazard ratio was 0.72 (0.47, 1.13), p=0.153. For those RA pts > 60 and disease free at 6 mos, the median DFS was 27.3 mos vs. 10.2 mos in the HDAC arm with the hazard ratio of 0.57 (0.33, 1.02), p=0.056. Median DFS in pts ≤ 60 was 32 mos in pts randomized to RA and was 22.8 mos in the HDAC arm. Median OS in pts ≤ 60 has not yet been reached in pts randomized to RA and was 60.2 mos in the HDAC arm. In the RA pts > 60 the median OS was 21.1 mos vs. 19 mos in the HDAC arm. Notably, there is a trend in 117 pts ≤ 60 undergoing BMT to have lower mortality if treated with RA 21 (41.2%), rather than with HDAC 37 (56.1%), p=0.11. Conclusion: Although this study was not sufficiently powered to detect a statistically significant difference at the 0.05 level it suggests that RA therapy is advantageous over HDAC consolidation therapy, particularly for pts > 60 and for those who may get a BMT.

Background: Bendamustine hydrochloride (SDX-105; TreandaTM) is a multifunctional, alkylating agent with a purine-like ring system and novel mechanisms of action that exhibits impressive single-agent activity in multiple hematologic and solid tumors. In vitro data indicate that bendamustine induces cell death as a result of both apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe, resulting in potent cell-killing activity in cancer cells that are resistant to traditional chemotherapy (alkylating and fludarabine-containing regimens). In vitro data have also demonstrated a synergistic effect with rituximab for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL). A Phase II multicenter study (SDX-105-02) was conducted to determine the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of bendamustine with rituximab in relapsed NHL patients. Methods: The intent-to-treat (ITT) population consists of 54 patients with relapsed indolent CD20-positive B-cell or mantle cell NHL, enrolled from 22 sites in the US and Canada. Median age of the patients was 60 years (range 40–84); 59% had follicular NHL, 6% had small lymphocytic lymphoma, 4% had lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma, 4% had marginal zone lymphoma, and 17% had mantle cell lymphoma; and 72% of all patients had Stage III/IV disease. Patients relapsed from a median of 1 prior therapy. Patients received rituximab, 375 mg/m2 IV on day 1, and bendamustine, 90 mg/m2 on days 2 and 3, every 28 days for 4–6 cycles. All patients received an additional dose of rituximab 1 week prior to the first cycle of bendamustine and 4 weeks after the last cycle. Results: Of the 54 ITT patients, 37% had prior treatment with rituximab. Forty-three patients are currently evaluable for response, as defined by the International Working Group. The overall response rate was 84%, with complete response in 21% and partial response in 63% of patients. The median duration of response has not yet been reached after a median follow up of 3.6 months. Minimal toxicity was observed. The most common nonhematologic toxicities included grade 1/2 gastrointestinal complications. The primary grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity was neutropenia (with no neutropenic fever), observed in 22% of patients. Grade 3/4 anemia and thrombocytopenia were observed in only 1 patient. No alopecia was observed. Conclusions: Bendamustine, administered in combination with rituximab, produced high objective response rates with minimal toxicity in patients with refractory indolent and mantle cell NHL, including patients that previously failed alkylating and fludarabine-containing regimens. A Phase III trial with bendamustine as a single agent in patients with rituximab-refractory indolent NHL is ongoing.