Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) refractory to covalent BTK and BCL2 inhibitors have a new unmet clinical need. Standard treatment options are able to obtain only limited and ...short-lasting disease control associated with reduced overall survival, and thus these patients have become ideal candidates for enrollment in clinical trials. Favorable results have been obtained with the use of noncovalent BTK inhibitors (roughly 70% overall response rate regardless of the actual resistance or intolerance to previous covalent BTK inhibitors) and anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (with complete responses in up to 45% of cases and an undetectable measurable residual disease rate of 65% in the bone marrow). These 2 approaches should be considered valid options in this setting, although not yet approved. For young fit patients achieving remissions with salvage treatments, the option of allogeneic stem cell transplantation should be discussed as the outcome appears to be unaffected by number and type of previous targeted agents. Novel treatment strategies interfering with different mechanisms of CLL cell survival and proliferation are warranted, including small molecules with novel targets (eg, CDK9, MCL1, ERK inhibitors), CAR T cells targeting different antigens, CAR natural killer cells, or bispecific antibodies.
Using next-generation sequencing (NGS), we recently documented T-cell oligoclonality in treatment-naïve chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with evidence indicating T-cell selection by restricted ...antigens.
Here, we sought to comprehensively assess T-cell repertoire changes during treatment in relation to (i) treatment type fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab (FCR) versus ibrutinib (IB) versus rituximab-idelalisib (R-ID), and (ii) clinical response, by combining NGS immunoprofiling, flow cytometry, and functional bioassays.
T-cell clonality significantly increased at (i) 3 months in the FCR and R-ID treatment groups, and (ii) over deepening clinical response in the R-ID group, with a similar trend detected in the IB group. Notably, in constrast to FCR that induced T-cell repertoire reconstitution, B-cell receptor signaling inhibitors (BcRi) preserved pretreatment clones. Extensive comparisons both within CLL as well as against T-cell receptor sequence databases showed little similarity with other entities, but instead revealed major clonotypes shared exclusively by patients with CLL, alluding to selection by conserved CLL-associated antigens. We then evaluated the functional effect of treatments on T cells and found that (i) R-ID upregulated the expression of activation markers in effector memory T cells, and (ii) both BcRi improved antitumor T-cell immune synapse formation, in marked contrast to FCR.
Taken together, our NGS immunoprofiling data suggest that BcRi retain T-cell clones that may have developed against CLL-associated antigens. Phenotypic and immune synapse bioassays support a concurrent restoration of functionality, mostly evident for R-ID, arguably contributing to clinical response.
Abstract The BCL2 family members play a central role in regulating programmed cell death (apoptosis) and arbitrating the cellular fate through an accurate balance between pro-apoptotic (BAX, BAK, and ...BH3-only proteins) and pro-survival (BCL2 and its closest homologues, BCLXL, BCLW and MCL-1) factors. Deregulation of BCL2 family proteins contributes to programmed cell death evasion, that is a hallmark of human cancers and it is often related to (chemo)therapy resistance. High BCL2 levels have been detected in most human lymphoid malignancies, not limited to follicular lymphoma (where the role of BCL2 overexpression is driven by the t14;18 translocation) but also B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and multiple myeloma. For all these reasons, the opportunity to induce apoptosis by targeting BCL2 proteins is considered a potentially promising therapeutic approach in hematological malignancies. BCL2 family inhibition strategies currently explored in phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials are essentially two: (1) the use of antisense-based strategies to knockdown BCL2 or BCLXL expression (e.g. oblimersen) or (2) the use of synthetic BH3 mimetics i.e. small molecules binding to anti-apoptotic inhibitors thereby allowing the pro-apoptotic activity of BH3-only molecules (e.g. obatoclax, AT-101, ABT-737 and its derivatives ABT-263 and ABT-199). Several of these drugs demonstrated relevant clinical activity as single-agent or in combination therapy, with the most significant drawbacks in clinical use being represented by challenging pharmacokinetic profile (e.g. iv administration, high-levels of plasma proteins binding) and on-target side effects (e.g. gastrointestinal toxicity and thrombocytopenia). Further clinical development of the current compounds (e.g. ABT-199), showing high efficacy but devoid of the most threatening drug-related toxicities, is eagerly awaited. Hopefully, in the next future, BCL2 inhibitors (alone or in combination with immuno- and/or chemo-therapeutic agents) will represent target-specific drugs expanding our therapeutic armamentarium in the fight against hematologic malignancies.
Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have an increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease and mortality. The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine in patients ...with CLL. We evaluated humoral immune responses to the BNT162b2 messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine in patients with CLL and compared responses with those obtained in age-matched healthy control subjects. Patients received 2 vaccine doses, 21 days apart, and antibody titers were measured by using the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S assay after administration of the second dose. In a total of 167 patients with CLL, the antibody response rate was 39.5%. A comparison between 52 patients with CLL and 52 sex- and aged-matched healthy control subjects revealed a significantly reduced response rate among patients (52% vs 100%, respectively; adjusted odds ratio, 0.010; 95% confidence interval, 0.001-0.162; P < .001). The response rate was highest in patients who obtained clinical remission after treatment (79.2%), followed by 55.2% in treatment-naive patients and 16.0% in patients under treatment at the time of vaccination. In patients treated with either Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors or venetoclax ± anti-CD20 antibody, response rates were considerably low (16.0% and 13.6%). None of the patients exposed to anti-CD20 antibodies <12 months before vaccination responded. In a multivariate analysis, the independent predictors of response were younger age, female sex, lack of currently active treatment, immunoglobulin G levels ≥550 mg/dL, and immunoglobulin M levels ≥40 mg/dL. In conclusion, antibody-mediated response to the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in patients with CLL is markedly impaired and affected by disease activity and treatment. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT04746092.
•Antibody response to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in patients with CLL is markedly impaired and affected by disease activity and treatment.•In patients treated with either Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors or venetoclax ± anti-CD20 antibody, responses are relatively low.
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Outcomes for patients with hematologic malignancy infected with COVID-19 have not been aggregated. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the ...risk of death and other important outcomes for these patients. We searched PubMed and EMBASE up to 20 August 2020 to identify reports of patients with hematologic malignancy and COVID-19. The primary outcome was a pooled mortality estimate, considering all patients and only hospitalized patients. Secondary outcomes included risk of intensive care unit admission and ventilation in hospitalized patients. Subgroup analyses included mortality stratified by age, treatment status, and malignancy subtype. Pooled prevalence, risk ratios (RRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Thirty-four adult and 5 pediatric studies (3377 patients) from Asia, Europe, and North America were included (14 of 34 adult studies included only hospitalized patients). Risk of death among adult patients was 34% (95% CI, 28-39; N = 3240) in this sample of predominantly hospitalized patients. Patients aged ≥60 years had a significantly higher risk of death than patients <60 years (RR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.45-2.27; N = 1169). The risk of death in pediatric patients was 4% (95% CI, 1-9; N = 102). RR of death comparing patients with recent systemic anticancer therapy to no treatment was 1.17 (95% CI, 0.83-1.64; N = 736). Adult patients with hematologic malignancy and COVID-19, especially hospitalized patients, have a high risk of dying. Patients ≥60 years have significantly higher mortality; pediatric patients appear to be relatively spared. Recent cancer treatment does not appear to significantly increase the risk of death.
•Adult patients with hematologic malignancy and COVID-19 found a 34% risk of death, whereas pediatric patients had a 4% risk of death.•Patients on systemic anticancer therapy had a similar risk of death to patients on no treatment (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.83-1.64).
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Microenvironmental interactions of the malignant clone with T cells are critical throughout the natural history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Indeed, clonal expansions of T cells and shared ...clonotypes exist between different CLL patients, strongly implying clonal selection by antigens. Moreover, immunogenic neoepitopes have been isolated from the clonotypic B cell receptor immunoglobulin sequences, offering a rationale for immunotherapeutic approaches. Here, we interrogated the T cell receptor (TR) gene repertoire of CLL patients with different genomic aberration profiles aiming to identify unique signatures that would point towards an additional source of immunogenic neoepitopes for T cells.
TR gene repertoire profiling using next generation sequencing in groups of patients with CLL carrying one of the following copy-number aberrations (CNAs): del(11q), del(17p), del(13q), trisomy 12, or gene mutations in
or
.
Oligoclonal expansions were found in all patients with distinct recurrent genomic aberrations; these were more pronounced in cases bearing CNAs, particularly trisomy 12, rather than gene mutations. Shared clonotypes were found both within and across groups, which appeared to be CLL-biased based on extensive comparisons against TR databases from various entities. Moreover,
analysis identified TR clonotypes with high binding affinity to neoepitopes predicted to arise from
and
mutations.
Distinct TR repertoire profiles were identified in groups of patients with CLL bearing different genomic aberrations, alluding to distinct selection processes. Abnormal protein expression and gene dosage effects associated with recurrent genomic aberrations likely represent a relevant source of CLL-specific selecting antigens.
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