Treating unfit patients with aggressive B-cell lymphoma poses the dilemma of balancing potential cure while minimizing toxicity because of frailty and comorbidities. Age greater than 80 years and ...common comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease and poorly controlled diabetes mellitus often preclude the use of full-dose anthracyclines and steroids, the backbones of standard regimens for aggressive B-cell lymphomas. Assessing patient fitness remains subjective, with no consensus on best practice or how to integrate assessment tools into decision making. Incorporation of prephase steroids for all unfit patients may markedly improve performance status with consideration of standard dose therapy, especially in patients less than age 80. Although randomized studies are lacking, current data suggest patients age ≥ 80 years are considered unfit a priori and should receive dose-reduced anthracycline regimens or anthracycline-free regimens. Severe toxicity is highest after the first cycle of chemotherapy. Dose reductions for cycle 1 in unfit patients with plans to escalate as tolerated is often an effective strategy. Unfit patients often benefit from comanagement with gerontologists, cardio-oncologists, and endocrinologists depending on age and the nature of comorbidities. Palliative therapy for patients with newly diagnosed aggressive B-cell lymphoma results in median survivals of less than 3 months, and in general, should only be considered in patients with untreatable comorbidities such as advanced dementia or refractory metastatic solid tumors. Incorporating new, potentially less toxic agents such as novel antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, and bispecific antibodies into first-line therapy is an exciting future direction with potential for substantial benefit in less fit patients.
Most patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) experience multiple relapses necessitating subsequent lines of therapy. Ibrutinib, a Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor approved for the treatment of ...several B-cell malignancies, showed promising activity in FL in a phase 1 study. We report the results of a phase 2 trial evaluating ibrutinib in recurrent FL. Forty patients with recurrent FL were treated with ibrutinib 560 mg/d until progression or intolerance. The primary end point was overall response rate (ORR). Exploratory analyses included correlations of outcome with recurrent mutations identified in a cancer gene panel that used next-generation sequencing in pretreatment biopsies from 31 patients and results of early interim positron emission tomography/computed tomography scans in 20 patients. ORR was 37.5% with a complete response rate of 12.5%, median progression-free survival (PFS) of 14 months, and 2-year PFS of 20.4%. Response rates were significantly higher among patients whose disease was sensitive to rituximab (52.6%) compared with those who were rituximab refractory (16.7%) (P = .04). CARD11 mutations were present in 16% of patients (5 of 31) and predicted resistance to ibrutinib with only wild-type patients responding (P = .002). Maximum standardized uptake value at cycle 1 day 8 correlated with response and PFS. Ibrutinib was well-tolerated with a toxicity profile similar to labeled indications. Ibrutinib is a well-tolerated treatment with modest activity in relapsed FL. Evaluation of BTK inhibitors in earlier lines of therapy may be warranted on the basis of improved response rates in rituximab-sensitive disease. Somatic mutations such as CARD11 may have an impact on response to ibrutinib, may inform clinical decisions, and should be evaluated in larger data sets. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01849263.
•Ibrutinib has modest activity in FL with low response rates in rituximab-refractory patients.•CARD11 mutations predict for lack of response to ibrutinib.
Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common form of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, yet it remains only partially characterized at the genomic level. To improve our understanding of the genetic ...underpinnings of this incurable and clinically heterogeneous disease, whole-exome sequencing was performed on tumor/normal pairs from a discovery cohort of 24 patients with FL. Using these data and mutations identified in other B-cell malignancies, 1716 genes were sequenced in 113 FL tumor samples from 105 primarily treatment-naive individuals. We identified 39 genes that were mutated significantly above background mutation rates. CREBBP mutations were associated with inferior PFS. In contrast, mutations in previously unreported HVCN1, a voltage-gated proton channel-encoding gene and B-cell receptor signaling modulator, were associated with improved PFS. In total, 47 (44.8%) patients harbor mutations in the interconnected B-cell receptor (BCR) and CXCR4 signaling pathways. Histone gene mutations were more frequent than previously reported (identified in 43.8% of patients) and often co-occurred (17.1% of patients). A novel, recurrent hotspot was identified at a posttranslationally modified residue in the histone H2B family. This study expands the number of mutated genes described in several known signaling pathways and complexes involved in lymphoma pathogenesis (BCR, Notch, SWitch/sucrose nonfermentable (SWI/SNF), vacuolar ATPases) and identified novel recurrent mutations (EGR1/2, POU2AF1, BTK, ZNF608, HVCN1) that require further investigation in the context of FL biology, prognosis, and treatment.
•FLs harbor more recurrent mutations in the BCR signaling pathway, SWI/SNF complex, and histone genes than previously known.•Novel recurrent mutations affecting BTK, SYK, and HVCN1 may have therapeutic and prognostic implications for FL.
Addition of brentuximab vedotin, a CD30-targeted antibody–drug conjugate, and the programmed death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors nivolumab and pembrolizumab to the armamentarium for transplant-ineligible ...relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma has resulted in improved outcomes, including the potential for cure in a small minority of patients. For patients who have failed prior transplant or are unsuitable for dose-intense approaches based on age or comorbidities, an individualized approach with sequential use of single agents such as brentuximab vedotin, PD-1 inhibitors, everolimus, lenalidomide, or conventional agents such as gemcitabine or vinorelbine may result in prolonged survival with a minimal or modest effect on quality of life. Participation in clinical trials evaluating new approaches such as combination immune checkpoint inhibition, novel antibody–drug conjugates, or cellular therapies such as Epstein-Barr virus–directed cytotoxic T lymphocytes and chimeric antigen receptor T cells offer additional options for eligible patients.
Hodgkin's lymphoma and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma are the two most common tumors expressing CD30. Previous attempts to target the CD30 antigen with monoclonal-based therapies have shown minimal ...activity. To enhance the antitumor activity of CD30-directed therapy, the antitubulin agent monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) was attached to a CD30-specific monoclonal antibody by an enzyme-cleavable linker, producing the antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35).
In this phase 1, open-label, multicenter dose-escalation study, we administered brentuximab vedotin (at a dose of 0.1 to 3.6 mg per kilogram of body weight) every 3 weeks to 45 patients with relapsed or refractory CD30-positive hematologic cancers, primarily Hodgkin's lymphoma and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. Patients had received a median of three previous chemotherapy regimens (range, one to seven), and 73% had undergone autologous stem-cell transplantation.
The maximum tolerated dose was 1.8 mg per kilogram, administered every 3 weeks. Objective responses, including 11 complete remissions, were observed in 17 patients. Of 12 patients who received the 1.8-mg-per-kilogram dose, 6 (50%) had an objective response. The median duration of response was at least 9.7 months. Tumor regression was observed in 36 of 42 patients who could be evaluated (86%). The most common adverse events were fatigue, pyrexia, diarrhea, nausea, neutropenia, and peripheral neuropathy.
Brentuximab vedotin induced durable objective responses and resulted in tumor regression for most patients with relapsed or refractory CD30-positive lymphomas in this phase 1 study. Treatment was associated primarily with grade 1 or 2 (mild-to-moderate) toxic effects. (Funded by Seattle Genetics; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00430846.).
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, comprises a heterogenous group of morphologically, genetically, and clinically distinct diseases. Several recent ...advances have affected the treatment landscape, which had been mostly stagnant for the past few decades. We will review the practice-changing studies in frontline (POLARIX), early relapse (ZUMA-7 and TRANSFORM), and multiple recurrent (ZUMA-1, JULIET, TRANSCEND, L-MIND, and LOTIS-2) stages and discuss how the treatment landscape may evolve with the emergence of bispecific antibodies.
Natural killer (NK) cells are a promising cellular immunotherapy for cancer. Cytokine-induced memory-like (ML) NK cells differentiate after activation with interleukin-12 (IL-12), IL-15, and IL-18, ...exhibit potent antitumor responses, and safely induce complete remissions in patients with leukemia. However, many cancers are not fully recognized via NK cell receptors. Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have been used to enhance tumor-specific recognition by effector lymphocytes. We hypothesized that ML differentiation and CAR engineering would result in complementary improvements in NK cell responses against NK-resistant cancers. To test this idea, peripheral blood ML NK cells were modified to express an anti-CD19 CAR (19-CAR-ML), which displayed significantly increased interferon γ production, degranulation, and specific killing against NK-resistant lymphoma lines and primary targets compared with nonspecific control CAR-ML NK cells or conventional CAR NK cells. The 19-CAR and ML responses were synergistic and CAR specific and required immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif signaling. Furthermore, 19-CAR-ML NK cells generated from lymphoma patients exhibited improved responses against their autologous lymphomas. 19-CAR-ML NK cells controlled lymphoma burden in vivo and improved survival in human xenograft models. Thus, CAR engineering of ML NK cells enhanced responses against resistant cancers and warrants further investigation, with the potential to broaden ML NK cell recognition against a variety of NK cell-resistant tumors.
Ibrutinib has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) since 2016 but has not been compared with ...chemoimmunotherapy. We conducted a phase 3 trial to evaluate the efficacy of ibrutinib, either alone or in combination with rituximab, relative to chemoimmunotherapy.
Patients 65 years of age or older who had untreated CLL were randomly assigned to receive bendamustine plus rituximab, ibrutinib, or ibrutinib plus rituximab. The primary end point was progression-free survival. The Alliance Data and Safety Monitoring Board made the decision to release the data after the protocol-specified efficacy threshold had been met.
A total of 183 patients were assigned to receive bendamustine plus rituximab, 182 to receive ibrutinib, and 182 to receive ibrutinib plus rituximab. Median progression-free survival was reached only with bendamustine plus rituximab. The estimated percentage of patients with progression-free survival at 2 years was 74% with bendamustine plus rituximab and was higher with ibrutinib alone (87%; hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.39; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.26 to 0.58; P<0.001) and with ibrutinib plus rituximab (88%; hazard ratio, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.25 to 0.59; P<0.001). There was no significant difference between the ibrutinib-plus-rituximab group and the ibrutinib group with regard to progression-free survival (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.62 to 1.62; P=0.49). With a median follow-up of 38 months, there was no significant difference among the three treatment groups with regard to overall survival. The rate of grade 3, 4, or 5 hematologic adverse events was higher with bendamustine plus rituximab (61%) than with ibrutinib or ibrutinib plus rituximab (41% and 39%, respectively), whereas the rate of grade 3, 4, or 5 nonhematologic adverse events was lower with bendamustine plus rituximab (63%) than with the ibrutinib-containing regimens (74% with each regimen).
Among older patients with untreated CLL, treatment with ibrutinib was superior to treatment with bendamustine plus rituximab with regard to progression-free survival. There was no significant difference between ibrutinib and ibrutinib plus rituximab with regard to progression-free survival. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute and Pharmacyclics; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01886872 .).
Outcomes for patients with refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are poor. In the multicenter ZUMA-1 phase 1 study, we evaluated KTE-C19, an autologous CD3ζ/CD28-based chimeric antigen ...receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, in patients with refractory DLBCL. Patients received low-dose conditioning chemotherapy with concurrent cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2) and fludarabine (30 mg/m2) for 3 days followed by KTE-C19 at a target dose of 2 × 106 CAR T cells/kg. The incidence of dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was the primary endpoint. Seven patients were treated with KTE-C19 and one patient experienced a DLT of grade 4 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity. Grade ≥3 CRS and neurotoxicity were observed in 14% (n = 1/7) and 57% (n = 4/7) of patients, respectively. All other KTE-C19-related grade ≥3 events resolved within 1 month. The overall response rate was 71% (n = 5/7) and complete response (CR) rate was 57% (n = 4/7). Three patients have ongoing CR (all at 12+ months). CAR T cells demonstrated peak expansion within 2 weeks and continued to be detectable at 12+ months in patients with ongoing CR. This regimen of KTE-C19 was safe for further study in phase 2 and induced durable remissions in patients with refractory DLBCL.
In a multicenter phase 1 study, Locke, Neelapu, et al. report tolerability and safety of KTE-C19, a CD19 chimeric antigen receptor technology, in patients with chemorefractory DLBCL. More importantly, KTE-C19 could provide durable clinical benefit in this difficult-to-treat patient population, demonstrating broad clinical applicability of KTE-C19.
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