Joanna Romejko-Jarosińska

Quadruplet therapy with Isa-VRd (isatuximab, Velcade [bortezomib], Revlimid [lenalidomide], and dexamethasone) followed by Isa-Rd in the randomized phase 3 IMROZ study provided a significant progression-free survival benefit to transplant-ineligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM). In the primary analysis, more Isa-VRd/Isa-Rd–treated patients achieved minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity and MRD-negative complete response (CR) at any time point than patients receiving VRd followed by Rd. Here, we report landmark analysis results of MRD negativity over time and its impact on clinical outcomes in IMROZ. Treatment with Isa-VRd/Isa-Rd led to deeper responses, with higher rates of MRD negativity and MRD-negative CR at the end of induction and during maintenance vs VRd/Rd, up to 60 months of follow-up. Benefit with Isa-VRd/Isa-Rd was observed across key patient subgroups, including older (>70 years) and frail patients. Time to progression (TTP) was significantly prolonged with Isa-VRd/Isa-Rd vs VRd/Rd in patients who converted from MRD negative to MRD positive at any time point. In a landmark analysis of the time of conversion to MRD positivity, TTP in patients who converted from MRD negative at the end of induction to MRD positive also favored Isa-VRd/Isa-Rd. Evaluating MRD status of patients at >1 time point may therefore be useful to support decisions on treatment selection and treatment continuation/discontinuation. Our findings on the degree of MRD negativity and MRD-negative CR benefit achieved during induction and maintenance by patients receiving Isa-VRd/Isa-Rd vs VRd/Rd extend the IMROZ primary analyses and further support Isa-VRd as standard of care for frontline treatment of transplant-ineligible patients with NDMM. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT03319667.

Summary: Clinical data on primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma (PCNSL) patients is mostly generated from prospective studies, and many frail real‐world patients are not included. Recently,the diagnosis and treatment of PCNSL patients was confounded by the COVID‐19 pandemic. In particular, treatment with high‐dose cytarabine was linked to increased risk of pneumonia and virus persistence. We report on outcome of the induction regimen R‐MIV (rituximab, methotrexate, ifosfamide, and vincristine) involving intensive administration of high‐dose methotrexate (3.5 g/m²) with ifosfamide, every 2 weeks and rituximab once per week for six doses. The median age and performance status (PS) for 64 patients was 58 years and 2 (PS 3; 22%) respectively. The overall response rate by magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography (MRI/CT) was 73% (n = 46/63), with an additional 17.5% (n = 11/63) patients without measurable disease at baseline. Grade 3–4 haematological toxicity was low for R‐MIV (neutropenia: 25% and thrombocytopenia: 1%). Three patients (4.7%) died from treatment‐related toxicity. Co‐existence of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection with cytomegalovirus reactivation and the varicella‐zoster virus in two patients was fatal. Fifty patients (78%) were eligible for consolidation. Median progression‐free and overall survival were not reached (median follow‐up: 44 months). In conclusion, the R‐MIV regimen is feasible in routine practice, effective and safe, even during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of histopathological subtypes, the clinical stage at presentation and treatment modalities in Polish patients with orbital lymphoma (OL) and to determine prognostic outcomes.Methods: The retrospective study of 107 patients with OL treated in a 14‐year period in Polish hematological centers. The analysis included histopathological subtype, disease clinical advancement, treatment modalities, progression‐free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).Results: The median patient age was 60 years (range 51–71). Mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma accounted for slightly more than half of all cases of orbital lymphoma (51%). The second most common subtype was diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (29%). Primary orbital lymphoma was diagnosed in 48% of all patients. According to the Ann Arbor, localized stage IE of orbital lymphoma was diagnosed only in 39% of all patients. Systemic involvement was observed in more than half of all patients (52%). The median follow‐up period was 30 months (range 0–160 months). Patients with non‐MALT lymphoma had a significantly inferior PFS compared to patients with MALT lymphoma, (p = 0.047). Patients with primary orbital lymphoma had a superior PFS compared to patients with secondary orbital lymphoma [median PFS 104.5 months vs. 33.4 months], (p = 0.069).Younger patients with MALT lymphoma were characterized by superior PFS (median PFS not reached) compared to other studied subgroups of patients (older patients with MALT lymphoma, younger and older non‐MALT lymphoma patients) with a median PFS of 30.5, 32.2, 32.6 months respectively (p = 0.039). Patients treated with chemotherapy alone had inferior PFS compared to patients treated with combined therapies (p = 0.034). The median PFS across patients who received chemotherapy alone was 23.7 months, whereas across other patients was 73.9 months.Conclusions: Secondary lymphoma accounts for more than half of the orbital lymphoma in Polish population. The advanced clinical stage of the disease (non‐IE according to Ann Arbor) concerns two‐thirds of the overall population of patients with orbital lymphomas and one‐third of MALT lymphoma patients. The high incidence of advanced stages of orbital lymphoma may indicate the need for combined treatment. Combined orbital lymphoma treatment is associated with superior PFS compared to chemotherapy alone in overall population of patients with orbital lymphoma.

Summary: The efficacy of salvage treatment of diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients who relapse or progress (rrDLBCL) after initial therapy is limited. Efficacy and safety of ofatumumab with iphosphamide, etoposide and cytarabine (O‐IVAC) was evaluated in a single‐arm study. Dosing was modified for elderly patients. Patients received up to six cycles of treatment. The primary end‐point was the overall response rate (ORR). Patients were evaluated every two cycles and then six and 12 months after treatment. Other end‐points included progression‐free survival (PFS), event‐free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS) and safety. Seventy‐seven patients received salvage treatment with O‐IVAC. The average age was 56.8 years; 39% had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of at least 3; 78% had disease of Ann Arbor stage 3 or 4; 58% received one or more prior salvage therapies. The ORR for O‐IVAC was 54.5%. The median duration of study follow‐up was 70 months. The median PFS and EFS were 16.3 months each. The median OS was 22.7 months. Age, ECOG performance status and the number of prior therapy lines were independent predictors of survival. Treatment‐related mortality was 15.5%. O‐IVAC showed a high response rate in a difficult‐to‐treat population and is an attractive treatment to bridge to potentially curative therapies.

Introduction: Primary cutaneous indolent B-cell lymphomas (PCBCLs) are not well characterized due to their rarity and indolent character. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data from 52 patients with primary cutaneous follicular lymphoma (PCFL) (n = 26), marginal zone lymphoma (PCMZL) (n = 25) or undefined PCBCL (n = 1) treated in 10 hematology centers in 1999–2019. Results: Patients characteristics and diagnostic approach: In almost half of the patients, pruritus or pain were present at diagnosis. The lesions were predominantly located on the head and trunk. The disease was present in a form of solitary infiltration or disseminated lesions with a similar frequency. Treatment details and outcomes: Surgery, radiotherapy, rituximab alone or combined with chemotherapy were applied as first-line treatment in 33%, 25%, 21% and 21% of patients, with complete response (CR) achieved by 94%, 83%, 50% and 70% of patients, respectively (p = 0.28). The median duration of response (DoR) was 65 months (95%CI 35–155). Survival: After the median follow-up time of 46 months (range: 3–225), the estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 93% and 54%, respectively. Discussion: Clinical presentation was largely consistent with the literature data, however, we observed some differences, including higher predilection to affect upper extremities (25%) and more frequent multifocal appearance in PCFCL (64%) and unifocal in PCMZL (70%). A high proportion of patients with indolent PCBCL achieved CR after the first-line therapy (77%), regardless of treatment mode. We did not find any impact of clinical features on treatment outcomes. Conclusions: All treatment modalities resulted in a high overall response rate. Surgery and/or radiotherapy are the optimal therapeutic options for patients with localized disease. The decision to treat systemically should rather be limited to the generalized form of the disease. High response rate, long duration of remission and excellent long-term survival confirm the truly indolent character of PCFCL and PCMZL.

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) represent 15% and 20%, respectively, of all lymphoma types. The aim of this study was to identify and compare circulating serum miRNA (c‐miRNA) and peripheral whole blood miRNA (wb‐miRNA) profiles in patients with these lymphomas. Serum samples (20 HL, 21 DLBCL, and 30 healthy controls) and whole blood samples (21 HL, 17 DLBCL patients, and 30 healthy controls) were collected at the time of diagnosis. Serum and whole blood were also collected from 18 HL/17 DLBCL and eight HL/nine DLBCL patients, respectively, after treatment. Pairwise comparisons identified 125 c‐miRNAs (adjusted P value < 0.05) showing significant dysregulation between 30 healthy controls and patients; of these, 47 and 55 differentiated controls from pretherapeutic HL and DLBCL patients, respectively. In addition, 60 and 16 c‐miRNAs differentiated controls from posttherapeutic HL and DLBCL, respectively. Pairwise comparisons identified 292 wb‐miRNAs (adjusted P value < 0.05) showing significant dysregulation between 30 controls and patients; of these, 103 and 169 differentiated controls from pretherapeutic HL and DLBCL, respectively, and 142 and 151 wb‐miRNAs differentiated controls from posttherapeutic HL and DLBCL, respectively. Thus, lymphoma‐associated miRNAs may be a better source of noninvasive candidate biomarkers than miRNAs in serum. It is unclear whether miRNA alterations in lymphoma cells are similar to those observed in white blood cells.

Background: MYC, BCL2 and BCL6 are known to be altered in high grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL). Double/triple-hit lymphomas (D/THLs) are characterized by chromosomal rearrangementsof MYC, BCL2 and/or BCL6. D/THLs have been included in the updated 2016 WHO classification, as a new category of "High grade B-cell lymphoma with rearrangements" (HGBL-R) or Diffuse Large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) entity, depending on morphology/cytogenetic features. BCL2 protein is expressed in a much higher proportion of DLBCL and HGBL, not otherwise specified (HGBL,NOS), and is often associated with a concomitant expression of MYC and BCL6. Most of HGBLs do not carry BCL2/MYC/BCL6 rearrangements and are referred to as "double/triple-expressor lymphomas" (D/TELs). D/THLs patients usually progress rapidly, are resistant to R-CHOP immunochemotherapy, and have very poor prognosis. D/TELs also have a worse outcome than other DLBCL,NOS. BCL2 overexpression is observed in both germinal centre B-cell-like (GCB) and non-GCB HGBL. We have previously described a diagnostic algorithm for subtypes of HGBL based on flow-cytometry immunphenotyping (FCM) with CD38 overexpression, which correlates with MYC rearrangement assessed in fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) samples. Here, we propose that patients with HGBL/DLBCL,NOS, with BCL2 overexpression, especially those with D/THLs and D/TELs, may benefit from DA-EPOCH-R (dose-adjusted cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, etoposide, vincristine, prednisone with rituximab) treatment. Methods: 30 patients (male/female 18/12, median age/range 51/35-76/) diagnosed with DLBCL,NOS (13 pts), HGBL-R (11 pts), HGBL,NOS (2 pts), primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma - PMBL (3 pts) and DLBCL,leg type (1 pt), based on 2016 WHO classification, were treated with DA-EPOCH-R as first-line therapybetween January 2015 - July 2016. Clinical stage III or IV and IPI 3 or more were found in 27 pts (90%) and 22 pts (73%), respectively. All cases were evaluated by histopathological/immunohistochemical/flow-cytometry examination (HP/IHC/FCM), with panels of antibodies, including also CD5/CD10/CD20/CD38/BCL2/BCL6/MYC. In most cases, MYC, BCL2, BCL6 and, in case of relapse, also TP53 status was evaluated by karyotyping (CC) and FISH. Results: Considering the cell-of-origin, there were 20 pts with GCB, 3 non-GCB, 4 CD5+ and 3 PMBL. In addition, 15 pts were DEL, 12 - TEL, 3 - one-expressor lymphoma, 8 - D/THL, 12 - one-hit lymphoma and 10 - non-hit lymphoma, mostly with BCL2 overexpression. Karyotype was successfully assessed in 70%, while BCL2 overexpression was found in 83% of HGBL pts. MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 rearrangement was found in 48%, 35% and 21%, respectively. In 50%, 46% and 54% of cases there was an increase in copy number/amplification of MYC, BCL2 and BCL6, respectively. In 15 evaluable pts., overall and complete response was 80% and 53%, respectively. Median follow-up of HGBL pts treated with DA-EPOCH-R was 5 months (range 1-17), and the probability of one year overall survival was 91%, 95% C.I. (80%,100%). Progression free survival at 1 year was 62%, 95C.I. (36%,90%). 3 of 4 patients with progressive disease had TP53 deletion. The main toxicity was pancytopenia with neutropenia grade 3 or more in 24 pts (80%). Treatment-related mortality due to septic shock occurred in 2 patients (7%). Conclusions: DA-EPOCH-R regimen shows a promising activity considering D/THL and D/TEL-associated drug resistance. DA-EPOCH-R regimen seems to overcome drug resistance associated with BCL2/MYC/BCL6 overexpression, but not with TP53 deletion. Combining HP/IHC with FNAB/FCM/CC/FISH is a reliable method for D/THL and D/TEL diagnosis but the most sensitive method for fast MYC/BCL2 rearrangement assessment in DHL is FNAB/FCM CD38 and BCL2 overexpression.