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PV, NR and MMP contributed equally Introduction Patients with red blood cell disorders (RBCD), chronic life threating multisystemic disorders in their severe forms, are likely to be at increased risk of complications from SARS-Cov-2 (Covid-19), but evidence in this population is scarce due to its low frequency and heterogeneous distribution. ERN-EuroBloodNet, the European Reference Network in rare hematological disorders, established a European registry to determine the impact of COVID-19 on RBCD patients and identify risk factors predicting severe outcomes. Methods The ERN-EuroBloodNet registry was established in March 2020 by Vall d'Hebron Research Institute based on REDcap software in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on personal data. The local Research Ethics Committee confirmed that the exceptional case of the pandemic justifies the waiver of informed consent. The ERN-EuroBloodNet registry on RBCD and COVID-19 is endorsed by the European Hematology Association (EHA). Eligible patients had confirmed RBCD and COVID-19. Data collected included demographics, diagnosis, comorbidities, treatments, and COVID-19 (severity grade, clinical manifestations, acute events, treatments, hospitalization, intensive care unit, death). For analysis of COVID-19 severity, two groups were established 1) Mild: asymptomatic or mild symptoms without clinical pneumonia and 2) Severe: pneumonia requiring oxygen/respiratory support and/or admission to intensive care unit. Continuous variables were compared using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test or Kruskall Wallis test, while categorical variables were analyzed using the Chi-square test or Fisher's Exact test. Relevant factors influencing disease or severity were examined by the logistic regression adjusted for age. Results As of June 2021, 42 medical centers from 10 EU countries had registered 373 patients: 191 Sickle cell disease (SCD), 156 Thalassemia major and intermedia (THAL) and 26 other RBCD. 84% of the SCD patients were reported by Spain, Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands and 92% of the THAL patients by Italy and Greece. The mean age of SCD was lower (22.5y) than of THAL (39.6y) with pediatric population accounting for 50.5% in SCD and 9% in THAL (p Age and BMI correlated with COVID-19 severity, as described in the general population (p=0.002, p Potential risk factors such as elevated ferritin, current chelation or history of splenectomy did not confer additional risk for developing severe COVID-19 in any patient group. Only diabetes as a comorbidity correlated with severity grade in SCD (p=0.011) and hypertension in THAL (p=0.014). While severe COVID-19 infection in SCD was associated with both ACS (p Overall, 14.8% RBC patients needed oxygen/respiratory support, 4.4% were admitted to ICU with an overall mortality rate of 0.8% (no deaths were registered in pediatric age), much lower than reported in other similar cohorts. Discussion Results obtained so far show that severe COVID-19 occurs at younger ages in more aggressive forms of SCD and THAL. Current preventive approaches (shielding, vaccinations) focus on age over disease severity. Our data highlights the risk of severe COVID-19 infection in some young patients, particularly those with SS/SB0 SCD, suggesting that immunization should be considered in this pediatric group as well. Results between similar sized cohorts of RBCD patients vary between each other and those presented here, highlighting the importance of collecting all of these small cohorts together to ensure adequate statistical power so that definitive risk factors (eg. age, genotype, comorbidities) can be reliably identified and used to guide management of patients with these rare disorders in the light of the ongoing pandemic. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Longo: Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria; BlueBird Bio: Honoraria. Bardón-Cancho: Novartis Oncology Spain: Research Funding. Flevari: PROTAGONIST COMPANY: Research Funding; ADDMEDICA: Consultancy, Research Funding; BMS: Research Funding; IMARA COMPANY: Research Funding; NOVARTIS COMPANY: Research Funding. Voskaridou: BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; IMARA: Research Funding; NOVARTIS: Research Funding; ADDMEDICA: Consultancy, Research Funding; GENESIS: Consultancy, Research Funding; PROTAGONIST: Research Funding. Biemond: GBT: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novo Nordisk: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Sanquin: Research Funding. Nur: Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Roche: Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Beneitez-Pastor: Agios: Honoraria; Alexion: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Forma Therapeutics: Honoraria. Pepe: Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A: Other: no profit support; Bayer S.p.A.: Other: no profit support. de Montalembert: Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Addmedica: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BlueBirdBio: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Vertex: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Glenthøj: Agios: Consultancy; Novo Nordisk: Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy; Alexion: Research Funding; Bluebird Bio: Consultancy; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Saniona: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding. Benghiat: Novartis: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy. Labarque: Novartis: Consultancy; Bayer: Consultancy; Sobi: Consultancy; NovoNordisk: Consultancy; Octapharma: Consultancy. Diamantidis: Genesis Pharma: Honoraria; Uni-Pharma: Honoraria; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; IONIS Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; NOVARTIS, Genesis Pharma SA: Research Funding. Kerkhoffs: Sanofi: Research Funding; Terumo BCT: Research Funding. Iolascon: Celgene: Other: Advisory Board; Bluebird Bio: Other: Advisory Board. Taher: Vifor Pharma: Consultancy, Research Funding; Agios Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Ionis Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding. Colombatti: Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Global Blood Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novonordisk: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Forma Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Addmedica: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BlueBirdBio: Research Funding. Mañú Pereira: Novartis: Research Funding; Agios Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding.

Introduction : Daratumumab (Dara) is an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody that is approved for use in patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed multiple myeloma (MM). We hypothesized that early therapeutic intervention with Dara in patients with high-risk MGUS (HR-MGUS) or low-risk SMM (LR-SMM) would lead to eradication of the tumor clone by achieving deep responses, resulting in prevention of progression to MM. We present results of our phase II, single arm study of Dara in HR-MGUS and LR-SMM. Methods : Patients enrolled on this study met eligibility for either HR-MGUS or LR-SMM. HR-MGUS is defined as 1.65, M protein ≥ 1.5g/dL or non-IgG M protein. LR-SMM is defined by one of the following 3 criteria: M protein ≥3g/dL, ≥10% bone marrow plasma cells, SFLC ratio 8. Dara (16mg/kg) was administered intravenously on a weekly schedule for cycles 1-2, every other week cycles 3-6, and monthly during cycles 7-20. The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportion of patients who achieve very good partial response (VGPR) or greater after 20 cycles of Dara. Secondary objectives included duration of response, safety, and rates of minimal residual disease (MRD)-negativity in VGPR or greater patients. Correlative studies included assessing changes in immune microenvironment, evaluating clonal heterogeneity using deep sequencing, and determining association of genomic aberrations correlating with either response to therapy or progression of disease. Results : At the time of data cutoff, a total of 42 patients were enrolled on this study from 2018 to 2020 with participation of 5 sites. The median age for all patients at enrolment was 60 years (range 38 to 76), with 22 males (52.4%) and 20 females (47.6%). Majority of patients enrolled were classified as LR-SMM (n = 37, 88.1%) and the remaining 5 patients had HR-MGUS (11.9%). 41 patients have started treatment and are included in toxicity assessment, and 40 patients have at least completed 16 cycles (range 6-20). Grade 3 toxicities were rare and only experienced in 5/41 patients including diarrhea (n =1/41; 2%), flu like symptoms (n = 1/41; 2%), headache (n=1/41; 2%), and hypertension (n=2/41; 5%). Most common toxicities of any grade included fatigue (n = 24/41, 51%), cough (n = 19/41, 46%), nasal congestion (n = 18/41, 44%), headache (n = 14/41, 34%), hypertension (n = 11/41, 27%), nausea (n = 13/41, 32%), and leukopenia (n = 13/41, 32%). No patients have discontinued therapy due to toxicity. Minimal response or better was observed in 82.9% of patients (34/41) and PR or better was observed in 51.2% of patients (21/41). This included overall CR (n = 4, 9.8%), VGPR (n = 1, 2.4%), PR (n = 16, 39.0%), MR (n = 13, 31.7%), and SD (n = 7, 17.1%). In the 40 patients who completed at least 16 cycles, response rates were as follows: MR or better 85% (34/40), PR or better 52.5% (21/40) and VGPR or better 12.5% (5/40). Median time to VGPR was 7 months. Median overall survival and progression-free survival have not been reached and no patients have progressed to overt multiple myeloma while on study. Conclusion : Dara is very well tolerated among patients with HR-MGUS and LR-SMM with minimal toxicities. Responses are seen in majority of patients. Early therapeutic intervention in this precursor patient population appears promising but longer follow up is required to define the role of single agent Dara in preventing progression to MM, therefore avoiding more toxic interventions in this low-risk patient population. Disclosures Nadeem: Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Yee: GSK: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Bristol Myers Squibb: Consultancy; Adaptive: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy. Zonder: Caelum Biosciences: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Intellia: Consultancy; Alnylam: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Regeneron: Consultancy. Rosenblatt: Attivare Therapeutics: Consultancy; Imaging Endpoints: Consultancy; Parexel: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Wolters Kluwer Health: Consultancy, Patents & Royalties. Mo: AbbVIE: Consultancy; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Eli Lilly: Consultancy; Epizyme: Consultancy; GSK: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria; Karyopharm: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Sperling: Adaptive: Consultancy. Richardson: Karyopharm: Consultancy, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy; Protocol Intelligence: Consultancy; Secura Bio: Consultancy; Regeneron: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Research Funding; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Research Funding. Ghobrial: AbbVie, Adaptive, Aptitude Health, BMS, Cellectar, Curio Science, Genetch, Janssen, Janssen Central American and Caribbean, Karyopharm, Medscape, Oncopeptides, Sanofi, Takeda, The Binding Site, GNS, GSK: Consultancy.

Background: Early therapeutic intervention with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma (HR-SMM) has shown to be effective by delaying time to progression to overt myeloma (Lonial J Clin Oncol 2020 Apr 10;38(11):1126-1137). Triplet and quadruplet combination therapies utilizing a proteasome inhibitor, immunomodulatory agent and a CD38 monoclonal antibody are used extensively in patients with multiple myeloma due to far greater efficacy compared to lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone. These combinations have been studied in HR-SMM, demonstrating encouraging activity, including ixazomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone and elotuzumab, lenalidomide and dexamethasone. There are also current ongoing studies with curative intent utilizing more potent therapy in HR-SMM, including carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone with autologous stem cell transplantation (Mateos EHA 2019, abstract S871) and daratumumab, carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone (NCT03289299). Daratumumab, bortezomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone (D-RVD) combination is highly effective and well-tolerated in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma at achieving high response rates as well as minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity based on results from the phase II GRIFFIN trial (Voorhees Blood 2020 Aug 20;136(8):936-945). Thus, we propose to examine the activity and safety of D-RVD in patients with HR-SMM. Study Design and Methods: This is a phase II single center, single-arm, open label study evaluating the combination of D-RVD in HR-SMM. Primary objective of this study is to determine the proportion of HR-SMM patients who are MRD negative at 2 years after receiving D-RVD. Secondary objectives include MRD negativity rate at 6 months, 12 months, 24 months and 36 months, progression-free survival, response rates and safety. Exploratory objectives include assessment of mass spectrometry quantification of M protein, examination of molecular evolution of tumor cells and to determine role of immune cells in progression of SMM. Patients must meet criteria for HR-SMM based on bone marrow clonal plasma cells ≥10% and any one or more of the following: Serum M protein ≥3.0 gm/dL, immunoparesis with reduction of two uninvolved immunoglobulin isotypes, serum involved/uninvolved free light chain ratio ≥8 (but less than 100), progressive increase in M protein level (evolving type of SMM), bone marrow clonal plasma cells 50-60%, abnormal plasma cell immunophenotype (≥95% of bone marrow plasma cells are clonal) and reduction of one or more uninvolved immunoglobulin isotypes, high risk FISH defined as any one or several of the following: t(4;14), t(14;16), t(14;20), del 17p or 1q gain, MRI with diffuse abnormalities or 1 focal lesion (≥5mm), PET-CT with one focal lesion (≥5mm) with increased uptake without underlying osteolytic bone destruction. Patients that meet high risk definition by the new Mayo/IMWG 2018 "20-2-20" criteria are also eligible if they have 2 out of the following 3 criteria: Bone marrow plasmacytosis ≥20% , ≥2g/dl M protein, ≥20 involved: uninvolved serum free light chain ratio. Treatment duration with D-RVD is for 2 years (24 cycles). Daratumumab is administered at a dose of 1800mg subcutaneously (SQ) weekly for cycles 1-2, biweekly for cycles 3-6 and monthly until completion of cycle 24. Bortezomib is given at a dose of 1.3mg/m2 SQ on days 1, 8, 15 for cycles 1-6 and then biweekly until completion of cycle 24. Lenalidomide is administered on days 1-21 at a dose of 25mg for cycles 1-6 and 15mg for cycles 7-24. Dexamethasone is administered weekly at 20mg cycles 1-6 and biweekly during cycles 7-24. All eligible patients will undergo stem cell collection after cycle 6 of therapy. A single-stage design will be employed with 30 eligible patients entered. If 12 or more of the 30 eligible patients are MRD negative at 2 years (observed rate of >=40%), we will conclude that this treatment warrants further study. The probability of concluding that the treatment is effective if the true rate is 25% is 0.051 and is 0.90 if the true rate is 50%. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Nadeem: Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Mo: Karyopharm: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria; GSK: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Epizyme: Consultancy; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Eli Lilly: Consultancy. Sperling: Adaptive: Consultancy. Richardson: Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy; Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy; Secura Bio: Consultancy; Protocol Intelligence: Consultancy; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy; Regeneron: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy, Research Funding; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Research Funding. Ghobrial: AbbVie, Adaptive, Aptitude Health, BMS, Cellectar, Curio Science, Genetch, Janssen, Janssen Central American and Caribbean, Karyopharm, Medscape, Oncopeptides, Sanofi, Takeda, The Binding Site, GNS, GSK: Consultancy.

Extranodal marginal zone (MZ) B-cell lymphomas of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) arise from lymphoid populations that are induced by chronic inflammation in extranodal sites. The best evidence of an etiopathogenetic link is provided by the association between Helicobacter pylori–positive gastritis and gastric MALT lymphoma. Indeed, successful eradication of this microorganism with antibiotics can be followed by gastric MALT lymphoma regression in most cases. Other microbial agents have been implicated in the pathogenesis of MZ lymphoma arising at different sites. Apart from gastric MALT lymphoma, antibiotic therapies have been adequately tested only in ocular adnexal MALT lymphomas where upfront doxycycline may be a reasonable and effective initial treatment of patients with Chlamydophila psittaci–positive lymphoma before considering more aggressive strategies. In all other instances, antibiotic treatment of nongastric lymphomas remains investigational. Indeed, there is no clear consensus for the treatment of patients with gastric MALT lymphoma requiring further treatment beyond H pylori eradication or with extensive disease. Both radiotherapy and systemic treatments with chemotherapy and anti-CD20 antibodies are efficacious and thus the experience of individual centers and each patient’s preferences in terms of adverse effects are important parameters in the decision process.

Proteasome inhibitors (PI) are extensively used for the therapy of multiple myeloma (MM) and mantle cell lymphoma. However, patients continuously relapse or are intrinsically resistant to this class of drugs. Here, to identify targets that synergize with PI, we carried out a functional screening in MM cell lines using a short hairpin RNA library against cancer driver genes. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) was identified as a top candidate, showing a synthetic lethal activity with the PI carfilzomib (CFZ). Combinations of US Food and Drug Administration–approved PI with a pharmacological IDH2 inhibitor (AGI-6780) triggered synergistic cytotoxicity in MM, mantle cell lymphoma, and Burkitt lymphoma cell lines. CFZ/AGI-6780 treatment increased death of primary CD138+ cells from MM patients and exhibited a favorable cytotoxicity profile toward peripheral blood mononuclear cells and bone marrow–derived stromal cells. Mechanistically, the CFZ/AGI-6780 combination significantly decreased tricarboxylic acid cycle activity and adenosine triphosphate levels as a consequence of enhanced IDH2 enzymatic inhibition. Specifically, CFZ treatment reduced the expression of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), thus limiting IDH2 activation through the NAD+-dependent deacetylase SIRT3. Consistently, combination of CFZ with either NAMPT or SIRT3 inhibitors impaired IDH2 activity and increased MM cell death. Finally, inducible IDH2 knockdown enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of CFZ in a subcutaneous xenograft model of MM, resulting in inhibition of tumor progression and extended survival. Taken together, these findings indicate that NAMPT/SIRT3/IDH2 pathway inhibition enhances the therapeutic efficacy of PI, thus providing compelling evidence for treatments with lower and less toxic doses and broadening the application of PI to other malignancies.

Richter syndrome (RS) represents the development of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the context of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The scarcity of biologic information about RS has hampered the identification of molecular predictors of RS outcome. We addressed this issue by performing a comprehensive molecular characterization of 86 pathologically proven RS. TP53 disruption (47.1%) and c-MYC abnormalities (26.2%) were the most frequent alterations, whereas common genetic lesions of de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were rare or absent. By multivariate analysis, lack of TP53 disruption (hazard ratio, 0.43; P = .003) translated into significant survival advantage with 57% reduction in risk of death. An algorithm based on TP53 disruption, response to RS treatment, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status had 80.9% probability of correctly discriminating RS survival (c-index = .809). RS that were clonally unrelated to the paired chronic lymphocytic leukemia phase were clinically and biologically different from clonally related RS because of significantly longer survival (median, 62.5 months vs 14.2 months; P = .017) and lower prevalence of TP53 disruption (23.1% vs 60.0%; P = .018) and B-cell receptor stereotypy (7.6% vs 50.0%; P = .009). The molecular dissection of RS into biologically distinct categories highlights the genetic heterogeneity of this disorder and provides clinically relevant information for refining the prognostic stratification of patients.

In this issue of Blood , Zhang and colleagues identify that BACH2 acts as a tumor suppressor protein in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Low levels of BACH2 are associated with poor outcome in MCL patients and in vitro resistance in cell lines to both targeted agents (proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib) and chemotherapy agents (etoposide, methotrexate). BACH2 is negatively regulated in hypoxic conditions, as in the bone marrow microenvironment, via a regulatory loop involving hypoxia-induced factor-1α, heme, and prolyl hydroxylase 3. 1

In this issue of Blood , Sim et al identify novel distinct human megakaryocyte populations primed for platelet release and establish a new approach to isolate such populations to generate either in vitro or in vivo functional human platelets. 1