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Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains a cornerstone in the treatment of both Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and various non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) subtypes. BEAM (carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan) is the most frequently used conditioning regimen; however, owing due to limited availability and toxicity of carmustine, thiotepa-containing regimens have been suggested. We previously reported encouraging results in ASCT with a TECAM (thiotepa, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, and melphalan) conditioning regimen from 2000 to 2013. We aimed to update our experience with the TECAM regimen by adding our experience from 2013 to 2020 to the previously reported cohort. Moreover, we aimed to use the detailed data for the 2 transplant cohorts to identify improvements in ASCT outcomes in the recent era. We retrospectively analyzed all lymphoma patients who underwent ASCT at our center between January 2000 and December 2020. A total of 353 lymphoma patients were included (142 in the newer cohort added to 211 previously reported patients), all of whom were treated with our standard TECAM conditioning regimen. The cohort included 127 patients with HL, 107 with DLBCL, and 119 with other NHL subtypes. The newer cohort was characterized by significantly poorer Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) prior to ASCT (45.7% versus 19.3% with ECOG-PS ≥1; P< .01), whereas a higher proportion of patients entered transplantation in complete response (CR) (71.9% versus 47.8%; P< .01). The median follow-up after ASCT was 136.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 91.4 to 181.4 months). The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates post-ASCT for the entire cohort were 59.8% and 79.3%, respectively. Evaluating the 303 of 353 patients (86.4%) who entered ASCT with a responsive disease—a population that represents today's approach to the selection of patients for ASCT—the 3-year PFS and OS rates were 61.5% and 81.9%, respectively. In this population, the 3-year PFS rate was 62.2% for HL, 62.6% for DLBCL, 64.3% for primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), and the 3-year OS rate were 90.1%, 75.2%, and 78.6%, respectively. OS was significantly better in the newer cohort (P< .01), but not when evaluating only patients who entered ASCT with responsive disease. Dose reductions, poor disease status, and poor ECOG-PS at ASCT entry were associated with worse outcomes across all lymphoma subtypes. In accordance with our previous report, patients entering transplantation for DLBCL with a partial response achieved similar outcomes as those with a CR. Eighteen patients died within the first 100 days, 8 due to disease progression and 10 due to transplantation-related complications (2.8%). There were no cases of interstitial pneumonitis syndrome. Twenty-two cases (6.2%) of secondary malignancies were documented. Our results confirm that TECAM is an effective and safe conditioning regimen for ASCT in patients with HL and various NHLs, including favorable results in PCNSL. Despite a higher proportion of frail patients, the newer cohort's outcomes were favorable, driven by better lymphoma control pretransplantation. In the DLBCL cohort, ECOG-PS had more prognostic value than achieving a CR pre-ASCT, a finding relevant to the optimal allocation of patients to different treatment options in the era of chimeric antigen receptor T cell availability.

•HBI0101, an academic BCMA-CART therapy for MM, is a safe, efficient, and available local alternative to commercial drugs.•High-risk cytogenetic, extramedullary disease, and CART differentiation status are predictors of HBI0101 response durability.

Attempts to expand ex vivo the numbers of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) without compromising their marrow repopulating capacity and their ability to establish multilineage hematopoiesis has been the subject of intense investigation. Although most such efforts have focused on cord blood HSCs, few have been applied to adult HSCs, a more clinically relevant HSC source for gene modification. To date, the strategies that have been used to expand adult HSCs have resulted in modest effects or HSCs with lineage bias and a limited ability to generate T cells in vivo. We previously reported that culturing umbilical cord blood CD34+ cells in serum‐free media supplemented with valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, and a combination of cytokines led to the expansion of the numbers of fully functional HSCs. In the present study, we used this same approach to expand the numbers of adult human CD34+ cells isolated from mobilized peripheral blood and bone marrow. This approach resulted in a significant increase in the numbers of phenotypically defined HSCs (CD34+CD45RA‐CD90+D49f+). Cells incubated with VPA also exhibited increased aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, each functional markers of HSCs. Grafts harvested from VPA‐treated cultures were able to engraft in immune‐deficient mice and, importantly, to generate cellular progeny belonging to each hematopoietic lineage in similar proportion to that observed with unmanipulated CD34+ cells. These data support the utility of VPA‐mediated ex vivo HSC expansion for gene modification of adult HSCs. Valproic acid (VPA)‐mediated ex vivo expansion of adult bone marrow and mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells resulted in a cellular product characterized by high viability, enrichment with CD34+CD45RA‐CD90+ cells, increased aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity, robust multipotent clonogenic potential, and decreased mitochondrial potential. VPA‐expanded grafts were able to establish unbiased multilineage human hematopoietic‐cell chimerism in NSG mice at 16 weeks post‐transplantation.

Background:Patients (pts) with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) have a significantly increased risk of arterial and venous thrombotic events (TEs), while some pts may paradoxically suffer from bleeding manifestations. Thrombosis risk evaluation in polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) has important implications for patient management, however, the currently used risk stratification models are extremely limited.

BACKGROUND:While anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CART) have proven safe and efficient in multiple myeloma (MM), its application to AL amyloidosis (AL), has been restricted due to the frailty of this population and rarity of disease. HBI0101 therapy is a novel anti-BCMA CART-based therapy developed at Hadassah Medical Center and Bar-Ilan University for MM treatment. In a phase Ia-b/2 study (NCT04720313), HBI0101 has demonstrated manageable safety with therapeutic efficacy in over 70 MM patients. Although BCMA targeting in AL has been questioned because of relatively low expression of this antigen on AL plasma cells (PC), we have previously reported that this level of expression is sufficient to enable PC eradication by HBI0101 CART ex vivo. Based on this observation, we have treated 9 AL patients in our study, which represent the largest cohort of AL treated with anti-BCMA CART reported so far.

BACKGROUND:Anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART) therapy shows remarkable efficacy in patients with relapsed and/or refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma (MM), with recent phase 3 studies showing clear advantage of idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel)over standard-of-care. However, access to these commercial CART products is a major barrier, and it is estimated that only around a quarter of eligible R/R MM patients will receive CART nowadays.

The limited number of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in umbilical cord blood (UCB) units restricts their use for stem cell transplantation. Ex vivo treatment of UCB-CD34+cells with valproic acid (VPA) increases the number of transplantable HSCs. In this study, we demonstrate that HSC expansion is not merely a result of proliferation of the existing stem cells but, rather, a result of a rapid reprogramming of CD34+CD90−cells into CD34+CD90+cells, which is accompanied by limited numbers of cell divisions. Beyond this phenotypic switch, the treated cells acquire and retain a transcriptomic and mitochondrial profile, reminiscent of primary HSCs. Single and bulk RNA-seq revealed a signature highly enriched for transcripts characteristic of primary HSCs. The acquisition of this HSC signature is linked to mitochondrial remodeling accompanied by a reduced activity and enhanced glycolytic potential. These events act in concert with a modest upregulation of p53 activity to limit the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Inhibition of either glycolysis or p53 activity impairs HSC expansion. This study indicates that a complex interplay of events is required for effective ex vivo expansion of UCB-HSCs.

The limited number of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in umbilical cord blood (UCB) units restricts their use for stem cell transplantation. Ex vivo treatment of UCB-CD34+ cells with valproic acid (VPA) increases the number of transplantable HSCs. In this study, we demonstrate that HSC expansion is not merely a result of proliferation of the existing stem cells but, rather, a result of a rapid reprogramming of CD34+CD90- cells into CD34+CD90+ cells, which is accompanied by limited numbers of cell divisions. Beyond this phenotypic switch, the treated cells acquire and retain a transcriptomic and mitochondrial profile, reminiscent of primary HSCs. Single and bulk RNA-seq revealed a signature highly enriched for transcripts characteristic of primary HSCs. The acquisition of this HSC signature is linked to mitochondrial remodeling accompanied by a reduced activity and enhanced glycolytic potential. These events act in concert with a modest upregulation of p53 activity to limit the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Inhibition of either glycolysis or p53 activity impairs HSC expansion. This study indicates that a complex interplay of events is required for effective ex vivo expansion of UCB-HSCs.

Polycythemia vera (PV) is a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm. Virtually all PV patients are iron deficient at presentation and/or during the course of their disease. The co-existence of iron deficiency and polycythemia presents a physiological disconnect. Hepcidin, the master regulator of iron metabolism, is regulated by circulating iron levels, erythroblast secretion of erythroferrone, and inflammation. Both decreased circulating iron and increased erythroferrone levels, which occur as a consequence of erythroid hyperplasia in PV, are anticipated to suppress hepcidin and enable recovery from iron deficiency. Inflammation which accompanies PV is likely to counteract hepcidin suppression, but the relatively low serum ferritin levels observed suggest that inflammation is not a major contributor to the dysregulated iron metabolism. Furthermore, potential defects in iron absorption, aberrant hypoxia sensing and signaling, and frequency of bleeding to account for iron deficiency in PV patients have not been fully elucidated. Insufficiently suppressed hepcidin given the degree of iron deficiency in PV patients strongly suggests that disordered iron metabolism is an important component of the pathobiology of PV. Normalization of hematocrit levels using therapeutic phlebotomy is the most common approach for reducing the incidence of thrombotic complications, a therapy which exacerbates iron deficiency, contributing to a variety of non-hematological symptoms. The use of cytoreductive therapy in high-risk PV patients frequently works more effectively to reverse PV-associated symptoms in iron-deficient relative to iron-replete patients. Lastly, differences in iron-related parameters between PV patients and mice with JAK2 V617Fand JAK2 exon 12mutations suggest that specific regions in JAK2 may influence iron metabolism by nuanced changes of erythropoietin receptor signaling. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the clinical consequences of iron deficiency in PV, provide a framework for understanding the potential dysregulation of iron metabolism, and present a rationale for additional therapeutic options for iron-deficient PV patients.

Previous studies and meta-analyses addressing COVID-19 in patients with hematological malignancies (HM) have reported dramatically high mortality rates of up to 34% [Vigenthira 2020, Garcia-Suarez 2020, Sharafeldin 2021]. These studies, however, were strongly biased towards hospitalized patients, and poorly represented patients who experienced a milder course of COVID-19, not requiring hospitalization. Jerusalem and its metropolitan area, comprising of over 1.3 million inhabitants, was the epicenter of Israel's COVID-19 crisis, with over 200,000 cases. Hadassah Medical Center, one of only two tertiary centers serving this multi-ethnic population, houses a Hematology Department that includes inpatient services, a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) center, day care services and in-campus outpatient clinics. From February 20 th, 2020, we tracked patients with confirmed COVID-19 reporting to their treating hematologists while being hospitalized due to COVID-19, at routine visits to the hematology services, or remotely via phone or email communication. This assured the representation of COVID-19 cases of various clinical severities. Data were collected retrospectively and included demographics, comorbidities, hematological diagnoses and treatments, course of COVID-19 and, importantly, source of infection. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess association between prognostic factors and outcomes including hospitalization, severe COVID-19 (per updated WHO criteria) and critical COVID-19, defined as a composite of ICU admission and mortality. Almost all the patients in this series were diagnosed prior to their vaccination. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest single center series of HM patients with COVID-19 reported to date.

Lavie: AbbVie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Fees for lectures; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Other: Fees for lectures; Roche: Other: Fees for lectures; Novartis: Other: Fees for lectures; Takeda: Consultancy. Goldschmidt: AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) provide an attractive target for gene modification strategies for the correction of genetic blood disorders. A significant barrier to the translation of these strategies to the clinic has been the decline in numbers of fully functional HSCs associated with ex vivoculture. In order to create optimal conditions for gene modification, HSCs are typically cultured with cytokines to trigger their proliferation. Cytokine stimulation, however, induces stem cell differentiation, resulting in loss of long-term marrow repopulating potential. To overcome this barrier, we treated two sources of adult HSCs, G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood (mPB) and bone marrow (BM) CD34+ cells with valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor. This approach has previously been shown to promote the expansion of fully functional cord blood HSCs (Chaurasia et al. JCI, 2014).

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Umbical cord blood (UCB) is an important source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for allogeneic transplantation of patients suffering from hematological malignancies and genetic disorders. Its use, however, as an HSC graft for adults has been restricted due to the limited numbers of HSCs within a single UCB unit. We have previously reported that UCB CD34+cell numbers can be expanded over a seven-day period of incubation by ex vivotreatment with a cytokine combination and the histone deacetylase inhibitor, valproic acid (VPA) (Chaurasia et al. J Clin Invest. 2014:124(6): 2378-2395). In this study, we addressed the mechanism underling this ex-vivoexpansion of UCB-derived CD34+cells. We found that VPA triggered two distinct phases of HSC behavior. The first phase (days 1-4) was characterized by a prompt elevation of the expression of stem cell phenotypic markers (CD90 and CD49f), which was associated with acetylation of histone H3, and expression of pluripotency genes including OCT4, NANOG, and SOX2. During this period, the cells underwent a limited number of cell divisions. The second phase (days 4-7) was characterized by a greater number of cell divisions that resulted in a drastic increase in the absolute number of phenotypically defined HSCs. Both acetylation of H3 and expression of the pluripotency genes were transient events since they were no longer evident during the second phase. During the entire incubation period, VPA-induced HSC cells maintained a distinct mitochondrial metabolic profile characterized by low mitochondrial potential, ROS levels and mass. Remarkably, the p38 activity, a downstream target of ROS, was also suppressed in VPA-expanded HSCs. Given that both ROS and p38 activity lead to exhaustion and limit the lifespan of the pool of HSCs, our findings suggest that the VPA-expanded HSCs are equipped with mechanisms that monitor and ensure their fitness.In addition, removal of VPA from the culture after 24, 48 and 72hrs of incubation reversed the acetylation of H3 and the expression of the pluripotency genes. These events were further accompanied by the rapid loss of stem cell marker expression (24hrs after removal) leading to decreased HSC numbers. Importantly, upon VPA removal, the expanded cells exhibited an increase in mitochondrial ROS, mass and potential suggesting that the epigenetic reprograming and mitochondrial remodeling triggered by VPA were linked and were both reversible events.