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Abstract: Multiple myeloma is a plasma cell malignancy that is currently incurable with conventional therapies. Following the success of CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in leukemia and lymphoma, CAR T cells targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) more recently demonstrated impressive activity in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients. However, BCMA-directed therapy can fail due to weak expression of BCMA on myeloma cells, suggesting that novel approaches to better address this antigen-low disease may improve patient outcomes. We hypothesized that engineered secretion of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-18 (IL-18) and multiantigen targeting could improve CAR T-cell activity against BCMA-low myeloma. In a syngeneic murine model of myeloma, CAR T cells targeting the myeloma-associated antigens BCMA and B-cell activating factor receptor (BAFF-R) failed to eliminate myeloma when these antigens were weakly expressed, whereas IL-18-secreting CAR T cells targeting these antigens promoted myeloma clearance. IL-18-secreting CAR T cells developed an effector-like T-cell phenotype, promoted interferon-gamma production, reprogrammed the myeloma bone marrow microenvironment through type-I/II interferon signaling, and activated macrophages to mediate antimyeloma activity. Simultaneous targeting of weakly-expressed BCMA and BAFF-R with dual-CAR T cells enhanced T-cell:target-cell avidity, increased overall CAR signal strength, and stimulated antimyeloma activity. Dual-antigen targeting augmented CAR T-cell secretion of engineered IL-18 and facilitated elimination of larger myeloma burdens in vivo. Our results demonstrate that combination of engineered IL-18 secretion and multiantigen targeting can eliminate myeloma with weak antigen expression through distinct mechanisms.

Following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT), the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is frequently affected by acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), the pathophysiology of which is associated with a dysbiotic microbiome. Since microbial composition varies along the length of the GI tract, the authors hypothesized that microbiome features correlate with the pattern of organ involvement after allo-HCT. We evaluated 266 allo-HCT recipients from whom 1303 stool samples were profiled by 16S ribosomal gene sequencing. Patients were classified according to which organs were affected by aGVHD. In the 20 days prior to disease onset, GVHD patients had lower abundances of members of the class Clostridia, lower counts of butyrate producers, and lower ratios of strict-to-facultative (S/F) anaerobic bacteria compared with allograft recipients who were free of GVHD. GI GVHD patients showed significant reduction in microbial diversity preonset. Patients with lower GI aGVHD had lower S/F anaerobe ratios compared with those with isolated upper GI aGVHD. In the 20 days after disease onset, dysbiosis was observed only in GVHD patients with GI involvement, particularly those with lower-tract disease. Importantly, Clostridial and butyrate-producer abundance as well as S/F anaerobe ratio were predictors of longer overall survival; higher abundance of butyrate producers and higher S/F anaerobe ratio were associated with decreased risk of GVHD-related death. These findings suggest that the intestinal microbiome can serve as a biomarker for outcomes of allo-HCT patients with GVHD., (© 2022 by The American Society of Hematology.)

Treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has presented challenges for hematologists for decades. Despite numerous clinical studies, outcomes are consistently disappointing with 5-year overall survival rates of ∼10%. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation at the time of second complete remission remains the only reliable option with curative potential. However, recent approval of several new agents has transformed treatment paradigms that had been in place for almost half a century in AML. This new therapeutic landscape provides the opportunity to revisit the approach to relapsed or refractory AML. Through illustrative cases, we describe our approach, which increasingly relies on specific disease biology. We focus on treatment outside of the context of clinical trials because such trials are not available in most parts of the world. Primarily, we consider age, fitness to tolerate intensive chemotherapy, remission duration, and presence of a targetable mutation to guide treatment. The coming years will inevitably bring new targets and agents that may prove most effective when combined with each other and/or chemotherapy. Future studies are needed to determine how best to implement this evolving armamentarium of treatment options, to elucidate mechanisms of resistance, and to continue the pursuit of novel drug discovery., (© 2020 by The American Society of Hematology.)

Siplizumab, a humanized anti-CD2 monoclonal antibody, has been used in conditioning regimens for hematopoietic cell transplantation and tolerance induction with combined kidney-bone marrow transplantation. Siplizumab-based tolerance induction regimens deplete T cells globally while enriching regulatory T cells (Tregs) early posttransplantation. Siplizumab inhibits allogeneic mixed-lymphocyte reactions (MLRs) in vitro. We compared the impact of siplizumab on Tregs versus other T cell subsets in HLA-mismatched allogeneic MLRs using PBMCs. Siplizumab predominantly reduced the percentage of CD4 + and CD8 + effector memory T cells, which express higher CD2 levels than naïve T cells or resting Tregs. Conversely, siplizumab enriched proliferating CD45RA - FoxP3 HI cells in MLRs. FoxP3 expression was stable over time in siplizumab-containing cultures, consistent with enrichment for bona fide Tregs. Consistently, high-throughput TCRβ CDR3 sequencing of sorted unstimulated and proliferating T cells in MLRs revealed selective expansion of donor-reactive Tregs along with depletion of donor-reactive CD4 + effector/memory T cells in siplizumab-containing MLRs. These results indicate that siplizumab may have immunomodulatory functions that may contribute to its success in tolerance-inducing regimens. Our studies also confirm that naïve in addition to effector/memory T cells contribute to the allogeneic MLR and mandate further investigation of the impact of siplizumab on alloreactive naïve T cells., (© 2019 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.)