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We analysed long-term outcome of patients receiving haematopoietic allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) as a first transplant for high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). One hundred and ninety patients were included in this study, 63% of them had previously received brentuximab vedotin and/or checkpoint inhibitors. Seventy patients (37%) received an unrelated donor allo-HSCT, 99 (51%) had myeloablative conditioning (MAC) and 60% had in vivo T-cell/depleted grafts (TCD). The 100-day cumulative incidence (CI) of grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was 25% and the 3-year CI of chronic GVHD was 38%. The 3-year CI of non-relapse mortality (NRM) and relapse rate were 21% and 38% respectively. After a median follow-up of 58 months, 3-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 58% and 41% respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that, in comparison to reduced-intensity conditioning regimens with or without TCD, MAC using TCD had similar NRM and a lower risk of relapse leading to significantly better OS and PFS. MAC without TCD was associated with higher NRM and worse survival outcomes. These results suggest that in patients with high-risk HL and candidates of allo-HSCT, a MAC strategy with TCD might be the best option.

Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Càncer hematològic; Malalties infeccioses Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Cáncer hematológico; Enfermedades infecciosas Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Haematological cancer; Infectious diseases COVID-19 is posing a significant threat to health in vulnerable patients, such as immunocompromised patients. For hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients and patients with hematologic malignancies it is known that COVID-19 leads to severe morbidity and high mortality as compared to the general population [1–3]. For patients treated with Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T-cell) therapy for B-cell malignancies however, descriptions of the clinical course and outcome are still limited to small case series and case reports [4–8]. CAR-T-cell therapy recipients are believed to be at high risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19 due to their severely immunocompromised state, caused by prior lymphodepleting immunochemotherapy and CAR-T-cell therapy related side effects such as B-cell depletion, hypogammaglobulinemia, and cytopenias. In order to rapidly inform the medical field on the impact of COVID-19 on CAR-T-cell therapy recipients, the EBMT Infectious Diseases Working Party and the EHA Lymphoma Group joined forces and present the clinical course of COVID-19 in the largest European cohort to date.

The therapeutic potential of donor-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has been investigated in diverse diseases1, including steroid-resistant acute graft versus host disease (SR-aGvHD)2. However, conventional manufacturing approaches are hampered by challenges with scalability and interdonor variability, and clinical trials have shown inconsistent outcomes3,4. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have the potential to overcome these challenges, due to their capacity for multilineage differentiation and indefinite proliferation5,6. Nonetheless, human clinical trials of iPSC-derived cells have not previously been completed. CYP-001 (iPSC-derived MSCs) is produced using an optimized, good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant manufacturing process. We conducted a phase 1, open-label clinical trial (no. NCT02923375) in subjects with SR-aGvHD. Sixteen subjects were screened and sequentially assigned to cohort A or cohort B (n = 8 per group). One subject in cohort B withdrew before receiving CYP-001 and was excluded from analysis. All other subjects received intravenous infusions of CYP-001 on days 0 and 7, at a dose level of either 1 × 106 cells per kg body weight, to a maximum of 1 × 108 cells per infusion (cohort A), or 2 × 106 cells per kg body weight, to a maximum dose of 2 × 108 cells per infusion (cohort B). The primary objective was to assess the safety and tolerability of CYP-001, while the secondary objectives were to evaluate efficacy based on the proportion of participants who showed a complete response (CR), overall response (OR) and overall survival (OS) by days 28/100. CYP-001 was safe and well tolerated. No serious adverse events were assessed as related to CYP-001. OR, CR and OS rates by day 100 were 86.7, 53.3 and 86.7%, respectively. The therapeutic application of iPSC-derived MSCs may now be explored in diverse inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. A GMP-compliant process for generating human iPSC-derived mesenchymal stromal cells tested in a phase 1 trial is safe and well tolerated in subjects with acute steroid-resistant graft versus host disease.

Background: The success of unrelated haemopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is limited by graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which is the main post-transplantation challenge when HLA-matched donors are unavailable. A sequence dimorphism in exon 1 of HLA-B gives rise to leader peptides containing methionine (Met; M) or threonine (Thr; T), which differentially influence natural killer and T-cell alloresponses. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the role of the leader dimorphism in GVHD after HLA-B-mismatched unrelated HCT. Methods: We did a retrospective cohort study of 33 982 patients who received an unrelated HCT done in Australia, Europe, Japan, North America, and the UK between Jan 1, 1988, and Dec 31, 2016. Data were contributed by participants of the International Histocompatibility Working Group in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. All cases were included and there were no exclusion criteria. Multivariate regression models were used to assess risks associated with HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DRB1, and HLA-DQB1 mismatching. Among the 33 982 transplantations, the risks of GVHD associated with HLA-B M and T leaders were established in 17 100 (50·3%) HLA-matched and 1457 (4·3%) single HLA-B-mismatched transplantations using multivariate regression models. Leader frequencies were defined in 2 004 742 BeTheMatch US registry donors. Findings: Between Jan 20, 2017, and March 11, 2019, we assessed 33 982 HCTs using multivariate regression models for the role of HLA mismatching on outcome. Median follow-up was 1841 days (IQR 909–2963). Mortality and GVHD increased with increasing numbers of HLA mismatches. A single HLA-B mismatch increased grade 3–4 acute GVHD (odds ratio [OR] 1·89, 95% CI 1·53–2·33; p

We evaluated the role of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in transplant-naïve patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who failed to attain metabolic complete response (mCR) to 1 to 2 lines of salvage chemotherapyThose with residual but nonprogressive disease assessed by positron emission tomography/computed tomography scanning were eligible. An additional 1 to 2 cycles of salvage therapy were permissible in those with progressive disease or when required to bridge to allo-HSCT, with additional imaging at baseline before transplantation. Conditioning consisted of carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, melphalan, and alemtuzumab. Donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) were administered for mixed chimerism or residual or relapsed disease. Eleven patients had sibling donors, 13 had HLA-matched unrelated donors, and 7 had HLA-mismatched unrelated donors. There were no graft failures, and no episodes of grade 4 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); only 19.4% of patients had grade 2 to 3 GVHD, and 22.2% had extensive chronic GVHD. The non-relapse mortality rate was 16.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.1%-34.5%). Relapse incidence was 18.7% (95% CI, 8.2%-39.2%). The study met its primary objective, with a 3-year progression-free survival of 67.7% (95% CI, 48.4%-81.2%). Survival outcomes were equivalent in those with residual metabolically active disease immediately before transplantation (n = 24 [70.8%; 95% CI, 17.2%-83.7%]). Two of the 5 patients who relapsed received DLI and remained in mCR at latest follow-up, with a 3-year overall survival of 80.7% (95% CI, 61.9%-90.8%). We demonstrate encouraging results that establish a potential role for allo-HSCT in selected high-risk patients with HL. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00908180.

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The EBMT Chronic Malignancies Working Party performed a retrospective analysis of 215 patients who underwent a second allo-HCT for myeloma between 1994 and 2017, 159 for relapse and 56 for graft failure. In the relapse group, overall survival (OS) was 38% (30–46%) at 2 years and 25% (17–32%) at 5 years. Patients who had a HLA-identical sibling (HLAid-Sib) donor for their first and second transplants had superior OS (5 year OS: HLAid-Sib/HLAid-Sib: 35% (24–46%); Others 9% (0–17%), p p = 0.03). More as opposed to fewer than 2 years between transplants was associated with superior 5-yr OS (31% (21–40%) vs. 10% (1–20%), P = 0.005). On multivariate analysis, consecutive HLA-identical sibling donor transplants conferred a significant OS advantage (0.4 (0.24–0.67), p

BACKGROUND: The treatment of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who develop disease progression after undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo‐SCT) remains challenging. METHODS: The authors assessed outcomes in 184 adult patients with HL who developed disease recurrence or progression after a matched related or unrelated allo‐SCT at European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation–participating centers between 2010 and 2014. RESULTS: Eighty patients who received brentuximab vedotin (BV) salvage therapy were compared with 104 patients who did not. Patients in the BV group were younger (median age of 30 years vs 34 years) and were more likely to receive pretransplant BV (65% vs 46%) or posttransplant donor lymphocyte infusion (66% vs 33%). The 2 groups otherwise were comparable. Patients in the BV group received a median of 6 doses of posttransplant BV, resulting in a complete remission rate of 29%, a partial response rate of 45%, and a stable disease rate of 26%. Response to BV after allo‐SCT did not appear to be affected by receipt of pretransplant BV. Despite a longer median follow‐up for surviving patients in the BV group (33 months vs 23 months; P

Background The ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is having an enormous impact on society worldwide and is especially posing a threat to health in vulnerable patients, such as patients with immune deficiencies. It is expected that patients who received Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy for hematologic malignancies are at risk for poor outcomes after COVID-19 due to their severely immunocompromised state caused by prior cumulative immunochemotherapy, on-target/off-tumor B-cell depletion, hypogammaglobulinemia and ongoing cytopenias. Current data are limited to small case series and case reports. This study describes the clinical characteristics and outcomes of CAR T-cell therapy recipients after developing COVID-19 in the largest cohort to date. Methods In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) developed a special COVID-19 report form to capture data from all patients with COVID-19 after treatment with CAR T-cell therapy for hematologic malignancies. Only PCR positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnosed patients before June 1 st, 2021 were included. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical course after COVID-19 diagnosis and evaluate overall survival. Overall survival probabilities were calculated using the Kaplan Meier method. Factors associated with mortality after COVID-19 diagnosis were examined using a Cox proportional hazard model. Results A total of 57 patients from 11 countries were reported to the EBMT. One patient with incomplete data at diagnosis and without any follow up information had to be excluded from the analysis. The median age of these 56 patients was 57.7 years (min-max 5.2 - 72.8) including 55 adults and one child. Of these patients, 32 were male. CAR T-cell therapy was given to 46 patients with B-cell-non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 7 patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and 3 patients with multiple myeloma. The median time from CAR T-cell infusion to COVID-19 diagnosis was 7.4 months (min-max 0.03 - 25.3). At the time of COVID-19 diagnosis, 62.5% of patients were in complete remission, 12.5% of patients had a partial response and 25% of patients had relapsed/refractory disease. Forty-five patients (80%) were admitted to hospital (median 26,5 days, min-max 3-171) due to COVID-19. Of the admitted patients, 24 (53%) needed oxygen support. Twenty-two (49%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (median 14 days, min - max 2-65) and 16 (73%) of these patients received invasive ventilation. At the time of analysis, 25 of the 56 patients had died (44.6%), most (23/25) due to COVID-19, resulting in a COVID-19 attributable mortality rate of 41%. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of overall survival is shown in Figure 1. The median follow-up from COVID-19 diagnosis was 20.9 weeks. In 1 of the 32 alive patients there was no resolution of COVID-19 at the time of analysis. In multivariate analysis, older age (hazard ratio (HR) 1.50, 95% CI 1.11-2.03, p=0.009) and comorbidities (HR 2.56, 95% CI 1.05-6.23, p=0.001) had a negative impact on overall survival. Better performance status at time of admission (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.59-0.88, p=0.038) had a positive impact on overall survival. Sex, time from CAR T-cell therapy to COVID-19 diagnosis, disease remission status and the occurrence of neurotoxicity or cytokine release syndrome after CAR T-cell infusion did not have a significant effect on overall survival in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion Patients with COVID-19 after B-cell-targeted CAR T-cell therapy have a very poor outcome. As it remains uncertain whether currently applied vaccination strategies against SARS-CoV-2 are effective after CAR T-cell therapy, vaccination of health-care personnel and family members in combination with protective measures against viral exposure are likely to play the most important role in protecting this vulnerable group of patients. Better treatment strategies are urgently needed. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Ljungman: OctaPharma: Other: DSMB; Enanta: Other: DSMB; Janssen: Other: Investigator; Takeda: Consultancy, Other: Endpoint committee, speaker; AiCuris: Consultancy; Merck: Other: Investigator, speaker. De La Camara: IQONE: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy. Ortiz-Maldonado: Kite, Novartis, BMS, Janssen: Honoraria. Barba: Novartis: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; BMS: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria. Kwon: Novartis, Celgene, Gilead, Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria. Sesques: Novartis: Honoraria; Chugai: Honoraria; Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria. Bachy: Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Daiishi: Research Funding; Roche: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy. Di Blasi: Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria. Thieblemont: Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses ; Bristol Myers Squibb/Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses ; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses , Research Funding; Gilead Sciences: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses ; Kyte: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses ; Incyte: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses ; Cellectis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses ; Hospira: Research Funding; Bayer: Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses . Mutsaers: BMS: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Research Funding. Nicholson: Kite, a Gilead Company: Other: Conference fees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Other: Conference fees; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy. Martínez-López: Janssen, BMS, Novartis, Incyte, Roche, GSK, Pfizer: Consultancy; Roche, Novartis, Incyte, Astellas, BMS: Research Funding. Ribera: NOVARTIS: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; TAKEDA: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; ARIAD: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; SHIRE: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; AMGEN: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Sanderson: Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria. Bloor: Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria. Ciceri: IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele: Current Employment. Ayuk: Novartis: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria; Mallinckrodt/Therakos: Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria; Miltenyi Biomedicine: Honoraria; Celgene/BMS: Honoraria. Kröger: Novartis: Research Funding; Riemser: Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Honoraria; Neovii: Honoraria, Research Funding; Jazz: Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead/Kite: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; AOP Pharma: Honoraria. Kersten: Celgene: Research Funding; Miltenyi Biotec: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel support; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel support; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel support, Research Funding. Mielke: DNA Prime SA: Speakers Bureau; Immunicum: Other: Data safety monitoring board; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Miltenyi: Other: Data safety monitoring board; Gilead/KITE: Other: Travel support, Expert panel ; Celgene/BMS: Speakers Bureau.

Introduction Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is a potentially curative treatment option in patients with advanced Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) who have disease resistant to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) or who cannot tolerate these agents. In the absence of a matched sibling donor (MSD), the use of an unrelated donor (UD) is recommended; however, this approach is associated with a higher incidence of both graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and non-relapse mortality (NRM). Post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) has been found to result in similar rates of GvHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) in allo-HCT using UD, haploidentical donors (HD) and MSD across a range of haematological malignancies. However, the role of PTCy in allo-HCT using UD and HD in CML is unknown. We here report an observational, retrospective, comparative study on the role of PTCy in UD and HD in CML patients undergoing allo-HCT. Methods Inclusion criteria were age ≥ 18 years, diagnosis of CML, first AlloHCT from 2012 to 2019, and UD and HD. The main endpoints of the study were to compare the one-year GRFS of allo-HCT using UD with standard GvHD prophylaxis (SP), PTCy UD and PTCy HD. Secondary endpoints were 3-year OS, 3-year PFS, 3-year NRM, 3-year RI, Day +100 acute GvHD (aGvHD) and one-year chronic GvHD (cGvHD). The Kaplan-Meier estimator and log-rank test were used for GRFS, OS and PFS, and the crude cumulative incidence estimator and Gray's test were used for competing events (RI/NRM, aGvHD/death before aGvHD and cGvHD/death before cGvHD). Cox proportional hazard regression was used in multivariable analyses (MVA) using patients with complete data with cause-specific models for competing risk outcomes. Results A total of 1,341 CML patients treated in EBMT centers were included. 1,094 patients received allo-HCT from SP UD, 113 from PTCy UD and 134 from PTCy HD. 61% and 54% of patients received an allo-HCT from matched UD in the SP UD and PTCy UD cohort, respectively. SP UD GvHD prophylaxis was calcineurin inhibitor-based in 88% of patients; some form of T-cell depletion was used in 82%, 19% and 9% in the SP UD, PTCy UD, and PTCy HD cohorts, respectively. Further transplant and patient details can be found in Table 1. The median follow-up was 34.9 (IQR 13.2-61.2) months. One-year GRFS was comparable in the three cohorts: 56%, 53% and 48% in SP UD, PTCy UD, and PTCy HD, respectively (log-rank p=0.30). There was no significant difference in the cumulative incidence of aGvHD at D+100 (Gray's test p=0.10) and one-year cGvHD (p=0.40) among cohorts. Conversely, the 3-year relapse incidence (RI) was significantly lower in the SP UD cohort (26%), compared to the PTCy UD (35%) and PTCy HD (34%) cohorts (Gray's test p=0.03) and the 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 53% vs 47% vs 45% in the SP UD, PTCy UD and PTCy HD cohorts, respectively (log-rank p=0.05). 3-year NRM was similar among cohorts 20% vs 18% vs 21% in SP UD, PTCy UD and PTCy HD, respectively (Gray's test p=0.80) and the three cohorts had a similar 3-year OS (64%, 60% and 59% in SP UD, PTCy UD and PTCy UD, respectively) (p=0.50). In total 902 patients (68%) had complete data. In MVA, higher age (HR per 10 year increase in age 1.24, 95% CI 1.06-1.45, p=0.007) and high HCT-CI (HR high vs. low 2.43, 1.59-3.71, p Conclusion Based on our results, PTCy resulted in comparable outcomes in UD and HD allo-HCT, when compared to SP UD allo-HCT, as GRFS, PFS, NRM and OS were similar. However, there was a trend to a lower RI and higher PFS in SP UD allo-HCT which may have reached significance in a larger cohort. Furthermore, the findings of this study confirm that PTCy HD allo-HCT in CML is a valid option for patients lacking a MSD or UD. In addition, disease stage pre-transplant remains a major prognostic factor with CP1 patients having better outcomes when compared to those with more advanced phases and ≥CP1 CML. Overall, our results provide information on the efficacy of PTCy in allo-HCT for CML, and show that PTCy UD and PTCy HD are feasible allo-HCT platforms for patients diagnosed with CML. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Ortí: BMS, Novartis, Incyte, Pfizer: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Kulagin: X4 Pharmaceuticals, Alexion, Apellis, Biocad: Research Funding; Novartis, Generium, Sanofi, Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer: Speakers Bureau. Apperley: Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Incyte, Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Kröger: Novartis: Research Funding; Riemser: Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Honoraria; Neovii: Honoraria, Research Funding; Jazz: Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead/Kite: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; AOP Pharma: Honoraria. Bloor: Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria. Angelucci: Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene BSM: Honoraria, Other: DMC; Blue Bird Bio: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Menarini-Stemline: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: steering commitee, Speakers Bureau; Vertex Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Other: DMC; Crispr therapeutics: Honoraria, Other: DMC; Glaxo: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Blaise: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Lopez Corral: Gilead, Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria. Anagnostopoulos: Abbvie: Other: clinical trials; Sanofi: Other: clinical trials ; Ocopeptides: Other: clinical trials ; GSK: Other: clinical trials; Incyte: Other: clinical trials ; Takeda: Other: clinical trials ; Amgen: Other: clinical trials ; Janssen: Other: clinical trials; novartis: Other: clinical trials; Celgene: Other: clinical trials; Roche: Other: clinical trials; Astellas: Other: clinical trials . Wrobel: Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BeiGene: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Rigacci: Merck: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Gilead Science: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Menarini: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Hayden: Jansen, Takeda: Other: Travel, Accomodation, Expenses; Amgen: Honoraria. Chalandon: Incyte, BMS, Pfizer, Abbie, MSD, Roche, Novartis, Amgen: Other: Advisory Board; Incyte: Speakers Bureau; Incyte, BMS, Pfizer, Abbie, MSD, Roche, Novartis, Gilead, Amgen, Jazz, Astra Zenec: Other: Travel EXpenses, Accomodation. Yakoub-Agha: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria.

Introduction: Ibrutinib (Ibr) is the first approved irreversible BTK inhibitor. Cardiovascular (CV) adverse events, include hypertension (HT) and atrial fibrillation (AF). Ventricular tachyarrhythmias and sudden death have been reported possibly due to off target kinase inhibition. Several randomised Phase III trials have reported low numbers of cardiac deaths, sudden/unexplained deaths, and/or ventricular arrhythmias with Ibr including 9 deaths in RESONATE-2 Trial, 11 unexplained or unwitnessed deaths in Alliance Trial A041202 (med age 71; Ibr (n=7 [4%]), Ibr+ritux (IR; 4 [2%]), one death in the IR arm of ECOG1912 Trial (mean age 56.7) and 3 unexplained plus 5 cardiac deaths with BR + Ibr in the HELIOS trial (med age 64). Methods: FLAIR, a phase III, multicentre, randomised, controlled, open, trial recruiting 771 pts with untreated CLL requiring therapy. Pts were ≤75 years, considered fit for FCR and were randomized to IR or FCR. Pts with inadequately controlled symptomatic cardiac failure or unstable angina were excluded. We conducted ad hoc evaluations of the potential association of sudden or cardiac deaths with prior medical history or therapies for cardiac disorders (AF, Ischaemic heart disease, MI or angina) and HT via univariate analyses. We used Fisher's Exact test and estimated relative risk (RR) and associated confidence intervals under a normal approximation. Results: In FLAIR, 384 and 378 pts were treated with IR and FCR, respectively, median 52.7 months FU and treatment durations of 47.2 and 4.7 months. Median age 62. 84/384 (22%) IR pts had pre-existing HT and 17/384 (4%) a prior history of a cardiac disorder. 74/378 (20%) FCR pts had HT and 18/378 (5%) a cardiac disorder. To date 10 pts had a sudden or cardiac death: 2 (0.5%) FCR and 8 (2%) IR - median 33 mo (range: 13-48) from initiating IR to death. 9/10 pts were male aged 54 to 73 years at randomisation. 7/ 8 IR pts experiencing a sudden or cardiac death, had a prior history of HT and/or cardiac disorder (RR 23.6 vs pts with no HT/CV history, 95%CI [2.9-195]; Fisher's Exact P=0.0003; Table 1). Hypertensive cardiomyopathy and/or coronary artery disease was found at post mortem of all 3 IR pts having a PM. The risk of sudden or cardiac death with IR was 0.3% (1/291) in pts without pre-existing risk. The number of pts taking anti-hypertensives at trial entry (some taking more than one class) was: ACE inhibitors (ACEi) 47 IR, 37 FCR; Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB's) 15 IR, 17 FCR; Ca channel blockers 30 IR, 34 FCR; B-blockers 24 IR, 20 FCR; Diuretics 13 IR, 16 FCR; and alpha blockers 7 IR, 5 FCR. Overall, 291/384 (76%) IR and 296/378 (78%) FCR were taking no HT or cardiac medications at trial entry. The use of ACEi at study entry was associated with an increased risk of sudden or cardiac death with IR: 7/47 (15%) pts on ACEi at trial entry had a sudden or cardiac death compared to 1/336 (0.3%) not taking ACEi (RR 50.2, 95%CI [6.3-399]; P < 0.0001; Table 1). 2/7 pts had discontinued ACEi and switched to ARB's due to cough sometime prior to death. In contrast 0/37 FCR pts with a history of HTN/CV taking ACEi experienced a sudden or cardiac death. In the IR arm, none of the 46 pts receiving cardiac medication but not ACEi had a sudden or cardiac death suggesting that the risk was not simply a prior history of HT or cardiac disorder. 3/11 (27%) IR pts taking an ACEi plus a beta blocker at study entry had a sudden or cardiac death vs 4/32 (12.5%) pts on ACEi without a beta blocker. Factors potentially confounding the interpretation: 1) analyses did not take into account severity of underlying HT/CV risk, as it is possible that pts on ACEi had more severe underlying CV disease than others; and 2) analyses did not adjust for changes in HT/CV medications during the course of the study. However, the lack of any such signal in pts with a prior cardiovascular/HT history on therapies other than ACEi suggests a potential association with the medication itself. Conclusion: Sudden or cardiac deaths seen on IR in FLAIR were observed predominantly among male pts with a prior history of HT or cardiac disease. The prior use of ACEi was correlated with the risk of sudden or cardiac death in IR pts. In contrast, pts treated with IR who were not on ACEi (regardless of medical history) had a very low rate of cardiac or sudden death. Whilst these findings need confirming in other Ibr trials we believe that caution should be taken when concurrently administering ibrutinib and ACE inhibitors in pts with a medical history of HT or CV disease. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Munir: F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Consultancy; Alexion: Honoraria. Bloor: Novartis: Honoraria; Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria. Broom: AbbVie: Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag Ltd: Honoraria; Takeda UK Ltd: Honoraria; Celgene Ltd: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria. Furtado: Abbvie: Other: Conference support. Morley: Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Conference support; AbbVie; Takeda: Other: Conference support; Janssen: Honoraria; Kite: Honoraria. Cwynarski: Atara: Consultancy; BMS/Celgene: Other; Celgene: Consultancy; Gilead: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Other; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Other, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Other, Speakers Bureau. Gatto: Roche: Consultancy. Paneesha: AbbVie: Honoraria; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria. Fox: F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Howard: Roche: Current Employment. Cairns: Takeda: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Merck Sharpe and Dohme: Research Funding; Celgene / BMS: Other: travel support, Research Funding. Patten: NOVARTIS: Honoraria; ASTRA ZENECA: Honoraria; ABBVIE: Honoraria; JANSSEN: Honoraria; GILEAD SCIENCES: Honoraria, Research Funding; ROCHE: Research Funding. Hillmen: BeiGene: Honoraria; SOBI: Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Honoraria; Gilead: Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria, Research Funding; AbbVie: Honoraria, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding.

Introduction: The most effective chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) in previously untreated CLL is the combination of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR). Ibrutinib (I), the first irreversible inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase approved for CLL, has improved outcomes in numerous clinical trials compared to different CIT. Methods: FLAIR (ISRCTN01844152) is an ongoing, phase III, multicentre, randomised, controlled, open, parallel group trial for previously untreated CLL requiring therapy according to the IWCLL 2008 guidelines. Patients over 75 years or with >20% 17p-deleted cells were excluded. Participants were randomised on a 1:1 basis to receive 6 cycles of FCR (oral fludarabine 24mg/m 2/day for 5 days, oral cyclophosphamide 150mg/m 2/day for 5 days with IV rituximab [375 mg/m 2 on day 1/2 of cycle 1; 500 mg/m 2 on day 1 of cycles 2-6]) every 28-days or IR (Ibrutinib [420mg/day] plus rituximab [6 doses as for FCR]) given for up to 6 years with stratification by disease stage, age, gender and centre. The primary endpoint was to assess whether IR was superior to FCR in terms of investigator-assessed PFS. Secondary endpoints included overall survival,; attainment of undetectable MRD; response to therapy; safety and toxicity; health-related quality of life and cost-effectiveness. A formal interim analysis was planned when 191 events were observed in both arms or 109 events in the FCR arm alone with a p-value of 0.005 leading to reporting of the trial. Here we report the results of this planned interim analysis. Results: A total of 771 patients were randomised (385 to FCR and 386 to IR) from 113 UK Centres between 9/19/2014 and 7/19/2018. The data was locked on 5/24/2021. 73.3% were male, median age was 62 years (33.6% >65yo) and 45.1% were Binet Stage C. IGHV data was available for 728 (94.4%) patients with 53.2% IGHV unmutated (≥98% homology to germline), 40.5% IGHV mutated and 6.3% Subset 2. Hierarchical FISH testing revealed 0.4% 17p del, 15.4% 11q del, 12.3% trisomy 12, 29.7% normal and 35% 13q del; with 7.1% failed. The arms were well-balanced for disease variables with no significance differences. Median follow-up was 52.7 months. IR had a superior PFS compared to FCR (Median PFS not reached for IR versus 67 months for FCR; HR: 0.44; p Conclusion: Ibrutinib plus rituximab resulted in a superior PFS compared to FCR. There was no difference in overall survival, most likely due to effective second-line targeted therapy in patients progressing after FCR. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Hillmen: Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; AbbVie: Honoraria, Other: Travel, Accommodations, Expenses, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; SOBI: Honoraria; BeiGene: Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Honoraria. Bloor: Novartis: Honoraria; Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria. Broom: AbbVie: Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Honoraria; Janssen-Cilag Ltd: Honoraria; Takeda UK Ltd: Honoraria; Celgene Ltd: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria. Furtado: Abbvie: Other: Conference support. Morley: Kite: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; AbbVie; Takeda: Other: Conference support; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Conference support. Cwynarski: Adienne, Takeda, Roche, Autolus, KITE, Gilead, Celgene, Atara, Janssenen: Other. Paneesha: Celgene: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria. Howard: Roche: Current Employment. Cairns: Merck Sharpe and Dohme: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Celgene / BMS: Other: travel support, Research Funding. Patten: NOVARTIS: Honoraria; ROCHE: Research Funding; JANSSEN: Honoraria; ASTRA ZENECA: Honoraria; ABBVIE: Honoraria; GILEAD SCIENCES: Honoraria, Research Funding. Munir: F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Consultancy; Alexion: Honoraria.

Whilst autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) is considered standard of care for relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma, the role of auto-SCT in nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) is not well defined due to limited data. We report the first study on auto-SCT for NLPHL with a larger cohort. Eligible for this retrospective registry study were patients reported to the EBMT between 2003 and 2013, aged 18 or older with relapsed/refractory NLPHL who underwent first auto-SCT with disease chemosensitive to salvage therapy. NLPHL transformed to diffuse large B cell lymphoma were excluded. Sixty patients (83% male; median age 40 years) met the eligibility criteria. The median time between diagnosis and transplant was 21 months (IQR 13-58), and the median number of prior treatment lines was 2 (range 1-5), including rituximab in 63% of the patients. At auto-SCT, 62% of the patients were in complete remission (CR) and 38% in partial remission. Seventy-two percent of the patients received BEAM as high-dose therapy. With a median follow-up of 56 months (range 3-105), 5-year progression-free and overall survival (OS) were 66% and 87%, respectively. Univariate comparisons considering age, time from diagnosis to transplant, prior chemotherapy lines, and prior rituximab use failed to identify significant predictors for any survival endpoint except for being in CR at the time of auto-SCT (vs PR, P = .049) for OS. Auto-SCT in patients with relapsed/refractory NLPHL who are sensitive to salvage therapy gives excellent disease control and long-term survival independent of the time interval between diagnosis and transplant.

Background: Ibrutinib (IBR) inhibits CLL proliferation and effects prolonged remission without eradicating disease. Obinutuzumab (OBI) is an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody that can effect depletion of measurable residual disease (MRD) below 0.01%. In the IcICLLe study (ISRCTN12695354), 20 treatment-naïve (TN) CLL patients & 20 with relapsed/refractory (R/R) CLL received IBR until complete remission with Aim: To assess the long-term MRD response status for patients treated with IBR as a sole agent or in combination with OBI. Patients: Patients received continuous IBR (420mg OD) with the addition of 6 cycles of OBI given over 6 months in the extension study. 20 TN patients received IBR monotherapy; 20 R/R patients (median 2 prior treatments, range 1-7) initiated IBR monotherapy of which 10/20 enrolled in the Extension study receiving OBI after >1year of IBR monotherapy; and 30 IBR-naïve R/R (median 1 prior treatment, range 1-3) started OBI 24 hours after first IBR dose. MRD assessment was performed according to ERIC guidelines with a maximum detection limit of 0.001%/10-5. Results: IBR monotherapy in TN patients was well tolerated with 18/20 patients alive and 13/20 remaining on IBR after median 4.9 years follow-up (range 0-5.9). IBR was stopped due to toxicity (3), progression/relapse (2) or other causes (2). IBR-monotherapy resulted in median 0.65 log depletion per year in years 1-2, followed by relatively stable disease levels (median 0.2 log depletion per year) in the subsequent 3 years in 13/20 evaluable patients. Only 1 patient showed >0.3log increase in PB MRD level and this preceded clinical progression. No patients achieved an IWCLL CR/CRi and MRD was >0.01% in PB/BM in all patients at all time points. In the R/R group initially receiving IBR-monotherapy, 11/20 patients remain alive and 3/20 remain on IBR after a median 3.9 years follow-up (range 0.3-5.3). In this heavily pre-treated group, 10 did not enrol on the OBI Extension study (1 died, 1 progression/relapse, 4 ineligible/other causes, 4 patient preference) with 10/20 receiving OBI at median 16.2 months (range 13-19) after starting IBR-monotherapy of which 7/10 had resolved any lymphadenopathy pre-OBI. 2/10 achieved MRD-negative remission and stopped treatment, while 6/10 have since stopped IBR due to death (2), progression/relapse (3) or other causes (1). 30 R/R patients with no prior IBR exposure (most in first relapse) started IBR & OBI at the same time: 26/30 remain alive and 18/30 remain on IBR after median 3.0 years follow-up (range 0.8-4.2). IBR was stopped in 2/30 patients achieving MRD-negative remission while 10 stopped IBR due to death (2), disease progression/transformation (3), toxicity (4), or patient decision (1). There were no Grade 5 adverse events related to OBI. 3 months post-OBI, patients with >1 year prior IBR-monotherapy achieved a higher response rate (CR/CRi 50% vs. 30%), MRD response ( The deepest PB MRD responses were observed 6-12 months after the last OBI infusion. MRD levels showed little change in the following year to month 24 (median 0 log depletion, range 1.3 log depletion to 2.5 log increase). After 2 years of IBR exposure, the MRD levels shows a similar pattern to TN patients on IBR monotherapy, being generally very stable (0.3log increase at two sequential timepoints of which 4/7 have shown clinical disease progression and 3/7 still have low ( Conclusions: The addition of OBI to IBR may substantially improve depletion of CLL cells from the PB and BM. A greater impact in MRD response rate and depth was seen when OBI was introduced after >1 year of IBR treatment and tumour bulk was low. One fifth of patients maintain Figure 1 Disclosures Rawstron: Abbvie: Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding. Hillmen:AbbVie: Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Other: Financial or Material spport; Morphosys: Other: Consulting fees; Sunesis: Other: Consulting fees. Brock:AstraZeneca: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; GlaxoSmithKline: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Eli Lilly: Other: Consulting and speaker fees; Invex: Other: Consulting and speaker fees; Merck: Other: Reimbursement of costs. Patten:Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Astra Zeneca: Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Pettitt:Chugai: Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria, Other: Hospitality, Research Funding; Kite: Honoraria, Other: Hospitality, Research Funding; Celgene: Other: Hospitality, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Napp: Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Other: Hospitality, Research Funding. Fox:Abbvie: Honoraria, Research Funding; Adienne: Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Sunesis: Research Funding; Atarabio: Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria, Research Funding. Bloor:Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Conference Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Conference Funding , Speakers Bureau. Hillmen:Apellis: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Acerta: Other: Financial or material support; Roche: Consultancy, Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Alexion: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.

Background: The Blood Cancer UK TAP CLARITY trial for relapsed or refractory CLL combined IBR with VEN in order to eradicate detectable disease with a plan to stop therapy early if measurable residual disease (MRD) Aims: To provide long term follow up data for the combination of IBR and VEN for R/R CLL patients. IWCLL response status and MRD responses status at the 38 month time point are now presented in this abstract. Methods: CLARITY is a Phase II trial combining IBR with VEN in 50 patients with R/R CLL. After 2 months of IBR, VEN was added initially at a daily dose of 10mg or 20mg/day escalating weekly to a final daily dose of 400mg/day. CLL MRD was quantified using >6 colour ERIC-standard flow cytometry (detection limit 10-5/0.001%). Paired PB & BM samples were assessed at months 8, 14, 26 and longitudinal PB samples were taken at multiple time points. Fifty-four patients were recruited from May 2016 to November 2017. The median number of prior therapies was 1 (range: 1-6). 20% patients had del(17p); 25% del(11q); 75% had unmutated IGVH. Four patients that discontinued treatment due to ibrutinib-related adverse events in the first 8 weeks before starting VEN were replaced so that, in total, 50 patients received the combination of IBR and VEN. The interruption of therapy was indicated following confirmation of a CR according to the iwCLL2008 criteria and MRD reduction Results: Of the 50 evaluable patients recruited to the study, 23 patients stopped both treatments at or before M38; the majority due to achieving MRD4 (17/23). 27/50 patients were still receiving at least one trial treatment at this time point, with M38 response data pending for 11 patients. Of the 27 evaluable patients on treatment, the overall response rate (ORR), comprising of 10 patients with CR and 3 with CRi, was 81% compared to an ORR of 91% in the 36 patients receiving at least one trial treatment at M26 respectively. One additional patient discontinued treatment due to MRD negativity after M38. Of the 18 patients stopping due to MRD negativity, 14/18 continue to have Overall, MRD responses continued to improve after the first year of combination treatment with 24/50 (48%) patients achieving MRD4 in the BM at month 26 compared to 20/50 (40%) at month 14. After 4 months of combination, the median log CLL depletion was 2.9 (range 0.2-4.8) for patients achieving There was only one case of biochemical TLS. Other side-effects were mild and/or manageable, most commonly neutropenia (3/37 grade 2, 34/37 grade 3/4). Two Suspected Unexpected Serious Adverse Reactions (SUSARs) were reported (abdominal pain and pemphigus), 44 Serious Adverse Events (SAEs), and 1153 Adverse Events (AEs) (of which 141 were grade 3 or 4) were reported. Summary/Conclusion: After 38 months, the response to IBR+VEN is sustained despite planned discontinuation of therapy in MRD negative patients. The initial rate of disease depletion (during the first two months of combined IBR+VEN exposure) is highly predictive of longer-term response to combination IBR+VEN treatment in relapsed/refractory CLL. Patients who do not show rapid disease clearance and have persistent MRD after 12 months of combination IBR+VEN usually have stable or slowly decreasing disease levels akin to that seen in IBR monotherapy. These data will be updated at ASH 2020. Disclosures Hillmen: AbbVie: Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Other: Financial or Material spport; Morphosys: Other: Consulting fees; Sunesis: Other: Consulting fees. Brock:Invex: Other: Consulting and speaker fees; Merck: Other: Reimbursement of costs; Eli Lilly: Other: Consulting and speaker fees; AstraZeneca: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; GlaxoSmithKline: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Schuh:Illumina: Other: Consulting fees; Abbvie: Other: Consulting fees; Gilead: Other: Consulting fees; Roche: Other: Consulting fees. Pettitt:Roche: Honoraria, Other: Hospitality, Research Funding; Napp: Research Funding; Celgene: Other: Hospitality, Research Funding; Chugai: Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria, Other: Hospitality, Research Funding; Kite: Honoraria, Other: Hospitality, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding. Gribben:Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria, Research Funding; Abbvie: Honoraria; Celgene: Research Funding. Patten:Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Astra Zeneca: Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Bloor:Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Conference Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Conference Funding , Speakers Bureau. Fox:Celgene: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Sunesis: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Atarabio: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Abbvie: Current equity holder in private company, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Gilead: Current equity holder in private company, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Adienne: Current equity holder in private company, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Roche: Current equity holder in private company, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; AstraZeneca: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Takeda: Current equity holder in private company, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Forconi:Roche: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Fees for cosulting or advisory role, received travel and expenses, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Honoraria, Other: Fees for cosulting or advisory role, received travel and expenses, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Research Funding; Astra Zeneca: Other: Fees for cosulting or advisory role; Menarini: Other: Fees for cosulting or advisory role; Novartis: Honoraria. Rawstron:BD Biosciences (Intrasure): Patents & Royalties. Hillmen:Alexion: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Acerta: Other: Financial or material support; Roche: Consultancy, Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Apellis: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Other: Financial or material support, Research Funding.

PURPOSE The treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has been revolutionized by targeted therapies that either inhibit proliferation (ibrutinib) or reactivate apoptosis (venetoclax). Both significantly improve survival in CLL and replace chemoimmunotherapy for many patients. However, individually, they rarely lead to eradication of measurable residual disease (MRD) and usually are taken indefinitely or until progression. We present the CLARITY trial that combined ibrutinib with venetoclax to eradicate detectable CLL with the intention of stopping therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS CLARITY is a phase II trial that combined ibrutinib with venetoclax in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL. The primary end point was eradication of MRD after 12 months of combined therapy. Key secondary end points were response by International Workshop on CLL criteria, safety, and progression-free and overall survival. RESULTS In 53 patients after 12 months of ibrutinib plus venetoclax, MRD negativity (fewer than one CLL cell in 10,000 leukocytes) was achieved in the blood of 28 (53%) and the marrow of 19 (36%). Forty-seven patients (89%) responded, and 27 (51%) achieved a complete remission. After a median follow-up of 21.1 months, one patient progressed, and all patients were alive. A single case of biochemical tumor lysis syndrome was observed. Other adverse effects were mild and/or manageable and most commonly were neutropenia or GI events. CONCLUSION The combination of ibrutinib plus venetoclax was well tolerated in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL. There was a high rate of MRD eradication that led to the cessation of therapy in some patients. The progression-free and overall survival rates are encouraging for relapsed and refractory CLL.

HLA matching at an allelic-level resolution for volunteer unrelated donor (VUD) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) results in improved survival and fewer post-transplant complications. Limitations in typing technologies used for the hyperpolymorphic HLA genes have meant that variations outside of the antigen recognition domain (ARD) have not been previously characterized in HCT. Our aim was to explore the extent of diversity outside of the ARD and determine the impact of this diversity on transplant outcome. Eight hundred ninety-one VUD-HCT donors and their recipients transplanted for a hematologic malignancy in the United Kingdom were retrospectively HLA typed at an ultra-high resolution (UHR) for HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1, and -DPB1 using next-generation sequencing technology. Matching was determined at full gene level for HLA class I and at a coding DNA sequence level for HLA class II genes. The HLA matching status changed in 29.1% of pairs after UHR HLA typing. The 12/12 UHR HLA matched patients had significantly improved 5-year overall survival when compared with those believed to be 12/12 HLA matches based on their original HLA typing but were found to be mismatched after UHR HLA typing (54.8% versus 30.1%, P = .022). Survival was also significantly better in 12/12 UHR HLA-matched patients when compared with those with any degree of mismatch at this level of resolution (55.1% versus 40.1%, P = .005). This study shows that better HLA matching, found when typing is done at UHR that includes exons outside of the ARD, introns, and untranslated regions, can significantly improve outcomes for recipients of a VUD-HCT for a hematologic malignancy and should be prospectively performed at donor selection.

BACKGROUND: Patients with primary refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (PREF ALL) who fail to achieve a complete remission (CR) after >= 2 courses of chemotherapy have a dismal prognosis without undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). To the authors' knowledge, there currently are no data regarding factors influencing transplantation outcomes. METHODS: The authors retrospectively studied outcomes of transplantation for cases of PREF ALL reported to European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation registry. Eligibility criteria for the current analysis included adult patients who underwent their first HCT for PREF ALL between 2000 and 2012. PREF disease was defined as the failure to achieve a morphological CR after >= 2 courses of induction chemotherapy. RESULTS: Data regarding 86 adult patients were analyzed. With a median follow-up of 106 months, the probability of survival was 36% at 2 years and 23% at 5 years. The probability of leukemia-free survival was 28% and 17%, respectively, and the probability of nonrecurrence mortality was 20% and 29%, respectively, at 2 years and 5 years. For 66 patients who achieved a CR (77%), the survival at 2 years and 5 years was 36% and 29%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, use of total body irradiation was found to be associated with improved survival. Total body irradiation and infusion of female hematopoietic cells into male recipients was associated with improved leukemia-free survival. These findings were incorporated into a scoring system that identified 3 groups (those with 2, 1, or no prognostic factors) with survival rates of 57%, 22%, and 8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although overall these patients would clearly benefit from the introduction of novel antileukemic therapies, the data from the current study support the use of allogeneic HCT in selected patients with PREF ALL. (C) 2017 American Cancer Society.

Pretransplant 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography status is an important prognostic factor for outcomes after autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), but its impact on outcomes after allogeneic SCT remains unclear. We retrospectively evaluated outcomes after T cell–depleted allogeneic SCT of 116 patients with nonprogressive HL according to pretransplant Deauville scores. Endpoints were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), relapse rate (RR), and nonrelapse-related mortality (NRM). OS, PFS, and RR did not differ significantly between the Deauville 1 to 2 and Deauville 3 to 5 cohorts (OS: 77.5% versus 67.3%, P = .49; PFS: 59.4% versus 55.7%, P = .43; RR: 20.9% versus 22.6%, P = .28 at 4 years). Differences in PFS remained statistically nonsignificant when comparisons were made between Deauville 1 to 3 and Deauville 4 to 5 cohorts (60.9% versus 51.4%, P = .10), and RR remained very similar (21.5% versus 23.8%, P = .42). Multivariate analyses demonstrated trends toward significance for an effect of Deauville score on PFS (hazard ratio 1.82 for Deauville 4 to 5, P = .06) and for number of lines of prior therapy on OS (hazard ratio 2.34 for >5 lines, P = .10). The latter effect appeared to be driven by higher NRM rather than increased RR. Our findings suggest that Deauville score before allogeneic SCT in patients with nonprogressive HL has a relatively modest impact on survival outcomes in comparison with the impact in autologous SCT and that predictive values for the individual patient remain low, indicating that residual FDG-avid disease should not preclude allogeneic SCT. Furthermore, our findings bring into question the importance of attainment of metabolic complete response in this setting if it is at the expense of increasing NRM risk.

The last 5 to 10 years have been marked by considerable advances in both our understanding of the biology and treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Fludarabine-based immuno-chemotherapy is the current standard of care for first line therapy in younger fit patients and although this can be highly effective its use in older co-morbid patients is limited by toxicity, and the prognosis for patients with high risk or fludarabine-refractory disease is poor. The introduction of new antibodies has however, facilitated the use of immuno-chemotherapy in co-morbid patients. Beyond this, the recognition that CLL cells are critically dependent on B-cell receptor (BCR) signalling and interactions with the cellular micro-environment for proliferation and survival has led to the investigation of BCR inhibitors in CLL treatment. These have been shown to be highly effective although a number of questions remain about how they should be optimally used in clinical practice.

Venetoclax is a BCL2 inhibitor with activity in relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). We conducted a multi-centre retrospective analysis of 105 R/R CLL patients who received venetoclax pre-National Health Service commissioning. The median age was 67 years and median prior lines was 3 (range: 1–15). 48% had TP53 disruption. At ≥2 lines, 60% received a Bruton Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor (BTKi) and no prior phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor (Pi3Ki), 25% received a Pi3Ki and no prior BTKi, and 10% received both. Patients discontinued B cell receptor inhibitor (BCRi) because of toxicity in 44% and progression in 54%. Tumour lysis syndrome risk was low, intermediate or high in 27%, 25%, and 48% respectively. Overall response was 88% (30% complete response [CR]). The overall response rate was 85% (CR 23%) in BTKi-exposed patients, 92% (CR 38%) in Pi3Ki-exposed patients and 80% (CR 20%) in both (P = 0·59). With a median follow-up of 15·6 months, 1-year progression-free survival was 65·0% and 1-year overall survival was 75·1%. Dose reduction or temporary interruption did not result in an inferior progression-free or discontinuation-free survival. Risk of progression or death after stopping a prior BCRi for progression was double compared to those stopping for other reasons (predominantly toxicity) (Hazard Ratio 2·01 P = 0·05). Venetoclax is active and well tolerated in R/R CLL post ≥1 BCRi. Reason(s) for stopping BCRi influences venetoclax outcomes.

Summary Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been successfully used for the treatment of steroid‐resistant graft‐versus‐host‐disease (GvHD). However, the lack of early predictors of clinical responses impacts on the time at which to add further treatment and consequently the design of informative clinical trials. Here, we present the UK experience of one of the largest cohorts of GvHD patients undergoing MSC infusions so far reported. We show that clinical responses assessed as early as 1 week after MSC infusion predict patients’ overall survival. In our cohort, cell dose, patients’ age and type of organ involvement are crucial factors associated with clinical responses.

In the phase III study RESONATE, ibrutinib reduced the risk of progression and improved overall survival versus ofatumumab in previously treated patients with CLL/SLL. In this novel analysis of patient well-being including patient-reported outcomes, ibrutinib reduced disease burden while preserving parameters of hematologic and immunologic function in RESONATE. These results suggest that ibrutinib can improve quality of life while prolonging survival. Background: Ibrutinib compared with ofatumumab significantly improves progression-free and overall survival in patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). Patients and Methods: Measures of well-being were assessed in RESONATE, where previously treated patients with CLL/SLL were randomized to receive ibrutinib 420 mg/day (n = 195) or ofatumumab (n = 196) for up to 24 weeks. Endpoints included hematologic function, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness TherapyeFatigue (FACIT-F), disease-related symptoms, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), and medical resource utilization. Results: With up to 24 months' follow-up (median, 16.4 months), 79% of cytopenic patients showed sustained hematologic improvement (82% with improved platelet count, 69% with improved hemoglobin) on ibrutinib versus 43% on ofatumumab (P = 3 hypertension occurred in 6%, grade >= 3 atrial fibrillation in 4%, major hemorrhage in 2%, and tumor lysis syndrome in 1% of patients. Conclusion: Ibrutinib led to significant improvements in hematologic function and disease symptomatology versus ofatumumab, and can restore quality of life while prolonging survival in relapsed/refractory CLL/SLL. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is an indolent B-cell malignancy with a variable course. Standard immuno-chemotherapy incorporate alkylator and anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody as first line (Rummel et al, 2013) commonly followed by 24 months rituximab maintenance (Salles et al, 2008). Anthracycline, purine analogue, and alkylator combination are used at relapse and younger patients may have remissions consolidated with autologous or allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (alloSCT) (Kothari et al, 2014). Relapsed or refractory (R/R) FL in patients unfit for transplantation or post-transplantation is incurable, and remains an unmet need.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) with myeloablative conditioning based on total body irradiation (TBI) is widely used for the treatment of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). TBI is most frequently administered in combination with either cyclophosphamide (Cy/TBI) or etoposide (Vp/TBI). The goal of this study was to retrospectively compare these two regimens. Adult patients with Ph-negative ALL treated with alloHCT in first or second complete remission who received Cy/TBI (n = 1346) or Vp/TBI (n = 152) conditioning were included in the analysis. In a univariate analysis, as compared to Cy/TBI, the use of Vp/TBI was associated with reduced incidence of relapse (17% vs. 30% at 5 years, P = .007), increased rate of leukemia-free survival (60% vs. 50%, P = .04), and improved "graft versus host disease (GVHD) and relapse-free survival" (GRFS, 43% vs. 33%, P = .04). No significant effect could be observed in terms of the incidence of nonrelapse mortality or acute or chronic GVHD. In a multivariate model, the use of Vp/TBI was associated with reduced risk of relapse (HR = 0.62, P = .04) while the effect on other study end-points was not significant. In conclusion, conditioning regimen based on Vp combined with TBI appears more effective for disease control than the combination of Cy with TBI for adult patients with Ph-negative ALL treated with alloHCT.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely investigated as a treatment for graft versus host disease (GvHD), but with mixed results. Factors such as MSC donor variability and the effects of prolonged culture expansion may have contributed to disappointing outcomes. The novel Cymerus™ manufacturing process facilitates virtually limitless production of well-defined and consistent MSCs from a single iPSC bank, using proprietary clonogenic progenitor-based technology. This avoids both inter-donor variability and the need for excessive culture expansion once MSCs are formed. This is a multi-center, open label study of Cymerus MSCs (CYP-001) in adults with steroid-resistant acute GvHD, following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (NCT02923375). Prior to enrolment, all subjects had failed to respond to at least three days of steroid treatment (≥1 mg/kg/day), administered in accordance with standard management at each center. Subjects received two intravenous infusions of CYP-001 one week apart, at a dose of 1 × 106 cells/kg (Cohort A) or 2 × 106 cells/kg (Cohort B), in addition to standard of care medications. The study involves follow-up over two years, with primary evaluation at 100 days. GvHD was staged and graded according to the 1994 Consensus Conference on Acute GvHD Grading. An Overall Response (OR) was defined as at least a one-grade improvement in GvHD severity, while a Complete Response (CR) was defined as the absence of any GvHD signs or symptoms. The primary objective was assessment of safety and tolerability, while the secondary objective was efficacy, based on overall survival (OS) and best responses by Day 28/Day 100. Eight subjects were enrolled per cohort, but one subject in Cohort B withdrew prior to the initiation of CYP-001 treatment. All subjects had Grade II or III GvHD at baseline. The treatment was well tolerated in all cases, and there were no treatment-related Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) reported. One patient in Cohort A died after developing pneumonia, which was not considered to be CYP-001 treatment-related. One patient in Cohort B did not show a response to CYP-001 treatment, and withdrew from the trial on Day 22 to commence palliative care. All other patients showed an OR and remained alive at Day 100. Overall, outcomes by Day 100 were similar in both cohorts, but Day 28 data suggest a faster response to the higher dose level used in Cohort B (see Table 1 and Figure 1). In conclusion, CYP-001 infusions were found to be safe and well tolerated in this study, and we believe the encouraging treatment response and overall survival rates support progression to a Phase II trial.

A disease risk index (DRI) has been defined for stratifying heterogeneous cohorts of patients undergoing allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This index defines 4 distinct groups with different outcomes, dividing patients by disease type and status and considering cytogenetics for acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Recently, the DRI has been refined to include rare diseases and improve MDS stratification by blast percentage and response to prior therapy. Previous reports on DRI include only a small number of UCBT recipients. The current study aims to determine the applicability of the DRI for patients undergoing unrelated cord blood transplantation (UCBT). We retrospectively analysed 2530 adults receiving UCBT between 2004 and 2014. Diagnosis was acute leukaemia (AL) in 66% of the cases. Overall survival (OS) at 2 years was 56 +/- 3% for patients with low DRI (n = 352), 46 +/- 1% for intermediate DRI (n = 1403), 28 +/- 2% for high (n = 489) and 20 +/- 4% for very high DRI (n = 109) (P < 0.001). In the multivariate model, DRI remained an independent risk factor for OS. Similar findings were observed for PFS and DRI. Our results show the applicability of DRI for stratifying UCBT recipients and confirm the prognostic value of this simple and robust tool in this setting.

Introduction Although many new drugs became available to treat multiple myeloma (MM), high-dose chemotherapy with auto-HCT remains the gold standard. Further intensification to improve disease control has been assessed in several trials. However, no clear consensus has emerged. Further evidence is therefore required to guide clinicians in choosing between single auto, tandem auto and auto-allo approaches. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of MM patients (20-65 years) undergoing their first auto-HCT in EBMT centres (2002-2015). Our primary end-points were Progression-Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival (OS). We used 3 different statistical methods to avoid time bias and to account for time-dependent effects. We defined tandem transplants (auto-auto2 or auto-allo) given within 9 months in absence of progression. Single- and tandem-transplant groups were compared by a landmark analysis (1). In addition, two different dynamic prediction models (2, 3) were applied to predict long-term outcomes in all patients according to the treatment actually received while avoiding the loss of information that occurs in landmark analysis. The models incorporated a horizon time of 5 years for OS and PFS during the first 3 years following auto1. Since the effects of tandem transplants vary over time, these were split into "Recent", the first 100 days following the 2nd transplant, and "Past" for the longer term (2, 3), respectively. Age, disease status and calendar year of transplant at auto1 were also analysed. Furthermore, the third model incorporated the long-term time-varying effect of auto-allo or auto-auto2 and possible associated interactions with patients' characteristics. Results A total of 24,936 patients who received an auto as first transplant were included; 3,683 of these patients proceeded to an elective tandem auto and 878 to an auto-allo transplant. The median age of the entire cohort was 57.0 years (range 18.1.-65.0). 18% were in complete remission (CR) at first auto. The Tandem auto-allo group was younger (51.7 years). Both tandem groups (auto-auto and auto-allo) had fewer patients in CR at first auto (9% and 8%, respectively). There was no difference in CR rates at second transplant in the tandem groups (18% and 19%, respectively). In the tandem auto-allo group, 72% had HLA identical sibling donors and 25% matched unrelated donors. Reduced intensity conditioning was performed in 85% of the allogeneic transplants. The median follow-up of the entire cohort was 66.3 months. At 60 months following first auto, the PFS was 24.8% and OS 63.1%. All three statistical methods found that younger age and being in CR at first transplant were associated with superior PFS and OS. The long term results of the different transplant strategies were as follows: Landmark analysis at 4 months resulted in a reduction in the number of transplants analysed. Auto-allo only had an advantage in terms of very long term PFS (figure 1) and not for OS (not shown).Dynamic prediction (table 1, curves not shown) revealed that the tandem groups were superior regarding PFS in comparison to single auto (auto-allo and auto-auto: HR 0.56 and 0.85, both p Summary We here present a very large cohort of patients who have undergone auto and allo transplantation as first-line treatment for MM. Younger age and being in CR at first transplant were consistently found to be positive prognostic factors for PFS and OS. Tandem auto-allo was superior to single and tandem auto for long-term PFS. However, this PFS advantage only translated into a minor OS benefit for tandem auto-allo even when analysis was restricted to patients who were not in CR at the time of the first auto-HCT. Disclosures Schönland: Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Prothena: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Medac: Other: Travel Grant. Blaise:Pierre Fabre medicaments: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria; Molmed: Consultancy, Honoraria. Chevallier:Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria; Daiichi Sankyo: Honoraria; Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria. Mayer:AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals AG: Research Funding. Gribben:Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Acerta/Astra Zeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Stelljes:MDS: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Bloor:Abvie, Gilead, Novartis, Autolus, Celgene, etc: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Educational grant. Beksac:Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Hayden:Amgen: Honoraria; Alnylam: Honoraria. Kröger:Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; DKMS: Research Funding; JAZZ: Honoraria; Medac: Honoraria; Neovii: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Riemser: Research Funding; Sanofi-Aventis: Research Funding.

Background: This single center retrospective analysis was undertaken to identify the incidence, clinical impact, and prognostic factors for mortality associated with fungal blood stream infections (BSI) in cancer patients. Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty four patients had 169 episodes of fungal BSI. Incidence has not changed over a 10 year period but non albicans candida species are the predominant fungal isolates. Mortality with fungal BSI was significantly higher than that with other microbial agents. Risk of mortality was associated with renal dysfunction and Candida albicans as the isolate. Type of chemotherapy, patient characteristics, and neutrophil count did not influence the mortality following fungal BSI. Conclusion: Fungal BSI is rare and the incidence has not changed in this hospital. Mortality associated with fungal BSI is high. Risk score at the time of developing fungal BSI has prognostic potential to identify patients with higher risk of mortality associated with fungal BSI.

Richter syndrome (RS) is associated with chemotherapy resistance and a poor historical median overall survival (OS) of 8–10 months. We conducted a phase II trial of standard CHOP-21 (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone every 21 d) with ofatumumab induction (Cycle 1: 300 mg day 1, 1000 mg day 8, 1000 mg day 15; Cycles 2–6: 1000 mg day 1) (CHOP-O) followed by 12 months ofatumumab maintenance (1000 mg given 8-weekly for up to six cycles). Forty-three patients were recruited of whom 37 were evaluable. Seventy-three per cent were aged >60 years. Over half of the patients received a fludarabine and cyclophosphamide-based regimen as prior CLL treatment. The overall response rate was 46% (complete response 27%, partial response 19%) at six cycles. The median progression-free survival was 6·2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 4·9–14·0 months) and median OS was 11·4 months (95% CI 6·4–25·6 months). Treatment-naïve and TP53-intact patients had improved outcomes. Fifteen episodes of neutropenic fever and 46 non-neutropenic infections were observed. There were no treatment-related deaths. Seven patients received platinum-containing salvage at progression, with only one patient obtaining an adequate response to proceed to allogeneic transplantation. CHOP-O with ofatumumab maintenance provides minimal benefit beyond CHOP plus rutuximab. Standard immunochemotherapy for RS remains wholly inadequate for unselected RS. Multinational trials incorporating novel agents are urgently needed.

ADMIRE was a multicenter, randomized-controlled, open, phase IIB superiority trial in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Conventional front-line therapy in fit patients is fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR). Initial evidence from non-randomized phase II trials suggested that the addition of mitoxantrone to FCR (FCM-R) improved remission rates. Two hundred and fifteen patients were recruited to assess the primary end point of complete remission (CR) rates according to International Workshop on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia criteria. Secondary end points were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), overall response rate, minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity and safety. At final analysis, CR rates were 69.8 FCR vs 69.3% FCM-R (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.97; 95% confidence interval (CI): (0.53-1.79), P=0.932). MRD-negativity rates were 59.3 FCR vs 50.5% FCM-R (adjusted OR: 0.70; 95% CI: (0.39-1.26), P=0.231). During treatment, 60.0% (n=129) of participants received granulocyte colony-stimulating factor as secondary prophylaxis for neutropenia, a lower proportion on FCR compared with FCM-R (56.1 vs 63.9%). The toxicity of both regimens was acceptable. There are no significant differences between the treatment groups for PFS and OS. The trial demonstrated that the addition of mitoxantrone to FCR did not increase the depth of response. Oral FCR was well tolerated and resulted in impressive responses in terms of CR rates and MRD negativity compared with historical series with intravenous chemotherapy.

Background Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common adult leukaemia. Combination immunochemotherapy such as fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab is the standard first line therapy in fit patients, but there is limited evidence regarding the optimal treatment of patients after relapse. Ofatumumab as monotherapy has been proven to be effective in the treatment of relapsed, refractory CLL, and as it is not myelotoxic, it is an ideal drug to combine with chemotherapy. However, the optimal dose of ofatumumab in this setting is not known. The Chemotherapy plus Ofatumumab at Standard or Mega dose in relapsed CLL (COSMIC) trial will assess the efficacy and safety of standard and high (mega) doses of ofatumumab combined with bendamustine or a combination of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide to determine which, if either, schedule should progress to a phase III trial. Methods/design COSMIC is a phase II, multi-centre, randomised, open, parallel group trial for patients with relapsed CLL who are not refractory to fludarabine-based chemotherapy. Participants will be randomised to receive either standard dose or mega dose ofatumumab. Both doses will be given in combination with either bendamustine or fludarabine and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy backbone. The primary objective is to assess the proportion of participants achieving a complete remission following therapy with the two treatment arms (mega versus standard), as assessed at 3 months post treatment. The treatment groups will be assessed independently to determine whether the level of response is acceptable in relation to pre-specified criteria. If both treatment groups show an acceptable level of response, selection criteria will be used to determine which to take forward to a confirmatory phase III trial. A key secondary objective is to assess the dynamics of minimal residual disease (MRD) levels in relapsed disease. Eighty-two participants are planned to be recruited from 18 research centres in the UK. Discussion Currently there is limited evidence regarding the optimal treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory CLL, and so suitable therapies are urgently needed. The COSMIC trial will identify whether ofatumumab given in combination with chemotherapy is safe and effective in this population, and will identify the optimal doses for further investigation. Trial registration ISRCTN51382468. Registered on 21 September 2011. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-016-1581-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In vivo alemtuzumab reduces the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and nonrelapse mortality after reduced intensity allogeneic transplantation. However, it also delays immune reconstitution, leading to frequent infections and potential loss of graft-versus-tumor responses. Here, we tested the feasibility of alemtuzumab dose deescalation in the context of fludarabine-melphalan conditioning and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)–identical sibling transplantation. Alemtuzumab was given 1-2 days before graft infusion, and dose reduced from 60 mg to 20 mg in 4 sequential cohorts (total n = 106). Pharmacokinetic studies were fitted to a linear, 2-compartment model in which dose reduction led to incomplete saturation of CD52 binding sites and greater antibody clearance. Increased elimination was particularly evident in the 20-mg group in patients who had CD52-expressing tumors at time of transplantation. The 20-mg dose was also associated with greater risk of severe GVHD (acute grade III-IV or chronic extensive) compared with > 20 mg (hazard ratio, 6.7; 95% CI, 2.5-18.3). In contrast, dose reduction to 30 mg on day −1 was associated with equivalent clinical outcomes to higher doses but better lymphocyte recovery at 12 months. In conclusion, alemtuzumab dose reduction to 30 mg is safe in the context of reduced intensity conditioning and HLA-identical sibling transplantation. This trial was registered at http://www.ncrn.org.uk as UKCRN study 1415.

Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) may increase the risk of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) when used prior to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We assessed SOS incidence and outcomes after HSCT of 146 adults, with a median age of 50 years, previously receiving GO. SOS prophylaxis was used in 69 patients (heparin n = 57, ursodeoxycholic acid n= 8, defibrotide n = 4). Cumulative incidence (CI) of SOS was 8% (n = 11), with death in 3 patients. Median interval between last GO dose and HSCT was 130 days. Overall survival (OS) and SOS incidence did not differ for patients receiving GO

Purpose In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), TP53 deletion/mutation is strongly associated with an adverse outcome and resistance to chemotherapy-based treatment. In contrast, TP53 defects are not associated with resistance to the anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody alemtuzumab or methylprednisolone. In an attempt to improve the treatment of TP53-defective CLL, a multicenter phase II study was developed to evaluate alemtuzumab and methylprednisolone in combination. Patients and Methods Thirty-nine patients with TP53-deleted CLL (17 untreated and 22 previously treated) received up to 16 weeks of treatment with alemtuzumab 30 mg three times a week and methylprednisolone 1.0 g/m2 for five consecutive days every 4 weeks. Antimicrobial prophylaxis consisted of cotrimoxazole, itraconazole, and aciclovir (or valganciclovir for asymptomatic cytomegalovirus viremia). The primary end point was response as assigned by an end-point review committee. Secondary end points were safety, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results The overall response rate, complete response rate (including with incomplete marrow recovery), median PFS, and median OS were 85%, 36%, 11.8 months, and 23.5 months, respectively, in the entire cohort and 88%, 65%, 18.3 months, and 38.9 months, respectively, in previously untreated patients. Grade 3 to 4 hematologic and glucocorticoid-associated toxicity occurred in 67% and 23% of patients, respectively. Grade 3 to 4 infection occurred in 51% of the overall cohort and in 29% of patients less than 60 years of age. Treatment-related mortality was 5%. Conclusion Alemtuzumab plus methypredisolone is the most effective induction regimen hitherto reported in TP53-deleted CLL. The risk of infection is age related and, in younger patients, seems only marginally higher than that associated with rituximab, fludarabine, and cyclophosphamide.

The outcome of patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) has greatly improved in recent years but is still poor for patients who failed or relapsed after immunosuppressive therapy (IST) and don't have a matched donor. Recent use of eltrombopag shows blood count improvements in 40% of cases, but most patients refractory to immunosuppressive therapy, are also unresponsive to eltrombopag. In this situation, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using alternative donor sources (mismatched unrelated donors, cord blood, and haploidentical family donors) may be curative but are also associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Moreover, ethnic minorities have limited access to an alternative donor, especially in the adult population. Haploidentical transplantation using post-transplant cyclophosphamide (Haplo-PTCy) has been shown to facilitate engraftment and shows GvHD rates comparable to those of matched sibling HSCT in hematologic malignancies. However, few papers have been published on Haplo-PTCy in the context of aplastic anemia. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 36 patients (72% male), who received an haplo-PTCy for aplastic anemia in 22 EBMT centers from June 2010 to March 2017. Haplo-PTCy was the first transplantation for 81% patients (second, 11%; third, 8%). The non-myeloablative preparatory regimen included anti-thymocyte globulin in 33% of patients and low dose TBI in 58% of patients. Donors were father (n=12, 35%), mother (n=12, 35%), brother (n=5, 15%), sister (n=3, 9%), cousin (n=1, 3%) and daughter (n=1, 3%). The stem cell source was mainly bone marrow (55%). All patients received cyclophosphamide 50mg/kg/day IV on days +3, and +4 post-transplant and 75% received tacrolimus or cyclosporine plus mycophenolic acid. The primary endpoint was the probability of OS. Secondary study endpoints included probability of neutrophil recovery (ANC 500/ μL for at least 3 consecutive days), platelet recovery (platelets 20 000/ μL for at least 3 consecutive days, and 7 days after the last transfusion), cumulative incidences of acute and chronic GVHD and relapse-free survival without Grade III-IV acute GvHD and without extensive chronic (GRFS). Thirty-two patients were diagnosed with moderate (7%), severe (52%) or very severe idiopathic aplastic anemia (41%), while 4 patients were transplanted for congenital aplastic anemia (3 Fanconi Anemia and 1 Diamond Blackfan). The median age was 19.4 years (range 2.5-45.4 years; 58% adults). Median disease duration before haplo-PTCy was 11.3 months (1.9-201.2). Thirty patients (83%) received pretreatment (77% anti-thymocyte globulin plus cyclosporine, 12% eltrombopag, and 1 patient (3%) received androgens). Cumulative incidence (CI) of neutrophil recovery at day 60 was 78% (64-91) with a median time of 21 days (18-26). Cumulative incidence (CI) of platelet recovery at day 60 was 60% (44-76) with a median time of 31 days (22-185). The CI of grade II-IV acute GvHD was 26% (12-41%) (grade II 19% (7-32%), grade III 6% (0-13%) and no grade IV). CI of chronic GvHD was 17% (5-30) at 1 year (6% (0-13%) extensive) and a CI of 22% (7-37) at 2 years (only limited, there was no new case of extensive cGvHD after one year). With a median follow-up of 24.6 months (15.9 - 38.2), the estimated probability of overall survival (OS) was 78% (64-91) at 1 year and 74% (60-89) at 2 years. Of note, among the 4 patients with inherited disorders, 2 died [1 infection (Diamond Blackfan) and 1 aGvHD (Fanconi Anemia)] and 2 are alive at month 12 and month 15 of follow-up, respectively. Nine patients died during the study. The main cause of death was infection (n=6, 67%). Finally, the GRFS (alive, full donor chimerism, without previous grade III-IV GvHD and without extensive cGvHD) was 58% (41-75) at 2 years. In conclusion, with a median follow-up of 2 years, Haplo-PTCy leads to 74% overall survival in 36 patients with aplastic anemia, with almost 60% of the patients being free from GvHD complication. In a population with no other therapeutic options, our data suggests haplo-PTCY is a feasible option. However, prospective well-designed trials are urgently needed before the inclusion of Haplo-PTCy in the treatment strategy of aplastic anemia. Disclosures Bloor: Janssen: Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding. Ganser:Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Tilly:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Honoraria; Astra-Zeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Russell:Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Jazz Pharma: Speakers Bureau; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy. Kerre:Celyad: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding. Peffault De Latour:Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen Inc.: Research Funding; Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.

Introduction Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from donated tissue have been widely investigated as a treatment for acute graft versus host disease (GvHD), but with mixed results. Factors including MSC donor variability and the effects of prolonged MSC culture expansion may have contributed to inadequate outcomes. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can proliferate indefinitely without loss of pluripotency. The novel Cymerus™ manufacturing process facilitates a virtually limitless supply of well-defined and consistent MSCs from a single donation. Production is achieved by differentiating iPSCs into MSCs using proprietary clonogenic progenitor-based technology. This avoids both donor to donor variability and the need for excessive culture expansion once MSCs are formed. We are undertaking a Phase I clinical trial of Cymerus iPSC-derived MSCs (CYP-001) in steroid-resistant acute GvHD (NCT02923375). We believe this will be the first completed clinical trial involving iPSC-derived cells. Methods This is a multi-center, open label, dose escalation study to assess the safety, tolerability and efficacy of CYP-001 in adults with grade II-IV steroid-resistant acute GvHD, following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. All subjects had failed to respond to at least three days of steroid treatment (≥1 mg/kg/day), administered in accordance with standard management at each center. The first eight subjects enrolled in Cohort A received two intravenous (IV) infusions of CYP-001 one week apart, at a dose of 1 x 106 cells/kg, in addition to standard of care medications. After an independent data and safety monitoring board review, the next eight subjects entered Cohort B, in which the MSC cell dose was doubled. Primary evaluation was performed over eight study visits to day 100. Subjects then entered a follow-up phase of up to two years. Data for subjects in Cohort A with a minimum of six months follow-up are presented here. GvHD was staged and graded according to the 1994 Consensus Conference on Acute GvHD Grading. A Partial Response (PR) was defined as improvement in the severity of GvHD by at least one grade compared to baseline, while a Complete Response (CR) was defined as the absence of any GvHD signs or symptoms. The Overall Response (OR) rate was defined as the proportion of subjects showing either a PR or CR. The primary objective was assessment of the safety and tolerability of two infusions of CYP-001. The secondary objective was efficacy, assessed by best response to treatment, by Day 28 and Day 100 and overall survival at Day 28 and Day 100. Results Four males and four females, with an average age of 57 years (range: 45-66) were enrolled in Cohort A during 2017. At baseline, subjects had Grade II (n=3) or Grade III (n=5) steroid-resistant acute GvHD. One subject had skin, gastrointestinal (GI) and liver involvement; four subjects had skin and GI involvement; two subjects had GI involvement only; and one subject had skin involvement only. The treatment was well tolerated in all cases, and there were no treatment-related Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) reported. Three subjects experienced SAEs that were not considered to be study drug related: (i) febrile neutropenia, hypokalemia and parainfluenza, each of which resolved; (ii) a lower respiratory tract infection, which resolved; (iii) pneumonia, which was fatal. All eight subjects showed at least a PR. Four subjects achieved a CR by Day 100. In all four cases where a CR was achieved, it was then sustained until Day 100. The median GvHD grade at Day 100 was 0 (range: 0-II), compared to a median grade of III (range: II-III) at baseline. Disease progression (an increase in the severity of GvHD by at least one grade compared to baseline) was not observed in any subject at any study visit. Overall survival was 7/8 (87.5%) six months after the first infusion of CYP-001. The best response rates by Day 28 and Day 100 are summarized in Table 1, while the maximal response by individual subject is illustrated in Figure 1. Conclusion Infusion of CYP-001 at 1 x 106 iPSC-derived MSCs/kg was safe and well tolerated in this patient cohort. Treatment response and overall survival rates are encouraging compared to previously published outcomes. The Cohort B primary evaluation period is expected to be completed by September 2018, and progression to a Phase II trial in this clinically challenging disease will then be considered. Disclosures Bloor: AbbVie: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding. Radia:Mallinckrodt: Research Funding. Yeung:Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; BMS: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Specialised Therapeutics Australia: Honoraria. Slukvin:Cynata Therapeutics Limited: Consultancy, Equity Ownership. Kelly:Cynata Therapeutics Limited: Employment, Equity Ownership. Rasko:Gilead: Honoraria; Abbvie: Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Speakers Bureau; International Society for Cellular Therapy: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Cynata: Consultancy, Honoraria; bluebird bio: Honoraria, Other: Clinical trials ; Spark: Consultancy; FSHD Global Research Foundation: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Current Cure The Future Foundation: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; GSK: Honoraria; Genea: Equity Ownership; IMAGO Biosciences: Consultancy; Rarecyte: Consultancy, Equity Ownership; Gene Technology Technical Advisory, OGTR, Australian Government: Other: Chair; Advisory Committee on Biologics, Therapeutics Goods Administration, Australian Government: Other: Past Chair.

Purpose The role of allogeneic transplantation with reduced-intensity conditioning in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is currently unclear, with relatively little published data. We report the outcome of reduced-intensity transplantation (RIT) in a cohort of 48 consecutive patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL (30 patients with de novo disease and 18 patients with transformed follicular lymphoma) who underwent transplantation with an alemtuzumab-containing regimen, with a median follow-up of 52 months. Patients and Methods Patients had experienced treatment failure with a median of five lines of prior therapy, including autologous transplantation in 69%, and 17% of patients were chemotherapy refractory at transplantation. Median age was 46 years, and 38% of patients had matched/mismatched unrelated donors. Conditioning was with alemtuzumab, fludarabine, and melphalan, and additional graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was with cyclosporine. Results All patients were successfully engrafted. Only 17% of patients developed grade 2 to 4 acute GVHD, with 13% experiencing extensive chronic GVHD. Four-year estimated nonrelapse mortality was 32%, and relapse risk was 33%. Twelve patients received donor lymphocyte infusions ± chemoimmunotherapy for relapse, and five patients obtained durable remissions, giving current progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates at 4 years of 48% and 47%, respectively. Patients who had chemotherapy-sensitive disease before RIT had current PFS and OS rates at 4 years of 55% and 54%, respectively. Chemotherapy-refractory patients had a poor outcome. Conclusion The encouraging survival rates with extended follow-up suggest a role for RIT in chemotherapy-sensitive relapsed DLBCL, even in patients who have previously experienced treatment failure with autologous transplantation. Future studies will be required to determine whether any subset of patients with relapsed DLBCL should be considered for RIT versus autologous transplantation.

Background. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) is a humanized anti-CD33 monoclonal antibody conjugated with calicheamicin, used in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) either as monotherapy or in association with chemotherapeutic agents (Hamann et al. Bioconjug. Chem 2002). It is known to induce a significant liver toxicity that might increase the risk of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), especially in patients undergoing allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Risk is especially high in patients transplanted within a short interval from last GO dose (≤ 3.5 months) (Wadleigh et al. Blood 2003). The current retrospective analysis aimed to assess the incidence of SOS and the outcome of AML patients receiving GO before allo-HSCT. Patients and methods. The primary endpoint of the study was the assessment of SOS incidence in a series of 146 adult patients (71 women and 75 men) with AML undergoing allo-HSCT after prior exposure to GO. Relevant data were captured by a specific designed questionnaire focusing on SOS (Med C) that was distributed to all EBMT centers. Secondary endpoints were engraftment, non-relapse mortality (NRM), graft-versus host disease (GVHD), leukemia-free survival (LFS) and overall survival (OS). Median age was 50 years (range 19-70). In most cases (n=127 out of 137 for which the information was available, 93%) GO was administered in parallel with other chemotherapeutic agents. Median GO dose was 3 mg/m2. Median number of cycles before allo-HSCT was 1 (range 1-6). The majority of the patients (n=79, 54%) received GO as induction treatment, while 51 (35%) and 16 (11%) received GO for relapsing or primary refractory disease, respectively. At time of allo-HSCT 97 (66%) patients were in complete remission. Of note, 11 patients underwent prior allo-HSCT and 8 patients prior auto-HSCT. Most patients received a reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen pre allo-HSCT (n=84, 58%). SOS prophylaxis was given in a total of 69 patients (heparin n=57, ursodeoxycholic acid n=8, and defibrotide n=4). Cumulative incidence (CI) and Kaplan-Meier estimates were used when appropriate; Cox model was used for multivariate analysis. Results. Overall, cumulative incidence of SOS was 7.75% (95% CI 4.1-12.9) (n=11). Among patients receiving RIC, 4 (4,9%) developed SOS as compared to 7 (11,5%) among patients receiving MAC regimen (p=NS). SOS was the main cause of death in 3 out of 11 cases. Median interval between last GO dose and allo-HSCT was 130 days (range 13-1126). Neither OS nor SOS incidence differed significantly for patients receiving GO shortly before allo-HSCT (≤ 3.5 months) as compared to the others. None of the analyzed risk factors had an impact on the risk of SOS in our study. With a median of 15 days, CI of neutrophil and platelet engraftment was 93.8% (95% CI 88.1-96,8) and 89% (95% CI 82.3-93.3), respectively. CI of acute GVHD at day 100 was 30.6% (95% CI 23-38.2), occurring in 84 patients (out of them 45 had grade II-IV GVHD), while CI of chronic GVHD at 5 years was 25.5% (95% CI 18.6-33). With a median follow-up of 64 months the probability of OS and LFS at 5 years was 40% (95% CI: 31-48) and 37% (95% CI: 29-45), respectively. Cumulative RI and NRM at 5 years were 42% (95% CI: 34-50%) and 21% (95% CI: 14-28), respectively. In multivariate analysis patients transplanted with an active disease relapsed more often and had worse LFS and OS, while patients presenting with liver abnormalities before allo-HSCT had a worse OS (p Conclusion. Our results in a large cohort of AML patients show that GO administration prior to allo-HSCT does not result in an excessive incidence of SOS as compared to historical controls reported in the literature (Carreras et al. Biol. Blood Marrow Transplant 2011). Notably incidence is low even when allo-HSCT is performed within a short interval from the last dose of GO. Disclosures Fanin: Novartis Farma: Speakers Bureau. Mohty:Janssen: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria. Nagler:Novaratis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.

We report the largest retrospective, phase IV non-interventional, observational study of ofatumumab therapy in heavily pre-treated patients with poor-prognosis chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Total number of patients was 103; median age was 65 years (range 39–85). Median number of prior lines of therapy was 4 (range 1–13), including, in most cases, rituximab-, fludarabine- and alemtuzumab-based regimens; 13 patients had been allografted. Of 113 adverse events, 28 (29%) were considered to be directly related to ofatumumab. Grade 3–4 toxicities included neutropenia (10%), thrombocytopenia (5%), anemia (3%), pneumonia (17%), and fever (3%). Two heavily pre-treated patients developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. On an intention-to-treat analysis, the overall response rate was 22% (3 complete response, 1 incomplete complete response). Median progression-free and overall survival times were 5 and 11 months, respectively. This study confirms in a daily-life setting the feasibility and acceptable toxicity of ofatumumab treatment in advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The complete response rate, however, was low. Therefore, treatment with ofatumumab should be moved to earlier phases of the disease. Ideally, this should be done in combination with other agents, as recently approved for ofatumumab plus chlorambucil as front-line treatment for patients unfit for fludarabine. This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov identifier:01453062.