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The aim of this study is to assess the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of biopsy-proven transformation in follicular lymphoma (FL) patients in the rituximab era. Transformation was analyzed in 1233 patients with initially diagnosed FL grades 1–3A, identified between 2002 and 2012 in the prospectively maintained Czech Lymphoma Study Group database. Only patients with histologically proven transformation (HT) were included. HT occurred in 58 cases at a median of 3.0 years from the initial FL diagnosis; the HT rate was 4% at 5 years. Transformation occurred most frequently at the first relapse (84% patients). Median OS from the HT was 2.5 years (95% CI 0.4–4.6) and 6-year OS with HT was shorter compared to all FLs (60 vs. 83.9%; 95% CI). A bulky tumor (≥ 10 cm), increased lactate dehydrogenase, age ≥ 60 years, and International Prognostic Index (intermediate/high risk), but not Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index, were associated with transformation (p

Relapsing diffuse large B cell lymphomas (rDLBCL) represent a heterogeneous disease. This heterogeneity should be recognized and reflected, because it can deform the interpretation of clinical trial results. DLBCL patients with the first relapse and without CNS involvement were identified in the Czech Lymphoma Study Group (CLSG) database. Interval-to-therapy (ITT) was defined as the time between the first manifestation of rDLBCL and the start of any treatment. The overall survival (OS) of different ITT cohorts ( 7 vs. 7-21 vs. 21 days) was compared. In total, 587 rDLBCLs (51.8% males) progressed with a median of 12.8 months (range 1.6 to 152.3) since the initial diagnosis (2000-2017). At the time of relapse, the median age was 67 years (range 22-95). First-line therapy was administered in 99.3% of the patients; CHOP and anti-CD20 were given to 69.2% and 84.7% of the patients, respectively. The salvage immune/chemotherapy was administered in 88.1% of the patients (39.2% platinum-based regimen). The median ITT was 20 days (range 1-851), but 23.2% of patients initiated therapy within 7 days. The 5-year OS was 17.4% (range 10-24.5%) vs. 20.5% (range 13.5-27.4%) vs. 42.2% (range 35.5-48.8%) for ITT 7 vs. 7-21 vs. 21 days (p 0.001). ITT was associated with B symptoms (p 0.004), ECOG (p 0.001), stage (p 0.002), bulky disease (p 0.005), elevated LDH (p 0.001), and IPI (p 0.001). The ITT mirrors the real clinical behavior of rDLBCL. There are patients (ITT 7 days) with aggressive disease and a poor outcome. Conversely, there are rDLBCLs with ITT ≥ 21 days who survive for a long time.

The rituximab maintenance (RM) therapy for follicular lymphoma is effective and clinically well tolerated, however there is limited data regarding this from the elderly segment of the population. This analysis was performed to evaluate the efficacy of RM in elderly patients 65 years of age and older and to assess the influence of the induction therapy with immunochemotherapy (R-CHEMO) on the treatment outcome in a real world setting. A total of 232 consecutive patients treated with first-line R-CHEMO and RM (RM1 group; n = 158) or observation (RM0 group; n = 74) were analyzed. The effect of which induction therapy (R-CHOP vs. R-CVP) and the response of the patients to the first-line therapy were also evaluated. The addition of RM improved the treatment results in elderly patients. The 5- year overall survival rate in patients receiving R-CHEMO + RM1 compared to patients receiving R-CHEMO + RM0, was 83.7% (95% CI 76.1–89%) and 64.3% (95% CI 51.8–74.3%), respectively, p = 0.0012. The induction therapy with R-CHOP was found to be more effective than R-CVP but it is necessary to point out higher age of patients in the R-CVP arm. The 5- year overall survival rate in patients using R-CHOP ± RM and R-CVP ± RM was 84.9% (95% CI 77.5–90%), and 65.0% (95% CI 50.1–76.4%), respectively, p = 0.0008. The patients who achieved CR + uCR after having received first-line therapy had better outcomes compared to patients in PR. The 5- year overall survival rate in uCR + CR patients treated with R-CHEMO + RM1 and PR patients treated with R-CHEMO + RM1 was 90.6% and 68.3%, respectively, p = 0.0019. Rituximab maintenance treatment in patients 65 years and older yielded improved survival rates in a real world clinical setting. The R-CHOP regimen seems to be a more effective induction agent than R-CVP but the outcome of less intensively treated patients with R-CVP + RM is also acceptable. The achievement of uCR + CR after first-line therapy is associated with a better outcome.

Rituximab maintenance (RM) improves time to progression (PFS) in advanced follicular lymphoma (FL), but the impact of various RM schedules remains unknown. This study performed a retrospective evaluation of RM given for up to 2 years vs observation in 319 untreated FL patients (stage II-IV; grade 1-3A) responding to RCHOP induction and a comparison of two different RM schedules (RM8=eight doses given every 3 months and RM12=12 doses given every 2 months). A total of 183 patients received RM and 136 patients were observed; 5-year PFS was better in the RM arm, 74.1% vs 52.3% (p

Background: Early events within 24 months (POD24) of initial immunochemotherapy (IC) were repeatedly confirmed to be associated with poor survival in follicular lymphoma (FL). Rituximab maintenance (RM) given to responding patients after IC is effective strategy to reduce relapse incidence and improve survival (Salles, Lancet 2011; Hill, BJH 2019). There is little known about the POD24 incidence pattern in chemosensitive patients, and the impact of subsequent RM application for POD24 reduction has not been studied yet. Aim: To (1) analyze the role of POD24 events in patients with responding FL and (2) describe whether post-induction RM changes the pattern of POD24 incidence and possibly post-POD24 outcome of the patients. Methods: The study comprised patients prospectively enrolled in the Czech Lymphoma Study Group network (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03199066) in 2000-2015, with grade 1-3A FL and treated with frontline R-CHOP/R-CHOP-like or R-bendamustine or R-CVP IC. Cases with previous WaW were not enrolled. No frontline stem cell (auto/allo) transplant was allowed. Only patients who achieved complete (CR/CRu) or partial remission (PR) at the end of induction (EOI) and were thus potential candidates for RM were included. Early event was defined as progression, relapse or death within 24 months after the date of EOI response assessment. Overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated from the date of diagnosis and date of EOI response (OS-EOI). Patients who experienced an event before the median time to RM initiation were excluded from POD24 survival analyses to avoid overestimation of the RM group results. Results: A total of 1089 patients were identified, of whom 729 (67%) received RM (maintenance group) and 360 (33%) were followed without RM (observation group; OBS). When comparing both groups, we found no differences in age (median age 59 yrs for both; P=0.54), sex distribution (males 39% vs. 41% in OBS vs. RM, respectively; P=0.37) and ECOG 0-1 (90% vs. 93% in OBS vs. RM; P=0.10). There was a slightly lower proportion of advanced FL (Ann Arbor III-IV) in OBS (80%) as compared to RM (87%, P=0.01), which translated into a lower proportion of high FLIPI patients (46% vs. 52% in OBS vs. RM, respectively; P=0.003). The induction regimens were as follows: R-CHOP in 70% and 83%, R-COP in 18.6% and 10.7%, R-bendamustine 1% and 4%, R-fludarabine-based in 4% and 1% and others in 5% and 1% in RM and OBS, respectively. The EOI remission status was assessed 61 days (median) after the last IC dose with CR/CRu/PR rates of 65%/9%/26% and 65%/6%/29% in OBS and RM, respectively (P=0.14). The median time from EOI response to the first RM dose was 48 days (range 0-371 days), 89% of the pts have started RM within 120 days. The median number of RM doses given was 8 (range, 1-36), with 85% of patients receiving 8-12 doses of RM. After a median follow-up of 10.4 yrs (OBS) vs. 6.0 yrs (RM); P Conclusion: Early progression of the disease significantly increases the risk of death even in pts who respond well to the initial IC. Application of RM significantly prolonged both OS and PFS and reduced POD-24 incidence by half. However, once patients developed an early event on RM, their outcome remained poor. On the other hand, in the POD-24-free group, RM brought survival benefit that lasted beyond its termination. Large independent validation may enhance the validity of these data since the observation group was mainly of a historical nature. Acknowledgement: Supported by IGA_LF_2019_001, MH CZ - DRO (FNOL, 00098892), and AZV 16-31092A grants. Figure 1 Disclosures Prochazka: Roche: Consultancy; Takeda: Research Funding. Trneny:Morphosys: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead sciences: Consultancy, Honoraria; Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria.

Early-stage follicular lymphoma (FL) has traditionally been treated with involved-field radiotherapy (RT). Rituximab (R) is a low-toxic, efficient systemic therapy for FL, but there are no data about its clinical impact in early FL. We retrospectively analyzed 93 patients with stage I–II indolent FL treated with RT (n = 65) or RT + R (n = 14) or R alone (n = 14). Median follow-up was 5.0 years for patients with RT, 2.8 years for the RT + R subgroup and 2.5 years for patients treated with R. The complete response rate was 92%, 100% and 86% (not significant) and the median PFS was 3.3 years, not reached and 4.9 years (p = 0.035) for the RT, RT + R and R arms, with no impact on overall survival. R combined with RT seems to give better results in terms of global FL control, but longer follow-up and prospective comparison are needed to verify these results.

INTRODUCTION: Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) is a heterogeneous group of aggressive lymphomas with usually poor prognosis. Age was identified as the independent risk factors in many studies. Elderly patients suffer from comorbidities, impaired organ functions, and poor performance status resulting in worse tolerance of therapy and its efficacy. Data on outcome, prognosis and treatment efficacy for elderly patients with PTCLs are sparse. METHODS: We used data of 941 newly diagnosed PTCLs registered into CLSG database between January 1999 and March 2015 with last follow-up in February 2016. CLSG database covers approximately 85% of all newly diagnosed NonHodgkin´s lymphomas (NHLs) in Czech Republic. For the analysis, 208 patients with age >70 years at diagnosis were selected. RESULTS: Totally, PTCLs accounted for about 8.7% (454/5210) patients of all NHLs in population younger 60 years, but only about 5.8% (208/3561) NHL patients older 70 years. Median age was 76ys (71-91ys), 94 (45%) were women, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was elevated in 130/208 (62.5%) pts., ECOG ≥2 had 80 (38%) pts., and advanced clinical stage III-IV presented 132/208 (63.5%) pts. We identified following PTCL subtypes: PTCL-NOS (Peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified) 89/208 (43%), Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) 34/208 (16.3%), Cutaneous Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (C-ALCL) 10/208 (4.8%), Mycosis fungoides/ Sézary syndrome (MF/SS) together 29/208 (14%), NK/T nasal lymphoma (NK/T) 2/208 (1%), Angioimmunoblastic lymphoma (AITL) 17/208 (8.1%), Cutaneous CD30+ T lymphoproliferative disease 1/208 (0.5%), T-lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia (T-LBL) 3/208 (1.4%), T-cell lymphoma without specification (T-NHL) 17/208 (8.1%). Distribution of PTCL subtypes changed significantly with age. There was higher proportion of PTCL-NOS (43% vs. 34%; p.001) and MF/SS (14% vs. 4.8%; p70ys) compared to younger cohort (≤70ys; n=725). Contrary, percentage of ALCL (16.3% vs. 27%; p For the whole cohort of PTCLs (>70ys), the 5-year overall survival (OS) was 30% and 5-year progression free survival (PFS) was 21% regardless of subtype or stage. Progression is fatal event in elderly patients with median survival about 8 months only. There were significant survival differences between patients (>70ys vs. ≤70ys) according to PTCL subtype; PTCL-NOS 5 yr-OS 23% vs. 43% (p.00001), ALCL ALK+ 5-yr OS not reached vs. 79% (p.01), ALCL ALK- 5 yr-OS 24% vs. 50% (p.001). Patients with AITL or EATL showed no age-related survival differences. First-line chemotherapy was administered in majority of cases (67%); CHOP-like regimen was given in 78 (37%) pts., COP-like in 44 (21%) pts., and other chemotherapy in 18 (9%) cases. Local therapy (surgery, radiotherapy) was administered in first line in 17 (8%) pts., no or palliative therapy (corticoids) was given in 34 (17%) pts., initial therapy was unknown in 17 (8%) cases. We compared two subgroups of patients according to first line chemotherapy CHOP (n=75) vs. COP (n=41). Median age was 74ys (71-84) vs. 79ys (71-89), high IPI was presented in 29% vs. 50% of patients (p.001). Complete response (CR) was achieved in 35/75 (47%) CHOP treated patients, and in 7/41 (17%) patients managed with COP (p.001). Contrary, there were 12/75 (16%) progression in CHOP arm compared to 10/41 (24%) COP treated pts. Five-year OS was 28% vs. 15% better in CHOP group (p.029) and 5-yr PFS 25% vs. 10%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In population-based analysis of adult Caucasian PTCL patients, we identified mild decreasing incidence with age. There were significant age-related distribution differences of PTCL subtypes with shift to preponderance of PTCL-NOS, Mycosis fungoides, and NK/T nasal lymphoma in elderly. Worse survival in elderly PTCLs in comparison to younger patients was evident especially for PTCL-NOS and ALCL subtypes. Despite the baseline differences (COP managed pts. had higher IPI), there is tendency that anthracycline-based chemotherapy (CHOP) brings better results with higher proportion of CR and lower progression/relapse rate projected in longer survival. Disclosures Belada: Seattle Genetics: Research Funding. Mayer:AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding.

Introduction Localized stages of follicular lymphoma (I-II) have been traditionally treated with involved field radiotherapy (IF-RT), which seems to be able to cure a significant proportion of patients. On the other hand, nearly half of patients relapse within 10 years. The late distant relapses remain the problem. Rituximab (anti CD20 antibody) is low-toxic, efficient systemic therapy for follicular lymphoma (FL). In vitro models bring the evidence of significant synergism between rituximab and radiotherapy. Up to now, there are no clinical data about clinical benefit of rituximab addition to the IF-RT. This study compares IF-RT alone vs. IF-RT with rituximab in early-stages of FL. Methods Between 2005-2012, through the prospectively maintained multicentric database (Czech Lymphoma Group; CLG), we identified patients with stage I-II FL treated with IF-RT (dose ≥ 24Gy) or IF-RT (dose ≥ 24Gy) with rituximab or rituximab alone. Patients receiving IF-RT with chemotherapy were not included. Complete staging including CT (neck, thorax, abdomen and pelvis) and bone marrow biopsy was performed at diagnosis. We compared EFS and OS between these three treatment arms. Rituximab (4 doses á 375mg/m2) was administered prior start of radiotherapy in combined arm. The total doses of rituximab varied between 4-8 doses á 375mg/m2 in rituximab monotherapy subgroup as well as in combined arm. Response to treatment was evaluated with CT 6-12 weeks after last dose of therapy. Results For the study period, approximately 1700 pts. of FL were identified in CLG database; 101pts with stage I-II FL (grade 1-3A) were included in the analysis. 65 patient were treated with radiotherapy alone (RT), 14 pts. with rituximab alone (R) and 14 pts. received rituximab and radiotherapy (R+RT), 8 pts. were excluded because of incomplete data. Median follow up was 4.57 (2.25- 12.6) years since diagnosis. There were no differences of age, performance status, FLIPI, proportion of bulky or extranodal tumor. In subgroup treated with R+RT was higher proportion of FL grade 3A in comparison with R or RT alone arms (35% vs. 1.5% vs. 7.5%; p.007). Complete response rate was 92% in RT arm, 100% in arm with R+RT and 86% in group treated with R alone, difference did not reach statistical significance. Median of event free survival was 3.35years in RT group, not reached in R+RT arm and 5.1 years in patients treated with R alone. EFS differences are statistically significant (p.035), but with no impact on overall survival. Conclusions In spite of fact, that RT is considered to be a good initial treatment for localized FL, rituximab alone or better in combination with RT seems to give better results in terms of long-term global control of disease. Our preliminary results should be confirmed with other studies and longer follow up is needed to verify or not the impact of rituximab on survival in early stages of FL. The work is support by research grant NT/12193-5 and MHCZ-DRO FNBr65269705. Disclosures: Mayer: Roche: Consultancy, Research Funding; Glaxo: Consultancy, Research Funding. Trneny:Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding.

Abstract 590 Background: Myeloblative conditioning (MAC) or reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) followed by autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT or AlloSCT) is established and lifesaving treatment in selected indications. The quality of life (QoL) is then very important issue for long term surviving patients. The majority of data is often based on single center evaluation with limited number of patients. Therefore we have started the cross-sectional QoL project and this analysis is based on data collected from eight transplant centers. Methods: Altogether data from 1399 patients are included in the study. The FACT-G questionnaire (Q) was used for this analysis. The questionnaire consists of four parts - physical well-being (PWB), social/family well-being (SWB), emotional well-being (EWB), functional well-being (FWB). The patients completed the Q before the transplantation (at the time of indication or at the time of admission to SCT) n=304, after ASCT n=662 and after AlloSCT n=433. Patients were divided into 7 groups – before SCT, day +100, up to 1y, 1–2y, 2–3y, 3–5y and more than 5y. The clinical characteristics were obtained from national transplant registry; the data was cleaned and updated. Wilcoxon and Kruskall-Wallis tests were used for statistical analysis. Patient′s characteristic: The ASCT and AlloSCT groups (grp.) consist of 869 and 530 pts resp. including 207 pts before ASCT and 97 before AlloSCT. There were 52.8% and 55.7% men in ASCT and AlloSCT grp. resp. The median age in ASCT and AlloSCT grp. resp. was: 55.2 and 43.2y resp., the median follow-up 4.4 and 4.5y resp. The most frequent diagnosis of ASCT group were: Non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma (NHL) 46.1%, multiple myeloma (MM) 36.6%, Hodgkin′s lymphoma (HL) 8.5%. In AlloSCT: acute myelogenous leukemia 29.4%, acute lymphoblastic leukemia 15.7%, chronic myeloid leukemia 11.5% and myelodysplastic syndrome 10.0%. Disease progression/relapse was observed in 148 ASCT (22.4%) and 61 AlloSCT (14.1%) pts. In AlloSCT group MAC was used in 33% pts and matched unrelated donor (MUD) in 59.8% pts., aGVHD gr I-II was observed in 40.3% and gr III-IV 4.2% pts, cGVHD in 37.9% pts. Results: Significant differences in overall QoL before, during and after the AlloSCT (p Conclusion: We herein demostrate on large cohorts of pts that long term survivors have significantly better QoL compared to QoL in the time of indication of the transplantation and the improvement starts from 1y after ASCT and from 2y after AlloSCT. AlloSCT survivors report better QoL compared to the ASCT survivors. The most important factors affected QoL are age, cGVHD (AlloSCT) and diagnosis (ASCT), the borderline factors are relapse after SCT and type of donor (AlloSCT). Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: New chemotherapeutics protocols, included high dose therapy with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and anti-CD20 therapy may be curative for many patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). However in some cases, standard approach, including autologous HSCT fails. Allogeneic HSCT (allo-SCT) may be effective, however is still associated with high treatment-related mortality (TRM). We report here a retrospective analysis of allogeneic SCT in pts with NHL reported to the Czech National Registry of SCT from four centers in years 1999–2005. Methods: We analysed 57 patients with NHL (41 males, 16 females). Histological subtypes were: diffuse large cell lymphoma (DLBCL), n=16, follicular lymphoma (FL), n= 17, mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), n=8, peripheral T-cell lymphoma, n=7, Burkitt’s lymphoma, n=2 and 7 other unspecified lymphomas. Median age was 50 (19–64) years. Donors were identical siblings in 40 pts (70%) or unrelated volunteers in 17 (30%). Six (11%) pts received bone marrow and 51 (89%) received PBPC. Forty-three (75%) pts received reduce-intensity conditioning (RIC), fourteen (25%) were treated with conventional myeloablative regimen. Twenty-five (44%) patients had previous autologous HSCT. At time of allo-HSCT, thirty-eight (67%) pts had chemosensitive disease, thirteen (23%) were considered as chemoresistant (six were untested). Interval from diagnosis to SCT ranged from 9,5 to 198 months with median 21 months. Results: All pts but one engrafted. Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) occurred in 18 (31%) pts (11× grade I–II, 7× grade III–IV). Of the 35 evaluable patients sixteen (46%) developed chronic GVHD (12× limited, 4× extensive). The 100-day, 1-year and 3-years TRM rates were 30%, 39% and 42% respectively. Relapse or progression was observed in 26%. With a median folow-up of 31 months (range, 4–108) of living patients, the actuarial overall survival (OS) rates at 3 years were 36%, progression free survival (PFS) 36% and relaps risk 41 %. The 3-years OS rates of patients with DLCL, FCL and MCL were 15%, 53% and 31% respectively. Patients after prior ASCT had significantly less outcome (3-year OS 16% vs 51%, p=0,04). There was not found the correlation between GVHD and relapse rate, the outcome of pts treated with myeloablative regimen and RIC was not significantly different (3-year OS 46% vs 36%, relaps risk 20% vs 47%, p=0,4). There was no diference in OS between related and unrelated transplants (3-year OS 40% vs 35%, p=0,16). We didn’t observe significant diference between pts transplanted in chemosensitive or chemoresistant disease (3-year OS resp PFS 43% vs 23%, p=0,09, resp 39% vs 31%, p=0,14) At time of last follow-up 32 patients were dead and 25 were alive (22 in complete remission). Conclusion: Allogeneic HSCT represents an effective therapeutic option for patients with poor prognosis NHL, however TRM remains the problem as well as high relapse risk in some cases. RIC may be an option for erderly patients but it’s not clear if it offers the same effectivity as standard myeloablative regimen. Transplants from unrelated donors may be probably considered comparable to related.

Background: MCL is a distinct lymphoma entity with improved outcome achieved by the introduction of rituximab, high dose Ara-C and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) into the first line therapy. The outcome of the relapsed patients (pts) remain however poor and there is little data on the outcome after subsequent relapses and there is no information on secondary MIPI prognostic value. Aim: To analyze the outcome of the MCL patients after first line treatment failure and to evaluate the prognostic role of the sec MIPI which is MIPI calculated at the time of relapse/progression. Methods: This analysis is a part of the Lymphoma project in which consecutive lymphoma patients are registered since the year 1999. Altogether 519 newly diagnosed MCL patients were registered in 5 university centers and 9 regional departments between 1999 and 2011. Patients who were treated with rituximab as part of the first line treatment (n=388) were included into the analysis. The diagnoses were confirmed according to WHO classification in the reference pathology centers. The median follow up is 4.5 years. Results: The whole cohort consists of 261 males and 127 females (2.1:1) with median age 65 y (28-87), the majority of pts had advanced disease (CS IV in 81.6% pts), PS ECOG ≥ 2 in 23.6% pts, elevated LDH in 52.5% of pts. The MIPI risk profile was as follows: low risk 21.7%, intermediate risk 27.2% and high risk in 51.1%. All pts received rituximab as part of the induction, 48.7% pts received CHOP, 5.7% alternation of CHOP and HD Ara-C, 26.2% intensive induction with HD Ara-C, 10.3% CVP, 6.4% FC. High dose therapy with ASCT was performed in 23.9% of pts. The ORR was 89.0% with 63.8 CR/CRu, 6.3% had stable disease and 4.9% were primary progressive. The PFS and OS were 2.9 y and 5.5 y with significant impact of MIPI risk (p Conclusions: Our analysis of relapsed MCL patients shows that 1: Median PFS from the Dg was 2.9 y but each subsequent relapse resulted in significantly shorter PFS median 12.1, 6.8 and 4.9 months resp. 2: The median OS from Dg was 5.5y but after each relapse it became shorter - 15.7 m, 7.4 m and 5.5 months resp. 3: The sec MIPI at the time of relapse discriminates the groups with significantly different prognosis. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.