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Cardiotoxicity is a known risk of anthracycline treatment. However, the relative contribution of anthracyclines to the development of congestive heart failure (CHF), when included in a poly-chemotherapy regimen, is unclear. We examined cardiotoxicity in adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma undergoing first-line immunochemotherapy from 2000-2012. In total, 2440 patients without previous heart disease were identified from the Danish Lymphoma Registry, of which 1994 (81·7%) were treated with anthracycline-containing chemotherapy [R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone) or R-CHOEP (R-CHOP + etoposide)] and 446 (18·3%) were treated without anthracyclines (reference group). Compared to the reference group, the adjusted hazard ratio of CHF after 3-5 cycles of R-CHOP/CHOEP was 5·0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·4; 18·5], 6 cycles 6·8 (95% CI 2·0; 23·3) and >6 cycles 13·4 (95% CI 4·0; 45·0). The cumulative 5-year risk of CHF with all-cause mortality as competing risk was 4·6% after 3-5 cycles of R-CHOP/CHOEP, 4·5% after 6 and 7·9% after more than 6 cycles. Cumulative 5-year risk for patients treated without anthracyclines was 0·8%. Using anthracyclines in first-line lymphoma treatment increases risk of CHF in patients without previous history of heart disease. In particular, treatment with >6 cycles of R-CHOP/CHOEP is associated with a significant increase in CHF rate.

PURPOSE: Secondary CNS involvement (SCNS) is a profoundly adverse complication of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Evidence from older series indicated a median overall survival (OS) < 6 months; however, data from the immunochemotherapy era are limited.METHODS: Patients diagnosed with SCNS during or after first-line immunochemotherapy were identified from databases and/or regional/national registries from three continents. Clinical information was retrospectively collected from medical records.RESULTS: In total, 291 patients with SCNS were included. SCNS occurred as part of first relapse in 254 (87%) patients and 113 (39%) had concurrent systemic relapse. With a median post-SCNS follow-up of 48 months, the median post-SCNS OS was 3.9 months and 2-year OS rate was 20% (95% CI: 15-25). In multivariable analysis of 173 patients treated with curative/intensive therapy (such as high-dose methotrexate [HDMTX] or platinum-containing regimens), age ≤60 years, performance status 0-1, absence of combined leptomeningeal and parenchymal involvement, and SCNS occurring after completion of first-line therapy were associated with superior outcomes. Patients ≤60 years with performance status 0-1 and treated with HDMTX-based regimens for isolated parenchymal SCNS had a 2-year OS of 62% (95% CI: 36-80). In patients with isolated SCNS, the addition of rituximab to HDMTX-based regimens was associated with improved OS. Amongst patients with isolated SCNS in CR following intensive treatment, high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation did not improve OS (P = 0.9).CONCLUSIONS: In this large international cohort of patients treated with first-line immunochemotherapy, outcomes following SCNS remain poor. However, a moderate proportion of patients with isolated SCNS who received intensive therapies achieved durable remissions.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a heterogeneous disease with high relapse rates. Limited data guide the use of surveillance imaging following treatment. We constructed a retrospective cohort from two academic institutions of patients with MCL who completed first-line therapy and underwent follow-up for relapse, analyzing the effect of surveillance imaging on survival. Of 217 patients, 102 had documented relapse, with 38 (37%) diagnosed by surveillance imaging and 64 (63%) by other methods. Relapse diagnosis by surveillance imaging had no significant advantage in overall survival from diagnosis date (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.80, p= .39) or relapse date (HR = 0.72, p= .22). Of 801 surveillance images, PET/CT had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 24% and number needed-to-scan/treat (NNT) of 51 to detect one relapse, and CT had a PPV of 49% and NNT of 24. For MCL after first-line therapy, relapse detection by surveillance imaging was not associated with improved survival and lacks clinical benefit.

A decreasing number of new therapeutic drugs reaching the clinic has led to the publication of regulatory guidelines on human microdosing trials by the European Medicines Agency in 2004 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006. Microdosing trials are defined by the administration of 1/100(th) of the therapeutic dose and designed to investigate basic drug properties. This review investigates the current application of phase 0 trials in medical research. Thirty-three studies found in PubMed and EMBASE were systematically reviewed for aim and analytical method. Pharmacokinetic studies have been a major focus of phase 0 trials, but drug distribution, drug-drug interactions, imaging, and pharmacogenomics have also been investigated. Common analytical methods were tandem mass liquid chromatography, accelerator mass spectrometry, and positron emission tomography. New ongoing trials are investigating the pharmacodynamics and chemoresistance of marketed drugs, suggesting that the application of phase 0 trials is still evolving.

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT (PET/CT) is the current state-of-the-art in the staging of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and has a high sensitivity for extranodal involvement. Therefore, reassessment of extranodal involvement and the current prognostic indices in the PET/CT era is warranted. We screened patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL seen at the academic centers of Aalborg, Copenhagen, and British Columbia for eligibility. Patients that had been staged with PET/CT and treated with R-CHOP(-like) 1(st) line treatment were retrospectively included. In total 443 patients met the inclusion criteria. With a median follow-up of 2.4 years, the 3-year overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 73% and 69%, respectively. The Ann Arbor classification had no prognostic impact in itself with the exception of stage IV disease (HR 2.14 for PFS, P 2 extranodal sites, including HR 7.81 (P 3 sites. Bone/bone marrow involvement was the most commonly involved extranodal site identified by PET/CT (29%) and was associated with an inferior PFS and OS. The IPI, R-IPI, and NCCN-IPI were predictive of PFS and OS, and the two latter could identify a very good prognostic subgroup with 3-year PFS and OS of 100%. PET/CT-ascertained extranodal involvement in DLBCL is common and involvement of >2 extranodal sites is associated with a dismal outcome. The IPI, R-IPI, and NCCN-IPI predict outcome with high accuracy.

According to the updated guidelines for imaging in lymphoma, 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is recommended for staging and evaluation of treatment response in FDG-avid lymphomas. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the utility of PET/CT in nodal peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL). Patients with newly diagnosed nodal PTCL (peripheral T-cell lymphoma NOS, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, or angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma) seen at five Danish hematology centers during the period 2006 to 2012 were included, if they had been pretherapeutically staged with PET/CT. Medical records were reviewed for baseline clinical and follow-up information. Staging, interim (I-PET), and end-of-treatment PET/CT (E-PET) studies were centrally reviewed, and reported using the Deauville 5-point score (DS). A total of 124 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The median age was 58 years, and 88% received CHOP/CHOP-like therapy. Five years PFS and OS of the study population was 36.8% (95% CI 27.3-46.4) and 49.7% (95% CI 38.9-59.6), respectively. The presence of PET/CT-ascertained lung and/or liver involvement was associated with a worse outcome. The sensitivity of PET/CT for detecting biopsy-defined bone marrow involvement was only 18% (95% CI 4-43). An interim DS >3 was not prognostic for worse OS and PFS among CHOP/CHOP-like treated patients in uni- or multivariate analyses. A DS >3 after treatment predicted a worse prognosis. In conclusion, I-PET was not predictive of outcome in CHOP/CHOP-like treated PTCL patients when using the DS. Prospective studies are needed to determine the optimal use of PET/CT in PTCL including the role of quantitative PET/CT analysis.

Summary Tremendous progress in treatment and outcomes has been achieved across the whole range of haematological malignancies in the past two decades. Although cure rates for aggressive malignancies have increased, nowhere has progress been more impactful than in the management of typically incurable forms of haematological cancer. Population-based data have shown that 5-year survival for patients with chronic myelogenous and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, indolent B-cell lymphomas, and multiple myeloma has improved markedly. This improvement is a result of substantial changes in disease management strategies in these malignancies. Several haematological malignancies are now chronic diseases that are treated with continuously administered therapies that have unique side-effects over time. In this Commission, an international panel of clinicians, clinical investigators, methodologists, regulators, and patient advocates representing a broad range of academic and clinical cancer expertise examine adverse events in haematological malignancies. The issues pertaining to assessment of adverse events examined here are relevant to a range of malignancies and have been, to date, underexplored in the context of haematology. The aim of this Commission is to improve toxicity assessment in clinical trials in haematological malignancies by critically examining the current process of adverse event assessment, highlighting the need to incorporate patient-reported outcomes, addressing issues unique to stem-cell transplantation and survivorship, appraising challenges in regulatory approval, and evaluating toxicity in real-world patients. We have identified a range of priority issues in these areas and defined potential solutions to challenges associated with adverse event assessment in the current treatment landscape of haematological malignancies.

FDG-PET/CT is the current state-of-the-art imaging in lymphoma and plays a central role in treatment decisions. At diagnosis, accurate staging is crucial for appropriate therapy selection: FDG-PET/CT can identify areas of lymphoma missed by CT alone and avoid under-treatment of patients with advanced disease stage who would have been misclassified as having limited stage disease by CT. Particularly in Hodgkin lymphoma, positive interim FDG-PET/CT scans are adversely prognostic for clinical outcomes and can inform PET-adapted treatment strategies, but such data are less consistent in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The use of quantitative FDG-PET/CT metrics using metabolic tumor volume, possibly in combination with other biomarkers, may better define prognostic subgroups and thus facilitate better treatment selection. After chemotherapy, FDG-PET/CT response is predictive of outcome and may identify a subgroup who benefit from consolidative radiotherapy. Novel therapies, in particular immunotherapies, exhibit different response patterns than conventional chemotherapy, which has led to modified response criteria that take into account the risk of transient pseudo-progression. In relapsed lymphoma, FDG-PET/CT after second-line therapy and prior to high-dose therapy is also strongly associated with outcome and may be used to guide intensity of salvage therapy in relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma. Currently, FDG-PET/CT has no role in the routine follow-up after complete metabolic response to therapy, but it remains a powerful tool for excluding relapse if patients develop clinical features suggestive of disease relapse. In conclusion, FDG-PET/CT plays major roles in the various phases of management of lymphoma and constitutes a step towards the pursuit of personalized treatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Background: Somatic driver mutations in hematopoietic cells may lead to clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP). In patients with lymphoma CHIP has been associated with increased risk of therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (tMN) and inferior survival after autologous stem cell transplantation as demonstrated in a large single center study and in a case-control study (Gibson CJ et al., JCO 2017 and Berger G et al., Blood 2018). Here, we investigated the clinical impact of clonal hematopoiesis in a nation-wide population-based cohort of Danish lymphoma patients undergoing autologous transplant with prospective data from four national patient registries. Methods: Patients with lymphoma who had undergone leukapheresis at all danish transplant centers from 2000 to 2012 were identified. DNA and RNA was extracted from mobilized peripheral blood products. Targeted sequencing of all samples was performed using an Illumina TruSeq Custom Amplicon panel (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) designed to cover >95% of mutations associated with CHIP (ASXL1, ASXL2, BCOR, BRCC3, CBL, CREBBP, DNMT3A, ETV6, GNB1, IDH1, IDH2, JAK2, KRAS, NRAS, PPM1D, RAD21, SF3B1, SRSF2, TET2, TP53). To allow detection of low-level mutations and secure variant calling, unique molecular identifiers (UMI's) were used. Filtering of variants was done by stringent criteria consistent with earlier studies. Assessment of mutations was performed blinded to the patients' clinical data. Prospective clinical patient data was obtained for all patients from four national registries, including the Danish Lymphoma Registry (diagnosis, involvement, lymphoma treatment, relapse and death), the Danish National Patient Registry (hospital admission diagnoses and treatments), the Danish Cancer Registry (primary and secondary cancer diagnoses) and the Danish Pathology Database (histopathological examinations and diagnoses), respectively. Results: Samples from 574 patients were included. The median age was 55.5 years (IQR: 45.3 - 62.2) and the median follow-up time for survivors was 9.2 years (IQR: 7.1 - 11.2). The lymphoma subtypes were typical of patients selected for autologous transplantation; diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (191 pts), follicular lymphoma (102 pts), mantle cell lymphoma (88 pts), Hodgkin's lymphoma (80 pts), peripheral T-cell lymphoma (77 pts) and other histologies (36 pts). Of the 574 patients analyzed, 191 (33.3%) of the patients had somatic mutations meeting CHIP criteria (total mutations called=210). The most commonly mutated genes were DNMT3A (n=59, 28%), TET2 (n=48, 23%), PPM1D (n=34, 16%), ASXL1 (n=21, 10%) and TP53 (n=18, 8%). As expected CHIP mutations were more frequent in patients above 60 years (p=0.002). Prevalence of CHIP was associated with an inferior overall survival (p=0.004) and event-free survival (p=0.03). It was also associated with increased risk of biopsy-confirmed tMN (p=0.03) and higher probability of receiving blood transfusions after autologous transplant (p=0.027). Especially patients with mutations in DNA damage response genes PPM1D and TP53 (found in 48 pts, 8.3%) had a significantly increased risk of adverse outcomes. Both overall survival and event-free survival were significantly poorer with the presence of DNA damage pathway mutations (p The impact of low-level mutations and statistical modelling of interactions between parallel outcomes will be presented at the meeting. Conclusion: To our knowledge this is the first population-based study of clonal hematopoiesis in patients with lymphoma. We find that CHIP and particularly mutations in DNA damage response genes (PPM1D/TP53) are associated with increased mortality, which confirms findings from single center studies. These data support the evaluation of CHIP for risk assessment in lymphoma patients before high-dose chemotherapy. Our study also identifies increased rates of several clinically relevant adverse outcomes (severe infections, blood transfusions and secondary cancers) in lymphoma patients with clonal hematopoiesis. Figure 1. Figure 1. Disclosures Grønbæk: Janssen Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Otsuka Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

The international prognostic index (IPI) and similar models form the cornerstone of clinical assessment in newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). While being simple and convenient to use, their inadequate use of the available clinical data is a major weakness. In this study, we compared performance of the International Prognostic Index (IPI) and its variations (R-IPI and NCCN-IPI) to a Cox proportional hazards (CPH) model using the same covariates in nondichotomized form. All models were tested in 4863 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients from population-based Nordic registers. The CPH model led to a substantial increase in predictive accuracy as compared to conventional prognostic scores when evaluated by the area under the curve and other relevant tests. Furthermore, the generation of patient-specific survival curves rather than assigning patients to one of few predefined risk groups is a relevant step toward personalized management and treatment. A test-version is available on lymphomapredictor.org.

Despite the recent progress in treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), it is still an incurable malignant disease, and we are therefore in need of new risk stratification tools that can help us to understand the disease and optimize therapy. Here we propose a new subtyping of myeloma plasma cells (PCs) from diagnostic samples, assigned by normal B-cell subset associated gene signatures (BAGS). For this purpose, we combined fluorescence-activated cell sorting and gene expression profiles from normal bone marrow (BM) Pre-BI, Pre-BII, immature, naïve, memory, and PC subsets to generate BAGS for assignment of normal BM subtypes in diagnostic samples. The impact of the subtypes was analyzed in 8 available data sets from 1772 patients’ myeloma PC samples. The resulting tumor assignments in available clinical data sets exhibited similar BAGS subtype frequencies in 4 cohorts from de novo MM patients across 1296 individual cases. The BAGS subtypes were significantly associated with progression-free and overall survival in a meta-analysis of 916 patients from 3 prospective clinical trials. The major impact was observed within the Pre-BII and memory subtypes, which had a significantly inferior prognosis compared with other subtypes. A multiple Cox proportional hazard analysis documented that BAGS subtypes added significant, independent prognostic information to the translocations and cyclin D classification. BAGS subtype analysis of patient cases identified transcriptional differences, including a number of differentially spliced genes. We identified subtype differences in myeloma at diagnosis, with prognostic impact and predictive potential, supporting an acquired B-cell trait and phenotypic plasticity as a pathogenetic hallmark of MM.

Six cycles of R-CHOP-21 are not inferior to eight cycles for treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma : a Nordic Lymphoma Group Population-based Study

Background Within cancer care, dynamic evaluations of the loss in expectation of life provides useful information to patients as well as physicians. The loss of lifetime function yields the conditional loss in expectation of life given survival up to a specific time point. Due to the inevitable censoring in time-to-event data, loss of lifetime estimation requires extrapolation of both the patient and general population survival function. In this context, the accuracy of different extrapolation approaches has not previously been evaluated. Methods The loss of lifetime function was computed by decomposing the all-cause survival function using the relative and general population survival function. To allow extrapolation, the relative survival function was fitted using existing parametric relative survival models. In addition, we introduced a novel mixture cure model suitable for extrapolation. The accuracy of the estimated loss of lifetime function using various extrapolation approaches was assessed in a simulation study and by data from the Danish Cancer Registry where complete follow-up was available. In addition, we illustrated the proposed methodology by analyzing recent data from the Danish Lymphoma Registry. Results No uniformly superior extrapolation method was found, but flexible parametric mixture cure models and flexible parametric relative survival models seemed to be suitable in various scenarios. Conclusion Using extrapolation to estimate the loss of lifetime function requires careful consideration of the relative survival function outside the available follow-up period. We propose extensive sensitivity analyses when estimating the loss of lifetime function. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12874-019-0661-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

PURPOSE: Development of secondary central nervous system involvement (SCNS) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is associated with poor outcomes. The CNS International Prognostic Index (CNS-IPI) has been proposed for identifying patients at greatest risk, but the optimal model is unknown.METHODS: We retrospectively analysed patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma diagnosed between 2001 and 2013, staged with PET/CT and treated with R-CHOP(-like) regimens. Baseline clinicopathologic characteristics, treatments, and outcome data were collected from clinical databases and medical files. We evaluated the association between candidate prognostic factors and modelled different risk models for predicting SCNS.RESULTS: Of 1532 patients, 62 (4%) subsequently developed SCNS. By multivariate analysis, disease stage III/IV, elevated serum LDH, kidney/adrenal and uterine/testicular involvement were independently associated with SCNS. There was a strong correlation between absolute number of extranodal sites and risk of SCNS; the 144 patients (9%) with >2 extranodal sites had a 3-year cumulative incidence of SCNS of 15.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.2-21.2%) compared with 2.6% (95% CI 1.7-3.5) among those with ≤2 sites (P < 0.001). The 3-year cumulative risks of SCNS for CNS-IPI defined risk groups were 11.2%, 3.1% and 0.4% for high-, intermediate- and low-risk patients, respectively. All risk models analysed had high negative predictive values, but only modest positive predictive values.CONCLUSIONS: Patients with >2 extranodal sites or high-risk disease according to the CNS-IPI should be considered for baseline CNS staging. Clinical risk prediction models suffer from limited positive predictive ability, highlighting the need for more sensitive biomarkers to identify patients at highest risk of this devastating complication.

Introduction: Our objective was to develop a prognostic model that predicts progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) to enable risk-adapted strategies in patients with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We retrospectively investigated the value of quantitative image texture features (i.e. 'radiomics' evaluating tumor heterogeneity) using FDG PET/CT data sets in a large, prospective Phase III trial, GOYA (NCT01287741). Methods: In the GOYA trial, which compared obinutuzumab versus rituximab both in combination with CHOP chemotherapy, there was no significant treatment effect between the two arms, thus the two arms were combined for this study. Baseline PET/CT images with regions of interests (ROIs) defined by qualified physicians were analyzed for radiomics features. Image texture features (ITF) were computed using the open-source and validated PET Oncology Radiomics Test Suite (PORTS). The clinical risk factors (International Prognostic Index [IPI], Ann Arbor stage, extranodal disease, bulky disease), cell of origin (COO), standard PET-derived metrics (standard uptake value [SUV]-mean, SUV-max, total metabolic tumor volume [TMTV], total lesion glycolysis [TLG]), SUV histogram metrics (variance, skewness, and kurtosis), and ITF were evaluated for prediction of PFS and OS. TMTV was estimated using adaptive thresholding. Prognostic models were generated by means of multivariate Cox regression analysis, modeling PFS, and OS. In the absence of an independent patient cohort for external model validation, an internal validation, based on c-index and Brier score, was carried out using bootstrap resampling methods. Stratification of patients into risk groups was achieved through maximally selected rank statistics. Multivariate analysis was also carried out on a subgroup of patients with available COO information. Results: The median follow-ups for PFS and OS were 46 and 50 months, respectively. Baseline PET scans were available for 1334 patients with detectable lesions, and 1077 baseline scans were evaluable for calculating ITFs. In the univariate analysis, high TMTV, histogram mean, histogram variance, and the ITFs gray-tone spatial dependence matrices (GTSDM) difference entropy and low gray-level zone length matrix (GLSZM) small zone high gray emphasis were risk factors for PFS, while high TMTV, histogram mean, and the ITF GTSDM inverse difference moment were risk factors for OS (Table 1, showing 95% CI, HR, and p-values for both univariate and multivariate analyses). In multivariate analysis, the risk factors included IPI, Ann Arbor stage, high TMTV, histogram mean, and GTSDM inverse difference moment; results were generally consistent in the multivariate subgroup analysis on patients with COO data available (Table 1). Based on the multivariate model, the probabilities for PFS and OS at 2 and 4 years for individual patients were established (Table 2). By combining TMTV (four categorical groups) with ITF, COO, and predictive clinical factors, three prognostic subgroups of treatment failure risk were identified: low (55% of patients), intermediate (34%), and high (11%). Hazard ratios for high and intermediate risk compared with low risk were 2.16 (p Conclusion: A model including PET-derived quantitative ITF, in addition to significant clinical features, was able to predict survival probability for untreated DLBCL patients with good precision. The proposed PET-based prognostic model may help identify patients who could benefit from risk-adapted treatment modifications or novel approaches. Acknowledgments: GOYA was sponsored by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Third-party editorial assistance, under the direction of Lale Kostakoglu, was provided by Katie Smith of Gardiner-Caldwell Communications and was funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Disclosures Kostakoglu: F. Hoffman-La Roche: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy. Dalmasso:I-See s.r.l.: Employment. Pierce:Precision Sensing LLC: Equity Ownership. Vitolo:Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Juno Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Kite: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Martelli:Servier: Honoraria; F. Hoffman-La Roche, Celgene, Janssen, Sandoz, Novartis, Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; F. Hoffman-La Roche, Celgene, Janssen, Sandoz, Novartis, Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Servier: Honoraria. Sehn:Janssen-Ortho: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen-Ortho: Honoraria. Trněný:Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead Sciences: Consultancy, Honoraria; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; MorphoSys: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria. Nielsen:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Bolen:Genentech, Inc.: Employment; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Equity Ownership. Sahin:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Lee:Genentech: Employment; F. Hoffman-La Roche: Equity Ownership. El-Galaly:Roche: Employment, Other: Travel support; Takeda: Other: Travel support. Mattiello:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment. Kinahan:Co-founded PET/X LLC: Equity Ownership; Philips Medical: Research Funding; GE Healthcare: Research Funding; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Consultancy. Chauvie:International Agency on Atomic Energy (IAEA): Consultancy; Co-owner of Dixit srl (spin-off University of Torino): Equity Ownership; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Research Funding; Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo (CRC): Research Funding; Italian Foundation on Lymphoma (FIL): Research Funding; Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC): Research Funding; SIRTEX: Speakers Bureau.

Introduction: Baseline total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) from FDG-PET/CT scans has been shown to be prognostic for progression-free survival (PFS) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL; Kostakoglu et al. Blood 2017) and follicular lymphoma (FL; Meignan et al. J Clin Oncol 2016). Fully automated TMTV measurements could increase reproducibility and enable results in real-time after a PET/CT scan. Although numerous methods for tumor segmentation on FDG PET images are published, they typically involve a manual step to identify a point within each tumor, performed by a trained reader, followed by semi-automatic identification of the tumor margins. To allow for rapid segmentation of whole body metabolic tumor burden, we developed a fully automated approach based on deep learning algorithms. Methods: An image processing pipeline was developed using FDG-PET/CT images from two large Phase III, multicenter trials, in first-line (1L) DLBCL (GOYA, NCT01287741, n=1418) and FL (GALLIUM, NCT01332968, n=1401). FDG-PET/CT scans were acquired according to a standardized imaging charter using a range of scanner models. Images were automatically preprocessed and used as inputs to cascaded 2D and region-specific 3D convolutional neural networks. The resulting tumor masks were then used for feature extraction. For simplicity, our prognostic analysis is limited to three variables: TMTV, number of identified lesions, and bulky disease (longest tumor diameter >7.5cm). For tumor segmentation, neural networks were trained on 2,266 scans from 1,133 patients in GOYA, and tested (out-of-sample) on 1,064 scans from 532 patients with evaluable baseline and end-of-treatment scans in GALLIUM. Manually directed, semi-automated tumor masks reviewed by board certified radiologists were used as ground truth for both training and testing. Based on the extracted tumor information, prognostic analyses for PFS were conducted on 1,139 evaluable pretreatment PET/CT scans from GOYA, and 541 patients from GALLIUM. Kaplan-Meier methodology was used for survival analysis, and a Cox proportional hazards (CPH) model was used for multivariate analysis. Results: From the out-of-sample validation step, the Dice Similarity Coefficient for the segmented tumor burden was 0.886, while the voxelwise sensitivity was 0.926. The lesion-level correlation between extracted and measured TMTV was 0.987. For PFS in the 1L DLBCL trial (GOYA), our calculated patient-level TMTV quartiles closely replicate the prognostic results of the semi-automated analysis reported by Kostakoglu et al. (Fig 1A, Table 1). A high lesion count above Q3 (>12 lesions [Fig 1B]) and bulky disease were also prognostic for PFS. To evaluate the prognostic value of the derived metrics, a simple risk score (RS) was constructed by considering the quantity: RS-DLBCL = 𝟙(TMTV >330ml) + 𝟙(nr. lesions ≥12) + 𝟙(bulky disease >1), where 𝟙(.) denotes the indicator function and 330ml is the median TMTV in GOYA. Multivariate CPH analysis verified the unique contribution of RS-DLBCL (p In the 1L FL trial (GALLIUM), baseline TMTV >510mL was prognostic for PFS (HR, 1.59; p18 lesions) and bulky disease (Fig 1D) were also prognostic. Three-year PFS for patients with TMTV 510mL, it was 77.3% (71.3-83.7%). A RS for 1L FL was defined similarly as for DLBCL: RS-FL = 𝟙(TMTV >510ml) + 𝟙(nr. lesions >18) + 𝟙(bulky disease). RS-FL (p Conclusion: We present a novel approach for a fully automated whole body metabolic tumor burden segmentation on FDG-PET/CT scans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. This method allows for the extraction of a range of tumor burden features from FDG-PET/CT. For example, TMTV, number of lesions, and bulky disease-features shown to be prognostic for PFS-in addition to known factors such as IPI/FLIPI. Our method is fast and produces a complete pt-level assessment in Disclosures Jemaa: Genentech, Inc./F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment. Fredrickson:Genentech, Inc.: Employment; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Equity Ownership. Coimbra:Genentech, Inc.: Employment. Carano:Genentech, Inc.: Employment; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Equity Ownership. El-Galaly:Takeda: Other: Travel support; Roche: Employment, Other: Travel support. Knapp:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment. Nielsen:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Sahin:F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Employment, Equity Ownership. Bengtsson:Genentech, Inc.: Employment; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Equity Ownership. de Crespigny:Genentech, Inc.: Employment; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Equity Ownership.

After first-line therapy, patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and aggressive non-HL are followed up closely for early signs of relapse. The current follow-up practice with frequent use of surveillance imaging is highly controversial and warrants a critical evaluation. Therefore, a retrospective multicenter study of relapsed HL and aggressive non-HL (nodal T-cell and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas) was conducted. All included patients had been diagnosed during the period 2002-2011 and relapsed after achieving complete remission on first-line therapy. Characteristics and outcome of imaging-detected relapses were compared with other relapses. A total of 258 patients with recurrent lymphoma were included in the study. Relapse investigations were initiated outside preplanned visits in 52% of the patients. Relapse detection could be attributed to patient-reported symptoms alone or in combination with abnormal blood tests or physical examination in 64% of the patients. Routine imaging prompted relapse investigations in 27% of the patients. The estimated number of routine scans per relapse was 91-255 depending on the lymphoma subtype. Patients with imaging-detected relapse had lower disease burden (P = 0.045) and reduced risk of death following relapse (hazard ratio = 0.62, P = 0.02 in multivariate analysis). Patient-reported symptoms are still the most common factor for detecting lymphoma relapse and the high number of scans per relapse calls for improved criteria for use of surveillance imaging. However, imaging-detected relapse was associated with lower disease burden and a possible survival advantage. The future role of routine surveillance imaging should be defined in a randomized trial.

Purpose The general outlook for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in first remission is important information for patients and for planning post-treatment follow-up. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the survival of patients with DLBCL in remission compared with a matched general population. Methods A total of 1,621 patients from the Danish Lymphoma Registry who were newly diagnosed with DLBCL between 2003 and 2011 were included in this study. All patients were ≥ 16 years of age at diagnosis and had achieved complete remission or complete remission unconfirmed after first-line rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) or R-CHOP–like therapy. Results The 5-year post-treatment DLBCL survival was inferior to survival in the matched general population (78%; 95% CI, 76 to 80; v 87%; standardized mortality ratio, 1.75; P < .001). Excess mortality was present but reduced for patients achieving post-treatment event-free survival for 24 months (pEFS24; standardized mortality ratio, 1.27; P < .001). In age-stratified analyses, the survival of patients < 50 years of age was normalized to the general population after achieving pEFS24 ( P = .99). During the first 8 years after pEFS24, the average loss of lifetime was 0.31 mo/y (95% CI, 0.11 to 0.50 mo/y). Excess mortality diminished when analyzing death from lymphoma as competing event to death from other causes, suggesting that early and late relapse is responsible for increased mortality in patients with DLBCL. Conclusion Although this population-based study does not support complete normalization of survival for patients with DLBCL achieving pEFS24, the estimated loss of residual lifetime was low for patients in continuous remission 2 years after ending treatment. Therefore, pEFS24 is an appealing and relevant milestone for patient counseling and could be a surrogate end point in clinical trials.

In the present study, we investigate the outcome of 109 Danish and 123 Swedish patients with nodal PTCL in first complete remission (CR), and examine the impact of imaging-based follow-up (FU) strategies. The patients were selected by the following criteria: (a) newly diagnosed nodal PTCL from 2007 to 2012, (b) age ≥18 years, and (c) CR after CHOP or CHOEP therapy. FU guidelines in Sweden included symptom assessment, clinical examinations and blood tests at 3–4-month intervals for 2 years. FU strategies in Denmark was similar but included routine imaging, usually every 6 months for 2 years. Patients had fully comparable characteristics. Overall survival (OS) estimates for patients in CR were similar for all patients (p = .6) and in PTCL subtypes. In multivariate analysis, country of follow-up had no impact on OS. However, despite continuous CR for ≥2 years, the OS of PTCL remained inferior to a matched general population.

OBJECTIVE: The impact of body mass index (BMI) and body surface area (BSA) on survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is controversial. Recent studies show superior outcomes for overweight and obese patients.PATIENTS AND METHODS: 653 R-CHOP(-like) treated DLBCL patients were included in this retrospective cohort study. Patients, baseline clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment information were retrieved from the Danish Lymphoma Registry. Anthropometric measures were obtained from chemotherapy prescription charts.RESULTS: Underweight (BMI CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that underweight DLBCL patients have worse outcomes following R-CHOP as compared to normal as well as overweight patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Primary CNS lymphoma; Relapse; follow-up; magnetic resonance imaging; surveillance imaging

Treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with R-CHOP(-like) regimens include large cumulative doses of prednisolone. In this retrospective study, we evaluated changes in vertebral bone density (VD) in DLBCL patients by measuring CT-ascertained Hounsfield units (HU) at the L3 level. In total, 111 patients diagnosed from 2007 to 2012 and response assessed following first line treatment were included. Post-treatment VD was significantly reduced to 86% of pretreatment VD on average (p 70 years) were significantly associated with greater post-treatment VD reduction. Two years after completing R-CHOP treatment, VD remained significantly lower than baseline VD (p

Background The concept of precision medicine in cancer includes individual molecular studies to predict clinical outcomes. In the present N = 1 case we retrospectively have analysed lymphoma tissue by exome sequencing and global gene expression in a patient with unexpected long-term remission following relaps. The goals were to phenotype the diagnostic and relapsed lymphoma tissue and evaluate its pattern. Furthermore, to identify mutations available for targeted therapy and expression of genes to predict specific drug effects by resistance gene signatures (REGS) for R-CHOP as described at http://www.hemaclass.org. We expected that such a study could generate therapeutic information and a frame for future individual evaluation of molecular resistance detected at clinical relapse. Case presentation The patient was diagnosed with a transformed high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma stage III and treated with conventional R-CHOP [rituximab (R), cyclophosphamide (C), doxorubicin (H), vincristine (O) and prednisone (P)]. Unfortunately, she suffered from severe toxicity but recovered during the following 6 months’ remission until biopsy-verified relapse. The patient refused second-line combination chemotherapy, but accepted 3 months’ palliation with R and chlorambucil. Unexpectedly, she obtained continuous complete remission and is at present >9 years after primary diagnosis. Molecular studies and data evaluation by principal component analysis, mutation screening and copy number variations of the primary and relapsed tumor, identified a pattern of branched lymphoma evolution, most likely diverging from an in situ follicular lymphoma. Accordingly, the primary diagnosed transformed lymphoma was classified as a diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the GCB/centrocytic subtype by “cell of origin BAGS” assignment and R sensitive and C, H, O and P resistant by “drug specific REGS” assignment. The relapsed DLBCL was classified as NC/memory subtype and R, C, H sensitive but O and P resistant. Conclusions Thorough analysis of the tumor DNA and RNA documented a branched evolution of the two clinical diagnosed tFL, most likely transformed from an unknown in situ lymphoma. Classification of the malignant tissue for drug-specific resistance did not explain the unexpected long-term remission and potential cure. However, it is tempting to consider the anti-CD20 immunotherapy as the curative intervention in the two independent tumors of this case. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40164-016-0063-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Involvement of the internal female reproductive organs by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is uncommon, and there are sparse data describing the outcomes of such cases. In total, 678 female patients with DLBCL staged with positron emission tomography/computed tomography and treated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy were identified from databases in Denmark, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. Overall, 27/678 (4%) had internal reproductive organ involvement: uterus (n = 14), ovaries (n = 10) or both (n = 3). In multivariate analysis, women with uterine DLBCL experienced inferior progression-free survival and overall survival compared to those without reproductive organ involvement, whereas ovarian DLBCL was not predictive of outcome. Secondary central nervous system (CNS) involvement (SCNS) occurred in 7/17 (41%) women with uterine DLBCL (two patients with concomitant ovarian DLBCL) and 0/10 women with ovarian DLBCL without concomitant uterine involvement. In multivariate analysis adjusted for other risk factors for SCNS, uterine involvement by DLBCL remained strongly associated with SCNS (Hazard ratio 14·13, 95% confidence interval 5·09-39·25, P < 0·001). Because involvement of the uterus by DLBCL appears to be associated with a high risk of SCNS, those patients should be considered for CNS staging and prophylaxis. However, more studies are needed to determine whether the increased risk of secondary CNS involvement also applies to women with localized reproductive organ DLBCL.

Summary A number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) have been linked to higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). We investigated the VTE risk associated with SNPs in the GP6 (rs1613662), SERPINC1 (rs2227589), F11 (rs2036914 and rs2289252), FGG (rs2066865), and F12 (rs1801020) genes. In F11, the CC genotype for rs2036914 and the CT and TT genotypes for rs2289252 were associated with a significantly higher VTE risk. A trend toward a thrombogenic effect was observed for the risk alleles of the GP6 and FGG SNPs. Risk estimates were unaffected by adjustments for blood type and F5 rs6025 (Factor V Leiden) mutation.

Background: Non-endemic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a rare B-cell malignancy characterized by extreme tumor proliferation, frequent extranodal involvement, and the genetic hallmark of a MYC gene rearrangement. Despite an often dramatic initial presentation featuring tumor compression of vital organs and/or spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome, most patients who survive intensive immunochemotherapy induction are cured. Despite limited evidence of benefit, the current NCCN guidelines recommend that BL patients in CR are reviewed every 3 months for 2 years and every 6 months thereafter. Aims: To investigate outcomes, including relative survival and relapse risks conditional on event-free survival (EFS) milestones, in an international study of real-world BL patients treated with intensive immunochemotherapy. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective study of newly diagnosed BL patients identified from relevant population or hospital-based registers in Australia (Perth), Denmark (the Danish Lymphoma Registry), Sweden (the Swedish Lymphoma Registry) and Norway (Health Region South East). Patients who met the following criteria were included irrespective of HIV status: 1) age ≥18 years at diagnosis, 2) diagnosed during the period 2005-2017, 3) histology and immunohistochemistry consistent with BL, 4) MYC translocation detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and 5) intensive first line immunochemotherapy including rituximab (R-CHOEP or more intensive). Patient data were collected from registers and chart reviews. Overall survival (OS) was defined as time until death and EFS was defined as time to death, relapse/progression, or unplanned treatment, whichever came first. Prognostic features at baseline were evaluated using univariate Cox models with EFS as outcome. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs), conditional relative survival estimates, and relapse risks were computed for the subset of patients achieving complete remission (CR or CRu), with follow-up measured from response evaluation and from different EFS milestones. Results: In total, 159 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the study. The median age was 48 years (range 18-81) and the male:female ratio was 2.9. The baseline characteristics included stage III-IV (75%), elevated serum LDH (75%), extranodal involvement (83% - bone or bone marrow in 42% and CNS in 8%), B symptoms (60%), and ECOG performance score >1 (30%). The chemotherapy protocols used were CHOEP (2%), DA-EPOCH (13%), HYPER-CVAD (26%), CODOX-M/IVAC (28%), BFM or GMALL (31%), and others (1%). Clinical tumor lysis syndrome defined by severe electrolyte derangement, renal impairment, and/or cardiac arrhythmia, was noted in 16% of the patients, but no fatal episodes occurred. The overall response rate to first-line treatment was 88% (87% in CR/CRu) with 67% assessed by PET technology. The five-year EFS and OS estimates for the total population were 75% (95% CI 68-82%) and 82% (95% CI 76-88%), respectively, and the EFS and OS of patients Conclusions: Outcomes of adult BL patients treated with intensive immunochemotherapy are excellent with no relapses occurring for patients reaching EFS12 and with a normalized relative survival after EFS6. For patients reaching EFS12, follow-up in late effects clinics, or discharging to primary care providers with a focus on survivorship issues rather than detection of recurrent lymphoma, should be considered. Updated analyses including patients from British Columbia (Canada) and the University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic SPORE MER register (USA) will be presented at the meeting. Disclosures Molin: Takeda Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Roche Holding AG: Honoraria; Merck & Co., Inc: Honoraria. Ekstroem Smedby:Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Other: The Department have recieved partial funding from Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Estimates describing the survival and relapse risk for young classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) patients are of considerable interest. A recent population-based study from British Columbia focused on the evolution of the relative survival and relapse risk given that patients reached certain milestones such as two years of relapse-free survival (Hapgood et al. 2016). The study included patients diagnosed before the year 2000 who were treated with regimens that have since been refined. Using register-data from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, we investigated cHL survivorship in the era of contemporary treatment by inspecting the evolution of relapse risk and loss in life expectancy. Inclusion criteria were: age at diagnosis 18-49 years; diagnosis year between 2000 and 2013; and treatment with chemotherapy (CT) with or without involved node/field radiation therapy (RT). Event-free survival was measured as the time from diagnosis to progression, relapse, or death, whichever came first. The five-year relapse risks from diagnosis and conditional on reaching event-free survival (EFS) milestones were estimated while taking the censoring and competing risk, death, into account. As a measure of relative survival, we estimated the five-year restricted loss in expected lifetime (5y-RLEL), defined as the numeric difference in the number of days a healthy person and a patient with cHL are expected to survive within the next five years. The 5y-RLEL was estimated taking the censoring into account and was estimated for all patients and for those reaching one (EFS1), two (EFS2), or five (EFS5) years of event-free survival. In total, 2,582 cHL patients were included (Denmark n=863, Sweden n=1,236, Norway n=483). The majority were treated with ABVD (n=1,932). Most limited stage (IA-IIA) patients were treated with 2-4 courses of CT and RT with dosage up to 30Gy The majority of the advanced stage (IIB-IV) patients were treated with 6-8 courses of CT +/- RT. A fraction of the patients (n=306) were treated with 6-8 BEACOPP 14 or escalated BEACOPP. Advanced stage patients receiving BEACOPP more often had adverse risk criteria including involvement of the bone-marrow (27% vs 6%) and/or other extranodal sites (60% vs 34%) than advanced stage patients treated with 6-8 cycles of ABVD. The five-year OS was 95.2% (95% CI 94.4 - 96.1) and the five-year risk of relapse was 13.4% (95% CI 12.1-14.8). The dynamic evolution of the five-year relapse risk is shown in Figure 1A and the 5y-RLEL estimates in Figure 1B. For patients reaching the EFS2 and EFS5 milestones, five-year relapse risks were 4.2% (95% CI 3.8 - 4.6) and 0.8% (95% CI 0.8 - 0.9) (Figure 1A), respectively. From diagnosis, the five-year relapse risk for advanced stage patients was twice as high as for limited stage patients, however the difference decreased among patients reaching later EFS milestones and was small after EFS3 irrespective of stage (2.5% [95% CI 2.1 - 2.9] for advanced stage disease vs. 2.0% [95% CI 1.6 - 2.4] for limited stage disease) (Figure 1A). The five-year relapse risk for advanced stage patients treated with 6-8 courses of BEACOPP was comparable to that of advanced stage patients treated with 6-8 courses of ABVD despite more adverse risk criteria among the BEACOPP treated patients (Figure 1A). The 5y-RLEL was limited, e.g. within the first five years post-diagnosis the HL patients were expected to live 46 days (95% CI 35 - 54) less than what was expected for the background population (Figure 1B). Patients reaching the EFS2 milestone had a 5y-RLEL of 13 days (95% CI 7 - 20) and for patients reaching the EFS5 milestone, the 5y-RLEL was 8 days (95% CI 2 - 14) (Figure 1B). Limited stage patients who remained event-free two years post-diagnosis had a minimal 5y-RLEL of 2 days (95% CI -4 - 7) (Figure 1B). By reporting five-year relapse risk and loss of life expectancy overall and conditioned on years in remission, we provide relevant patient-centred prognostic measures for young contemporarily treated cHL patients. The results are reassuring and indicate that limited stage patients who remain event-free two years post-diagnosis have a future life expectancy in line with HL-free individuals. Additionally, irrespective of risk group, the five-year relapse risk was minimal once three years of event-free survival was reached. This information should be taken into account in future surveillance programs. Disclosures Eloranta: Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Other: S Eloranta is currently employed as a project coordinator and her salary is funded via a public-private real world evidence collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Fosså:Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Honoraria. Ekstroem Smedby:Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Other: The Department have recieved partial funding from Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

MicroRNAs have the potential to be useful biomarkers in the development of individualized treatment since they are easy to detect, are relatively stable during sample handling, and are important determinants of cellular processes controlling pathogenesis, progression, and response to treatment of several types of cancers including B-cell malignancies. miR-155 is an oncomiR with a crucial role in tumor initiation and development of several B-cell malignancies. The present review elucidates the potential of miR-155 as a diagnostic, prognostic, or predictive biomarker in B-cell malignancies using a systematic search strategy to identify relevant literature. miR-155 was upregulated in several malignancies compared to nonmalignant controls and overexpression of miR-155 was further associated with poor prognosis. Elevated expression of miR-155 shows potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Additionally,in vitroandin vivostudies suggest miR-155 as an efficient therapeutic target, supporting its oncogenic function. The use of inhibiting anti-miR structures indicates promising potential as novel anticancer therapeutics. Reports from 53 studies prove that miR-155 has the potential to be a molecular tool in personalized medicine.

The rare memory B-cells in thymus are considered the cell of origin for primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBL). The goals for the present study were to characterize the normal memory B-cell compartment in thymus and support its association to primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. Seven paired human tissue samples from thymus and sternum bone marrow were harvested during cardiac surgery. B-cell subsets were phenotyped by Euroflow standard and FACS-sorted for microarray analysis on the Human Exon 1.0 ST Arrays platform. Differentially expressed genes between thymus and bone marrow memory B-cells were identified and correlated to the molecular subclasses of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Within thymus, 4% (median, range 2-14%) of the CD45(+) haematopoietic cells were CD19(+) B-cells with a major fraction being CD27(+)/CD38(-) memory B-cells (median 80%, range 76-93%). The bone marrow contained 14% (median, range 3-27%) of which only a minor fraction (median 5%, range 2-10%) was memory B-cells. Global gene expression analysis of the memory B-cell subsets from the two compartments identified 133 genes up-regulated in thymus, including AICDA, REL, STAT1, TNF family, SLAMF1, CD80 and CD86. In addition, Exon 4 and 5 in the 3`end of AICDA was significantly higher expressed in thymus compared to bone marrow. The thymus memory B-cell gene profile was over-expressed in primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma when compared to other DLBCL subclasses. The present study describes a thymus memory B-cell subset and its gene profile correlated to primary mediastinal B-cell lymphomas, supporting that it may arise from thymus memory B-cells.

Background The added diagnostic and prognostic value of routine bone marrow biopsy (BMB) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) undergoing positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (PET/CT) staging is controversial. Patients and methods Patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL who underwent both staging PET/CT and BMB were retrospectively identified in British Columbia, Aalborg, and Copenhagen. Original written PET/CT and pathology reports were retrospectively reviewed to determine Ann Arbor stage and outcomes, with and without the contribution of BMB. Results A total of 530 patients were identified: 146 (28%) had focal bone marrow (BM) lesions on PET/CT and 87 (16%) had positive BMB. Fifty-two of 146 patients (36%) with positive PET/CT had a positive BMB [39 DLBCL, 13 indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL)], while 35 of 384 patients (9%) with negative PET/CT had positive BMB (12 DLBCL, 23 iNHL). BMB upstaged 12/209 (6%) of stage I/II patients to stage IV, although this was the case for only 3 (1%) patients with DLBCL in the BMB. PET/CT identified BM involvement by BMB with sensitivity 60%, specificity 79%, positive predictive value 36%, and negative predictive value 91%. Concordant histological involvement of the BM by DLBCL was associated with worse overall survival and progression-free survival than discordant or no involvement in univariate and multivariate analyses. Conclusions In patients with DLBCL, staging PET/CT can miss BM involvement with concordant DLBCL (less common) or discordant iNHL (more common). Routine BMB does not add relevant diagnostic or prognostic value over PET/CT alone in the majority of patients with DLBCL.

Accurate baseline staging of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is crucial for prognostication and guides important treatment decisions. This remains true in the era of highly effective combined modality treatments and intensive multi-agent chemotherapy regimens that lead to cure in the vast majority of HL patients irrespective of disease stage [1, 2]. In the early 1970s the Committee on Hodgkin’s Disease Staging Classification convened in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and this resulted in the first staging classification for HL which was named after the city [3]. The Ann Arbor staging classification became the widely accepted classification for disease staging in HL and enabled comparison of studies by different investigators. The main clinical purpose of the Ann Arbor Classification was to accurately identify patients with limited-stage HL who could be treated with a curative intent with radiotherapy alone. Accurate staging was pursued through rigorous procedures, which included both a clinical and a pathological staging workup. Clinical stage was determined from physical examination, symptom assessment, lymphangiograms, and radiograms, some of which are still elements in modern HL staging. Pathological stage was derived from the results of invasive staging procedures including diagnostic laparotomy and iliac crest bone marrow biopsy (BMB). The risk of serious complications and discomfort related to invasive procedures were tolerated at that time as no good alternatives for evaluation of deep lymph node regions and organs were available. The introduction of computed tomography (CT) enabled noninvasive assessment of deep lymph node regions/organs and changed the staging of HL fundamentally. The committee convened to discuss the evaluation and staging of patients with Hodgkin’s disease met in the Cotswolds (UK) and the report generated by the committee recommended CT of the thorax and abdomen in the routine staging workup of HL. Invasive staging procedures with the exception of iliac crest bone marrow biopsy were no longer considered necessary (Cotswold modifications of the Ann Arbor Classification) [4].

Background: Secondary CNS involvement (SCNS) is a detrimental complication seen in ~5% of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with modern immunochemotherapy. Data from older series report short survival following SCNS, typically lt;6 months. However, data in patients that develop SCNS following primary therapy that contains a rituximab-based-regimen as well as the impact of more intensified treatment for SCNS are limited.Aims: The aims of this study were to i) describe the natural history of SCNS in a large cohort of patients treated with immunochemotherapy, and ii) determine prognostic factors after SCNS.Patients and methods: We performed a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with SCNS during or after frontline immunochemotherapy (R-CHOP or equivalently effective regimens). SCNS was defined as new involvement of the CNS (parenchymal, leptomeningeal, and/or eye) in patients without known CNS involvement at the time of first pathologic diagnosis of DLBCL. Patients were identified from local databases and/or regional/national registries in Denmark, Canada (British Columbia), Australia, Israel, US (University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic SPORE), and England (Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital, London). Clinico-pathologic and treatment characteristics at the time of SCNS were collected from medical records.Results: In total, 281 patients with SCNS diagnosed between 2001 and 2016 were included. Median age at SCNS was 64 (range 20-93) years and male:female ratio was 1.3. SCNS occurred as part of first relapse in 244 (87 patients and 112 (40 had documented concurrent systemic disease at the time of SCNS. The median time from initial DLBCL diagnosis to SCNS was 9 months, which was similar for patients treated with (N=76, 27 or without upfront CNS prophylaxis (N=205, 73 (10 vs 9 Mo; P=0.3). The median post-SCNS OS was 4 months (interquartile range 2-13) and the 2yr survival rate was 20% (95% CI 15-25) for the entire cohort. Associations between clinicopathologic features, management strategy, and post-SCNS survival are shown in Table 1, which excludes patients who did not receive any treatment against SCNS, patients treated with steroids alone, and a patient with unavailable treatment information (n=43, 15. In multivariable analysis, performance status gt;1, concurrent leptomeningeal and parenchymal involvement, SCNS developing before completion of 1st line treatment, and combined systemic and CNS involvement by DLBCL were associated with inferior outcomes. Upfront CNS prophylaxis did not influence post-SCNS OS. High-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) and/or platinum based treatment regimens (i.e. ICE, DHAP, or GDP [+/- IT treatment and/or radiotherapy], N=163) for SCNS were associated with reduced risk of death (HR 0.45 [0.32-0.62, Plt;0.01]). The 2yr post-SCNS survival for patients treated with HDMTX and/or platinum-based regimens (N=163) was 29% (95% CI 22-37). For patients with isolated parenchymal SCNS, single modality treatment with radiotherapy resulted in 2-yr OS of 19% (95% CI 8-35). For the subgroup of 49 patients treated with HDMTX- and/or platinum-based regimens for isolated SCNS after 1st line DLBCL treatment and with performance status 0 or 1, the 2yr post-SCNS survival was 46% (95% CI 31-59). Overall, 9% of the patients received HDT with ASCT as part of salvage therapy at the time of SCNS. Amongst 36 SCNS patients without systemic involvement and in CR following intensive treatment (HDMTX and/or platinum-based treatments), 11 patients consolidated with HDT had similar outcomes to 25 patients treated without consolidating HDT (P=0.9, Fig 1)Conclusions: Outcomes for patients with SCNS remain poor in this large international cohort of patients from the immunochemotherapy era. Combined parenchymal and leptomeningeal disease, presence of systemic disease concurrent with SCNS, performance status gt;1, and SCNS developing during first line treatment were independently associated with inferior OS. However, a significant fraction of patients with isolated SCNS after first line DLBCL treatment and with good performance status may achieve long-term remissions after intensive regimens for SCNS.Disclosures El-Galaly: Roche: Consultancy, Other: travel funding. Cheah: Bristol Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead Sciences: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen-Cilag: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Speaker's Bureau. Kansara: Celgene: Honoraria. Connors: Bristol Myers Squib: Research Funding; NanoString Technologies: Research Funding; F Hoffmann-La Roche: Research Funding; Millennium Takeda: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding. Sehn: roche/genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria; amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; seattle genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria; abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; TG therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria; celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; lundbeck: Consultancy, Honoraria; janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria. Opat: Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Provision of subsidised drugs, Research Funding. Seymour: Genentech: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AbbVie Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Villa: Celgene: Honoraria; Lundbeck: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding.↵* Asterisk with author names denotes non-ASH members.

The use of routine imaging for patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in complete remission (CR) is controversial. In a population-based study, we examined the post-remission survival of Danish and Swedish HL patients for whom follow-up practices were different. Follow-up in Denmark included routine imaging, usually for a minimum of 2 years, whereas clinical follow-up without routine imaging was standard in Sweden. A total of 317 Danish and 454 Swedish comparable HL patients aged 18-65 years, diagnosed in the period 2007-2012 and having achieved CR following ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine)/BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone) therapy, were included in the study. The cumulative progression rates in the first 2 years were 4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1-7) for patients with stage I-II disease vs. 12% (95% CI 6-18) for patients with stage III-IV disease. An imaging-based follow-up practice was not associated with a better post-remission survival in general (P = 0·2) or in stage-specific subgroups (P = 0·5 for I-II and P = 0·4 for III-IV). Age ≥45 years was the only independent adverse prognostic factor for survival. In conclusion, relapse of HL patients with CR is infrequent and systematic use of routine imaging in these patients does not improve post-remission survival. The present study supports clinical follow-up without routine imaging, as encouraged by the recent Lugano classification.

Purpose Routine imaging for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in first complete remission (CR) is controversial and plays a limited role in detecting relapse. This population-based study compared the survival of Danish and Swedish patients with DLBCL for whom traditions for routine imaging have been different. Patients and Methods Patients from the Danish and Swedish lymphoma registries were included according to the following criteria: newly diagnosed DLBCL from 2007 to 2012, age 18 to 65 years, and CR after R-CHOP/CHOEP. Follow-up for Swedish patients included symptom assessment, clinical examinations, and blood tests at 3- to 4-month intervals for 2 years, with longer intervals later in follow-up. Imaging was only recommended when relapse was clinically suspected. Follow-up for Danish patients was similar but included routine imaging (usually computed tomography every 6 months for 2 years). Results Danish (n = 525) and Swedish (n = 696) patients with DLBCL had comparable baseline characteristics. Cumulative 2-year progression rate after CR was 6% (95% CI, 4 to 9) for International Prognostic Index (IPI) ≤ 2 versus 21% (95% CI, 13 to 28) for IPI > 2. Age > 60 years (hazard ratio [HR], 2.3; 95% CI, 1.6 to 3.4), elevated lactate dehydrogenase (HR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.4 to 3.8), B symptoms (HR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.5), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≥ 2 (HR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.0 to 3.0) were associated with worse post-CR survival. Imaging-based follow-up strategy had no impact on survival, neither for all patients nor for IPI-specific subgroups. Conclusion DLBCL relapse after first CR is infrequent, and the widespread use of routine imaging in Denmark did not translate into better survival. This favors follow-up without routine imaging and, more generally, a shift of focus from relapse detection to improved survivorship.

According to the updated guidelines for imaging in lymphoma, 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is recommended for staging and evaluation of treatment response in FDG-avid lymphomas. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the utility of PET/CT in nodal peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL). Patients with newly diagnosed nodal PTCL (peripheral T-cell lymphoma NOS, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, or angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma) seen at five Danish hematology centers during the period 2006 to 2012 were included, if they had been pretherapeutically staged with PET/CT. Medical records were reviewed for baseline clinical and follow-up information. Staging, interim (I-PET), and end-of-treatment PET/CT (E-PET) studies were centrally reviewed, and reported using the Deauville 5-point score (DS). A total of 124 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The median age was 58 years, and 88% received CHOP/CHOP-like therapy. Five years PFS and OS of the study population was 36.8% (95% CI 27.3-46.4) and 49.7% (95% CI 38.9-59.6), respectively. The presence of PET/CT-ascertained lung and/or liver involvement was associated with a worse outcome. The sensitivity of PET/CT for detecting biopsy-defined bone marrow involvement was only 18% (95% CI 4-43). An interim DS3 was not prognostic for worse OS and PFS among CHOP/CHOP-like treated patients in uni- or multivariate analyses. A DS3 after treatment predicted a worse prognosis. In conclusion, I-PET was not predictive of outcome in CHOP/CHOP-like treated PTCL patients when using the DS. Prospective studies are needed to determine the optimal use of PET/CT in PTCL including the role of quantitative PET/CT analysis.

Purpose Current diagnostic tests for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma use the updated WHO criteria based on biologic, morphologic, and clinical heterogeneity. We propose a refined classification system based on subset-specific B-cell–associated gene signatures (BAGS) in the normal B-cell hierarchy, hypothesizing that it can provide new biologic insight and diagnostic and prognostic value. Patients and Methods We combined fluorescence-activated cell sorting, gene expression profiling, and statistical modeling to generate BAGS for naive, centrocyte, centroblast, memory, and plasmablast B cells from normal human tonsils. The impact of BAGS-assigned subtyping was analyzed using five clinical cohorts (treated with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone [CHOP], n = 270; treated with rituximab plus CHOP [R-CHOP], n = 869) gathered across geographic regions, time eras, and sampling methods. The analysis estimated subtype frequencies and drug-specific resistance and included a prognostic meta-analysis of patients treated with first-line R-CHOP therapy. Results Similar BAGS subtype frequencies were assigned across 1,139 samples from five different cohorts. Among R-CHOP–treated patients, BAGS assignment was significantly associated with overall survival and progression-free survival within the germinal center B-cell–like subclass; the centrocyte subtype had a superior prognosis compared with the centroblast subtype. In agreement with the observed therapeutic outcome, centrocyte subtypes were estimated as being less resistant than the centroblast subtype to doxorubicin and vincristine. The centroblast subtype had a complex genotype, whereas the centrocyte subtype had high TP53 mutation and insertion/deletion frequencies and expressed LMO2, CD58, and stromal-1–signature and major histocompatibility complex class II–signature genes, which are known to have a positive impact on prognosis. Conclusion Further development of a diagnostic platform using BAGS-assigned subtypes may allow pathogenetic studies to improve disease management.

Optimal lymphoma management requires accurate pretreatment staging and reliable assessment of response, both during and after therapy. Positron emission tomography with computerized tomography (PET/CT) combines functional and anatomical imaging and provides the most sensitive and accurate methods for lymphoma imaging. New guidelines for lymphoma imaging and recently revised criteria for lymphoma staging and response assessment recommend PET/CT staging, treatment monitoring, and response evaluation in all FDG-avid lymphomas, while CT remains the method of choice for non-FDG-avid histologies. Since interim PET imaging has high prognostic value in lymphoma, a number of trials investigate PET-based, response-adapted therapy for non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). PET response is the main determinant of response according to the new response criteria, but PET/CT has little or no role in routine surveillance imaging, the value which is itself questionable. This review presents from a clinical point of view the evidence for the use of imaging and primarily PET/CT in NHL before, during, and after therapy. The reader is given an overview of the current PET-based interventional NHL trials and an insight into possible future developments in the field, including new PET tracers.