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Within the Campus ALL network we analyzed the incidence, characteristics, treatment and outcome of a central nervous system (CNS) relapse in 1035 consecutive adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients treated frontline with pediatric-inspired protocols between 2009 and 2020. Seventy-one patients (6.8%) experienced a CNS recurrence, more frequently in T- (28/278; 10%) than in B-ALL (43/757; 5.7%) (p = 0.017). An early CNS relapse-12 months from diagnosis-was observed in 41 patients. In multivariate analysis, risk factors for early CNS relapse included T-cell phenotype (p = 0.001), hyperleucocytosis100 × 10

Survival of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved from 10% to 90% over the last six decades. Survival gains in adult ALL have been more modest and confined to the adolescent and young adult population. Age is an important factor in determining outcomes in ALL. Additional factors like adverse biology, less intense treatment regimens, and poorer tolerance to therapy contribute to inferior survival among adults. Indian physicians face unique challenges while managing these patients. These are high infection rates, limited access to high-end investigations, and newer drugs. In this context, the management decisions in an individual patient are highly nuanced. Through a case-based review, we discuss representative scenarios in adult ALL where we detail our current approach to treatment in the context of available evidence.

Summary Late relapse [>3 years from complete remission (CR)] in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), is unusual. Data from the MRC UKALLXII/ECOG E2993 trial are presented to evaluate the incidence and characteristics of late relapse in adult ALL. Of 1,909 patients, 1,752 (92%) achieved CR and among these 757 (43·2%) relapsed; 691 (91·3%) within three years and 66 (8·7%) beyond. Among these 66 patients, median time to relapse was 47 (37–144) months. Relapse beyond three years occurred in 3·8% of all who achieved CR. The cumulative risk of relapse was 40%, 43% and 45% at three, five and ten years respectively. Out of the 1 752 patients who achieved CR, 11·7% underwent autologous and 40·6% allogeneic transplant, while in CR1. Of the autologous patients, 43·2% relapsed early and 3·4% relapsed late. However, among the allogeneic patients, 13·2% relapsed early and only 1·3% late. The five‐year overall survival from relapse was 5·8% and 20% in the early and late relapse patients respectively. In conclusion, late relapse in adults with ALL is not uncommon, and is associated with better outcome after relapse compared to early relapse.

The GMALL07/2003 protocol introduced pegylated E. coli asparaginase (PEG-ASNase) frontline for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). PEG-ASNase (500 U/m2, 1000 U/m2, or 2000 U/m2)...

The recombination mediated by recombination activating gene (RAG) is not only the dominant mutational process but also the predominant driver of oncogenic genomic rearrangement in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It is further responsible for leukemic clonal evolution. In this study, significant RAG1 increase is observed in the subsets of B-ALL patients, and high expression of RAG1 is observed to be correlated with high proliferation markers. IKZF1-encoded protein, IKAROS, directly binds to the RAG1 promoter and regulates RAG1 expression in leukemic cells. CK2 inhibitor by increasing IKAROS activity significantly suppresses RAG1 expression in ALL in an IKAROS-dependent manner. Patients with IKZF1 deletion have significantly higher expression of RAG1 compared to that without IKZF1 deletion. CK2 inhibitor treatment also results in an increase in IKZF1 binding to the RAG1 promoter and suppression of RAG1 expression in primary ALL cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that RAG1 high expression is associated with high proliferation markers in B-ALL. Our data for the first time proved that RAG1 expression is directly suppressed by IKAROS. Our results also reveal drive oncogenesis of B-ALL is driven by high expression of RAG1 with IKAROS dysfunction together, which have significance in an integrated prognostic model for adult ALL.

Aim: Quantify hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) costs in German patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL). Methods: The primary outcome was direct and indirect costs in patients with ALL/DLBCL/FL who received HSCT between 2010 and 2014. Costs were evaluated two to four quarters before to eight quarters after HSCT. Results: Among 258 patients with HSCT, direct costs were €290,125/patient (pediatric ALL), €246,266/patient (adult ALL), €230,399/patient (DLBCL/FL allogeneic) and €107,457/patient (DLBCL/FL autologous). Indirect costs with HSCT were €52,939/patient (adult ALL), €20,285/patient (DLBCL/FL allogeneic) and €29,881/patient (DLBCL/FL autologous). Conclusion: Direct and indirect costs associated with HSCT are substantial for patients with ALL, DLBCL and FL. Novel therapies that reduce HSCT use could reduce medical costs.

Pediatric-inspired acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) regimens are increasingly used in adult ALL [1]. These protocols universally feature asparaginase (ASP), a bacterial enzyme which deprives ALL ...

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy targeting CD19 (CART19) has shown remarkable results in patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In patients 25 years of age or younger CART19 therapy is an accepted standard of care, while the treatment of older adults is less straight forward and possible only in the context of a clinical trial. Treatment of older patients with CAR T cells requires careful consideration of overall treatment goals, suitability of a consolidative hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), alternative treatment options, patient risk profile, and anticipated responses and toxicities of the specific CAR T cell products available. Here we use patient guided examples to inform approaches to care.

Child and adolescent patients who are diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), both of B-cell or T-cell phenotype, have excellent outcomes when treated with various multiagent chemotherapy regimens. The presentation and early medical management of these young patients are remarkably similar to the initial management of newly diagnosed adult ALL patients, though the eventual chemotherapy may be quite different. Subgroups of childhood and adolescent ALL with poor prognosis are now regularly recognized by cytogenetic and molecular studies as well as by flow cytometry. Minimal residual disease measured at various times in therapy is highly prognostic and may be used to guide therapy. Very high risk patients as well as patients with relapsed or refractory disease may benefit from newer antibody and cell therapies.

The recent spread of the Covid‐19 infection has raised important questions within the haematology community on how best to manage and treat patients with haematological malignancies, particularly acute leukaemias. Italy has witnessed a dramatic raise in infections and death rates, that has hit in particular certain areas of the most populated Northern regions of the country (Lombardia, Veneto, Piemonte, Emilia Romagna). Within the nationwide Campus ALL programme in the last week of March we sent a questionnaire addressing different issues related to the management of adult ALL patients during the Covid‐19 pandemic to 40 haematology centres located on the entire territory.

Early recognition of Philadelphia-like (Ph-like) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases could impact on the management and outcome of this subset of B-lineage ALL. In order to assess the prognostic value of the Ph-like status in a pediatric-inspired, minimal residual disease (MRD)- driven trial, we screened 88 B-lineage ALL cases negative for major fusion genes (BCR-ABL1, ETV6-RUNX1, TCF3-PBX1 and KTM2Ar) enrolled in the GIMEMA LAL1913 front-line protocol for adult BCR/ABL1-negative ALL. The screening - performed using the “BCR/ABL1-like predictor” - identified 28 Ph-like cases (31.8%), characterized by CRLF2 overexpression (35.7%), JAK/STAT pathway mutations (33.3%), IKZF1 (63.6%), BTG1 (50%) and EBF1 (27.3%) deletions, and rearrangements targeting tyrosine kinases or CRLF2 (40%). The correlation with outcome highlighted that: i) the complete remission rate was significantly lower in Ph-like compared to non-Phlike cases (74.1% vs. 91.5%, P=0.044); ii) at time point 2, decisional for transplant allocation, 52.9% of Ph-like cases versus 20% of non-Ph-like were MRD-positive (P=0.025); iii) the Ph-like profile was the only parameter associated with a higher risk of being MRD-positive at time point 2 (P=0.014); iv) at 24 months, Ph-like patients had a significantly inferior event-free and disease-free survival compared to non-Ph-like patients (33.5% vs. 66.2%, P=0.005 and 45.5% vs. 72.3%, P=0.062, respectively). This study documents that Ph-like patients have a lower complete remission rate, event-free survival and disease-free survival, as well as a greater MRD persistence also in a pediatric-oriented and MRD-driven adult ALL protocol, thus reinforcing that the early recognition of Ph-like ALL patients at diagnosis is crucial to refine risk-stratification and to optimize therapeutic strategies. Clinicaltrials gov. Identifier: 02067143.

With recent prospective clinical trials that used paediatric regimens with multiple doses of pegylated form of asparaginase (PEG asparaginase) in adults reporting significantly improved survival compared with historical data with regimens that used less asparaginase, PEG asparaginase is increasingly being used in the treatment of adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). However, administering asparaginase still comes with its challenges, especially in adult patients. Therefore, it is important to understand how to manage its toxicities properly. An expert group met in November 2019 in London to discuss recent data of paediatric as well as adult studies using paediatric regimens with regard to the best management of several key toxicities that can occur in adults treated with asparaginase including hepatotoxicity, pancreatitis, hypertriglyceridaemia, thrombosis and hypersensitivity. Several recommendations were made for each one of these toxicities, with the goal of safe administration of the drug and to educate clinicians when the drug can be continued despite side effects.

INTRODUCTION: The BCR-ABL1 fusion gene has been associated with poor prognosis in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). This study was designed to determine the presence, frequency and associated laboratory and clinical features of the BCR-ABL1 gene in Ghanaian patients diagnosed with ALL. METHODS: this was a cross-sectional study using archival methanol-fixed bone marrow aspirate slides of morphologically diagnosed ALL patients. Presence of the BCR-ABL1fusion gene was determined by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Clinical features and haematological parameters were extracted from the patients´ medical records. RESULTS: seventeen patients were studied, 13 (76.5%) males and 4 (23.5%) females. Median age was 24 years (range 15 to 67 years). A frequency of 29.4% was obtained for the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. There was no significant association between presence of BCR-ABL1 and selected clinical features (lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly and hepatomegaly). All patients had moderate to severe anaemia with median haemoglobin concentration of 7.6 g/dL (range 3.7 to 8.7 g/dL). Median haemoglobin concentration for BCR-ABL1 positive patients was higher than that for negative patients (7.6 vs. 7.4 g/dL, p = 0.506); who also had higher median white blood cell counts (24.76 vs. 13.02 X 109/L), but lower median platelet counts (58.0 vs. 64.5 X 109/L, p = 0.721) and bone marrow blast percentages (78.5 vs. 98.0 %, p = 0.851) compared to negative patients. Conclusion: BCR-ABL1 fusion gene was detected in nearly one third of adult ALL patients in this study, with no significant association with common haematological parameters and clinical features of the disease.

Although the benefit for any type of antifungal prophylaxis in patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia is well accepted, less is known about the risk for invasive fungal infections (IFIs) and the optimal prophylaxis strategies in patients with acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL). Based on recent studies, ALL is a disease that appears to be associated with significant risk for IFIs. The pharmacokinetic interactions between azoles and vincristine, an antineoplastic agent that is part of modern combination chemotherapies in ALL, results in clinically significant neurotoxicity that makes the use of azoles problematic. However, a number of questions regarding azole-vincristine interactions remain unanswered. In this viewpoint, we call for a renewed interest in antifungal prophylaxis studies in ALL in view of the availability of several non-azole novel antifungal agents that are under preclinical and/or clinical development. This is clearly a major unmet need in modern clinical mycology.

Introduction This phase I first-in-human clinical study assesses the safety and preliminary efficacy of a CD19-directed, CAR (4-1BBz) gene-modified, autologous T-cell immunotherapy (MB-CART19.1) intended for use in pediatric and adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The study also evaluates the feasibility of a hybrid manufacturing model, combining central and academic manufacturing capabilities with central QP oversight. Methods MB-CART19.1 is evaluated in a Phase I (EudraCT 2017-002848-32) multi-center, open label, dose escalation trial enrolling 33 to 48 patients in three disease cohorts, defined by disease biology and age. Pediatric (1-17 years) and adult patients are eligible if diagnosed with relapsed/refractory (r/r) CD19-expressing B-cell ALL or B-cell high-grade and low-grade (adults) NHL, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Enrollment is still ongoing. The starting material, a fresh patient leukapheresis product, is enriched for CD4/CD8 T-cells, transduced with a lentiviral vector (LV) and expanded using the CliniMACS Prodigy System allowing a high degree of control and consistency of the manufacturing process in both a central and decentralized facilities. MB-CART19.1 is presented as fresh cellular dispersion for single infusion and undergoes central release. Subjects undergo lymphodepletion with fludarabine (25 mg/m 2 daily for 3 days) and cyclophosphamide (1000 mg/m 2 on day -3). Dose escalation includes 3 dose levels (DL) 5x10 5 (DL I), 1x10 6 (DL II), 3x10 6 (DL III) CAR T cells/kg BW, respectively, and a safety dose level 0. The primary objective is to determine the recommended dose of MB-CART19.1. Secondary objectives are preliminary efficacy parameters evaluation of as well as CART persistence. Results Disease cohort I: pediatric ALL and aggressive NHL, 1-17 years. Up to the data lock point for interim analysis (DLP, 02 June 2021), 9 pediatric ALL patients were treated, 6 at DL I and 3 at DL II. All 9 patients completed the 28 days safety follow-up. At DL I, 5 of 6 patients experienced CRS (4 grade I-II, 1 grade III,) starting 5 to 7 days after IMP infusion. Two CRS cases were managed with tocilizumab and resolved within 1-2 weeks. 1 patient developed signs of neurotoxicity (grade IV seizure) concurrently with grade II CRS, which was effectively managed and fully resolved within 48 hours. The event was evaluated as DLT and led to the extension of the dose group from 3 to 6 patients. No further neurotoxicities occurred. Four of 6 patients treated at DL I finished the active part of the trial (12 months after administration of IMP) in CR-MRD and entered the long term follow-up. Two patients had CD19-negative relapses 4 and 10 months post MB-CART19.1 infusion. At DL II, 1 patient completed the 6 months follow up in ongoing CR, and 2 patients relapsed. Disease cohort II adult ALL: Up to the DLP, 4 adult ALL patients were treated at DL I. 1 patient died due to progression of disease on day 20 after the IMP infusion. All 4 adult patients experienced a grade I or II CRS all cases were reversible within 1-2 weeks , 1 patient received tocilizumab One patient developed neurologic symptoms (grade III visual impairment and grade III muscle weakness right-sided) with onset 41 and 72 days after administration of MB-CART19.1, respectively. 2 of the 3 patients who completed the safety follow-up finished the active part of the trial and entered the long-term follow-up, both in molecular CR up to Month 6. Disease cohort III adult NHL/CLL: 4 patients were enrolled with the starting dose of 1x10 6 CAR+ cells/kg (DL II). 1 patient experienced grade III CRS and was treated with tocilizumab. 3 patients completed the 28 days safety follow up. One patient with CLL achieved a CR, which is maintained at 6 months. Another CLL patient was in PR at the assessment visit Day 28. Data from the 2 other patients, 1 with MCL and 1 with DLBCL were in PR at month 3. Later data is not yet available. Conclusions 18 of 19 patients completed the follow-up safety period of 28 days defined as observation period for dose limiting toxicity (DLT). One DLT was observed as well as 3 grade III CRS events and 1 grade III neurological event. Early efficacy results are very encouraging. Longer follow-up will establish whether treatment results in durable responses. The hybrid manufacturing model provides flexibility and a timely delivery of the fresh drug product to the patients Disclosures Hanssens: Miltenyi Biomedicine GmbH: Current Employment. Stelljes: MSD: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Celgene/BMS: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Kite/Gilead: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Medac: Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Bethge: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Kite-Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Miltenyi Biotec: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Yakushina: Miltenyi Biomedicine GmbH: Current Employment. Holtkamp: Miltenyi Biomedicine GmbH: Current Employment. Assenmacher: Miltenyi Biotec: Current Employment. Jurk: Miltenyi Biotec: Current Employment. Rauser: Miltenyi Biomedicine GmbH: Current Employment. Schneider: Employee of Lentigen Technology, a Miltenyi Biotec Company: Current Employment. Rossig: AdBoards by Amgen: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; BMS and Celgene: Honoraria.

Introduction. CDKN2A deletion is a frequent cytogenetic abnormality in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), ranging from 18 to 46 %, associating with Т-cell ALL, high WBC counts, splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy. In pediatric group of patient’s CDKN2A deletion was associated with poor event-free survival. The prognostic impact of CDKN2A deletion in adult ALL patients appear controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of the CDKN2A deletion in adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which were treated by RALL-2009. Materials and methods. We present the results of the CDKN2A deletion in 110 adult patients with newly diagnosed Ph-negative (Ph‒) ALL, which were treated by RALL-2009 (NCT01193933) since June 2009 till September 2016. Patients characteristics: the median age was 26 years (range 15–54), 65 (59 %) of the 110 patients had a B-precursor phenotype, 42 (38 %) had a T-cell phenotype, 3 (2.7 %) patients – biphenotypical ALL. Interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed for detection CDKN2A deletion, MLL, с-MYC rearrangement, TP53 deletion, t (1;19) (q23; p13.3)/TCF3-PBX1, t (12;21) (p13.2; q22.1)/ETV6-RUNX1 and iAMP21. The median follow-up was 31 months (0.5 to 80 months). Results. The prevalence of the CDKN2A deletion in all studied population was 24.3 % (27 cases). Our study demonstrated that CDKN2A deletion had no significant association with age, sex and blast cells immunophenotype. The analysis for T-ALL has detected that CDKN2A deletion was strongly associated with high WBC count (the median is 86 × 109/L; p = 0.006) and with high lactate dehydrogenase level (the median is 3062 IU; p = 0.0004). But in BCP-ALL cases similar correlation was not found. CDKN2A deletion didn’t have statistically significant impact on outcome of patients. OS for patients with BCP-ALL with and without deletion was 85 and 76 % (p = 0.35); DFS was 92 and 65 % (p = 0.07), respectively. OS for T-ALL patients with and without deletion was 90 and 80 % (p = 0.63); DFS was 100 and 82 % (p = 0.24), respectively. Conclusion: CDKN2A deletion is not adverse prognostic factor in adult ALL patients treated according to protocol RALL-2009.

Progress in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment has been met with challenge until recently. A steady improvement in outcomes is being witnessed among adults with ALL, and it will be enhanced further with early referral of newly diagnosed ALL patients to specialized centers, enrolling more ALL adults in clinical trials, adopting pediatric-inspired ALL regimens in younger adults, tailoring treatments according to minimal residual disease response and disease genetics, incorporating novel therapies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors in frontline regimens, early referral to transplant when indicated, expanding the donor pool, and developing more effective salvage therapies for relapsed/refractory ALL. In this review, we will discuss the most significant advances in treating adult ALL observed in the last five years that have the potential to enhance adult ALL treatment and outcome.

Allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation continues to be an important curative therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Traditionally accepted indications for allografting adult ALL patients need reevaluation in light of outcomes with paediatric-like intensive regimens. Minimal residual disease status and oncogenetics can be used for restratification of standard risk patients. A greater body of data on haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) outcomes from haploidentical and cord blood donor sources has been generated in recent years. In this review, we describe the indications for allografting adult ALL patients in first complete remission (CR1). Role of minimal residual disease (MRD) in optimising HCT for ALL is delineated. We also discuss how alternative donors, haploidentical and cord blood and reduced intensity conditioning make allografts more accessible to patients with high-risk ALL. Recent data on use of monoclonal antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells in adult ALL patients are also reviewed.

Targeted interventions and new risk stratification approaches for the improvement of outcomes in B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) require an understanding of high-risk driver subtypes, their clinical phenotypes and actionable targets. Currently, over 20 BCP-ALL subtypes have been identified based on genomic driver alterations and corresponding gene expression signatures, in particular in pediatric ALL. This complex molecular landscape is so far only partially defined in adult BCP-ALL patients. To characterize driver subtypes and their clinical phenotypes we performed transcriptome sequencing (Illumina) on Ph-negative adult BCP-ALL patients (n=376) treated on subsequent pediatric inspired protocols of the German Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Study Group (GMALL). Using random forest analyses of a well-defined patient subset with available WES/gene panel and DNA-methylation data, we established a 300-gene classifier which together with fusion calling and hotspot mutation calling reliably allocated samples to driver subtypes. Subgroup allocation was feasible for n=267 / 308 Ph-negative patients (86.7%) with Ph-like ALL (27.7%) being the most frequently observed subtype followed by DUX4 (14.6%), KMT2A (10.1%), PAX5-plus (9.7%), ZNF384 (9.0%), Near haploid - High hyperdiploid (NH-HeH, 6.0%), Low haploid - Near triploid (LH-NT, 6.0%) and TCF3-PBX1 (5.6%). With frequencies below 5% were observed: PAX5-alt, MEF2D, BCL2/MYC, ETV6-RUNX1, CEBP family member fusions and TCF3-HLF. The age distribution of these driver subtypes varied across our cohort (median age: 37 years, range: 16 - 81; left panel). Adult patients harboring ETV6-RUNX1 fusions (n=4) were 25 years or younger. NH-HeH, PAX5-plus and DUX4 ALL were also observed predominantly in younger patients (median ages: 24, 24, 30 years respectively; p As expected, male patients were slightly more represented in the cohort (55% male). However, significant differences were observed in the sex-distribution of molecular subgroups with a predominance of male patients in Ph-like (65.4%; p=0.045) and NH-HeH (82.4% p=0.024) ALL, while female patients were more frequent in DUX4 (60%, p=0.046) or KMT2A (75.5%; p=0.031) ALL. These data implicate that sex-specific host factors favor the selection of ALL driver alterations in adult ALL patients. We measured MRD by qRT-PCR quantification of patient specific immune gene rearrangement markers in our GMALL central reference lab. Data on MRD status after consolidation I which is the most relevant time-point for identification of high-risk patients in the GMALL protocol, were available in 132 patients (aged 18-55 years; right panel). Ph-like and KMT2A patients showed an unfavorable response to intensive induction with Molecular CR achieved in 60.6% and 61.1% respectively. In ZNF384 ALL patients, only n=5/13 achieved Molecular CR, while n=4 each were MRD-positive or had MRD below the quantitative detection range, suggesting that ZNF384 ALL might be a novel high-risk subgroup in adult BCP-ALL. Gene set enrichment analyses showed comparable patterns of JAK/STAT activation in ZNF384 and Ph-like cases as possible functional underpinning of a shared poor-response phenotype. Actionable genomic alterations were identified in n=13/74 Ph-like patients (17.6%). Out of these, ABL-class fusions as targets of ABL-TKI were identified in n=14 patients (PDGFRB: n=5; ABL1: n=4; CSF1R n=2) and one patient harbored an ETV6-NTRK3 fusion amenable to specific inhibitors. Our data extent the in-depth characterization of BCP-ALL molecular landscape in adult patients. We observe that sex-specific host factors favor the selection of leukemogenic drivers (male predominance: Ph-like, NH-HeH, female predominance: DUX4, KMT2A). ZNF384 ALL seems to be associated with unfavorable therapy response in adults and shares JAK/STAT activation patterns with Ph-like ALL. Figure Disclosures Fiedler: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: travel accomodations; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: support in medical writing; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: travel accomodations, support in medical writing, Research Funding; Daiichi Sankyo Oncology: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: travel accomodations; BerGenBio ASA: Research Funding; AbbVie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: support in medical writing; BMS: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; Ariad/Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Servier: Honoraria, Other; Morphosys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Viardot:Novartis: Honoraria, Other: advisory board; Kite/Gilead: Honoraria, Other: advisory board; Roche: Honoraria, Other: advisory board; Amgen: Honoraria, Other: advisory board. Topp:Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, KITE, Regeneron, Roche: Research Funding; Amgen, KITE, Novartis, Regeneron, Roche: Consultancy. Goekbuget:Servier: Consultancy, Research Funding; Jazz: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Erytech: Consultancy; Kite: Consultancy; Gilead: Consultancy. Brüggemann:Affimed: Research Funding; Incyte: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Roche: Consultancy; Regeneron: Research Funding.

Background: The prognostic and predictive utility of measurable residual disease (MRD) assessments using bone marrow (BM) aspirates is well-established in the management of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, frequent BM MRD monitoring post-therapy is limited by the invasive, expensive, and at times impractical nature of numerous BM examinations. Limited retrospective reports have suggested that MRD analysis by next-generation sequencing (NGS) using peripheral blood (PB) may provide a viable alternative to MRD monitoring of the BM. We conducted a prospective, multi-institutional observational study of NGS-based MRD of the PB among adult ALL patients undergoing cellular therapies (hematopoietic cell transplantation [HCT] and chimeric antigen receptor T cells [CART]) in order to determine the correlation between PB and BM MRD and to explore the clinical utility of monitoring MRD in the PB. Methods: Patients >= 18 years-old with ALL were recruited from Stanford University and Kaiser Permanente, Northern California. The MRD analyses were conducted using Adaptive Biotechnologies ClonoSEQ NGS based platform that tracks tumor specific VDJ rearrangement in B and T cell malignancies. Assessment of MRD was obtained from the PB and BM prior to HCT/CART. Among HCT patients, PB MRD was obtained at one month, and then every 2-3 months for the first year following HCT; a paired BM MRD sample was obtained at the 3 month time-point with optional additional BM examinations. Among CART patients, paired PB and BM MRD were obtained at one month, and then every 2-3 months for the first year following CART. The correlation between log10 values of PB and BM MRD samples was evaluated using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Clinical relapse was defined as morphologic leukemia blasts in the marrow or extramedullary site, or administration of a new therapy for rising MRD. Results: Sixty-nine patients scheduled to undergo cellular therapies were enrolled; 3 (4%) did not undergo planned therapy and were excluded and 4 (6%) lacked a detectable clonal leukemia sequence and were thus off study, resulting in a study population of 62 (42 BMT, 17 CART, 3 BMT and CART). The median age was 42 years (IQR 30-53), 36 (58%) were male, 54 (87%) had B-ALL,16 (26%) were BCR-ABL+, and 28 (46%) had extramedullary (EM) involvement. Across all patients, PB MRD was highly correlated with BM MRD (r=0.87; p Conclusion: This prospective observational study demonstrates a strong correlation between PB and BM NGS MRD results in ALL. These results show that non-invasive monitoring of PB-based MRD in ALL patients undergoing curative intent cellular therapies represents a viable alternative to serial BM examinations, providing clinically actionable information and the opportunity to intervene on impending clinical relapse. Disclosures Muffly: Adaptive: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy; Servier: Research Funding. Meyer:Orca Bio: Research Funding. Negrin:Amgen: Consultancy; Magenta Therapeutics: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; BioEclipse Therapeutics: Current equity holder in private company; Biosource: Current equity holder in private company; UpToDate: Honoraria; KUUR Therapeutics: Consultancy. Rezvani:Pharmacyclics: Research Funding. Sidana:Janssen: Consultancy. Shiraz:ORCA BioSystems: Research Funding; Kite, a Gilead Company: Research Funding. Shizuru:Jasper Therapeutics, Inc: Current equity holder in private company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Liedtke:Adaptive: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Caelum: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GSK: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Honoraria. Miklos:Kite-Gilead: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Adaptive Biotech: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Allogene Therapeutics Inc.: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Juno-Celgene-Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Other: Travel support, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Other: Travel support; Miltenyi Biotec: Research Funding.

Despite complete remissions being achieved in most newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients, relapse remains a significant clinical challenge. Interrogation of matched ALL samples has provided insights into the cellular characteristics and evolutionary trajectory of relapse-fated clones, but requires blasts obtained at time of relapse to provide a reference point for the retrospective analysis. Despite the strong prognostic value of minimal residual disease (MRD), MRD-positive samples have been under-utilized for investigating disease progression as the low leukemia burden presents significant challenges to the evaluation of the residual blasts. To overcome this limitation, we performed patient-derived xenografting (PDX) with MRD samples to enable deeper characterization of residual blasts, including functional assessment of their leukemia propagating ability. In marked contrast to a previous study in adult ALL, we achieved engraftment of MRD blasts from 5 of 7 pediatric ALL patient samples, obtained at the end of induction (EOI) therapy, by intravenous injection into non-conditioned NSG mice. MRD blasts expanded with patient-specific kinetics, reaching overt leukemia in recipients of three of the samples and remaining at MRD levels in recipients of the remaining two. The absence of normal human hematopoiesis in the MRD-engrafted mice (termed EOI-PDX), combined with the expansion of residual blast numbers, enabled clear phenotypic definition of therapy-selected, leukemia-propagating subpopulations, including those present at This immunophenotypic study recapitulates the enrichment of minor clones during ALL progression described by retrospective sequencing studies, but it does so prospectively. By expanding on the quantitative and qualitative information that can be gathered from MRD samples, EOI-PDX identify the blast populations that are most likely to drive relapse, prior to clinical disease progression. By providing a platform to achieve early identification and ongoing monitoring of therapy-resistant subpopulations with strong leukemia-propagating capacity, this approach could refine treatment-response assessment and relapse-risk stratification. Further, by expanding the numbers of viable treatment-selected MRD blasts available for interrogation, EOI-PDX could enable early identification of vulnerabilities in chemotherapy-resistant blasts. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Background Surgical site infection (SSI) following colorectal surgery is a common infectious complication and is associated with high mortality and increased medical costs. The Infection Preventionists (IPs) identified a high colorectal surgery (COLO) SSI incidence during surveillance. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of COLO SSI reduction by initiating an evidence-based Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR) program. Methods This ISCR program was launched in March 2018. Pre-intervention was from January 2017 to February 2018. Post-intervention was from March 2018 to October 2019. Post-intervention data was compared with pre-intervention data to gauge effectiveness. A manufacturer's stapler recall was announced in April 2019. Malfunctioning staplers were used in surgeries from October to April 2019 (impact period). Electronic medical records were reviewed. Cases were identified using National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) SSI definitions. COLO SSI standardized infection ratios (SIR) were obtained from NHSN “Adult all SSI by procedure” data. Direct observation was performed by IPs. Potential deficiencies were identified using a self-administered staff survey. Recommendations were made to limit personnel traffic, improve surgical hand scrub, use chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) for pre-surgery skin decolonization, manage glucose perioperatively/intraoperatively/postoperatively, maintain perioperative normothermia, deliver proper antimicrobial prophylaxis, and use CHG for skin preparation. Oral antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation for elective colorectal surgery were implemented. Results Pre-intervention SIR was 2.50 including 28% superficial infections (SIP), 20% deep incision infections (DIP), and 52% intra-abdominal infections (IAB). Post-intervention SIR was 0.86 including 17% SIP, 17% DIP, and 67% IAB. Three IAB SSI cases had surgeries during the impact period. (Post-intervention vs. pre-intervention: relative ratio “RR”=0.34, 95% CI 0.106-0.995. p-value=0.04). Conclusions Effectiveness of the COLO SSI prevention bundle is significant. A multidisciplinary approach to implement, evaluate and improve compliance with ISCR recommendations reduced COLO SSI SIR by 66%.

7022 Background: Philadelphia-like Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (Ph-like ALL) is a high-risk subset of adult ALL. Until recently, there has not been a systematic platform to recognize this entity in clinical practice. Furthermore, data regarding the role of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is lacking. We conducted this study to identify patients with Ph-like ALL and describe their outcomes in comparison to Ph+ and Ph- ALL with emphasis on the role of allo-HCT. Methods: To identify cases of Ph-like ALL, available diagnostic cytogenetic pellets for patients in the Mayo Clinic ALL cohort (N=365) were tested using a targeted fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) panel developed by the Mayo Clinic Genomics Laboratory and includes probes to detect Ph-like-specific rearrangements (i.e., ABL1, ABL2, PDGFRB, JAK2 and CRLF2). Results: Thirty-three (9%) patients with Ph-like ALL were identified, the remaining patients were classified as Ph+ (N=132, 36%) or Ph- ALL (N=200, 55%). Patients with Ph-like ALL were younger (Median: 39 vs. 50 vs. 49 years, P=.01), had higher WBC (Median: 27.9 vs. 21.5 vs. 4.5 x109/L, P

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) among older adults continues to be associated with a dismal prognosis. Novel effective immunotherapies and targeted agents are expected to address unmet needs in adult ALL. This review has summarized recent evidence to determine whether these approaches can lead to the decreased use of chemotherapy among older adults with ALL and result in improved outcomes.

To analyze CD200 and CD56 expression by flow cytometry in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients and whether their overexpression had prognostic impact individually and in combination with each other. Seventy newly diagnosed patients were assessed, of whom 27 were adult ALL and 43 pediatric ALL. Forty seven of 70 cases (67%) showed CD200 expression, and 7 cases (10%) showed CD56 expression but only 3 cases (4.3%) had expression for CD200+ and CD56+. Significance differences were found between CD200& CD56 expression in whole ALL patients group compared to control group (P

Significant advances have been made in the last decade toward a better understanding of the disease pathogenesis and the development of novel therapies that target specific subsets of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Risk-adapted strategies are transforming the disease treatment and prognosis. With current treatment regimens, long-term survival is achieved by approximately 50% of patients with B-cell ALL, 50% to 60% of patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL, and approximately 80% of patients with Burkitt's leukemia. Genomic profiling in ALL has identified new prognostic markers, new therapeutic targets, and novel ALL subtypes. These may be amenable to future targeted therapies that can further improve outcomes. The early recognition of early precursor T-cell ALL, a distinct pathobiological entity with a poor prognosis, is essential for the development of an effective clinical management strategy. The role of monoclonal antibodies and cytotoxic T-cell therapies continues to be defined. Many of the approaches are currently being evaluated for ALL salvage. Their incorporation into frontline adult ALL therapy, in concomitant or sequential strategies, may increase the cure rates to levels achieved in pediatric ALL and may reduce the need for prolonged intensive and maintenance chemotherapy.

Nowadays, minimal residual disease (MRD) is accepted as the strongest independent prognostic factor in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It can be detected by molecular methods that use leukemia-specific or patient-specific molecular markers (fusion gene transcripts, or immunoglobulin/T-cell receptor [IG/TR] gene rearrangements), and by multi-parametric flow cytometry. The sensitivity and specificity of these methods can vary across treatment time points and therapeutic settings. Thus, knowledge of the principles and limitations of each technology is of the utmost importance for correct interpretation of MRD results. Time will tell whether new molecular and flow cytometric high-throughput technologies can overcome the limitations of current standard methods and eventually bring additional benefits. MRD during standard ALL chemotherapy is the strongest overall prognostic indicator and has therefore been used for refining initial treatment stratification. Moreover, MRD positivity after the maintenance phase of treatment may point to an impending relapse and thus enable salvage treatment to be initiated earlier, which could possibly improve treatment results. The prognostic relevance of pretransplantation MRD was shown by several studies, and MRD high-risk patients were shown to benefit from stem cell transplantation (SCT). Also, MRD positivity after SCT correlates with worse outcomes. In addition, MRD information is very instructive in current clinical trials that test novel agents to evaluate their treatment efficacy. Although conventional clinical risk factors lose their independent prognostic significance when combined with MRD information, recently identified genetic markers may further improve the treatment stratification in ALL.

Monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) has become routine clinical practice in frontline treatment of virtually all childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and many adult ALL patients [1...