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Patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) unfit for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have poor outcomes. Novel therapies that provide durable benefit with favorable tolerability and clinically meaningful improvement in survival are needed. T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain-3 (TIM-3) is an immuno-myeloid regulator expressed on immune and leukemic stem cells in myeloid malignancies. Sabatolimab is a novel immunotherapy targeting TIM-3 with a potential dual mechanism of reactivating the immune system and directly targeting TIM-3+ leukemic blasts suppressing the growth of cancer cells. Here, we describe the aims and design of the phase III STIMULUS-MDS2 trial, which aims to demonstrate the potential for sabatolimab plus azacitidine to improve survival for patients with higher-risk MDS and CMML-2 (NCT04266301). Clinical Trial Registration: NCT04266301 ( ClinicalTrials.gov )

Background The majority of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) develop resistance to imatinib and sunitinib, the standard of care for these patients. This study evaluated the combination of buparlisib, an oral phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, with imatinib in patients with advanced GIST, who have failed prior therapy with imatinib and sunitinib. Methods This Phase 1b, multicentre, open-label study aimed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and/or a recommended Phase 2 dose of buparlisib in combination with 400 mg of imatinib through a dose-escalation part and a dose-expansion part, and also evaluated the clinical profile of the combination. Results Sixty patients were enrolled, including 25 in the dose-escalation part and 35 in the dose-expansion part. In the combination, MTD of buparlisib was established as 80 mg. No partial or complete responses were observed. The estimated median progression-free survival was 3.5 months in the expansion phase. Overall, 98.3% of patients had treatment-related adverse events (AEs), including 45% with grade 3 or 4 AEs. Conclusions Buparlisib in combination with imatinib provided no additional benefit compared with currently available therapies. Due to the lack of objective responses, further development of this combination was not pursued for third-line/fourth-line advanced/metastatic GIST. Trial registration number NCT01468688.

Background: Therapy options for pts with HR-MDS or AML who are not candidates for intensive chemotherapy (IC) or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are limited, and clinical outcomes are poor. Novel, effective and tolerable therapies are urgently needed. TIM-3 is an inhibitory receptor that regulates both adaptive and innate immune responses. It is expressed on immune cells and on leukemic stem cells (LSCs) and blasts, but not on normal hematopoietic stem cells, making it a promising target in MDS and AML. Sabatolimab is a high-affinity, humanized, anti-TIM-3 IgG4 (S228P) antibody that simultaneously targets TIM-3 on immune and myeloid cells; this may restore immune function while also directly targeting LSCs and blasts. In preclinical studies, sabatolimab enhanced immune cell-mediated killing of AML cells in vitro. In early results from a ph 1b study (NCT03066648), sabatolimab + hypomethylating agents (HMAs; decitabine [Dec] or azacitidine [Aza]) demonstrated encouraging overall response rates in pts with high-/very high-risk MDS (+ Dec, 61%; + Aza, 57%) and newly diagnosed AML (+ Dec, 47%; + Aza, 29%), and a favorable safety profile. Study Design and Methods: The STIMULUS clinical trial program currently includes 3 trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of sabatolimab combination therapy in pts with HR-MDS or AML who are ineligible for IC or HSCT: STIMULUS-MDS1 (NCT03946670; ph 2) in pts with HR-MDS, STIMULUS-MDS2 (NCT04266301; ph 3) in pts with HR-MDS or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia-2 (CMML-2), and STIMULUS-AML1 (NCT04150029; ph 2) in pts with AML. STIMULUS-MDS1 is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled ph 2 study evaluating the addition of sabatolimab to HMA in pts with HR-MDS. The 2 primary endpoints are complete remission (CR) rate and/or progression-free survival. Secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS), leukemia-free survival, duration of CR, transfusion independence, safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and immunogenicity. Approximately 120 pts will be randomized 1:1 to receive sabatolimab 400 mg or placebo IV Q2W (D8 and D22 of each 28-d cycle), + Dec 20 mg/m2 IV on D1-D5 or Aza 75 mg/m2 IV/SC on D1-D7, or D1-D5 + D8 and D9, of each 28-d cycle. STIMULUS-MDS2 is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled ph 3 study of sabatolimab in combination with Aza in pts with HR-MDS or CMML-2; the primary endpoint is OS. Secondary endpoints include measures related to pt quality of life, such as time to definitive deterioration of fatigue, improvement of fatigue, transfusion-free intervals, and physical/emotional functioning, as well as additional efficacy and safety parameters. Approximately 500 pts will be randomized 1:1 to sabatolimab 800 mg or placebo IV Q4W at D8 of each 28-d cycle + Aza using the same Aza dosing schedule as in STIMULUS-MDS1. Eligible pts for STIMULUS-MDS1 or -MDS2 are treatment-naïve adults with HR-MDS (Revised International Prognostic Scoring System [IPSS-R] intermediate-/high-/very high-risk MDS). Pts with intermediate-risk MDS enrolling in STIMULUS-MDS1 are also required to have ≥5% bone marrow blasts at baseline. Pts with CMML-2 are eligible for STIMULUS-MDS2 only. STIMULUS-AML1 is a single-arm ph 2 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of sabatolimab in combination with Aza and venetoclax in pts with AML who are not candidates for IC or HSCT. Primary endpoints are incidence of dose-limiting toxicities (safety run-in) and CR rate. Secondary endpoints include safety and tolerability, CR/CRi rate, measurable residual disease-negative rate, durability of CR, relapse-free survival, EFS, OS, PK, transfusion independence, and immunogenicity. Eligible pts for STIMULUS-AML1 are adults with newly diagnosed AML who are not candidates for IC or HSCT, based on comorbidities (including renal and hepatic impairments, cardiac and pulmonary comorbidities), age (≥75 years old), or Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 2 or 3. STIMULUS-AML1 will enroll approximately 86 pts. Part 1 consists of a safety run-in (≈18 pts) across 2 escalating sabatolimab dose levels (400/800 mg IV Q4W on D8 of each 28-d cycle) in combination with Aza (75 mg/m2 IV/SC on D1-D7, or D1-D5 + D8 and D9) and venetoclax 400 mg PO QD. If this triple combination is assessed to be safe, part 2 (expansion) will open and enroll approximately 68 additional pts who will receive sabatolimab 800 mg Q4W in combination with Aza and venetoclax. Disclosures Zeidan: Incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Trovagene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Astex: Research Funding; Celgene / BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Otsuka: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; CCITLA: Other; Taiho: Consultancy, Honoraria; Cardinal Health: Consultancy, Honoraria; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Astellas: Consultancy, Honoraria; Acceleron: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Boehringer-Ingelheim: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Agios: Consultancy, Honoraria; MedImmune/Astrazeneca: Research Funding; Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: Other; Epizyme: Consultancy, Honoraria; Ionis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Cardiff Oncology: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other; BeyondSpring: Consultancy, Honoraria; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria; Jazz: Consultancy, Honoraria; Aprea: Research Funding; ADC Therapeutics: Research Funding. Giagounidis:AMGEN: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Kim:SL VaxiGen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AML Global Portal: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Hanmi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Astellas: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Yuhan: Consultancy, Honoraria; Chugai: Consultancy, Honoraria; BL&H: Research Funding; Sanofi Genzyme: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria. Miyazaki:Novartis Pharma KK: Honoraria; NIPPON SHINYAKU CO.,LTD.: Honoraria; Astellas Pharma Inc.: Honoraria; Otsuka Pharmaceutical: Honoraria; Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.: Honoraria; Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd.: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd.: Honoraria. Platzbecker:Amgen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Geron: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Sekeres:BMS: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda/Millenium: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Malek:Novartis: Current Employment. Scott:Novartis: Current Employment. Niolat:Novartis: Current Employment. Peyrard:Novartis: Current Employment. Ma:Novartis: Current Employment. Kiertsman:Novartis: Current Employment. Stegert:Novartis AG: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Hertle:Novartis Pharma AG: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Fenaux:BMS: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Jazz: Honoraria, Research Funding; Abbvie: Honoraria, Research Funding. Santini:Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Johnson & Johnson: Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Acceleron: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Menarini: Consultancy, Honoraria; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria.

Nowadays Robotic assisted Minimally Invasive Surgeries (R-MIS) are the elective procedures for treating highly accurate and scarcely invasive pathologies, thanks to their ability to empower surgeons’ dexterity and skills. The research on new Multi-Robots Surgery (MRS) platform is cardinal to the development of a new SARAS surgical robotic platform, which aims at carrying out autonomously the assistants tasks during RMIS procedures. In this work, we will present the SARAS MRS platform validation protocol, framed in order to assess: (i) its technical performances in purely dexterity exercises, and (ii) its functional performances. The results obtained show a prototype able to put the users in the condition of accomplishing the tasks requested (both dexterity- and surgical-related), even with reasonably lower performances respect to the industrial standard. The main aspects on which further improvements are needed result to be the stability of the end effectors, the depth perception and the vision systems, to be enriched with dedicated virtual fixtures. The SARAS’ aim is to reduce the main surgeon’s workload through the automation of assistive tasks which would benefit both surgeons and patients by facilitating the surgery and reducing the operation time. This work was supported by the European Unions Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (SARAS Project) under Grant 779813. Peer Reviewed Article signat per 29 autors/es: Alice Leporini , Elettra Oleari, Carmela Landolfo, Alberto Sanna, Alessandro Larcher, Giorgio Gandaglia, Nicola Fossati, Fabio Muttin, Umberto Capitanio, Francesco Montorsi, Andrea Salonia, Marco Minelli, Federica Ferraguti, Cristian Secchi, Saverio Farsoni, Alessio Sozzi, Marcello Bonfè, Narcis Sayols, Albert Hernansanz, Alicia Casals, Sabine Hertle, Fabio Cuzzolin, Andrew Dennison, Andreas Melzer, Gernot Kronreif, Salvatore Siracusano, Fabio Falezza, Francesco Setti , and Riccardo Muradore.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is rare in children and accounts for £15% of all myeloid leukemia cases. When we initiated this study with nilotinib, imatinib was the only tyrosine kinase inhibitor indicated for pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph1) CML in chronic phase (CP); alternative treatment options were needed, particularly for patients who developed resistance or intolerance (R/I) to imatinib. This phase 2 study enrolled pediatric patients with either Ph1 CML-CP R/I to imatinib or dasatinib or newly diagnosed Ph1 CML-CP. Data presented are from analyses with minimum follow-up of up to 24 cycles (1 cycle is 28 days). Fifty-nine patients with Ph1 CML-CP were enrolled, and 58 were treated (R/I, n 5 33; newly diagnosed, n 5 25). Major molecular response (MMR) rate at cycle 6 in the R/I cohort was 39.4% (primary end point); 57.6% of patients achieved or maintained MMR and 81.8% achieved or maintained complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) by 24 cycles. In patients with newly diagnosed disease, rates of MMR by cycle 12 and CCyR at cycle 12 were 64.0% each (primary end points); by cycle 24, cumulative MMR and CCyR rates were 68.0% and 84.0%, respectively. The safety profile of nilotinib in pediatric patients was generally comparable with the known safety profile in adults, although cardiovascular events were not observed in this study, and hepatic laboratory abnormalities were more frequent; no new safety signals were identified. In summary, nilotinib demonstrated efficacy and a manageable safety profile in pediatric patients with Ph1 CML-CP. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01844765. (Blood. 2019;134(23):2036-2045).

Treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) targeting BCR-ABL1 is currently the standard of care for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CML-CP). In this study, we present results of the ENESTchina (Evaluating Nilotinib Efficacy and Safety in Clinical Trials-China) that was conducted to investigate nilotinib 300 mg twice daily vs imatinib 400 mg once daily in a Chinese population. ENESTchina met its primary end point with a statistically significant higher rate of major molecular response (MMR; BCR-ABL1 ≤0.1% on the International Scale) at 12 months in the nilotinib arm vs the imatinib arm (52.2% vs 27.8%; P < .0001), and MMR rates remained higher with nilotinib vs imatinib throughout the follow-up period. Rates of complete cytogenetic response (0% Philadelphia chromosome-positive [Ph+] metaphases by standard cytogenetics) were comparable and ≥80% by 24 months in both arms. The estimated rate of freedom from progression to accelerated phase/blast crisis at 24 months was 95.4% in each arm. The safety profiles of both drugs were similar to those from previous studies. In conclusion, rates of MMR at 12 months were superior with nilotinib vs imatinib in Chinese patients with newly diagnosed Ph+ CML-CP. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01275196.