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Anemia is often present in mostly elderly patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and is associated with a poorer outcome. Although red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are the most immediate treatment, waiting for the response to disease-specific therapy, or in case of non-response, the choice of the optimal transfusion regimen is still controversial.The main objectives of RBC transfusion are the control of anemia-related symptoms and complications and the improvement of functional status and of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, RBC transfusions are associated with several negative clinical consequences, mainly adverse transfusion reactions and iron overload, which can be counteracted by iron chelation therapy. Recent few pilot prospective trials have shown a benefit, in terms of HRQoL, of more liberal transfusion regimens, with higher hemoglobin (Hb) targets, compared to conventional restrictive regimens, but these results need confirmation by larger studies.A patient-oriented RBC transfusion therapy in MDS patients must take into account several laboratory (Hb), clinical (age, comorbidities), psychological, family and social factors, and evaluation of HRQoL should become a fundamental parameter in assessing the clinical benefit of therapy. Many questions remain to be clarified, including why some patients report little benefit from transfusions.

Venetoclax (VEN) and hypomethylating agent (HMAs) regimens are emerging as the standard of care for unfit for chemotherapy acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, but the safety and feasibility of a total outpatient management have not been fully investigated. Fifty-nine AML patients with active disease received VEN and HMAs. Nineteen out of 59 (32.2%) patients received the first cycle as inpatients, whereas 40/59 (67.8%) patients were treated in the outpatient setting. No significant differences were observed with regard to incidence of adverse events (AEs), including tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), and the 30-day and 60-day mortality was comparable. Notably, an infectious prophylaxis inspired to that adopted during intensive chemotherapy resulted in a low infection rate with a reduced bacterial infections incidence in out- versus hospitalized patients (p .0001). The overall time of hospitalization was significantly shorter in patients who received a total outpatient treatment as compared to those who received the first cycle as inpatients (5.9 vs. 39.7 days, p .0001). Despite the adopted differences in treatment management, the efficacy was similar. These data indicate that a total outpatient management of VEN and HMAs is feasible in AML patients without negatively impacting on treatment efficacy and may yield pharmacoeconomic and quality-of-life benefits.

Key Points The semaphorin receptor PLXNC1 is an IDO1-interacting gene and a strong predictor of survival in AML.An IDO1-related immune gene signature, including PLXNC1, predicts survival in AML., Visual Abstract, The contribution of the bone marrow (BM) immune microenvironment to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) development is well-known, but its prognostic significance is still elusive. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), which is negatively regulated by the BIN1 proto-oncogene, is an interferon-γ-inducible mediator of immune tolerance. With the aim to develop a prognostic IDO1-based immune gene signature, biological and clinical data of 982 patients with newly diagnosed, nonpromyelocytic AML were retrieved from public datasets and analyzed using established computational pipelines. Targeted transcriptomic profiles of 24 diagnostic BM samples were analyzed using the NanoString’s nCounter platform. BIN1 and IDO1 were inversely correlated and individually predicted overall survival. PLXNC1, a semaphorin receptor involved in inflammation and immune response, was the IDO1-interacting gene retaining the strongest prognostic value. The incorporation of PLXNC1 into the 2-gene IDO1-BIN1 score gave rise to a powerful immune gene signature predicting survival, especially in patients receiving chemotherapy. The top differentially expressed genes between IDO1low and IDO-1high and between PLXNC1low and PLXNC1high cases further improved the prognostic value of IDO1 providing a 7- and 10-gene immune signature, highly predictive of survival and correlating with AML mutational status at diagnosis. Taken together, our data indicate that IDO1 is pivotal for the construction of an immune gene signature predictive of survival in AML patients. Given the emerging role of immunotherapies for AML, our findings support the incorporation of immune biomarkers into current AML classification and prognostication algorithms.

Figure S1. Hematologic recovery after NK cell infusion in all treated patients.

Table S1. Percentage and absolute number of alloreactive NK cells in responders (A) and non-responders (B) Table S2. Description of cell processing results in responders (A) and non-responders (B)

Purpose: In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), alloreactive natural killer (NK) cells are crucial mediators of immune responses after haploidentical stem cell transplantation. Allogeneic NK cell infusions have been adoptively transferred with promising clinical results. We aimed at determining whether the composition of NK graft in terms of frequency of alloreactive NK cells influence the clinical response in a group of elderly AML patients undergoing NK immunotherapy.Experimental Design: Seventeen AML patients, in first complete remission (CR; median age 64 years, range 53–73) received NK cells from haploidentical KIR-ligand–mismatched donors after fludarabine/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy, followed by IL2. To correlate donor NK cell activity with clinical response, donor NK cells were assessed before and after infusion.Results: Toxicity was moderate, although 1 patient died due to bacterial pneumonia and was censored for clinical follow-up. With a median follow-up of 22.5 months (range, 6–68 months), 9 of 16 evaluable patients (0.56) are alive disease-free, whereas 7 of 16 (0.44) relapsed with a median time to relapse of 9 months (range, 3–51 months). All patients treated with molecular disease achieved molecular CR. A significantly higher number of donor alloreactive NK cell clones was observed in responders over nonresponders. The infusion of higher number of alloreactive NK cells was associated with prolonged disease-free survival (0.81 vs. 0.14, respectively; P = 0.03).Conclusions: Infusion of purified NK cells is feasible in elderly AML patients as post-CR consolidation strategy. The clinical efficacy of adoptively transferred haploidentical NK cells may be improved by infusing high numbers of alloreactive NK cells. Clin Cancer Res; 22(8); 1914–21. ©2016 AACR.See related commentary by Muntasell and López-Botet, p. 1831

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Iron chelation therapy (ICT) is an important tool in the treatment of transfusion-dependent lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients. ICT is effective in decreasing iron overload and consequently in limiting its detrimental effects on several organs, such as the heart, liver, and endocrine glands. Besides this effect, ICT also proved to be effective in improving peripheral cytopenia in a significant number of MDS patients, thus further increasing the clinical interest of this therapeutic tool. In the first part of the review, we will analyze the toxic effect of iron overload and its mechanism. Subsequently, we will revise the clinical role of ICT in various subsets of MDS patients (low, intermediate, and high risk MDS, patients who are candidates for allogeneic stem cell transplantation).

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T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a rare entity in the adult acute leukemia setting. Translocation (9;22)(q34;q11) and BCR-ABL1 rearrangement are occasionally found in T-ALL and have been reported in no more than 100 cases in the literature (most of which are chronic myeloid leukemia blast crisis). Here, we report the remarkable effectiveness of third-generation tyrosine-kinase inhibitor ponatinib in obtaining hematological and metabolic remission, in a patient with Philadelphia chromosome-positive de novo T-ALL and outcomes of a therapeutic strategy containing chemotherapy intensification, nelarabine, and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Antigen-directed target therapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is now the standard of care for relapsed/refractory (R/R) disease. A comprehensive determination of the target itself is mandatory to aid physician's choice. We determined baseline Cluster of differentiation 22 (CD22) expression percentage and fluorescent intensity on lymphoblasts of 30 patients with R/R B-ALL treated with anti-CD22 immunoconjugate drug Inotuzumab Ozogamicin (INO) and analyzed the impact of both parameters on patient outcome. Most patients (24/30, 80%) had a high leukemic blast CD22-positivity defined as ≥90%. We did not observe a benefit in terms of complete remission, overall survival (OS) and duration of response (DoR) for patients with CD22 ≥ 90% versus CD22 90%. Concerning CD22-FI quartile analysis we appreciated a trend for superior response rates in higher quartiles (Q

In adult patients, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a rare hematological cancer with a cure rate below 50% and frequent relapses. With traditional therapies, patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) ALL have a survival that may be measured in months; in these patients, inotuzumab ozogamicin (IO) is an effective therapy. IO was linked to increased risk of veno‐occlusive disease/sinusoid obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS), liver injury, and various grade of liver‐related complications during clinical trials and real‐life settings; however, hepatologic monitoring protocol is not established in this population. In our institution, 21 patients who received IO (median of 6 doses of IO administered) for R/R ALL were prospectively followed for hepatologic surveillance, including clinical evaluation, ultrasonography, and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) biochemistry. After a median follow‐up of 17.2 months, two SOS events were reported (both after allogeneic transplant) as IO potentially related clinically relevant adverse event. Mild alterations were reported in almost the totality of patients and moderate‐severe liver biochemical alterations in a quarter of patients. Within biochemicals value, AST and ALP showed an augment related to IO administration. LSM linearly augmented for each IO course administered. Baseline LSM was related to liver‐related changes, especially with the severity of portal hypertension (PH)‐related complications. Pre‐transplant LSM was higher in patients receiving IO when compared with a control cohort. PH‐related complications were discovered in nearly 77% of patients, with clinically significant PH occurrence and development of ascites in 38% and 14%, respectively. This prospective experience constitutes the rationale to design a hepatologic monitoring program in patients receiving IO. LSM may be of pivotal importance in this program, constituting a rapid and effective screening that quantitatively correlates with liver alterations.

Relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has a poor prognosis, and new therapies are a major clinical need. When mutated, FLT3 drives neoplastic cell proliferation. New drugs (i.e., tyrosine kinase inhibitors, TKIs) showed effectiveness in FLT3-AML and promise to change disease history and outcome. We evaluated the benefit conferred by TKIs in terms of survival, burden of complications and surrogate endpoint of quality of life in a retrospective cohort of 49 FLT3 positive, R/R AML patients. Patients who received TKIs were compared to those treated with conventional chemotherapy. Treatment with TKIs conferred a better OS and wea associated with a lower burden and severity of adverse events. Importantly, patients who received TKIs showed reduced time of hospitalization. In conclusion, treatment with TKI in R/R FLT3-AML was related to a better survival, less and milder AEs, and shorter hospitalization.

Background Despite the recent progress that has been made in the understanding and treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the outcome is still dismal in adult ALL cases. Several studies in solid tumors identified high expression of WEE1 kinase as a poor prognostic factor and reported its role as a cancer-conserving oncogene that protects cancer cells from DNA damage. Therefore, the targeted inhibition of WEE1 kinase has emerged as a rational strategy to sensitize cancer cells to antineoplastic compounds, which we evaluate in this study. Methods The effectiveness of the selective WEE1 inhibitor AZD-1775 as a single agent and in combination with different antineoplastic agents in B and T cell precursor ALL (B/T-ALL) was evaluated in vitro and ex vivo studies. The efficacy of the compound in terms of cytotoxicity, induction of apoptosis, and changes in gene and protein expression was assessed using different B/T-ALL cell lines and confirmed in primary ALL blasts. Results We showed that WEE1 was highly expressed in adult primary ALL bone marrow and peripheral blood blasts (n = 58) compared to normal mononuclear cells isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy donors (p = 0.004). Thus, we hypothesized that WEE1 could be a rational target in ALL, and its inhibition could enhance the cytotoxicity of conventional therapies used for ALL. We evaluated the efficacy of AZD-1775 as a single agent and in combination with several antineoplastic agents, and we elucidated its mechanisms of action. AZD-1775 reduced cell viability in B/T-ALL cell lines by disrupting the G2/M checkpoint and inducing apoptosis. These findings were confirmed in human primary ALL bone marrow and peripheral blood blasts (n = 15). In both cell lines and primary leukemic cells, AZD-1775 significantly enhanced the efficacy of several tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as bosutinib, imatinib, and ponatinib, and of chemotherapeutic agents (clofarabine and doxorubicin) in terms of the reduction of cell viability, apoptosis induction, and inhibition of proliferation. Conclusions Our data suggest that WEE1 plays a role in ALL blast’s survival and is a bona fide target for therapeutic intervention. These data support the evaluation of the therapeutic potential of AZD-1775 as chemo-sensitizer agent for the treatment of B/T-ALL. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13045-018-0641-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BACKGROUND: Many efforts have been made in the attempt to address the conundrum question of fitness definition ad prognosis prediction in elderly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Parametric definitions are expected to give an advantage in patient stratification; however, clinical examination remain de facto pivotal to formulate therapy decisions and frequently the comorbidities are empirically evaluated. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter study collecting baseline comorbidity, laboratory data, CTCAE 4.0.3 adverse events (AE), and outcome of elderly patients (>65 years old) with new onset AML who received hypomethylating agents as 1st line therapy. We tested the impact on prognosis of baseline clinical and biological risk factors. Furthermore, we evaluated a score - acute myeloid leukemia-composite model, AML-CM (Mukherjee et al, 2017) - developed in chemotherapy-eligible patients, that accounts for baseline comorbidities, laboratory parameters, age and cytogenetic-molecular risk. The study was approved by local Ethical Authority (316/2019/Oss/AOUBo). RESULTS: We collected data from 131 consecutive elderly patients who received 1 st line HMAs between January 2008 and January 2021. Patients had a median age of 76 years (IQR 72 -79). Seventy-seven out of 131 patients (58.8%) had de novo AML, 32/131 (32.8%) had secondary AML, and 11/131 (8.4%) had therapy-related AML. Out of 123 evaluable patients, 43 (34.9%) had complex karyotype, 1 (0.8%) inv(16), 59 (48.4) normal karyotype, 18 (14.7%) other alterations; 8/108 patients harbored FLT3 ITD mutation (7.4%, 23 not tested), 12/101 NPM1 mutation (11.9%, 30 not tested). Based on these data, 111 patients were evaluable for ELN2010 risk stratification; 9 over 111 patients (8.1%) were stratified in the low risk, 42/111 (37.8%) in intermediate-1 risk, 17/111(15.3%) in intermediate-2 risk, and 43/111 (38.7%) in high-risk class. As expected, most of the patients had at least one comorbidity. Particularly, baseline arrhythmia was present in 29/130 (22.1%, 1 no data), cardiovascular comorbidity in 20/130 (15.4%, 1 no data), diabetes in 20/131 (15.3%), cerebrovascular comorbidity in 11/131 (8.4%), kidney disease in 15/130 (11.5%, 1 no data), lung chronic disease 19/130 (14.6% 1 no data), hypoalbuminemia in 25/111 patients (22.5%, 20 no data). With a median follow up of 28.2 months, median overall survival (OS) of the entire cohort was 15.8 months (95% C.I. 11.2-19.4). We confirmed that patient who obtained a response (complete remission, partial response, hematological improvement) after 2 months of therapy had the best OS (figure A, median OS of 21 months for responders vs 7.4 months for non-responders, p To test the impact of comorbidities combined with cytogenetic and molecular risk, AML-CM was used. Our results indicate that AML-CM score was able to stratify prognosis in elderly patients receiving frontline HMAs (figure B, median OS in score group 1: 29.7 months, score group 2: 16.5 months, score group 3: 11.2 months, score group 4: 6.6 months, p=.038). The worse prognosis of patients with higher AML-CM score, which includes patients with increased baseline comorbidities, may be explained with a higher incidence of AEs (84.55, 116.01, 131.45, 229.3 events for 100 patients per year for score group 1,2,3, and 4, respectively) and infections (53.80, 55.10, 85.95, 140.13 events for 100 patients per year for score group 1,2,3, and 4, respectively), in patients with higher baseline comorbidities. CONCLUSION: In this study we found that baseline comorbidities, captured by AML-CM score, may define prognosis of elderly patients receiving 1st line HMAs; parametric comorbidity scores may improve our ability to predict outcome and tailor interventions. The impact of comorbidity on OS may be increased with novel and more aggressive therapy. For this reason, specific studies on functional fitness tests and geriatric assessments are highly warranted in patients receiving HMAs plus venetoclax. This work was supported by Bologna AIL. CP and AC shared last authorship. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Martinelli: Daichii Sankyo: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Astellas: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy; Stemline Therapeutics: Consultancy; Celgene /BMS: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Cavo: Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Accommodations, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES, Speakers Bureau; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy, Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers Squib: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Papayannidis: Pfizer, Amgen, Novartis: Honoraria. Curti: Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Introduction In the setting of clinical trials Venetoclax (VEN) combined with hypomethylating agents (HMAs) has shown fair activity in Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) AML and impressive results in newly diagnosed (ND) elderly AML patients. However, no clear guidelines are available on real-life management, especially in the outpatient setting. This study involving AML patients treated with VEN combined with HMAs aims to amelioratate physicians' knowledge about the administration of these regimens. Methods This is a single-center retrospective study involving AML patients treated with Venetoclax combined with HMAs. Data were collected in accordance with GCP and Helsinky declaration. Adverse events (AEs) were graded according to CTCAE v4.03. Survival is estimated with Kaplan-Meyer method. Results A total of 59 AML patients, 43 R/R and 16 ND, have been treated with VEN plus HMAs from March 2018 to June 2021 and completed at least 1 therapy course (range 1-9, median 2, IQR 1.0 - 4.0). The median age was 70 (range 22-88) years and 15.3 % had a documented ECOG score greater than 1. VEN was combined with azacitidine in 35/59 (59.3 %) patients and with decitabine in 22/59 (37.3 %) patients (Table 1: patient and disease characteristics). The majority of patients (40/59, 67.8 %) (28/43 R/R, 12/16 ND) received the first cycle as out-patients, 19 out of 59 (32.2 %) patients were hospitalized and used as control. No significant differences with regards to disease and patients' characteristics were observed between in- and out-patients. During the ramp-up phase only 2 cases of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) and 5 AEs were documented. During the first course, a total of 54 AEs were recorded and experienced by 16 over 19 hospitalized patients (84.2 %) and 20 over 40 outpatients (50 %). The 30-day and 60-day mortality were 2.5% (1/40) and 20 % (8/40), respectively, among patients receiving first course as out-patents, comparable to those documented in hospitalized patients. Overall, we reported 118 AEs, of which 74 were grade III-IV and the most common were hematological 23/74 (31.1 %) or infective 41/74 (55.4 %). Regarding infections, at least one bacterial infection was experienced in 10/40 (25%) and 12/19 (63.1%) patients of the outpatient and hospitalized cohorts, respectively (p = 0.009, IC 1.37 - 19.74, OR 4.98). Pneumonia and sepsis (13 and 18 cases) were the most frequent infections. Sepsis incidence was higher among hospitalized patients (13/19, 68.4 %, vs 5/40, 12.5 %, p = 0.000029). No significant difference in infective risk was documented between R/R and ND patients (65.1 vs 50 %). Thirty-two out of 59 (54.2 %) patients experienced at least one VEN withdrawal due to treatment toxicity. Twenty out of 43 AEs requiring VEN suspensions occurred during the first cycle. Patients treated in-patient showed the tendency for a higher probability to suspend therapy due to treatment toxicity (10/19 IN vs 10/40 OUT, p = 0.04). While twenty-three out of 59 (38.9 %) patients were hospitalized for treatment complications at least once, the average number of days spent in hospital was significantly different between patients receiving the first course as outpatients as compared to those who were hospitalized (5.9 vs 39.7, respectively, p < 0.0001). With a median follow-up of 117 days (IQR 92 - 173.75) in ND patients the Overall Response Rate (ORR), defined as CR + CRi + HI, was 62.5 % (10/16), with a CR/CRi rate of 50 % (8/16) and a median OS of 247 days (95% C.I. 177.71- 316.58)(Fig 1a). In the R/R setting the ORR rate was 41.8 % (18/43), with a CR/CRi rate of 25.6 % (11/43) and a median OS of 219 days (95% C.I. 91.8 - 346.2) (Fig 2a). No differences in OS were documented between patients who underwent VEN plus HMAs outpatient and patients who underwent the first cycle hospitalized (p = 0,38) (Fig. 1b-2b). Conclusions With the limitations of a single-center retrospective study, our real-life data indicate that VEN plus HMAs is feasible in an outpatient management, with minimal TLS rate and no limiting toxicities. Of note, infections rate was acceptable, bacterial infections and sepsis risk were lower in outpatients than in hospitalized patients. There was no significant impact of the outpatient management on treatment effectiveness, with data in line with published AML cohorts. Further studies evaluating the clinical, social and economic impact of outpatient VEN-based treatments are highly warranted. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Papayannidis: Pfizer, Amgen, Novartis: Honoraria. Cavo: Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy, Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Accommodations, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: 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, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers Squib: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Curti: Jazz Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Background and Rationale. miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by acting on the epigenetic machinery and are themselves controlled by epigenetic mechanisms. The expression of miRNAs is linked to cancer development and miRNA profiles are studied as new prognostic factors or therapeutic new perspectives (Jiang X et al. Nat Commun 2016). High-risk MDS are now treated with hypomethylating agents, like Azacitidine (AZA), alone or in combination with other drugs, such as Lenalidomide (LEN). Recent data showed that the concurrent acquisition of specific point mutations on PI3KCD, PLCG2 and AKT3 genes is associated with loss of response to AZA+LEN therapy (Follo MY et al. Leukemia 2019). Inositide signalling regulated by Phospholipase C (PLC) and PI3K/AKT is indeed involved in epigenetic processes and in MDS progression to AML, through the regulation of proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Patients and Methods. This study included 26 high-risk MDS patients treated with AZA (75 mg/m2/day, days 1-5, sc) and LEN (10 mg/day, days 1-21 or 8-21, orally) every 4 weeks. Patients showing complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), any hematologic improvement (HI) or marrow CR+HI following IWG response criteria were considered as responders, while patients showing stable disease or disease progression were considered as non-responders. miRNAs expression was assessed using an Affymetrix miRNA 4.0 array on patients' cells extracted at baseline and during the therapy, at the 4th (T4) and 8th (T8) cycle of therapy. Results were then validated by Real-Time PCR and miRNA targets were studied by dual Luciferase assay. Real-Time PCR was also used to examine the expression of PLC genes. Results. All patients included in this study were considered evaluable for response. According to the revised IWG criteria (14), the overall response rate (ORR) was 76.9% (20/26 cases): CR (5/26, 19.2%), PR (1/26, 3.8%), marrow CR (mCR, 2/26, 7.7%), HI (6/26, 23.1%), mCR+HI (6/26, 23.1%), whereas 6/26 patients (23.1%) had a stable disease. For our analyses, we considered 10 patients as responders (R, showing response within T4 and maintaining it at T8), 10 losing response (LR, showing response within T4 and losing it at T8) and 6 non-responders (NR, never showing a response). Paired analysis between R and NR patients showed a statistically significant up-regulation of miR-192-5p and miR-21-5p between T0 and T4, as well as a down-regulation of miR-224-5p between T4 and T8, hinting at a relevant role for these miRNAs during AZA+LEN response. Real-Time PCR analyses confirmed the modulation of miR-192-5p and an altered expression of PLC genes during AZA+LEN therapy in all patients' subgroups, as well as an involvement of BCL-2 (possible target of miR-192-5p) that was also proven in vitro by dual Luciferase assays. Furthermore, as miR-192-5p expression seemed to be correlated with response, we performed Kaplan-Meier analyses and found out an association between high levels of miR-192-5p at T4 and OS (p=0.08) or LFS (p=0.04) in our MDS cases. More interestingly, this correlation was stronger (p=0.03) in R, as compared with LR and NR. Conclusions. This study shows that AZA+LEN therapy in MDS affects the expression of miR-192-5p, whose high level at T4 is associated with higher OS and LFS in responder patients. Moreover, we showed that miR-192-5p specifically targets and inhibits BCL-2, hinting at a regulation of MDS proliferation and apoptosis. Additional studies, to be performed in a larger cohort of MDS patients, are needed to confirm these data, as well as better understand the molecular mechanisms and the prognostic relevance of miR-192-5p in AZA+LEN therapy. Disclosures Cavo: AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: 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, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Accommodations, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers Squib: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Finelli: Celgene BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau.

Introduction: An accurate diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is essential: treatments are different for patients at lower or higher risk of evolut...

Introduction A large body of evidence has increasingly demonstrated that the immune tumor microenvironment (TME) critically contributes to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) development. However, current AML prognostic classifications only rely on leukemia cell-intrinsic alterations and do not incorporate immunological markers referring to TME. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), which is negatively regulated by the BIN1 proto-oncogene, is a central mediator of immune tolerance in the AML TME. This study aimed to identify IDO1-interacting genes in the AML TME and to develop a prognostic immune gene signature. Methods Biological and clinical data of 732 patients with de novo AML treated with curative intent were retrieved from public TCGA and HOVON datasets. Patients >= 65 years were excluded from survival analyses. Co-expression analysis was performed through cBioPortal on TCGA data aiming at discovering new IDO1-interacting genes. Cox regression analysis was used to identify most survival-predicting genes in order to generate a prognostic score. Differential expression (DE) analysis was performed using the nSolver software package (NanoString Technologies, Seattle, WA). Results BIN1 and IDO1 expression were negatively correlated in HOVON cases (P Conclusions Our data identify PLXNC1 as a novel IDO1-correlated gene. A three-gene immune signature that includes PLXCN1, IDO1 and BIN1 strongly predicted clinical outcome in large AML cohorts. Moreover, IDO1 and PLXNC1 expression-based DE analysis generated an immunological signature highly predictive of prognosis. In light of the emerging role of immunotherapies for AML, our findings support the incorporation of TME-associated immune biomarkers into current AML classification and prognostication algorithms. Figure Disclosures Cavo: Jannsen, BMS, Celgene, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda, Amgen, Oncopeptides, AbbVie, Karyopharm, Adaptive: Consultancy, Honoraria. Rutella:NanoString Technologies, Inc.: Research Funding; MacroGenics, Inc.: Research Funding; Kura Oncology: Research Funding.

Background and Rationale. Inositide signalling regulated by Phospholipase C (PLC) and AKT is involved in epigenetic processes and in MDS progression to AML. miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by acting on the epigenetic machinery and are themselves controlled by epigenetic mechanisms. The expression of miRNAs has been definitively linked to cancer development and miRNA profiles are studied as new prognostic factors or therapeutic new perspectives (Jiang X et al. Nat Commun 2016). Azacitidine (AZA) is a standard first-line therapy in high-risk MDS. Its combination with Lenalidomide (LEN) has been tested, but its molecular effect is still under investigation, although the concurrent acquisition of specific point mutations on PI3KCD, PLCG2 and AKT3 genes has recently been associated with loss of response to this combination therapy (Follo MY et al. Leukemia 2019). Here we further analyzed the effect of AZA+LEN therapy on epigenetic processes and inositide regulation, focusing on miRNA expression in MDS patients. Patients and Methods. This study included 12 high-risk MDS patients treated with AZA (75 mg/m2/day, days 1-5, sc) and LEN (10 mg/day, days 1-21, orally) every 4 weeks. Patients showing complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR) or any hematologic improvement were considered as responders, while patients showing stable disease or disease progression were considered as non responders. miRNAs expression was assessed using an Affymetrix miRNA 4.0 array on patients' cells extracted at baseline and during the therapy, at the 4th (T4) and 8th (T8) cycle of therapy. Results. All patients included in this study were considered evaluable for response. 2 patients never responded, while 10 patients showed a positive response within T4: 9 of them maintained it at T8, whereas the remaining patient lost response at T8. These clinical results do not mirror the expected clinical outcomes, but this is due to our small population. However, our analyses could be relevant to test the molecular effect of the therapy in a time course, as well as comparing different phases (baseline vs T4; baseline vs T8; T4 vs T8). Paired analysis within the same patients during treatment course showed 61 miRNAs up- or down-regulated (p Conclusions. This preliminary study shows that AZA+LEN therapy affects the expression of specific clusters of miRNAs that target the PI3K signalling and, more specifically, three inositide genes that are mutated and associated with loss of response to this combination therapy, i.e. PI3KCD, AKT3 and PLCG2. Additional studies are warranted to confirm these data and to further analyze the role of these clusters, especially to test their pathogenetic or therapeutic relevance in MDS. Disclosures Cavo: AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel accomodations, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel accomodations, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Karyopharm: Honoraria. Finelli:Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau.

JN and CP equally contributed Introduction In the setting of clinical trials Venetoclax (VEN) combined with hypomethylating agents (HMAs) has shown fair activity in R/R AML and impressive results in treatment-naïve elderly AML patients. However, no clear guidelines are available on real-life management, especially in the outpatient setting. This study involving R/R AML patients treated with VEN combined with HMAs aims to amelioratate physicians' knowledge about the administration of these regimens. Methods This is a single-center retrospective study involving AML patients treated with Venetoclax combined with HMAs. Data were collected in accordance with GCP and Helsinky declaration. Adverse events (AEs) were graded according to CTCAE v4.03. Survival is estimated with Kaplan-Meyer method. Results Thirty-one R/R AML patients have been treated with VEN plus HMAs from March 2018 to March 2020 and completed at least 1 therapy course (range 1-9, median 2, IQR 1.0 - 5.0) (Table 1: patients' characteristics). Seventeen out of 31 (54,8 %) had received intensive chemotherapy as induction therapy. Twenty-two patients (71 %) had already received HMAs therapy, of which 14/31 (45,2 %) as first and only previous line of therapy. VEN was combined with azacitidine in 13/31 (41,9%) and with decitabine in 18/31 patients (58.1 %). The majority of patients (22/31, 70,9%) received the first cycle as out-patients, special focus of our analysis. For clinical reasons, only 9 out of 31 (29,1 %) patients were hospitalized and were used as control. In the outpatients setting, VEN dose escalation was managed with at least a weekly laboratory and clinical monitoring and the drug was often increased more slowly to carefully prevent tumor lysis syndrome or other complications. Specifically, there has been a trend toward a ramp-up schedule different from that indicated in clinical trials in the outpatient setting in comparison with hospitalized patients (77,2 % vs 33,3 %). In term of safety, no cases of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) and only 2 AEs were documented during ramp-up phase, both experienced by hospitalized patients. Seventeen AEs were documented during cycle 1, affecting more frequently hospitalized patients (77,9% vs 31,8 %). In the outpatient setting, the early 30-days and 60-days mortalities were 4,5 % (1/22) and 13,6 % (3/22), respectively, comparable to percentages documented in hospitalized subgroup (0% and 11,1%). Overall, with a median follow-up of 138 days (IQR 69 - 285), we reported 48 AEs, of which 28 were grade III-IV and the most common were hematological (13/28, 48,1 %) or infective (14/28, 51,8 %). Twenty out of 31 (64,5 %) patients reduced VEN dosage during treatment, of which 12/20 (60 %) due to occurring AEs, and remaining patients for azole coadministration. Eleven out of 31 (35,5 %) patients required hospitalization, specifically 3 out of 9 hospitalized patients (33,3 %) during the subsequent outpatient phase of treatment, and 8/22 (36,3 %) patients who underwent VEN therapy outpatient, of which only 2 during the first 28 days of treatment. Twenty-four and 5 AEs were followed by a VEN temporary (median duration 14 days, range 5-120) and permanent withdrawn, respectively. As for the rate of response, the Overall Response Rate (ORR) by VEN plus HMAs therapy in our R/R study population, defined as CR + CRi + HI, was 41,9 % (13/31), with a CR/CRi rate of 22,6 % (7/31). The median time to first response was 67.0 days (IQR 37.0 - 133.5) and the median duration of response was 131.0 days (IQR 89.0 - 151.0). Four out of 31 (12,9 %) patients received subsequent HSCT. The median OS was 285 days (95% C.I. 178 - 392), with no difference in OS between patients who underwent VEN plus HMAs outpatient and patients who underwent the first cycle hospitalized (p = 0,38). Conclusions With the limitations of a single-center retrospective study, our real-life data indicate that VEN plus HMAs is feasible in an outpatient management, without TLS or other limiting toxicities and with comparable early-mortality and toxicity profiles, even in the ramp-up phase and first therapeutic cycle. There was no significant impact of the outpatient management on treatment effectiveness, with data in line with published R/R AML cohorts. Further studies evaluating the clinical, social and economic impact of outpatient VEN-based treatments are highly warranted. Disclosures Papayannidis: Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis, Amgen, Pfizer:Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties.Cavo:Jannsen, BMS, Celgene, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda, Amgen, Oncopeptides, AbbVie, Karyopharm, Adaptive:Consultancy, Honoraria. OffLabel Disclosure: In R/R AML, available data regarding the combination of VEN plus HMAs come only from retrospective studies where VEN is administered as an off-label prescription due to its widespread approval for chronic lymphocytic leukemia due to promising results obtained in treatment-naive elderly AML patients

Specific myeloid-related and inositide-specific gene mutations can be linked to myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) pathogenesis and therapy. Here, 44 higher-risk MDS patients were treated with azacitidine and lenalidomide and mutations analyses were performed at baseline and during the therapy. Results were then correlated to clinical outcome, overall survival (OS), leukemia-free-survival (LFS) and response to therapy. Collectively, 34/44 patients were considered evaluable for response, with an overall response rate of 76.25% (26/34 cases): 17 patients showed a durable response, 9 patients early lost response and 8 patients never responded. The most frequently mutated genes were ASXL1, TET2, RUNX1, and SRSF2. All patients early losing response, as well as cases never responding, acquired the same 3 point mutations during therapy, affecting respectively PIK3CD (D133E), AKT3 (D280G), and PLCG2 (Q548R) genes, that regulate cell proliferation and differentiation. Moreover, Kaplan–Meier analyses revealed that this mutated cluster was significantly associated with a shorter OS, LFS, and duration of response. All in all, a common mutated cluster affecting 3 inositide-specific genes is significantly associated with loss of response to azacitidine and lenalidomide therapy in higher risk MDS. Further studies are warranted to confirm these data and to further analyze the functional role of this 3-gene cluster.

Introduction. The association of Azacitidine (AZA) and Lenalidomide (LEN), either administered concurrently or sequentially, has proven effective in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), however the optimum dose and schedule remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination vs the sequential use of AZA and LEN in higher-risk MDS pts. Primary endpoint: ORR, defined as the Rate of Complete Remission (CR), Partial Remission (PR), Marrow Complete Remission (mCR), and Hematological Improvement (HI), following the IWG criteria (Cheson, 2006). Moreover, the aim of this analysisis is to enucleate the clinical and biological features of pts who showed long-lasting (≥ 20 cycles) responses. Methods. This is a randomized, phase II, multicenter, open label study, including pts with MDS with IPSS risk High or Intermediate-2, without previous treatment with AZA or LEN. ARM 1 (combined treatment): AZA: 75 mg/m2/day (days 1-5) I.C. + LEN: 10 mg/day (days 1-21), orally, every 4 weeks. ARM 2 (sequential treatment): AZA: 75 mg/m2/day (days 1-5) I.C. + LEN: 10 mg/day (days 6-21), orally, every 4 weeks. The induction treatment was planned for 8 cycles. For responder pts the same treatment was continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Results. From March 2013, 44 pts (27 males), median age: 72 (48-83 yrs) were enrolled, from 13 hematologic Centers. 21 pts were randomly assigned to ARM 1, and 23 pts to ARM 2. Treatment was given for a median of 8.5 (1-68) cycles; in ARM 1: 9 (1-68) cycles; in ARM 2: 8 (1-63) cycles, respectively. Median follow-up: 15 (2-77) months. 10/44 pts (22.7%) did not complete at least 6 cycles of treatment for causes other than disease progression, and were not considered evaluable for response. Among the 34/44 pts (77.3%) evaluable for response, 26/34 pts (ORR: 76.5 %) showed a favourable response to treatment. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis: ORR: 59.1%. First response was observed after a median of 2 (1-8) cycles. The Best Response achieved was: CR: 8 pts (23.5%) (ITT: 18.1%), PR: 1 pt (2.9%) (ITT: 2.2%), mCR: 3 pts (8.8%) (ITT: 6.8%), HI: 8 pts (23.5%) (ITT: 18.1%), mCR+HI: 6 pts (17.6%) (ITT: 13.6%). Median duration of hematologic response: 10.5 months. 37 pts (84.1%) died , and 20 pts (45.4%) showed progression to AML. Grade >2 non haematological toxicity: 54.5%. Median OS: 15 months. OS was significantly longer in responder pts as compared to the other pts (28 vs 7 months, p2 non haematological toxicity (ARM 1: 66.7%; ARM 2: 43.5%), AML incidence (ARM 1: 33.3%; ARM 2: 56.5%; p=0.2150) and OS (ARM 1: 14 months; ARM 2: 16 months). However, among responder pts, sequential treatment showed a longer clinical benefit, as compared to combined treatment. Responder pts of ARM 2 showed a significantly longer median duration of response (18 vs 6 months, p=0.0481), a longer median duration of therapy (28 vs 10 months, p=0.0870; 20 vs 10 cycles, p=0.1181), more long-lasting (≥ 20 cycles) responses (34.8% vs 9.5%, p=0.1017) and a longer OS (35 vs 26 months, p=0.3868), as compared to responder pts of ARM 1. Overall, 10/44 long-responder pts (22.7%) received ≥ 20 cycles; 5/10 pts (50%) achieved CR. IPSS risk: Intermediate-2 (8 pts); High (2 pts); IPSS-R risk: Intermediate (2 pts); High (6 pts); Very High (2 pts); IPSS cytogenetic risk: Good (5 pts); Intermediate (3 pts); Poor (2 pts); IPSS-R cytogenetic risk: Good (5 pts); Intermediate (4 pts); Very Poor (1 pt); 4/6 patients with altered karyotype achieved cytogenetic remission; it is noteworthy that the only 3 pts of the entire series who showed no gene mutations at baseline are included in this subset of long-responders pts, while 5/10 pts showed at baseline ≥ 1 prognostically unfavorable gene mutations (none with TP53 mutations), with variable VAFs during treatment. Moreover all long-responder pts showed a common gene mutation on SOD2 gene, and mutations on PLCG2 gene. Conclusions. Our results confirm the efficacy of both AZA+LEN treatment regimens in higher-risk MDS pts, in terms of ORR and OS, although sequential treatment was associated with a longer clinical benefit among responder pts. A subset of pts (22,7 %) with less unfavorable cytogenetic and molecular characteristics showed a long-lasting response to treatment. Disclosures Finelli: Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Crugnola:BMS: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria. Rigolin:Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Cavo:Jannsen, BMS, Celgene, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda, Amgen, Oncopeptides, AbbVie, Karyopharm, Adaptive: Consultancy, Honoraria.

Context Post-HSCT relapse of B-cell ALL is associated with a dismal outcome. IO allows, in the setting of R/R B-ALL patients, high response rates, but with limited duration. Objective To report the outcome of 8 B-ALL adult patients, relapsed after allogeneic HSCT, treated with IO and DLI. Design Retrospective analysis (first patient treated in April 2015, last patient in October 2019). Setting Multicenter (Italian centers). Patients or other participants Five Ph-negative and 3 Ph-positive B-ALL adult patients, with BM disease (6 morphological relapse and 2 MRD-positivity) were treated; 2 patients had additionally extramedullary (EM) disease. Three patients were in salvage 1, 5 patients in salvage ≥ 2; 50% of the patients had previously received Blinatumomab. Median time from transplant to relapse and from relapse to IO was 11 (range 2-21) and 2.5 (range 0-65) months, respectively. Interventions Patients received a median of 3 (range 2-6) IO courses. Four patients received IO and DLI in an alternate schedule and 4 patients sequentially after IO; a median of 3 (range 2-4) DLI at escalating dose was administered (1st dose ranging from 1 × 104/kg CD3+ to 5 × 106/kg CD3+; following doses from 1 × 105 to 5 × 107/kg CD3+). Main outcome measures CR and MRD rate, EM response, DFS, OS, toxicity. MRD was evaluated with BCR-ABL fusion transcript or V(D)J IgH/TCR disease-specific rearrangement on BM. DFS and OS were calculated from start of IO. Toxicity was graded according to CTCAE version. 4.03. Results All patients achieved CR after 1st IO cycle. Six of 8 patients obtained MRD negativity after 2nd IO cycle (4 of 6 patients after 1st cycle). Both PET+ patients achieved PET-negativity. With a median follow-up of 23.5 (range 3-58) months, 6 of 8 (75%) patients are alive. Four of 8 (50%) patients relapsed, of which 2 with CNS localization. Median DFS is 12 months (range 3-58) and median OS is 23.5 (3-58) months. Four out of 8 patients experienced G4 thrombocytopenia. Two patients experienced grade 1 GvHD and no VOD were reported. Conclusions IO and DLI are a safe combination in the post-HSCT setting that may ameliorate the dismal prognosis of this patient subset.

Background Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are an essential element of the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, playing a crucial function in regulating hematopoietic stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Recent findings have outlined a putative role for MSCs in hematological malignancy development. So far, conflicting results have been collected concerning MSC abnormalities in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In particular, a considerable amount of evidence has been accumulated strongly supporting a permissive role of MSCs in malignancy evolution to MDS, while a potentially causative or promoting function performed by MSCs in AML has not yet been fully clarified. Here, we compared MSCs isolated from healthy, MDS, and AML subjects to investigate MSC alterations and to emphasize putative common and/or diverse features. Methods We isolated and expanded MSCs from AML patients (AML-MSCs) and MDS patients (MDS-MSCs), and we analyzed and compared their phenotypic and functional properties with respect to each other and versus healthy donor-derived MSCs (HD-MSCs). Results We found that stable MSC cultures could be easily established from HD and MDS mononuclear BM-derived cells, while a substantial fraction (25%) of AML patients failed to yield MSCs. Nevertheless, isolated MDS-MSCs and AML-MSCs, as well as HD-MSCs, contained the basic features of MSCs. Indeed, they displayed similar surface marker expression and efficient capacity to differentiate versus osteogenic and adipogenic lineage in vitro. We also proved that MDS-MSCs and AML-MSCs, analyzed by fluorescence in-situ hybridization, did not harbor leukemic cell cytogenetic abnormalities. Moreover, MDS-MSCs and AML-MSCs were similar in terms of ability to sustain AML cell viability and immune-regulatory capacity. However, we were also able to detect some differences between AML-MSCs and MDS-MSCs. Indeed, we found that the frequency of rescued MSCs was lower in the AML group than in the HD and MDS groups, suggesting that a reduced number of MSC precursors could inhabit AML BM. Instead, MDS-MSCs showed the lowest proliferative capacity, reflecting some intrinsic and particular defect. Conclusions Overall, our results elucidated that MDS-MSCs and AML-MSCs did not show macroscopic and/or tumor-related defects, but both displayed functional features potentially contributing to favor a leukemia-protective milieu.

Natural killer (NK) cells are circulating CD3- lymphocytes, which express CD56 or CD16 and an array of inhibitory receptors, called killer-immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs). Alloreactive KIR-ligand mismatched NK cells crucially mediate the innate immune response and have a well-recognized antitumor activity. Adoptive immunotherapy with alloreactive NK cells determined promising clinical results in terms of response in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and several data demonstrated that response can be influenced by the composition of NK graft. Several data show that there is a correlation between NK alloreactivity and clinical outcome: in a cohort of AML patients who received NK infusion with active disease, more alloreactive NK cell clones were found in the donor repertoire of responders than in non-responders. These findings demonstrate that the frequency of alloreactive NK cell clones influence clinical response in AML patients undergoing NK cell immunotherapy. In this work, we will review the most recent preclinical and clinical data about the impact of alloreactive NK cells features other than frequency of alloreactive clones and cytokine network status on their anti-leukemic activity. A better knowledge of these aspects is critical to maximize the effects of this therapy in AML patients.

Background The treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (Ph+ ALL) patients who harbor the T315I BCR-ABL1 mutation or who have two or more mutations in the same BCR-ABL1 molecule is particularly challenging since first and second-generation Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) are ineffective. Ponatinib, blinatumomab, chemotherapy and transplant are the currently available options in these cases. Case presentation We here report the case of a young Ph+ ALL patient who relapsed on front-line dasatinib therapy because of two independent T315I-positive subclones, resulting from different nucleotide substitutions -one of whom never reported previously- and where additional mutant clones outgrew and persisted despite ponatinib, transplant, blinatumomab and conventional chemotherapy. Deep Sequencing (DS) was used to dissect the complexity of BCR-ABL1 kinase domain (KD) mutation status and follow the kinetics of different mutant clones across the sequential therapeutic approaches. Conclusions This case presents several peculiar and remarkable aspects: i) distinct clones may acquire the same amino acid substitution via different nucleotide changes; ii) the T315I mutation may arise also from an ‘act’ to ‘atc’ codon change; iii) the strategy of temporarily replacing TKI therapy with chemo or immunotherapy, in order to remove the selective pressure and deselect aggressive mutant clones, cannot always be expected to be effective; iv) BCR-ABL1-mutated sub-clones may persist at very low levels (undetectable even by Deep Sequencing) for long time and then outcompete BCR-ABL1-unmutated ones becoming dominant even in the absence of any TKI selective pressure. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-017-3511-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Several clinical studies demonstrated the efficacy and safety of combining azacitidine with lenalidomide in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), but the molecular implications of this therapy (i.e. gene mutations and microRNA profiling) are still under investigation. Moreover, phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) beta1 is modulated in MDS cells treated with azacitidine, whereas lenalidomide, restoring a normal erythropoiesis, can affect PI-PLCgamma1 pathways. Purpose: This study firstly aimed to assess the effect of azacitidine and lenalidomide combination therapy on the expression of inositide-dependent signalling, focusing particularly on PI-PLC isoenzymes. Moreover, an extensive analysis on gene mutations and microRNA expression profiling was also performed. Patients and Methods: This study included 44 patients diagnosed with high-risk MDS who were given azacitidine and lenalidomide. Paired samples, before and during treatment, were analyzed. Firstly, we quantified the expression of PI-PLC isoenzymes by Real-Time PCR and immunocytochemical experiments. Moreover, we carried out cell cycle analyses and studied both PI-PLCbeta1 methylation status and the expression of Globin genes. In addition, the frequency of recurrent gene mutations associated with myeloid malignancies was evaluated, using an Illumina Cancer Myeloid Panel, and the expression of microRNAs was assessed using an Affimetrix array. Results: In our case series, 34/44 patients completed at least 6 cycles of treatment and were clinically evaluable, with an overall response rate of 76.5% (26/34 cases). Firstly, the therapy affectedthe MDS cell cycle. Moreover, the expression of PI-PLCs and Beta-Globin could be associated with a favourable clinical response to the combination therapy, hinting at a specific contribution of lenalidomide on erythroid activation, whilst the frequent demethylation of PI-PLCbeta1 promoter could be specifically linked to azacitidine. At baseline, the most frequent gene mutations were ASXL1 (59%), TET2 (41%), RUNX1 (35%) and SRSF2 (29%). Interestingly, all patients showing SRSF2 mutations evolved into AML. Moreover, all patients maintaining a stable disease during the therapy had increasing variant allele frequencies, showing a genetic instability. Finally, microRNA analysis revealed specific clusters associated with the treatment: 14 microRNAs were overexpressed and 28 were under-expressed as compared to baseline levels. Interestingly, down-regulation of 5 microRNAs was significantly associated with the lack of response. Conclusions: Our results show that the combination of azacitidine and lenalidomide can affect PI-PLC signalling, possibly regulating MDS cell cycle, myeloid and erythroid differentiation. Moreover, the therapy can induce a change in the specific gene mutation and microRNA profile that, if confirmed by larger studies, could be important to better evaluate the response to this therapy.

Although many attempts have been made to identify novel molecular-targeted therapies for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, their translation into the clinic have had limited impact. In particular, the question of effective and curative treatments for elderly patients, who are not eligible for stem cell transplantation, remains an unmet medical need. To answer this question, a wide range of immunologic therapeutic strategies, mostly T cell based, have been proposed and investigated. At present, however, the clinical results have been largely unsatisfactory. Natural killer cells have recently been used as a means of adoptive immunotherapy with promising clinical results. On the basis of recent clinical reports and moving from the basic immunobiology of natural killer cells, here we discuss some open issues in the clinical translation of natural killer-based adoptive immunotherapy for the management of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

11611 Background: Necroptosis is a type of necrotic cell death involving several genes transcription and activation of molecular mechanisms as death receptors, interferon, toll-like receptors, intracellular RNA and DNA sensors.The process is leading by the family of receptor-interacting protein kinase ( RIPK3, RIPK2, RIPK1) and the MLKL substrate. Losses of RIPK3 or MLKL, as well as deficiency in apoptosis, could allow tumor cells to escape the immunomediated cells death (ICD). Methods: We performed SNP Arrays (Cytoscan HD and SNP 6.0, Affymetrix) on a cohort of 300 non-M3 AML patients at diagnosis and we analyzed the Overall Survival (OS) of our patients with deficiency on necroptosis pathways. Survival was analyzed with Kaplan-Mayer method and Log-Rank test. We further analyze the relevance of different prognostic factors by the use of COX-Hazard Ratio statistical analysis. Results: We find that 18 patients presented a loss of RIPK1 or MLKL (nobody presented losses in RIPK3/RIPK2) and 13/18 patients were older than 65 years old. The Overall Survival (OS) of patients with alterations in these genes is significantly lower than control group, with a median OS of 3 vs 6 month respectively (p

Monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) by quantification of BCR-ABL1 transcript levels has become a main part of the management of patients with BCR-ABL1-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The failure to achieve molecular negativity shortly after starting TKI has been demonstrated to be predictive of relapse, suggesting that an accurate measurement of low BCR-ABL1 levels may have a role in preventing hematological relapse. Despite the big efforts made by many European laboratories within the European Study Group, at the time of writing a standardized procedure to quantify and express results is still missing for BCR-ABL1-positive ALL. In this study, in order to detect with high sensitivity low levels of BCR-ABL1 transcripts, we used a new technology and a new molecular approach based on microfluidic digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) using Taqman chemistry and we compared obtained results with those generated by the conventional method based on reverse transcriptase PCR reaction (RQ-PCR) for BCR-ABL1 and total ABL1, with TaqMan chemistry and with Applied Biosystems instrument. We demonstrated the dPCR is high-sensitive (able to detect a single copy of BCR-ABL1) and reliable (results are comparable to those obtained by BCR-ABL1 quantification with conventional technology), allowing an accurate monitoring of BCR-ABL1-positive ALL patients in complete remission.