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The combination of rituximab, bendamustine, and low dose cytarabine (R-BAC) has been studied in a phase 2 prospective multicenter study from the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi (FIL RBAC500). In 57 previously untreated elderly patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), R-BAC was associated with complete remission rate of 91%, and 2-years progression free survival (PFS) of 81% (95%CI 68-89). Here, we report the long-term survival outcome, late toxicities, and results of minimal residual disease (MRD) evaluation. After a median follow-up of 86 months (57-107), the median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were not reached. The 7-years PFS and OS rates were 55% (95%CI 41-67), and 63% (95%CI 49-74), respectively. Responding patients (n=53) had a 7-years PFS of 59% (95%CI 44-71), with no relapse or progression registered after the 6th year. At multivariate analysis blastoid/pleomorphic morphology was the strongest adverse predictive factor for PFS (p=0.04). Patients with an end of treatment negative minimal residual disease (MRD) had better, but not significant, outcomes for both PFS and OS than MRD positive patients (p=0,148 and p=0,162, respectively). There was no signal of late toxicity or increase of secondary malignancies during the prolonged follow-up. In conclusion, R-BAC, which was not followed by maintenance therapy, showed sustained efficacy over time in elderly patients with MCL. Survival outcomes compare favorably with other immuno-chemotherapy regimens (with or without maintenance), including combinations of BTK-inhibitors upfront.

The standard treatment for young patients with untreated PTCLs is based on anthracycline containing-regimens followed by high-dose-chemotherapy and stem-cell-transplantation (HDT + SCT), but only 40% of them can be cured. Romidepsin, a histone-deacetylase inhibitor, showed promising activity in relapsed PTCLs; in first line, Romidepsin was added with CHOP. We designed a study combining romidepsin and CHOEP as induction before HDT + auto-SCT in untreated PTCLs (PTCL-NOS, AITL/THF, ALK-ALCL), aged 18–65 years. A phase Ib/II trial was conducted to define the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of Ro-CHOEP, and to assess efficacy and safety of 6 Ro-CHOEP as induction before HDT. The study hypothesis was to achieve a 18-month PFS of 70%. Twenty-one patients were enrolled into phase Ib; 7 dose-limiting toxicities were observed, that led to define the MTD at 14 mg/ms. Eighty-six patients were included in the phase II. At a median follow-up of 28 months, the 18-month PFS was 46.2% (95%CI:35.0–56.7), and the 18-month overall survival was 73.1% (95%CI:61.6–81.7). The overall response after induction was 71%, with 62% CRs. No unexpected toxicities were reported. The primary endpoint was not met; therefore, the enrollment was stopped at a planned interim analysis. The addition of romidepsin to CHOEP did not improve the PFS of untreated PTCL patients.

Simple Summary The interest in using Machine-Learning (ML) techniques in clinical research is growing. We applied ML to build up a novel prognostic model from patients affected with Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) enrolled in a phase III open-labeled, randomized clinical trial from the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi (FIL)-MCL0208. This is the first application of ML in a prospective clinical trial on MCL lymphoma. We applied a novel ML pipeline to a large cohort of patients for which several clinical variables have been collected at baseline, and assessed their prognostic value based on overall survival. We validated it on two independent data series provided by European MCL Network. Due to its flexibility, we believe that ML would be of tremendous help in the development of a novel MCL prognostic score aimed at re-defining risk stratification. Background: Multicenter clinical trials are producing growing amounts of clinical data. Machine Learning (ML) might facilitate the discovery of novel tools for prognostication and disease-stratification. Taking advantage of a systematic collection of multiple variables, we developed a model derived from data collected on 300 patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) from the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi-MCL0208 phase III trial (NCT02354313). Methods: We developed a score with a clustering algorithm applied to clinical variables. The candidate score was correlated to overall survival (OS) and validated in two independent data series from the European MCL Network (NCT00209222, NCT00209209); Results: Three groups of patients were significantly discriminated: Low, Intermediate (Int), and High risk (High). Seven discriminants were identified by a feature reduction approach: albumin, Ki-67, lactate dehydrogenase, lymphocytes, platelets, bone marrow infiltration, and B-symptoms. Accordingly, patients in the Int and High groups had shorter OS rates than those in the Low and Int groups, respectively (Int -> Low, HR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.0-9.6; High -> Int, HR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.5-4.7). Based on the 7 markers, we defined the engineered MCL international prognostic index (eMIPI), which was validated and confirmed in two independent cohorts; Conclusions: We developed and validated a ML-based prognostic model for MCL. Even when currently limited to baseline predictors, our approach has high scalability potential.

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Idelalisib, a selective phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase delta (PI3Kδ) inhibitor, is a newly approved second-line drug for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Recent clinical trials have suggested a possible association between idelalisib treatment and development of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) due to John Cunningham virus (JCV) reactivation. Nevertheless, clinical course and radiological and pathological features of idelalisib-induced PML still need to be clarified. We provide here the first clinicopathological description of idelalisib-associated PML in a patient who developed epilepsia partialis continua (EPC) as the first manifestation of the disease. Since EPC could present without electroencephalogram alterations, it is crucial to recognize the clinical features of this epileptic condition. EPC is characterized by the presence of repetitive, irregular, clonic jerking, often associated with hemiparesis and involvement of distal rather than proximal muscle groups. Moreover, we highlight the importance of brain biopsy in selected cases when there is a high clinical suspicion of PML, despite negative JCV testing in the cerebrospinal fluid. The pathological finding of prominent inflammatory infiltrate observed here was consistent with a diagnosis of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS). IRIS is often associated with PML as a paradoxical worsening of clinical symptoms due to an overreacting immune response, in the context of previous immunosuppression. The unprecedented pathologic observation of IRIS in idelalisib-associated PML provides further insights into the pathogenesis of this rare neurological side effect.

The rate of complete remission (CR) with the anti-PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) nivolumab (N) and pembrolizumab (P) in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is low (20–30%), and the majority of patients eventually relapse. One strategy to improve their outcome is to combine ICI with radiotherapy (ICI-RT), taking advantage of a supposed synergistic effect. We retrospectively collected data of 12 adult patients with R/R cHL treated with ICI-RT delivered during or within 8 weeks from the start or after the end of ICI. Median age at ICI-RT was 37 years, 50% had previously received an autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) and 92% brentuximab vedotin. RT was given concurrently, before or after ICI in 4, 1 and 7 patients. Median RT dose was 30 Gy, for a median duration of 22 days. Median number of ICI administrations was 15. Overall response and CR rate were 100% and 58%. Nine patients received subsequent SCT consolidation (7 allogeneic and 2 autologous). After a median follow-up of 18 months, 92% of patients were in CR. No major concerns about safety were reported. ICI-RT combination appears to be a feasible and highly active bridge treatment to transplant consolidation.

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) has emerged as a main issue in non Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) immunocompromised hosts, exposing patients to high mortality rates, especially when the diagnosis is delayed. Since microbiological confirmation is often unfeasible or difficult to obtain, High-resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) represents a main tool for guiding the diagnosis in the appropriate clinical scenario. Nevertheless, radiologists must be aware that PJP at HRCT is a multifaceted process, with a variety of common and less frequent findings, along with a broad spectrum of infectious (e.g., viral and certain fungal and bacterial pneumonias) and non-infectious (e.g., pulmonary oedema, diffuse alveolar haemorrhage, and drug toxicity) differential diagnoses. In this review we resume background clinical information on PJP in non-HIV immunocompromised patients, illustrate both typical and less frequent HRCT findings, and present the spectrum of infectious and non-infectious mimickers at HRCT, highlighting the similarities with PJP and providing clues for the differential diagnosis.

Treatment for follicular lymphoma (FL) in the elderly is not well standardized. A phase II, multicentre, single arm trial was conducted in this setting with a brief chemoimmunotherapy regimen. Treatment consisted in four monthly courses of rituximab, bendamustine and mitoxantrone (R-BM) followed by 4 weekly rituximab as consolidation; rituximab maintenance was not applied because the drug was not licensed at the time of enrolment. The primary endpoint was the complete remission rate (CR). Seventy-six treatment-naive FL patients (aged 65-80 and a "FIT" score, according to the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment) were enrolled. CR was documented in 59/76 patients (78%), partial remission in 12 (16%) and stable/progressive disease in five (6%) with an overall response rate in 71/76 (94%). Median follow-up was 44 months with 3-year progression-free-survival (PFS) and overall-survival of 67% and 92% respectively. Nine deaths occurred, three of progressive disease. The regimen was well tolerated and the most frequent severe toxicity was neutropenia (18% of the cycles). Bcl-2/IGH rearrangement was found in 40/75 (53%) of evaluated patients. R-BM was highly effective in clearing polymerase chain reaction-detectable disease: 29/31 (96%) evaluated patients converted to bcl-2/IGH negativity at the end of treatment. A brief R-BM regimen plus rituximab consolidation is effective and safe in "FIT" elderly, treatment-naive, FL patients, inducing high CR and molecular remission rates with prolonged PFS.

The role of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is uncertain, even more in the era of bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi) and chimeric antigen receptor T-cells. We retrospectively analyzed 55 patients who underwent allo-SCT for MCL relapsed or refractory (r/r) after rituximab and high-dose cytarabine within the MANTLE-FIRST project. With a median follow-up of 3.7 years, non-relapse mortality (NRM), progression-free survival, and overall survival were 23%, 53%, and 56%, respectively. NRM was significantly higher in the case of acute graft-versus-host disease, > 2 prior lines of therapy, age > 60 years. The outcome was similar for patients with early (≤24 months) and late progression of disease. The use of BTKi as a bridge to allo-SCT did not increase the toxicity and allowed a good control of disease. Our real-life experience confirms that allo-SCT still represents an option in MCL patients, especially if young and early-relapsed.

Up to 30% immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients achieve a sustained remission off-treatment (SROT) after discontinuation of thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs). Factors predictive of response are lacking. Patients aged ≥18 years with newly diagnosed or persistent ITP were treated with eltrombopag for 24 weeks. Primary end-point was SROT: the proportion of responders that were able to taper and discontinue eltrombopag maintaining the response during a period of observation (PO) of six months. Secondary end-points included the association between some immunological parameters (TPO serum levels, cytokines and lymphocyte subsets) and response. Fifty-one patients were evaluable. Primary end-point was achieved in 13/51 (25%) treated patients and 13/34 (38%) patients who started the tapering. Baseline TPO levels were not associated with response at week 24 nor with SROT. Higher baseline levels of IL-10, IL-4, TNF-α and osteopontin were negative factors predictive of response (P = 0·001, 0·008, 0·02 and 0·03 respectively). This study confirms that SROT is feasible for a proportion of ITP patients treated with eltrombopag. Some biological parameters were predictive of response.

We report final results of a phase II trial addressing efficacy and feasibility of lenalidomide maintenance in patients with chemosensitive relapse of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not eligible for or failed after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Patients with relapsed DLBCL who achieved at least a partial response to salvage chemoimmunotherapy were enrolled and treated with lenalidomide 25 mg/day for 21 of 28 days for 2 years or until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary endpoint was 1-year PFS. Forty-six of 48 enrolled patients were assessable. Most patients had IPI ≥2, advanced stage and extranodal disease before the salvage treatment that led to trial registration; 28 (61%) patients were older than 70 years. Lenalidomide was well tolerated. With the exception of neutropenia, grade-4 toxicities occurred in

The R-BAC regimen is considered among standard first-line treatment for elderly fit patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). In the previous R-BAC500 FIL trial, patients with the blastoid variant and/or high Ki67 proliferative index (High Risk - HR-) had a significantly higher risk of progression (2-years PFS of 40%), as compared to classical histologies and low proliferative index (Low Risk -LR-). When treated with R-BAC, LR patients had excellent outcome (median PFS not reached after 7 years), although no maintenance therapy was delivered. For this reason we designed a phase 2 trial that enrolled patients from 35 centers of the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi (FIL). At study entry, patients were centrally reviewed and stratified as "low risk (LR)", or "high risk (HR)", depending on morphology (blastoid versus others), Ki67 expression (≥30% versus others), TP53 mutation/TP53 deletions (present versus not). Patients with any of the three risk factors were classified as HR. The primary endpoint was 2-years progression-free survival (PFS) for the HR patients. Patients had to be aged ≥65 years and fit according to the geriatric CGA assessment, or age ≤64 years if not eliglible to high-dose chemotherapy plus transplantation. Asymptomatic patients with non-nodal disease were excluded. Treatment consisted of 6 cycles of R-BAC (rituximab 375 mg/m2 d 1; bendamustine 70 mg/m2 d 1,2; cytarabine 500 mg/m2 d 1,2,3) for LR patients. HR patients received abbreviated induction with a maximum of 4 R-BAC followed by consolidation (4 months, 800 mg/d), and maintenance (20 months, 400 mg/d) with venetoclax. First patient was included on the 3rd of september, 2018, and last patient on the 20th of july, 2021. Overall, 140 patients were enrolled, of whom 52 were HR (37%). Median age was 72 (range 57-79), and 75% were males. The prevalence of TP53 mutations and deletions in the whole series was 21%, and 13%, respectively; Ki67 was ≥30% in 24%, and the blastoid variant was diagnosed in 9%. Demographic characteristics of HR versus LR patients (127 patients with available data at the present time) are reported in Table 1A. Median follow-up was 9 months (range 0-34). The two groups (HR and LR) had similar age, gender, and MIPI, but differed for LDH, and SUVmax at diagnosis, both being significantly more elevated in the HR group. The VR-BAC trial represents the first prospective study that stratified patients with MCL to different frontline treatments according to centralized on-time evaluation of the risk profile. We have shown that almost 40% of elderly patients with MCL in need of treatment have HR features. Data on tolerance, and tumor response will be presented at the meeting. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Tisi: GILEAD: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BWS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Zilioli: Roche, Italfarmaco: Consultancy, Honoraria; MSD, Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations; Takeda: Other: travel expenses, accommodation; Gentili, Takeda, Gilead, Servier: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Corradini: AbbVie, ADC Theraputics, Amgen, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead/Kite, GSK, Incyte, Janssen, KyowaKirin, Nerviano Medical Science, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda: Honoraria; BMS: Other: Travel and accommodation; Novartis; Gilead; Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Travel and accommodations; Amgen; Takeda; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations; KiowaKirin; Incyte; Daiichi Sankyo; Janssen; F. Hoffman-La Roche; Kite; Servier: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Incyte: Consultancy; AbbVie, ADC Theraputics, Amgen, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead/Kite, GSK, Incyte, Janssen, KyowaKirin, Nerviano Medical Science, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda: Consultancy; Novartis, Janssen, Celgene, BMS, Takeda, Gilead/Kite, Amgen, AbbVie: Other: travel and accomodations. Musuraca: janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; incyte: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Puccini: Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Cavallo: Servier: Speakers Bureau; ROCHE: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Speakers Bureau. Merli: EUSA Pharma: Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; MSD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead Science: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Celgene: Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses. Ferreri: PletixaPharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; BMS: Research Funding; Beigene: Research Funding; Hutchison Medipharma: Research Funding; ADC Therapeutics: Research Funding; Adienne: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genmab: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; x Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Ospedale San Raffaele srl: Patents & Royalties; Pfizer: Research Funding. Santoro: AstraZeneca: Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Speakers Bureau; Sandoz: Speakers Bureau; Eli-Lilly: Speakers Bureau; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Eisai: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Servier: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy; Arqule: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Bayer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; MSD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Zinzani: KYOWA KIRIN: Other, Speakers Bureau; SERVIER: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; SANDOZ: Other: Advisory board; TG Therapeutics: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; ROCHE: Other, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; TAKEDA: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; MSD: Consultancy, Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; NOVARTIS: Consultancy, Other, Speakers Bureau; EUSAPHARMA: Consultancy, Other, Speakers Bureau; Beigene: Other, Speakers Bureau; ADC Therap.: Other; Incyte: Other, Speakers Bureau; JANSSEN-CILAG: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; GILEAD: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; CELLTRION: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; VERASTEM: Consultancy, Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau. OffLabel Disclosure: Venetoclax is off-label in Italy in mantle cell lymphoma

The activity of the combination of rituximab, bendamustine, and low dose cytarabine (R-BAC) was evaluated in a phase 2 multicentre trial from the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi (FIL RBAC500) in previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who were not eligible to stem cell transplant. Maintenance treatment was not planned after induction therapy, and no patient in the study received rituximab maintenance. Fifty-seven patients (median age 71 years, range 61-79) were recruited and treated with 4 to 6 cycles between 2012 and 2014. Despite some concern in terms of hematological toxicity, the R-BAC regimen was associated with high complete remission (CR) rate (91%), 2-years overall survival (OS) of 86% (74-93), and 2-years progression free survival (PFS) of 81% (68-89). Here, we present long-term survival outcomes. After 7 years of median follow-up (86 months, range 57-107), the median OS and PFS for all patients were not reached (Figure 1A and 1B). The 7-years PFS and OS rates were 56% (95%CI 41-67) and 63% (95%CI 46-72), respectively. Patients who achieved CR (n=53) had a 7 years PFS of 59% (95% CI 44-71), with the curve that appears to plateau after 6 years. Adverse predictive factors affecting PFS were blastoid morphology (p 30% (p Eight patients (14%) developed a secondary neoplasia: 1 parotid heteroplasia, 1 parotid nodular hyperplasia, 1 prostate cancer, 1 bladder cancer, 1 larynx, 1 thyroid cancer, 1 lung cancer and 1 secondary acute myeloid leukemia. Among the 25 relapsed patients, 8 did not receive any other treatment. Six had Ibrutinib monotherapy as second line, of whom 4 responded (3 are still in CR), 4 had CHOP or CHOP-like regimens with only partial responses. As per protocol, 31 patients with molecular marker at diagnosis and available samples were followed-up for minimal residual disease (MRD) with ASO-droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (D-PCR). Patients with MRD persistence at the end of induction, either in peripheral blood or bone marrow, had significantly worse 7 years-PFS (p In conclusion, in elderly patients with newly diagnosed MCL, R-BAC showed sustained efficacy over time, which compared favorably with any other reported immuno-chemotherapy regimen (with or without maintenance) in similar populations. With a median OS exceeding 60% after 7-years this regimen has significantly impacted on the life-expectancy of elderly patients with MCL. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Tisi: Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BWS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Nassi: Takeda: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy; Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy. Ferrero: Gilead: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Morphosys: Research Funding; Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Servier: Speakers Bureau; EUSA Pharma: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Clinigen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Zilioli: Takeda: Other: travel expenses, accommodation; MSD, Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accommodations; Roche, Italfarmaco: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gentili, Takeda, Gilead, Servier: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Merli: Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Gilead Science: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; MSD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; EUSA Pharma: Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Celgene: Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses.

Introduction: Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) have a 40-50% cure rate when treated with cyclophosphamide-doxorubicin-etoposide-vincristine-prednisone (CHOEP) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Romidepsin, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, showed promising activity in relapsed or refractory PTCLs. Methods: On these premises, we designed a phase I/II trial (PTCL13 NCT02223208) to evaluate whether the addition of romidepsin to CHOEP improves the outcome of newly diagnosed PTCLs. In the phase Ib part of the study, we defined 14 mg/ms as the maximum tolerated dose of romidepsin when administered in combination with CHOEP (Ro-CHOEP). Thus, in the phase II part of the study we evaluated the efficacy of Ro-CHOEP followed by HSCT in young patients. The primary objective of the study was to demonstrate a 15% increase in 18-months progression-free survival (PFS) for the combination Ro-CHOEP plus HSCT (from 55% to 70%, planned sample size=110), compared to the previous Italian trial (Corradini P et al, Leukemia 2014). Patients aged 18-65 years with stage II-IV PTCL-NOS, angioimmunoblastic/T follicular helper (AITL/THF) and ALK negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma, were eligible. Treatment plan consisted of 6 courses of Ro-CHOEP every 21 days (14 mg/ms Ro day 1 and 8), followed by cisplatin-cytarabine-dexamethasone (DHAP) with stem cell harvest and HSCT. Patients in complete response (CR) after induction proceeded to autoHSCT, while those in partial response (PR), with an available HLA-matched donor, proceeded to alloHSCT upfront. Results: From September 2017 to October 2020, 86 patients were enrolled into the phase II part of the study; median age was 55 years (IQR 49;60); 78 (91%) had stage III-IV and 31 (36%) IPI score >2. Pathological materials were collected at the time of diagnosis, and centrally reviewed by expert hemo-pathologists; subgroups were: 33 PTCL-NOS, 21 ALK negative, 31 AITL/THF, and one case not classified due to inadequate material. According to the statistical plan, an interim analysis was performed on the first 75 patients. At a median follow-up of 26 months, the 18-months PFS was 48% (95% CI: 0.36-0.58) and the OS was 75% (95% CI: 0.64-0.83). The 18-months PFS for PTCL-NOS versus ALK negative vs AITL/THF was 37% (95% CI: 0.20-0.54) vs. 51% (95% CI: 0.28-0.70) vs. 58% (95% CI: 0.36-0.74), p 0.118; the 18-months OS for PTCL-NOS vs. ALK negative vs. AITL/THF was 72% (95% CI: 0.51-0.85) vs. 76% (95% CI: 0.51-0.89) vs. 81% (95% CI: 0.60-0.92), p 0.957. All 86 patients completed the induction phase and were evaluable for response after 6 Ro-CHOEP: the overall response rate (ORR) was 71% (61 patients), with 62% (53 patients) CR. Four patients with ongoing treatment are not evaluable for response at the end of therapy, at the time of the analysis. Only 39 of 82 patients (48%) underwent HSCT and 43 did not: 28 due to progressive disease, 8 for poor mobilization, 7 for adverse events (1 sepsis, 2 cardiological events, 4 others). Among the 82 patients evaluable for response at the end of treatment, the final ORR after HSCT was 40% (33 patients), with 39% CR (32 patents). The most frequent toxicities during Ro-CHOEP treatment were hematological, with grade 3-4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia in 33% and 34% of all the 459 cycles, respectively; severe febrile neutropenia was reported in only 4% of Ro-CHOEP courses. Severe non-hematological toxicities were observed in 35 (41%) of patients: cardiological in 5 patients (6%), gastrointestinal in 9 (10%), infections in 10 (12%), others in 11 (13%). Twenty-four deaths were recorded: 22 due to lymphoma progression, 1 due to transplant related mortality for a septic shock after alloSCT, 1 due to secondary malignancy. Conclusions: In the PTCL13 phase I part of the study we demonstrated the feasibility of the combination Ro 14 mg/ms plus CHOEP followed by high-dose chemotherapy and HSCT; in the phase 2 part of the study, the primary objective was not achieved, with a 18-months PFS of 48%. Based on these results, the enrollment of the trial was stopped due to inefficacy of the experimental combination. The benefit of adding romidepsin to chemotherapy was not observed neither in PTCL-NOS nor in AITL/THF. In conclusion, the addition of romidepsin to CHOEP did not ameliorate prognosis in newly diagnosis PTCLs eligible to HSCT. Disclosures Chiappella: Roche: Other: lecture fee, advisory board; Incyte: Other: lecture fee; Takeda: Other: advisory board; Celgene Bristol Myers Squibb: Other: lecture fee, advisory board; Clinigen: Other: lecture fee, advisory board; Novartis: Other: lecture fee; Janssen: Other: lecture fee, advisory board; Gilead Sciences: Other: lecture fee, advisory board; Astrazeneca: Other: lecture fee; Servier: Other: lecture fee. Flenghi: Roche: Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses; Janssen: Other: Travel, Accomodations, Expenses. Zilioli: Gentilli: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Other, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Servier: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; MSD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Consultancy; Italfarmaco: Consultancy. Cavallo: Servier: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Speakers Bureau; ROCHE: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Musuraca: roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; incyte: 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. Varettoni: janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; beigene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Corradini: Incyte: Consultancy; Novartis, Janssen, Celgene, BMS, Takeda, Gilead/Kite, Amgen, AbbVie: Other: travel and accomodations; BMS: Other: Travel and accommodation; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis; Gilead; Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Travel and accommodations; Amgen; Takeda; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations; KiowaKirin; Incyte; Daiichi Sankyo; Janssen; F. Hoffman-La Roche; Kite; Servier: Consultancy; AbbVie, ADC Theraputics, Amgen, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead/Kite, GSK, Incyte, Janssen, KyowaKirin, Nerviano Medical Science, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda: Honoraria; AbbVie, ADC Theraputics, Amgen, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead/Kite, GSK, Incyte, Janssen, KyowaKirin, Nerviano Medical Science, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda: Consultancy. OffLabel Disclosure: Romidepsin is not registered in first line treatment. Romidepsin was provided free for the clinical trial.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disease with specific morphologic and molecular features and excellent prognosis. Although high rate of complete response (CR) has been reported after treatment with purine analogs, expecially cladribine (2CDA), relapse may occur during follow-up. The aim of the study is to review the efficacy, safety, long term remission rate and overall survival (OS) in those patients (pts) that received 2CDA as first line treatment. We retrospectively reviewed data of all HCL pts treated with 2CDA between March 1991 and May 2019 at 18 Italian Hematological centers. Among 553 pts reported, only 513 were evaluable because treated with 2CDA alone. Considering the clinical carachteristics, M/F ratio was 4.5 with a median age of 54 years (range 24-88) and ECOG 0 in 85% of cases. Splenomegaly and presence of circulating hairy cells recorded by morphology were reported in 241 (47%) and 138 (27%) pts, respectively. Thirty-seven (7%) pts presented with an infection. Other comorbidities were cardiovascular in 29 (6%) pts, a previous cancer or diabetes in 27 (5%) each, chronic hepatic disorders in 18 (3%), obstructive pulmonary disease in 16 (3%), chronic kidney disease in 3 (1%). Three hundred-thirty (64%) pts received 2CDA intravenously (253 as daily continuous infusion for 5-7 consecutive days and 77 as weekly infusion for 5-7 consecutive weeks) and 183 (36%) subcutaneously. Response criteria were defined as per recent consensus guidelines (Grever MR et al. Blood 2017). The overall response rate (ORR) was 83%: CR in 335 pts (65%) and partial response (PR) in 96 (19%); 40 (8%) pts obtained hematological improvement (HI) and in 42 (8%) no response was observed. Nine of 11 (82%) pts with HI and 18/25 (72%) non responders who received salvage therapy obtained a major response (fig. 1). A slightly higher hemoglobin value (12.4 vs 11.4 g/dl, p=0.044), a reduced frequency of circulating hairy cells (28.7% vs 31.8%, p=0.039), absence of palpable splenomegaly (p= 2CDA is greatly effective in treating HCL, with an ORR of 83%. Early and long term adverse events were rare and easily managed: although HCL-related mortality is still possible, OS at 15 years is higher than 80% Disclosures Motta: Roche: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria. Offidani:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria. Tedeschi:Abbvie: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Sunesis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Acerta: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Beigene: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Trentin:Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Octapharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Shire: Honoraria. Varettoni:Roche: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AbbVie: Other: Travel/accommodations/expenses; Janssen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel/accommodations/expenses. Visentin:Janssen: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria. Falini:Roche: Research Funding. Pulsoni:Sandoz: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Gilead: Speakers Bureau; Bristol Myers Squibb: Speakers Bureau; roche: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Merk: Consultancy. Tiacci:Roche: Research Funding; Abbvie: Other: Travel and meeting expenses. Zinzani:Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Portola: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Servier: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; ADC Therapeutics: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Kirin Kyowa: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, 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; Verastem: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Immune Design: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; TG Therapeutics, Inc.: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sandoz: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; MSD: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celltrion: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Eusapharma: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Immune Design: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; EUSA Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau.

This phase-II study assessed activity and toxicity of substituting conventional doxorubicin with nonpegylated liposomal doxorubicin in the conventional ABVD regimen for the treatment of elderly or cardiopathic patients with HL. Stage I-IIA and IIB-IV patients were treated with three courses of MBVD plus radiotherapy, or six courses of MBVD, respectively, plus radiotherapy limited to bulky or residual disease areas. The primary endpoints were CR rate and the rate of cardiac events. Forty-seven patients were enrolled. Median age was 75 years, 13 had stage I-II disease. Overall, CR was achieved by 36 patients (77%, 95% CI: 62-88), 100% and 68% in stage I-II and III-IV, respectively. With a median follow-up of 40 months (IQR: 36-45). Three-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 70% and 43%, respectively. Cardiac events grades 3-5 were reported in two patients. In conclusion, MBVD's activity and safety profile was comparable to historical ABVD data.

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) secondary to chronic lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) is poorly responsive to conventional treatments. We conducted a multicenter phase 2 prospective 24-week study in 18 patients with ITP secondary to LPDs to assess the safety and efficacy of eltrombopag. Responsive patients entered an extension study for up to 5 years. For inclusion, patients should not require cytotoxic treatment and should have a platelet count30 × 109/L or have symptoms of bleeding. Eltrombopag was initiated at 50 mg/day, with a maximum of 150 mg/day. The primary end point was platelet response after 4 weeks. Median age was 70 years (range, 43-83 years), and 14 patients had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 2 had classic Hodgkin lymphoma, and 2 had Waldenström macroglobulinemia. All patients had received previous ITP treatments. Response rate at week 4 was 78% (95% confidence interval [CI], 58%-97%), with 50% of patients having a complete response (CR) (95% CI, 43%-57%); respective results at week 24 were 59% (95% CI, 36%-82%) with 30% reaching a CR (95% CI, 8%-52%). Median exposure to eltrombopag was 16 months; median dose at week 4 was 50 mg/day (range, 25-100 mg/day), and at week 24, it was 50 mg/day (range, 25-150 mg/day). No grade2 adverse events were reported. Eltrombopag is active and well tolerated in ITP secondary to LPDs. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01610180.

Clinical trial results indicate that romidepsin, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, is a promising treatment in relapsed/refractory T-cell lymphomas (TCLs). This retrospective multicenter study was conducted in patients with relapsed/refractory TCL treated with romidepsin monotherapy through a Named Patient Program (NPP) in Italy. Principal endpoints were overall response rate (ORR), safety, and overall survival (OS). The ORR in 33 evaluable patients was 24.2% with an ORR in the cutaneous TCL of 35.7%. Global OS was 39.3% at 30 months. There were not any specific differences on hematological and extrahematological adverse events. Data from patients treated with romidepsin outside a controlled clinical trial give additional information about the clinical use, efficacy, and toxicity of the drug given to relapsed or refractory TCL patients in a real life context as TCLs are rare diseases and more information is needed. These findings suggest that romidepsin is effective and safe for heavily pretreated TCL patients.

Options are limited for patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) for whom the median overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) are less than 6 months. Patients who are candidates for allogeneic stem cell transplantation can be cured should they achieve adequate response to salvage therapy prior to transplant. Patients who relapse after transplant or who are not transplant candidates are often treated with sequential single-agent therapies with non-curative intent. Only four agents are FDA-approved for the treatment of R/R PTCL including pralatrexate, romidepsin and belinostat. The objective response rate to each of these agents is only 25-30% and duration of response (DOR) is limited. For a specific subtype of PTCL, namely systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, single-agent brentuximab vedotin (BV) treatment resulted in an 86% overall response rate (ORR) and a 57% complete response (CR) rate in R/R disease. A phase 2 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of BV in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and PTCL not otherwise specified reporting an ORR of 41% (Horwitz et al, Blood. 2014). We conducted a phase 2 study to determine the antitumor efficacy of single-agent BV (1.8 mg/kg administered intravenously every 3 weeks for a maximum of 16 cycles) as measured by the ORR in R/R CD30+ PTCL patients (PTCL not otherwise specified, AITL and transformed mycosis fungoides). Secondary objectives were to assess duration of tumor control, including duration of response and progression-free survival, overall survival and the safety and tolerability of BV in this setting. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02497131. From September 2015 and September 2019, 25 patients were enrolled and 23 (population for the final analysis) received at least one BV infusion (median 5, range 2-16). There were 10 females, 18 patients were in stage IV and 16 subjects were refractory to the last therapy. Median number of therapies received prior to BV was 2 (range 1-6). Final ORR was 30.4%, with 4 CR. CR patients were 3 PTCL not otherwise specified and 1 AITL with response duration of 2.8, 3.3, 4.5 and 10.7 months, respectively. Best response was achieved at the III cycle. PFS was 4.3% at 12 months (median reached at 4.4 months), OS at 12 months was 49.8% (median reached at 11.4 months) and median DOR was 3.4 months. No correlation between CD30 expression per central review and response was observed. Twenty-one hematological toxicities occurred, 14 of them were grade ≥3 (10 thrombocytopenia and 4 neutropenia, all resolved or improved during BV therapy). Among extra-hematological toxicities (n=26, 3.5% grade ≥3), 7 were serious adverse events. To note, 6 of them (23.1%) were lung infection/pneumonia. Only one peripheral neuropathy (grade 1) occurred. In terms of response, the ORR and PFS in this trial are comparable to those in similar populations studied with both other recently approved agents, such as pralatrexate and romidepsin, and with the other phase 2 study on BV. The ORR of 30% and the OS of in the present study places BV among the active agents for PTCL. Safety concerns emerged about infections, claiming for a strict monitoring for these toxicities. Disclosures Corradini: Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations paid by for; Kite: Consultancy, Honoraria; KiowaKirin: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Incyte: Consultancy; Servier: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other; BMS: Other; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations paid by for; F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations paid by for; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations paid by for; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations paid by for. Zinzani:Immune Design: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; MSD: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Portola: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Servier: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Eusapharma: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sandoz: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; EUSA Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Kirin Kyowa: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; TG Therapeutics, Inc.: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Merck: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; ADC Therapeutics: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celltrion: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Immune Design: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Verastem: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau.

We investigated panobinostat 40 mg three times weekly in 35 adult patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Overall response rate and complete response were 17.1% and 11.4%, respectively. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were 2.4 and 7.6 months, respectively. Calculated 12, 24 and 36 months PFS were 26%, 11% and 11%, respectively. Four patients who achieved a sustained CR, continued receiving panobinostat for an overall period of 44, 48, 50, 62 months. Thrombocytopenia grade 3 (5 patients) and 4 (24 patients) represented the main toxic effect, causing dose reduction or treatment suspension in 19 patients. Genomic analysis was unable to identify any relationship between mutations and response; TP53 mutation appeared not to impact the clinical outcome. Overall, panobinostat has a modest activity in R/R DLBCL patients, however it can induce very long lasting responses in some cases. Thrombocytopenia frequently limits the use of this agent.

Background and aims The amount of clinical and biological data stored within clinical trials is growing exponentially. Data warehousing (DW) is useful for systematic global evaluation of information collected in trials: the highly translational FIL(Fondazione Italiana Linfomi)-MCL0208 trial has been used to test DW to improve data quality and to discover putative associations [Zaccaria, ASH 17]. In this study we developed an engineered prognostic model, focusing on easily accessible clinical variables. For this purpose, we exploited hierarchical clustering with the aim of seeking hidden patterns of interest in large datasets. Hence, these tools allowed to develop a novel prognostic model: the engineered MIPI index (e-MIPI). Herein we present the first results, on baseline clinical characteristics:clustering analysis and definition of a signature of predictive variablesconstruction of the e-MIPI to detect patients' risk of relapsecomparison with known prognostic indexes for MCLvalidation of the signature on independent subset of patients. Methods Data were retrieved from electronic case report forms of the phase III, multicenter FIL-MCL0208 trial (NCT02354313) for younger MCL patients [Cortelazzo, EHA 15]. The study enrolled 300 subjects, with median followup of 51 months. In this work we employed baseline clinical data and May '18 as survival outcomes cut-off. For the present analysis, we started from 32 baseline features: 7 were not eligible due to number of missing values (MVs ≥40). Features with Clustering analysis was performed to discriminate different groups of patients. Thus, we applied a recursive feature reduction, according to regression modeling, to extrapolate a restricted signature predictive of both progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Survival analyses were done according to e-MIPI classes via both multivariate Cox and Kaplan-Maier modeling. Therefore, the e-MIPI classification was compared to known prognostic models [Hoster, Blood 08]. Finally, the signature was tested on the validation set: if any variable of the e-MIPI was missing (MVs=36, 29 and 15 for albumin - alb, Ki67 and flowcytometric peripheral blood invasion - flowpb) data mining (K-nn) technique was employed for imputation. Clustering and statistical analyses were implemented via MATLAB© and SPSS©. Results Training set: the clustering analysis allowed to define 3 groups of subjects: C1 (n=71), C2 (n=77) and C3 (n=37), showing significantly different PFS and OS. Thus, the e-MIPI index was modeled based on a signature of 9 significant features (fig 1): histologic bone marrow infiltration (bminf), flowpb, Ki67, B symptoms, platelets (plts), ldh, white blood cells (wbc), hemoglobin (hb) and alb levels. The re-clustering of the training set according to the e-MIPI confirmed the original patients clustering with 83% of accuracy. Figure 2A depicts the PFS curves stratified for the e-MIPI: C1, C2 and C3 groups have been renamed as low (L), intermediate (I) and high (H) e-MIPI risk classes, respectively. Each comparison reached the statistical significancy: I vs L, p=0.010; H vs I, p=0.023, outperforming in our series both the MIPI-St (H vs I risk, p=0.801) and MIPI-Bio (I vs L risk, p=0.665, fig. 2B) classifications. Validation set: the e-MIPI allowed to discriminate 3 groups of subjects C1 (n=32), C2 (n=59) and C3 (n=24). Actually, the e-MIPI on the validation set (fig. 2C) confirmed the results of the training set, overall improving the MIPI-St stratification (H vs I, p=0.059 ⇒ p=0.049), even if without reaching the statistical significancy on the I vs L comparison (p=0.24 ⇒ p=0.15), due to the limited number of events in this series. Discussion e-Mipi is a new first prognostic index derived from hierarchical clustering. Our results indicate that this approach might allow to model engineered prognostic indexes based on comprehensive analysis of large datasets. Even if promising, it needs validation through its application to independent series of MCL patients. Additional efforts aiming at integrating biological variables in the model are ongoing. Disclosures Gaidano: Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Morphosys: Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria. Ladetto:Celgene: Honoraria; Sandoz: Honoraria; Jannsen: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria; Acerta: Honoraria.

Although sometimes presenting as an indolent lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive disease, hardly curable with standard chemo-immunotherapy. Current approaches have greatly improved patients' outcomes, nevertheless the disease is still characterized by high relapse rates. Before approval by EMA, Italian patients with relapsed/refractory MCL were granted ibrutinib early access through a Named Patient Program (NPP). An observational, retrospective, multicenter study was conducted. Seventy-seven heavily pretreated patients were enrolled. At the end of therapy there were 14 complete responses and 14 partial responses, leading to an overall response rate of 36.4%. At 40 months overall survival was 37.8% and progression free survival was 30%; disease free survival was 78.6% at 4 years: 11/14 patients are in continuous complete response with a median of 36 months of follow up. Hematological toxicities were manageable, and main extra-hematological toxicities were diarrhea (9.4%) and lung infections (9.0%). Overall, 4 (5.2%) atrial fibrillations and 3 (3.9%) hemorrhagic syndromes occurred. In conclusions, thrombocytopenia, diarrhea and lung infections are the relevant adverse events to be clinically focused on; regarding effectiveness, ibrutinib is confirmed to be a valid option for refractory/relapsed MCL also in a clinical setting mimicking the real world.

The purpose of this phase 2, multicenter study was to determine the activity and safety of nonpegylated liposomal doxorubicin as part of "R-COMP" combination in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and coexisting cardiac disorders. The study was conducted using a Bayesian continuing assessment method using complete remission rate and rate of cardiac events as study endpoints. Between November 2009 and October 2011, 50 evaluable patients were enrolled (median age, 76 years). Median baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 60%. Ischemic cardiopathy was the most frequent preexisting cardiac disorder (35%), followed by atrial fibrillation (15%), left ventricular hypertrophy (13%), and baseline LVEF

In patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) refractory to corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG), splenectomy may result at higher risk of peri-operative complications and, for this reason, potentially contraindicated. The thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) romiplostim and eltrombopag have shown high therapeutic activity in primary ITP, but data of efficacy and safety regarding their use in preparation for splenectomy are missing. Thirty-one adult patients, median age 50 years, with corticosteroids and/or IVIG refractory persistent and chronic ITP who were treated with TPO-RAs (romiplostim= 24; eltrombopag= 7) with the aim to increase platelet count and allow a safer execution of splenectomy were retrospectively evaluated. Twenty-four patients (77%) responded to the use of TPO-RAs with a median platelet count that increased from 11 × 10(9) /L before starting TPO-RAs to 114 × 10(9) /L pre-splenectomy, but a concomitant treatment with corticosteroids and/or IVIG was required in 19 patients. Twenty-nine patients underwent splenectomy while two patients who responded to TPO-RAs subsequently refused surgery. Post-splenectomy complications were characterized by two Grade 3 thrombotic events (1 portal vein thrombosis in the patient with previous history of HCV hepatitis and 1 pulmonary embolism), with a platelet count at the time of thrombosis of 260 and 167 × 10(9) /L, respectively and one Grade 3 infectious event. TPO-RAs may represent a therapeutic option to improve platelet count and reduce the risk of peri-operative complications in ITP candidates to splenectomy. An increased risk of post-splenectomy thromboembolic events cannot be ruled out and thromboprophylaxis with low-molecular weight heparin is generally recommended.

Introduction: Novel targeted therapies and monoclonal antibodies can be combined with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) at different time-points: 1) before the transplant to reduce tumour burden, 2) as part of the conditioning in place of or in addition to conventional agents 3) after the transplant to allow long-term disease control. Areas covered: This review focuses on the current integration of new drugs with allo-SCT for the treatment of major hematological malignancies for which allo-SCT has been a widely-adopted therapy. Expert opinion: After having been used as single agent salvage treatments in relapsed patients after allo-SCT or in combination with donor lymphocyte infusions, many new drugs have also been safely employed before allo-SCT as a bridge to transplantation or after it as planned consolidation/maintenance. This era of new drugs has opened new important opportunities to ‘smartly’ combine ‘targeted drugs and cell therapies’ in new treatment paradigms that may lead to higher cure rates or longer disease control in patients with hematological malignancies.

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of a salvage treatment with rituximab (RTX) in adults with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), in terms of short-term response and long-term response (LTR, i.e., probability to achieve and maintain response) and to identify biological and clinical predictors of response. Methods We retrospectively evaluated the outcome of patients with primary ITP treated with standard dosage RTX (375 mg/m2 × 4) as salvage therapy in five Italian centers. One hundred and three patients, median age of 46 yr, were included. The median period of observation was 59 months. Results Response (R) and complete response (CR) were documented in 57 (55%) and 37 (36%) patients, respectively. Patients younger than 40 yr had a higher probability to achieve CR (P = 0.025). Younger women (age < 40 yr) had a significantly higher probability to achieve R and CR (P = 0.039 and P = 0.009, respectively). The estimated LTR rate was 36% and 31% after 48 and 72 months, respectively; female sex (P = 0.033) and younger age (P = 0.021) were associated with better LTR. Younger women had the highest LTR rate (P = 0.006). Response duration was associated with the obtainment of CR after RTX (CR vs. partial response, P = 0.002). Conclusions The effect of RTX salvage treatment appears higher in younger women, with LTR rate possibly approaching that of splenectomy.

In this past decade, new therapeutic approaches based on the use of rituximab, high-dose cytosine-arabinoside, and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) have changed the paradigm of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) treatment, significantly improving the quality and duration of response and

Between November 2012 and July 2014, in accordance with national law 648/96, brentuximab vedotin was available in Italy for patients with relapsed systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma outside a clinical trial context. A large Italian observational retrospective study was conducted on the use of brentuximab vedotin in everyday clinical practice to check whether clinical trial results are confirmed in a real-life context. The primary endpoint of this study was best response; secondary endpoints were the overall response rate at the end of the treatment, duration of response, survival and safety profile. A total of 40 heavily pretreated patients were enrolled. Best response was observed after a median of four cycles in 77.5%: globally, 47.5% patients obtained a complete response, 64.2% in the elderly subset. The overall response rate was 62.5%. At the latest follow up, 15/18 patients are still in complete remission (3 with consolidation). The progression-free survival rate at 24 months was 39.1% and the disease-free survival rate at the same time was 54% (median not reached). All the long-term responders were aged

A large Italian multicenter observational retrospective study was conducted on the use of brentuximab vedotin (BV) for patients with relapsed Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) to check if clinical trial results are confirmed even in a real life context. 234 CD30+ HL patients were enrolled. Best response was observed after a median of 4 cycles in 140 patients (59.8%): 74 (31.6%) patients obtained a complete response (CR) and 66 (28.2%) achieved a partial response (PR); overall response rate at the end of the treatment was 48.3% (62 CR and 51 PR). The best response rate was higher in the elderly subset: 14 (50%) CR and 5 (17.8%) PR. Disease free survival was 26.3% at 3 years and progression free survival 31.9% at 4.5 years. Duration of response did not differ for who achieved at least PR and then either did or did not undergo consolidative transplant. Overall, the treatment was well tolerated and no death has been linked to BV-induced toxicity. Our report confirms activity in elderly patients, duration of response unrelated to the consolidation with transplant procedure, the relevance of the CR status at first restaging, and the role of BV as a bridge to transplant for chemorefractory patients.

Background. The outcome of relapsed/refractory diffuse large-B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients after first line chemoimmunotherapy is poor, and the choice of the best salvage treatment is challenging. Acisplatin-containing regimen (DHAP, cisplatin, high-dose citarabine, dexamethasone) is worldwide accepted as induction pre-stem cell transplantation (SCT). Bortezomib had proven activity in aggressive lymphomas. On these bases, the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi designed the FIL-VERAL12 trial, aimed at evaluating whether the addition of bortezomib to rituximab-DHAP (BR-DHAP) increases complete response rate (CR, according to Lugano 2007 criteria) prior SCT compared to standard R-DHAP. Methods. FIL-VERAL12 was a prospective, multicenter, two-arm randomized phase II trial (NCT01805557).The primary study endpoint wasCR after 4 courses of R-DHAP or BR-DHAP, assuming a 30% CR for the standard arm and a 50% CR in experimental arm. Inclusion criteria were: patients aged 18-65 years with relapsed/refractory DLBCL after first line chemoimmunotherapy, eligible to high-dose therapy. A centrally histological review and classification according to cell of origin profile was planned. Patients were stratified by relapsed or refractory and randomized 1:1 to receive: a) the standard salvage therapy R-DHAP every 28 days for 4 cycles and b) subcutaneous 1.5 mg/sqm bortezomib on days 1 and 4 of each 4-week cycle in addition to the same regimen. Restaging, mobilization and harvesting of peripheral stem cell were performed after the second course. Results. From January 2013 to November 2018, 114 patients were screened; 108 eligible patients were enrolled into the trial and randomized to receive R-DHAP or BR-DHAP (54 patients in each arm). Principal clinical characteristics were: median age 57 years (IQR: 48;62); stage III/IV 81 patients (75%); IPI risk >3 32 (30%). All patients received rituximab and anthracycline-based regimens as first line treatment. Considering the time at relapse, 52 patients (48%) were registered as relapsed (median time at relapse 10.8 months, IQR: 6.9;20.9) and 46 (43%) as refractory (0.9 months, IQR 0.52;1.3); in the remaining 10 patients the data is missing at the time of this analysis. 51 (47%) patients completed the planned 4 cycles of therapy; 57 did not, due to progressive disease in 20, adverse events in 2, unknown causes in 35 cases. Intermediate response after 2 courses was: CR 16 (15%), partial response (PR) 37 (34%), stable disease (SD) 16 (15%); 24 (22%) were in progression (PD) and 15 (14%) were not available for response. At the end of treatment, the pre-ASCT response was: : CR 30 (28%), PR 10 (9%), SD 13 (12%), PD 38 (35%), NA 17 (16%). According to arm of randomization, the primary end point was not met, with CR 30% for R-DHAP and 26% for BR-DHAP (Pr 0.667). 38 patients performed a consolidation SCT, autologous SCT in 38, allogeneic SCT in 4. The addition of bortezomib to standard R-DHAP did not impact the mobilization: only one patient was poor mobilizer and the median number of CD34+ collected was 6.9 x 10^6 cells CD34/kg (IQR: 4.8; 9.7), with no differences between the two arms. No toxic deaths were recorded into the trial. On 294 cycles with data available, haematological and extra-haematological toxicities were: grade 3-4 neutropenia in 152 of 294 courses (52%), g 3-4 thrombocytopenia in 209 (71%); g 3-4 febrile neutropenia in 4 (1%), g3-4 infection in 5 (2%), g3-4 neurotoxicity in 5 (2%); the incidence of adverse events were similar in the two arms. At a median follow-up of 9.8 months, 12-months PFS was: overall 48.8% (38.4-58.4), 44.6% (30.4-57.8) and 53.1% (37.9-66.1) for R-DHAP and BR-DHAP, respectively (log rank, p 0.464). At a median follow-up of 15.9 months, 12-months OS was: overall 69% (58.2-77.7), 62.7% (46.4-75.3) and 75.1% (59.6-85.4) for R-DHAP and BR-DHAP, respectively (log rank, p 0.628). Conclusions. In the FIL-VERAL12 phase II randomized trial, the addition of bortezomib to R-DHAP did not improve the outcome of relapsed/refractory DLBCL patients eligible to high-dose therapy plus SCT. This series of patients is mainly represented by true refractory patients after first line chemoimmunotherapy and the results underline the poor outcome of such patients. The treatment for these patients is still an unmet clinical need. The role of immunotherapies such as the integration of CAR-T therapy in this setting of patients should be investigated. Disclosures Chiappella: Teva: Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Servier: Other: advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Speakers Bureau. Corradini:Amgen: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Travel Costs; Servier: Honoraria; KiowaKirin: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria, Other: Travel Costs; Jazz Pharmaceutics: Honoraria; Kite: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria, Other: Travel Costs; Roche: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria, Other: Travel Costs; Daiichi Sankyo: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Travel Costs; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel Costs; BMS: Other: Travel Costs. Liberati:Novartis: Other: Clinical trial support; Janssen: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Clinical trial support; Roche: Other: Clinical trial support; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Clinical trial support; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Clinical trial support; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Servier: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Incyte: Consultancy. Nassi:Merck: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy. Vitolo:Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Juno Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; F. Hoffmann-La Roche: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Kite: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. OffLabel Disclosure: the use of subcutaneous bortezomib is not registered in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Bortezomib was provided free by Janssen

Several studies suggested that staging bone marrow biopsy (BMB) could be omitted in patients with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) when a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is performed at baseline.To address the concordance between BMB and PET/CT in the detection of bone marrow involvement (BMI) and the BMB role in determining the Ann Arbor stage, we retrospectively collected data on 1244 consecutive patients with cHL diagnosed from January 2007 to December 2013. One thousand eighty-five patients who had undergone both BMB and PET/CT were analyzed, comparing the Ann Arbor stage assessed with PET/CT only to that resulting from PET/CT combined with BMB.One hundred sixty-nine patients (16%) showed at least one focal skeletal lesion (FSL) at PET/CT evaluation. Only 55 patients had a positive BMB (5.1%); 34 of them presented at least one FSL at PET/CT. To the contrary, 895 out of 1030 patients with a negative BMB did not show any FSL (86.9%). Positive and negative predictive values of PET/CT for BMI were 20 and 98%, respectively; sensitivity and specificity were 62 and 87%, respectively. Fifty-four out of 55 patients with a positive BMB could have been evaluated as an advanced stage just after PET/CT; only one patient (0.1%) would have been differently treated without BMB.Our data showed a very high negative predictive value of PET/CT for BMI and a negligible influence of BMB on treatment planning, strengthening the recent indications that BMB could be safely omitted in cHL patients staged with PET/CT.

Extramedullary myeloma refers to the infiltration of neoplastic monoclonal plasma cells in either organs or soft tissues. The disease is clinically and radiologically underestimated compared with the autopsy findings and is usually associated with a more aggressive clinical course and poorer outcome. A minority of patients with extramedullary myeloma show hepatic involvement, usually in the form of diffuse parenchymal infiltration. When focal infiltration is present, variable imaging findings have been described both on CT scan and MRI. We report the case of a 63-year-old male with hepatitis B virus-related liver disease and biopsy-proven multiple myeloma involving the liver, manifesting as hypervascular focal liver lesions on MRI. A brief review of the literature is also proposed.

From November 2012 to July 2014, brentuximab vedotin (BV) was available in Italy for patients with relapsed systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) outside a clinical trial context based on a local disposition of the Italian Drug Agency (AIFA) issued according to a national law (Law 648/96: "medicinal products that are provided free of charge on the national health service"). A large Italian observational retrospective study was conducted on the use of BV in the everyday clinical practice to check if clinical trial results are confirmed even in a real life context. Primary endpoint was the best response; secondary endpoints were the overall response rate at the end of the treatment, duration of response, survival and the safety profile. BV was infused intravenously at the dose of 1.8 mg/kg every 3 weeks for a maximum of 16 cycles. A total of 40 ALCL (18 anaplastic lymphoma kinase [ALK] negative and 22 ALK-positive status) patients were treated with BV in 40 Hematology Centers. All patients had histologically documented CD30+ ALCL; 16 (40%) had relapsed and 24 (60%) had refractory disease. Patients were heavily pretreated with a median of 2 previous therapies (including autologous transplant in the 32.5% of cases). Best response was observed after a median of 4 cycles in 31 patients (77.5%): 19 (47.5%) patients obtained a complete response (CR) and 12 (30%) achieved a partial response (PR); overall response rate at the end of the treatment was 62.5% (18 CR and 7 PR). The best response rate was higher in the elderly subset (>60 years): 9 (64.2%) CR and 3 (21.4%) PR, achieving a total of 85.6%. At the latest follow up 15/18 patients are still in CR (3 with consolidative procedure). Global progression free survival was 39.1% at 29 months and disease free survival 54% at 23.9 months (median not reached). Median duration of response was 12 months (range 9-24 months). We identified 5 long term responders (patients with a response ≥ 12 months), all were still in CR at the latest follow up (1 underwent allogeneic transplant). Particularly, all the long term responders were aged All patients were included in the safety profile for the analysis; in general, the treatment was well tolerated even in this real life context and the toxicity profile was closely similar to the previously published data; no death has been linked to BV toxicity. Toxicity was primarily neurological and rarely so serious as to require treatment reduction or interruption; furthermore, neurological toxicity always reversed completely after end of treatment. No long-term toxicity was assessed during the follow-up period, even in patients later subjected to transplant consolidation. BV induces clinical responses quite rapidly, i.e. within the first 4 cycles in most responders, thus permitting the timely application of the transplantation phase. Furthermore, BV displays a favorable toxicity profile, without overlapping toxicities with most of the agents employed in high-dose conditioning regimens. For patients ineligible for transplant or for who transplant failed, BV may represent a feasible effective therapeutic option in everyday clinical practice. Disclosures Rusconi: Takeda: Consultancy; Teva: Consultancy, Other: Congress attendance; Janssen: Consultancy, Other: Congress attendance. Spina:Mundipharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Speaker Fee; Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Speaker Fee. Zinzani:Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MorphoSys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celegene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.