TREATMENT OF NEWLY DIAGNOSED ACUTE PROMYELOCYTIC LEUKEMIA IN A PREGNANT WOMAN

Описан клинический случай впервые выявленного острого промиелоцитарного лейкоза у 36-летней беременной женщины при сроке 16-17 нед. До родов ей проведены 2 курса химиотерапии по схеме AIDA: индукция ремиссии даунорубицин из расчета 60 мг/м - 2, 4, 6, 8 дни, АТRA 45мг/м с 1 по 15 дни, дексаметазон 2,5 мг/м х 2 р в день с 1- по 15 дни. Ремиссия достигнута после 1-го курса индукционной терапии. После завершения 2-го курса ХТ в периоде полной ремиссии острого промиелоцитарного лейкоза на сроке беременности 25 недель проведено кесарево сечение в условиях городского родильного дома. Через 2 нед после родоразрешения в условиях гематологического отделения проведены еще два курса консолидации ремиссии. Далее пациентка переведена на поддерживающую терапию согласно протоколу AIDA: АТRA 45мг/м с 1 по 15 дни каждые 3 месяца, Метотрексат 15 мг/м/сут еженедельно, 6-Меркаптопурин 50 мг/м/сут. В контрольных анализах миелограммы констатируется полная ремиссия - 2.5% бластных клеток при нормальном соотношении всех ростков кроветворения. The case of de novo acute promyelocyte leukemia in a 36 year old pregnant woman (gestation age 16-17 weeks) is described. Two courses of “AIDA” chemotherapy were performed. Remission was achieved after the first induction chemotherapy. A month after the second consolidation chemotherapy at gestation age 25 weeks a living premature fetus was delivered by means of Cesarean delivery. After the delivery two more consolidation courses and supportive chemotherapy were performed. The woman now has been on remission.

Acute myeloid leukemia: negative prognostic impact of early blast persistence can be in part overcome by a later remission prior to post-induction therapy

In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), there is an ongoing debate on the prognostic value of the early bone marrow (BM) assessment in patients receiving intensive therapy. In this retrospective study, we have analyzed the prognostic impact of the early response in 1008 newly diagnosed AML patients, who were treated at our institution with intensive chemotherapy followed by consolidation chemotherapy and/or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). We found that early blast persistence has an independent negative prognostic impact on overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS) and relapsefree survival (RFS). This negative prognostic impact may only be overcome in patients showing at least a partial remission at the early BM assessment and who subsequently achieve blast clearance by additional induction chemotherapy prior to consolidation therapy with allo-HSCT. In accordance, we propose that the time slope of remission is an additional leukemia-related dynamic parameter that reflects chemosensitivity and thus may inform postinduction therapy decision-making. In addition to patient-related factors, European LeukemiaNet (ELN) risk group, measurable residual disease (MRD) monitoring and donor availability, this may particularly apply to ELN intermediate risk patients, in whom a decision between consolidation chemotherapy and allo-HSCT remains challenging in many cases.

Umbilical Cord Blood Microtransplantation in Newly Diagnosed, Elderly Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Objective: We observed the efficacy and safety of umbilical cord blood microtransplantation (UCBMT) in the treatment of newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the elderly. Methods: Prospective one-arm phase I clinical study. The patients should meet the following criteria: 60-80-year-old; newly diagnosed AML; receive the treatment of chemotherapy combined with UCBMT. Result: In total, 11 patients newly diagnosed with AML received chemotherapy in combination with UCBMT, from November, 2019 to January, 2021, including 7 males and 4 females. The average age was 71 (60-80). For the patients, 7 cases with normal chromosome karyotype, and 2 cases with +8 chromosome, 1 case with 7q- chromosome, and 1 case with karyotype of monomer. In the 7 patients with normal chromosome karyotype, 3 cases were FMS-liketyrosine kinease 3 (FLT3) positive (2 of them in combination with nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) mutation); in addition, in 4 patients of the 7, one showed double mutation of CEBPA, one showed NPM1 mutation, one showed IDH1 mutation, and one showed IDH2 mutation. In 4 patients with chromosomal abnormalities, one patient showed no special gene, one patient showed ASXL1 mutation, one patient was IDH1 mutation, and one patient was TP53 mutation. All of the patients were treated with IA (IDA 8-10 mg/ m 2/day x 3 days, cytarabine 100 mg/ m 2/day x 7 days) for inducing chemotherapy. For the patients with 60-70-year-old, they were treated with IDA (8 mg/ m 2/day); and for the patients with 70-80-year-old, they were treated with darubicin (10 mg/ m 2/day). In the consolidation phase, the patients were treated with cytarabine (1 g/ m 2, q12h) for 3 consecutive days. There were 3 courses of consolidation chemotherapy. Next, patients received single unrelated cord blood transplantation (UCBT) from China's public umbilical cord blood bank, HLA matching was performed for all patients before treatment. A total of 4 units of UCB with HLA 0-3/6（HLA-A,-B,-DR）matching and the ABO blood type matched with the patient were transfused after induction and consolidation chemotherapy for 24-48 hours, then with follow-up. At the same time, the immunological characteristics of these patients were fully analyzed. We demonstrated that, 8 of 11 patients received one course of induction chemotherapy, and achieved a complete response. The complete response rate was 72.7%. What's more, the median time for neutrophils ≥ 0.5 x 10 9/L and platelete ≥ 20 x 10 9/L was 12 days. There were no treatment-related deaths during induction therapy. The median follow-up was 14 (7-31) months. 1 patient showed monomer karyotype with P53 gene mutation, and got complete remission after one course of induction chemotherapy with IA. However, the patient died for AML recurred. For the other 10 patients, they were alive, and the OS of 1 year was 89.8%. Moreover, we found the expression of PD-1 on CD8 +T cells decreased, while the expression of CD38 increased after therapy. Besides, the proportion of NKp30 +NK cells, as well as the IFN-γ +TFN-α +NK cells increased significantly. Conclusion: UCBMT therapy for newly diagnosed elderly AML patients could accelerate the recovery of hematopoietic function and improve the safety of chemotherapy. This method is effective and worthy of further promotion. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Stratification of Intermediate-Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia According to the Expression Level of WT1 mRNA at Diagnosis

Introduction Despite advances in the genetic analysis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Wilms' tumor oncogene 1 (WT1) mRNA remains an important pan-marker of AML. A log reduction in WT1 mRNA expression after chemotherapy is a predictor of prognosis, and WT1 mRNA can be used as a marker of minimal residual disease or relapse. In the 1990s, a high expression level of WT1 mRNA at diagnosis was considered a poor prognostic factor. However, recent analyses have found that WT1 mRNA expression varies with AML type. Since the prognosis is affected by cytogenetic abnormalities and therapeutic intensity, we re-evaluated the clinical significance of WT1 mRNA expression at diagnosis in the context of the European Leukemia Net (ELN) risk classification and treatment. Method We retrospectively analyzed 216 patients at five institutions between 2011 and 2020. The expression level of WT1 mRNA was measured for all patients at diagnosis using bone marrow (BM) samples from 191 patients and peripheral blood (PB) samples from 25. WT-1 mRNA expression was measured using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and the measured values were converted in normal logarithm. The median age at diagnosis was 62 (range: 23-93) years. The cytogenetic risk of ELN was classified as favorable (n = 41), intermediate (n = 123), and adverse risk (n = 41). Selected therapeutics were standard chemotherapy (n = 182, 84.3%, including CAG regimen; cytarabine, aclarubicin and G-CSF), hypomethylating agents or low-dose cytarabine (n = 19, 8.8%), and best supportive care (n = 15, 6.9%). Also, 143 patients (66.2%) received one or more courses of standard consolidation chemotherapy and 61 (28.3%) underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT). The median observation period was 518 [1-3418] days (Table 1). The overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates were assessed. Relapse or death was defined as an event, and OS was evaluated on the date of death. Result The median expression level of WT1 mRNA was 4.68 (range: 1.0-5.72) [log copies/µg RNA, units are omitted thereafter] in BM and 3.66 (range: 1.34-5.20) in PB (Table 1). Favorable-risk AML had the highest WT1 mRNA expression level in BM (4.95, p = 0.0054), whereas there was no difference between the expression levels in intermediate- and adverse-risk AML in BM (4.63 and 4.47, p = 0.711, Fig. 1A). WT1 mRNA expression in PB were 4.04, 3.84, and 3.05 for favorable-, intermediate-, and adverse-risk AML, respectively, and were higher for those with a favorable-risk AML (vs. adverse risk, p = 0.048, Fig. 1B). When WT1 mRNA expression level in BM was compared between the two groups, i.e., <4.0 (BM-WT1 low) vs. ≥4.0 (BM-WT1 high), 2-year EFS rates were 26.8% and 49.7% (p = 0.0035) and 2-year OS rates were 44.9% and 61.5% (p = 0.00053), respectively. When WT1 mRNA expression level in PB was compared between the two groups, i.e., <3.0 (PB-WT1 low) vs. ≥3.0 (PB-WT1 high), 2-year EFS rates were 0% and 51.5% (p = 0.023) and 2-year OS rates were 0% and 73.1% (p = 0.01), respectively. PB- or BM-WT1 low showed a worse prognosis at diagnosis. Since AML prognosis is affected by ELN risk and selected therapeutics, we evaluated 109 intermediate-risk patients who had received at least one course of standard chemotherapy. Fifty of them (45.9%) underwent subsequent allo-HCT. The 2-year EFS rates of PB or BM-WT1 low (n = 25, PB = 2 and BM = 23) vs. PB or BM-WT1 high (n = 84, PB = 23 and BM = 61) were 23.9% and 50.4%, respectively (p = 0.023, Fig. 2A) and the 2-year OS rates were 51.2% and 64.6%, respectively (p = 0.03, Fig. 2B). PB or BM-WT1 low of intermediate-risk AML had a poor prognosis even with standard chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis adjusted for ages, the reduction rate of WT1 mRNA after induction chemotherapy, duration of receiving consolidation chemotherapy, allo-HCT, and PB or BM-WT1 low at diagnosis were independent poor prognosis factors for EFS in intermediate-risk AML (HR: 3.32, 95%CI: 1.29-8.53, p = 0.013). The OS rate of PB or BM-WT1 low also worsened (HR: 2.33, 95%CI: 0.88-6.18, p = 0.089) (Table 2). Whereas, the outcome of adverse-risk AML was not affected by PB or BM-WT1 low/high. Conclusion The expression level of WT1 mRNA at diagnosis was negatively correlated with prognosis. Favorable-risk AML had higher expressions of WT1 mRNA. PB or BM-WT1 low in intermediate-risk AML was associated with a poor prognosis. In standard-risk AML, WT1 mRNA may be a useful pan-marker to predict prognosis at diagnosis. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Detection of CSRP2 Transcript Levels By Real-Time Quantitative PCR May be a Useful Tool for Monitoring Minimal Residual Disease in B-Cell ALL

Introduction Cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2 (CSRP2) is gaining increasing attention as a therapeutic target due to its high expression in acute leukemias and its involvement in the development of cancer. However, whether it can be used as a reliable marker for minimal residual disease (MRD) remains unknown. Methods A total of 155 adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients who received at least two cycles of consolidation chemotherapy were enrolled. Their leukemia-associated aberrant immune phenotypes (LAIPs) and CSRP2 transcript levels at the second consolidation chemotherapy (CON2) were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) and real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR). According to our published work, 1.80% and 0.01% were set as the positive threshold of CSRP2 transcript level and the FCM test for diagnosis, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to describe the relationship between the CSRP2 transcript level and the FCM test. Competing risk model and Cox proportional hazard regression model were conducted to estimated associations between the CSRP2 transcript level at CON2 and the prognosis. Results The median CSRP2 transcript level of all 155 patients was 0.2% (0.02%-108.17%). Among them, 108 patients were negative for both FCM and CSRP2, and 8 patients were positive for both FCM and CSRP2. The coincidence rate was 74.84%. There was a significant positive correlation between FCM and CSRP2 (r=0.73, 95% CI 0.64-0.79; P <0.001)(Figure 1a). Patients were divided into a high CSRP2 group (N=17) and a low CSRP2 group (N=138) based on the transcript level of 1.00% settled by the ROC curve. Nine of 17 patients with high transcript level of CSRP2 suffered from leukemia relapse during the follow-up. Moreover, among the nine relapse patients, three patients had positive CSRP2 and negative FCM at CON2. In univariate analysis, patients with high CSRP2 transcript level showed a significantly lower 5-year leukemia-free survival (LFS) (33.0% vs. 48.6%, P =0.014) and 5-year survival (OS) (28.6% vs. 72.5%, P <0.001), higher 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) (60.6% vs. 47.3%; P =0.042) (Figure 1b-d). Variates with P-value lower than 0.1 including BCR-ABL1(Y/N), treatment (chemotherapy only vs. allo-HSCT), CSRP2 transcript level (high vs. low), WBC (≥ vs. < 53.6×10E+9/L [settled by ROC curve]), were put into multivariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, no BCR-ABL1 (LFS, HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.26-0.71, P =0.001; OS, HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.21-0.81, P =0.010; CIR, HR 0.39, 95% CI 0.22-0.68, P =0.001), allo-HSCT (LFS, HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.17-0.51, P < 0.001; OS, HR 0.21, 95% CI 0.11-0.42, P <0.001; CIR, HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.17-0.50, P <0.001), and low CSRP2 (LFS, HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.19-0.74, P =0.005; OS, HR 0.21, 95% CI 0.10-0.44, P <0.001; CIR, HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.21-0.93, P =0.031) were independently associated with higher LFS, OS and lower CIR. Conclusions Our study suggested that patients with a high CSRP2 transcript level at CON2 had poor survival and was an independent risk factor for relapse. The transcript level of CSPR2 at CON2 may be a valuable marker to complement the MRD assessment system and improve the number of evaluable patients. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

One to Two Cycles of Consolidation Chemotherapy With Capecitabine After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Does Not Benefit Low-Risk Patients With Locally Advanced Middle-Low Rectal Cancer

Background and ObjectiveOrgan preservation can enable locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients with clinical complete response (cCR) after neoadjuvant treatment to maintain quality of life. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether one or two cycles of capecitabine after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) without extending the interval between the end of NCRT and surgery could increase the complete response (CR) rate in low-risk middle-low LARC patients.Material and MethodsWe retrospectively evaluated middle-low LARC patients with low risk defined as clinical T2-3b, mesorectal fascia-clear, and extramural vascular invasion-negative by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), treated between January 2015 and July 2019. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether consolidation chemotherapy was administered after NCRT. Patients in the consolidation chemotherapy group received one or two cycles of capecitabine (1000 mg/m2 twice daily from days 1 to 14). The main outcome was the CR rate, including pathological CR (pCR) and cCR.ResultsA total of 169 patients, 105 in the consolidation chemotherapy group and 64 in the non-consolidation chemotherapy group, were included in the study, and the median follow-up was 37.2 months (range, 0.4–71.2 months). Seventeen patients achieved cCR and the remaining 152 underwent surgery after neoadjuvant treatment. There was no significant difference in the CR rate (39.0% vs. 35.9%, p=0.686), ypT0-2N0 rate (65.2% vs. 63.3%, p=0.812), or ypN0 rate (83.7% vs. 88.3%, p=0.503) between the consolidation chemotherapy and non-consolidation chemotherapy groups. Among the patients achieved cCR, 3 (17.6%) experienced regrowth in the rectum and 2 (11.8%) experienced distant metastasis. There was also no significant difference in the 3-year disease-free survival (87.4% vs 85.9%, p=0.971) in patients who underwent surgery between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that normal Carcinoma Embryonic Antigen (CEA) levels (p = 0.001) were associated with a higher CR rate. Moreover, there were no significant differences in the incidences of grade ≥2 acute toxicities during neoadjuvant treatment.ConclusionAlthough there was no increase in treatment-related toxicities between the two groups, simply adding one or two cycles of capecitabine after NCRT might be insufficient to benefit low-risk middle-low LARC patients.