Growth Hormone Cotreatment for Low-Prognosis Patients According to the POSEIDON Criteria

BackgroundPoor ovarian response (POR) remains one of the most challenging conditions in assisted reproduction technology. Previous studies seemed to indicate that growth hormone (GH) was a potential solution for the dilemma of POR; however, the role GH played on the low-prognosis patients diagnosed and stratified by the POSEIDON criteria remains indistinct.MethodsThis retrospective study was performed among women with POR according to the POSEIDON criteria who failed a previous in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle, and the subsequent cycle was under GH cotreatment and conducted within 12 months. These participants were stratified into four groups according to the POSEIDON criteria. The comparison was implemented between the failed cycle and the cycle treated with GH. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) multivariate regression was applied for data analysis.ResultsA total of 428 low-prognosis women were included in this study. GH supplementation improved the live birth rates (47.66%, 28.33%, 45.45%, and 24.07%; in groups 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively) and the clinical pregnancy rates (OR 19.16, 95% CI 7.87–46.63, p < 0.001; OR 7.44, 95% CI 1.65–33.55, p = 0.009; OR 10.19, 95% CI 2.39–43.52, p = 0.002; OR 27.63, 95% CI 4.46–171.11, p < 0.001; in groups 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively) in all four POSEIDON groups. The number of oocytes retrieved was significantly elevated in the subgroups with normal ovarian reserve (IRR 1.47, 95% CI 1.36–1.59, p < 0.001; IRR 1.31, 95% CI 1.15–1.49, p < 0.001; in groups 1 and 2, respectively). The number of day-3 good-quality embryos was significantly elevated in the subgroups with either normal ovarian reserve or aged young (IRR 2.13, 95% CI 1.78–2.56, p < 0.001; IRR 1.54, 95% CI 1.26–1.89, p < 0.001; IRR 1.47, 95% CI 1.10–1.98, p = 0.010; in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively).ConclusionGrowth hormone cotreatment could ameliorate the pregnancy outcome for women with POR under the POSEIDON criteria who failed a previous IVF/ICSI cycle. The application of growth hormone for low-prognosis women who experienced a failed cycle might be considered and further studied.

A Multicenter, Single-Arm, Phase I/II Dose Finding and Efficacy Study of Venetoclax, CC-486, and Obinutuzumab in Minimally-Pretreated Follicular Lymphoma

KC and ML are co-first authors. Background: Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common indolent B-cell lymphoma and has a relapsing and remitting course with risk of transformation to aggressive disease. Long-term toxicity can accumulate with repeated exposure to palliative cytotoxic chemotherapy. Rationally targeted agents have demonstrated disease control with limited toxicity in hematologic malignancies, representing a potential chemotherapy-sparing option. BCL2 rearrangements leading to overexpression are nearly universal in FL, but BCL2 inhibition monotherapy has disappointing efficacy in FL. Potential reasons include known resistance mechanisms, such as MCL-1 overexpression, or redundant survival pathways. Founder mutations in FL often involve epigenetic regulation, and BCL2 rearrangements are necessary but not sufficient for FL lymphomagenesis. In patients with FL, abnormal DNA methylation programming cooperates with somatic mutations to drive lymphomagenesis. The resulting epigenetic deregulation may be targetable by hypomethylating agents, including azacitadine (AZA). There are no published studies of venetoclax and AZA in preclinical models of FL, but there are extensive preclinical data in acute myeloid leukemia. AZA is an epigenetic modulator with synergistic anti-leukemic effect when paired with venetoclax. Treatment with AZA results in MCL-1 downregulation, which may abrogate FL resistance to BCL2 inhibition. AZA also induces re-expression of CD20 and re-sensitizes FL patients to anti-CD20 therapy. In lymphoma xenograft models, the combination of obinutuzumab and venetoclax causes more tumor growth inhibition compared to rituximab with venetoclax, possibly from more potent direct cytotoxicity. These preclinical studies suggest that epigenetic modulation of FL cells with AZA may increase the sensitivity to BCL2 inhibition and anti-CD20 therapy. The foundational position of epigenetic dysregulation in the clonal evolution of FL suggests the optimal time for this strategy may be early in the course of the disease. We hypothesize that a safe and tolerable dose of venetoclax, CC-486 (oral AZA), and obinutuzumab can be found with treatment efficacy equal to or better than other non-chemotherapy agents in the frontline treatment of FL. We present a dose-finding and efficacy trial of venetoclax, CC-486, and obinutuzumab in minimally pre-treated FL patients. Study Design: This is a single arm, multi-center phase I/II clinical trial (Figure 1). The dose finding phase is a 3+3 design with 3 escalating dose levels and two optional de-escalation levels (12-18 patients). Venetoclax (400-800mg) will be given days 1-28 of each 28 day cycle; CC-486 (150-200mg) will be given days 1-14; and obinutuzumab will be given at a fixed dose of 1000mg on days 1, 8, and 15 of cycle 1 and then day 1 of each subsequent cycle. Venetoclax and CC-486 will be given up to 12 cycles and obinutuzumab for a total of 9 cycles. Once the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) is identified, the study will proceed to a Simon two-stage expansion cohort. In this cohort, a three month "window" of the doublet venetoclax and CC-486 prior to introduction of obinutuzumab at cycle 4 will allow an assessment of activity of the two-drug combination. Obinutuzumab is given on days 1, 8, and 15 of cycle 4, and day 1 of each subsequent cycle. Key inclusion criteria are: age ≥ 18, ECOG ≤2; adequate kidney/liver function; and grade 1-3a FL with an indication for treatment who are either untreated or have ≤2 courses (16 doses) of lifetime anti-CD20 therapy. Patients with clinical or histologic evidence of FL transformation are excluded. Up to 32 patients will be enrolled to test the null hypothesis of a 30% CR rate against a 50% alternative (80% power, one-sided alpha=0.10). The primary objectives are the RP2D and safety based on adverse events for the dose-finding cohort, and the CR rate by PET in the expansion cohort. Secondary objectives include progression free survival, overall survival, effect of 3 cycles of venetoclax/CC-486 in the window design of the expansion cohort, and CR rate at 30 months post-treatment with PET. Exploratory objectives include pre-treatment mutation biomarkers, minimal residual disease by circulating tumor DNA, and circulating cell-free DNA methylation patterns. This trial design was reviewed and revised at ASH CRTI. Recruitment is ongoing and this trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04722601. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Kline: Kite/Gilead: Speakers Bureau; Seagen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Regeneron: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Consultancy, Research Funding; Verastem: Research Funding; SecuraBio: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Morphosys: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Smith: Celgene, Genetech, AbbVie: Consultancy; Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease: Other: Study investigator.

Low incidence of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) in patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) treated with inotuzumab ozogamicin (INO) followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT).

e19024 Background: Hepatic VOD is an uncommon, but often fatal complication of allo-SCT. The risk is increased after INO, an anti-CD22 antibody conjugated to calicheamicin with high remission rates in relapsed CD22-positive B-ALL. Previous reports have described VOD rates as high as 19% in INO-treated patients who then received allo-SCT. We report our safety experience using INO followed by allo-SCT. Methods: We identified patients >18 yrs with B-ALL treated with allo-SCT and INO in the University of Chicago IRB-approved SCT database. We reviewed the EMR for patient details, toxicities (CTCAE v5.0), and outcomes. Hepatic VOD was defined according to EBMT criteria. Overall survival (OS) was from time of allo-SCT to death or last follow-up. Results: Between 2010-2021, 72 adult patients with B-ALL received allo-SCT, and 17 also received INO as salvage therapy (Table). Median follow-up was 19 months (1-110). All received ursodiol prophylaxis and 15/17 received an azole for antifungal prophylaxis. They had median 2 cycles (1-3) of INO with median of 1.9 months (1-14) from the last dose of INO to allo-SCT. For cycle 1, 13/17 (77%) received 0.8 mg/m2 on D1 and 0.5 mg/m2 on D8 and D15. Of these, 11 had a subsequent cycle (5 with same dosing and 7 had 0.5 mg/m2 on D1, D8, and D15). 1 patient had 0.5 mg/m2 on D1, D8, and D15 for 2 cycles. 3 patients received 0.8 mg/m2 on D1 and 0.4 mg/m2 on D8 and D15 for 2 cycles. After INO, 10 patients achieved CR and 3 had CRi for ORR of 13/17 (76%). The 4 patients with persistent disease despite INO went into remission with a different salvage therapy prior to allo-SCT. Conditioning regimens are listed in Table 1. No patients developed VOD after allo-SCT. Within 2 yrs of allo-SCT, 3/17 (18%) relapsed and 7/17 (41%) died. The median OS was 21.2 months [18 - NR]. Conclusions: Limiting the number of INO cycles (median 2) prior to allo-SCT, delaying allo-SCT for 2 months after INO exposure, and avoiding dual alkylating agent conditioning may have contributed to the absence of VOD in our patients. Larger data sets will be useful to validate these important safety observations.[Table: see text]

There is a cycle to cycle variation in ovarian response and pre-hCG serum progesterone level: an analysis of 244 consecutive IVF cycles

We aimed to answer one key question, that was not previously addressed as to whether serum progesterone (P4-hCG day) and its co-variates (estradiol (E2-hCG day) and the number of retrieved oocytes) of a given cycle can be predictive of the subsequent cycle when both cycles are consecutive and comparable for the stimulation protocol, gonadotropin dose and duration of stimulation. We analyzed such 244 consecutive (< 6 months) IVF cycles in 122 patients with GnRH agonist long protocol and found that P4, E2 and the number of retrieved oocytes significantly vary between the two cycles. Although P4 increased (ranging from 4.7 to 266.7%) in the 2nd cycle in 61 patients, E2 and the number of retrieved oocytes, which are normally positively correlated with P4 paradoxically decreased in the 41% and 37.7% respectively, of these same 61 patients. When a similar analysis was done in the 54 out of 122 patients (44.3%) in whom serum P4 was decreased in the 2nd cycle, the mean decrease in P4 was − 34.1 ± 23.3% ranging from − 5.26 to − 90.1%. E2 and the number of retrieved oocytes paradoxically increased in the 42.3% and 40.7% of these 54 patients respectively. P4 remained the same only in the 7 (5.7%) of these 122 patients. These findings indicate that late follicular phase serum P4 may change unpredictably in the subsequent IVF cycle. The changes are not always necessarily proportional with ovarian response of previous cycle suggesting that growth characteristics and steroidogenic activities of antral cohorts may exhibit considerable cycle to cycle variations.

Does daily co administration of gonadotropins and letrozole during the ovarian stimulation improve IVF outcome for poor and sub optimal responders?

Background Co-administration of letrozole during the first 5 days of ovarian stimulation was suggested to improve IVF outcomes in poor responders. We aimed to determine whether poor/sub-optimal responders might benefit from Letrozole co-treatment throughout the entire stimulation course. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical files of women who demonstrated poor (oocyte yield ≤3) and sub-optimal (4 ≤ oocyte yield ≤9) ovarian response during conventional multiple-dose antagonist stimulation protocols and were co-treated in a subsequent cycle with 5 mg Letrozole from the first day of stimulation until trigger day. A self-paired comparison between gonadotropins-only and gonadotropins-letrozole cycles was performed. Results Twenty-four patients were included. Mean patients’ age was 39.83 ± 4.60 and mean day-3-FSH was 12.77 ± 4.49 IU/m. Duration of stimulation and total gonadotropins dose were comparable between the two cycle groups. Peak estradiol levels were significantly lower in gonadotropins-letrozole cycles (2786.74 ± 2118.53 vs 1200.13 ± 535.98, p < 0.05). Number of retrieved oocytes (3.29 ± 2.15 vs 6.46 ± 3.20, p < 0.05), MII-oocytes (2.47 ± 1.65 vs 5.59 ± 3.20, p < 0.05), 2PN-embryos (1.78 ± 1.50, 4.04 ± 2.74, p < 0.05) and top-quality embryos (0.91 ± 0.97 vs. 2.35 ± 1.66, p < 0.05) were significantly higher in the gonadotropins-letrozole cycles. Clinical pregnancy rate in gonadotropins-letrozole cycles was 31.5%. Conclusion Letrozole co-treatment during the entire stimulation course improves ovarian response and IVF outcomes in poor/sub-optimal responders.

NEPA as antiemetic prophylaxis after failure of 5HT3-RA plus dexamethasone in patients receiving carboplatin and gemcitabine chemotherapy: A monocentric real-life experience

Introduction Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) may affect adherence to planned chemotherapy treatments and compromise patients’ quality of life during the therapy. NEPA is an oral fixed combination of netupitant, a highly-selective NK1-RA and palonosetron, a 5HT3-RA, approved for the prevention of acute and delayed CINV. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NEPA with dexamethasone for CINV prophylaxis in the challenging setting of carboplatin and gemcitabine combination chemotherapy, after failure of prophylaxis with 5HT3 receptor antagonist. Methods Eligible patients were undergoing carboplatin and gemcitabine combination chemotherapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ovarian cancer or urothelial cancer and experienced nausea and/or vomiting after the first cycle of chemotherapy, despite an antiemetic prophylaxis with a 5HT3-RA and dexamethasone. Primary efficacy endpoint was complete response (CR: no emesis, no rescue medication) obtained with NEPA, during the overall phase (0–120 h), after the start of chemotherapy. Results During the first cycle of chemotherapy, 15 out of 30 (50%) patients did not properly control CINV with a 5HT3-RA plus dexamethasone used as primary antiemetic prophylaxis and then were switched to NEPA from the subsequent cycle. During NEPA administration, 13 out of 15 patients (86.7%) achieved an overall CR (no emesis, no rescue medication). Antiemetic treatment with NEPA was very well tolerated with only two patients (13.3%) that experienced a grade 1 TEAE. Conclusions Our experience showed that NEPA has proven to be very effective and well tolerated in the prophylaxis of CINV induced by carboplatin-based chemotherapy.

El Derecho de la Salud en la gestión pública. La experiencia del Área de Bioética del Ministerio de Salud de la Provincia de Córdoba (Argentina) en algunas aplicaciones de este Derecho

Esta ponencia pretende fundamentar y contextualizar, desde un enfoque de derechos humanos y desde la misma disciplina Bioética; lo actuado por el Área de Bioética del Ministerio de Salud de Córdoba, Argentina en el año 2019. Se parte del análisis de dos iniciativas que se están plasmando en los hospitales públicos de la provincia como son: la cartelería inicial, el posterior ciclo de reuniones formativas sobre “derechos y responsabilidades de los pacientes”, y la implementación del “consentimiento informado general de internación en hospitales públicos”. Al final, se plantean los desafíos pendientes para que la asistencia pública en esta materia sea pionera, primera garante y promotora de los derechos de los pacientes que asiste. This paper aims to provide a basis and context for the actions taken by the Bioethics Area of the Ministry of Health of Córdoba, Argentina, in 2019, from a human rights perspective and from the discipline of Bioethics itself. It is based on the analysis of two initiatives that are being implemented in the public hospitals of the province: the initial poster, the subsequent cycle of training meetings on "patients' rights and responsibilities", and the implementation of "general informed consent for hospitalization in public hospitals". In the end, the pending challenges are posed so that public assistance in this area can be a pioneer, the first guarantor and promoter of the rights of the patients it assists.