BACKGROUND: Although the need for consolidation chemotherapy after successful induction therapy is well established in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1), the value of consolidation chemotherapy before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation remains controversial. METHODS: We retrospectively compared the effect of the number of pre-transplant consolidation chemotherapies on outcomes of human leukocyte antigen-matched sibling stem cell transplantation (MSDT) for patients with AML in CR1 in multicenters across China. In our study, we analyzed data of 373 AML patients in CR1 from three centers across China. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 969 days, patients with ≥ 3 courses of consolidation chemotherapy had higher probabilities of leukemia-free survival (LFS) (85.6% vs . 67.0%, P < 0.001) and overall survival (89.2% vs . 78.5%, P  = 0.007), and better cumulative incidences of relapse (10.5% vs . 19.6%, P  = 0.020) and non-relapse mortality (4.2% vs . 14.9%, P  = 0.001) than those with ≤ 2 courses of consolidation chemotherapy. Pre-transplantation minimal residual disease-negative patients with AML in CR1 who received MSDT with ≥ 3 courses of consolidation chemotherapy had a higher probability of LFS (85.9% vs . 67.7%, P  = 0.003) and a lower cumulative incidence of relapse (9.6% vs . 23.3%, P  = 0.013) than those with ≤ 2 courses. CONCLUSION Our results indicate that patients with AML in CR1 who received MSDT might benefit from pre-transplant consolidation chemotherapy.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Consolidation Chemotherapy/methods* ; Siblings ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/methods* ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/etiology* ; HLA Antigens ; Allografts

Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has achieved 40%-50% long-term complete response in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. However, the underlying mechanism of alterations in the tumor microenvironments resulting in CAR-T cell therapy failure needs further investigation. A multi-center phase I/II trial of anti-CD19 CD28z CAR-T (FKC876, ChiCTR1800019661) was conducted. Among 22 evaluable DLBCL patients, seven achieved complete remission, 10 experienced partial remissions, while four had stable disease by day 29. Single-cell RNA sequencing results were obtained from core needle biopsy tumor samples collected from long-term complete remission and early-progressed patients, and compared at different stages of treatment. M2-subtype macrophages were significantly involved in both in vivo and in vitro anti-tumor functions of CAR-T cells, leading to CAR-T cell therapy failure and disease progression in DLBCL. Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments persisted before CAR-T cell therapy, during both cell expansion and disease progression, which could not be altered by infiltrating CAR-T cells. Aberrant metabolism profile of M2-subtype macrophages and those of dysfunctional T cells also contributed to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments. Thus, our findings provided a clinical rationale for targeting tumor microenvironments and reprogramming immune cell metabolism as effective therapeutic strategies to prevent lymphoma relapse in future designs of CAR-T cell therapy.

Purpose: The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is an established therapeutic target for various kinds of solid tumors. HER2 amplification occurs in approximately 1% to 6% of colorectal cancer. In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of trastuzumab in combination with chemotherapy in HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Materials and Methods: An open-label, phase II trial (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03185988) was designed to evaluate the antitumor activity of trastuzumab and chemotherapy in HER2-positive digestive cancers excluding gastric cancer in 2017. Patients from this trial with HER2-positive, KRAS/BRAF wild-type, unresectable mCRC were analyzed in this manuscript. Eligible patients were treated with trastuzumab (8 mg/kg loading dose and then 6 mg/kg every 3 weeks) and irinotecan (120 mg/m2 days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks). The primary endpoint was the objective response rate. Results: Twenty-one HER2-positive mCRC patients were enrolled in this study. Seven patients (33.3%) achieved an objective res-ponse, and 11 patients (52.4%) had stable disease as their best response. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.3 months (95% confidence interval, 2.7 to 5.9). Four of the 21 patients (19.0%) had grade 3 adverse events, including leukopenia, neutropenia, urinary tract infection, and diarrhea. No treatment-related death was reported. Exploratory analyses revealed that high tumor tissue HER2 copy number was associated with better therapeutic response and PFS. Alterations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, HER2 gene, phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT pathway, and cell cycle control genes were potential drivers of trastuzumab resistance in mCRC. Conclusion Trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy is a potentially effective and well-tolerated therapeutic regimen in mCRC with a high HER2 copy number.

Blinatumomab, as a novel bispecific antibody targeting CD19 and CD3, can induce T lymphocytes to precisely target CD19 positive B lymphocytes to apoptosis. At present, it is the only bispecific antibody approved for the treatment of hematological malignancies in China. Blinatumomab is effective in the treatment of newly diagnosed, relapsed/refractory, minimal residual disease positive patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) . It can improve the survival of the patients and is well tolerated. The further study of blinatumomab can provide theoretical basis and new ideas for induction therapy, salvage therapy and subsequent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with B-ALL.

Objective:To investigate the effect and prognostic factors of rituximab-containing chemotherapy regimen in treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).Methods:The clinical data of 56 patients aged ≤65 years in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from June 2007 to November 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Rituximab-containing chemotherapy regimen was used, and the effects of clinical features, treatment regimen and biological indexes on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were observed.Results:The median age of 56 patients was 57 years old, including 43 males and 13 females. Among these cases, 24 patients received R-CHOP chemotherapy regimen; 29 patients received cytarabine-containing chemotherapy regimen, including R-hyper CVAD/R-MA regimen used in 15 patients and R-CHOP alternating with R-DAHP regimen used in 14 patients; and 3 patients received other treatment regimens. Among 56 patients, 19 patients received autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) consolidation therapy. The median OS time was 74 months, 2-year OS rate was 83.8%, 3-year OS rate was 70.9%, 2-year PFS rate was 72.0% and 3-year PFS rate was 49.7%. International prognostic index (IPI) high-risk and receiving ASCT or not during the treatment were independent influencing factors of OS and PFS in MCL patients. The overall response rate (ORR) in cytarabine-containing regimen group was higher compared with that in R-CHOP regimen group (93.1% vs. 83.3%), and there was no statistically significant difference ( χ2=0.465, P=0.495). In addition, there were no significant differences between two groups in both OS ( χ2=0.291, P=0.590) and PFS ( χ2=0.912, P=0.339). ASCT consolidation prolonged the median OS time (72 months vs.124 months, χ2=3.973, P=0.040) and the median PFS time (34 months vs. 90 months, χ2=3.984, P=0.046) in MCL patients achieving remission after induction therapy. Among patients in simplified MCL IPI (sMIPI) score middle-high risk group, compared with those not receiving ASCT, patients receiving ASCT therapy could obtain better OS and PFS (OS: χ2=5.037, P=0.025; PFS: χ2=6.787, P=0.009); among patients of sMIPI score low risk, there were no statistically significant differences in OS and PFS between the group receiving ASCT and not (all P > 0.05). Conclusions:Cytarabine-containing chemotherapy regimen has no predicatively satisfactory value in improving the prognosis and survival for MCL patients. For MCL patients who have achieved remission after reduction therapy and those in sMIPI score middle-high risk group, ASCT consolidation therapy can improve the prognosis and can be taken as the first-line consolidation treatment in young patients.

Objective:To examine the efficacy of haploidentical stem-cell transplantation (haplo-SCT) for patients with refractory relapsed (R/R) non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) by comparing with those contemporaneously undergoing HLA-matched SCT in myeloablative conditioning settings.Methods:Between January 2006 and December 2018, a total of 151 patients undergoing haplo-SCT ( n=81) or HLA-matched SCT ( n=70, sibling or unrelated) were enrolled. Median age of alloSCT was 30(5-59) years. And 150 patients received myeloablative conditioning (MAC) consisting of total body irradiation (12 Gy) plus cyclophosphamide or busulfan plus cyclophosphamide. Only one case had reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) with R-FBA (fludarabine, busulfan & cytarabina). It was followed by an infusion of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor-primed bone marrow (G-BM) and/or peripheral blood stem cells without in vitro T cell depletion. In haplo-SCT and HLA-matched unrelated donor for SCT, GVHD prophylaxis consisted of antithymocyte globulin, cyclosporine A, mycophenolate mofetil and a short course of methotrexate. Clinical efficacy, hematopoietic reconstitution and transplant-related complications were retrospectively analyzed. Results:Among them, 146(96%) patients engrafted with a median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery of 12 and 15 days respectively. During a median follow-up period of 19 months, 66 of them survived (43.7%) and 67 (44.4%) died (39 disease recurrence, 27 transplantation-related mortality). Between haplo-SCT and HLA-matched SCT groups, progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 49.4% and 50.5% ( P=0.577); overall survival (OS) rate 56.7% and 57.4% respectively ( P=0.963). The cumulative incidences of relapse (CIR) were 36.6% and 37.7% ( P=0.836) and those of cumulative incidences of non-relapse mortality (NRM) 22.0% and 24.7% ( P=0.530). And the cumulative incidences of chronic GVHD were 42.3% and 39.6% ( P=0.46) respectively. Conclusions:No inter-group difference exists in each major HSCT endpoint. Multivariate analysis reveals that occurrence of grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ aGVHD has a significantly worse prognosis. And primary chemorefractoriness is a strongest relapsing factor.

The first-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTKi) ibrutinib significantly improved the survival and prognosis of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but its adverse reactions such as bleeding, infection, cardiovascular events, etc., limited the long-term compliance of patients. It has been considered that the new generation of BTKi could significantly reduce the adverse reactions caused by ibrutinib because of their higher selectivity and specificity. Among them, the efficacy and safety of acalabrutinib in untreated and relapsed/refractory patients with CLL have been confirmed in phase Ⅲ clinical trials. In addition, zanubrutinib and orelabrutinib, which were independently developed in China, have also been proven their preliminary safety and therapeutic effects in pre-clinical and phase Ⅰ and Ⅱ clinical trials, while the data from large phase Ⅲ clinical trials are still lacking. Currently, more BTKi are also under active exploration. The future therapeutic strategies of CLL may be converted to combining with a wide range of drugs to achieve the goal of drug discontinuation when minimal residual disease (MRD) is negative, or use MRD to guide the treatment. In this trend, the new generation of BTKi will provide more optimized options for the combination therapy regimens.

Invasive fungal disease (IFD) is a major infectious complication in patients with hematological malignancies. In this study, we examined 4889 courses of chemotherapy in patients with hematological diseases to establish a training dataset (n = 3500) by simple random sampling to develop a weighted risk score for proven or probable IFD through multivariate regression, which included the following variables: male patients, induction chemotherapy for newly diagnosed or relapsed disease, neutropenia, neutropenia longer than 10 days, hypoalbuminemia, central-venous catheter, and history of IFD. The patients were classified into three groups, which had low (0-10, ~1.2%), intermediate (11-15, 6.4%), and high risk ( > 15, 17.5%) of IFD. In the validation set (n = 1389), the IFD incidences of the groups were ~1.4%, 5.0%, and 21.4%. In addition, we demonstrated that antifungal prophylaxis offered no benefits in low-risk patients, whereas benefits were documented in intermediate (2.1% vs. 6.6%, P = 0.007) and high-risk patients (8.4% vs. 23.3%, P = 0.007). To make the risk score applicable for clinical settings, a pre-chemo risk score that deleted all unpredictable factors before chemotherapy was established, and it confirmed that anti-fungal prophylaxis was beneficial in patients with intermediate and high risk of IFD. In conclusion, an objective, weighted risk score for IFD was developed, and it may be useful in guiding antifungal prophylaxis.