Background Inotuzumab ozogamicin, an anti-CD22 antibody conjugated to calicheamicin, is active in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Methods In this phase 3 trial, adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia were randomized to inotuzumab ozogamicin or standard intensive chemotherapy. Primary endpoints were complete remission and overall survival. Results Primary intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis of complete remission included the first 218 (inotuzumab ozogamicin, n=109; standard, n=109) of 326 patients randomized. Complete remission rate was significantly better with inotuzumab ozogamicin (80.7% [95% CI, 72%–88%] vs 29.4% [21%–39%]; P<0.001), as was minimal residual disease (MRD)-negativity among responders (78.4% [68%–87%] vs 28.1% [14%–47%]; P<0.001); remission duration was longer (median, 4.6 [3.9–5.4] vs 3.1 [1.4–4.9] months; hazard ratio=0.55 [0.31–0.96], P=0.034). More patients proceeded to transplant with inotuzumab ozogamicin (41%) versus standard (11%; P<0.001). In the ITT survival analysis (n=326), progression-free survival was significantly longer with inotuzumab ozogamicin vs standard (HR, 0.45 [97.5% CI, 0.34–0.61]; P<0.001; median, 5.0 [95% CI, 3.7–5.6] vs 1.8 [1.5–2.2] months). The overall survival HR was 0.77 (97.5% CI, 0.58–1.03); P=0.04; median was 7.7 (95% CI, 6.0–9.2) vs 6.7 (4.9–8.3) months. 2-year overall survival rate was 23% (95% CI, 16%–30%) vs 10% (5%–16%). In the safety population, the most frequent nonhematologic inotuzumab ozogamicin treatment-emergent grade ≥3 adverse events were liver-related. Any grade veno-occlusive liver disease occurred in 15 (11%) patients receiving inotuzumab ozogamicin. Conclusion Patients receiving inotuzumab ozogamicin versus standard care achieved higher response, MRD-negativity rates, and prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival. Veno-occlusive disease was a major non-hematologic toxicity.

Blinatumomab is an efficacious and well-tolerated treatment in patients with MRD-positive B-lineage ALL after intensive chemotherapy. T cells engaged by blinatumomab seem capable of eradicating chemotherapy-resistant tumor cells that otherwise cause clinical relapse.

The data support further investigation of blinatumomab for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory ALL in a larger confirmatory study.

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From 2002 to 2007, 103 patients with primary myelofibrosis or postessential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera myelofibrosis and a median age of 55 years (range, 32-68 years) were included in a prospective multicenter phase 2 trial to determine efficacy of a busulfan (10 mg/kg)/fludarabine (180 mg/m 2 )-based reduced-intensity conditioning regimen followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation from related (n ‫؍‬ 33) or unrelated donors (n ‫؍‬ 70). All but 2 patients (2%) showed leukocyte and platelet engraftment after a median of 18 and 22 days, respectively. Acute graft-versushost disease grade 2 to 4 occurred in 27% and chronic graft-versus-host disease in 43% of the patients. Cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality at 1 year was 16% (95% confidence interval, 9%-23%) and significantly lower for patients with a completely matched donor (12% vs 38%; P ‫؍‬ .003). The cumulative incidence of relapse at 3 years was 22% (95% confidence interval, 13%-31%) and was influenced by Lille risk profile (low, 14%; intermediate, 22%; and high, 34%; P ‫؍‬ .02). The estimated 5-year event-free and overall survival was 51% and 67%, respectively. In a multivariate analysis, age older than 55 years (hazard ratio ‫؍‬ 2.70; P ‫؍‬ .02) and human leukocyte antigenmismatched donor (hazard ratio ‫؍‬ 3.04; P ‫؍‬ .006) remained significant factors for survival. The study was registered at www. clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT 00599547. (Blood. 2009;114:5264-5270)

T cell-engaging CD19/CD3-bispecific BiTE Ab blinatumomab has shown an 80% complete molecular response rate and prolonged leukemia-free survival in patients with minimal residual B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (MRD ؉ B-ALL). Here, we report that lymphocytes in all patients of a phase 2 study responded to continuous infusion of blinatumomab in a strikingly similar fashion. After start of infusion, B-cell counts dropped to < 1 B cell/L within an average of 2 days and remained essentially undetectable for the entire treatment period. By contrast, T-cell counts in all patients declined to a nadir within < 1 day and recovered to baseline within a few days. T cells then expanded and on average more than doubled over baseline

Despite improvements in first-line therapies, published results on the treatment of relapsed adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) show that prognosis is still poor. The aim of the present retrospective analysis of the German Multicenter Study Group for Adult ALL was to identify prognostic factors and options for improvement. A total of 547 patients with a median age of 33 years (range, 15-55) experiencing their first relapse (406 vs 141 shorter or longer than 18 months from diagnosis) were evaluated. The aim of salvage therapy was to achieve a complete remission (CR) with subsequent a stem cell transplantation (SCT). The CR rate (assessed in Philadelphia chromosomeand BCR-ABL-negative ALL without CNS involvement) after the first salvage in relapse after chemotherapy (n ‫؍‬ 224) was 42%. After failure of first salvage (n ‫؍‬ 82), the CR rate after second salvage was 33%. In relapse after SCT (n ‫؍‬ 48) the CR rate after first salvage was 23%. The median overall survival after relapse was 8.4 months and survival was 24% at

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