No abstract

The incidence of CNS relapse in 1693 patients treated for aggressive lymphomas on DSHNHL protocols from 1990 to 2000 was low (2.2%), although CNS prophylaxis was administered to <5% of patients. Thus, a general prophylaxis for all patients is not warranted, the less so since the effectiveness of i.th. prophylaxis itself is judged controversially. Increased LDH and involvement of more than one extranodal site were confirmed as independent risk factors. A cumulative 20% incidence of CNS disease in certain prognostic subgroups of elderly patients may render these candidates for i.th. prophylaxis; however, this approach would imply a potential overtreatment of approximately 80% of these patients deemed at high risk.

Background: Weekly high-dose 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 24-hour infusion of 2.6 g/m²) and folinic acid (FA; 500 mg/m2as 1- or 2-hour infusion) proved to be effective in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The minimum effective dosages of the drugs required in this schedule, however, remain unclear. The aim of this phase II study was to assess, whether a reduction of the dose of 5-FU (2.0 g/m²) combined with an intermediate-dose of FA (200 mg/m²) is still active in this patient population. Material and Methods: From January 1991 to December 1995 a total of 69 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, 44 untreated and 25 pretreated patients, were treated with 3 courses of 6 weekly infusions of an intermediate-dose 5-FU (2.0 g/m²/24 h) and FA (200 mg/m² as a bolus). In 12 untreated patients, 5-FU pharmacokinetics were studied by high-performance liquid chromato-graphy (HPLC). Results: 3/44 untreated patients (7%) achieved a complete response, 13/44 (30%) a partial response, 20/44 (45%) a stable disease and in 8/44 patients (18%) the disease was progressive. The probability of median survival in the untreated group was 20 months. Response rates in the pretreated group were inferior with no partial remissions but stable diseases in about 50% of the patients. Sumarizing more than 1000 treatment days, toxicity consisted mainly of mild nausea (n = 24 patients), diarrhea (n = 7) and hand-foot syndrome (n = 10). These side effects were well manageable on an outpatient basis. The mean 5-FU serum steady state level of 0.58 µg/ml (± 0.26) was relatively low compared to the values noted by other authors; individual levels did not correlate with the experienced grades of toxicity in these patients assessed by WHO-defined criteria. Conclusion: Weekly 24-hour infusion of an intermediate-dose 5-FU preceeded by an intermediate-dose FA-bolus is an active regimen with possibly reduced side effects and costs of therapy when compared to the treatment schedule introduced by Ardalan.

Introduction: In CLL, numerous new therapeutic options have been introduced recently, without establishing a definitive standard therapy or cure for most patients (pts). An advantage of targeted therapies is the avoidance of toxicities associated with chemotherapy. However, all new kinase inhibitors used for treatment of CLL have low rates of complete remission (CR). Combinations of targeted agents have the potential to improve outcomes, shorten treatment duration, and reduce toxicity. Tirabrutinib (a BTK inhibitor), and entospletinib (a SYK inhibitor), both show significant single-agent clinical activity in pts with CLL. In this study, we evaluated tirabrutinib and entospletinib as dual therapy (TE), and as triple therapy in combination with obinutuzumab (TEO). Methods: This is a prospective, open-label, phase 2 protocol (NCT02983617) at 15 clinical centers in Germany that recruited pts with relapsed or refractory CLL between April 2017 and September 2018. As of amendment 3, pts who did not progress while on an inhibitor of BTK, SYK, PI3K, BCL-2 or on obinutuzumab were also included. Pts received the TE regimen with tirabrutinib 80 mg once daily (QD) + entospletinib 400 mg QD for up to 104 weeks, or the TEO regimen adding obinutuzumab at standard dosing for a total of 8 doses of 1000 mg over 21 weeks. After the implementation of protocol amendment 3, randomization was discontinued and all subsequently enrolled pts received the TEO regimen. Response was measured by modified iwCLL 2008 criteria. The primary endpoint was the CR rate at week 25. Results: Thirty-six pts were treated, 6 with TE and 30 with TEO. Median (range) age was 68 (45-82) years, with a median of 1 (1-2) and 2 (1-8) prior anticancer therapies in those assigned to TE and TEO, respectively. As of 16 May 2019, 29 of all 36 pts (81%) continue to receive tirabrutinib and entospletinib on study; 2 (6%) pts completed study drug dosing as specified per protocol at week 104. Twenty-eight of 30 pts (93%) in the TEO arm completed obinutuzumab dosing as specified per protocol. Of the 36 pts, 34 (94%) continued the study and 2 (6%) discontinued the study due to adverse events (AEs) or death, both were in the TEO group. Median duration (range) of exposure to tirabrutinib and entospletinib was 99 (90-105) weeks on TE and 50 (4-104) weeks on TEO, including 20 (2-35) weeks for obinutuzumab. At week 25, CR rate was 0% (90% confidence interval [CI] 0-39.3) with TE and 7% (90% CI 1.2-19.5) with TEO (Table 1). Overall response rates at week 25 were 100% (90% CI 60.7-100) and 90% (90% CI 76.1-97.2) for TE and TEO.One pt on the TEO regimen experienced disease progression (per clinical response assessment) after 3.75 months of therapy. Three (10%) pts on TEO were minimal residual disease (MRD) negative in peripheral blood (PB MRD-) at week 25; one (3%) pt was also MRD negative in bone marrow (BM MRD-).No pts showed MRD negativity with TE therapy. Best rate of CR/PB MRD- was 7% (90% CI 1.2-19.5) and for CR/BM MRD- was 3% (90% CI 0.2-14.9) with TEO. Median time to first PB MRD- was 32 weeks on TEO. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival have not been reached yet, and 24-month PFS rates were not yet estimable in either treatment group. Treatment-emergent AEs (TEAEs) are listed in Table 2. No pt in the TE and 3 pts (10%) in the TEO group discontinued tirabrutinib and entospletinib due to TEAEs, and no pt discontinued obinutuzumab due to TEAEs. Two (7%) pts in the TEO arm died following a TEAE: an 82-year-old male from subdural hematoma (onset within 30 days of last dosing, and death within 68 days) and a 77-year-old male from syncope (onset on the last dosing date, and death at day 35 after last dosing); both deaths were considered unrelated to study treatment by investigators. Conclusion: A triple combination with tirabrutinib, entospletinib, and obinutuzumab (TEO regimen) was tolerable and demonstrated excellent therapeutic activity in pts with relapsed or refractory CLL, but with limited CR rate. Disclosures Kutsch: Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Research Funding; Mundipharma, AbbVie, Janssen: Other: Travel, accomodation, expenses. Pallasch:Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Honoraria, Research Funding. Tausch:AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: travel support, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Boehme:Abbvie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Servier: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Glenmark Pharmaceutical: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Mundipharma: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Janssen-Cilag: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Merck: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Helsinn: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; VioPharm: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; InCyte: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Grant. Ritgen:AbbVie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: travel support, Research Funding. Wacker:Celgene: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy. Trappe:Celgene, Janssen, Takeda, TEVA: Other: Congress related travel support ; Atara: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche Pharma: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Congress related travel support , Research Funding; AbbVie: Consultancy, Other: Congress related travel support . Dreger:AbbVie, Gilead, Novartis, Riemser, Roche: Speakers Bureau; AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Gilead, Janssen, Novartis, Riemser, Roche: Consultancy; Neovii, Riemser: Research Funding; MSD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Sponsoring of Symposia. Stilgenbauer:AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Gilead Sciences, Inc., GSK, Hoffmann La-Roche, Janssen, Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Zhang:Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Employment, Other: Shareholder. Jürgensmeier:Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Employment, Other: Shareholder. Bhargava:Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Employment, Other: Shareholder; Tioma Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Dicerna Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Sanofi, Aveo Pharma: Patents & Royalties. Hallek:Roche, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Mundipharma, Janssen, Celgene, Pharmacyclics, AbbVie: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Eichhorst:ArQule: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BeiGene: Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. OffLabel Disclosure: GAZYVA (obinutuzumab) is a CD20-directed cytolytic antibody and is indicated in combination with chlorambucil, for the treatment of patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Background CNS recurrence of aggressive lymphoma remains a distressing and usually incurable event. In an analysis of patients on protocols of the German High-Grade Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Study Group (DSHNHL) between 1990 and 2000, the CNS relapse rate was 2.2% in 1693 patients treated with modern chemotherapy but without rituximab (Boehme et al., Ann. Oncol. 2007). We now analyzed the incidence and prognostic factors for CNS recurrence in the RICOVER-60 study (Pfreundschuh et al., Blood abstract 2006) where patients had been randomized to 6 or 8 courses of CHOP-14 +/- rituximab. Patients and Methods From 2000–2005, 1242 patients (pts.) between 61 and 80 years with CD20+ aggressive lymphoma were randomized to receive 6 or 8 cycles of CHOP-14 chemotherapy with or without 8 courses of rituximab. Twenty patients were excluded because of missing or retracted informed consent, leaving 1222 pts. for the intention-to-treat analysis. For patients with suspected or confirmed lymphoma manifestation in testes, bone marrow, upper cervical nodes, sinuses or other extranodal involvements in the cranial region the protocol asked for intrathecal (i.th.) prophylaxis with 15 mg methotrexate twice in the first two cycles of treatment. Results 1217 patients were evaluable, of whom 58 patients (4.8%) after a median time of 8 months (1–39) developed relapse or progression to the CNS with a median time of survival of 3 months (0.1–38). Multivariate Cox regresssion analysis identified involvement of more than one extranodal site (RR = 3.4; p< 0.001), the presence of B-symptoms (RR = 1.9; p = 0.025) and increased LDH values (RR = 1.5; p = 0.146) as relevant predictors of CNS recurrence. Patients with these three characteristics had a CNS relapse rate of approximately 24% at 2 years, about 6-fold the incidence rate observed in all other patients. The addition of rituximab to chemotherapy reduced the risk of CNS recurrence (RR = 0.5; p = 0.025), whereas the number of treatment cycles (6 vs. 8) did have no influence on the CNS-specific outcome. 273 of 1217 patients (22%) received i.th. prophylaxis at least during one cycle and 202 of 273 prophylaxis patients (74%) were treated intrathecally in full compliance with the protocol, thus reducing the rate of CNS complications (RR = 0.3; p = 0.023). The majority of these patients had involvement of testes, bone marrow, sinuses or upper skeletal and/or nodal sites. Conclusion The incidence of CNS relapse in 1217 patients treated for aggressive lymphoma with CHOP-14 with or without rituximab was low (4.8%) but slightly higher than reported in other recent series. The prognostic factors for CNS-disease and the poor prognosis of CNS relapse remain largely unchanged although rituximab significantly reduced the incidence of CNS disease (3.6 vs. 5.9%) and the risk of CNS recurrence (RR 0.5; p = 0.025). Prophylactic i.th. therapy given to patients with distinct extranodal involvement reduces the risk of CNS disease in these individuals. Due to the low overall incidence general prophylactic strategies cannot be recommended.