Abstract: This study investigated Thiotepa (TT) and Fludarabine (Fluda) as a preparative regimen for allogeneic peripheral stem cell transplantation in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or acute leukemia from MDS (MDS-AML) older than 50 or with comorbidities contraindicating standard conditioning. Patients were prepared with TT, given over 3 hours as an i.v. infusion at a dose of 10 mg/kg over two days (day -8 and day -7) and Fluda at the dose of 125 mg/m2 i.v. over five days ( from day -7 to day -3). Fresh or cryopreserved allogeneic peripheral stem cells were infused on day 0 or +1. Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine A (CyA) at the dose of 1.5 mg/kg day as a continuous iv infusion from day -5 until engraftment. The CyA was then administered orally at the dose of 3 mg/kg twice a day. Doses were adjusted to maintain plasma level concentrations between 150–350 mg/dL. From day +60, in the absence of acute GvHD, the CyA was tapered down by 20% every 2 weeks until withdrawal. In addition, patients received methotrexate 10 mg/m2 on day +1, and 8 mg/m2 on days + 3, +6 and +11 after transplantation. At the time of transplantation, patients were classified in two risk groups (low vs high risk) according to IPSS score (low/intermediate-1 vs. intermediate-2/high) for MDS patients, and disease status (CR vs. not CR) for MDS-AML. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was carried out to compare Overall Survival (OS), Transplant-Related Mortality (TRM) and probability of relapse. Fifty patients (29 males, 21 females) entered the study; the median age was 54 years (range 38–71). Sixteen MDS patients had a low/intermediate 1 score according to the International Prognostic Score System (IPSS), 16 had an intermediate 2/high IPSS score, 18 had MDS-AML. Thirty patients underwent transplantation as front-line therapy, 20 received one or more cycles of chemotherapy before transplant. Among the latter, nine with MDS-AML were in complete remission at the time of their transplant, while four were in a partial remission. The interval from diagnosis to transplantation ranged from 1 to 52 months (median value 11 months). Contraindications to a standard conditioning regimen were liver disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy secondary to hypertension or valvular stenosis, cardiac arrhythmia, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, previous CNS bleeding, and a history of sepsis. All but one patient achieved engraftment, with full donor chimerism by day +30. Patients were followed up for a median time of 21 months (range 0.2–87). TRM at 1 and 2 years after transplantation was 25% and 33%; the 5-year probability of relapse was 27%. Twenty-six patients are alive in complete remission, and the 5-year OS is 50%. The 5-year OS was 73% and 28% in low- and high-risk patients respectively (p=0.002). TRM at 1 and 2 years after transplantation was 13% and 21% in the low-risk group and 39% and 45% in the high-risk group (p=0.046); the 5-year probability of relapse was 10% and 50% in the low- and high-risk group respectively (p=0.015). In a multivariate Cox regression, risk group retained a borderline significance (HR=2.6, p=0.07) when adjusted by age at transplantation (p=0.03) and interval from diagnosis to transplant (n.s.). The combination of Thiotepa and Fludarabine is an effective and well-tolerated conditioning regimen in patients with MDS or MDS-AML who are poor candidates for standard myeloablative transplantation, particularly in MDS patients with low/intermediate-1 IPSS score and MDS-AML patients in CR.

Abstract: Pediatric-inspired chemotherapy is the standard of care for younger adults with Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (Ph– ALL/LL). In LAL1913 trial, the Gruppo Italiano Malattie EMatologiche dell’Adulto added pegaspargase 2000 IU/m2 to courses 1, 2, 5, and 6 of an 8-block protocol for patients aged from 18 to 65 years, with dose reductions in patients aged & gt;55 years. Responders were risk stratified for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) or maintenance per clinical characteristics and minimal residual disease (MRD). Of 203 study patients (median age, 39.8 years), 91% achieved a complete remission. The 3-year overall survival, event-free, and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 66.7%, 57.7%, and 63.3%, respectively, fulfilling the primary study end point of a 2-year DFS & gt;55%. Although based on the intention-to-treat, the DFS being 74% and 50% in the chemotherapy (n = 94) and HCT (n = 91) assignment cohorts, respectively, a time-dependent analysis proved the value of HCT in patients who were eligible (DFS HCT 70% vs no HCT 26%; P & lt;.0001). In multivariate analysis, age and MRD were independent factors predicting DFS rates of 86% (age ≤ 40 and MRD-negative), 64%-65% (MRD-positive or age & gt; 40) and 25% (age & gt; 40 and MRD-positive); P & lt; .0001. Grade ≥2 pegaspargase toxicity was mainly observed at course 1, contributing to induction death in 2 patients but was rare thereafter. This program improved outcomes of patients with Ph– ALL/LL aged up to 65 years in a multicenter national setting. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02067143.

Abstract: The management of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) during pregnancy is a matter of continuous debate. The introduction of the tyrosin kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in clinical practice has dramatically changed the prognosis of CML patients. Patients diagnosed in chronic phase can expect an excellent disease control and a normal lifespan. Issues relating to fertility and pregnancy must be introduced at diagnosis. Different reports were published in patients conceving/getting pregnant during Imatinib treatment, while there are only sporadic data about other TKIs. The GIMEMA CML working party has started a retrospective and prospective study to describe all female pregnancies/male conception outcome in the CML population from January 2013 until 2015. Inclusion criteria were age 〉 18, CML in any phase of the disease, conception/pregnancy while diagnosed with CML, treatment with TKIs (before, during or after pregnancy), and signed written informed consent IRB approved. Sixty-three patients have been enrolled so far in the study. Male to female ratio was 43/20, mother age at pregnancy (female patients or female partners of male patients) varies from 22 to 37 years. CML was diagnosed when patients were aged between 17 and 55 years old, all patients were in chronic phase at time of conception, but one. This patient was a male patient with accelerated phase aged 31 treated with Nilotinib whose conception outcome was unremarkable. Data on 71 pregnancies have been harvested. The majority of pregnancies were spontaneous, with 3 PMA (pregnancy medically assisted). All pregnancies were carried on, 2 are ongoing, and 6 ended up in an abortion within the 3rdmonth, 2 of which non induced (miscarriages). At pregnancy/conception 8 patients were treated with Nilotinib, 4 with Dasatinib, 3 with Bosutinib, the remaining patients were treated with Imatinib or were at onset with no treatment. All carried pregnancies were unremarkable, except two placental detachment, one at 5 months and one at 12 weeks pregnancy, 1 abortion threat requiring rest, 1 gestational diabetes with intra-uterine growth retard, 1 oligohydramnios, 1 congenital hip dysplasia, and 1 speech retard in a 36 months old baby girl. Data on female patients population, regarding the status of CML at pregnancy, the CML therapy since conception and throughout pregnancy, particularly regarding the organogenesis period (between 5-12 weeks), the status of the illness during pregnancy (any MR4.5, MR4 and major molecular response, complete cytogenetic response, hematologic response losses, and progressions), the outcome of pregnancy, breast feeding, baby growth and development (walk, speech, behaviour), will be detailed. The same will be for female partners of male patients treated with TKIs other than Imatinib. Acquiring detailed information about how a pregnancy/conception is managed will increase our knowledge in order to establish a consensus on patients with CML receiving TKIs who wants to father a child or become/are pregnant. Disclosures Abruzzese: novartis, bristol myers squibb, ariad, pfizer, takeda: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Gugliotta:Novartis: Consultancy; Bristol-Myers-Squibb: Consultancy. Castagnetti:Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria. Baccarani:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau.

Abstract: Background: Inotuzumab-ozogamicin (IO) is one of the drugs of choice for relapse/refractory (R/R) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Patients who received IO in a clinical trial had a CR rate of approximately 81% and a median overall survival of approximately 8 months, superior to best available therapy and numerically comparable with blinatumomab. Toxicities were generally manageable, veno-occlusive disease/ sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) was reported as a rare adverse event possibly linked to the drug that require attention, especially during hematopoietic stem cell transplant after IO. Data on IO effectiveness in the real-life setting are generally lacking, for the low incidence of the disease and the high number of possible therapies that are emerging. Methods: INO-CD22 (NCT03898128) is a real-life study collecting data on safety, effectiveness and indirect costs of IO therapy in R/R ALL. Twenty-four Italian institutions enrolled patients who received IO in the post-market expanded access program or with national health system reimbursement. This study was approved by the ethical committee (Prot.9296/2018). Here we present preliminary results of effectiveness and treatment emergent toxicity. Results: From 2014, we collected data of 65 patients who received IO and were evaluable for effectiveness and toxicity. Median age at start of IO was 47 years (IQR 27-61), 35 patients (53.9%) were male, 14 (21.5%) had Ph+ ALL. 12 patients (18.5%) received IO after 1 previous line of therapy, 16 (24.6%) after 2 previous lines, and 37 (56.9%) after more than 2 lines. In our patient set, 37 (56.9%) patients received IO after blinatumomab failure and 24 (36.9%) after an allogenic HSCT. Nine patients (13.8%) received IO after an history of mild to moderate liver-related adverse events. Median number of IO courses administered was 1 (IQR 1-2). Three patients do not complete course 1, as they died for infection (2) and cerebral hemorrhage (1). Of the 60 patients who were alive after a course of IO, 56 have evaluable data, 47 (83.9%) obtained a complete remission with IO. Particularly, CR was obtained in 9/11 (81.8%), 11/15 (73.3%), and 27/30 (90.0%) evaluable patients who received IO as a 1 st, 2 nd or & gt;2 nd salvage, respectively. Twenty-four out of 30 (80.0%) evaluable patients who received IO after blinatumomab failure and 17/18 (94.5%) patients who already received an HSCT achieve CR with IO. With a median follow-up of 25.7 months (95% C.I. 19.8-34.3), median OS was 7.5 months (95% C.I. 5.8-10.0). Median OS was 7.5 months (95% C.I. 2.7-18.6), 9.0 months (95% C.I. 5.8-15.8), and 6.4 months (95% C.I. 4.5-12.8) in patients who received one previous line of treatment, two lines of treatment, and more than two lines of treatment, respectively (figure A). Median PFS was 4.1 months (95% C.I. 0.1-13.21), 6.7 months (95% C.I. 0.1-12.4), and 5.0 months (95% C.I. 3.12-7.9) in patients who received one previous treatment line, two previous lines, and more than two lines, respectively. Patients who received IO after blinatumomab failure had a median OS of 6.0 months (figure C, 95% C.I. 4.7-9.3). Patients who received IO after an HSCT had a median OS of 6.4 months (figure C, 95% C.I. 3.1-24.7). Twenty-five patient (38.5%) received an HSCT after IO therapy, of 22 (88.0 %) in CR, and 1 (6.7%) after further salvage therapies (chemotherapy). During IO therapy, 1 treatment related toxic death and 1 treatment related VOD/SOS, 1 grade 5 infection (AE), 9 grade 3-4 AEs, and 25 grade 1-2 AEs were noted. The most common AEs during IO therapy were Thrombocytopenia (reported in 7 (10.8%) of patients), infections (reported in 6 (9.2%) of patients) and liver tox adverse events (reported in 6 (9.2%) of patients). Overall, 7 VOD-SOS were reported, and the incidence was higher during transplant. Conclusions: Our data confirm in the real-life setting the great effectiveness of IO in term of CR. OS was comparable with data reported in clinical trials, even in a patient population that was not selected with inclusion criteria. OS and CR rate was not dramatically diminished in patients who already received HSCT nor in patients who already received blinatumomab. Safety of IO treatment was confirmed. IO is an easy-to-administer and safe therapy with a very high rate of expected CR in all the contexts and that confer promising expectation of survival. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Papayannidis: Novartis: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria; Astellas: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria. Fracchiolla: Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Di Raimondo: Amgen: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; Jazz Pharmaceutical: Honoraria; Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria. Lanza: Pfizer: Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy; Jazz: Consultancy; Sanofi: Consultancy. Borlenghi: Amgen, Janssen: Consultancy. Sica: Pfizer: Honoraria. Corradini: AbbVie, ADC Theraputics, Amgen, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead/Kite, GSK, Incyte, Janssen, KyowaKirin, Nerviano Medical Science, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda: Honoraria; AbbVie, ADC Theraputics, Amgen, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead/Kite, GSK, Incyte, Janssen, KyowaKirin, Nerviano Medical Science, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda: Consultancy; KiowaKirin; Incyte; Daiichi Sankyo; Janssen; F. Hoffman-La Roche; Kite; Servier: Consultancy; Amgen; Takeda; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel and accommodations; Novartis; Gilead; Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Travel and accommodations; BMS: Other: Travel and accommodation; Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria; Incyte: Consultancy; Novartis, Janssen, Celgene, BMS, Takeda, Gilead/Kite, Amgen, AbbVie: Other: travel and accomodations. Luppi: Abbvie: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; MSD: Honoraria; Gilead Science: Honoraria, Other: Travel grant; Daiichi-Sankyo: Honoraria; Jazz Pharma: Honoraria. Pane: Novartis Pharma SAS;: Research Funding; AbbVie; Amgen; Novartis: Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses; AbbVie; Amgen; Novartis, GSK, Incyte: Speakers Bureau; AbbVie; Amgen; Novartis, GSK , Incyte: Consultancy. Passamonti: Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Martinelli: Stemline Therapeutics: Consultancy; Astellas: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy; Celgene /BMS: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Daichii Sankyo: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy.

Abstract: The overwhelming success of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients has opened a discussion among medical practitioners and the lay public on the real possibility of pregnancy and conception in females and males with CML. In the past 10 years this subject has acquired growing interest in the scientific community and specific knowledge has been obtained “from bench to bedside”. Embryological, pharmacological, and pathophysiological studies have merged with worldwide patient databases to provide a roadmap to a successful pregnancy and birth in CML patients. Male conception does not seem to be affected by TKI therapy, since this class of drugs is neither genotoxic nor mutagenic, however, caution should be used specially with newer drugs for which little or no data are available. In contrast, female patients should avoid TKI therapy specifically during the embryonic stage of organogenesis (5–12 weeks) because TKIs can be teratogenic. In the last 15 years, 41 pregnancies have been followed in our center. A total of 11 male conceptions and 30 female pregnancies are described. TKI treatment was generally terminated as soon as the pregnancy was discovered (3–5 weeks), to avoid exposure during embryonic period and to reduce the risk of needing treatment in the first trimester. Eleven pregnancies were treated with interferon, imatinib or nilotinib during gestation. Nilotinib plasma levels in cord blood and maternal blood at delivery were studied in 2 patients and reduced or absent placental crossing of nilotinib was observed. All of the patients were managed by a multidisciplinary team of physicians with obligatory hematological and obgyn consultations. This work provides an update on the state of the art and detailed description of pregnancy management and outcomes in CML patients.

Abstract: Introduction. Observational studies from patients treated outside controlled clinical trials offer real life information and are relevant to understand whether data derived from prospective trials are reproducible in the clinical practice. A retrospective observational study was carried out by the GIMEMA (Gruppo Italiano Malattie EMatologiche dell'Adulto) group in order to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treated with ibrutinib in Italy within a Named Patient Program (NPP). The NPP was intended to offer free and early drug access to CLL patients until ibrutinib became available on the Italian market. Methods. Patients included in the NPP program had refractory or relapsed (R/R) disease with progression within 24 months after prior chemo-immunotherapy, and/or 17p deletion/TP53 mutations. Patients were also required to have an ECOG performance status ≤2; serum creatinine ≤2 times, liver enzymes ≤3 times and total bilirubin ≤1.5 times the upper limit of normal. Key exclusion criteria were: the need of a concomitant treatment with a strong CYP3A inhibitor or warfarin, an allogeneic stem cell transplantation within the past 6 months or an ongoing active infection. All patients included in the program received ibrutinib orally as a single agent at the standard dose of 420 mg daily. Clinical data of 110 patients included in the NPP program between January 2014 and November 2014 have so far been collected and analyzed using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system. Patients were managed at 20 Italian centers and received at least one dose of ibrutinib. Clinical data were reported by the treating physicians. Results. The median age of patients was 69.9 years (range 49.8-83.3); 53% were in Rai stage III-IV, 32% in stage II and 15% in stage 0-I. Sixty-two percent of patients had relapsed disease, 38% were refractory to prior treatment. The presence of a 17p deletion and/or TP53 mutations was recorded in 51 R/R patients. Eighty-six percent of patients had an unmutated IGHV gene profile. The median number of prior treatments was 3 and included allogeneic stem cell transplantation in 4 cases. Two or more comorbidities were reported in 57 patients (52%) and included atrial fibrillation (AF) in 10 (9.1%) and hypertension in 40 (36.4%). After a median follow-up of 12.1 months (range, 1.6-24.6), 87 patients (79%) were still on ibrutinib. A response to ibrutinib was reported in 98/110 patients (89.1%). The best recorded response was a CR/CRi in 19 patients (17.3%), while a PR was reported in 79 patients (72%; PR-L 21.1%). Similar response rates were observed in patients with unmutated IGHV genes (91.9%) and in those with 17p deletion/TP53 mutations (90.3%). At 12 months, the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 92.9% (95%CI: 87.9-98.2) and 95.2% (95%CI: 91.1-99.4), respectively. PFS at 12 months of patients who achieved a response was 96.3%, 98.9% in unmutated IGHV patients, 90.7% in those with 17p deletion/TP53 mutations. Five patients (4.5%) died during the NPP program (1 patient each for sepsis, heart failure, ileus perforation, cancer, unknown cause). Adverse events (AE) were recorded in 75 patients (68.2%); in 47 (42.7%) they were grade ≥3. Any grade AEs recorded in ≥5% of patients were: infections (35%; grade ≥3, 22%), granulocytopenia (18.8%; grade ≥3, 17.2%), bleeding (15.5%; grade ≥3, 2.7%), fever of unknown origin or febrile neutropenia (12%; grade ≥3, 5.4%), AF (10.9%; grade ≥3, 4.5%), diarrhoea (8.3; grade ≥3, 2%), hypertension (7.2%; grade ≥3, 5.4%). A new event of AF occurred in 1/10 patients with a prior history of AF. Warfarin was required in 1 patient with AF and this was the reason for ibrutinib discontinuation. Conclusions. The results of the first interim analysis of this retrospective, real life study confirms that ibrutinib, as a single agent, is an effective treatment for patients with poor-prognosis CLL. Our data also suggest that ibrutinib given to unselected patients, in a compassionate-use program, shows a clinical activity and a safety profile comparable to those reported in prospective trials. Data collection is ongoing in order to complete the analysis of this large NPP cohort in Italy. Disclosures Marasca: Roche: Honoraria; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria. Coscia:Karyopharm: Research Funding; ROCHE: Honoraria, Other: Advisory board; Janssen: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; Mundipharma: Honoraria. Zinzani:Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MorphoSys: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celegene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Molica:Jansen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche Italy: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead Sciences: Speakers Bureau. Orlandi:Ariad: Honoraria; BMS: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria. Ghia:Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Adaptive Biotechnology: Consultancy; Roche: Honoraria, Research Funding. Foà:Amgen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy; Pfizer: Speakers Bureau; Ariad: Speakers Bureau.