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Jonathan W Friedberg

Publications and source records attributed to Jonathan W Friedberg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Venetoclax added to dose-adjusted EPOCH-R for newly diagnosed double-hit lymphomas: phase 2 results from ALLIANCE A051701, an open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 2-3 trial.

BACKGROUND: High-grade B-cell lymphoma with rearrangements of MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6, known as double-hit lymphoma, is a highly aggressive malignancy with poor outcomes after standard chemoimmunotherapy. We aimed to study whether the addition of the BCL2-inhibitor venetoclax to chemoimmunotherapy in patients with double-hit lymphoma resulted in superior efficacy compared with chemotherapy alone. METHODS: ALLIANCE A051701 is an open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 2-3 trial in separate cohorts of patients with double-hit lymphoma and patients with double-expressor lymphoma. In this analysis, we report phase 2 results from the double-hit lymphoma cohort. Patients aged 18-80 years with newly diagnosed double-hit lymphoma and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-2 were recruited from 41 hospitals and outpatient clinics in the USA. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive DA-EPOCH-R (dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and rituximab) either alone (DA-EPOCH-R group) or with venetoclax (DA-EPOCH-R plus venetoclax group) using permuted block randomisation schedule. All patients and investigators were aware of group assignment. DA-EPOCH-R was administered on a 21-day schedule for up to six total cycles. Venetoclax was given as 600 mg by mouth daily on days 4-8 of cycle 1 and on days 1-5 of cycles 2-6. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival in the modified intent-to-treat population inclusive of all eligible patients with centrally confirmed double-hit lymphoma. The safety analysis population consisted of all evaluable patients who received at least one dose of protocol treatment. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03984448) and is closed to enrolment. FINDINGS: 36 patients were randomly assigned to the DA-EPOCH-R group and 37 to the DA-EPOCH-R plus venetoclax group between Oct 22, 2019, and Sept 18, 2020. Median age was 65 years (IQR 56-73) and baseline demographic factors were well balanced between groups, with 30 (45%) female and 36 (55%) male patients. Most patients (59 [89%]) were white, two (3%) were Asian, one (2%) was Black or African American, and four (6%) had unknown or unreported ethnicity. The majority of patients had MYC-BCL2 double-hit lymphoma (59 [89%] patients), advanced stage disease (57 [86%] patients), and high-intermediate/high-risk IPI score (42 [64%] patients). Median follow-up was 34·7 months (IQR 30·1-36·8). Median progression-free survival was 28·4 months (95% CI 5·2-not estimable) in the DA-EPOCH-R group (n=30) and 7·7 months (95% CI 4·7-NE) in the DA-EPOCH-R plus venetoclax group (n=36; hazard ratio [HR] 1·13, 95% CI 0·53-2·37; p=0·75). Deaths on treatment occurred in one (3%) patient in the DA-EPOCH-R group (due to dyspnoea; possibly related to treatment) and six (17%) patients in the DA-EPOCH-R plus venetoclax group (four due to sepsis [three at least possible related and one unrelated], two due to cardiac arrest [at least possibly related]), prompting early closure of the double-hit lymphoma cohort. The most common grade 3-4 non-haematological adverse event was febrile neutropenia, occurring in 15 (43%) of 35 patients in the DA-EPOCH-R plus venetoclax group and 11 (37%) of 30 patients in the DA-EPOCH-R group. The median overall survival has not been reached in either group. The 24-month overall survival estimates were 72% (95% CI 52-85) in the DA-EPOCH-R group compared with 52% (95% CI 33-68) in the DA-EPOCH-R plus venetoclax group (HR 2·49, 95% CI 1·03-6·04; p=0·038). INTERPRETATION: The addition of venetoclax to DA-EPOCH-R resulted in excess mortality, prompting early study closure. Robust accrual shows that prospective multicentre trials are feasible in double-hit lymphoma, and the outcomes in the DA-EPOCH-R group serve as a benchmark for future studies. FUNDING: National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Humans↗

The International Consensus Classification of Mature Lymphoid Neoplasms: a report from the Clinical Advisory Committee.

Since the publication of the Revised European-American Classification of Lymphoid Neoplasms in 1994, subsequent updates of the classification of lymphoid neoplasms have been generated through iterative international efforts to achieve broad consensus among hematopathologists, geneticists, molecular scientists, and clinicians. Significant progress has recently been made in the characterization of malignancies of the immune system, with many new insights provided by genomic studies. They have led to this proposal. We have followed the same process that was successfully used for the third and fourth editions of the World Health Organization Classification of Hematologic Neoplasms. The definition, recommended studies, and criteria for the diagnosis of many entities have been extensively refined. Some categories considered provisional have now been upgraded to definite entities. Terminology for some diseases has been revised to adapt nomenclature to the current knowledge of their biology, but these modifications have been restricted to well-justified situations. Major findings from recent genomic studies have impacted the conceptual framework and diagnostic criteria for many disease entities. These changes will have an impact on optimal clinical management. The conclusions of this work are summarized in this report as the proposed International Consensus Classification of mature lymphoid, histiocytic, and dendritic cell tumors.

Advisory Committees↗

B cell reconstitution after rituximab treatment of lymphoma recapitulates B cell ontogeny.

The long-term immunologic effects of B cell depletion with rituximab and the characteristics of the reconstituting B cell pool in lymphoma patients are not well defined, despite the widespread usage of this therapy. Here we report that during the B cell reconstitution phase a majority of the peripheral blood B cells have an immature transitional phenotype (47.8%+/-25.2% vs. 4.4%+/-2.4% for normal controls, p<0.0001), similar to what has been described during the original ontogeny of the immune system and following bone marrow transplantation. Moreover, the recovery of the CD27+ memory B cell pool was delayed compared to normal B cell ontogeny, remaining below normal controls at 1 year post-rituximab (4.4%+/-3% vs. 31%+/-7%, p<0.0001). Expansion of functionally immature B cells and decreased memory B cells may contribute to an immunodeficient state in patients recovering from rituximab mediated B cell depletion, particularly with repeated treatment.

Adult↗

Antibody and immunomodulatory agents in treatment of indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Immunomodulatory agents, including cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, and CpG oligonucleotides, have properties that suggest they have the ability to augment rituximab in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Although several clinical trials have promising results, no randomized trials of reasonable size have been performed to date, limiting the ability to discern whether combinations of immunomodulatory agents with rituximab impact clinical outcome. Until such trials are mature, we do not recommend using these agents in combination outside of the research setting.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Is there an association between ocular adnexal lymphoma and infection with Chlamydia psittaci? The University of Rochester experience.

Various subsets of extranodal marginal zone lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALT lymphomas) have been associated with infectious organisms. Most notable of these is the association of gastric MALT lymphomas with Helicobacter pylori infection. In a recent publication Ferreri et al. [Ferreri AJ, Guidoboni M, Ponzoni M, De Conciliis C, Dell'Oro S, Fleischhauer K, et al. Evidence for an association between Chlamydia psittaci and ocular adnexal lymphomas. J Natl Cancer Inst 2004;96:586-94] reported the presence of C. psittaci DNA in 80% of 40 ocular adnexal lymphomas. Similar to the gastric MALT lymphoma data, a subset of these patients responded well to antibiotic treatment. We analyzed a set of ocular adnexal lymphomas and benign (non-neoplastic) lesions for evidence of C. psittaci DNA in patients from New York State. No evidence of C. psittaci DNA was seen in seven MALT-type ocular adnexal lymphomas, four non-MALT ocular lymphomas, one Langerhans histiocytosis, and five reactive lymphoproliferations. We eliminated several possible reasons that would cause our study to fail to find C. psittaci DNA, including the presence of PCR inhibitors, inadequate template DNA, and sequence diversity in the target region in C. psittaci. The positive data were based primarily on patients from Italy, while our study involved only patients living in the Northeastern United States. This would suggest possible geographic differences in the etiology of ocular adnexal lymphomas.

Adolescent↗

Increasing incidence of late second malignancies after conditioning with cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation and autologous bone marrow transplantation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

PURPOSE: Although the risk of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) has been well-described following autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT), the risk of solid tumors has been poorly characterized. We report the incidence and outcome of solid tumors at 10-year follow-up in a large cohort of uniformly treated patients who underwent ABMT for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1982 and 1997, 605 patients underwent ABMT for B-cell NHL, with uniform conditioning with cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation followed by reinfusion of autologous bone marrow purged with anti-B-cell monoclonal antibodies. Current information on relapse of disease and second malignancies was obtained via an institutional review board-approved questionnaire sent to the referring oncologists. RESULTS: Forty-two solid tumors, six non-MDS hematologic malignancies, 39 nonmelanoma skin cancers, and 68 cases of MDS/acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) were observed at a median follow-up of 9.5 years. A cumulative incidence model using death as a competing risk found that the 10-year incidence of second malignancy is 21%, with 10.0% non-MDS malignancies. The projected incidence of all malignancies at 15 years is 29%. The principal risk factor for second malignancy is increased age at ABMT (P = .0002). In the entire cohort, 9.6% of patients have died of second malignancy. CONCLUSION: Lengthy follow-up demonstrates a significant incidence of second malignancies after ABMT for NHL. Although the incidence of MDS/AML starts to plateau, the incidence of solid tumors continues to rise. Second malignancies are responsible for a significant fraction of overall mortality following ABMT.

Adult↗

Unique toxicities and resistance mechanisms associated with monoclonal antibody therapy.

Anti-CD20 therapy has had a truly dramatic impact on treatment and outcome of patients with follicular lymphoma. Unfortunately, the majority of responses to single-agent rituximab are incomplete, and all patients with follicular lymphoma will experience disease progression at some point following rituximab therapy. Rituximab has multiple mechanisms of inducing in vivo cytotoxicity, including antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, complement-dependent cytotoxicity, direct apoptotic signaling, and possible vaccinal effects. The cellular microenvironment within follicular lymphoma has a profound impact on which mechanism is dominant, and confers resistance in many situations. Both tumor-associated and host-associated factors also contribute to rituximab resistance. There are multiple potential approaches to overcoming rituximab resistance, including rational biologic combination immunotherapy, engineered antibodies, and radioimmunoconjugates. Improved ability to overcome resistance will require further elucidation of critical signaling pathways involved in rituximab induced cytotoxicity and a comprehensive understanding of interactions between its multiple mechanisms of action.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Combination immunotherapy with a CpG oligonucleotide (1018 ISS) and rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma: increased interferon-alpha/beta-inducible gene expression, without significant toxicity.

CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODNs) affect innate and adaptive immune responses, including antigen presentation, costimulatory molecule expression, dendritic cell maturation, and induction of cytokines enhancing antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). We conducted a phase 1 study evaluating 4 dose levels of a CpG-ODN (1018 ISS) with rituximab in 20 patients with relapsed non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Patients received CpG once a week for 4 weeks beginning after the second of 4 rituximab infusions. Adverse events were minimal. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) measurements of a panel of genes inducible by CpG-ODN and interferons were performed on blood samples collected before and 24 hours after CpG. A dose-related increase was measured in the expression of several interferon-inducible genes after CpG and correlated with serum levels of 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS), a validated interferon response marker. Genes induced selectively by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were not significantly induced by CpG. In conclusion, we have defined a set of gene expression markers that provide a sensitive measure of biologic responses of patients to CpG therapy in a dose-related manner. Moreover, all the genes significantly induced by this CpG are regulated by type 1 interferons, providing insight into the dominant immune mechanisms in humans. CpG treatment resulted in no significant toxicity, providing rationale for further testing of this exciting combination immunotherapy approach to NHL.

Adult↗

Oral fludarabine has significant activity in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and leads to increased STAT1 levels in vivo.

Fifteen patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were treated with oral fludarabine. Toxicities were mainly hematologic, and the response rate was 80%. To assess the effect of fludarabine on the transcription factor STAT1, blood samples obtained on study entry were treated in vitro with fludarabine for 24 h, and the majority of samples displayed an expected decrease in STAT1. To determine whether similar changes occurred in vivo, we developed a flow cytometric assay to quantitate STAT1 levels. On completion of fludarabine cycle 1, CLL cells showed increased STAT1 in the majority of patients, in contrast to the in vitro findings. This may reflect a survival advantage for cells that express high levels of STAT1. In conclusion, oral fludarabine is highly active and merits further investigation in previously untreated patients with CLL. Larger studies are indicated to determine optimal timing of STAT1 assessment, and if changes in STAT1 represent an in vivo indicator of response to purine analog therapy.

Administration, Oral↗

FDG-PET is superior to gallium scintigraphy in staging and more sensitive in the follow-up of patients with de novo Hodgkin lymphoma: a blinded comparison.

Accurate staging of Hodgkin lymphoma (HD) allows for minimization of therapy and reduction of long-term toxicities. The present study prospectively compares FDG-PET with gallium/SPECT scintigraphy at time of diagnosis and in follow-up of 36 patients with HD. Prior to therapy, whole body FDG-PET and gallium/SPECT were performed. Follow-up scans were obtained after 3 cycles of chemotherapy (n = 22), and at the end of chemotherapy (n = 32). Two nuclear medicine physicians independently interpreted scans in blinded and random order and a consensus was obtained. Baseline scans revealed a greater number of supradiaphragmatic disease sites detected by PET, and 5 patients had splenic involvement on PET not noted by gallium (P = 0.05); 3 patients were upstaged on PET. Midway through therapy, 5 patients had positive PET (4 of whom relapsed), and 3 had positive gallium (1 relapsed). At conclusion of chemotherapy, 8 patients had a positive PET (4 relapsed) and 3 had a positive gallium (2 relapsed). In conclusion, diagnostic PET and gallium are largely concordant, with the exception of unique detection of splenic disease by PET. However, more patients have persistently positive PET at the end of chemotherapy compared with gallium (P = 0.04), although only half of these patients have relapsed.

Adolescent↗

Autologous bone marrow transplantation for marginal zone non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The marginal zone non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are a recently defined group of related low-grade B cell malignancies whose natural history is heterogeneous. The optimal therapy is often unclear, particularly for the subset of patients with disseminated disease that behaves aggressively. We have retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 11 patients with chemosensitive but disseminated marginal zone lymphomas who underwent uniform conditioning with cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation followed by bone marrow transplantation (BMT) with anti-B cell monoclonal antibody-purged autologous bone marrow between January 1994 and September 1999. All patients had stage IV disease and received multiple chemotherapy regimens prior to autologous BMT. Only 36% were in complete remission at the time of bone marrow harvest, and 36% had overt bone marrow infiltration at that time. Two treatment-related deaths occurred between 100 days and 6 months. Three patients relapsed and died of disease. One patient developed and died of myelodysplasia. Five patients remain in continuous complete remission at a median follow-up of 52 months (45%). The median progression-free survival for these patients was 56 months, with median overall survival 58 months. The only significant predictor of disease-free and overall survival was age at the time of transplant; no patient under 45 at the time of transplant has relapsed or died of any cause (P = 0.003). Outcomes of autologous BMT in patients with disseminated marginal zone NHL are similar to those in follicular NHL, and suggest that certain patients may experience prolonged disease-free survival.

Adult↗

Iodine-131 tositumomab (Bexxar): radioimmunoconjugate therapy for indolent and transformed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Tositumomab is an immunoglobulin G murine monoclonal antibody that binds to the CD20 antigen on the surface of normal and malignant human B-cells. Tositumomab is linked covalently with iodine-131 to produce the radioimmunoconjugate iodine-131 tositumomab (Bexxar). The iodine-131 tositumomab regimen was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2003 for the treatment of patients with CD20-positive, follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, both with and without transformation, whose disease is refractory to rituximab (Rituxan) and has relapsed following chemotherapy. The dose-limiting toxicity of iodine-131 tositumomab is bone marrow suppression and resulting cytopenias. Unlike chemotherapy, the majority of nonhematologic adverse events associated with iodine-131 tositumomab are mild to moderate in nature and usually self limited. Iodine-131 tositumomab represents one of the most active single agents for the treatment of recurrent indolent and transformed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, as demonstrated by several clinical trials summarized in this review. At the present time, the use of radioimmunoconjugate therapy is largely limited to patients with disease refractory to rituximab therapy and transformed disease not amenable to high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell support. Longer follow-up of ongoing clinical trials should provide reassurance as to safety and insights as to the additive stem cell toxicity from iodine-131 tositumomab administration. Studies are also addressing the role of iodine-131 tositumomab as a component of initial therapy for indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and in additional histologies of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Gemcitabine added to doxorubicin, bleomycin, and vinblastine for the treatment of de novo Hodgkin disease: unacceptable acute pulmonary toxicity.

BACKGROUND: Gemcitabine is an effective treatment for recurrent Hodgkin disease (HD), with relatively minimal associated toxicity. The authors conducted a trial substituting this drug for dacarbazine in the standard regimen to form ABVG (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, gemcitabine) for patients with newly diagnosed, high-risk HD. METHODS: Twelve patients (median age, 34 years) with advanced-stage de novo HD were enrolled. Standard doses of doxorubicin, bleomycin, and vinblastine were given for six cycles. Cohorts of three patients were enrolled and the dose of gemcitabine was escalated to identify the maximally tolerated dose in this combination. RESULTS: The maximally tolerated dose of gemcitabine was determined to be 800 mg/m(2) in this combination. Five patients developed clinically significant pulmonary toxicity. Three required hospitalization during the final two cycles of treatment. Pneumonitis could not be predicted with serial diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DECO) evaluations, and reversed after discontinuation of bleomycin in three patients and steroid therapy in two patients. All 12 patients are alive to date, and 4 patients have experienced disease progression. CONCLUSIONS: The bleomycin/gemcitabine combination should not be pursued for de novo HD due to significant pulmonary toxicity.

Adult↗