Efstathios Kastritis, Pierre Morel, Alain Duhamel, Maria Gavriatopoulou, Marie Christine Kyrtsonis, Eric Durot, Argiris Symeonidis, Kamel Laribi, Evdoxia Hatjiharissi, Loic Ysebaert, Amalia Vassou, Nikolaos Giannakoulas, Giampaolo Merlini, Panagiotis Repousis, Marzia Varettoni, Euridyki Michalis, Bénédicte Hivert, Michalis Michail, Eirini Katodritou, Evangelos Terpos, Veronique Leblond, Meletios A Dimopoulos
A revised international prognostic score system for Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.
Leukemia. 2019 Nov;33(11):2654-2661. doi: 10.1038/s41375-019-0431-y. Epub 2019 May 22.
Abstract/Text
A staging system was developed a decade ago for patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM), however, since then WM treatments have changed. A revised staging system could better capture prognosis of WM patients in the chemoimmunotherapy era. We developed a revised system based on data from 492 symptomatic patients with at least 3 years and a median of 7 years of follow up while an independent validation cohort included 229 symptomatic patients. We identified age (≤65 vs 66-75 vs ≥76 years), b2-microglobulin ≥ 4 mg/L, serum albumin <3.5 gr/dl, and LDH ≥ 250 IU/L (ULN < 225) to stratify patients in five different prognostic groups and identify a very-low risk as well as a very-high risk group with a 3-year WM-related death rate of 0, 10, 14, 38, and 48% (p < 0.001) and 10-year survival rate of 84, 59, 37, 19, and 9% (p < 0.001). We evaluated this staging system separately in patients >65 years and <65 years, according to the reason for initiation of treatment, among patients receiving frontline rituximab or in patients treated primarily without rituximab. With further validation before clinical use, this revised IPSSWM could improve WM patient risk stratification, is easily available and may be used in the everyday practice to provide prognostic information.
Meletios A Dimopoulos, Alessandra Tedeschi, Judith Trotman, Ramón García-Sanz, David Macdonald, Veronique Leblond, Beatrice Mahe, Charles Herbaux, Constantine Tam, Lorella Orsucci, M Lia Palomba, Jeffrey V Matous, Chaim Shustik, Efstathios Kastritis, Steven P Treon, Jianling Li, Zeena Salman, Thorsten Graef, Christian Buske, iNNOVATE Study Group and the European Consortium for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia
Phase 3 Trial of Ibrutinib plus Rituximab in Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia.
N Engl J Med. 2018 Jun 21;378(25):2399-2410. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1802917. Epub 2018 Jun 1.
Abstract/Text
BACKGROUND: Single-agent ibrutinib has shown substantial activity in patients with relapsed Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, a rare form of B-cell lymphoma. We evaluated the effect of adding ibrutinib to rituximab in patients with this disease, both in those who had not received previous treatment and in those with disease recurrence.
METHODS: We randomly assigned 150 symptomatic patients to receive ibrutinib plus rituximab or placebo plus rituximab. The primary end point was progression-free survival, as assessed by an independent review committee. Key secondary end points were response rates, sustained hematologic improvement from baseline, and safety. The mutational status of MYD88 and CXCR4 was assessed in bone marrow samples.
RESULTS: At 30 months, the progression-free survival rate was 82% with ibrutinib-rituximab versus 28% with placebo-rituximab (hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.20; P<0.001). The benefit in the ibrutinib-rituximab group over that in the placebo-rituximab group was independent of the MYD88 or CXCR4 genotype. The rate of major response was higher with ibrutinib-rituximab than with placebo-rituximab (72% vs. 32%, P<0.001). More patients had sustained increases in hemoglobin level with ibrutinib-rituximab than with placebo-rituximab (73% vs. 41%, P<0.001). The most common adverse events of any grade with ibrutinib-rituximab included infusion-related reactions, diarrhea, arthralgia, and nausea. Events of grade 3 or higher that occurred more frequently with ibrutinib-rituximab than with placebo-rituximab included atrial fibrillation (12% vs. 1%) and hypertension (13% vs. 4%); those that occurred less frequently included infusion reactions (1% vs. 16%) and any grade of IgM flare (8% vs. 47%). The major hemorrhage rate was the same in the two trial groups (4%).
CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, the use of ibrutinib-rituximab resulted in significantly higher rates of progression-free survival than the use of placebo-rituximab, both among those who had received no previous treatment and among those with disease recurrence. Atrial fibrillation and hypertension were more common with ibrutinib-rituximab, whereas infusion reactions and IgM flare were more common with placebo-rituximab. (Funded by Pharmacyclics and Janssen Research and Development; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02165397 .).
Christian Buske, Alessandra Tedeschi, Judith Trotman, Ramón García-Sanz, David MacDonald, Veronique Leblond, Beatrice Mahe, Charles Herbaux, Jeffrey V Matous, Constantine S Tam, Leonard T Heffner, Marzia Varettoni, M Lia Palomba, Chaim Shustik, Efstathios Kastritis, Steven P Treon, Jerry Ping, Bernhard Hauns, Israel Arango-Hisijara, Meletios A Dimopoulos
Ibrutinib Plus Rituximab Versus Placebo Plus Rituximab for Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia: Final Analysis From the Randomized Phase III iNNOVATE Study.
J Clin Oncol. 2022 Jan 1;40(1):52-62. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.00838. Epub 2021 Oct 4.
Abstract/Text
PURPOSE: The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase III iNNOVATE study showed sustained efficacy of ibrutinib-rituximab in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM). Here, we present the final analysis from iNNOVATE.
METHODS: Patients had confirmed symptomatic WM, either previously untreated or previously treated; patients with prior rituximab had at least a minor response to their last rituximab-based regimen. Patients were randomly assigned to once-daily ibrutinib 420 mg plus rituximab or placebo plus rituximab (n = 75 per arm). The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary end points included response rate, time to next treatment, hemoglobin improvement, overall survival, and safety.
RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 50 (range, 0.5-63) months, median (95% CI) PFS was not reached (57.7 months to not evaluable) with ibrutinib-rituximab versus 20.3 months (13.0 to 27.6) with placebo-rituximab (hazard ratio, 0.250; P < .0001). PFS benefit was regardless of prior treatment status, MYD88 and CXCR4 mutation status, or key patient characteristics. Higher response rates (partial response or better) were observed with ibrutinib-rituximab (76% v 31% with placebo-rituximab; P < .0001) and were sustained over time. Median time to next treatment was not reached with ibrutinib-rituximab versus 18 months with placebo-rituximab. More patients receiving ibrutinib-rituximab versus placebo-rituximab had sustained hemoglobin improvement (77% v 43%; P < .0001). Median overall survival was not reached in either arm. Ibrutinib-rituximab maintained a manageable safety profile; the prevalence of grade ≥ 3 adverse events of clinical interest generally decreased over time.
CONCLUSION: In the final analysis of iNNOVATE with a median follow-up of 50 months, ibrutinib-rituximab showed ongoing superiority across clinical outcomes in patients with WM regardless of MYD88 or CXCR4 mutation status, prior treatment, and key patient characteristics.
Meletios Athanasios Dimopoulos, Athanasios Anagnostopoulos, Marie-Christine Kyrtsonis, Konstantinos Zervas, Constantinos Tsatalas, Garyfallia Kokkinis, Panagiotis Repoussis, Argyris Symeonidis, Souzana Delimpasi, Eirini Katodritou, Elina Vervessou, Evridiki Michali, Anastasia Pouli, Dimitra Gika, Amalia Vassou, Evangelos Terpos, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos, Theophanis Economopoulos, Gerasimos Pangalis
Primary treatment of Waldenström macroglobulinemia with dexamethasone, rituximab, and cyclophosphamide.
J Clin Oncol. 2007 Aug 1;25(22):3344-9. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2007.10.9926. Epub 2007 Jun 18.
Abstract/Text
PURPOSE: Alkylating agents and the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab are among appropriate choices for the primary treatment of symptomatic patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), and they induce at least a partial response in 30% to 50% of patients. To improve these results, we designed a phase II study that included previously untreated symptomatic patients with WM who received a combination of dexamethasone, rituximab, and cyclophosphamide (DRC).
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-two patients were treated with dexamethasone 20 mg intravenously followed by rituximab 375 mg/m2 intravenously on day 1 and cyclophosphamide 100 mg/m2 orally bid on days 1 to 5 (total dose, 1,000 mg/m2). This regimen was repeated every 21 days for 6 months. Patients' median age was 69 years and many had features of advanced disease such as anemia (57%), hypoalbuminemia (40%), and elevated serum beta2-microglobulin (43%).
RESULTS: On an intent-to-treat basis, 83% of patients (95% CI, 73% to 91%) achieved a response, including 7% complete, 67% partial, and 9% minor responses. The median time to response was 4.1 months. The 2-year progression-free survival rate for all patients was 67%; for patients who responded to DRC, it was 80%. The 2-year disease-specific survival rate was 90%. Treatment with DRC was well tolerated, with 9% of patients experiencing grade 3 or 4 neutropenia and approximately 20% of patients experiencing some form of toxicity related to rituximab.
CONCLUSION: Our large, multicenter trial showed that the non-stem-cell toxic DRC regimen is an active, well-tolerated treatment for symptomatic patients with WM.
Maria Gavriatopoulou, Ramón García-Sanz, Efstathios Kastritis, Pierre Morel, Marie-Christine Kyrtsonis, Eurydiki Michalis, Zafiris Kartasis, Xavier Leleu, Giovanni Palladini, Alessandra Tedeschi, Dimitra Gika, Giampaolo Merlini, Pieter Sonneveld, Meletios A Dimopoulos
BDR in newly diagnosed patients with WM: final analysis of a phase 2 study after a minimum follow-up of 6 years.
Blood. 2017 Jan 26;129(4):456-459. doi: 10.1182/blood-2016-09-742411. Epub 2016 Nov 21.
Abstract/Text
In this phase 2 multicenter trial, we evaluated the efficacy of the combination of bortezomib, dexamethasone, and rituximab (BDR) in 59 previously untreated symptomatic patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), most of which were of advanced age and with adverse prognostic factors. BDR consisted of a single 21-day cycle of bortezomib alone (1.3 mg/m2 IV on days 1, 4, 8, and 11), followed by weekly IV bortezomib (1.6 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15, and 22) for 4 additional 35-day cycles, with IV dexamethasone (40 mg) and IV rituximab (375 mg/m2) on cycles 2 and 5, for a total treatment duration of 23 weeks. On intent to treat, 85% responded (3% complete response, 7% very good partial response, 58% partial response). After a minimum follow-up of 6 years, median progression-free survival was 43 months and median duration of response for patients with at least partial response was 64.5 months. Overall survival at 7 years was 66%. No patient had developed secondary myelodysplasia, whereas transformation to high-grade lymphoma occurred in 3 patients who had received chemoimmunotherapy after BDR. Thus, BDR is a very active, fixed-duration, chemotherapy-free regimen, inducing durable responses and with a favorable long-term toxicity profile (www.ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT00981708).
© 2017 by The American Society of Hematology.
Naohiro Sekiguchi, Shinya Rai, Wataru Munakata, Kenshi Suzuki, Hiroshi Handa, Hirohiko Shibayama, Tomoyuki Endo, Yasuhito Terui, Noriko Iwaki, Noriko Fukuhara, Hiro Tatetsu, Shinsuke Iida, Takayuki Ishikawa, Ryota Shiibashi, Koji Izutsu
A multicenter, open-label, phase II study of tirabrutinib (ONO/GS-4059) in patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.
Cancer Sci. 2020 Sep;111(9):3327-3337. doi: 10.1111/cas.14561. Epub 2020 Jul 20.
Abstract/Text
Tirabrutinib is a second-generation Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor with greater selectivity than ibrutinib. Here, we conducted a multicenter, phase II study of tirabrutinib in patients with treatment-naïve (Cohort A) or with relapsed/refractory (Cohort B) Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM). Patients were treated with tirabrutinib 480 mg once daily. The primary endpoint was major response rate (MRR; ≥ partial response). Secondary endpoints included overall response rate (ORR; ≥ minor response), time to major response (TTMR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. In total, 27 patients (18 in Cohort A; 9 in Cohort B) were enrolled. The median age was 71 y, and the median serum immunoglobulin M level was 3600 mg/dL. Among the patients, 96.2% had the MYD88L265P mutation. MRR and ORR were 88.9% and 96.3%, respectively (Cohort A: MRR, 88.9%; ORR, 94.4%; Cohort B: MRR, 88.9%; ORR, 100%). Median TTMR was 1.87 mo. PFS and OS were not reached with a median follow-up of 6.5 and 8.3 mo for Cohorts A and B, respectively. The most common adverse events (AEs) were rash (44.4%), neutropenia (25.9%), and leukopenia (22.2%), with most AEs classified as grade 1 or 2. Grade ≥ 3 AEs included neutropenia (11.1%), lymphopenia (11.1%), and leukopenia (7.4%). No grade 5 AEs were noted. All bleeding events were grade 1; none were associated with drug-related atrial fibrillation or hypertension. Although the follow-up duration was relatively short, the study met the primary endpoint. Therefore, tirabrutinib monotherapy is considered to be highly effective for both untreated and relapsed/refractory WM with a manageable safety profile. (JapicCTI-173646).
© 2020 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.
