Predicting Survival for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy: A Validation of Survival Models Using Follow-Up Data From ZUMA-1

ObjectivesSurvival extrapolation for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies is challenging, owing to their unique mechanistic properties that translate to complex hazard functions. Axicabtagene ciloleucel is indicated for the treatment of relapse or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after 2 or more lines of therapy based on the ZUMA-1 trial. Four data snapshots are available, with minimum follow-up of 12, 24, 36, and 48 months. This analysis explores how survival extrapolations for axicabtagene ciloleucel using ZUMA-1 data can be validated and compared.MethodsThree different parametric modeling approaches were applied: standard parametric, spline-based, and cure-based models. Models were compared using a range of metrics, across the 4 data snapshot, including visual fit, plausibility of long-term estimates, statistical goodness of fit, inspection of hazard plots, point-estimate accuracy, and conditional survival estimates.ResultsStandard and spline-based parametric extrapolations were generally incapable of fitting the ZUMA-1 data well. Cure-based models provided the best fit based on the earliest data snapshot, with extrapolations remaining consistent as data matured. At 48 months, the maximum survival overestimate was 8.3% (Gompertz mixture-cure model) versus the maximum underestimate of 33.5% (Weibull standard parametric model).ConclusionsWhere a plateau in the survival curve is clinically plausible, cure-based models may be helpful in making accurate predictions based on immature data. The ability to reliably extrapolate from maturing data may reduce delays in patient access to potentially lifesaving treatments. Additional research is required to understand how models compare in broader contexts, including different treatments and therapeutic areas.     

A drug safety evaluation of mogamulizumab for the treatment of cutaneous T-Cell lymphoma

Introduction: Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) are rare non-Hodgkin lymphomas of skin-homing T-cells that initially or mainly manifest cutaneously. Treatment of CTCL is challenging given the disease states’ varying presentation and prognosis. Systemic treatment options often lack comparative evidence and have relatively low response rates and short duration of response. The recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of mogamulizumab in adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) CTCL after at least one prior line of therapy provided a new treatment option to patients with advanced disease.

Areas covered: The authors discuss basic information about CTCL and mogamulizumab’s mechanism of action. Then, the authors discuss the agent’s efficacy. Finally, the authors evaluate the safety of mogamulizumab in comparison to other agents available in CTCL.

Expert opinion: Mogamulizumab has been shown to be an effective and well tolerated therapy for patients with relapsed and refractory MF/SS with excellent activity in the circulating component of the disease.     

Clinicopathological analysis of immunohistochemical expression of CD47 and SIRPα in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma

The interaction of CD47 and signal-regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) induces “don't eat me signal”, leading suppression of phagocytosis. This signal can affect the clinical course of malignant disease. Although CD47 and SIRPα expression are associated with clinicopathological features in several neoplasms, the investigation for adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) has not been well-documented. This study aimed to declare the association between CD47 and SIRPα expression and clinicopathological features in ATLL. We performed immunostaining on 73 biopsy samples and found that CD47 is primarily expressed in tumor cells, while SIRPα is expressed in non-neoplastic stromal cells. CD47 positive cases showed significantly higher FoxP3 (P = .0232) and lower CCR4 (P = .0214). SIRPα positive cases presented significantly better overall survival than SIRPα negative cases (P = .0132). SIRPα positive cases showed significantly HLA class I (P = .0062), HLA class II (P = .0133), microenvironment PD-L1 (miPD-L1) (P = .0032), and FoxP3 (P = .0229) positivity. In univariate analysis, SIRPα expression was significantly related to prognosis (Hazard ratio [HR] 0.470; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.253-0.870; P = .0167], although multivariate analysis did not show SIPRα as an independent prognostic factor. The expression of SIRPα on stromal cells reflects activated immune surveillance mechanism in tumor microenvironment and induce good prognosis in ATLL. More detailed studies for gene expression or genomic abnormalities will disclose clinical and biological significance of the CD47 and SIRPα in ATLL.     

非鼻咽部T细胞淋巴瘤与EB病毒的相关性

目的：探讨EB病毒（EBV）感染与非鼻咽部T细胞淋巴瘤的关系。方法：用单克隆抗体UCHL-1、L26及EB病毒编码的潜在膜蛋白-1（LMP-1），免疫组化染色确定肿瘤的免疫表型及EB病毒转化蛋白的表达。采用原位杂交方法检测EBV编码的EBERs。结果：21例非鼻咽部T细胞淋巴瘤EBERs5例阳性的（23．8％），其中给内淋巴瘤3例，肺和胃肠淋巴瘤各1例。阳性细胞约占肿瘤细胞的10％～70％。5例EBERs阳性病例中仅1例表达LMP-1，为结内淋巴瘤。结论：非鼻咽部T细胞淋巴瘤可能与EBV的感染有关，LMP-1的阳性率较EBERs低。     

T辅助细胞在疫苗研制中的作用

发展感染性疾病疫苗之关键挑战在于利用确定的抗原以刺激产生能引起保护作用的合适的免疫反应。肽类疫苗的运用得到了极大的关注，其意义在于，已知不同的多表位构成单一结构以诱导出所希望的免疫反应所表现出的灵活性。这一般比利用减毒的活疫苗要安全并且相对而言比制造亚单位疫苗要容易。然而，多肽疫苗的发展面临巨大挑战。这一方法在诱导遗传背景复杂的人群免疫反应方面受到限制，这与主要组织相溶性复合物(MHC)多态性有关。因同样的理由，肽类免疫应答常因缺乏适当的辅助T淋巴细胞(HIL)而引导出不充分的细胞毒素T淋巴细胞(CTL)和抗体反应。另一个运用线性肽链结构的可能缺点是：为了引导出合适抗体反应，表面免疫球蛋白受体簇对于激活静息的B细胞就成为必须因素。由WHC多肽性引起的问题可由运用不加区别的T细胞表位来解决。从麻疹病毒F蛋白(氨基酸288到302)中得到的不加区别的T细胞表位和鼠的确定结合在多种MHC分子上的辅助T细胞表位(v1EB，aa191-209)已被定性并且被用于能极大激发免疫应答的结构中，以克服单一限制型免疫应答的缺陷。合成的，非自然Pan DR表位(PADRE)具有退化的结合几种通常HLA—DR的能力，能以绝对效价和抗体反应质量两种形式来增强激发短肽链的免疫应答。另外，一些所谓的从流感病毒血凝素(HA)来的“不加区别的”T细胞表位，恶性疟疟原虫红细胞前期抗原和分枝杆菌蛋白被报道能激发广泛的免疫应答。为了不加区别地结合于几种同型和同种异型的MHCⅡ类分子，这些肽类应显示出部重叠MHC结合形式或应利用保存于配体中的固定位点和应缺失等位基因特异性固定残基，以防止结合于其它Ⅱ类分子。了解MHCⅡ类分子对肽链的不加区别及特异性识别的生物物理学基础将为在疫苗设计中突破遗传限制的策略提供分子水平的依据。     

Detergent fractionation with subsequent subtractive suppression hybridization as a tool for identifying genes coding for plasma membrane proteins

Abstract:  The identification of tumor-specific proteins located at the plasma membrane is hampered by numerous methodological pitfalls many of which are associated with the post-translational modification of such proteins. Here, we present a new combination of detergent fractionation of cells and of subtractive suppression hybridization (SSH) to gain overexpressed genes coding for membrane-associated or secreted proteins. Fractionation of subcellular components by digitonin allowed sequestering mRNA of the rough Endoplasmatic reticulum and thereby increasing the percentage of sequences coding for membrane-bound proteins. Fractionated mRNAs from the cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) cell line HuT78 and from normal peripheral blood monocytes were used for SSH leading to the enrichment of sequences overexpressed in the tumor cells. We identified some 21 overexpressed genes, among them are GPR137B, FAM62A, NOMO1, HSP90, SLIT1, IBP2, CLIF, IRAK and ARC. mRNA expression was tested for selected genes in CTCL cell lines, skin specimens and peripheral blood samples from CTCL patients and healthy donors. Several of the detected sequences are clearly related to cancer, but have not yet been associated with CTCL. qPCR confirmed an enrichment of these mRNAs in the rough endoplasmic reticulum fraction. RT-PCR confirmed the expression of these genes in skin specimens and peripheral blood of CTCL patients. Western blotting verified protein expression of HSP90 and IBP2 in HuT78. GPR137B could be detected by immunohistology in HuT78 and in keratinocytes of dysplastic epidermis, but also in sweat glands of healthy skin. In summary, we developed a new technique, which allows identifying overexpressed genes coding preferentially for membrane-associated proteins.     

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma in childhood. A clinicopathological study of six cases

A review of the pathological material from 42 children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma seen over a 44 month period revealed 10 large cell tumours. Of these, six were classified as peripheral T-cell lymphoma, an entity rarely reported in childhood. Three patients were boys and three girls (median age 9.5 years), and extranodal presentation was a feature of two patients. Five had high-grade tumours; of these, three were classified as large cell anaplastic, Ki-1 positive and two as pleomorphic large cell. The remaining patient had a low-grade tumour of angioimmunoblastic type. T-cell subsets were examined in three cases and showed the following phenotypes: CD4-, CD8-; CD4+, CD8-; CD4-, CD8+. Three of the patients with high-grade tumours died, with a mean survival of 22 weeks. The remaining patients are alive and clinically disease-free for between 10 and 24 months after treatment.     

Allopeptide-Specific CD4+ T Cells Facilitate the Differentiation of Directly Alloreactive Graft-Infiltrating CD8+ T Cells

To investigate the mechanism of CD4(+) T-cell help during the activation and differentiation of directly alloreactive CD8(+) T cells, we examined the development of obliterative airways disease (OAD) following transplantation of airways into fully mismatched recipient mice deficient in CD4(+) T cells. BALB/c trachea allografts became fibrosed significantly less frequently in B6 CD4(-/-) recipients as compared to wildtype controls. Furthermore, class I-directed cytotoxicity failed to develop in the absence of CD4(+) T cells. The infiltration of graft tissue by primed L(d)-specific directly alloreactive 2C CD8(+) T cells was not found to depend on the presence of CD4(+) T cells. Nevertheless, graft-infiltrating 2C CD8(+) T cells failed to express CD69 and granzyme B when CD4(+) T-cell help was unavailable. Importantly, reconstitution of B6 CD4(-/-) recipient mice with graft peptide-specific TCR-Tg CD4(+) T cells (OT-II or TEa) capable of recognizing antigen only on recipient APC allowed for full expression of CD69 and granzyme B by the directly alloreactive CD8(+) T cells and restored the capacity of recipients to reject their allografts. These results demonstrate that indirectly alloreactive CD4(+) T cells ensure the optimal activation and differentiation of graft-infiltrating directly alloreactive CD8(+) T cells independent of donor APC recognition.