A validated composite comorbidity index predicts outcomes of CAR T-cell therapy in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CART) has extended survival of patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). However, limited durability of response and prevalent toxicities remain problematic. Identifying patients at high risk of disease progression, toxicity, and death would inform treatment decisions. Although the cumulative illness rating scale (CIRS) has been shown to correlate with survival in B-cell malignancies, no prognostic score has been independently validated in CART recipients. We retrospectively identified 577 patients with relapsed/refractory DLBCL indicated for CART at 9 academic centers to form a learning cohort (LC). Random survival forest modeling of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was performed to determine the most influential CIRS organ systems and severity grades. The presence of a severe comorbidity (CIRS score ≥3) in the respiratory, upper gastrointestinal, hepatic, or renal system - herein termed Severe4 - had the greatest impact on post-CART survival. Controlling for other prognostic factors (number of prior therapies, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, BCL6 translocation, molecular subtype), Severe4 was strongly associated with shorter PFS and OS in the LC (hazards ratio [HR]=2.15 and 1.94, respectively; p\u3c0.001) and in an independent single-center validation cohort (VC) (n=218; HR=1.85, p=0.003; HR=1.70, p=0.019, respectively). Severe4 was also a significant predictor of grade ≥3 cytokine release syndrome in the LC (odds ratio [OR]=2.43, p=0.042), while maintaining this trend in the VC (OR=2.05, p=0.114). Thus, our results indicate that adverse outcomes for patients with DLBCL meant to receive CART can be predicted using a simplified CIRS-derived comorbidity index

Redeployment of Myc and E2f1-3 drives Rb-deficient cell cycles

International audienceRobust mechanisms to control cell proliferation have evolved to maintain the integrity of organ architecture. Here, we investigated how two critical proliferative pathways, Myc and E2f, are integrated to control cell cycles in normal and Rb-deficient cells using a murine intestinal model. We show that Myc and E2f1–3 have little impact on normal G1–S transitions. Instead, they synergistically control an S–G2 transcriptional program required for normal cell divisions and maintaining crypt–villus integrity. Surprisingly, Rb deficiency results in the Myc-dependent accumulation of E2f3 protein and chromatin repositioning of both Myc and E2f3, leading to the ‘super activation’ of a G1–S transcriptional program, ectopic S phase entry and rampant cell proliferation. These findings reveal that Rb-deficient cells hijack and redeploy Myc and E2f3 from an S–G2 program essential for normal cell cycles to a G1–S program that re-engages ectopic cell cycles, exposing an unanticipated addiction of Rb-null cells on Myc