Clinical and molecular findings in 37 Turkish patients with isolated methylmalonic acidemia

BACKGROUND/AIM: Isolated methylmalonic acidemia is caused by complete or partial deficiency of the enzyme methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (mut0 or mut? enzymatic subtype), a defect of its cofactor adenosyl-cobalamin (cblA, cblB, or cblD-MMA) or deficiency of the enzyme methylmalonyl-CoA epimerase. While onset of the disease ranges from the neonatal period to adulthood, most cases present with lethargy, vomiting and ketoacidosis in the early infancy. Major secondary complications are; growth failure, developmental delay, interstitial nephritis with progressive renal failure, basal ganglia injury and cardiomyopathy. We aimed to demonstrate clinical and molecular findings based on long-term follow up in our patient cohort. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study includes 37 Turkish patients with isolated MMA who were followed up for long term complications 1 to 14 years. All patients were followed up regularly with clinical, biochemical and dietary monitoring to determine long term complications. Next Generation Sequencing technique was used for mutation screening in five disease-causing genes including; MUT, MMAA, MMAB, MMADHC, MCEE genes. Mutation screening identified 30 different types of mutations. RESULTS: While 28 of these mutations were previously reported, one novel MMAA mutation p.H382Pfs*24 (c.1145delA) and one novel MUT mutation IVS3+1G>T(c.752+1G>T) has been reported. The most common clinical complications were growth retardation, renal involvement, mental motor retardation and developmental delay. Furthermore, one of our patients developed cardiomyopathy, another one died because of hepatic failure and one presented with lactic acidosis after linezolid exposure. CONCLUSIONS: We have detected two novel mutations, including one splice-site mutation in the MUT gene and one frame shift mutation in the MMAA gene in 37 Turkish patients. We confirm the genotype-phenotype correlation in the study population according to the long term complications

Durvalumab as monotherapy and in combination therapy in patients with lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia: The FUSION NHL 001 trial.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that immune checkpoint inhibitors may represent a promising strategy for boosting immune responses and improving the antitumor activity of standard therapies in patients with relapsed/refractory hematologic malignancies. AIMS: Phase 1/2 FUSION NHL 001 was designed to determine the safety and efficacy of durvalumab, an anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody, combined with standard-of-care therapies for lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). METHODS AND RESULTS: The primary endpoints were to determine the recommended phase 2 dose of the drugs used in combination with durvalumab (durvalumab was administered at the previously recommended dose of 1500 mg every 4 weeks) and to assess safety and tolerability. Patients were enrolled into one of four arms: durvalumab monotherapy (Arm D) or durvalumab in combination with lenalidomide ± rituximab (Arm A), ibrutinib (Arm B), or rituximab ± bendamustine (Arm C). A total of 106 patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoma were enrolled. All but two patients experienced at least one treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE); those not experiencing a TEAE were in Arm C (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [DLBCL]) and Arm D (DLBCL during the durvalumab monotherapy treatment period). No new safety signals were identified, and TEAEs were consistent with the respective safety profiles for each study treatment. Across the study, patients with follicular lymphoma (FL; n = 23) had an overall response rate (ORR) of 59%; ORR among DLBCL patients (n = 37) was 18%. Exploratory biomarker analysis showed that response to durvalumab monotherapy or combination therapy was associated with higher interferon-γ signature scores in patients with FL (p = .02). CONCLUSION: Durvalumab as monotherapy or in combination is tolerable but requires close monitoring. The high rate of TEAEs during this study may reflect on the difficulty in combining durvalumab with full doses of other agents. Durvalumab alone or in combination appeared to add limited benefit to therapy

Loncastuximab tesirine in relapsed/refractory high-grade B-cell lymphoma: a subgroup analysis from the LOTIS-2 study

N

Undiagnosed Phenylketonuria Can Exist Everywhere: Results From an International Survey

peer reviewedMany countries do not have a newborn screening (NBS) program, and immigrants from such countries are at risk for late diagnosis of phenylketonuria (PKU). In this international survey, 52 of 259 patients (20%) with late diagnosed PKU were immigrants, and 145 of the 259 (55%) were born before NBS or in a location without NBS. © 2021 The Author

Source identification of VOCs in METU Campus through factor analysis

In this study, 51 ozone precursor VOCs, which are routinely measured in PAMS (Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Station) were measured in a suburban station located at Middle East Technical University, Environmental Engineering Department in, Ankara. Daily air samples were collected in evacuated canisters between January December, 2014. Collected samples were analyzed with GC-FID system and concentrations of 51 VOCs were determined. Mean VOC concentrations ranged between 0.048 +/- 0.061 mu g m(-3) (cis-2-penten) and 10 +/- 13 mu g m(-3) (toluene). Average benzene concentration was 1.49 +/- 1.74 mu g m(-3). Factor Analysis (FA) was applied to determine the major sources of VOCs that contribute to the measured concentrations in the university campus. FA application revealed nine factors that can be grouped under four major components, including (1) transportation: gasoline vehicle exhaust emissions, evaporative losses from gasoline vehicles, gasoline evaporation in gas stations and diesel emissions, (2) industrial emissions: industrial evaporation and industrial application, (3) solvent emissions: surface coatings and solvent use and (4) asphalt application

Safety and efficacy of durvalumab with R-CHOP or R

Patients with high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) have poor outcomes following first-line cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, and rituximab (R-CHOP). Evidence shows chemotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade can increase antitumor efficacy. This study investigated durvalumab, a programmed death-ligand 1 inhibitor, combined with R-CHOP or lenalidomide + R-CHOP (

Clinical Characteristics and Responses of Patients with Relapsed or Refractory High-Grade B-Cell Lymphoma Treated with Loncastuximab Tesirine in the Lotis-2 Clinical Trial

Abstract Introduction: Loncastuximab tesirine (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl; Lonca) is an FDA-approved CD19-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphoma after ≥2 lines of systemic therapy, including patients with high-grade B-cell lymphoma. In the Phase 2 LOTIS-2 trial (NCT03589469), Lonca was evaluated as a single agent in patients with R/R diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and the overall response rate (ORR) was 48.3% (Caimi PF, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2021; 22:790-800). In an analysis of the 11 patients from the LOTIS-2 clinical trial with high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements (HGBCL; data cutoff: April 6, 2020), 45.5% (n=5) achieved an overall response. In this patient subgroup, the median duration of response was 13.37 months, and the median progression-free survival was 9.13 months. The aim of this analysis (data cut off: March 1, 2021) was to further characterize the clinical characteristics and efficacy of Lonca in patients with HGBCL enrolled in the LOTIS-2 clinical trial. Methods: The methodology for the LOTIS-2 trial has been published. Briefly, Lonca (0.15 mg/kg for the first 2 cycles followed by 0.075 mg/kg for subsequent cycles) was administered as a single 30-minute infusion, once every 3 weeks for up to 1 year, until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. The primary outcome was ORR defined as the proportion of patients with best overall response of complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), assessed by independent review. Investigator assessment of histopathology according to the 2016 WHO classification was used to define HGBCL. Results: The demographics and disease characteristics of the 11 patients with HGBCL are shown in Table 1. The median age was 74 years; 5 patients (45.5%) were age ≥75 years. The majority of patients received ≥3 prior lines of therapy (n = 8; 72.7%). One patient had a prior stem cell transplant (autologous; 9.1%). Of the 11 patients with HGBCL, the overall response rate was 45.5%, with all 5 patients achieving CR. The median (min, max) time to first CR or PR response was 43.0 (38, 148) days and the median time to first CR response was 79.0 (38, 148) days. All five responding patients (45.5%) had a duration of response ≥1 year; median duration of response has not been reached at the time of data cutoff. Conclusions: Efficacy data from this small subgroup of patients with HGBCL enrolled in the LOTIS-2 clinical trial are consistent with the overall trial population. These results suggest that Lonca is active in the treatment of this high-risk lymphoma subgroup, achieving comparable response rates with other risk groups and with long-term disease control in responding patients. Funding: This study was funded by ADC Therapeutics; medical writing support was provided by CiTRUS Health Group. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Alderuccio: Inovio Pharmaceuticals: Other: Family member; Agios Pharmaceuticals: Other: Family member; Puma Biotechnology: Other: Family member; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Oncinfo / OncLive: Honoraria; Forma Therapeutics: Other: Family member. Ai: Kymria, Kite, ADC Therapeutics, BeiGene: Consultancy. Radford: ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; AstraZeneca: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company. Solh: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Partner Therapeutics: Research Funding; ADCT Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding. Ardeshna: Gilead, Beigene, Celegene, Novartis and Roche: Honoraria; Norvartis, BMS, Autolus, ADCT, Pharmocyclics and Jansen: Research Funding; Gilead, Beigene, Celegene, Novartis and Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Lunning: AbbVie: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Beigene: Consultancy; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy; Daiichi-Sankyo: Consultancy; Spectrum: Consultancy; Acrotech: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy; Myeloid Therapeutics: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Verastem: Consultancy; Celgene, a Bristol Myers Squibb Co.: Consultancy; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy; Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; TG Therapeutics: Consultancy; Morphosys: Consultancy; Legend: Consultancy. Hess: BMS: Speakers Bureau; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy. Zinzani: EUSAPHARMA: Consultancy, Other, Speakers Bureau; SANDOZ: Other: Advisory board; ROCHE: Other, Speakers Bureau; MSD: Consultancy, Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; NOVARTIS: Consultancy, Other, Speakers Bureau; TG Therapeutics: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; KYOWA KIRIN: Other, Speakers Bureau; TAKEDA: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Beigene: Other, Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Other, Speakers Bureau; ADC Therap.: Other; SERVIER: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; JANSSEN-CILAG: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; GILEAD: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; CELLTRION: Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; VERASTEM: Consultancy, Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau. Stathis: Abbvie and PharmaMar: Other: travel grant; Pfizer, ADC Therapeutics, Bayer, Roche, Merck, Novartis, MEI Therapeutics and Abbvie: Research Funding; Bayer / Eli Lilly: Consultancy. Carlo-Stella: Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; ADC Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Incyte: Honoraria; Janssen Oncology: Honoraria; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Karyopharm Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Hamadani: Sanofi, Genzyme, AstraZeneca, BeiGene: Speakers Bureau; Janssen, Incyte, ADC Therapeutics, Omeros, Morphosys, Kite: Consultancy; Takeda, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals and Astellas Pharma: Research Funding. Kahl: AbbVie, Acerta, ADCT, AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Genentech: Research Funding; AbbVie, Adaptive, ADCT, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BeiGene, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Genentech, Incyte, Janssen, Karyopharm, Kite, MEI, Pharmacyclics, Roche, TG Therapeutics, and Teva: Consultancy. Ungar: ADC Therapeutics: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Kilavuz: ADC Therapeutics: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Yu: ADC Therapeutics: Current Employment. Qin: ADC Therapeutics: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Caimi: TG Therapeutics: Honoraria; Amgen Therapeutics.: Consultancy; XaTek: Patents & Royalties: Royalties from patents (wife); ADC Theraputics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy; Verastem: Consultancy; Genentech: Research Funding; Kite Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy

Undiagnosed Phenylketonuria Can Exist Everywhere: Results From an International Survey

Many countries do not have a newborn screening (NBS) program, and immigrants from such countries are at risk for late diagnosis of phenylketonuria (PKU). In this international survey, 52 of 259 patients (20%) with late diagnosed PKU were immigrants, and 145 of the 259 (55%) were born before NBS or in a location without NBS