Clinical Characteristics, Racial Inequities, and Outcomes in Patients with Breast Cancer and COVID-19: A COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Limited information is available for patients with breast cancer (BC) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially among underrepresented racial/ethnic populations. METHODS: This is a COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) registry-based retrospective cohort study of females with active or history of BC and laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection diagnosed between March 2020 and June 2021 in the US. Primary outcome was COVID-19 severity measured on a five-level ordinal scale, including none of the following complications, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and all-cause mortality. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression model identified characteristics associated with COVID-19 severity. RESULTS: 1383 female patient records with BC and COVID-19 were included in the analysis, the median age was 61 years, and median follow-up was 90 days. Multivariable analysis revealed higher odds of COVID-19 severity for older age (aOR per decade, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.32-1.67]); Black patients (aOR 1.74; 95 CI 1.24-2.45), Asian Americans and Pacific Islander patients (aOR 3.40; 95 CI 1.70-6.79) and Other (aOR 2.97; 95 CI 1.71-5.17) racial/ethnic groups; worse ECOG performance status (ECOG PS ≥2: aOR, 7.78 [95% CI, 4.83-12.5]); pre-existing cardiovascular (aOR, 2.26 [95% CI, 1.63-3.15])/pulmonary comorbidities (aOR, 1.65 [95% CI, 1.20-2.29]); diabetes mellitus (aOR, 2.25 [95% CI, 1.66-3.04]); and active and progressing cancer (aOR, 12.5 [95% CI, 6.89-22.6]). Hispanic ethnicity, timing, and type of anti-cancer therapy modalities were not significantly associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. The total all-cause mortality and hospitalization rate for the entire cohort was 9% and 37%, respectively however, it varied according to the BC disease status. CONCLUSIONS: Using one of the largest registries on cancer and COVID-19, we identified patient and BC-related factors associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, underrepresented racial/ethnic patients experienced worse outcomes compared to non-Hispanic White patients. FUNDING: This study was partly supported by National Cancer Institute grant number P30 CA068485 to Tianyi Sun, Sanjay Mishra, Benjamin French, Jeremy L Warner; P30-CA046592 to Christopher R Friese; P30 CA023100 for Rana R McKay; P30-CA054174 for Pankil K Shah and Dimpy P Shah; KL2 TR002646 for Pankil Shah and the American Cancer Society and Hope Foundation for Cancer Research (MRSG-16-152-01-CCE) and P30-CA054174 for Dimpy P Shah. REDCap is developed and supported by Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research grant support (UL1 TR000445 from NCATS/NIH). The funding sources had no role in the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit it for publication. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: CCC19 registry is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04354701

Letermovir for Cytomegalovirus Prophylaxis in Lung Transplant Patients with Valganciclovir-Induced Leukopenia

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) prophylaxis with valganciclovir is the standard of practice in most transplant centers, but treatment-related leukopenia can limit valganciclovir’s use. Therefore, we evaluated letermovir, a novel antiviral agent recently approved for use in hematopoietic cell transplant patients as CMV prophylaxis, in lung transplant recipients unable to tolerate valganciclovir due to severe leukopenia. We performed a retrospective analysis of all lung transplant patients at our center who received letermovir for CMV prophylaxis between 1 December 2018 and 1 January 2020. A repeated measures mixed model was used to analyze white blood cell (WBC) trends, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze secondary endpoints, including CMV DNAemia, renal function, immunosuppression dosing, and allograft function. Seventeen patients were administered letermovir during the study period due to valganciclovir-induced leukopenia (median WBC nadir 1.1 K/uL, range <0.30–2.19 K/uL). Median WBC improvement was noted in 15 (88.2%) patients after starting letermovir. Breakthrough CMV DNAemia necessitating treatment occurred in two patients, with one of the two cases being due to patient noncompliance. CMV resistance to letermovir was detected in two patients, necessitating a change to an alternative agent in one of these patients. No major side effects were reported in any patient. Letermovir is a generally safe and effective alternative for CMV prophylaxis in lung transplant recipients unable to tolerate valganciclovir due to leukopenia

Epstein-Barr Virus Kinase-Targeted Therapy for Primary Central Nervous System Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder

Abstract BACKGROUND: Primary central nervous system post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PCNS-PTLD) is a rare complication of solid organ transplant, with no standard therapy. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is ubiquitous making the virus a candidate therapeutic target. For virus targeted therapy to be effective, antiviral agents must be phosphorylated by lytic-phase kinases BXLF1 and BGLF4. We hypothesized that lytic kinases would be constitutively expressed in PCNS-PTLD and that antiviral therapy would prove an attractive therapeutic alternative to high dose methotrexate-based regimens in patients who often have impaired organ function and poor performance status. METHODS: We investigated the safety and efficacy of EBV-kinase targeted therapy with zidovudine (AZT), ganciclovir (GCV), rituximab, and dexamethasone in patients with PCNS-PTLD. Patients with biopsy-proven PCNS-PTLD following solid organ transplantation were eligible for treatment. Immune suppression was reduced in all patients prior to treatment. Induction therapy consisted of 14 days of AZT 1500 mg IV BID, GCV 5 mg/kg IV BID, dexamethasone 10 mg IV BID and rituximab 375 mg/m2 once weekly for four weeks. Maintenance antiviral therapy was initiated on day 15 with valganciclovir 450 mg and AZT 300 mg, both twice daily. Responses were evaluated by serial brain MRIs beginning 4 weeks after initiation of treatment. Brain biopsy specimens were evaluated for expression of BGLF4 and BXLF1 by in situ hybridization or immunohistochemistry. To test the hypothesis that expression of EBV kinases conferred sensitivity to antiviral therapy, 293T cells were transfected with cDNAs (or control vectors) encoding for full length BXLF1 and/or BGLF4. Transiently transfected cells were tested for expression by immunoblot and drug sensitivity to AZT/GCV was performed by MTS and flow cytometry assays. RESULTS: Twelve patients (7 M, 5 F) with a median age of 49 were treated from 1998-2014. Transplant history included kidney (N=11), pancreas (N=2), and liver (N=1). Histology data included diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (N=7) and grade III lymphomatoid granulomatosis (N=5). EBV positivity (EBER-ISH) and CD20 expression were documented in all cases. All patients completed induction therapy. Median follow-up time and median duration of maintenance therapy were 28 months (range 2 - 143). The mean progression free survival (PFS) was 33.8 months. Overall response rate (ORR) was 83.3%. Eight patients achieved a complete response (CR) within a median time of 2 months (range 0.75 – 6 months). Two patients had a partial response (PR) with an average time to response of 1.25 months. Two patients (2/12) had progressive disease (PD). Causes of death included septic shock (n=3), pulmonary embolism (n=1), and poor functional status requiring hospice (n=1). One patient had PD at the time of death. Median overall survival (OS) was 29 months (range 2 – 143 months). Grade 3-4 toxicity was primarily hematologic, including anemia (N=4), thrombocytopenia (N=2), and neutropenia (N=5). Toxicity in the maintenance phase was generally reversible with holding therapy. Three patients required discontinuation of AZT during maintenance treatment for transfusion-dependent anemia persisting after holding AZT for 7 days or neutropenia coinciding with systemic infection. One patient had AZT discontinued due to nausea and vomiting that led to acute kidney injury. Evaluation of BXLF1, BGLF4 and LMP1 was completed in 7 patients and found to be positive in all cases. LMP1 and kinase expression occurred in mutually exclusive regions of the tumor. Expression of BXLF1 and BGLF4 led to enhanced sensitization of 293T cells to antiviral-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: EBV-kinase targeted therapy with AZT, GCV, rituximab and dexamethasone appears to be effective treatment for patients with EBV+ PCNS-PTLD. We demonstrated durable responses without disease recurrence and minimal toxicity. Expression of BXLF1 and BGLF4 kinases provides a mechanistic rationale for an antiviral approach to this disease and an attractive option to replace high dose chemotherapeutic regimens with less toxic targeted therapy in patients with compromised transplant organ function. A multi-center phase II trial is in development to further investigate this regimen in patients with immune deficiency-related CNS EBV-LPD. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Porcu: Infinity: Research Funding; Seattle genetics: Research Funding; Actelion: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; United States Cutaneous Lymphoma Consortium: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees