Complete remission after the first cycle of induction chemotherapy determines the clinical efficacy of relapse-preventive immunotherapy in acute myeloid leukaemia

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Anthracycline-based consolidation may determine outcome of post-consolidation immunotherapy in AML

Consolidation chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) aims at eradicating residual leukemic cells and mostly comprises high-dose cytarabine with or without the addition of anthracyclines, including daunorubicin. Immunogenic cell death (ICD) may contribute to the efficacy of anthracyclines in solid cancer, but the impact of ICD in AML is only partly explored. We assessed aspects of ICD, as reflected by calreticulin expression, in primary human AML blasts and observed induction of surface calreticulin upon exposure to daunorubicin but not to cytarabine. We next assessed immune phenotypes in AML patients in complete remission (CR), following consolidation chemotherapy with or without anthracyclines. These patients subsequently received immunotherapy with histamine dihydrochloride (HDC) and IL-2. Patients who had received anthracyclines for consolidation showed enhanced frequencies of CD8(+) T-EM cells in blood along with improved survival. We propose that the choice of consolidation therapy prior to AML immunotherapy may determine clinical outcome

Efficacy and Safety of Dapagliflozin in Patients With Inadequately Controlled Type 1 Diabetes (the DEPICT-2 Study): 24-Week Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE: This 24-week, double-blinded, phase 3 clinical trial (DEPICT-2; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02460978) evaluated efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin as adjunct therapy to adjustable insulin in patients with inadequately controlled type 1 diabetes (HbA1c 7.5-10.5%). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to dapagliflozin 5 mg (n = 271), dapagliflozin 10 mg (n = 270), or placebo (n = 272) plus insulin. Insulin dose was adjusted by investigators according to self-monitored glucose readings, local guidance, and individual circumstances. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were balanced between treatment groups. At week 24, dapagliflozin significantly decreased HbA1c (primary outcome; difference vs. placebo: dapagliflozin 5 mg -0.37% [95% CI -0.49, -0.26], dapagliflozin 10 mg -0.42% [-0.53, -0.30]), total daily insulin dose (-10.78% [-13.73, -7.72] and -11.08% [-14.04, -8.02], respectively), and body weight (-3.21% [-3.96, -2.45] and -3.74% [-4.49, -2.99], respectively) (P 70 to ≤180 mg/dL) versus placebo were significantly improved. More patients receiving dapagliflozin achieved a reduction in HbA1c ≥0.5% without severe hypoglycemia compared with placebo. Adverse events were reported for 72.7%, 67.0%, and 63.2% of patients receiving dapagliflozin 5 mg, dapagliflozin 10 mg, and placebo, respectively. Hypoglycemia, including severe hypoglycemia, was balanced between groups. There were more adjudicated definite diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) events with dapagliflozin: 2.6%, 2.2%, and 0% for dapagliflozin 5 mg, dapagliflozin 10 mg, and placebo, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Dapagliflozin as adjunct therapy to adjustable insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes was well tolerated and improved glycemic control with no increase in hypoglycemia versus placebo but with more DKA events.status: publishe

Long‐term efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin in patients with inadequately controlled type 1 diabetes: pooled 52‐week outcomes from the DEPICT‐1 and ‐2 studies outcomes from the DEPICT‐1 and ‐2 studies

Aim To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adjunct dapagliflozin therapy in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Materials and Methods DEPICT‐1 and ‐2 were randomized, double‐blind, parallel‐group, 24‐week studies, with 28‐week extension periods. Adults with T1D and HbA1c 7.5%‐10.5% were randomized (1:1:1) to receive dapagliflozin 5 mg, 10 mg or placebo. The short‐ and long‐term efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin were examined in an exploratory pooled analysis of both studies. Results Efficacy analyses included 530, 529 and 532 and safety analysis included 548, 566 and 532 patients in the dapagliflozin 5 mg, 10 mg and placebo groups, respectively. Baseline characteristics were similar between treatment groups. At week 24, reductions were seen with dapagliflozin 5 and 10 mg compared with placebo in HbA1c (−0.40%, −0.43% vs. 0.00%) and body weight (−2.45, −2.91 vs. 0.11 kg). HbA1c and body weight reductions versus placebo were also seen after 52 weeks of treatment. There was no imbalance in occurrence of severe hypoglycaemic events between groups. The proportion of patients experiencing definite diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) was higher with dapagliflozin 5 mg (4.0%) and 10 mg (3.5%) compared with placebo (1.1%) over 52 weeks; most events were of mild or moderate severity, and all resolved with treatment. Conclusions Over 52 weeks, dapagliflozin provided glycaemic and weight benefits, with no increased frequency of severe hypoglycaemia compared with placebo. More DKA events were reported with dapagliflozin than placebo, highlighting the importance of appropriate patient selection, education and risk‐mitigation strategies

Late divergence of survival curves in cancer immunotherapy trials: interpretation and implications

Late divergence of survival curves of treated patients and controls is commonly seen in successful cancer immunotherapy trials. Although late survival curve divergence may be caused by a delayed action of therapy, it may also be related to early effects of the treatment. We suggest that late survival divergence most often reflects a specific benefit of therapy for patients who suffer from a comparatively slow progression of disease. The occurrence of delayed survival curve divergence has important implications for the statistical analysis of immunotherapy trials. Thus, it leads to non-proportional hazard ratios that make commonly used statistical tests, e.g., the logrank test, suboptimal. It is therefore suggested that the statistical analysis of immunotherapy trials primarily should be based on a test that compares the survival curves at or after a prespecified, fixed, late time point

Mechanisms of leukemia-induced immunosuppression

This thesis aimed to define the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS), produced by the NADPH oxidase of myeloid cells, in the regulation of lymphocyte function with focus on ROS-induced dysfunction of natural killer (NK) cells and T lymphocytes in myeloid leukemia. In Paper I, a novel mechanism is presented by which specifically activated T lymphocytes evade inactivation by ROS after antigen presentation. Antigen-presenting dendritic cells were found to induce ROS-neutralizing thiols on the surface of antigen-specific T cells, but not on T cells that lacked antigen specificity. These findings may explain why antigen-specific T cells remain viable under conditions of oxidative stress. Paper II shows that subsets of leukemic cells recovered from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) produce and release ROS via a membrane-bound NADPH oxidase, and that ROS-producing leukemic cells initiate a PARP-1-dependent pathway of cell death (parthanatos) in NK cells and T cells. The results presented in Paper III demonstrate that treatment of AML patients with a NADPH oxidase inhibitor (histamine dihydrochloride) was preferentially efficacious among patients with monocytic leukemias (FAB classes M4 and M5), in which cells of the leukemic clone expressed a ROS-producing NADPH oxidase and functional histamine H2 receptors. The results presented in Paper IV imply that malignant cells recovered from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia utilize the ROS/PARP-1 axis to induce NK cell parthanatos and that PARP-1 inhibition maintains functions of T cells and NK cells under conditions of oxidative stress. Paper V aimed to define the intracellular pathways of ROS-induced PARP-1 activation with ensuing cell death in lymphocytes. The results suggest that the mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK1/2 is involved in ROS-induced signal transduction and that ERK1/2 is activated upstream of PARP-1 in ROS-dependent lymphocyte parthanatos

Remission maintenance in acute myeloid leukemia: impact of functional histamine H-2 receptors expressed by leukemic cells

Post-consolidation immunotherapy with histamine dihydrochloride and interleukin-2 has been shown to improve leukemia-free survival in acute myeloid leukemia in a phase III trial. For this study, treatment efficacy was determined among 145 trial patients with morphological forms of acute myeloid leukemia as defined by the French-American-British classification. Leukemia-free survival was strongly improved in M4/M5 (myelomonocytic/monocytic) leukemia but not in M2 (myeloblastic) leukemia. We also analyzed histamine H-2 receptor expression by leukemic cells recovered from 26 newly diagnosed patients. H-2 receptors were typically absent from M2 cells but frequently expressed by M4/M5 cells. M4/M5 cells, but not M2 cells, produced reactive oxygen species that triggered apoptosis in adjacent natural killer cells. These events were significantly inhibited by histamine dihydrochloride. Our data demonstrate the presence of functional histamine H2 receptors on human AML cells and suggest that expression of these receptors by leukemic cells may impact on the effectiveness of histamine-based immunotherapy

Efficacy and Safety of Dapagliflozin in Patients With Inadequately Controlled Type 1 Diabetes: The DEPICT-1 52-Week Study

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the long-term safety and efficacy of dapagliflozin as an adjunct to adjustable insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes and inadequate glycemic control. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: DEPICT-1 (Dapagliflozin Evaluation in Patients With Inadequately Controlled Type 1 Diabetes) was a randomized (1:1:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study of dapagliflozin 5 mg and 10 mg in patients with type 1 diabetes (HbA1c 7.5-10.5% [58-91 mmol/mol]) (NCT02268214). The results of the 52-week study, consisting of the 24-week short-term and 28-week extension period, are reported here. RESULTS: Of the 833 patients randomized into the study, 708 (85%) completed the 52-week study. Over 52 weeks, dapagliflozin 5 mg and 10 mg led to clinically significant reductions in HbA1c (difference vs. placebo [95% CI] -0.33% [-0.49, -0.17] [-3.6 mmol/mol (-5.4, -1.9)] and -0.36% [-0.53, -0.20] [-3.9 mmol/mol (-5.8, -2.2)], respectively) and body weight (difference vs. placebo [95% CI] -2.95% [-3.83, -2.06] and -4.54% [-5.40, -3.66], respectively). Serious adverse events were reported in 13.4%, 13.5%, and 11.5% of patients in the dapagliflozin 5 mg, 10 mg, and placebo groups, respectively. Although hypoglycemia events were comparable across treatment groups, more patients in the dapagliflozin groups had events adjudicated as definite diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA; 4.0%, 3.4%, and 1.9% in dapagliflozin 5 mg, 10 mg, and placebo groups, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Over 52 weeks, dapagliflozin led to improvements in glycemic control and weight loss in patients with type 1 diabetes, while increasing the risk of DKA.status: publishe

Glucose Variables in Type 1 Diabetes Studies With Dapagliflozin: Pooled Analysis of Continuous Glucose Monitoring Data From DEPICT-1 and-2

OBJECTIVE: This pooled analysis assessed continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in patients with inadequately controlled type 1 diabetes (HbA1c ≥7.7 to ≤11.0% [≥61 to ≤97 mmol/mol]) who received dapagliflozin as an adjunct to adjustable insulin. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: CGM data were pooled from two 24-week, double-blind, randomized, phase 3 studies: Dapagliflozin Evaluation in Patients with Inadequately Controlled Type 1 Diabetes (DEPICT-1 and DEPICT-2). These studies comprised 1,591 patients receiving dapagliflozin 5 mg (n = 530), dapagliflozin 10 mg (n = 529), or placebo (n = 532). RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were balanced between treatment groups. Patients receiving dapagliflozin 5 mg or 10 mg both spent more time with blood glucose in the range >3.9 to ≤10.0 mmol/L (>70 to ≤180 mg/dL) over 24 h than those receiving the placebo. The adjusted mean (SE) change from baseline at week 24 was 6.48% (0.60) with dapagliflozin 5 mg, 8.08% (0.60) with dapagliflozin 10 mg, and -2.59% (0.61) with placebo. At week 24, the mean amplitude of glucose excursion over 24 h, mean 24-h glucose values, and postprandial glucose values were also improved in patients receiving dapagliflozin over those receiving placebo. No marked differences were found at week 24 between dapagliflozin 5 or 10 mg and placebo in the percentage of glucose values ≤3.9 mmol/L (≤70 mg/dL) or ≤3.0 mmol/L (≤54 mg/dL) over 24 h, or in nocturnal (0000-0559 h) glucose values ≤3.9 mmol/L (≤70 mg/dL). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with type 1 diabetes, treatment with dapagliflozin over 24 weeks improved time in range, mean glucose, and glycemic variability without increasing the time spent in the range indicating hypoglycemia.status: publishe

Long-term efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin in patients with inadequately controlled type 1 diabetes (the DEPICT-2 study): 52-week results from a randomized controlled trial

AIM: To investigate the long-term efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin as an adjunct to adjustable insulin in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and inadequate glycaemic control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dapagliflozin Evaluation in Patients with Inadequately Controlled Type 1 Diabetes (DEPICT-2) was a placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicentre, phase III study of adults with T1D (HbA1c 7.5%-10.5%) randomized (1:1:1) to receive dapagliflozin 5, 10 mg, or placebo. The efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin over 52 weeks were exploratory endpoints in this extension to DEPICT-2. RESULTS: Of 813 participants randomized, 88.2% completed the study. From baseline to 52 weeks, dapagliflozin 5 and 10 mg were associated with reduction in HbA1c (difference [95% CI] vs. placebo: -0.20% [-0.34, -0.06] and -0.25% [-0.38, -0.11], respectively) and adjusted mean percentage change in body weight (difference [95% CI] vs. placebo: -4.42% [-5.19, -3.64] and -4.86% [-5.63, -4.08], respectively). Serious adverse events were reported in the dapagliflozin 5, 10 mg, and placebo groups (32 [11.8%], 19 [7.0%] and 16 [5.9%], respectively). The proportion of hypoglycaemic events was similar across groups; severe hypoglycaemia was uncommon. More participants with events adjudicated as definite diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) were in the dapagliflozin 5 and 10 mg groups versus placebo (11 [4.1%], 10 [3.7%] and 1 [0.4%], respectively); the majority of events were mild or moderate in severity and all were resolved with treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Dapagliflozin led to long-term reductions in HbA1c and body weight in adults with T1D, but increased DKA risk compared with placebo.status: publishe