Emerging causes of iron deficiency anemia refractory to oral iron supplementation

While oral iron supplementation is commonly used throughout many clinical setting, treatment with intravenous (IV) iron has historically been reserved for specific settings, such as chronic kidney disease, gynecologic issues, and anemia associated with cancer and its treatments. However, the use of IV iron has begun to gain popularity in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) associated with two conditions that are being seen more frequently than in years past: patients who are status post gastric bypass procedure and those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The Roux-en-Y procedure involves connecting a gastric pouch to the jejunum, creating a blind loop consisting of distal stomach, duodenum, and proximal jejunum that connects to the Roux limb to form a common tract. IDA occurs in 6%-50% of patients who have undergone a gastric bypass, the etiology being multifactorial. The proximal gastric pouch, the primary site of gastric acid secretion, is bypassed, resulting in a decreased ability to metabolize molecular iron. Once metabolized, most iron is absorbed in the duodenum, which is entirely bypassed. After undergoing bypass procedures, most patients significantly limit their intake of red meat, another factor contributing to post-bypass IDA. Chronic anemia occurs in approximately 1/3 of patients who suffer from IBD, and almost half of all IBD patients are iron deficient. IBD leads to IDA through multiple mechanisms, including chronic intestinal blood loss, decreased absorption capabilities of the duodenum secondary to inflammation, and an inability of many IBD patients to tolerate the side effects of oral ferrous sulfate. In this study, we reviewed the charts of all patients who received IV iron at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center/University of Miami Hospital Clinic from January 2007 to May 2012. The most common indications for IV iron were for issues related to cancer and its treatment (21.9%), IBD (20.1%), and gastric bypass (15.0%). Of the 262 patients who received IV iron, 230 received iron sucrose and 36 received iron dextran. While doses of 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg of iron sucrose were given, 100 and 200 mg were by far the most common dosages used, 122 and 120 times, respectively. The number of dosages of iron sucrose given ranged from 1 to 46, with a mean of 5.5 and a median of 4 doses. The average dose of iron dextran given was 870.5 mg, with 1000 mg being the most common dosage used. Most patients (22 of 36) who received iron dextran only received one dose. While patients with traditional indications for IV iron, such as gynecologic issues and kidney disease, still were represented in this study, we expect to see a continued increase in physicians using IV iron for emerging gastrointestinal indications, especially considering the increased safety of new low-molecular formulations

A Multicenter Study Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Bendamustine in the Treatment of Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Abstract Abstract 4940 Background: Bendamustine has evolved as an increasingly used chemotherapeutic agent for diverse lymphomas in the United States (US) and Europe. It is an alkylating agent that was approved in the US for use as a first line therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and relapsed indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) in 2008. However, the two pivotal studies that established bendamustine for this indication included only few patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). The goal of this retrospective study was to evaluate efficacy of bendamustine in MCL. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of all MCL patients who were treated with bendamustine at Jackson Memorial Hospital and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center (both in Miami, FL) and the Stanford Cancer Center (in Stanford, CA). The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) and secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), time to treatment failure (TTF), and safety. Results: Thirty MCL patients received bendamustine, 28 in combination with rituximab and 2 as monotherapy. Nineteen of these patients were treated at the University of Miami and 11 at Stanford. The median age at diagnosis was 58 years and 77% of the patients were male. The most common extranodal site of involvement at diagnosis was the bone marrow (57%), followed by the GI tract (33%). Most patients presented with advanced disease, with 69% and 28% of the patients having stage IV and III disease at diagnosis, respectively. Seven patients (23%) were diagnosed with the blastic variant of MCL. Five patients received bendamustine as initial therapy and 25 for relapsed disease. Five of these patients had relapsed MCL after an autologous HSCT The most common schedule was bendamustine 100mg/m2 on days one and two and rituximab 375mg/m2 on day one of a 28 day cycle, for a median of six cycles. Of the 30 patients, there were fifteen complete responses (CR) and ten partial responses (PR), for an ORR of 83% (95% confidence interval [CI] 70–97%). With a median follow-up of 8 months (range 0.3–29.5 months), the median overall survival (OS) was not reached; the one-year OS rate was 73%; the two year OS rate was 67%. When OS and time to treatment failure (TTF) were stratified by response (using a 2-month landmark as the starting point for analysis), patients achieving a CR had a significantly longer OS and TTF compared to patients who did not achieve a CR (log rank p < 0.001). The TTF and OS were significantly worse for patients with the blastic variant versus the diffuse variant. In 5 patients with relapse post autologous HSCT, bendamustine induced a CR in three and a PR in one other patient. The majority of serious adverse events associated with bendamustine were hematological. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia occurred in 23%, 3%, and 20%, respectively. Common non-hematologic grade 1 or 2 toxicities were fatigue (27%), edema (20%), erythematous rash (20%), and nausea (13%). Two patients developed neurological sequelae during or after treatment with bendamustine. The first patient developed left sided weakness and dysmetria ten months after completing therapy. A brain biopsy revealed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. A second patient developed ataxia and incontinence while on rituximab plus bendamustine therapy and expired before a definitive diagnosis could be established. Conclusions: Bendamustine appears to have a favorable profile as a second-line agent for patients with relapsed MCL. The response rate is at least comparable to other therapies, especially when examined in light of the toxicity profile seen with other regimens. This study supports the need for continued investigation of bendamustine as a therapy for MCL patients both in the frontline and relapsed settings in prospective clinical trials, some of which are presently ongoing. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare

Comparison of cancer care and outcomes between a public safety-net hospital and a private cancer center

We compared the cancer outcomes and care-associated service defects between Jackson Memorial Hospital (ABC), a large public safety-net hospital, and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center (XYZ), a private not-for-profit cancer center in patients with stage II-III colorectal cancer (CC) who received adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) and in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Colorectal cancer patients treated at ABC were more likely to have undergone urgent surgery. While in the CC cohort, three-year overall survival and relapse-free survival rates were significantly higher among patients treated at XYZ compared with those treated at ABC, there was no significant difference between patients treated for DLBCL in the two hospitals. Colorectal cancer patients treated at ABC were more likely to have undergone urgent surgery, to have delays before surgery or during chemotherapy, and to experience a system/patient-related service defect; whereas were less likely to complete a full course of AC

Developing a Predictive Model for Clinical Outcomes of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Nivolumab

A single biomarker cannot account for the heterogeneous tumor biology and immune interplay in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer who receive programmed death inhibitor. This article reports our initial model development that incorporates differential weightings of clinical and hematologic variables for a future algorithm. The immunotherapy, Sex, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and Delta NLR are incorporated into the model that categorizes patients into different risk groups and significantly discriminates each group's clinical outcome. Despite significant improvement of clinical outcomes of advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with immunotherapy, our knowledge of optimal biomarkers is still limited. We retrospectively evaluated 159 advanced NSCLC patients in our institution treated with nivolumab after disease progression during platinum-based chemotherapy. We correlated several variables with progression-free survival (PFS) to develop the immunotherapy, Sex, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and Delta NLR (iSEND) model. We categorized patients into iSEND good, intermediate, and poor risk groups and evaluated their clinical outcomes. Performance of iSEND at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months was evaluated according to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and internally validated using bootstrapping. The association of iSEND risk groups with clinical benefit was evaluated using logistic regression. Median follow-up was 11.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 9.4-13.1). There were 50 deaths and 43 with disease progression without death. PFS rates at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months were 78.4%, 63.7%, 55.3%, and 52.2% in iSEND good; 79.4%, 44.3%, 25.9%, and 19.2% in iSEND intermediate; and 65%, 25.9%, 22.8%, and 17.8% in iSEND poor. Time-dependent area under ROC curves of iSEND for PFS at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months were 0.718, 0.74, 0.746, and 0.774. The iSEND poor group was significantly associated with progressive disease at 12 ± 2 weeks (odds ratio, 9.59; 95% CI, 3.8-26.9; P < .0001). The iSEND model is an algorithmic model that can characterize clinical outcomes of advanced NSCLC patients receiving nivolumab into good, intermediate, or poor risk groups and might be useful as a predictive model if validated independently

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy using carboplatin/cetuximab regimen in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-HNSCC) not eligible for high-dose cisplatin (HD-DDP)

e16001 Background: Cetuximab (Cx) + radiation therapy (RT) is well tolerated and has improved survival in patients (pts) with LA-HNSCC. However, its efficacy when compared to HD-DDP + RT has been questioned. At our institution, low-dose weekly carboplatin (Carbo) is added to Cx + RT for pts unsuitable for HD-DDP. Methods: We reviewed records of 16 pts with LA-HNSCC treated with definitive Cx + Carbo + RT at the University of Miami from 2007-2011. Median follow-up was 9.4 months (range: 1-50 months). Results: Median age: 71.5 years (range: 57-90 years); 15 male, 1 female.ECOG PS 0=15, 1=1. TNM staging was: T1= 1, T2= 5, T3=8, T4=2; N stage: N0=8, N1=5, N2a=2, N2b=1. All pts received weekly Carbo (AUC 1.5-2), Cx given conventionally and daily conventionally-fractionated RT. Median total weeks of concurrent systemic therapy= 7 (range: 3-8 weeks). RT was delivered to a median total dose of 70 Gy (range 30-74 Gy). Of the 15 evaluable pts, there were: 12 CR, 2 PR, and 1 PD. There were 2 local in-field failures, 1 regional failure, and 3 distant failures. At last follow-up, 11/16 pts remained with NED. 3-year locoregional recurrence was 29.5% (95% CI: 5.3%-45.9%). Toxicity (NCI-CTCAE v4.0): Mean percentage of weight loss was 14% (range: 6-26%). Two pts required systemic therapy dose-reduction. Three pts experienced a treatment delay and 3 did not finish RT as planned including one pt who received only 30Gy due to death secondary to MI during treatment. Conclusions: In this small retrospective series, Carbo/Cx/RT was well-tolerated and efficacious in pts unsuitable for HD-DDP having LA-HNSCC. Acute toxicities were similar to Cx + RT, likely due to the non-overlapping toxicity profiles of the two systemic agents. We hypothesize that the addition of a well-tolerated cytotoxic chemotherapy agent may improve the therapeutic ratio of Cx + RT in pts who are poor candidates for more aggressive therapies and warrants evaluation in a prospective manner. [Table: see text

A retrospective study evaluating the efficacy and safety of bendamustine in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma

Bendamustine is approved in the United States for relapsed indolent lymphoma. However, it has not been widely studied in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). We retrospectively reviewed the records of all patients with MCL who were treated with bendamustine at three centers. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). Thirty patients with MCL received bendamustine, 25 for relapsed disease. After a median follow-up of 12 months, there were 15 complete responses (CRs) with an ORR of 83% (95% confidence interval [CI] 70–97%). Factors significantly associated with longer survival were achieving a CR and classical (versus blastic) variant of MCL. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia occurred in 23%, 3% and 20%, respectively. There was one case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy 10 months after therapy completion. Bendamustine in combination with rituximab demonstrated a high response rate in this study of patients with predominantly relapsed MCL