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Frontiers of Medicine Dec 2020The cure rate of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has exceeded 90% in some contemporary clinical trials. However, the dose intensity of conventional... (Review)
Review
The cure rate of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has exceeded 90% in some contemporary clinical trials. However, the dose intensity of conventional chemotherapy has been pushed to its limit. Further improvement in outcome will need to rely more heavily on molecular therapeutic as well as immuno-and cellular-therapy approaches together with precise risk stratification. Children with ETV6-RUNX1 or hyperdiploid > 50 ALL who achieve negative minimal residual disease during early remission induction are suitable candidates for reduction in treatment. Patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive or Ph-like ALL with ABL-class fusion should be treated with dasatinib. BH3 profiling and other preclinical methods have identified several high-risk subtypes, such as hypodiplod, early T-cell precursor, immature T-cell, KMT2A-rearranged, Ph-positive and TCF-HLF-positive ALL, that may respond to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax. There are other fusions or mutations that may serve as putative targets, but effective targeted therapy has yet to be established. For other high-risk patients or poor early treatment responders who do not have targetable genetic lesions, current approaches that offer hope include blinatumomab, inotuzumab and CAR-T cell therapy for B-ALL, and daratumumab and nelarabine for T-ALL. With the expanding therapeutic armamentarium, we should start focus on rational combinations of targeted therapy with non-overlapping toxicities.
Topics: Child; Dasatinib; Humans; Neoplasm, Residual; Philadelphia Chromosome; Precision Medicine; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma
PubMed: 33074527
DOI: 10.1007/s11684-020-0759-8 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2021Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a genetically heterogeneous cancer that accounts for 10-15% of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cases. The T-ALL... (Review)
Review
Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a genetically heterogeneous cancer that accounts for 10-15% of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cases. The T-ALL event-free survival rate (EFS) is 85%. The evaluation of structural and numerical chromosomal changes is important for a comprehensive biological characterization of T-ALL, but there are currently no genetic prognostic markers. Despite chemotherapy regimens, steroids, and allogeneic transplantation, relapse is the main problem in children with T-ALL. Due to the development of high-throughput molecular methods, the ability to define subgroups of T-ALL has significantly improved in the last few years. The profiling of the gene expression of T-ALL has led to the identification of T-ALL subgroups, and it is important in determining prognostic factors and choosing an appropriate treatment. Novel therapies targeting molecular aberrations offer promise in achieving better first remission with the hope of preventing relapse. The employment of precisely targeted therapeutic approaches is expected to improve the cure of the disease and quality of life of patients. These include therapies that inhibit Notch1 activation (bortezomib), JAK inhibitors in ETP-ALL (ruxolitinib), BCL inhibitors (venetoclax), and anti-CD38 therapy (daratumumab). Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) is under investigation, but it requires further development and trials. Nelarabine-based regimens remain the standard for treating the relapse of T-ALL.
Topics: Adolescent; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antineoplastic Agents; Bortezomib; Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic; Child; Gene Expression Profiling; Genetic Therapy; Humans; Immunotherapy, Adoptive; Nitriles; Pediatrics; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Progression-Free Survival; Pyrazoles; Pyrimidines; Quality of Life; Recurrence; Sulfonamides; T-Lymphocytes
PubMed: 33925883
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22094502 -
Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official... Oct 2020Nelarabine is effective in inducing remission in patients with relapsed and refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) but has not been fully evaluated in... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
PURPOSE
Nelarabine is effective in inducing remission in patients with relapsed and refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) but has not been fully evaluated in those with newly diagnosed disease.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
From 2007 to 2014, Children's Oncology Group trial AALL0434 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00408005) enrolled 1,562 evaluable patients with T-ALL age 1-31 years who received the augmented Berlin-Frankfurt-Muenster (ABFM) regimen with a 2 × 2 pseudo-factorial randomization to receive escalating-dose methotrexate (MTX) without leucovorin rescue plus pegaspargase (C-MTX) or high-dose MTX (HDMTX) with leucovorin rescue. Intermediate- and high-risk patients were also randomly assigned after induction to receive or not receive six 5-day courses of nelarabine that was incorporated into ABFM. Patients who experienced induction failure were nonrandomly assigned to HDMTX plus nelarabine. Patients with overt CNS disease (CNS3; ≥ 5 WBCs/μL with blasts) received HDMTX and were randomly assigned to receive or not receive nelarabine. All patients, except those with low-risk disease, received cranial irradiation.
RESULTS
The 5-year event-free and overall survival rates were 83.7% ± 1.1% and 89.5% ± 0.9%, respectively. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates for patients with T-ALL randomly assigned to nelarabine (n = 323) and no nelarabine (n = 336) were 88.2% ± 2.4% and 82.1% ± 2.7%, respectively ( = .029). Differences between DFS in a four-arm comparison were significant ( = .01), with no interactions between the MTX and nelarabine randomizations ( = .41). Patients treated with the best-performing arm, C-MTX plus nelarabine, had a 5-year DFS of 91% (n = 147). Patients who received nelarabine had significantly fewer isolated and combined CNS relapses compared with patients who did not receive nelarabine (1.3% ± 0.63% 6.9% ± 1.4%, respectively; = .0001). Toxicities, including neurotoxicity, were acceptable and similar between all four arms.
CONCLUSION
The addition of nelarabine to ABFM therapy improved DFS for children and young adults with newly diagnosed T-ALL without increased toxicity.
Topics: Adolescent; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Arabinonucleosides; Asparaginase; Child; Cohort Studies; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Humans; Leucovorin; Male; Methotrexate; Polyethylene Glycols; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Prednisone; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 32813610
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.20.00256 -
International Journal of Molecular... May 2022Immunotherapy is a milestone in the treatment of poor-prognosis pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is expected to improve treatment outcomes and reduce... (Review)
Review
Immunotherapy is a milestone in the treatment of poor-prognosis pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is expected to improve treatment outcomes and reduce doses of conventional chemotherapy without compromising the effectiveness of the therapy. However, both chemotherapy and immunotherapy cause side effects, including neurological ones. Acute neurological complications occur in 3.6-11% of children treated for ALL. The most neurotoxical chemotherapeutics are L-asparaginase (L-ASP), methotrexate (MTX), vincristine (VCR), and nelarabine (Ara-G). Neurotoxicity associated with methotrexate (MTX-NT) occurs in 3-7% of children treated for ALL and is characterized by seizures, stroke-like symptoms, speech disturbances, and encephalopathy. Recent studies indicate that specific polymorphisms in genes related to neurogenesis may have a predisposition to MTX toxicity. One of the most common complications associated with CAR T-cell therapy is immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Mechanisms of neurotoxicity in CAR T-cell therapy are still unknown and may be due to disruption of the blood-brain barrier and the effects of elevated cytokine levels on the central nervous system (CNS). In this review, we present an analysis of the current knowledge on the mechanisms of neurotoxicity of standard chemotherapy and the targeted therapy in children with ALL.
Topics: Asparaginase; Child; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Humans; Immunologic Factors; Immunotherapy, Adoptive; Methotrexate; Neurotoxicity Syndromes; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma
PubMed: 35628334
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105515 -
Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official... Sep 2020The Children's Oncology Group (COG) protocol AALL0434 evaluated the safety and efficacy of multi-agent chemotherapy with Capizzi-based methotrexate/pegaspargase (C-MTX)... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
PURPOSE
The Children's Oncology Group (COG) protocol AALL0434 evaluated the safety and efficacy of multi-agent chemotherapy with Capizzi-based methotrexate/pegaspargase (C-MTX) in patients with newly diagnosed pediatric T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL) and gained preliminary data using nelarabine in high-risk patients.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
The trial enrolled 299 patients, age 1-31 years. High-risk (HR) patients had ≥ 1% minimal detectable disease (MDD) in the bone marrow at diagnosis or received prior steroid treatment. Induction failure was defined as failure to achieve a partial response (PR) by the end of the 4-week induction. All patients received the augmented Berlin-Frankfurt-Muenster (ABFM) C-MTX regimen. HR patients were randomly assigned to receive or not receive 6 5-day courses of nelarabine incorporated into ABFM. Patients with induction failure were nonrandomly assigned to ABFM C-MTX plus nelarabine. No patients received prophylactic cranial radiation; however, patients with CNS3 disease (CSF WBC ≥ 5/μL with blasts or cranial nerve palsies, brain/eye involvement, or hypothalamic syndrome) were ineligible.
RESULTS
At end-induction, 98.8% of evaluable participants had at least a PR. The 4-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 84.7% ± 2.3% and 89.0% ± 2.0%. The 4-year disease-free survival (DFS) from end-induction was 85.9% ± 2.6%. There was no difference in DFS observed between the HR and standard-risk groups ( = .29) or by treatment regimen ( = .55). Disease stage, tumor response, and MDD at diagnosis did not demonstrate thresholds that resulted in differences in EFS. Nelarabine did not show an advantage for HR patients. CNS relapse occurred in only 4 patients.
CONCLUSION
COG AALL0434 produced excellent outcomes in one of the largest trials ever conducted for patients with newly diagnosed T-LL. The COG ABFM regimen with C-MTX provided excellent EFS and OS without cranial radiation.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Arabinonucleosides; Asparaginase; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Infant; Male; Methotrexate; Polyethylene Glycols; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Progression-Free Survival; Prospective Studies; Time Factors; United States; Young Adult
PubMed: 32552472
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.20.00531 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2023Current therapies for T-cell acute leukemia are based on risk stratification and have greatly improved the survival rate for patients, but mortality rates remain high... (Review)
Review
Current therapies for T-cell acute leukemia are based on risk stratification and have greatly improved the survival rate for patients, but mortality rates remain high owing to relapsed disease, therapy resistance, or treatment-related toxicities/infection. Patients with relapsed disease continue to have poor outcomes. In the past few years, newer agents have been investigated to optimize upfront therapies for higher-risk patients in the hopes of decreasing relapse rates. This review summarizes the progress of chemo/targeted therapies using Nelarabine/Bortezomib/CDK4/6 inhibitors for T-ALL in clinical trials and novel strategies to target NOTCH-induced T-ALL. We also outline immunotherapy clinical trials using monoclonal/bispecific T-cell engaging antibodies, anti-PD1/anti-PDL1 checkpoint inhibitors, and CAR-T for T-ALL therapy. Overall, pre-clinical studies and clinical trials showed that applying monoclonal antibodies or CAR-T for relapsed/refractory T-ALL therapy is promising. The combination of target therapy and immunotherapy may be a novel strategy for T-ALL treatment.
Topics: Humans; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Receptors, Chimeric Antigen; Immunotherapy; Antibodies, Monoclonal; T-Lymphocytes; Antibodies, Bispecific; Immunotherapy, Adoptive
PubMed: 37108359
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087201 -
American Journal of Hematology Jan 2018Nelarabine, a water soluble prodrug of 9-β-D-arabinofuranosylguanine (ara-G), is a T-cell specific purine nucleoside analogue. Given its activity in relapsed and...
Nelarabine, a water soluble prodrug of 9-β-D-arabinofuranosylguanine (ara-G), is a T-cell specific purine nucleoside analogue. Given its activity in relapsed and refractory T acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL), we sought to define its role in the frontline treatment of adult patients. Therefore, we conducted a single arm phase 2 study to determine the safety and efficacy of nelarabine in combination with hyper-CVAD in newly diagnosed patients. For induction/consolidation, patients received eight cycles of hyper-CVAD alternating with high-dose methotrexate and cytarabine plus two cycles of nelarabine given at a dose of 650 mg/m intravenously daily for 5 days. This was followed by thirty months of POMP maintenance chemotherapy with two additional cycles of nelarabine given instead of cycles 6 and 7 of POMP maintenance. Sixty-seven patients, including 40 with T-ALL and 26 with T-LBL, were enrolled. Complete response rates in both T-ALL and T-LBL were 87% and 100% respectively. Grade 3 to 4 neurotoxic adverse events were reported in 5 patients. There were 21 relapses (31%) including 2 after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Median duration of follow-up was 42.5 months. The 3-year complete remission duration (CRD) and overall survival (OS) rates were 66% and 65%, respectively. Compared to our historic hyper-CVAD data, there was no survival benefit with the addition of nelarabine. In conclusion, hyper-CVAD plus nelarabine was well tolerated and active in the frontline treatment of adult T-ALL/LBL patients.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Arabinonucleosides; Female; Humans; Immunophenotyping; Male; Middle Aged; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Survival Analysis; Young Adult
PubMed: 29047158
DOI: 10.1002/ajh.24947 -
Blood Advances Jan 2024T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-ALL/LBL) is a rare hematologic malignancy most commonly affecting adolescent and young adult males.... (Review)
Review
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-ALL/LBL) is a rare hematologic malignancy most commonly affecting adolescent and young adult males. Outcomes are dismal for patients who relapse, thus, improvement in treatment is needed. Nelarabine, a prodrug of the deoxyguanosine analog 9-β-arabinofuranosylguanine, is uniquely toxic to T lymphoblasts, compared with B lymphoblasts and normal lymphocytes, and has been developed for the treatment of T-ALL/LBL. Based on phase 1 and 2 trials in children and adults, single-agent nelarabine is approved for treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory T-ALL/LBL, with the major adverse effect being central and peripheral neurotoxicity. Since its approval in 2005, nelarabine has been studied in combination with other chemotherapy agents for relapsed disease and is also being studied as a component of initial treatment in pediatric and adult patients. Here, we review current data on nelarabine and present our approach to the use of nelarabine in the treatment of patients with T-ALL/LBL.
Topics: Male; Adolescent; Young Adult; Humans; Child; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Antineoplastic Agents; Recurrence; Lymphoma, T-Cell; T-Lymphocytes
PubMed: 37389830
DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023010303 -
Blood Jan 2020T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive malignancy that has historically been associated with a very poor prognosis. Nevertheless, despite a lack of...
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive malignancy that has historically been associated with a very poor prognosis. Nevertheless, despite a lack of incorporation of novel agents, the development of intensified T-ALL-focused protocols has resulted in significant improvements in outcome in children. Through the use of several representative cases, we highlight the key changes that have driven these advances including asparaginase intensification, the use of induction dexamethasone, and the safe omission of cranial radiotherapy. We discuss the results of recent trials to explore key topics including the implementation of risk stratification with minimal residual disease measurement and how to treat high-risk subtypes such as early T-cell precursor ALL. In particular, we address current discrepancies in treatment between different cooperative groups, including the use of nelarabine, and provide rationales for current treatment protocols for both T-ALL and T-lymphoblastic lymphoma.
Topics: Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Child; Child, Preschool; Combined Modality Therapy; Cranial Irradiation; Female; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; Humans; Male; Neoplasm, Residual; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; Prognosis
PubMed: 31738819
DOI: 10.1182/blood.2019001557