Humanized CD30-Targeted Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Exhibit Potent Preclinical Activity Against Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Cells

CD30-directed chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) with single chain antibody fragment (scFv)-binding domains from murine HRS3 show strong cytotoxicity to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cells and have been used in clinical trials. However, murine scFv in CAR might induce specific rejective immune responses in patients, which compromises the therapeutic effects. The use of human or humanized antibody fragments for CAR construction, rather than those derived from mouse antibodies, can reduce the immunogenicity of the CAR. Importantly, this strategy might simultaneously decrease the risk of cytokine-mediated toxicities and improve CAR T cell persistence. Murine HRS3 antibody has been successfully humanized by grafting the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) from the mouse antibody framework onto human immunoglobulin consensus sequences, followed by an in vitro evolutionary strategy to select functional Fab fragments with the same affinity as murine sources. In this study, humanized scFvs were utilized to construct a CD30-directed CAR (hHRS3-CAR), and its effectiveness was compared with that of HRS3-CAR. The hHRS3-CAR-T cells specifically kill CD30-positive tumor cell lines in vitro and eliminate lymphoma xenografts in immunodeficient mice with comparable efficiency to HRS3-CAR. The hHRS-CAR-T could be used in clinical trials based on the previously reported advantages of humanized CARs, such as the reduction of immune rejection and better persistence of cells.

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the thyroid, type MALT: a case report from the Adolphe SICE General Hospital, Pointe Noire (Congo - Brazzaville)

Primary lymphomas of the thyroid are rare tumours, representing less than 5% to 15% of thyroid cancers. These lymphomas develop on a pre-existing thyroid disease, notably Hashimoto's thyroiditis, or as a secondary site of a disseminated lymphoma. This pathology is aggressive and presents as a painful, rapidly evolving goitre with signs of compression. The most common histological types are non-Hodgkin's lymphoma type B. We report a case of thyroid non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the MALT type in a 71 year old woman with a specific history; the positive diagnosis was made thanks to a histological study of the surgical specimen completed by an immunohistochemical study on paraffin sections. The postoperative clinical course after six years was favourable, with no local recurrence or distant metastasis. Keywords: Goiter; Primary Lymphoma; Thyroid; MALT; Immunohistochemistry

Population-based survival for cancer patients in Saudi Arabia for the years 2005–2009

The Saudi Cancer Registry reported in 2007 the 5-year observed survival for the most common cancer sites for the years 1994–2004. In this report we looked at the cancer survival in the period 2005–2009 and evaluated the trend over the 15 years period from 1994 to 2009. Cases of the top 14 cancer sites reported by the population based Saudi Cancer Registry from 1 January 2005 to December 31, 2009, were submitted for survival analysis. The vital status of those patients was collected. Analysis of survival for the above period was compared with the prior reported 2 periods (1994–1999, 2000–2004). In addition, analysis was done according to age, sex, disease stage and the province. Data of 25,969 patients of the commonest cancer sites were submitted. Of those 14,146 patients (54%) had complete demographic data available and vital status was reported. Thyroid cancer had the highest 5- year observed survival of 94% (95% confidence interval (CI) 93–95%)), followed by Breast (72%, 95% CI 71–74%). In hematological malignancies, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma had the highest 5-year survival of 86% (95% CI 84–88%). Survival rates has improved in most of the cancers sites for the studied periods except for lung, uterine and Hodgkin’s lymphoma which plateaued. Our study confirms a steady improvement in the 5-year observed survival over time for the majority of cancers. Our survival data were comparable to western countries. This data should be used by policy makers to improve on cancer care in the kingdom.

Primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the orbit: treatment outcomes from India

Background: Primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) of the orbit is rare. Orbital NHLs show good response to both radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy, and hence, the emphasis should be to ensure maximum cure rate with minimum morbidity. In this study, we present the clinical profile and treatment outcomes of patients with NHL who had initial presentation in the orbit. Materials and methods: In this retrospective analysis, case records of patients with a diagnosis of NHL of the orbit were analysed from January 2005 to January 2015. Patients were worked up and staged according to the Ann Arbor system. Patients with large tumours were initially given chemotherapy with CHOP regimen (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, adriamycin and prednisolone) three weekly for 4–6 cycles. Patients with residual disease were given RT 20–30 Gy at 2 Gy per fraction. RT when given as a primary treatment consisted of 36–45 Gy at 1·8–2 Gy per fraction on either Cobalt 60 machine or linear accelerator. Results: A total of 52 patients with diagnosis of orbital NHL were included in this study. Median age at presentation was 57 years (range 13–71). Left, right and bilateral orbit was involved in 21 (40%), 28(54%) and 3(6%) patients, respectively. Low- and high-grade pathology was seen in 39(75%) and 13(25%) patients, respectively. On immunohistochemistry, 23(44%) tumors were CD 20 positive. After staging, 33 (63%) patients had stage I disease. Median tumour size was 4·0 × 3·2 × 1·5 cm (1·7 × 1·7 × 1·4 cm to 5·8 × 4·0 × 4·7 cm). Primary RT was given to 7(13%) patients. Upfront chemotherapy was given in 45(86·5%) patients, out of which 24 had stage I disease. RT consolidation was done in 26 (50%) patients for residual disease after chemotherapy. Median follow-up was 88 months (range 29–183 months). Relapse occurred in 6(9·6%) patients; 2 local; 2 local + distant and in 2 distant alone. These patients were successfully salvaged with systemic chemotherapy and local RT. One patient died due to neutropenia. Overall survival in this series was 96%. Conclusions: Excellent local control was achieved with initial chemotherapy followed by RT for primary orbital NHL with minimal toxicity. We recommend a dose of 36–40 Gy for definitive RT and 30 Gy for lymphoma following chemotherapy using 2 Gy/fraction for Indian patients who present with bulky tumours. RT should be incorporated in treatment of orbital NHL whenever possible as it is safe, effective and is associated with minimal complications.

Prognostic and predictive factors in early stages of classic Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Rationale. In the early stages of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL), the cure rate reaches 85–95 %, but the long-term effects of therapy can worsen overall survival. Current trials for early stages of Hodgkin’s lymphoma with favorable prognosis address the task of maintaining cure rates while reducing sequelae. For early unfavorable stages, the challenge is to improve cure rate without increasing toxicity.Purpose. To assess the potential significance of individual risk factors for optimal choice of the first line chemotherapy in early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma.Materials and methods. This single-center retrospective study included 290 patients with early stage cHL who had received ABVD – based (n = 249; 86 %) or BEACOPP‑21 – based (n = 41; 14 %) combined modality therapy from 2000 to 2017. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed in Cox regression analysis including 12 clinical parameters.Main results. At a median follow up of 60 months for the entire group, OS was 95 % and PFS was 89 %. In a multivariate analysis PFS, at 5 years, was significantly inferior in patients with mediastinal bulk, baseline lymphocytopenia (≤ 0.6 × 109/L, р = 0.002; < 1.0 × 109/L, р = 0.000) and male gender; OS was inferior only in patients with an absolute lymphocytopenia (AL). In patients with AL, PFS after ABVD-based regimen was, respectively, 12 % in the high-risk group with mediastinal bulk and 56 % without it. PFS of patients without AL when treated with ABVD did not differ compared to BEACOPP‑21 within the same prognostic group: 95.2 % vs. 92.3 % for non-bulky and 86.4 % vs. 84.2 % for bulky disease. In the absence of AL, mediastinal bulk remained the main and only risk factor in multivariate analysis.Conclusions. The ABVD regimen is highly effective in the first line of chemotherapy for cHL, except for cases with baseline lymphocytopenia, in which the early usage of the BEACOPP regimen in the escalated or 14-day variants might be justified. In patients with mediastinal bulk, standard chemotherapy is not effective enough even in the absence of AL; therefore, if an intermediate PET/CT scan is available, it seems more appropriate to use a milder ABVD regimen on the first line and leave intensive therapy for patients with proven refractory disease. Prospects for improving the efficiency are opened with the new N-AVD and A-AVD schemes, the benefits of which should be evaluated, first of all, in patients with AL and mediastinal bulk.