Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Characteristics And Treatment Of Acute Myeloid Neoplasms With Cutaneous Involvement In Infants Up To 6 Months Of Age: A Retrospective Study., Juliette Renaud, Bianca F. Goemans, Franco Locatelli, Martina Pigazzi, Shelagh Redmond, Claudia E. Kuehni, Alice Destaillats, Todd A. Alonzo, Robert B. Gerbing, Alan S. Gamis, Richard Aplenc, Raffaele Renella, Todd Cooper, Francesco Ceppi

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BACKGROUND: Myeloid neoplasms account for 50% of cases of pediatric leukemias in infants. Approximately 25%-50% of patients with newborn leukemia have cutaneous extramedullary disease (EMD). In less than 10% of patients, aleukemic leukemia cutis or isolated extramedullary disease with cutaneous involvement (cEMD) occurs when skin lesions appear prior to bone marrow involvement and systemic symptoms. Interestingly, in acute myeloid leukemia with cutaneous EMD (AML-cEMD) and cEMD, spontaneous remissions have been reported.

METHOD: This is a multicentric retrospective cohort study aiming to describe characteristics, treatment, and outcome of infants with either cEMD or presence of cutaneous disease with involvement of the …

Prognostic Impact Of Cooccurring Mutations In Flt3-Itd Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia., Katherine Tarlock, Robert B. Gerbing, Rhonda E. Ries, Jenny L. Smith, Amanda Leonti, Benjamin J. Huang, Danielle Kirkey, Leila Robinson, Jack H. Peplinksi, Beverly Lange, Todd M. Cooper, Alan S. Gamis, E Anders Kolb, Richard Aplenc, Jessica A. Pollard, Todd A. Alonzo, Soheil Meshinchi

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We sought to define the cooccurring mutational profile of FLT3-ITD-positive (ITDpos) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in pediatric and young adult patients and to define the prognostic impact of cooperating mutations. We identified 464 patients with FLT3-ITD mutations treated on Children's Oncology Group trials with available sequencing and outcome data. Overall survival, event-free survival (EFS), and relapse risk were determined according to the presence of cooccurring risk stratifying mutations. Among the cohort, 79% of patients had cooccurring alterations across 239 different genes that were altered through mutations or fusions. Evaluation of the prognostic impact of the cooccurring mutations demonstrated that patients …

Structural Variants Involving Mllt10 Fusion Are Associated With Adverse Outcomes In Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia., Oussama Abla, Rhonda E. Ries, Tim Triche, Robert B. Gerbing, Betsy Hirsch, Susana Raimondi, Todd Cooper, Jason E. Farrar, Nathaniel Buteyn, Lauren M. Harmon, Hong Wen, Aniruddha J. Deshpande, E Anders Kolb, Alan S. Gamis, Richard Aplenc, Todd Alonzo, Soheil Meshinchi

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MLLT10 gene rearrangements with KMT2A occur in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and confer poor prognosis, but the prognostic impact of MLLT10 in partnership with other genes is unknown. We conducted a retrospective study with 2080 children and young adults with AML registered on the Children's Oncology Group AAML0531 (NCT00372593) and AAML1031 trials (NCT01371981). Transcriptome profiling and/or karyotyping were performed to identify leukemia-associated fusions associated with prognosis. Collectively, 127 patients (6.1%) were identified with MLLT10 fusions: 104 (81.9%) with KMT2A::MLLT10, 13 (10.2%) with PICALM::MLLT10, and 10 (7.9%) X::MLLT10: (2 each of DDX3X and TEC), with 6 partners (DDX3Y, CEP164, SCN2B, …

Chromatin Profiles Are Prognostic Of Clinical Response To Bortezomib-Containing Chemotherapy In Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Results From The Cog Aaml1031 Trial., Anneke D. Van Dijk, Fieke W. Hoff, Yihua Qiu, Stefan E. Hubner, Robin L. Go, Vivian R. Ruvolo, Amanda R. Leonti, Robert B. Gerbing, Alan S. Gamis, Richard Aplenc, Edward A. Kolb, Todd A. Alonzo, Soheil Meshinchi, Eveline S J M De Bont, Terzah M. Horton, Steven M. Kornblau

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The addition of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib to standard chemotherapy did not improve survival in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when all patients were analyzed as a group in the Children's Oncology Group phase 3 trial AAML1031 (NCT01371981). Proteasome inhibition influences the chromatin landscape and proteostasis, and we hypothesized that baseline proteomic analysis of histone- and chromatin-modifying enzymes (HMEs) would identify AML subgroups that benefitted from bortezomib addition. A proteomic profile of 483 patients treated with AAML1031 chemotherapy was generated using a reverse-phase protein array. A relatively high expression of 16 HME was associated with lower EFS and higher 3-year …

Molecular-Guided Therapy For The Treatment Of Patients With Relapsed And Refractory Childhood Cancers: A Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium Trial., Giselle L Saulnier Sholler, Genevieve Bergendahl, Elizabeth C. Lewis, Jacqueline Kraveka, William Ferguson, Abhinav B. Nagulapally, Karl Dykema, Valerie I Brown, Michael S. Isakoff, Joseph Junewick, Deanna Mitchell, Jawhar Rawwas, William Roberts, Don Eslin, Javier Oesterheld, Randal K. Wada, Devang Pastakia, Virginia Harrod, Kevin Ginn, Raya Saab, Kevin Bielamowicz, Jason Glover, Eugenia Chang, Gina K. Hanna, Daniel Enriquez, Tyler Izatt, Rebecca F Halperin, Abigail Moore, Sara A. Byron, William P D Hendricks, Jeffrey M. Trent

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BACKGROUND: Children with relapsed central nervous system (CNS tumors), neuroblastoma, sarcomas, and other rare solid tumors face poor outcomes. This prospective clinical trial examined the feasibility of combining genomic and transcriptomic profiling of tumor samples with a molecular tumor board (MTB) approach to make real‑time treatment decisions for children with relapsed/refractory solid tumors.

METHODS: Subjects were divided into three strata: stratum 1-relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma; stratum 2-relapsed/refractory CNS tumors; and stratum 3-relapsed/refractory rare solid tumors. Tumor samples were sent for tumor/normal whole-exome (WES) and tumor whole-transcriptome (WTS) sequencing, and the genomic data were used in a multi-institutional MTB to make real‑time treatment …

Lessons Learnt In The First Year Of An Australian Pediatric Cardio Oncology Clinic., Claudia Toro, Ben Felmingham, Mangesh Jhadav, David S. Celermajer, Andre La Gerche, John O'Sullivan, Sanjeev Kumar, Marion K. Mateos, Joy M. Fulbright, Dinisha Govender, Lane Collier, Michael Cheung, David D. Eisenstat, Peter W. Lange, Julian Ayer, David A. Elliott, Rachel Conyers

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BACKGROUND: Modern oncological therapies together with chemotherapy and radiotherapy have broadened the agents that can cause cardiac sequelae, which can manifest for pediatric oncology patients while on active treatment. Recommendations for high-risk patients who should be monitored in a pediatric cardio-oncology clinic have previously been developed by expert Delphi consensus by our group. In 2022 we opened our first multidisciplinary pediatric cardio-oncology clinic adhering to these recommendations in surveillance and management.

OBJECTIVES: Our pediatric cardio-oncology clinic aimed to: (i) Document cardiovascular toxicities observed within a pediatric cardio-oncology clinic and. (ii) Evaluate the applicability of the Australian and New Zealand Pediatric …

Mediators And Moderators Of Active Music Engagement To Reduce Traumatic Stress Symptoms And Improve Well-Being In Parents Of Young Children With Cancer., Sheri L. Robb, Kristin Stegenga, Susan M. Perkins, Timothy E. Stump, Karen M. Moody, Amanda K. Henley, Jessica Maclean, Seethal A. Jacob, David Delgado, Paul R. Haut

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OBJECTIVE: This trial examined the effects of proximal/distal mediators and moderators of an Active Music Engagement (AME) intervention on young child/parent distress, quality of life, and family function outcomes.

METHODS: Child/parent dyads (n = 125) were randomized to AME or Audio-storybooks attention control condition. Each group received 3 sessions with a credentialed music therapist for 3 consecutive days with data collection at baseline, post-intervention (T2), and 30-days later (T3). Potential proximal mediators included within session child and parent engagement. Potential distal mediators included changes in perceived family normalcy, parent self-efficacy, and independent use of play materials. Potential moderators included parent/child …

Rare Tumors: Opportunities And Challenges From The Children's Oncology Group Perspective., Kris Ann P. Schultz, Murali Chintagumpala, Jin Piao, Kenneth S. Chen, Rachana Shah, Robyn D. Gartrell, Emily Christison-Lagay, Farzana Pashnakar, Jesse L. Berry, Allison F. O'Neill, Lauren M. Vasta, Ashley Flynn, Sarah G. Mitchell, Brittani Kn Seynnaeve, Jeremy Rosenblum, Samara L. Potter, Junne Kamihara, Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, Douglas S. Hawkins, Theodore W. Laetsch

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While all childhood cancers are rare, tumors that are particularly infrequent or underrepresented within pediatrics are studied under the umbrella of the Children's Oncology Group Rare Tumor committee, divided into the Retinoblastoma and Infrequent Tumor subcommittees. The Infrequent Tumor subcommittee has traditionally included an emphasis on globally rare tumors such as adrenocortical carcinoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, or those tumors that are rare in young children, despite being common in adolescents and young adults, such as colorectal carcinoma, thyroid carcinoma, and melanoma. Pleuropulmonary blastoma, gonadal stromal tumors, pancreatic tumors including pancreatoblastoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, nonmelanoma skin cancers, neuroendocrine tumors, and desmoplastic small …

Clinical Efficacy Of Onc201 In H3k27m-Mutant Diffuse Midline Gliomas Is Driven By Disruption Of Integrated Metabolic And Epigenetic Pathways., Sriram Venneti, Abed Rahman Kawakibi, Sunjong Ji, Sebastian M. Waszak, Stefan R. Sweha, Mateus Mota, Matthew Pun, Akash Deogharkar, Chan Chung, Rohinton S. Tarapore, Samuel Ramage, Andrew Chi, Patrick Y. Wen, Isabel Arrillaga-Romany, Tracy T. Batchelor, Nicholas A. Butowski, Ashley Sumrall, Nicole Shonka, Rebecca A. Harrison, John De Groot, Minesh Mehta, Matthew D. Hall, Doured Daghistani, Timothy F. Cloughesy, Benjamin M. Ellingson, Kevin Beccaria, Pascale Varlet, Michelle M. Kim, Yoshie Umemura, Hugh Garton, Andrea Franson, Jonathan Schwartz, Rajan Jain, Maureen Kachman, Heidi Baum, Charles F. Burant, Sophie L. Mottl, Rodrigo T. Cartaxo, Vishal John, Dana Messinger, Tingting Qin, Erik Peterson, Peter Sajjakulnukit, Karthik Ravi, Alyssa Waugh, Dustin Walling, Yujie Ding, Ziyun Xia, Anna Schwendeman, Debra Hawes, Fusheng Yang, Alexander R. Judkins, Daniel Wahl, Costas A. Lyssiotis, Daniel De La Nava, Marta M. Alonso, Augustine Eze, Jasper Spitzer, Susanne V. Schmidt, Ryan J. Duchatel, Matthew D. Dun, Jason E. Cain, Li Jiang, Sylwia A. Stopka, Gerard Baquer, Michael S. Regan, Mariella G. Filbin, Nathalie Y R Agar, Lili Zhao, Chandan Kumar-Sinha, Rajen Mody, Arul Chinnaiyan, Ryo Kurokawa, Drew Pratt, Viveka Nand Yadav, Jacques Grill, Cassie Kline, Sabine Mueller, Adam Resnick, Javad Nazarian, Joshua E. Allen, Yazmin Odia, Sharon L. Gardner, Carl Koschmann

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UNLABELLED: Patients with H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma (DMG) have no proven effective therapies. ONC201 has recently demonstrated efficacy in these patients, but the mechanism behind this finding remains unknown. We assessed clinical outcomes, tumor sequencing, and tissue/cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) correlate samples from patients treated in two completed multisite clinical studies. Patients treated with ONC201 following initial radiation but prior to recurrence demonstrated a median overall survival of 21.7 months, whereas those treated after recurrence had a median overall survival of 9.3 months. Radiographic response was associated with increased expression of key tricarboxylic acid cycle-related genes in baseline tumor sequencing. ONC201 …

Characteristics And Prognostic Impact Of Idh Mutations In Aml: A Cog, Swog, And Ecog Analysis., Sara Zarnegar-Lumley, Todd A. Alonzo, Robert B. Gerbing, Megan Othus, Zhuoxin Sun, Rhonda E. Ries, Jim Wang, Amanda Leonti, Matthew A. Kutny, Fabiana Ostronoff, Jerald P. Radich, Frederick R. Appelbaum, Era L. Pogosova-Agadjanyan, Kristen O'Dwyer, Martin S. Tallman, Mark Litzow, Ehab Atallah, Todd M. Cooper, Richard A. Aplenc, Omar Abdel-Wahab, Alan S. Gamis, Selina Luger, Harry Erba, Ross Levine, E Anders Kolb, Derek L. Stirewalt, Soheil Meshinchi, Katherine Tarlock

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Somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes occur frequently in adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and less commonly in pediatric AML. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence, mutational profile, and prognostic significance of IDH mutations in AML across age. Our cohort included 3141 patients aged betweenChildren's Cancer Group/Children's Oncology Group (n = 1872), Southwest Oncology Group (n = 359), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (n = 397) trials, and in Beat AML (n = 333) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (n = 180) genomic characterization cohorts. We retrospectively analyzed patients in 4 age groups (age range, n): …

Inducing Mitotic Catastrophe As A Therapeutic Approach To Improve Outcomes In Ewing Sarcoma., Soumya M. Turaga, Vikalp Vishwakarma, Stacey L. Hembruff, Benjamin K. Gibbs, Priya Sabu, Rajni V. Puri, Harsh B. Pathak, Glenson Samuel, Andrew K. Godwin

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Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is an aggressive pediatric malignancy of the bone and soft tissues in need of novel therapeutic options. To identify potential therapeutic targets, we focused on essential biological pathways that are upregulated by EWS-FLI1, the primary oncogenic driver of EWS, including mitotic proteins such as Aurora kinase A (AURKA) and kinesin family member 15 (KIF15) and its binding partner, targeting protein for Xklp2 (TPX2). KIF15/TPX2 cooperates with KIF11, a key mitotic kinesin essential for mitotic spindle orientation. Given the lack of clinical-grade KIF15/TPX2 inhibitors, we chose to target KIF11 (using SB-743921) in combination with AURKA (using VIC-1911) given …

Characterization Of An Mtbp Hypomorphic Allele In A Diethylnitrosamine-Induced Liver Carcinogenesis Model, Atul Ranjan, Elizabeth A. Thoenen, Atsushi Kaida, Stephanie Wood, Terry Van Dyke, Tomoo Iwakuma

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MTBP is implicated in cell cycle progression, DNA replication, and cancer metastasis. However, the function of MTBP remains enigmatic and is dependent on cellular contexts and its cellular localization. To understand the in vivo physiological role of MTBP, it is important to generate Mtbp knockout mice. However, complete deletion of the Mtbp gene in mice results in early embryonic lethality, while its heterozygous deletion shows modest biological phenotypes, including enhanced cancer metastasis. To overcome this and better characterize the in vivo physiological function of MTBP, we, for the first time, generated mice that carry an Mtbp hypomorphic allele (MtbpH …

Comprehensive Molecular And Clinical Characterization Of Nup98 Fusions In Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Eline J M Bertrums, Jenny L. Smith, Lauren Harmon, Rhonda E. Ries, Yi-Cheng J. Wang, Todd A. Alonzo, Andrew J. Menssen, Karen M. Chisholm, Amanda R. Leonti, Katherine Tarlock, Fabiana Ostronoff, Era L. Pogosova-Agadjanyan, Gertjan J L Kaspers, Henrik Hasle, Michael Dworzak, Christiane Walter, Nora Muhlegger, Cristina Morerio, Laura Pardo, Betsy Hirsch, Susana Raimondi, Todd M. Cooper, Richard Aplenc, Alan S. Gamis, Edward A. Kolb, Jason E. Farrar, Derek Stirewalt, Xiaotu Ma, Tim I. Shaw, Scott N. Furlan, Lisa Eidenschink Brodersen, Michael R. Loken, Marry M. Van Den Heuvel-Eibrink, C Michel Zwaan, Timothy J. Triche, Bianca F. Goemans, Soheil Meshinchi

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NUP98 fusions comprise a family of rare recurrent alterations in AML, associated with adverse outcomes. In order to define the underlying biology and clinical implications of this family of fusions, we performed comprehensive transcriptome, epigenome, and immunophenotypic profiling of 2,235 children and young adults with AML and identified 160 NUP98 rearrangements (7.2%), including 108 NUP98-NSD1 (4.8%), 32 NUP98-KDM5A (1.4%) and 20 NUP98-X cases (0.9%) with 13 different fusion partners. Fusion partners defined disease characteristics and biology; patients with NUP98-NSD1 or NUP98-KDM5A had distinct immunophenotypic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic profiles. Unlike the two most prevalent NUP98 fusions, NUP98-X variants are typically not …

Sars-Cov-2 Infections In Patients Enrolled On The Children's Oncology Group Standard-Risk B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Trial, Aall1731., Caitlin W. Elgarten, John A. Kairalla, Joel Thompson, Tamara P. Miller, Cindy Wang, Susan Conway, Mignon L. Loh, Elizabeth A. Raetz, Sumit Gupta, Rachel E. Rau, Anne Angiolillo, Karen R. Rabin, Sarah Alexander

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Hematologic malignancy is a risk factor for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults; however, data specific to children with leukemia are limited. High-quality infectious adverse event data from the ongoing Children's Oncology Group (COG) standard-risk B acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (ALL/LLy) trial, AALL1731, were analyzed to provide a disease-specific estimate of SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes in pediatric ALL. Of 253 patients with reported infections, the majority (77.1%) were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic (CTCAE grade 1/2) and there was a single COVID-19-related death. These data suggest SARS-CoV-2 infection does not confer substantial morbidity among young patients with B-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (B-ALL/LLy).

Hlh-Like Toxicities Predict Poor Survival After The Use Of Tisagenlecleucel In Children And Young Adults With B-All., Kevin O. Mcnerney, Stephanie J. Si Lim, Kyle Ishikawa, Alexandra Dreyzin, Anant Vatsayan, John J. Chen, Christina Baggott, Snehit Prabhu, Holly L. Pacenta, Christine Philips, Jenna Rossoff, Heather E. Stefanski, Julie-An Talano, Amy Moskop, Michael Verneris, Douglas Myers, Nicole A. Karras, Patrick Brown, Challice L. Bonifant, Muna Qayed, Michelle Hermiston, Prakash Satwani, Christa Krupski, Amy K. Keating, Susanne H C Baumeister, Vanessa A. Fabrizio, Vasant Chinnabhandar, Emily Egeler, Sharon Mavroukakis, Kevin J. Curran, Crystal L. Mackall, Theodore W. Laetsch, Liora M. Schultz

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Chimeric antigen receptor-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)-like toxicities (LTs) involving hyperferritinemia, multiorgan dysfunction, coagulopathy, and/or hemophagocytosis are described as occurring in a subset of patients with cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Case series report poor outcomes for those with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) who develop HLH-LTs, although larger outcomes analyses of children and young adults (CAYAs) with B-ALL who develop these toxicities after the administration of commercially available tisagenlecleucel are not described. Using a multi-institutional database of 185 CAYAs with B-ALL, we conducted a retrospective cohort study including groups that developed HLH-LTs, high-grade (HG) CRS without HLH-LTs, or no to low-grade …

Long Noncoding Rna Expression Independently Predicts Outcome In Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia., Jason E. Farrar, Jenny L. Smith, Megan Othus, Benjamin J. Huang, Yi-Cheng Wang, Rhonda Ries, Tiffany Hylkema, Era L. Pogosova-Agadjanyan, Sneha Challa, Amanda Leonti, Timothy I. Shaw, Timothy J. Triche, Alan S. Gamis, Richard Aplenc, E Anders Kolb, Xiaotu Ma, Derek L. Stirewalt, Todd A. Alonzo, Soheil Meshinchi

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Purpose: Optimized strategies for risk classification are essential to tailor therapy for patients with biologically distinctive disease. Risk classification in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML) relies on detection of translocations and gene mutations. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) transcripts have been shown to associate with and mediate malignant phenotypes in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) but have not been comprehensively evaluated in pAML.

Methods: To identify lncRNA transcripts associated with outcomes, we evaluated the annotated lncRNA landscape by transcript sequencing of 1,298 pediatric and 96 adult AML specimens. Upregulated lncRNAs identified in the pAML training set were used to establish a regularized …

Measurable Residual Disease And Fusion Partner Independently Predict Survival And Relapse Risk In Childhood Kmt2a-Rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Study By The International Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster Study Group, Romy E. Van Weelderen, Kim Klein, Christine J. Harrison, Yilin Jiang, Jonas Abrahamsson, Nira Arad-Cohen, Emmanuelle Bart-Delabesse, Barbara Buldini, Barbara De Moerloose, Michael N. Dworzak, Sarah Elitzur, José M. Fernández Navarro, Robert B. Gerbing, Bianca F. Goemans, Hester A. De Groot-Kruseman, Erin M. Guest, Shau-Yin Ha, Henrik Hasle, Charikleia Kelaidi, Hélène Lapillonne, Guy Leverger, Franco Locatelli, Riccardo Masetti, Takako Miyamura, Ulrika Norén-Nyström, Sophia Polychronopoulou, Mareike Rasche, Jeffrey E. Rubnitz, Jan Stary, Anne Tierens, Daisuke Tomizawa, C Michel Zwaan, Gertjan J L Kaspers

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Purpose: A previous study by the International Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster Study Group (I-BFM-SG) on childhood KMT2A-rearranged (KMT2A-r) AML demonstrated the prognostic value of the fusion partner. This I-BFM-SG study investigated the value of flow cytometry-based measurable residual disease (flow-MRD) and evaluated the benefit of allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (allo-SCT) in first complete remission (CR1) in this disease.

Methods: A total of 1,130 children with KMT2A-r AML, diagnosed between January 2005 and December 2016, were assigned to high-risk (n = 402; 35.6%) or non-high-risk (n = 728; 64.4%) fusion partner-based groups. Flow-MRD levels at both end of induction 1 (EOI1) …

Identification Of Small Extracellular Vesicle Protein Biomarkers For Pediatric Ewing Sarcoma., Soumya M. Turaga, Mihaela E. Sardiu, Vikalp Vishwakarma, Amrita Mitra, Leonidas E. Bantis, Rashna Madan, Michael L. Merchant, Jon B. Klein, Glenson Samuel, Andrew K. Godwin

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Ewing Sarcoma (EWS) is the second most common osseous malignancy in children and young adults after osteosarcoma, while it is the fifth common osseous malignancy within adult age population. The clinical presentation of EWS is quite often non-specific, with the most common symptoms at presentation consisting of pain, swelling or general discomfort. The dearth of clinically relevant diagnostic or predictive biomarkers continues to remain a pressing clinical challenge. Identification of tumor specific biomarkers can lend towards an early diagnosis, expedited initiation of therapy, monitoring of therapeutic response, and early detection of recurrence of disease. We carried-out a complex analysis of …

Perinucleolar Compartment (Pnc) Prevalence As An Independent Prognostic Factor In Pediatric Ewing Sarcoma: A Multi-Institutional Study., Elizabeth Gonzalez, Atif A. Ahmed, Laura Mccarthy, Katherine Chastain, Sahibu Sultan M Habeebu, Marta Zapata-Tarres, Rocio Cardenas-Cardos, Liliana Velasco-Hidalgo, Celso Corcuera-Delgado, Rodolfo Rodriguez-Jurado, Lilia García-Rodríguez, Alejandro Parrales, Tomoo Iwakuma, Midhat S. Farooqi, Brian R. Lee, Scott J. Weir, Terrie Flatt

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The perinucleolar compartment (PNC) is a small nuclear body that plays important role in tumorigenesis. PNC prevalence correlates with poor prognosis and cancer metastasis. Its expression in pediatric Ewing sarcoma (EWS) has not previously been documented. In this study, we analyzed 40 EWS tumor cases from Caucasian and Hispanic patients for PNC prevalence by immunohistochemical detection of polypyrimidine tract binding protein and correlated the prevalence with dysregulated microRNA profiles. EWS cases showed staining ranging from 0 to 100%, which were categorized as diffuse (≥77%, n = 9, high PNC) or not diffuse (p= 0.017) and in patients who relapsed with …

Protocol And Biomarker Strategy For A Multi-Site Randomized Controlled Trial Examining Biological Mechanisms And Dosing Of Active Music Engagement In Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia And Lymphoma And Parents., Sheri L. Robb, Kristen A. Russ, Steven J. Holochwost, Kristin Stegenga, Susan M. Perkins, Seethal A. Jacob, Amanda K. Henley, Jessica A. Maclean

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BACKGROUND: Music therapy is a standard palliative care service in many pediatric and adult hospitals; however, most research has focused on the use of music to improve psychosocial dimensions of health, without considering biological dimensions. This study builds on prior work examining psychosocial mechanisms of action underlying an Active Music Engagement (AME) intervention, designed to help manage emotional distress and improve positive health outcomes in young children with cancer and parents (caregivers), by examining its effects on biomarkers of stress and immune function.

METHODS: This two-group randomized controlled trial (R01NR019190) is designed to examine biological mechanisms of effect and dose-response …

Three-Year Update Of Tisagenlecleucel In Pediatric And Young Adult Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia In The Eliana Trial., Theodore W. Laetsch, Shannon L. Maude, Susana Rives, Hidefumi Hiramatsu, Henrique Bittencourt, Peter Bader, André Baruchel, Michael Boyer, Barbara De Moerloose, Muna Qayed, Jochen Buechner, Michael A. Pulsipher, Douglas Myers, Heather E. Stefanski, Paul L. Martin, Eneida Nemecek, Christina Peters, Gregory Yanik, Seong Lin Khaw, Kara L. Davis, Joerg Krueger, Adriana Balduzzi, Nicolas Boissel, Ranjan Tiwari, Darragh O'Donovan, Stephan A. Grupp

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In the primary analysis of the global phase II ELIANA trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02435849), tisagenlecleucel provided an overall remission rate of 81% in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R B-ALL), with 59% of responders remaining relapse-free at 12 months. Here, we report an update on efficacy, safety, and patient-reported quality of life in 79 pediatric and young adult patients with R/R B-ALL following a median follow-up of 38.8 months. The overall remission rate was 82%. The median event-free survival was 24 months, and the median overall survival was not reached. Event-free …

Higher Doses Of Tisagenlecleucel Are Associated With Improved Outcomes: A Report From The Pediatric Real-World Car Consortium., Heather E. Stefanski, Anne Eaton, Christina Baggott, Jenna Rossoff, Michael R. Verneris, Snehit Prabhu, Holly L. Pacenta, Christine L. Phillips, Julie-An Talano, Amy Moskop, Steven P. Margossian, Douglas Myers, Nicole A. Karras, Patrick A. Brown, Muna Qayed, Michelle Hermiston, Prakash Satwani, M Christa Krupski, Amy K. Keating, Rachel Wilcox, Cara A. Rabik, Vanessa A. Fabrizio, Vasant Chinnabhandar, A Yasemin Goksenin, Kevin J. Curran, Crystal L. Mackall, Theodore W. Laetsch, Liora M. Schultz

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Remarkable complete response rates have been shown with tisagenlecleucel, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting CD19, in patients up to age 26 years with refractory/relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; it is US Food and Drug Administration approved for this indication. Currently, patients receive a single dose of tisagenlecleucel across a wide dose range of 0.2 to 5.0 × 106 and 0.1 to 2.5 × 108 CAR T cells per kg for patients ≤50 and >50 kg, respectively. The effect of cell dose on survival and remission is not yet well established. Our primary goal was to determine if …

Preclinical Efficacy Of Azacitidine And Venetoclax For Infant Kmt2a-Rearranged Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Reveals A New Therapeutic Strategy., Laurence C. Cheung, Carlos Aya-Bonilla, Mark N. Cruickshank, Sung K. Chiu, Vincent Kuek, Denise Anderson, Grace-Alyssa Chua, Sajla Singh, Joyce Oommen, Emanuela Ferrari, Anastasia M. Hughes, Jette Ford, Elena Kunold, Maria C. Hesselman, Frederik Post, Kelly E. Faulk, Erin H. Breese, Erin M. Guest, Patrick A. Brown, Mignon L. Loh, Richard B. Lock, Ursula R. Kees, Rozbeh Jafari, Sébastien Malinge, Rishi S. Kotecha

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Infants with KMT2A-rearranged B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a dismal prognosis. Survival outcomes have remained static in recent decades despite treatment intensification and novel therapies are urgently required. KMT2A-rearranged infant ALL cells are characterized by an abundance of promoter hypermethylation and exhibit high BCL-2 expression, highlighting potential for therapeutic targeting. Here, we show that hypomethylating agents exhibit in vitro additivity when combined with most conventional chemotherapeutic agents. However, in a subset of samples an antagonistic effect was seen between several agents. This was most evident when hypomethylating agents were combined with methotrexate, with upregulation of ATP-binding cassette transporters identified …

Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (Rtk) Targeting In Pediatric High-Grade Glioma And Diffuse Midline Glioma: Pre-Clinical Models And Precision Medicine., Kallen Schwark, Dana Messinger, Jessica R. Cummings, Joshua Bradin, Abed Kawakibi, Clarissa M. Babila, Samantha Lyons, Sunjong Ji, Rodrigo T. Cartaxo, Seongbae Kong, Evan Cantor, Carl Koschmann, Viveka Nand Yadav

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG), including both diffuse midline glioma (DMG) and non-midline tumors, continues to be one of the deadliest oncologic diagnoses (both henceforth referred to as "pHGG"). Targeted therapy options aimed at key oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) drivers using small-molecule RTK inhibitors has been extensively studied, but the absence of proper in vivo modeling that recapitulate pHGG biology has historically been a research challenge. Thankfully, there have been many recent advances in animal modeling, including Cre-inducible transgenic models, as well as intra-uterine electroporation (IUE) models, which closely recapitulate the salient features of human pHGG tumors. Over 20% of …

Real-World Use Of Tisagenlecleucel In Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia., Amy Moskop, Lauren Pommert, Christina Baggott, Snehit Prabhu, Holly L. Pacenta, Christine L. Phillips, Jenna Rossoff, Heather E. Stefanski, Julie-An Talano, Steve P. Margossian, Michael R. Verneris, Douglas Myers, Nicole A. Karras, Patrick A. Brown, Muna Qayed, Michelle L. Hermiston, Prakash Satwani, Christa Krupski, Amy K. Keating, Rachel Wilcox, Cara A. Rabik, Vanessa A. Fabrizio, Vasant Chinnabhandar, A Yasemin Goksenin, Kevin J. Curran, Crystal L. Mackall, Theodore W. Laetsch, Erin M. Guest, Erin H. Breese, Liora M. Schultz

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Infants with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) have poor outcomes because of chemotherapy resistance leading to high relapse rates. Tisagenlecleucel, a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART) therapy, is US Food and Drug Administration approved for relapsed or refractory B-ALL in patients ≤25 years; however, the safety and efficacy of this therapy in young patients is largely unknown because children(n = 14). Sixty-four percent of patients (n = 9) achieved minimal residual disease-negative remission after CART and 50% of patients remain in remission at last follow-up. All patients with high disease burden at time of CART infusion (>M1 marrow) …

Randomized Clinical Trial Of A Self-Care And Communication Intervention For Parents Of Adolescent/Young Adults Undergoing High-Risk Cancer Treatment: A Report From The Children's Oncology Group., Joan E. Haase, Kristin Stegenga, Sheri L. Robb, Mary C. Hooke, Debra S. Burns, Patrick O. Monahan, Timothy E. Stump, Amanda K. Henley, Paul R. Haut, Brooke Cherven, Lona Roll, Anne-Marie Langevin, Rita H. Pickler, Karen Albritton, Deanna Hawkins, Erin Osterkamp, Pauline Mitby, Jackie Smith, Virginia R. Diaz, Erica Garcia-Frausto, Margo Moore

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Parents of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer offer primary support to their children and often experience their own high levels of distress, affecting parent-AYA communication and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To reduce parent distress and improve communication during high-risk cancer treatment, we examined efficacy of a self-care and communication intervention for parents and indirect benefit for AYAs receiving a therapeutic music video (TMV) intervention.

METHODS: In this study, we conducted a multisite, randomized controlled trial with AYAs and parents enrolled as dyads (n = 110). Parents were randomized to intervention or low-dose control; all AYAs received TMV. …

Outstanding Outcomes In Infants With Kmt2a-Germline Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treated With Chemotherapy Alone: Results Of The Children's Oncology Group Aall0631 Trial, Erin M. Guest, John A. Kairalla, Joanne M. Hilden, Zoann E. Dreyer, Andrew J. Carroll, Nyla A. Heerema, Cindy Y. Wang, Meenakshi Devidas, Lia Gore, Wanda L. Salzer, Naomi J. Winick, William L. Carroll, Elizabeth A. Raetz, Michael Borowitz, Mignon L. Loh, Stephen P. Hunger, Patrick A. Brown

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

No abstract provided.

Blood Count Recovery Following Induction Therapy For Acute Myeloid Leukemia In Children Does Not Predict Survival, Lauren Pommert, Todd M. Cooper, Robert B. Gerbing, Lisa Brodersen, Michael Loken, Alan S. Gamis, Richard Aplenc, Todd A. Alonzo, Edwards Anders Kolb

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

International Working Group (IWG) and European LeukemiaNet (ELN) response definitions are utilized to evaluate the efficacy of new agents for childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for regulatory purposes. However, these criteria are not consistent with definitions used in pediatric AML trials or with standard pediatric practice to proceed with subsequent therapy cycles prior to IWG/ELN-defined count recovery. We retrospectively analyzed data from the two most recent Phase 3 pediatric AML clinical trials conducted by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) to assess the incidence, timing, and prognostic significance of count recovery following induction chemotherapy. Of the patients with fewer than 5% …

Next-Generation Sequencing Of Minimal Residual Disease For Predicting Relapse After Tisagenlecleucel In Children And Young Adults With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia., Michael A. Pulsipher, Xia Han, Shannon L. Maude, Theodore W. Laetsch, Muna Qayed, Susana Rives, Michael W. Boyer, Hidefumi Hiramatsu, Gregory A. Yanik, Tim Driscoll, Douglas Myers, Peter Bader, Andre Baruchel, Jochen Buechner, Heather E. Stefanski, Creton Kalfoglou, Kevin Nguyen, Edward R. Waldron, Karen Thudium Mueller, Harald J. Maier, Gabor Kari, Stephan A. Grupp

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

We assessed minimal residual disease (MRD) detection and B-cell aplasia after tisagenlecleucel therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) to define biomarkers predictive of relapse (N = 143). Next-generation sequencing (NGS) MRD detection >0 in bone marrow (BM) was highly associated with relapse. B-cell recovery [signifying loss of functional chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells] within the first year of treatment was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) for relapse of 4.5 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.03-9.97; P < 0.001]. Multivariate analysis at day 28 showed independent associations of BMNGS-MRD >0 (HR = 4.87; 95% CI, 2.18-10.8; P < 0.001) and B-cell recovery (HR = 3.33; 95% CI, 1.44-7.69; P = 0.005) with relapse. By 3 months, the BMNGS-MRD HR increased to 12 …

Implementing Nih Behavior Change Consortium Treatment Fidelity Recommendations In A Multi-Site Randomized Controlled Trial Of An Active Music Engagement Intervention For Young Children With Cancer And Parents., Jessica A. Maclean, Kristin Stegenga, Amanda K. Henley, Sheri L. Robb

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Treatment fidelity is the use of methodological strategies to monitor and enhance reliability and validity of behavioral intervention trials. Despite availability of guidelines and checklists, treatment fidelity remains underreported, hindering evaluation, interpretation, and cross-study comparisons. Treatment fidelity is particularly important for music interventions given the inherent complexity of musical stimuli and flexibility required for tailored delivery. The purpose of this paper is to define and describe treatment fidelity strategies for our trial of a music-based play intervention for young children with cancer and parents grounded in the NIH Behavior Change Consortium Treatment Fidelity Recommendations. We report strategies for all 5 …