The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was first detected as a respiratory illness in December 2019 in Wuhan City, China. Since then, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted every aspect of our lives worldwide. In a time when terms such as social distancing and flattening the curve have become a part of our vernacular, it is essential that we understand what measures can be implemented to protect our patients and healthcare workers. Undoubtedly, healthcare providers have had to rapidly alter care delivery models while simultaneously acknowledging the crucial unknowns of how these changes may affect clinical outcomes. This special feature reviews strategies on how to mitigate transmission of COVID-19 in an effort to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with the disease for patients with cancer without infection, for patients with cancer with COVID-19 infection, and for the healthcare workers caring for them, while continuing to provide the best possible cancer care. [Editor's Note: This article includes the most current information available at time of publication; however, recommendations regarding public safety and practice may change rapidly in this situation. Individuals should get the most up to date information from the CDC website.]

Background The hypomethylating agents (HMAs) azacitidine and decitabine are most commonly used to treat patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). To the authors' knowledge, the prognosis of patients with low-risk and intermediate-1– risk MDS by the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) after HMA failure has not been explored comprehensively. Methods The clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of 438 patients with low-risk and intermediate-1–risk MDS who were treated with HMAs were retrospectively analyzed. Results Using the International Working Group response criteria, the overall objective response to HMA was 35% with a median of 6 cycles of HMA administered, and the median response duration was 7 months. Only 7% of patients had disease that transformed into acute myeloid leukemia while receiving therapy. Of the 290 patients who were evaluable at the time of HMA failure, 77% remained in the lower-risk disease categories. On multivariate analysis, baseline neutropenia, intermediate-risk and poor-risk baseline karyotype, and lack of response to HMA were found to be independently associated with a higher risk of disease progression. With a median follow-up of 16 months, the median transformation-free survival and overall survival (OS) after HMA failure were 15 months and 17 months, respectively. On multivariate analysis, only The University of Texas MD Anderson Global Scoring System was found to be independently predictive of outcome, with patients with higher-risk categories having poor transformation-free survival (hazards ratio [HR], 1.5; P=.003) and OS (HR, 1.8; P=.002). The administration of salvage therapy was independently associated with better OS only (HR, 0.8; P=.01). Conclusions Outcomes of patients with lower-risk MDS after HMA failure are poor and the treatment of these patients remains an unmet medical need. OS is a reasonable primary endpoint for clinical studies targeting this population.

PURPOSE Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only potentially curative therapy for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), although it is infrequently offered to older patients. The relative benefits of HCT over non-HCT therapy in older patients with higher-risk MDS have not been defined. METHODS We conducted a multicenter biologic assignment trial comparing reduced-intensity HCT to hypomethylating therapy or best supportive care in subjects 50-75 years of age with intermediate-2 or high-risk de novo MDS. The primary outcome was overall survival probability at 3 years. Between January 2014 and November 2018, we enrolled 384 subjects at 34 centers. Subjects were assigned to the Donor or No-Donor arms according to the availability of a matched donor within 90 days of study registration. RESULTS The median follow-up time for surviving subjects was 34.2 months (range: 2.3-38 months) in the Donor arm and 26.9 months (range: 2.4-37.2 months) in the No-Donor arm. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the adjusted overall survival rate at 3 years in the Donor arm was 47.9% (95% CI, 41.3 to 54.1) compared with 26.6% (95% CI, 18.4 to 35.6) in the No-Donor arm ( P = .0001) with an absolute difference of 21.3% (95% CI, 10.2 to 31.8). Leukemia-free survival at 3 years was greater in the Donor arm (35.8%; 95% CI, 29.8 to 41.8) compared with the No-Donor arm (20.6%; 95% CI, 13.3 to 29.1; P = .003). The survival benefit was seen across all subgroups examined. CONCLUSION We observed a significant survival advantage in older subjects with higher-risk MDS who have a matched donor identified and underwent reduced-intensity HCT, when compared with those without a donor. HCT should be included as an integral part of MDS management plans in fit older adults with higher-risk MDS.

Idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) was FDA approved in March 2021 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) after 4 lines of therapy. On the KarMMa trial, grade ≥3 cytopenias and infections were common. We sought to characterize cytopenias and infections within 100 days after ide-cel in the standard of care (SOC) setting. This multi-center retrospective study included 52 patients who received SOC ide-cel; 47 reached day 90 follow-up. Data was censored at day 100. Grade ≥3 cytopenia was present among 65% of patients at day 30 and 40% of patients at day 90. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was administered to 88%, packed red blood cell (pRBC) transfusions to 63%, platelet transfusions to 42%, thrombopoietin (TPO) agonists to 21%, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) to 13%, and CD34+ stem cell boosts to 8%. At day 100, 19% and 13% of patients had ongoing use of TPO agonists and G-CSF, respectively. Infections occurred in 54% of patients and were grade ≥3 in 23%. Earlier infections in the first 30 days were typically bacterial (68%) and severe (50%). Later infections between days 31 - 100 were 50% bacterial and 42% viral; only 13% were grade ≥3. On univariate analysis, high pre-CAR-T marrow myeloma burden (>/= 50%), circulating plasma cells at pre-lymphodepletion (LD), and grade ≥3 anemia at pre-LD were associated with grade ≥3 cytopenia at both days 30 and 90. Longer time from last bridging treatment to LD was the only significant risk factor for infection.

Purpose: One of the challenges of adoptive T-cell therapy is the development of immune-mediated toxicities including cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity (NT). We aimed to identify factors that place patients at high risk of severe toxicity or treatment-related death in a cohort of 75 patients with large B-cell lymphoma treated with a standard of care CD19 targeted CAR T-cell product (axicabtagene ciloleucel). Experimental Design: Serum cytokine and catecholamine levels were measured prior to lymphodepleting chemotherapy, on the day of CAR T infusion and daily thereafter while patients remained hospitalized. Tumor biopsies were taken within 1 month prior to CAR T infusion for evaluation of gene expression. Results: We identified an association between pretreatment levels of IL6 and life-threatening CRS and NT. Because the risk of toxicity was related to pretreatment factors, we hypothesized that the tumor microenvironment (TME) may influence CAR T-cell toxicity. In pretreatment patient tumor biopsies, gene expression of myeloid markers was associated with higher toxicity. Conclusions: These results suggest that a proinflammatory state and an unfavorable TME preemptively put patients at risk for toxicity after CAR T-cell therapy. Tailoring toxicity management strategies to patient risk may reduce morbidity and mortality.