Pembrolizumab, a humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody targeting programmed death-1 protein, has demonstrated efficacy in relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). To assess the complete metabolic response (CMR) rate and safety of pembrolizumab monotherapy in newly diagnosed cHL, we conducted a multicenter, single-arm, phase II investigator-initiated trial of sequential pembrolizumab and doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) chemotherapy. Patients > 18 years of age with untreated early unfavorable or advanced stage disease were eligible for treatment. Thirty patients with either early unfavorable (n=12) or advanced (n=18) stage cHL were treated with 3 cycles of pembrolizumab monotherapy followed by AVD for 4-6 cycles depending on stage and bulk. Twelve had either large mediastinal masses and/or bulky disease (>10 cm). Following pembrolizumab monotherapy, 11 patients (37%) demonstrated CMR's, and an additional 7 of 28 (25%) patients with quantifiable positron emission tomography/computed tomography scanning (PET-CT) had >90% reductions in metabolic tumor volume. All patients achieved CMR following 2 cycles of AVD and maintained their responses at end of treatment. With a median follow-up of 22.5 months (range: 14.2-30.6) there have been no changes in therapy, progressions, or deaths. No patients received consolidation radiotherapy, including those with bulky disease. Therapy was well-tolerated. The most common immune-related adverse events were grade 1 rash (n=6), and grade 2 infusion reactions (n=4). One patient had a reversible grade 4 transaminitis and a second had a reversible Bell's palsy. Brief pembrolizumab monotherapy followed by AVD proved both highly effective and safe in newly diagnosed cHL patients including those with bulky disease. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT03226249.

. Effects of fasting and glucocorticoids on hepatic gluconeogenesis assessed using two independent methods in vivo. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 283: E946-E957, 2002; 10.1152/ajpendo.00320.2002The purpose of this study was to compare the assessment of gluconeogenesis (GNG) in the overnight-and prolonged-fasted states and during chronic hypercortisolemia using the arteriovenous difference and [ 14 C]phosphoenolpyruvate-liver biopsy techniques as well as a combination of the two. Two weeks before a study, catheters and flow probes were implanted in the hepatic and portal veins and femoral artery of dogs. Animals were studied after an 18-h fast (n ϭ 8), a 42-or 66-h fast (n ϭ 7), and an 18-h fast plus a continuous infusion of cortisol (3.0 g⅐kg Ϫ1 ⅐min Ϫ1) for 72 h (n ϭ 7). Each experiment consisted of an 80-min tracer ([3-3 H]glucose and [U-14 C]alanine) and dye equilibration period (Ϫ80 to 0 min) and a 45-min sampling period. In the cortisoltreated group, plasma cortisol increased fivefold. In the overnight-fasted group, total GNG flux rate (GNG flux), conversion of glucose 6-phosphate to glucose (GNG G-6-P3 Glc), glucose cycling, and maximal GNG flux rate (GNG max) were 0.95 Ϯ 0.14, 0.65 Ϯ 0.06, 0.62 Ϯ 0.06, and 0.70 Ϯ 0.09 mg⅐kg Ϫ1 ⅐min Ϫ1, respectively. In the prolonged-fasted group, they were 1.50 Ϯ 0.18, 1.18 Ϯ 0.13, 0.40 Ϯ 0.07, and 1.28 Ϯ 0.10 mg⅐kg Ϫ1 ⅐min Ϫ1, whereas in the cortisol-treated group they were 1.64 Ϯ 0.33, 0.99 Ϯ 0.29, 1.32 Ϯ 0.24, and 0.91 Ϯ 0.13 mg⅐kg Ϫ1 ⅐min Ϫ1. These results demonstrate that GNG G-6-P3 Glc and GNGmax were almost identical. However, these rates were 15-38% lower than GNG flux generated by a combination of the two methods. This difference was most apparent in the steroid-treated group, where the combination of the two methods (GNG flux ) detected a significant increase in gluconeogenic flux.fasting; cortisol THE QUEST TO DEVELOP accurate methods for determining the rate of gluconeogenesis in vivo is ongoing. Many early studies used tracer methods or arteriovenous (a-v) difference techniques to assess the gluconeogenic rate in vivo (12,23,27,28). In 1977, Chiasson et al. (5) combined these two approaches for the assessment of gluconeogenesis in the dog. The latter approach yielded two estimates of gluconeogenesis, the gluconeogenic efficiency (percent extracted gluconeogenic carbon converted to glucose) and the gluconeogenic conversion rate (the rate of glucose production from the gluconeogenic precursor given). Both represented minimal estimates of gluconeogenesis due largely to dilution of the tracer in the oxaloacetate (OAA) pool of the liver (25). This approach was further extended by calculating the minimal and maximal rates of gluconeogenesis from circulating gluconeogenic precursors (3, 16, 51). The maximal rate was derived by measuring the net hepatic uptakes of all gluconeogenic precursors using the a-v difference technique and assuming that they were quantitatively converted to glucose. The minimal rate was derived by multiplying the maximal rate of gluconeog...

Introduction: Approximately 30-35% of patients with classic Hodgkin Lymphoma will prove refractory to frontline therapy or relapse subsequently. Traditional second-line chemotherapy regimens including ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE) result in complete response rates of ~50%. Achievement of complete metabolic response (CMR) assessed by PET/CT imaging prior to autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (AHSCT) predicts favorable progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). PD-1 blockade is a well-established therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cHL. Pembrolizumab (PEM) is a checkpoint inhibitor targeting PD-1 currently FDA approved as monotherapy in relapsed cHL. We hypothesized that PEM in combination with ICE (PEM-ICE) chemotherapy would be a safe and effective regimen that would yield high CMR rates prior to AHSCT. Methods: This single arm, phase II, multi-institutional clinical trial evaluated the addition of PEM to ICE chemotherapy in AHSCT eligible patients with relapsed and refractory cHL (NCT03077828). The regimen consisted of 21 day cycles of PEM 200 mg IV on day 1 with standard ICE including ifosfamide 5 g/m2 with MESNA as a 24hr continuous infusion on day 2, carboplatin AUC 5 IV (max 800 mg) on day 2, and etoposide 100 mg/m2/day IV on days 1 to 3. Two cycles of PEM-ICE were followed by stem cell mobilization/collection. One cycle of PEM 200 mg IV monotherapy was then administered. Our primary endpoint was the rate of CMR on PET/CT (PET2) imaging defined as a Deauville score of ≤ 3. Images were reviewed centrally. An optional third cycle of PEM-ICE was permitted for patients achieving CMR to allow for appropriate timing of AHSCT. Secondary objectives included clinical outcomes (PFS and OS), safety and tolerability, and transplantation related metrics including ability to collect stem cells and time to engraftment. Results: A total of 42 patients were enrolled with 37 patients evaluable for the primary endpoint. Median age was 34 (19-70) with female predominance (n=27, 64%). 16 patients had primary refractory disease. The CMR rate assessed by PET/CT imaging following 2 cycles of PEM-ICE was 86.5% (95% CI, 71.2-95%), meeting our primary endpoint of improvement over historical outcomes to 70%. The PET2 ORR was 97.3% with 11% PR and 2.7% PD. PET2 scores were Deauville 1 in 45% (n=17), Deauville 2 in 27.0% (n=10), Deauville 3 in 8.1% (n=3), Deauville 4 in 13.5% (n=5), and Deauville 5 in 5.4% (n=2). New areas of PET-positivity in two cases were biopsied showing noncaseating granuloma in one case and EBV but no cHL in another. Five patients received the optional third cycle of PEM-ICE chemotherapy with 35 of the 37 evaluable patients proceeding to AHSCT. Seven patients had radiation as part of the conditioning regimen with an additional 4 patients receiving consolidative radiation following transplant. After a median follow up of 27 months, the median PFS was 26.9 months with survival probability at 24 months of 88.2% (Figure 1). Median OS was not reached with too few events but remained 95.1% at 27 months. The addition of PEM to ICE did not impair stem cell mobilization and all patients successfully collected, with 35 (87%) within 2 apheresis sessions (range 1-7). No patients had engraftment delays or failure. Of the 42 patients, all received at least one dose of PEM and were therefore eligible for toxicity analyses. 34 patients (81%) experienced adverse events (AEs) attributed to PEM and 22 patients (52.3%) had grade 3-4 AEs comprised of cytopenias, elevated AST/ALT, hyponatremia, hypophosphatemia, and fatigue. Five patients had severe AEs attributed to PEM which included anemia, back pain, decreased EF, fever, and thrombocytopenia. There were no significant PEM-related autoimmune events that delayed a patient's treatment on protocol. There were two grade 5 toxicities on the protocol including a patient with cardiac arrest during stem cell collection and a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome attributed to engraftment syndrome. Both were judged "possibly" related to PEM. Conclusions: Pembrolizumab with ICE chemotherapy is a tolerable and efficacious regimen with high CMR rate as assessed by PET/CT. Despite short follow up, patients had excellent PFS and OS in the post-transplant setting. The results support further investigation of PEM-ICE as second-line treatment for AHSCT eligible patients with relapsed and refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Casulo: BMS: Research Funding; Verastem: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding. Allen: Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Daichii Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Secure Bio: Consultancy, Honoraria. Karmali: Epizyme: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Speakers Bureau; Roche: Consultancy; Genentech: Consultancy; EUSA: Consultancy; Janssen/Pharmacyclics: Consultancy; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Morphosys: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; BeiGene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; BMS/Celgene/Juno: Consultancy, Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding. Gordon: Zylem Biosciences: Patents & Royalties: Patents, No royalties; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Research Funding. Winter: Actinium Pharma: Consultancy; BMS: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Karyopharm (Curio Science): Honoraria; Novartis: Other: Husband: Consultancy, Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Ariad/Takeda: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Epizyme: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Agios: Other: Husband: Consultancy; Gilead: Other: Husband: Consultancy; Janssen: Other: Husband: Consultancy. OffLabel Disclosure: new combination of study agent with standard of care chemotherapy regimen

In a multicenter, phase II investigator-initiated trial of sequential pembrolizumab and AVD, nearly two-thirds of patients with untreated unfavorable or advanced stage classic Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) achieved PET-defined complete or near complete metabolic responses (CMR) following 3 doses of pembrolizumab monotherapy. Furthermore, all achieved CMR following 2 cycles of AVD chemotherapy and 100% of patients were alive without relapse at the time of initial publication. We now report long-term follow-up, including 3-year OS and planned correlative analyses. Thirty patients received single agent pembrolizumab every 3 weeks x 3, followed by AVD chemotherapy for 4-6 cycles depending on stage and bulk. PET/CT scan was performed after pembrolizumab monotherapy, 2 cycles of AVD, and at the end of therapy. Baseline biopsy samples were analyzed for genomic alterations of chromosome 9p24.1 and PD-1 pathway markers by immunohistochemistry. At a median follow up of 33.1 months (range, 26.0-43.0), PFS and OS remain 100%. All patients had genomic alterations in 9p24.1 and were positive for PD-L1 by immunohistochemistry. There was no relationship between response to single agent pembrolizumumab measured by decline in metabolic tumor volume and 9p24.1 alterations or PD-1 pathway H-scores. With additional follow-up, sequential pembrolizumab and AVD remains highly effective. The high response rates observed at all PD-ligand levels suggest that even low levels of PD ligand expression are sufficient for response to PD-1 blockade in untreated cHL. An international phase II trial (NCT05008224) to confirm these findings is ongoing.