Publications by authors named "Sarit Assouline"

Article Synopsis
  • Mosunetuzumab is a bispecific antibody that targets T cells to kill malignant B cells, showing promising results in a study of patients with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) over 37.4 months.
  • In the study involving 90 patients, the complete response rate was 60.0%, while the objective response rate reached 77.8%, with significant durations of response reported.
  • Safety concerns were minimal, with no serious adverse events noted, indicating that mosunetuzumab could be a safe and effective outpatient treatment option for FL patients, including those with high-risk conditions.
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Objective: We report patient-reported outcomes (PROs) measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) from the ROSEWOOD trial (NCT03332017), which demonstrated superior efficacy and a manageable safety profile with zanubrutinib plus obinutuzumab (ZO) versus obinutuzumab (O) in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (R/R FL).

Methods: PROs were assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and EQ-5D-5L questionnaires at baseline and subsequently every 12 weeks. All QLQ-C30 domains and EQ-5D-5L visual analog scale (VAS) scores were analyzed descriptively.

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This study reports characteristics and outcomes of adults who received Azacitidine-Venetoclax (AZA-VEN) compared to other salvage therapies (NO-AZA-VEN) as first salvage therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The clinical data of 81 patients with a diagnosis of relapsed or refractory AML were analyzed. The ORR was comparable for both groups (55% vs 57%,  = 0.

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Background: Immune response to COVID-19 vaccine is diminished in patients with hematologic malignancy. There is limited data regarding response to vaccine doses in these patients.

Purpose: To quantify the humoral immune response engendered by 4th and subsequent doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination as measured by anti-Spike (anti-S) antibody levels, based on dried blood spot (DBS) testing, in patients with hematologic malignancies.

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JCO Mosunetuzumab is a CD20xCD3 T-cell-engaging bispecific antibody administered as an off-the-shelf, fixed-duration treatment in an outpatient setting. We report an updated analysis of the durability of response, by investigator assessment, after an overall median follow-up of 3.5 years in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent or aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL/aNHL) from the dose-escalation stage of a phase I/II study of mosunetuzumab (ClinicalTrials.

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Article Synopsis
  • Therapies for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are limited, particularly for patients who can't tolerate standard treatments, prompting the evaluation of a new combination therapy.
  • In a phase 1b trial, 30 patients were treated with venetoclax, a BCL-2 inhibitor, and cobimetinib, a MEK1/2 inhibitor, but experienced significant adverse effects like diarrhea, nausea, and fatigue, leading to dose modifications in many cases.
  • The combination therapy showed a low overall response rate (15.6% complete remission) and suggested that certain baseline biological markers may help predict patient responses, indicating limited efficacy similar to single-agent venetoclax but with increased toxicity.
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Article Synopsis
  • Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) relapses in about 40% of patients after initial treatment, with mutations in STAT6 linked to these relapses and indicating a role in resistance to therapy.
  • Research shows that STAT6 mutations help DLBCL cells survive by reprogramming their surrounding environment and enhancing cell signaling, particularly after IL-4 stimulation.
  • The study identifies the increased expression of survival-related genes, including CCL17, which recruits helper T-cells to the tumor area, suggesting that STAT6 mutations change both the behavior of the cancer cells and the immune landscape in DLBCL.
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Background: Mosunetuzumab is a CD20xCD3 T-cell engaging bispecific antibody approved in Europe and the United States for relapsed/refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma (FL) after ≥ 2 prior therapies.

Materials And Methods: We present interim safety data from the mosunetuzumab GO29781 (NCT02500407) phase I/II dose-escalation study in R/R non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), focusing on FL.

Results: Overall, 218 patients with R/R NHL, including 90 with R/R FL, received a median of eight 21-day cycles of intravenous mosunetuzumab with step-up dosing in Cycle (C) 1 (C1 Day [D] 1, 1 mg; C1D8, 2 mg; C1D15/C2D1, 60 mg; C3D1 and onwards, 30 mg).

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Article Synopsis
  • * The trial enrolled 120 patients, showing notable efficacy with an overall response rate of 59.2% and a complete response rate of 45.9% during the dose expansion phase.
  • * Although some patients experienced adverse effects like neutropenia and fatigue, the treatment demonstrated a favorable safety profile and promising outcomes for patients not eligible for transplants.
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CD20 is an established therapeutic target in B-cell malignancies. The CD20 × CD3 bispecific antibody mosunetuzumab has significant efficacy in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs). Because target antigen loss is a recognized mechanism of resistance, we evaluated CD20 expression relative to clinical response in patients with relapsed and/or refractory NHL in the phase 1/2 GO29781 trial investigating mosunetuzumab monotherapy.

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The UDP glucuronosyltransferases (UGT) deactivate many therapeutics via glucuronidation while being required for clearance of normal metabolites and xenobiotics. There are 19 UGT enzymes categorized into UGT1A and UGT2B families based on sequence conservation. This presents a challenge in terms of targeting specific UGTs to overcome drug resistance without eliciting overt toxicity.

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Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common indolent lymphoma. Since the advent of rituximab, FL has seen a progressive improvement in patient prognosis. While chemotherapy combined with an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody remains standard first-line therapy, most patients will relapse and require subsequent therapy.

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Introduction: Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are generally characterized by a poor prognosis with currently available therapies. Immunotherapies have already seen success in treating a variety of malignant disorders, and their role in managing myeloid cancers is evolving rapidly.

Areas Covered: This is a review of the immunotherapies tested in MDS and AML, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific antibodies, and cell therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, T cell receptor (TCR) engineered T cells, and natural killer (NK) cells, with a focus on clinical trials conducted to date and future directions.

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Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common type of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Despite treatment advances that have improved outcomes for patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) FL, many patients still die from progressive disease or treatment-related toxicities. In the phase Ib/II GO29365 study (clinicaltrials.

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Background: Asciminib is a novel drug specifically targeting ABL myristoyl pocket in the ABL1 protein.

Methods: Forty one patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with asciminib from 2018 to 2022 were reviewed and analyzed for the efficacy and tolerability of asciminib using real-world experience data.

Results: The median age was 60 years (range 17-90) with a past history of a cardiovascular event in 21 patients (51%).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the risk of disease progression to accelerated/blast phase (AP/BP) in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) after stopping treatment, addressing concerns raised by recent case reports.
  • A total of 870 patients were analyzed, with 505 in the treatment discontinuation (TD) cohort and 365 in a reference cohort, and the primary focus was on the time-adjusted rate (TAR) of progression and molecular relapse.
  • Findings showed that progression to AP/BP was extremely rare in the TD cohort, with no significant difference in TAR between the cohorts, suggesting that the risk of disease progression after stopping treatment should not be a major concern.
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Purpose: The combination of zanubrutinib plus obinutuzumab (ZO) was found to be well tolerated with an early signal of efficacy in a phase Ib study. ROSEWOOD is a phase II, randomized study that assessed the efficacy and safety of ZO versus obinutuzumab in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma (FL).

Methods: Patients with R/R FL who had received ≥2 lines of therapy, including an anti-CD20 antibody and an alkylating agent, were randomly assigned 2:1 to receive ZO or obinutuzumab (O).

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Objectives: Haematology patients are more likely to receive high intensity care near end of life (EOL) than patients with solid malignancy. Previous authors have suggested indicators of quality EOL for haematology patients, based on a solid oncology model. We conducted a retrospective chart review with the objectives of (1) determining our performance on these quality EOL indicators, (2) describing the timing of level of intervention (LOI) discussion and palliative care (PC) consultation prior to death and (3) evaluating whether goals of therapy (GOT), PC consultation and earlier LOI discussion are predictors of quality EOL.

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As part of a phase 1 or 2 study, this single-arm expansion cohort established the efficacy and safety of mosunetuzumab monotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (received ≥2 previous lines of therapy). Intravenous mosunetuzumab was administered with cycle (C) 1 step-up dosing for cytokine release syndrome (CRS) mitigation: C1 day (D) 1: 1 mg; C1D8 2 mg; C1D15 and C2D1: 60 mg; C3 + D1: 30 mg. Hospitalization was not mandatory.

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Drug resistance underpins poor outcomes in many malignancies including refractory and relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML). Glucuronidation is a common mechanism of drug inactivation impacting many AML therapies, e.g.

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy that predominantly affects the elderly. Prognosis declines with age. For those who cannot tolerate intensive chemotherapy, historically established treatment options have been hypomethylating agents (HMAs), low dose cytarabine (LDAC), and best supportive care (BSC).

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This phase 1b trial (NCT02670044) evaluated venetoclax-idasanutlin in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for cytotoxic chemotherapy. Two-dimensional dose escalation (DE, n = 50) was performed for venetoclax daily with idasanutlin on days 1 to 5 in 28-day cycles, followed by dosing schedule optimization (n = 6) to evaluate reduced venetoclax schedules (21-/14-day dosing). Common adverse events (occurring in ≥40% of patients) included diarrhea (87.

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