LLS Ciitizen: Emerging Research on COVID-19 and Blood Cancer on Thursday, September 30 at 1:00PM ET. UPDATE Research Now webinar,

[lankisterguy]

Thank you for joining the LLS National Patient Registry and playing such an important role in our efforts to support blood cancer patients during the pandemic. Information continues to change rapidly, and vaccine effectiveness for blood cancer patients remains an urgent issue. That is why LLS is hosting a special panel conversation to share some of the latest findings with you.

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Please join us for the next LLS Research Now webinar: Emerging Research on COVID-19 and Blood Cancer on Thursday, September 30 at 1:00PM ET.

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You will hear from leading physician-researchers about blood cancer patients’ responses to the vaccines, as well as emerging knowledge about vaccine boosters. And, we’ll share early results from the LLS National Patient Registry’s special COVID-19 research project. I will host and my colleague Dr. Lee Greenberger, LLS’s Chief Science Officer, will moderate this discussion.

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You, as well as your caregiver, are invited to register for the presentation. Please click HERE.

na.eventscloud.com/website/...?

Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email with details for joining the call.

I know this conversation will be incredibly important and informative.

Thank you,

Gwen Nichols, MD

Chief Medical Officer

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Our Panelists

Neil E. Kay, MD (Mayo Clinic): An expert on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common and still incurable leukemia, Dr. Kay is studying immunologic response to COVID infection. He is also running a large study to understand the effectiveness of convalescent plasma in preventing and controlling COVID infections.

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Gwen Nichols, MD (LLS Chief Medical Officer): In addition to hosting the call, Dr. Nichols will provide an insiders update about the early research findings from the LLS COVID-19 Registry study that were recently published in the online journal Cancer Cell, what patterns are emerging and what the implications are for blood cancer patients.

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Larry Saltzman, MD (Director of the LLS National Patient Registry): A family physician and CLL survivor, Dr. Saltzman leads LLS’s National Patient Registry, a project of the Michael J. Garil Data Collective, and is reviewing patient-submitted clinical data and analyzing results to understand risk for infection and immune response to vaccination in blood cancer patients.

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Amit Verma, MBBS (Einstein College of Medicine): Now launching a trial to test the effectiveness of boosters in blood cancer patients, Dr. Verma has published two key papers on COVID-19 infection and vaccination in blood cancer patients. His other research focuses on myelodysplastic syndrome, a precursor to acute myeloid leukemia.

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For information on the LLS National Patient Registry, please contact [e-mail].

For general questions, accommodations or special requests, regarding the presentation, please contact Katherine Johnson, Director of Stewardship at [e-mail].

For questions on the event and registration, contact [e-mail].

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Len

[AussieNeil Partner Founder Admin]

From an ESMO 2021 Update by the LLS on this research:-

mdedge.com/hematology-oncol...

Patients with hematologic malignancies who are seronegative after full SARS-CoV-2 vaccination may benefit from a booster, but breakthrough infections will remain a risk, particularly in those with B-cell malignancies, an observational study suggests.

While the update is not CLL specific, given CLL treatments are also used for other B-cell malignancies, the following is of particular note:

Therapy effects on vaccine response (rituximab and hence obinutuzumb, ofatumumbab. ibrutinib and hence acalabrutinib, zanubrutinib and other BTK inhibitors)

Outcomes of the current analysis also confirmed the authors’ previous finding, which suggested that “both disease and therapies can affect the serological response to vaccination,” they wrote, explaining that, among the 12 patients who received no malignancy-targeted treatments in the past 2 years, only 1 was a nonresponder, 7 demonstrated seroconversion, and 4 demonstrated seroelevation.

“In contrast, among the 21 patients who completed therapy with anti-CD20 antibodies either alone or in combination with other therapies, 12 patients were nonresponders, 7 patients demonstrated seroconversion, and 2 patients demonstrated seroelevation,” they added.

The authors also noted that five of seven patients who completed anti-CD20 antibody therapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy at least 7 months prior to the booster vaccination demonstrated seroconversion or seroelevation, whereas many of the patients with recent or maintenance anti-CD20 antibody therapy before the booster vaccination failed to seroconvert afterward.

In light of previous findings showing B-cell recovery begins 6-9 months after rituximab therapy, these data suggest that recent anti-CD20 antibody-containing treatment regimens may suppress booster vaccination response, the authors wrote.

The current data also support the group’s prior finding that use of a Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor may suppress vaccine response: Of the patients in the current study who experienced seroelevation and were treated with a BTKi, two discontinued BTKi therapy 7-23 months prior to booster vaccination, one maintained a low dose of ibrutinib before booster vaccination, one maintained BTKi therapy continuously before and after the booster, and the two who experienced marked seroconversion after booster vaccination stopped BTKi therapy at least 4 months prior.

Conversely, five patients with a very weak seroconversion and two patients with moderate seroconversion maintained BTKi therapy during booster vaccination.

“These data suggest that BTKi therapy can interfere with a response to booster vaccination,” they wrote, noting, however, that “it is encouraging that seven patients ... maintained on a BTKi seroconverted or experienced seroelevation after booster vaccination and [this] is consistent with a previous report on one patient.”

With respect to boosters:-

“Many blood cancer patients are getting boosters and a good number are able to make antibody with an additional dose. This is giving us much needed information about boosters,” she said. “Through the LLS National Patient Registry, we anticipate having data on hundreds of more patients over the course of the next few months.”

The information is needed because data suggest that up to 25% of patients with hematologic malignancies fail to make anti-S antibodies after full COVID-19 vaccination and that seronegative patients may be especially vulnerable to breakthrough infections, she and her colleagues noted.

Neil