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Di Raimondo C, Lozzi F, Di Domenico PP, Paganini C, Campione E, Galluzzo M, Bianchi L. Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm, from a Dermatological Point of View. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:7099. [PMID: 39000208 PMCID: PMC11240932 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25137099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2024] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is an aggressive hematological malignancy derived from the precursors of plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Although disease awareness has increased over time, BPDCN represents a rare disease with an aggressive clinical course and a dismal prognosis. Due to the overlap in clinical and histological features with a large spectrum of inflammatory and neoplastic diseases, BPDCN is difficult to diagnose. Furthermore, given the rarity of the disease, treatment options for BPDCN are limited, sometimes changing by practitioner and hospitals. Treatment options range from conventional chemotherapy to the recently approved biologic agent tagraxofusp and stem cell transplantation. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach with coordination among dermatologists, pathologists, and hematologists is ultimately imperative to reach the correct diagnosis and management of BPDCN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cosimo Di Raimondo
- Dermatology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy (L.B.)
| | - Flavia Lozzi
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | | | - Claudia Paganini
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Elena Campione
- Dermatology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy (L.B.)
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Galluzzo
- Dermatology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy (L.B.)
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Luca Bianchi
- Dermatology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy (L.B.)
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
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Luo Q, Raulston EG, Prado MA, Wu X, Gritsman K, Whalen KS, Yan K, Booth CAG, Xu R, van Galen P, Doench JG, Shimony S, Long HW, Neuberg DS, Paulo JA, Lane AA. Targetable leukaemia dependency on noncanonical PI3Kγ signalling. Nature 2024; 630:198-205. [PMID: 38720074 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07410-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Phosphoinositide-3-kinase-γ (PI3Kγ) is implicated as a target to repolarize tumour-associated macrophages and promote antitumour immune responses in solid cancers1-4. However, cancer cell-intrinsic roles of PI3Kγ are unclear. Here, by integrating unbiased genome-wide CRISPR interference screening with functional analyses across acute leukaemias, we define a selective dependency on the PI3Kγ complex in a high-risk subset that includes myeloid, lymphoid and dendritic lineages. This dependency is characterized by innate inflammatory signalling and activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase regulatory subunit 5 (PIK3R5), which encodes a regulatory subunit of PI3Kγ5 and stabilizes the active enzymatic complex. We identify p21 (RAC1)-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) as a noncanonical substrate of PI3Kγ that mediates this cell-intrinsic dependency and find that dephosphorylation of PAK1 by PI3Kγ inhibition impairs mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Treatment with the selective PI3Kγ inhibitor eganelisib is effective in leukaemias with activated PIK3R5. In addition, the combination of eganelisib and cytarabine prolongs survival over either agent alone, even in patient-derived leukaemia xenografts with low baseline PIK3R5 expression, as residual leukaemia cells after cytarabine treatment have elevated G protein-coupled purinergic receptor activity and PAK1 phosphorylation. Together, our study reveals a targetable dependency on PI3Kγ-PAK1 signalling that is amenable to near-term evaluation in patients with acute leukaemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingyu Luo
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Evangeline G Raulston
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Miguel A Prado
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Xiaowei Wu
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kira Gritsman
- Department of Medical Oncology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Karley S Whalen
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kezhi Yan
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Christopher A G Booth
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ran Xu
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Peter van Galen
- Division of Hematology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - John G Doench
- Genetic Perturbation Platform, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Shai Shimony
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Hematology, Rabin Medical Center, Tel Aviv Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Henry W Long
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Functional Cancer Epigenetics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Donna S Neuberg
- Department of Data Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joao A Paulo
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrew A Lane
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Faustmann P, Schroeder JC, Mix L, Harland L, Riedel A, Vogel W, Lengerke C, Wirths S. Real-world evidence on tagraxofusp for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm - collected cases from a single center and case reports. Front Oncol 2024; 14:1384172. [PMID: 38665943 PMCID: PMC11043520 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1384172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasia (BPDCN) is a rare, aggressive hematologic malignancy. Until recently, the only curative treatment consisted of intensive chemotherapy, followed by hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in eligible adult cases. Tagraxofusp, a CD123-targeted protein-drug conjugate and the first approved targeted treatment for BPDCN, might enhance outcomes especially in patients not eligible for intensive therapies. Methods Here, we report real-world outcomes of five male patients with a median age of 79 years who received tagraxofusp as first-line treatment for BPDCN. Results Tagraxofusp was found to be well-tolerated in this elderly cohort, with only one patient requiring discontinuation. Three patients responded to the treatment (two patients achieved a CR and one patient achieved a partial response), of which two subsequently underwent allogeneic (allo) HCT. One patient is alive and well after ≥ 4 years after alloHCT, and one patient shows sustained CR after now 13 cycles of tagraxofusp. The other three patients died of progressive disease 4-11 months after initiation of treatment. Discussion In line with results from 13 published cases outside clinical trials in the literature, sustained responses were associated with CR after tagraxofusp treatment and subsequent alloHCT. Our results provide real-world evidence for safety and efficacy of tagraxofusp as first-line treatment for BPDCN.
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Bruzzese A, Martino EA, Labanca C, Mendicino F, Lucia E, Olivito V, Neri A, Imovilli A, Morabito F, Vigna E, Gentile M. Tagraxofusp in myeloid malignancies. Hematol Oncol 2024; 42:e3234. [PMID: 37846131 DOI: 10.1002/hon.3234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
Tagraxofusp (or SL-401) is a recombinant molecule composed of human interleukin-3 that binds CD123 on neoplastic cells fused to a truncated diphtheria toxin (DT). Tagraxofusp's most significant success has come from studies involving patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), an aggressive disease that is usually refractory to conventional chemotherapy. Tagraxofusp had an acceptable safety profile and high efficacy in early phase I/II studies on patients with BPDCN. Another phase II study confirmed the good response rates, resulting in Food and Drugs Administration and European Medicine Agency approval of tagraxofusp for the treatment of BPDCN. Considering its high efficacy and its manageable safety profile, tagraxofusp has been suddenly explored in other myeloid malignancies with high expression of cell surface CD123, both in monotherapy or combination strategies. The triplet tagraxofusp-azacytidine-venetoclax appears to be of particular interest among these combinations. Furthermore, combination strategies may be used to overcome tagraxofusp resistance. The downregulation of DPH1 (diphthamide biosynthesis 1), the enzyme responsible for the conversion of histidine 715 on eEF2 to diphthamide, which is then the direct target of ADP ribosylation DT, is typically associated with this resistance phenomenon. It has been discovered that azacitidine can reverse DHP1 expression and restore sensitivity to tagraxofusp. In conclusion, the success of tagraxofusp in BPDCN paved the way for its application even in other CD123-positive malignancies. Nowadays, several ongoing trials are exploring the use of tagraxofusp in different myeloid neoplasms. This review aims to summarize the actual role of tagraxofusp in BPDCN and other CD123-positive myeloid malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Eugenio Lucia
- Hematology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Annunziata, Cosenza, Italy
| | | | - Antonino Neri
- Scientific Directorate IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Annalisa Imovilli
- Hematology, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | | | - Ernesto Vigna
- Hematology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Annunziata, Cosenza, Italy
| | - Massimo Gentile
- Hematology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Annunziata, Cosenza, Italy
- Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Science, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy
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Luo Q, Raulston EG, Prado MA, Wu X, Gritsman K, Yan K, Booth CAG, Xu R, van Galen P, Doench JG, Shimony S, Long HW, Neuberg DS, Paulo JA, Lane AA. Targetable leukemia dependency on noncanonical PI3Kγ signaling. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.15.571909. [PMID: 38328043 PMCID: PMC10849582 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.15.571909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma (PI3Kγ) is implicated as a target to repolarize tumor-associated macrophages and promote anti-tumor immune responses in solid cancers. However, cancer cell-intrinsic roles of PI3Kγ are unclear. Here, by integrating unbiased genome-wide CRISPR interference screening with functional analyses across acute leukemias, we define a selective dependency on the PI3Kγ complex in a high-risk subset that includes myeloid, lymphoid, and dendritic lineages. This dependency is characterized by innate inflammatory signaling and activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase regulatory subunit 5 ( PIK3R5 ), which encodes a regulatory subunit of PI3Kγ and stabilizes the active enzymatic complex. Mechanistically, we identify p21 (RAC1) activated kinase 1 (PAK1) as a noncanonical substrate of PI3Kγ that mediates this cell-intrinsic dependency independently of Akt kinase. PI3Kγ inhibition dephosphorylates PAK1, activates a transcriptional network of NFκB-related tumor suppressor genes, and impairs mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. We find that treatment with the selective PI3Kγ inhibitor eganelisib is effective in leukemias with activated PIK3R5 , either at baseline or by exogenous inflammatory stimulation. Notably, the combination of eganelisib and cytarabine prolongs survival over either agent alone, even in patient-derived leukemia xenografts with low baseline PIK3R5 expression, as residual leukemia cells after cytarabine treatment have elevated G protein-coupled purinergic receptor activity and PAK1 phosphorylation. Taken together, our study reveals a targetable dependency on PI3Kγ/PAK1 signaling that is amenable to near-term evaluation in patients with acute leukemia.
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Valentini CG, Pagano L. Tagraxofusp for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm: a 2-speed cure in the United States and European Union. Blood Adv 2023; 7:7084-7086. [PMID: 37847911 PMCID: PMC10694521 DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023011586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Giovanna Valentini
- Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini, Radioterapia Oncologica ed Ematologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Livio Pagano
- Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini, Radioterapia Oncologica ed Ematologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche ed Ematologiche, Sezione di Ematologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
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