Plinabulin to shorten neutropenia and improve quality of life peri-autologous hematopoietic cell transplant.
Authors: Shah Gunjan L. , Hanley Danielle , Datta Ambika , Kamrowski Alyssa , Chung David J. , Gupta Gaurav K. , Hassoun Hani , Hoover Elizabeth , Hultcrantz Malin , Korde Neha , Lahoud Oscar Boutros , Landau Heather Jolie , Lesokhin Alexander M. , Scordo Michael , Shah Urvi A , Tan Carlyn Rose Co , Usmani Saad Zafar , Mohanlal Ramon W. , Giralt Sergio 
Published: June 2023

8023 Background: Plinabulin is a selective immunomodulating microtubule-binding agent, which prevents chemotherapy induced neutropenia (CIN) via a mechanism of action different from that of G-CSF analogues. It has been studied for CIN and anti-solid tumor activity in phase 3 trials. To decrease the period of myelosuppression and obligate neutropenia after high dose melphalan with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHCT) for patients with multiple myeloma, we studied the addition of plinabulin to standard growth factors. Methods: To achieve the primary objective of reducing the duration of absolute neutropenia post AHCT, 40mg of intravenous plinabulin was given 1-3 hours after stem cell infusion (Day 0) with pegfilgrastim on Day +1 in this pilot trial (NCT05130827). Secondary objectives include the safety, tolerability, and toxicity profile of plinabulin in combination with pegfilgrastim, neutrophil and platelet engraftment rate, disease response, progression free and overall survival, patient reported outcome (PRO) assessment of symptom burden, and plinabulin pharmacokinetic profiling. Exploratory objectives include transfusion requirements, phenotypic characterization of neutrophil population through day 30, and analysis of cytokine levels early post AHCT. Results: Between January 2022 and February 2023, 15 patients with median age of 64 (range 54-74) and 33% female received plinabulin after melphalan 140 (n = 4) or 200mg/m2 (n = 11). Median CD34+ cells/kg infused was 4.12 x 10^6 (range 2.18 – 7.85). Half of the patients had hypertension immediately after the plinabulin infusion, which is a known toxicity and resolved within a few hours. Median WBC on Day 0, 1, and 2 was 7.67(3.6 – 11.5), 5.2 (3.2 – 13.6), and 17.1 (5.1-59.1), respectively. Of the 14 patients who have engrafted to date, median time to ANC > 0.5 x 10^9 cell/L was 11 days (range 9-16) with median days from AHCT to ANC < 0.5 of 5 days (range 5-6). The median number of days of ANC < 0.1 and < 0.5 were 2 (range 1-5) and 5 days (range 4-9), respectively. For the 7 patients who had a fever, the median time to fever was 8 days from AHCT (range 8-12), and all except one were peri-engraftment. Median length of stay was 17 days (range 15-21). Median pRBC and platelet transfusions were 0 (range 0-3) and 3 (range 0-11), respectively. Conclusions: Plinabulin appears well tolerated without additional major toxicities post AHCT and provided a high WBC on Day +2 and decreased rate of neutropenic fever. Plinabulin PK, quality of life data, and PROs will be presented. Adjusting the schedule of plinabulin to later post AHCT pre engraftment may further shorten the duration of neutropenia using this novel mechanism of action. Clinical trial information: NCT05130827 .