Abstract CT223: Dormancy reprograming therapy of 5-azacitidine (AZA) and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer
Authors: Patel Vaibhav G. , Singh Deepak , Joshi Himanshu , Liaw Bobby , Tsao Che-Kai , Galsky Matthew , Diamond Lindsay , Agguire-Ghiso Julio , Oh William 
Published: April 2024

Microenvironmental signals and epigenetic changes can instruct proliferative disseminated tumor cells to enter dormancy. The combination of Azacitidine (AZA) and All-trans retinoid acid (ATRA) can reprogram active prostate cancer (PCa) cells into a dormant state. Herein, we evaluated the safety and clinical activity of AZA + ATRA in patients (pts) with biochemically recurrent PCa.

Eligible pts were those with diagnosis of PCa post-local therapy with rising PSA (PSADT &lt; 10 mo). Pts were excluded if they had radiographic evidence of disease or if they were a candidate for salvage radiation therapy (RT). Eligible pts were randomized 1:1 to arm A vs. B. All pts received Lupron 7.5 mg IM at the start of study. Four weeks later, pts entered a 24-week treatment (tx) phase. Pts in arm A received AZA 40 mg/m2 SQ x 5 days and ATRA 45 mg/m2 PO x 5 days Q4W for 12 weeks (w), followed by 12w of observation. Pts in arm B underwent 12w of observation, followed by 12w of AZA and ATRA at same dosing as arm A. All pts underwent follow up until initiation of next tx. The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability as assessed by CTCAE v5.0. Key secondary endpoints included % of pts with prolongation of PSADT pre- and post-tx and time to next treatment (TTNT). Levels of dormancy biomarkers, BMP4 and BMP7, were quantified using ELISA. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were analyzed for positive expression of NR2F1 using immunofluorescence. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for comparing the PSADT. All statistical analysis was performed in R.

Fourteen pts were enrolled (A: N=6, B: N=8) with a median age of 66 (range 54-77). At baseline, mean PSA was 4.75 ng/ml (A: 7.11, B: 2.99) and mean PSADT was 2.89 months (A: 3.51, B: 2.43). Eight (57.1%) pts had a Gleason score &gt; 8 at initial diagnosis (A: 83.3%, B: 37.5%). There were no reported Grade &gt; 3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) and no treatment discontinuations. The most common TRAEs included hot flashes, white blood cell decreased and lymphocyte count decreased (all 8.3% each), and anemia (5.6%). There was prolongation of PSADT pre- and post-tx in 6 (46%) pts, however, overall difference in PSADT was non-significant [p&gt;0.1]. 13 out of 14 (93%) pts had TTNT of &gt; 6 months. One pt developed radiographic progression prior to completion of tx phase and a total of 6 pts (42.8%) within 3 months of tx phase. Out of 8 pts, 37.5% and 75% of pts showed increased levels of BMP4 and BMP7 respectively. Upon tx, CTC count decreased in 3 out of 5 pts analyzed, while CTCs were undetectable in two pts. Upon tx, NR2F1 expression could not be detected due to non-detection of CTCs, except for one pt who showed 100% NR2F1 positive CTCs in follow up.

AZA + ATRA appears safe and well tolerated, and there was clinical activity in a small subset of pts potentially correlated with dormancy. Additional prospective clinical studies are needed to elucidate dormancy mechanisms further and optimize dosing strategy.

Citation Format: Vaibhav G. Patel, Deepak Singh, Himanshu Joshi, Bobby Liaw, Che-Kai Tsao, Matthew Galsky, Lindsay Diamond, Julio Agguire-Ghiso, William Oh. Dormancy reprograming therapy of 5-azacitidine (AZA) and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 2 (Late-Breaking, Clinical Trial, and Invited Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(7_Suppl):Abstract nr CT223.