tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Anlotinib plus chemotherapy as first-line therapy for patients with gastrointestinal tumor with unresectable liver metastasis: Updated results from a multi-cohort, multi-center phase II trial ALTER-G-001-cohort C.
Authors: Junwei Wu, Chenfei Zhou, Jun Yan, Zhengxiang Han, Chun Wang, Zhiquan Qin, Jinling Jiang, Chunbing Wang, Xinyu Tang, Lingjun Zhu, Jun Chen, Yong Mao, Xiaowei Wei, Chengfang Shangguan, Jun Zhang
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

653 Background: Advanced gastrointestinal (GI) tumors, such as colorectal, gastric and pancreatic cancers (CRC, GC, and PC), and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), 20%-50% with liver metastases (LMs) have a poor prognosis. Previous trials showed that anlotinib plus chemotherapy has promising clinical activity and a tolerable safety profile for advanced CRC and ESCC, especially with LMs. In this phase II trial, we assessed the efficacy and safety of anlotinib plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment for LMs GI tumors. Methods: Patients with unresectable LMs GI tumors and without previous systemic treatment would be divided into cohort A (CRC), cohort B (ESCC), and cohort C (other GI tumors, such as PC, GC, biliary tract cancer (BTC), etc.). In cohort C, patients received induction therapy: anlotinib plus standard chemotherapy. Patients without PD and radical resection received anlotinib and metronomic capecitabine (500 mg, PO, BID, days 1-21, q3w) maintenance until PD or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was ORR (RECIST 1.1). Secondary endpoints were DoR, PFS, OS, DCR, radical resection rate for LMs, and safety. Results: As of September 14, 2023, 41 patients were enrolled in cohort C (29 PC, 6 GC, 5 BTC, and others), the median age was 64 years (34-74), 63.4% male, 92.7% ECOG-PS 1 and 56.1% had LMs only. The majority of the pancreatic cancer patients (26/29) received gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel chemotherapy combination with anlotinib as induction therapy. After induction therapy, 4 patients (1 PC, 2 GC, 1 BTC) received surgical resection. Of 37 evaluable patients in cohort C, ORR and DCR were 45.9% and 86.5% (PR, n=17; SD, n=15, 12 SD had reduced tumor size). Of 25 evaluable pancreatic cancer patients, 12 had PR, 10 had SD, ORR and DCR were 48% and 88%. According to the Kaplan-Meier method, the median DoR was 4.2 months (95%CI, 1.7-6.6) and the median PFS was 5.5 months (95%CI, 4.7-6.3). 37 patients in cohort C had TEAEs and ≥ grade 3 TEAEs (51.2%) mainly included neutropenia (19.5%), white blood cell decreased (12.2%), and blood platelet decreased (9.8%). Conclusions: Anlotinib plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment has shown promising efficacy and acceptable safety and maybe a favorable option for advanced LMs GI tumors, especially for pancreatic cancer. Clinical trial information: NCT05262335 .
Unveiling proteomic diversity: A quantitative study of antibody drug conjugate and chemotherapy targets in gastroesophageal cancer.
Authors: Sheeno P. Thyparambil, Negin Ghafourian, Robert Heaton, Amanda Strasbaugh, Marya Abebe Melkie, Chung-Jen James Chou, Xuefeng Ling
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

261 Background: Gastroesophageal cancer (GEC), is a significant global health concern with a 5-year relative survival of 7% for metastatic GEC. Standard treatments often include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, but their effectiveness can be limited. Chemotherapy is frequently utilized in the treatment of GEC, although no biomarkers for chemotherapy are used in the selection of the chemo agent. There are several well-known biomarkers of resistance and sensitivity for various chemo agents. We used targeted proteomics to quantify protein expression levels of several protein biomarkers associated with chemotherapy efficiency in 125 GEC patients. These include resistance markers for platinum agents (ERCC1), and tubulin inhibitors (TUBB3). It also includes sensitivity markers for irinotecan/topotecan (Topo1), and doxorubicin/etoposide (Topo2A). We also assessed the protein levels of several antibodies-drug conjugate markers (EGFR, Her2, Trop2, FR-alpha, Mesothelin, Axl, CLDN18.2, and Nectin-4). Methods: FFPE tumor tissues from 125 clinical GC patients were microdissected and solubilized for mass spectrometry-based targeted proteomic analysis in our CLIA-certified laboratory. 72 proteins were quantified from 2-3 sections of FFPE tissue. Results: 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), taxanes, and platinum agents (such as carboplatin) are among the chemotherapy agents that are frequently used to treat GEC. TYMP, a sensitivity marker for 5-FU, was expressed in 32% of GEC cases. ERCC1, a resistance marker for platinum drugs, was expressed at 34%. Additionally, 48% of GEC exhibited TUBB3, a resistance marker for paclitaxel and docetaxel. Topoisomerase 1 (Topo1) is the target for irinotecan or topotecan, and is also the target for some ADCs (e.g. trastuzumab deruxtecan, sacituzumab govitecan etc.). Topo1 was expressed in 92% of GEC with a 10x range (415 - 4195 amol/μg). Another topoisomerase, Topo2A, targetable by etoposide, epirubicin, and doxorubicin, was expressed in 59% of GEC with 19x range (402-7804 amol/μg). ADC targets, such as EGFR (82% detected with 184x range of distribution), Her3 (18%, 4x), AXL (18%,7x), MET (27%, 19x), and Trop2 (50%, 57x) showed a wide range of protein expression. With a 56x range (318 - 17786 amol/μg), Her2 was found in 46% of GEC, of which 12% of GEC had overexpression of Her2 (&gt;740 amol/μg), suggesting that the majority of GEC has low levels of Her2 (318-690 amol/μg), which is potentially targetable by newer anti-Her2 agents. Conclusions: Every cancer is different, and the ability to quantitate simultaneously 72 protein biomarkers from 2-3 FFPE sections provides a wealth of actionable information that, when combined with other multi-omics biomarker data, will help guide clinical treatment or patient stratification for clinical trials.
Molecular and clinical characteristics of POLE/POLD1 alterations among patients with colorectal cancer.
Authors: Masood Pasha Syed, Morgan Ferrell, Svea Cheng, Cyndi Gonzalez, Richard Giza, Tara Magge, Riyue Bao, Aatur D. Singhi, Anwaar Saeed, Ibrahim Halil Sahin
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

184 Background: POLE and POLD1 alterations (DNA polymerase ε and DNA polymerase δ) are key biomarkers of immune response for patients with MSS colorectal cancers (CRC). The clinical and molecular characteristics of POLE/POLD1 alterations are not yet well defined across CRCs. In this study, we investigated the clinical/molecular features of POLE and POLD1 alterations and its association with MSI-H CRC. Methods: All the patients and mutation data were selected from the cBioPortal database (https://www.cbioportal.org). All nonsynonymous mutations including missense, frameshift, nonsense, nonstop, splice site, and translation start site changes of POLE/POLD1 were considered. 21 studies were used in the analysis. 7179 data samples were obtained from 7179 patients. Tumors included were from all stages of CRCs. POLE/POLD1 mutations were from mutation tables, only protein-changing mutations were kept. MSI-H status was based on mutation data (presence of MLH1/PMS2/MSH2/MSH6 mutations). Results: Of 7179 patients with all stage CRCs, 6.1% (439) were found to harbor mutated POLE/POLD1 genes. Among those, 3446 patients had known MSI status and 14.9% (514/3446) had MSI-H disease. Notably, 3.3% patients with POLE/POLD1 mutations were found to have concurrent MSI-H disease (co-existence) and only 1.1% of patients with POLE/POLD1 mutations had MSS CRC. MSI status was unknown for 1.7% of patients with POLE/POLD mutant CRC. The mean age for patients with POLE/POLD1 + with or without MSI-H disease was 67. POLE/POLD mutations were exceedingly more common in colon than rectum regardless of MSI-H status (85% vs 15% overall and 88% vs 12% in MSI-H subgroup). No difference was seen among genders for the distribution of POLE/POLD1 mutations. Conclusions: POLE/POLD1 mutations frequently co-exist with MSI-H disease in CRC. Patients with MSS-CRC harboring POLE/POLD1 mutations represent a smaller subgroup of CRC (~1%). The incidence of POLE/POLD1 somatic mutations was more common among patients with colon cancer than those with rectal cancer.
The impact of CARE Frailty Index on overall survival in older adults with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Authors: Ahmet Anil Ozluk, Grant Richard Williams, Chen Dai, Midhun Malla, Krishmita Siwakoti, Darryl Alan Outlaw, Cameron Pywell, Garima Gupta, Bassel F. El-Rayes, Smith Giri, Mehmet Akce
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

462 Background: Pre-treatment frailty is associated with unfavorable short and long-term outcomes among patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) post liver resection.However, there is a knowledge gap in identifying the subset of older adults with HCC at high risk for inferior survival outcomes. Methods: We evaluated the association between patient-reported geriatric assessment (GA)-based frailty index and overall survival (OS) among older adults (≥60y) diagnosed with HCC enrolled in a single institutional prospective registry (Cancer and Aging Resilience Assessment (CARE) registry). All patients underwent a patient-reported GA at enrollment that encompassed multiple health domains related to aging. To determine frailty, we utilized a 44-item CARE Frailty Index (CARE-FI) based on the principles of deficit accumulation (Giri S et al JAGS 2021). We categorized frailty into robust, pre-frail and frail. The primary outcome was OS from the time of GA. Comparison of survival between groups was made using log-rank statistic. A multivariable Cox regression model measured the independent association between frailty and OS adjusted for age, etiology, Child-Pugh score and cancer stage. Results: A total of 116 older adults with HCC were identified with a median follow-up 2.1 year, median age was 67y (63-72) with 82% males, 27% blacks, 64% with Child-Pugh-A and 78% with stage III/IV disease. Overall, 50.1% (n=58) were frail, 33.6% (n=39) pre-frail and 16.3% (n=19) robust. No significant clinico-demographic differences across the 3 frailty groups were observed. In univariable analysis, there was a marginally significant difference between the three frailty groups (p value 0.06). However, in multivariable analysis, being frail vs robust was associated with an increased risk of mortality (HR 2.6 [95% CI 1.03 – 6.56]; p=0.04) after adjustment for aforementioned confounders. Conclusions: Frailty status assessed by patient-reported GA using CARE-FI is associated with an increased risk of mortality in older adults with HCC. Frailty assessment should be encouraged and considered in prospective clinical trials to estimate the impact of treatment on the most vulnerable adults. [Table: see text]
Durable efficacy of selpercatinib in patients with <i>RET</i> fusion+ solid tumors, with a focus on GI tumors: LIBRETTO-001.
Authors: Vivek Subbiah, Alexander E. Drilon, Vineeth Sukrithan, Alexander I. Spira, Bruce Robinson, Barbara Deschler-Baier, Scott Barker, Yan Lin, Sylwia Szymczak, Yuichiro Ohe
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

746 Background: Selpercatinib, a first-in-class highly selective and potent RET kinase inhibitor with CNS activity, is approved in multiple countries for the treatment of RET-activated cancers. This update includes more patients (pts, n=52) and 16 months (mo) longer follow-up (data cut-off: 13Jan2023) in RET fusion+ solid tumors other than lung/thyroid with a focus on GI histologies. Methods: The phase 1/2 LIBRETTO-001 trial (NCT03157128) enrolled pts with locally advanced/metastatic RET fusion+ solid tumors. 51/52 pts received the recommended dose of 160 mg orally. The efficacy analysis set consisted of pts enrolled ≥6 months prior to the cut-off date. Primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) by independent review committee (IRC). Secondary endpoints included ORR by investigator (INV), duration of response (DoR), progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. Results: Of the 52 pts with RET-activated solid tumors other than lung or thyroid, 51.9% were female with a median age of 54.0 years. The majority (31/52) of patients had GI RET fusion+ tumor types, with pancreatic (N=13) and colorectal (N=13) as the most common (Table). 47 pts received prior systemic therapy (median prior lines: 2, range 0-9); 28.8% received ≥3 lines. In 52 efficacy-evaluable pts, confirmed ORR by IRC was 44.2% (23/52, 95% CI: 30.5, 58.7). ORR by IRC for pts with pancreatic tumors was 53.8% and for colorectal tumors was 30.8%. Clinical benefit (complete response + partial response + stable disease ≥16 weeks) was observed in 67.3% (35/52) of pts. Median DoR was 37.2 mo (95% CI: 13.3, NE) for overall pts (Table). No new safety signals were identified compared to previous reports. 4 grade 5 AEs were observed (unrelated to treatment by INV), and 2 pts discontinued due to treatment-related AEs per INV. Conclusions: Selpercatinib continued to demonstrate durable antitumor activity and tolerable safety in pts with RET fusion+ cancers across multiple tumor types and fusion partners, including difficult-to-treat GI cancers with poor results in standard-of-care options, such as pancreatic and colorectal. These results emphasize the importance of comprehensive genomic profiling across all tumor types in order to identify actionable oncogenic drivers, including RET fusions. Clinical trial information: NCT03157128 .[Table: see text]
Overall Survival With Palbociclib Plus Letrozole in Advanced Breast Cancer
Authors: Dennis J. Slamon, Véronique Diéras, Hope S. Rugo, Nadia Harbeck, Seock-Ah Im, Karen A. Gelmon, Oleg N. Lipatov, Janice M. Walshe, Miguel Martin, Mariana Chavez-MacGregor, Eustratios Bananis, Eric Gauthier, Dongrui R. Lu, Sindy Kim, Richard S. Finn
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned coprimary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical trial updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported. PALOMA-2 demonstrated statistically and clinically significant improvement in progression-free survival with palbociclib plus letrozole versus placebo plus letrozole in estrogen receptor–positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative (ER+/HER2–) advanced breast cancer (ABC). Here, we report results for the secondary end point overall survival (OS). Postmenopausal women (N = 666) with ER+/HER2– ABC without previous systemic therapy for ABC were randomly assigned 2:1 to palbociclib plus letrozole or placebo plus letrozole. After a median follow-up of 90.1 months, 405 deaths were observed and 155 patients were known to be alive. The median OS was 53.9 months (95% CI, 49.8 to 60.8) with palbociclib plus letrozole versus 51.2 months (95% CI, 43.7 to 58.9) with placebo plus letrozole (hazard ratio [HR], 0.96 [95% CI, 0.78 to 1.18]; stratified one-sided P = .34). An imbalance in the number of patients with unknown survival outcome between the treatment arms (13.3% v 21.2%, respectively) limited interpretation of OS results. With recovered survival data, the median OS was 53.8 (95% CI, 49.8 to 59.2) versus 49.8 months (95% CI, 42.3 to 56.4), respectively (HR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.76 to 1.12]; one-sided P = .21). OS was not significantly improved with palbociclib plus letrozole compared with placebo plus letrozole.
Nivolumab + Tacrolimus + Prednisone ± Ipilimumab for Kidney Transplant Recipients With Advanced Cutaneous Cancers
Authors: Kara M. Schenk, Julie Stein Deutsch, Sunandana Chandra, Diwakar Davar, Zeynep Eroglu, Nikhil I. Khushalani, Jason J. Luke, Patrick A. Ott, Jeffrey A. Sosman, Vikram Aggarwal, Megan D. Schollenberger, William H. Sharfman, Kristin P. Bibee, Jeffrey F. Scott, Manisha J. Loss, Hao Wang, Hanfei Qi, Elad Sharon, Howard Streicher, Helen X. Chen, Robert N. Woodward, Serena M. Bagnasco, Janis M. Taube, Suzanne L. Topalian, Daniel C. Brennan, Evan J. Lipson
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

PURPOSE Cancer-related mortality rates among kidney transplant recipients (KTR) are high, but these patients have largely been excluded from trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors because of immunosuppression and risk of treatment-related allograft loss (TRAL). We conducted a prospective clinical trial testing nivolumab (NIVO) + tacrolimus (TACRO) + prednisone (PRED) ± ipilimumab (IPI) in KTR with advanced cutaneous cancers. METHODS Adult KTR with advanced melanoma or basal, cutaneous squamous, or Merkel cell carcinomas were eligible. Immunosuppression was standardized to TACRO (serum trough 2-5 ng/mL) + PRED 5 mg once daily. Patients then received NIVO 480 mg IV once every 4 weeks. The primary composite end point was partial or complete (tumor) response (CR) or stable disease per RECIST v1.1 without allograft loss at 16W. Patients with progressive disease (PD) could receive IPI 1 mg/kg IV + NIVO 3 mg/kg once every 3 weeks × 4 followed by NIVO. Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) levels were measured approximately once every 2 weeks as a potential predictor of allograft rejection. RESULTS Among eight evaluable patients, none met the trial's primary end point. All eight patients experienced PD on NIVO + TACRO + PRED; TRAL occurred in one patient. Six patients then received IPI + NIVO + TACRO + PRED. Best overall responses: two CR (one with TRAL) and four PD (one with TRAL). In total, 7 of 8 pre-NIVO tumor biopsies contained a paucity of infiltrating immune cells. In total, 2 of 5 on-NIVO biopsies demonstrated moderate immune infiltrates; both patients later experienced a CR to IPI + NIVO. In 2 of 3 patients with TRAL, dd-cfDNA elevations occurred 10 and 15 days before increases in serum creatinine. CONCLUSION In most KTR with advanced skin cancer, TACRO + PRED provides insufficient allograft protection and compromises immune-mediated tumor regression after administration of NIVO ± IPI. Elevated dd-cfDNA levels can signal treatment-related allograft rejection earlier than rises in serum creatinine.
Role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II-III ampullary cancer.
Authors: Nikolay Semenov, Lyudmila Zhukova, Katerina Grechukhina, Roman Izrailov, Kamil Dalgatov, Igor Khatkov
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

508 Background: Survival benefits for patients (pts) with ampullary cancer (AC) on adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) remain unknown. Some studies support post-operative treatment, while others state the opposite. Also, there are no clear evidence indicating that histopathological types (pancreaticobiliary (PB-type) and intestinal (IN-type)) can be used to guide the adjuvant setting. The aim of this study is to assess the ACT efficacy in different histopathological types of ampullary adenocarcinoma (pathological stages II-III). Methods: 81 pts were enrolled in the study in total, 45.7% were males, median age was 66.0 (range 43.9-83.8) years. 36.9% were IN-type, 50.8% – PB-type, and 12.3% – mixed. Almost all (97.5%) pts underwent Whipple procedure. 50 pts (61.7%) received ACT: 78.0% – 5-FU-based regimen and 22.0% – gemcitabine-based. Results: There was no clinical benefit in pts administered with ACT in terms of overall survival (OS): median OS was 55.5 months versus 43.6 month in observation arm; p=0.93. The ACT (FU-based or gemcitabine-based) did not correlate to improve OS in patients with IN-type: 38.0 months in patients who received ACT versus 30.5 months in those who did not; p=0.75. The ACT has shown better survival benefit in patients with PB-type compared to observation, however there was no statistical difference: 21.1 and 43.6 months, respectively; p=0.52. 5-FU-based ACT did not show any benefits compared to gemcitabine-based therapy in this subgroup. Conclusions: The use of adjuvant chemotherapy (FU-based or gemcitabine-based) in patients with II-III stage ampullary cancer was not associated with improved overall survival in our trial. There was no clinical benefit from addition of ACT either despite the heterogeneity of the tumor tissue origin (IN-type or PB-type).
Cemiplimab for Kidney Transplant Recipients With Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Glenn J. Hanna, Harita Dharanesswaran, Anita Giobbie-Hurder, John J. Harran, Zixi Liao, Lori Pai, Vatche Tchekmedyian, Emily S. Ruiz, Abigail H. Waldman, Chrysalyne D. Schmults, Leonardo V. Riella, Patrick Lizotte, Cloud P. Paweletz, Anil K. Chandraker, Naoka Murakami, Ann W. Silk
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

PURPOSE Cemiplimab is approved for treating locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Solid organ transplant recipients have been excluded from immunotherapy trials, given concern for allograft rejection despite their increased risk of skin cancers. Chronic immunosuppression is necessary to prevent organ rejection but may attenuate antitumor response with PD-1 inhibitors. METHODS We report a phase I study of cemiplimab for kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with advanced CSCC. After cross-taper to a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor and pulsed dose corticosteroids (prednisone 40 mg once daily, the day before and on days 1-3 of each cycle, followed by 20 mg once daily on days 4-6, then 10 mg once daily until the day before each subsequent cycle), patients received cemiplimab 350 mg intravenously once every 3 weeks for up to 2 years and were assessed for response every 8 weeks. The primary end point was the rate of kidney rejection, with key secondary end points including rate and duration of response, and survival. RESULTS Twelve patients were treated. No kidney rejection or loss was observed. A response to cemiplimab was observed in five of 11 evaluable patients (46%; 90% CI, 22 to 73), including two with durable responses beyond a year. Median follow-up was 6.8 months (range, 0.7-29.8). Treatment-related grade 3 or greater adverse events occurred in five patients (42%), including diarrhea, infection, and metabolic disturbances. One patient died of angioedema and anaphylaxis attributed to mTOR inhibitor cross-taper. CONCLUSION mTOR inhibitor and corticosteroids represent a favorable immunosuppressive regimen for KTRs with advanced CSCC receiving immunotherapy. This combination resulted in durable antitumor responses with no kidney rejection events (funded by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04339062 ]).