Phase Ib study of eprenetapopt (APR-246) in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors

Background

We conducted a phase I, multicenter, open-label, dose-finding, and expansion study to determine the safety and preliminary efficacy of eprenetapopt (APR-246) combined with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04383938).

Patients and methods

For dose-finding, requirements were non-central nervous system primary solid tumor, intolerant to/progressed after ≥1 line of treatment, and eligible for pembrolizumab; for expansion: (i) gastric/gastroesophageal junction tumor, intolerant to/progressed after first-line treatment, and no prior anti-programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy; (ii) bladder/urothelial tumor, intolerant to/progressed after first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy, and no prior anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy; (iii) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with previous anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Patients received eprenetapopt 4.5 g/day intravenously (IV) on days 1-4 with pembrolizumab 200 mg IV on day 3 in each 21-day cycle. Primary endpoints were dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), adverse events (AEs), and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of eprenetapopt.

Results

Forty patients were enrolled (median age 66 years; range 27-85) and 37 received eprenetapopt plus pembrolizumab. No DLTs were reported and the RP2D for eprenetapopt in combination was 4.5 g/day IV on days 1-4. The most common eprenetapopt-related AEs were dizziness (35.1%), nausea (32.4%), and vomiting (29.7%). AEs leading to eprenetapopt discontinuation occurred in 2/37 patients (5.4%). In efficacy-assessable patients (n = 29), one achieved complete response (urothelial cancer), two achieved partial responses (NSCLC, urothelial cancer), and six patients had stable disease.

Conclusions

The eprenetapopt plus pembrolizumab combination was well tolerated with an acceptable safety profile and showed clinical activity in patients with solid tumors.

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Eprenetapopt in combination with pembrolizumab was well tolerated with an acceptable safety profile.

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Eprenetapopt plus pembrolizumab demonstrated clinical activity in heavily pre-treated patients with solid tumors.

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This is the first clinical trial evaluating the combination of a p53 reactivator with immuno-oncology therapy.

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This work informs the development of treatment combining immunotherapy with agents targeting specific pathways such as p53.

Plasmonic hot carrier-driven photoelectrochemical water splitting on antenna–reactor Pt/Ag/TiO2 Schottky nanodiodes

Plasmonic photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has excited immense interest, as it can overcome the intrinsic limitations of semiconductors, in terms of light absorption, by the localized-surface plasmon resonances effect. Here, to get insight into the role of plasmonic hot carriers in plasmonic water splitting, a rational design of an antenna–reactor type Pt/Ag/TiO2 metal–semiconductor Schottky nanodiode was fabricated and used as a photoanode. Using the designed PEC cell system combined with the Pt/Ag/TiO2 nanodiode, we show that the plasmonic hot carriers excited from Ag were utilized for the oxygen (O2) evolution reaction and, consequently, had a decisive role in the enhancement of the photocatalytic efficiency. These results were supported by finite-difference time-domain simulations, and the faradaic efficiency was measured by the amount of actual gas produced. Therefore, this study provides a deep understanding of the dynamics and mechanisms of plasmonic hot carriers in plasmonic-assisted PEC water splitting.

Margetuximab with retifanlimab as first-line therapy in HER2+/PD-L1+ unresectable or metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma: MAHOGANY cohort A

Background

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive metastatic gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA) is globally treated with chemotherapy plus trastuzumab. Novel therapeutic strategies strive to not only optimize efficacy, but also limit toxicities. In MAHOGANY cohort A, margetuximab, an Fc-engineered, anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was combined with retifanlimab, an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 mAb, in the first-line HER2-positive/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive GEA.

Patients and methods

MAHOGANY cohort A part 1 is a single-arm trial to evaluate margetuximab plus retifanlimab in patients with HER2 immunohistochemistry 3+, PD-L1-positive (combined positive score ≥1%), and non-microsatellite instability-high tumors. Primary objectives for cohort A were safety/tolerability and the confirmed objective response rate (ORR).

Results

As of 3 August 2021, 43 patients were enrolled and received margetuximab/retifanlimab. Nine grade 3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were reported in eight (18.6%) patients and eight serious TRAEs in seven (16.3%) patients. There were no grade 4/5 TRAEs. Three patients discontinued margetuximab/retifanlimab because of immune-related adverse events. The ORR by independent assessment was 53% [21/40 (95% confidence interval (CI) 36.1-68.5)], with a median duration of response of 10.3 months (95% CI 4.6-not evaluable); disease control rate was 73% [29/40 (95% CI 56.1-85.4)]. The study sponsor discontinued the study in advance of the planned enrollment when it became apparent that the study design would no longer meet the requirements for drug approval because of recent advances in the treatment of GEA.

Conclusions

The chemotherapy-free regimen of combined margetuximab/retifanlimab as first-line treatment in double biomarker-selected patients demonstrated a favorable toxicity profile compared with historical outcomes using chemotherapy plus trastuzumab. The ORR observed in this study compares favorably versus ORR observed with other chemotherapy-free approaches.

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The margetuximab/retifanlimab regimen has a favorable toxicity profile versus historical chemotherapy-based regimens in GEA.

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The margetuximab/retifanlimab regimen as first-line therapy for GEA met the prespecified boundary for antitumor activity.

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The 53% ORR [21/40 (95% CI 36.1-68.5)] in the combined regimen compared favorably with other chemotherapy-free approaches.

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Median duration of response was 10.3 months (95% CI 4.57-not evaluable) and disease control rate was 73% [29/40 (95% CI 56.1-85.4)].

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The study was discontinued for business reasons as chemotherapy-based regimens remain the dominant therapy for GEA.

Seroprevalence of anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies in adults with myelitis

Although myelitis is the second most common presentation in adults with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody‐associated disease (MOGAD), studies on MOG‐IgG seroprevalence in patients with myelitis episodes are sparse. Herein, we investigated MOG‐IgG seroprevalence in Korean adults who exhibited myelitis since 2017. Among 151 adults with acute myelitis, 11 (7.3%) tested positive for MOG‐IgG by the initial screening and 10 (6.6%) patients were finally diagnosed with MOGAD during the study period. This study is the first to provide data on MOG‐IgG seroprevalence in adults with myelitis and supports the clinical utility and importance of MOG‐IgG testing in myelitis episodes.

Search for Subsolar-Mass Binaries in the First Half of Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's Third Observing Run

We report on a search for compact binary coalescences where at least one binary component has a mass between 0.2  M_{⊙} and 1.0  M_{⊙} in Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo data collected between 1 April 2019 1500 UTC and 1 October 2019 1500 UTC. We extend our previous analyses in two main ways: we include data from the Virgo detector and we allow for more unequal mass systems, with mass ratio q≥0.1. We do not report any gravitational-wave candidates. The most significant trigger has a false alarm rate of 0.14  yr^{-1}. This implies an upper limit on the merger rate of subsolar binaries in the range [220-24200]  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}, depending on the chirp mass of the binary. We use this upper limit to derive astrophysical constraints on two phenomenological models that could produce subsolar-mass compact objects. One is an isotropic distribution of equal-mass primordial black holes. Using this model, we find that the fraction of dark matter in primordial black holes in the mass range 0.2  M_{⊙}<m_{PBH}<1.0  M_{⊙} is f_{PBH}≡Ω_{PBH}/Ω_{DM}≲6%. This improves existing constraints on primordial black hole abundance by a factor of ∼3. The other is a dissipative dark matter model, in which fermionic dark matter can collapse and form black holes. The upper limit on the fraction of dark matter black holes depends on the minimum mass of the black holes that can be formed: the most constraining result is obtained at M_{min}=1  M_{⊙}, where f_{DBH}≡Ω_{DBH}/Ω_{DM}≲0.003%. These are the first constraints placed on dissipative dark models by subsolar-mass analyses.

Targeting spinal microglia with fexofenadine-loaded nanoparticles prolongs pain relief in a rat model of neuropathic pain

Targeting microglial activation is emerging as a clinically promising drug target for neuropathic pain treatment. Fexofenadine, a histamine receptor 1 antagonist, is a clinical drug for the management of allergic reactions as well as pain and inflammation. However, the effect of fexofenadine on microglial activation and pain behaviors remains elucidated. Here, we investigated nanomedicinal approach that targets more preferentially microglia and long-term analgesics. Fexofenadine significantly abolished histamine-induced microglial activation. The fexofenadine-encapsulated poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (Fexo NPs) injection reduced the pain sensitivity of spinal nerve ligation rats in a dose-dependent manner. This alleviation was sustained for 4 days, whereas the effective period by direct fexofenadine injection was 3 h. Moreover, Fexo NPs inhibited microglial activation, inflammatory signaling, cytokine release, and a macrophage phenotype shift towards the alternative activated state in the spinal cord. These results show that Fexo NPs exhibit drug repositioning promise as a long-term treatment modality for neuropathic pain.

Efficient Source of Shaped Single Photons Based on an Integrated Diamond Nanophotonic System

An efficient, scalable source of shaped single photons that can be directly integrated with optical fiber networks and quantum memories is at the heart of many protocols in quantum information science. We demonstrate a deterministic source of arbitrarily temporally shaped single-photon pulses with high efficiency [detection efficiency=14.9%] and purity [g^{(2)}(0)=0.0168] and streams of up to 11 consecutively detected single photons using a silicon-vacancy center in a highly directional fiber-integrated diamond nanophotonic cavity. Combined with previously demonstrated spin-photon entangling gates, this system enables on-demand generation of streams of correlated photons such as cluster states and could be used as a resource for robust transmission and processing of quantum information.

Up-regulation of CPNE1 Appears to Enhance Cancer Progression in HER2-positive and Luminal A Breast Cancer Cells

BACKGROUND/AIM

Copine 1 (CPNE1) is a calciumdependent phospholipid protein that has been shown to regulate the AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT) signaling pathway to mediate its function in various cell types. However, little is known about the physiological function of this protein in breast cancer cells. We aimed to investigate the prognostic and therapeutic value of CPNE1 in erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 [human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)]-positive and luminal A subtypes of breast cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Western blotting, cell viability, wound-healing and invasion assays were performed on SK-BR3 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells with forced overexpression of CPNE1. CPNE1 immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and bioinformatics analysis were performed on specimens from patients with breast cancer and compared to normal breast samples.

RESULTS

CPNE1 overexpression promoted AKT activation, and increased cell viability and cell motility in SK-BR3 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. In addition, invasive capabilities of SK-BR3 cells were increased by the overexpression of CPNE1. The expression levels of CPNE1 were higher in HER2-positive and luminal A subtypes of human breast cancer tissues compared with those in adjacent normal tissues. Furthermore, CPNE1 expression was increased in RNA microarray analysis of samples from patients with breast cancer compared to normal breast samples.

CONCLUSION

CPNE1 may play a key role in the pathophysiology of HER2-positive and luminal A subtypes of breast cancer.

Health-Screening-Based Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Its Effect on Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered a major cause of death worldwide, and various studies have been conducted for its early diagnosis. Our work developed a scoring system by predicting and validating COPD and performed predictive model implementations. Participants who underwent a health screening between 2017 and 2020 were extracted from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) database. COPD individuals were defined as aged 40 years or older with prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC < 0.7). The logistic regression model was performed, and the C-index was used for variable selection. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves with area under the curve (AUC) values were generated for evaluation. Age, sex, waist circumference and diastolic blood pressure were used to predict COPD and to develop a COPD score based on a multivariable model. A simplified model for COPD was validated with an AUC value of 0.780 from the ROC curves. In addition, we evaluated the association of the derived score with cardiovascular disease (CVD). COPD scores showed significant performance in COPD prediction. The developed score also showed a good effect on the diagnostic ability for CVD risk. In the future, studies comparing the diagnostic accuracy of the derived scores with standard diagnostic tests are needed.

AB1237 COMPARISON BETWEEN ENZYME IMMUNOASSAY AND CHEMILUMINESCENCE TO DETERMINE THE CONCENTRATION OF SERUM CALPROTECTIN AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICAL VARIABLES IN PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY

Background

Serum calprotectin (SC) is an emerging biomarker in the measurement of inflammation. It can be determined by different techniques, such as enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or chemiluminescence (CLIA). However, there are no studies comparing whether there is a correlation between the two diagnostic methods in paediatric rheumatologic diseases.

Objectives

(i) To assess whether there are differences between serum calprotectin (SC) levels determined by EIA (Bühlmann) method and CLIA (QUANTA Flash) in pediatric age patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease (SARD). (ii) To evaluate which clinical and analytical variables are associated with an increase of SC in each method.

Methods

Analytical cross-sectional study that included patients from a pediatric rheumatology specialized unit between 02/2017 and 05/2021. We included 41 patients with SARD who had at least one SC analysis determined by EIA in their routine controls (144 serum) and afterwards had SC determined again, this time using the CLIA method.

The collected variables were sex, age, remission according to clinical judgment, swollen joint count according to physical examination (PE Count) and ultrasound (US Count), Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score according to physical examination (PE JADAS-27) and ultrasound (US JADAS-27), C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).

As for the statistical analysis, intraclass correlation (ICC) and paired samples t-test were performed to compare the two methods. Univariate linear regression was performed to study the association between EIA, CLIA and both clinical and analytical variables.

Results

We included 41 patients, 50.1% were women with a mean age (± SD) of 13.1 (± 3.8) years. The details of their descriptive characteristics were: mean SC (EIA) of 3.1 (±1.8) µg/ml, mean SC (CLIA) of 2.5 (±1.6) µg/ml, mean CRP of 2.6 (± 6.5) mg/l, mean ESR of 10.1 (± 11) mm/h, and mean PE JADAS-27 of 2.8 (± 8). Most frequent diagnosis was oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) (24.4%), followed by enthesitis-related (ERA) JIA (12.2%) and polyarticular JIA (12.2%), familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) (9.8%), psoriatic JIA (4.9%), systemic JIA (4.9%) and syndrome of periodic fever, aphtous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis (PFAPA) (4.9%), vasculitis (4.8%), and undifferentiated JIA (2.4%). Clinical diagnosis was unspecific in 9.8% of the patients. In our sample, 66.7% were in clinical remission at the discretion of the specialist.

A statistically significant Pearson’s CCI of 0.77 (95%CI 0.70-0.83; p=0.00) was observed as a single measure between EIA and CLIA and with an average of 0.87 (95%CI=0.82-0.91; p=0.000). Figure 1 shows the dispersion of this correlation.

On the other hand, we observed a statistically significant difference in the mean between both methods of 0.58 (95%CI=0.40-0.77; p=0.000), observing a greater difference in SC (EIA) > 4 µg/ml.

A significant association was observed between EIA and clinical remission, joint count, JADAS and CRP; and also between CLIA and clinical remission, JADAS and CRP. The analysis performed is shown in Table 1.

Table 1.

Association between EIA and CLIA with clinical and analytical variables.

RemissionPE CountUS CountPE JADASUS JADASbpbpbpbpbpSC(EIA)0.430.0110.140.0270.080.0240.090.0000.060.000SC(CLIA)0.530.000-0.000.9450.310.3200.050.0210.040.015SexGenderESRCRPbpbpbpbpSC(EIA)0.000.9970.050.2070.000.4870.050.027SC(CLIA)-0.240.3620.010.7950.020.1050.080.000

b, regression coefficient; p, statistical significance.

Conclusion

There is a good correlation between EIA and CLIA methods to determine SC in pediatric patients with SARD. Significant differences were observed between both methods above the value of 4 µg/ml. This fact could be explained by methodological differences, since CLIA discriminates better at higher values than EIA.

An association was observed between both methods and variables of remission or disease activity.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared

Optical Entanglement of Distinguishable Quantum Emitters

Solid-state quantum emitters are promising candidates for the realization of quantum networks, owing to their long-lived spin memories, high-fidelity local operations, and optical connectivity for long-range entanglement. However, due to differences in local environment, solid-state emitters typically feature a range of distinct transition frequencies, which makes it challenging to create optically mediated entanglement between arbitrary emitter pairs. We propose and demonstrate an efficient method for entangling emitters with optical transitions separated by many linewidths. In our approach, electro-optic modulators enable a single photon to herald a parity measurement on a pair of spin qubits. We experimentally demonstrate the protocol using two silicon-vacancy centers in a diamond nanophotonic cavity, with optical transitions separated by 7.4 GHz. Working with distinguishable emitters allows for individual qubit addressing and readout, enabling parallel control and entanglement of both colocated and spatially separated emitters, a key step toward scaling up quantum information processing systems.

Resting heart rate and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation: CODE-AF registry

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Background

The prognostic significance of resting heart rate and its therapeutic target in atrial fibrillation (AF) is uncertain.

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between resting heart rate and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with AF.

Methods

A total of 8,886 patients with AF was included from the COmparison study of Drugs for symptom control and complication prEvention of AF (CODE-AF) registry. Patients were categorized according to baseline heart rate, and cardiovascular outcomes were accessed during a median follow-up of 30 months. The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, hospitalization due to heart failure, and myocardial infarction/critical limb ischemia.

Results

Compared to heart rate ≥100 beats per minute (bpm), heart rate 80-99 bpm was associated with the lowest risk of primary outcome (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40-0.79, p=0.001). In subgroup of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), heart rate between 80-99 bpm was associated with reduced risk of primary outcome compared to heart rate ≥100 bpm (HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.16-0.98, p=0.045). However, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), there was no association between resting heart rate and cardiovascular outcomes (P for interaction 0.001).

Conclusion

Resting heart rate was associated with cardiovascular outcomes in patients with AF, and those with a resting heart rate between 80-99 bpm had the lowest risk of adverse events. The impact of resting heart rate on adverse events persisted in patients with concomitant HFpEF but was not apparent in those with concomitant HFrEF.