The benefit and risk of nivolumab in non-small-cell lung cancer: a single-arm meta-analysis of noncomparative clinical studies and randomized controlled trials

Cancer immunotherapy from biology to nanomedicine

With the significant drawbacks of conventional cancer chemotherapeutics, cancer immunotherapy has demonstrated the ability to eradicate cancer cells and circumvent multidrug resistance (MDR) with fewer side effects than traditional cytotoxic therapies. Various immunotherapeutic agents have been investigated for that purpose including checkpoint inhibitors, cytokines, monoclonal antibodies and cancer vaccines. All these agents aid immune cells to recognize and engage tumor cells by acting on tumor-specific pathways, antigens or cellular targets. However, immunotherapeutics are still associated with some concerns such as off-target side effects and poor pharmacokinetics. Nanomedicine may resolve some limitations of current immunotherapeutics such as localizing delivery, controlling release and enhancing the pharmacokinetic profile. Herein, we discuss recent advances of immunotherapeutic agents with respect to their development and biological mechanisms of action, along with the advantages that nanomedicine strategies lend to immunotherapeutics by possibly improving therapeutic outcomes and minimizing side effects.

Efficacy and Safety of Combined Brain Radiotherapy and Immunotherapy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer With Brain Metastases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are recommended to treat advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whereas brain radiotherapy (RT) is the mainstream therapy for patients with brain metastases (BMs). This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated whether the combination of brain RT and ICIs would generate a synergistic effect without unacceptable toxicity to treat NSCLC with BMs.

METHODS

Literature searching was performed in PubMed, Embase, Web Of Science, and The Cochrane Library up to December 20, 2020. Heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, forest plots, and publication bias were analyzed using Stata 15.0.

RESULTS

Nineteen studies were included. In the comparison of the brain RT+ICIs arm and brain RT alone arm, the pooled effect size (ES) for overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-0.83; I² = 0; P < .001; n = 4) and grade 3-4 neurological adverse events (AEs) (risk ratio [RR] = 0.91; 95% CI 0.41-2.02; I² = 26.5; P = .809; n = 4) indicated that the brain RT+ICIs model had significantly better systemic efficacy and similar neurological AEs compared with brain RT alone for NSCLC. Concurrent RT+ICIs were identified as the optimal model, which achieved the best efficacy without significantly increased AEs compared with sequential RT+ICIs.

CONCLUSIONS

Combined ICIs and brain RT exhibited favorable efficacy and acceptable toxicity for NSCLC patients with BMs, among which, the concurrent model might be the optimal option. Our results could guide the design of future randomized controlled trials and clinical practice.

PD-L1 SNPs as biomarkers to define benefit in patients with advanced NSCLC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the role of CTLA-4, PD-1 (programmed death-1), and PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in predicting clinical outcome of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

METHODS

A total of 166 consecutive patients were included. We correlated SNPs with clinical benefit, progression-free survival, time to treatment failure, and overall survival and evaluated the incidence of SNPs in nonresponder and long clinical benefit groups.

RESULTS

Considering the entire cohort, no correlation was found between SNPs and clinical outcome; however, PD-L1 rs4143815 SNP and the long clinical benefit group showed a statistically significant association (p = 0.02). The nonresponder cohort displayed distinctive PD-L1 haplotype (p = 0.05).

CONCLUSION

PD-L1 SNPs seem to be marginally involved in predicting clinical outcome of NSCLC treated with ICI, but further investigations are required.

PD-1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy Malignant Tumor Based on Monotherapy and Combined Treatment Research

Recently, immunotherapy has become the fourth pillar of cancer treatment in addition to surgery therapy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. The inhibitors of programed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 are the new stars in immunotherapy, as they can overcome tumor immunosuppression. However, the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors still needs to be further developed for clinical treatment. Therefore, research into treatment with anti-PD-1 drugs has emerged as a new development field. This review provides novel insights into the role and mechanism of PD-1 combination anti-tumor therapy, thereby promoting its clinical application in anti-tumor immunotherapy.

Effectiveness and Safety of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Patients with Advanced Non Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Real-World: Review and Meta-Analysis

Simple Summary

The benefit of programmed death-1/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) immunotherapy, particularly of nivolumab, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab, in the second-line setting of patients with non-small cell lung cancer has been documented in randomized clinical trials, showing improvements in global survival and in the overall response rate. Nevertheless, patients enrolled in these studies met strict eligibility criteria, allowing for the treatment of patients that do not reflect the broader oncology patient population. Experiences from real-world data are useful in providing further evidence of the benefit of treatment in a wider range of patients, including those underrepresented in clinical trials. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated in everyday practice with these drugs as the second line, and more generally with immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), showing that the efficacy and safety were comparable to those in selected studies. Results may encourage to treat patients excluded from randomized studies.

Abstract

Immunotherapy based on anti PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors is the new standard of advanced non-small cell lung cancers. Pembrolizumab, nivolumab and atezolizumab are used in clinical practice. The strict eligibility criteria of clinical trials do not allow researchers to fully represent treatment effects in the patients that will ultimately use these drugs. We performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of these drugs, and more generally of ICIs, as second-line therapy in NSCLC patients in real world practice. MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched to include original studies published between January 2015 and April 2020. A total of 32 studies was included in the meta-analysis. The overall radiological response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 21%, 52%, 3.35 months and 9.98 months, respectively. The results did not change when analysis was adjusted for Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) and age. A unitary increase in the percent of patients with liver and CNS metastases reduced the occurrence of DCR by 7% (p < 0.001) and the median PFS by 2% (p = 0.010), respectively. The meta-analysis showed that the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in everyday practice is comparable to that in clinical trials.

Clinical utility of the C-reactive protein:albumin ratio in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with nivolumab

BACKGROUND

Nivolumab is a second-line chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study explored the impact of clinical biomarkers such as neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein:albumin ratio (CAR), and modified Glasgow prognostic score on the efficacy and outcome of nivolumab monotherapy in previously treated NSCLC patients.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed advanced or postoperative recurrence of NSCLC in 113 patients in two Japanese facilities from January 2015 to December 2019. Optimal cutoff values of NLR and CAR were assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves predicting death events to conduct regression analysis. Baseline values and values collected eight weeks after nivolumab treatment were measured to investigate time-series changes of these markers.

RESULTS

The patients showed median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of 14.0 months and 2.3 months, respectively, with both being significantly longer in patients with partial response (PR) than in patients with progressive disease (PD). Optimal cutoff levels for NLR and CAR were 5.8 and 0.83, with significant decrease in CAR (P = 0.002) from baseline levels in PR patients and significant increase in PD patients. Baseline CAR ≥0.83 was significantly associated with one-year mortality events and overall survival (OS), and multivariate analysis showed significant association of age ≤70 years, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 2 or 3, and a baseline CAR ≥0.83 with inferior OS.

CONCLUSIONS

For second-line nivolumab therapy, evaluation of baseline CAR and subsequent changes in CAR may be predictive of therapeutic response to nivolumab and long-term survival in NSCLC patients.

KEY POINTS

Significant findings of the study The baseline value of C-reactive protein:albumin ratio was significantly associated with one-year mortality and overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with nivolumab. What this study adds Time-series change of C-reactive protein:albumin ratio may be useful for predicting the treatment efficacy in patients treated with nivolumab.

Cytology cell blocks from malignant pleural effusion are good candidates for PD-L1 detection in advanced NSCLC compared with matched histology samples

BACKGROUND

Detection of programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been commonly used to predict the efficacy of treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. However, there is limited literature regarding the reliability of PD-L1 testing using malignant pleural effusion (MPE) cell blocks. Here, we assess PD-L1 expression in sections from MPE cell blocks and evaluate the value of IHC double staining in the interpretation of PD-L1 expression.

METHODS

In all, 124 paired formalin-fixed tissues from advanced NSCLC patients, including MPE cell blocks and matched histology samples, were included. PD-L1 expression was assessed using the SP263 assay, and the tumor proportion score (TPS) and the staining intensity were evaluated. PD-L1 staining results were also compared between IHC double and single staining techniques.

RESULTS

PD-L1 expression was concordant in most paired cases (86/101, 85.1%) among three TPS cut-offs (<1%, 1-49% and ≥ 50%), with a kappa value of 0.774. Moreover, a significant difference in PD-L1 expression between MPE cell blocks and biopsy samples was observed (p = 0.005). For the 15 discordant pairs, 13 MPE cell block samples showed increased expression of PD-L1. Compared with the standard IHC single PD-L1 assay, double staining with anti-TTF-1 and anti-PD-L1 revealed a negative effect on PD-L1 expression testing and resulted in weaker staining intensity and a lower TPS (p = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONS

MPE cell block samples are good candidates for PD-L1 expression detection in advanced NSCLC patients. The mechanism and clinical significance of the higher PD-L1 expression rate in MPE cell blocks compared with small biopsy samples remain to be evaluated prospectively.

Immunotherapy: From Advanced NSCLC to Early Stages, an Evolving Concept

Immunotherapy in lung cancer treatment is a long history paved with failures and some successes. During the last decade, the discovery of checkpoints inhibitors led to major advances in treating advanced and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Impressive data from early phase I-II studies were subsequently confirmed in large prospective randomized trials and meta-analyses (High-level of evidence). Three anti- programmed death-1 (PD1) (pembrolizumab, nivolumab) or antiPD-ligand(L)1 (atezolizumab) antibodies showed clinically significant improved survival compared to second-line docetaxel. Then, first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy demonstrated its superiority over platinum-doublet in high PD-L1 NSCLC. The addition of pembrolizumab or atezolizumab to chemotherapy derived the same results regardless of the PD-L1 status. On the opposite, antiCTLA4 (Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Associated 4) results are currently disappointing in unselected patients while recent development suggest that the combination of antiPD1 and antiCTLA4 (nivolumab-ipilimumab) positively impact on overall survival. Some secondary analyses also showed that immunotherapy has a positive impact on quality of life and that the clinical improvement can be done at an acceptable incremental cost per QALY. A lot of questions remain unresolved: which is the best treatment duration and is it the same for all patients, how to choose the patients that will have the highest benefit of immunotherapy, how to identify the patients who will have rapid progression, how to improve the current data (new targets, new combinations)….

Programmed death-ligand 1 expression and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters in gallbladder cancer

Background

Immunomodulatory therapies targeting the interaction between programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) have become increasingly important in anticancer treatment. Previous research on the subject of this immune response has established an association with tumor aggressiveness and a poor prognosis in certain cancers. Currently, scant information is available on the relationship between PD-L1 expression and gallbladder cancer (GBC).

Methods

We investigated the expression of PD-L1 in 101 primary GBC cases to determine the potential association with prognostic impact. PD-L1 expression was immunohistochemically assessed using a single PD-L1 antibody (clone SP263). Correlations with clinicopathological parameters, overall survival (OS), or progression- free survival (PFS) were analyzed.

Results

PD-L1 expression in tumor cells at cutoff levels of 1%, 10%, and 50% was present in 18.8%, 13.8%, and 7.9% of cases. Our study showed that positive PD-L1 expression at any cutoff was significantly correlated with poorly differentiated histologic grade and the presence of lymphovascular invasion (p < .05). PD-L1 expression at cutoff levels of 10% and 50% was significantly positive in patients with perineural invasion, higher T categories, and higher pathologic stages (p < .05). Additionally, there was a significant association noted between PD-L1 expression at a cutoff level of 50% and worse OS or PFS (p = .049 for OS, p = .028 for PFS). Other poor prognostic factors included histologic grade, T category, N category, pathologic stage, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, growth pattern, and margin of resection (p < .05).

Conclusions

The expression of PD-L1 in GBC varies according to cutoff level but is valuably associated with poor prognostic parameters and survival. Our study indicates that the overexpression of PD-L1 in GBC had a negative prognostic impact.

Treatment effect and safety profile of salvage chemotherapy following immune checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer

Aim:

To assess the relationship of treatment effects between immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) and salvage chemotherapy, with the safety profile of salvage chemotherapy.

Patients & methods:

18 patients with advanced NSCLC treated using salvage chemotherapy following ICI treatment were retrospectively included. We assessed the overall response rate to and adverse events of salvage chemotherapy.

Results:

The overall response rate to salvage chemotherapy was 33.3% and that of ICI responders was significantly higher than that of ICI nonresponders (66.7 vs 16.7%, respectively, p = 0.03). The incidence rate of adverse events to salvage chemotherapy was 55.6%.

Conclusion:

The efficacy of salvage chemotherapy was similar to that preceding ICI. Moreover, the safety of salvage chemotherapy was good.

Late-line treatment in metastatic gastric cancer: today and tomorrow

Survival for patients with unresectable advanced or recurrent gastric cancer (GC) remains poor and the historical lack of evidence-based therapeutic options after second-line therapy is reflected in current clinical guidelines for this condition. Despite uncertainty about optimal therapeutic strategies, further treatment is appropriate for some patients after failure of second line and may prolong survival. This approach has been reported in clinical trials and is becoming more common in real-world clinical settings. Several prognostic factors may increase the likelihood that a patient will be eligible for treatment in the third-line setting, including geographic location, status at diagnosis and response to treatment. There has been little progress over the last decade until the results from two large phase III randomized controlled trials completed in the last year: the ATTRACTION-2 trial with the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor, nivolumab, in an Asian population; and the TAGS trial with the oral chemotherapy trifluridine/tipiracil in a global population. Both ATTRACTION-2 and TAGS reported positive results in third-line treatment in advanced GC in specific patient groups. A further recently reported study, KEYNOTE-059, which was a single-arm phase II trial of the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in a mainly non-Asian population, has provided evidence supporting the use of this immunotherapy in patients with advanced GC. As further third-line options become available, more GC patients are expected to benefit from an individualized evidence-based approach to later-line therapy, with a common goal of extending survival and improving outcomes for their refractory disease.

Classification of gallbladder cancer by assessment of CD8+ TIL and PD-L1 expression

BACKGROUND

Programmed death ligand 1/2 (PD-L1/PD-L2) expression has been established as a prognostic factor for various solid tumors and as a predictive factor for PD-1 blockade therapy, but scant data on its role in gallbladder cancer (GBC). The aims of this study were to assess the expression of PD-L1/PD-L2 and the density of CD8⁺ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) from GBC samples and to quantify the association between survival prognosis and these factors.

METHODS

CD8⁺ TILs density and the expression of PD-1, PD-L1, PD-L2 and CD133 were assessed using immunohistochemistry in tumor specimens from 66 patients with gallbladder adenocarcinoma. These indexes were correlated with the clinicopathological features.

RESULTS

The rate of PD-L1-positive (PD-L1⁺) was 54%, which included 18% positivity in tumor cells, and 36% in peritumoral immune stroma. High CD8⁺ TIL density (CD8^high) was observed in PD-L1⁺ GBC, and PD-L1⁺ was positively associated with PD-L2⁺ expression. Regarding prognostic factors, PD-L1⁺ expression was related to worse overall survival (OS), and CD8^high indicated better OS and progression-free survival (PFS). The combination of CD8^high with PD-L1⁺ serves as a prognostic factor for improved OS (P < 0.001) and PFS (P = 0.014).

CONCLUSION

Analysis of the tumor immune microenvironment based on CD8⁺ TIL and PD-L1 expression is a promising independent predictor for the clinical outcome of GBC patients.

Lung Cancers: Molecular Characterization, Clonal Heterogeneity and Evolution, and Cancer Stem Cells

Lung cancer causes the largest number of cancer-related deaths in the world. Most (85%) of lung cancers are classified as non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small-cell lung cancer (15%) (SCLC). The 5-year survival rate for NSCLC patients remains very low (about 16% at 5 years). The two predominant NSCLC histological phenotypes are adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (LSQCC). ADCs display several recurrent genetic alterations, including: KRAS, BRAF and EGFR mutations; recurrent mutations and amplifications of several oncogenes, including ERBB2, MET, FGFR1 and FGFR2; fusion oncogenes involving ALK, ROS1, Neuregulin1 (NRG1) and RET. In LSQCC recurrent mutations of TP53, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, DDR2 and genes of the PI3K pathway have been detected, quantitative gene abnormalities of PTEN and CDKN2A. Developments in the characterization of lung cancer molecular abnormalities provided a strong rationale for new therapeutic options and for understanding the mechanisms of drug resistance. However, the complexity of lung cancer genomes is particularly high, as shown by deep-sequencing studies supporting the heterogeneity of lung tumors at cellular level, with sub-clones exhibiting different combinations of mutations. Molecular studies performed on lung tumors during treatment have shown the phenomenon of clonal evolution, thus supporting the occurrence of a temporal tumor heterogeneity.