Meta-analysis of P53 expression and sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Prognostic Impact of TP53 Mutations in Metastatic Nonsquamous Non-small-cell Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND

The prognostic impact of TP53 mutations in advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer (nsNSCLC) patients treated with chemotherapy and/or immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) remains unclear.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively collected data from patients with nsNSCLC treated in the first line from January 2018 to May 2021. The patient was separated into 2 groups according to their TP53 mutation status (wt vs. mut). Survival was estimated through the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank test.

RESULTS

Of 220 patients included, 126 were in the mutTP53 group, and 94 were in the wtTP53wt group. Median OS (mOS) was not significantly different between the mutTP53 and wtTP53 groups [17.5 months (95% confidence interval (CI), 11.3-21.5) vs. 9.5 months (95% CI, 7.4-14.2), (P = .051)]. In subgroup analyses, the mutTP53 group treated with ICI had a significantly improved mOS compared to the wtTP53 group [(24.7 months (95% CI, 20.8-not reach) vs. 12.0 months (95% CI, 4.7-not reach), (P = .017)] and mPFS [(9.6 months (95% CI, 5.8-not reach) vs. 3.2 months (95% CI, 1.3-13.8) (P = .048)]. There was no difference in terms of mOS and mPFS between the mutTP53 and the wtTP53 group treated by chemotherapy alone or combined with ICI.

CONCLUSION

TP53 mutation had no survival impact in the overall population, but is associated with better outcomes with ICI alone. These results suggest that patients with TP53 mutations could be treated with ICI alone, and wild-type patients could benefit from the addition of chemotherapy.

Predictive value of p53 and AXL immunostaining for the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor-based therapy after osimertinib treatment in patients with epidermal growth factor-mutant non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Current evidence indicates that immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have a limited efficacy in patients with lung cancer harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. However, there is a lack of data on the efficacy of ICIs after osimertinib treatment, and the predictors of ICI efficacy are unclear.

METHODS

We retrospectively assessed consecutive patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC who received ICI-based therapy after osimertinib treatment at 10 institutions in Japan, between March 2016 and March 2021. Immunohistochemical staining was used to evaluate the expression of p53 and AXL. The deletions of exon 19 and the exon 21 L858R point mutation in EGFR were defined as common mutations; other mutations were defined as uncommon mutations.

RESULTS

A total of 36 patients with advanced or recurrent EGFR-mutant NSCLC were analyzed. In multivariate analysis, p53 expression in tumors was an independent predictor of PFS after ICI-based therapy (p = 0.002). In patients with common EGFR mutations, high AXL expression was a predictor of shorter PFS and overall survival after ICI-based therapy (log-rank test; p = 0.04 and p = 0.02, respectively).

CONCLUSION

The levels of p53 in pretreatment tumors may be a predictor of ICI-based therapy outcomes in patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC after osimertinib treatment. High levels of AXL in tumors may also be a predictor of ICI-based therapy outcomes, specifically for patients with common EGFR mutations. Further prospective large-scale investigations on the predictors of ICI efficacy following osimertinib treatment are warranted.

Transcriptome-based stemness indices analysis reveals platinum-based chemo-theraputic response indicators in advanced-stage serous ovarian cancer

Serous ovarian cancer (SOC) is a main histological subtype of ovarian cancer, in which cancer stem cells (CSC) are responsible for its chemoresistance. However, the underlying modulation mechanisms of chemoresistance led by cancer stemness are still undefined. We aimed to investigate potential drug-response indicators among stemness-associated biomarkers in advanced SOC samples. The mRNA expression-based stemness index (mRNAsi) of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was evaluated and corrected by tumor purity. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was utilized to explore the gene modules and key genes involved in stemness characteristics. We found that mRNAsi and corrected mRNAsi scores were both greater in tumors of Grade 3 and 4 than that of Grade 1 and 2. Forty-two key genes were obtained from the most significant mRNAsi-related gene module. Functional annotation revealed that these key genes were mainly involved in the mitotic division. Thirteen potential platinum-response indicators were selected from the genes enriched to platinum-response associated pathways. Among them, we identified 11 genes with prognostic value of progression-free survival (PFS) in advanced SOC patients treated with platinum and 7 prognostic genes in patients treated with a combination of platinum and taxol. The expressions of the 13 key genes were also validated between platinum-resistant and -sensitive SOC samples of advanced stages in two Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. The results revealed that CDC20 was a potential platinum-sensitivity indicator in advanced SOC. These findings may provide a new insight for chemotherapies in advanced SOC patients clinically.