Clinical features as potential prognostic factors in patients treated with nivolumab for highly pretreated metastatic gastric cancer: a multicenter retrospective study

Keratin 6A (KRT6A) promotes radioresistance, invasion, and metastasis in lung cancer via p53 signaling pathway

BACKGROUND

It is reported that the incidence rate and mortality of lung cancer are very high. Therefore, early diagnosis and identification of specific biomarkers are crucial for the clinical treatment of lung cancer. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the prognostic significance of KRT6A in human lung cancer.

METHODS

The GEO2R online tool was utilized to analyze the differential expression of mRNA between lung carcinoma tissues and radioresistant tissues in the GSE73095 and GSE197236 datasets. DAVID database was used to perform GO and KEGG enrichment analyses on target genes. The Kaplan-Meier plotter tool was used to analyze the impact of key messenger ribonucleic acid on the survival status of lung cancer. In addition, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to investigate the impact of key genes on the phenotype of lung cancer cells. After the knockout, we conducted cell migration and CCK-8 experiments to detect their effects on cell proliferation and invasion.

RESULTS

40 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were chosen from GSE73095 and 118 DEGs were chosen from GSE197236. Kaplan-Meier map analysis showed that the overall cancer survival rate of the high-expression KRT6A group was higher than that of the low-expression group (P < 0.05). Besides, cell experiments have shown that when the KRT6A gene is downregulated, the proliferation and invasion ability of lung cancer cells is weakened.

CONCLUSIONS

Our research concluded that KRT6A may take part in the radioresistance and progression of lung cancer and can be a potential biomarker for lung cancer patients.

Concomitant Use of Steroids and Immunotherapy in a Patient With Paraneoplastic Dermatomyositis and Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinoma

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are a heterogeneous group of autoimmune pathologies often associated with occult malignancies. Glucocorticoids (GCs) represent the initial therapy to control symptoms and avoid complications. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shifted the paradigm of cancer treatment. Nivolumab has become the first-line therapy in combination with chemotherapy for untreated, unresectable, non-HER-2-positive advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. The use of ICIs increases the risk of immune-related adverse events (irAEs), especially in patients with autoimmune diseases, and patients receiving steroids or immunosuppressants might be associated with poorer immunotherapy efficacy. We describe the case of a 49-year-old male who was diagnosed with paraneoplastic dermatomyositis (PDM) and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. He was started on prednisone taper, and concomitantly, he was started on chemotherapy with fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel (FLOT), with administration of pegfilgrastim and dexamethasone during each cycle. Additionally, he was started on nivolumab. His course was complicated by worsening episodes of myopathies due to the immunotherapy, requiring adjustments to the prednisone taper. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan and repeat endoscopic ultrasonography with biopsy eight months after therapy initiation showed no major evidence of disease compared to prior. In our case, we exemplified the importance of multidisciplinary management for dosing and tapering of GCs and timing of ICI initiation, and we described the successful response to nivolumab in a patient with autoimmune disease concurrently receiving GCs.

High expression of serine protease 2 (PRSS2) associated with invasion, metastasis, and proliferation in gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Accumulating evidence indicates that the occurrence and development of tumors are related to the activation of oncogenes and the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes caused by epigenetic mechanisms. However, the function of serine protease 2 (PRSS2) in gastric cancer (GC) is still unknown. Our study aimed to find a regulation network involved in GC.

METHODS

The mRNA data (GSE158662 and GSE194261) of GC and normal tissues were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. Differential expression analysis was performed using R software, and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis was conducted by using Xiantao software. Besides, we used Quantitative Real-time PCR (qPCR) to verify our conclusions. After gene knockdown, cell migration and CCK-8 experiment were carried out to detect the effect of gene on cell proliferation and invasion.

RESULTS

Totally, 412 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from GSE158662 and 94 DEGs were identified from GSE196261. Km-plot database results indicated that PRSS2 exhibited high diagnosis worth for GC. Gene functional annotation enrichment analysis revealed that these hub mRNAs were mainly taken part in the process of tumorigenesis and development. Besides, vitro experiments showed that down-regulation of PRSS2 gene reduced the proliferation and invasion ability of GC cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicated that PRSS2 may play vital roles in the carcinogenesis and progression of GC and can be potential biomarkers for patients with GC.

Albumin-derived Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Score as a Marker of Nivolumab Treatment Sensitivity in Gastric Cancer: A Multicenter Study

BACKGROUND/AIM

Establishment of powerful and easy-to-evaluate biomarkers that can predict immune checkpoint inhibitor sensitivity in patients with gastric cancer (GC) would be highly useful. The albumin-derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (Alb-dNLR) score reportedly is an excellent measure of both immunity and nutritional status. However, the association between nivolumab treatment sensitivity and Alb-dNLR in GC has also not been adequately investigated. This multicenter retrospective study was designed to evaluate the association of Alb-dNLR with therapeutic sensitivity of nivolumab in GC patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This was a retrospective multicenter study with patients from five sites. The data from 58 patients who received nivolumab for postoperative recurrent or unresectable advanced GC between October 2017 and December 2018 were analyzed. Blood tests had been performed before nivolumab administration. We analyzed the correlation between the Alb-dNLR score and clinicopathological factors, including best overall response.

RESULTS

Of the 58 patients, 21 (36.2%) comprised the disease control (DC) group and 37 (63.8%) comprised the progressive disease (PD) group. The nivolumab treatment responses were subjected to receiver operating characteristic analysis. The cutoff value was set to 2.90 g/dl for Alb and to 3.55 for dNLR. All eight patients in the high Alb-dNLR group had PD (p=0.0049). The low Alb-dNLR group had significantly better overall survival (p=0.0023) and progression-free survival rates (p<0.0001).

CONCLUSION

The Alb-dNLR score was a very simple and sensitive predictor of nivolumab therapeutic sensitivity and has very good biomarker properties.

Third- and Late Line Treatments of Metastatic Gastric Cancer: Still More to Be Done

In recent years, advances of anticancer and supportive therapies have determined a gradual improvement in survival rates and patients’ general conditions in metastatic gastric cancer (mGC), allowing them to receive further treatments. The choice of treatment is driven by performance status, age, stage of disease, number of metastatic sites and time from the first to third line of treatment. Targets such as microsatellite instability, PD-L1 expression, and HER2 overexpression or amplification may be addressed to personalise treatment and prolong survival. Despite a growing number of third line options that have provided clinicians with greater opportunities to customise treatments, up to date few agents have been demonstrated as effective after two standard lines for mGC; for these reasons, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy were all widely investigated in both phase II and phase III studies. Overall, TAS-102, apatinib, regorafenib, nilotinib, trastuzumab, and pembrolizumab were demonstrated to be valid options in the third line scenario for mGC patient refractory to at least two lines of therapy. A multimodal approach based on chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted agents, a personalised nutritional programme as well as the research of new predictive biomarkers may pave the way to new strategies to identify the best treatment for each patient.

Changes in the Gustave Roussy Immune Score as a Powerful Prognostic Marker of the Therapeutic Sensitivity of Nivolumab in Advanced Gastric Cancer: A Multicenter, Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

Identification of positive biomarkers for the effects of nivolumab on patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) is significant. The Gustave Roussy Immune Score (GRIm-s) is associated with therapeutic resistance of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in other cancers. This multicenter, retrospective study was designed to analyze the association of GRIm-s with therapeutic sensitivity of nivolumab in patients with AGC.

METHODS

We reviewed 58 patients with AGC treated with nivolumab from October 2017 to November 2018 at five participating institutions. We performed blood tests before the start of nivolumab and after administration of two courses. We evaluated the correlation between the best overall response and GRIm-s. Additionally, we focused on the changes in GRIm-s before the start of nivolumab and after administration of two courses.

RESULTS

Of the 58 patients, 21 (36.2%) were classified into the disease control (DC) group and 37 (63.8%) into the progressive disease (PD) group. GRIm-s before nivolumab treatment did not correlate with the best therapeutic response (p = 0.086). However, GRIm-s after two courses of nivolumab showed that significantly more PD cases were in the high-risk group (p < 0.0001). After two courses of nivolumab, overall survival was significantly worse in the high-risk group (p < 0.0001). For progression-free survival, the high-risk group had a significantly worse prognosis both before (p = 0.04) and after two courses of nivolumab treatment (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

GRIm-s after two courses of nivolumab and its changes compared to pretreatment values proved beneficial in predicting nivolumab sensitivity.