Clinical next-generation sequencing reveals aggressive cancer biology in adolescent and young adult patients

Genetic disorders of the surfactant system: focus on adult disease

Genes involved in the production of pulmonary surfactant are crucial for the development and maintenance of healthy lungs. Germline mutations in surfactant-related genes cause a spectrum of severe monogenic pulmonary diseases in patients of all ages. The majority of affected patients present at a very young age, however, a considerable portion of patients have adult-onset disease. Mutations in surfactant-related genes are present in up to 8% of adult patients with familial interstitial lung disease (ILD) and associate with the development of pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer.High disease penetrance and variable expressivity underscore the potential value of genetic analysis for diagnostic purposes. However, scarce genotype-phenotype correlations and insufficient knowledge of mutation-specific pathogenic processes hamper the development of mutation-specific treatment options.This article describes the genetic origin of surfactant-related lung disease and presents spectra for gene, age, sex and pulmonary phenotype of adult carriers of germline mutations in surfactant-related genes.

Identification of Evidence for Key Positive Psychological Constructs in Pediatric and Adolescent/Young Adult Patients with Cancer: A Scoping Review

Introduction: Children and adolescents/young adults (AYAs) with cancer are a vulnerable population susceptible to numerous late effects, such as fatigue and depression, which may diminish their long-term psychological, physical, spiritual, and emotional health. A well-rounded understanding of how positive psychological constructs affect the quality of care and treatment outcomes is therefore warranted.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of 15 positive psychological constructs in children and AYAs with cancer. The primary research questions were (1) what is known about positive psychological constructs in children and AYAs with cancer; (2) what value is ascribed to these constructs by patients?

Results: Two hundred seventy-six articles were included after database search and screening. These studies were mostly observational or qualitative and conducted in North America. Constructs were often poorly defined, and measurement tools used to gather data were wide ranging. Numerous factors were correlated with increased or decreased expression of certain constructs, but overall themes were difficult to identify. Similarly, patients often spoke of what increased or decreased expression of a construct, with less emphasis on what they implicitly value.

Discussion: This scoping review found ample evidence for what increases or decreases expression of positive psychological constructs, but this evidence was observational and often conflicting. In the future, we recommend the development of a core set of psychological outcomes, with definitions and corresponding measurement tools. We further recommend an emphasis on randomized trials to more rigorously study how expression of constructs can be improved and what effect this has on the quality of life.

Clinical Impact of Next-generation Sequencing in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Patients: A Single-institutional Experience

The implementation of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in pediatric neuro-oncology may impact diagnosis, prognosis, therapeutic strategies, clinical trial enrollment, and germline risk. We retrospectively analyzed 58 neuro-oncology patients (31 boys, 27 girls, average age 7.4 years) who underwent NGS tumor profiling using a single commercially available platform on paraffin-embedded tissue obtained at diagnosis (20 low-grade gliomas, 12 high-grade gliomas, 11 embryonal tumors, four ependymal tumors, three meningeal tumors, and eight other CNS tumors) from May 2014 to December 2016. NGS results were analyzed for actionable mutations, variants of unknown significance and clinical impact. Seventy-four percent of patients (43 of 57) had actionable mutations; 26% had only variants of uncertain significance (VUS). NGS findings impacted treatment decisions in 55% of patients; 24% were given a targeted treatment based on NGS findings. Seven of eight patients with low-grade tumors treated with targeted therapy (everolimus, trametinib, or vemurafenib) experienced partial response or stable disease. All high-grade tumors had progressive disease on targeted therapy. Forty percent of patients had a revision or refinement of their diagnosis, and nine percent of patients were diagnosed with a previously unconfirmed cancer predisposition syndrome. Turnaround time between sample shipment and report generation averaged 13.4 ± 6.4 days. One sample failed due to insufficient DNA quantity. Our experience highlights the feasibility and clinical utility of NGS in the management of pediatric neuro-oncology patients. Future prospective clinical trials using NGS are needed to establish efficacy.

Older adults in phase I clinical trials: a comparative analysis of participation and clinical benefit rate among older adults versus middle age and AYA patients on phase I clinical trials with VEGF/VEGFR inhibitors

Background

Older adults aged 65 years and above remain underrepresented in cancer clinical trials. We hypothesized that older participation in early phase trials with VEGF/VEGFR (VEGF/R) inhibitors was lower than cancer prevalence in this group and lower than other age groups (middle age, adolescent/young adults [AYA]).

Results

Of 1489 patients, 278 were older adults (18%, median age 68.9y), 220 AYA (15%, median age 32.6 y), 991 middle age (67%, median age 53.8 y). Common malignancies included gastrointestinal (n = 438, 29%), gynecologic (n = 234, 16%), and thoracic/head/neck (n = 216, 15%). Median time to treatment failure did not vary significantly between the 3 age-based cohorts (3m in older adults, 3.5 m middle age, 3.3 m AYA). OR of achieving clinical benefit in older adults vs middle age (OR 1.10, p 0.19 [two-tailed], p 0.09 [one-tailed]) and AYA vs middle age (OR 0.85, p 0.31 [proportions z-test, two tailed], p 0.15 [one-tailed]) showed no significant differences.

Conclusions

Older adults accounted for <20% of participants on phase I clinical trials with VEGF/R inhibitors but those who participated were just as likely to achieve a clinical benefit as AYA and middle age patients. These findings merit further exploration into patient selection for early phase trials.

Methods

We identified and separated patients treated on VEGF/R-inhibitor-based phase I trials from 12/1/2004–07/31/2013 into 3 age-based cohorts, AYA (15–39y), middle age (40–64 y), older adults (65 y+). We analyzed clinical/treatment characteristics and response outcomes, calculating the odds ratios (OR) of clinical benefit (defined as SD ≥ 6months, PR, CR) for older adults and AYAs versus middle age participants.

Histopathological investigation of glioblastomas resected under bevacizumab treatment

To date, no clinical observations have been reported for histopathological changes in human gliomas under antiangiogenic treatment.

We collected six glioblastomas resected under bevacizumab treatment. Histopathological investigation was performed by hematoxilyn-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry for CD34, VEGF, VEGFR1/2, HIF-1α, CA9, and nestin as compared to eleven control glioblastomas to assess the differences in histological features, microvessel density, expression of VEGF and its receptors, tumor oxygenation, and status of glioma stem-like cells.

In the six tumors resected under bevacizumab, microvascular proliferation was absent, and microvessel density had significantly decreased compared with that of the controls. The expressions of VEGF and its receptors were downregulated in two cases of partial response. HIF-1α or CA9 expression was decreased in five of the six tumors, whereas the decreased expression of these markers was noted in only one of the 11 control glioblastomas. The expression of nestin significantly decreased in the six tumors compared with that of the controls, with the remaining nestin-positive cells being relatively concentrated around vessels.

We provide the first clinicopathological evidence that antiangiogenic therapy induces the apparent normalization of vascular structure, decrease of microvessel density, and improvement of tumor oxygenation in glioblastomas. These in situ observations will help to optimize therapy.

The burden of rare cancers in the United States

There are limited published data on the burden of rare cancers in the United States. By using data from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program, the authors provide information on incidence rates, stage at diagnosis, and survival for more than 100 rare cancers (defined as an incidence of fewer than 6 cases per 100,000 individuals per year) in the United States. Overall, approximately 20% of patients with cancer in the United States are diagnosed with a rare cancer. Rare cancers make up a larger proportion of cancers diagnosed in Hispanic (24%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (22%) patients compared with non-Hispanic blacks (20%) and non-Hispanic whites (19%). More than two-thirds (71%) of cancers occurring in children and adolescents are rare cancers compared with less than 20% of cancers diagnosed in patients aged 65 years and older. Among solid tumors, 59% of rare cancers are diagnosed at regional or distant stages compared with 45% of common cancers. In part because of this stage distribution, 5-year relative survival is poorer for patients with a rare cancer compared with those diagnosed with a common cancer among both males (55% vs 75%) and females (60% vs 74%). However, 5-year relative survival is substantially higher for children and adolescents diagnosed with a rare cancer (82%) than for adults (46% for ages 65-79 years). Continued efforts are needed to develop interventions for prevention, early detection, and treatment to reduce the burden of rare cancers. Such discoveries can often advance knowledge for all cancers. CA Cancer J Clin 2017. © 2017 American Cancer Society. CA Cancer J Clin 2017;67:261-272. © 2017 American Cancer Society.