Neutropenia predicts better prognosis in patients with metastatic gastric cancer on a combined epirubicin, oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil regimen

Beyond binary: bridging neutrophil diversity to new therapeutic approaches in NSCLC

Neutrophils represent the most abundant myeloid cell subtype in the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor microenvironment (TME). By anti- or protumor polarization, they impact multiple aspects of tumor biology and affect sensitivity to conventional therapies and immunotherapies. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analyses have unraveled an extensive neutrophil heterogeneity, helping our understanding of their pleiotropic role. In this review we summarize recent data and models on tumor-associated neutrophil (TAN) biology, focusing on the diversity that evolves in response to tumor-intrinsic cues. We categorize available transcriptomic profiles from different cancer entities into a defined set of neutrophil subclusters with distinct phenotypic properties, to step beyond the traditional binary N1/2 classification. Finally, we discuss potential ways to exploit these neutrophil states in the setting of anticancer therapy.

Phase I study of aflibercept in combination with docetaxel in Japanese patients with advanced solid malignancies

Angiogenesis is a hallmark of cancer development. This study sought to determine the recommended dose of aflibercept, a recombinant fusion protein targeting VEGF-A, VEGF-B and placental growth factor (PlGF), combined with docetaxel in Japanese patients with advanced solid malignancies. This phase I study was planned to include 12 patients following a 3 + 3 algorithm to determine the maximum tolerated dose of aflibercept combined with docetaxel in patients with metastatic or unresectable solid tumors (trial registration: NCT00545246). Docetaxel (75 mg/m² every 3 weeks or 60 mg/m² after protocol amendment) was combined with escalating doses of aflibercept (2, 4 and 6 mg/kg every 4 weeks). Free and VEGF-bound aflibercept were measured to assess free aflibercept in excess of the VEGF-bound form. At the starting dose of the combination, 3 of 6 patients treated experienced febrile neutropenia. After reducing the docetaxel dose to 60 mg/m² in step 2 and permitting therapeutic granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) use, 2 of 3 patients in both cohorts experienced febrile neutropenia. Five patients (42%) had a partial response and 4 patients had stable disease (33%). Free aflibercept in excess of the VEGF-bound form was not maintained at this dose level. The dose limiting toxicity (DLT) of aflibercept combined with docetaxel was febrile neutropenia, which occurred in 2 of 3 Japanese patients at the lowest aflibercept dose level (2 mg/kg) combined with docetaxel (60 mg/m²) and therapeutic G-CSF use. A recommended dose for further studies was not determined because of the DLT at the starting dose.

Prognostic implications of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in stage III colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have reported chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) as a prognostic factor in stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC). However, only few reports analyzed the prognostic value of CIN in patients with stage III CRC who received adjuvant chemotherapy with oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin (FOLFOX). We aimed to investigate the prognostic implications of CIN in patients with stage III CRC who received adjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFOX.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed patients with stage III CRC who received adjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFOX at a tertiary hospital between January 2007 and December 2017. Severe CIN was defined as an absolute neutrophil count of less than 1000/mm³. Three-y disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed as primary endpoints.

RESULTS

Among the 199 patients included in this study, 110 patients (55.3%) experienced severe CIN. There were no significant differences in survival outcomes between the control and CIN groups (control group versus CIN group: 3-y OS, 82.0 % versus 72.7 %; log rank, P = 0.250 and 3-y DFS, 71.9 % versus 62.7; log rank, P = 0.294). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that CIN did not affect DFS and OS in patients with stage III CRC who received adjuvant FOLFOX chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Severe CIN occurring during adjuvant FOLFOX chemotherapy did not play a significant role in the prognosis of patients with stage III CRC.

Current management of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in adults: key points and new challenges: Committee of Neoplastic Supportive-Care (CONS), China Anti-Cancer Association Committee of Clinical Chemotherapy, China Anti-Cancer Association

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) is a potentially fatal and common complication in myelosuppressive chemotherapy. The timing and grade of CIN may play prognostic and predictive roles in cancer therapy. CIN is associated with older age, poor functional and nutritional status, the presence of significant comorbidities, the type of cancer, previous chemotherapy cycles, the stage of the disease, specific chemotherapy regimens, and combined therapies. There are many key points and new challenges in the management of CIN in adults including: (1) Genetic risk factors to evaluate the patient's risk for CIN remain unclear. However, these risk factors urgently need to be identified. (2) Febrile neutropenia (FN) remains one of the most common reasons for oncological emergency. No consensus nomogram for FN risk assessment has been established. (3) Different assessment tools [e.g., Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), the Clinical Index of Stable Febrile Neutropenia (CISNE) score model, and other tools] have been suggested to help stratify the risk of complications in patients with FN. However, current tools have limitations. The CISNE score model is useful to support decision-making, especially for patients with stable FN. (4) There are still some challenges, including the benefits of granulocyte colony stimulating factor treatment and the optimal antibiotic regimen in emergency management of FN. In view of the current reports, our group discusses the key points, new challenges, and management of CIN.

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia as a prognostic factor in patients with pancreatic cancer treated with gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) is a common adverse event of chemotherapy. Several reports have suggested that CIN could be an important prognostic factor in chemotherapy of various cancers. However, whether CIN is a prognostic factor in unresectable pancreatic cancer (PC) treated with gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel (GnP) is unknown. The primary endpoint of this study was to compare overall survival (OS) between patients with severe CIN (grade ≥ 3) and those with absent/mild CIN (grade ≤ 2) in unresectable PC cases treated with GnP as first-line chemotherapy.

METHODS

A retrospective, cohort study was conducted using data from a computerized database. A total of 290 patients with pathologically confirmed PC treated with GnP as first-line chemotherapy were analyzed (severe CIN: ≥ grade 3, n = 174; absent/mild CIN: ≤ grade 2, n = 116).

RESULTS

The median OS was longer in the severe CIN group than in the absent/mild CIN group (19.2 months vs 11.3 months, respectively; P < 0.001). After adjustment, severe CIN was an independent predictive factor for OS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.38-0.74; P < 0.001). After adjustment by time-varying covariates, severe CIN was still a significant prognostic factor for OS (HR, 0.79; 95% CI 0.69-0.91, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The present results show that severe CIN is an independent and useful prognostic factor in PC patients treated with GnP.

Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia as a Prognostic and Predictive Marker of Outcomes in Solid-Tumor Patients

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) is one of the most common side effects seen in cancer patients. As an adverse event, it is deemed undesirable since it often constitutes a dose-limiting toxicity for cytotoxic agents leading to treatment delays and/or dose reductions. It is also associated with a financial cost component from diagnostic work-up and treatment of patients with chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (CIFN). Neutropenia is commonly accompanied by a decrease in other hematopoietic lineages (anemia and/or thrombocytopenia). Dosing of chemotherapeutic agents is based on the severity of adverse effects seen. Depending on the degree of neutropenia, chemotherapeutic agents may be put on hold until count recovery and growth factor support might be added to allow for dosing as scheduled. However, neutropenia appears to be more than just an adverse event. While CIFN by itself constitutes an adverse event, the appearance of just CIN is not necessarily a marker of poor outcome. In fact, it rather appears to be a surrogate marker of response and/or survival in patients treated with cytotoxic regimens. Here we present evidence in different tumor types treated with different regimens on the role CIN plays as a marker for improved outcomes. If CIN is a surrogate prognostic and/or potentially predictive marker of response, chemotherapy doses may need to be escalated to achieve neutropenia. In addition, instead of reducing treatment doses for safety concerns, the addition of growth factor support and alternative dosing schemes may be strategies to consider.

Systemic release of osteoprotegerin during oxaliplatin-containing induction chemotherapy and favorable systemic outcome of sequential radiotherapy in rectal cancer

In colorectal cancer, immune effectors may be determinative for disease outcome. Following curatively intended combined-modality therapy in locally advanced rectal cancer metastatic disease still remains a dominant cause of failure. Here, we investigated whether circulating immune factors might correlate with outcome. An antibody array was applied to assay changes of approximately 500 proteins in serial serum samples collected from patients during oxaliplatin-containing induction chemotherapy and sequential chemoradiotherapy before final pelvic surgery. Array data was analyzed by the Significance Analysis of Microarrays software and indicated significant alterations in serum osteoprotegerin (TNFRSF11B) during the treatment course, which were confirmed by osteoprotegerin measures using a single-parameter immunoassay. Patients experiencing increase in circulating osteoprotegerin during the chemotherapy had significantly better 5-year progression-free survival than those without increase (78% versus 48%; P = 0.009 by log-rank test). Hence, systemic release of this soluble tumor necrosis factor decoy receptor following the induction phase of neoadjuvant therapy was associated with favorable long-term outcome in patients given curatively intended chemoradiotherapy and surgery but with metastatic disease as the main adverse event. This finding suggests that osteoprotegerin may mediate or reflect systemic anti-tumor immunity invoked by combined-modality therapy in locally advanced rectal cancer.

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and the prognosis of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of cohort studies

INTRODUCTION

Recently, there has been a controversial discussion about the prognostic value of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) in colorectal cancer patients. Thus, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between CIN and the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients.

METHODS

We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases to identify studies evaluating the association between CIN and colorectal cancer prognosis. Pooled random/fixed effect models were used to calculate pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the association.

RESULTS

Eight studies were selected for the meta-analysis, for a total of 2,745 patients. There was significant improved survival among colorectal cancer patients with CIN (HR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.47-0.76). However, significant heterogeneity was found (p = 0.000, Ι² = 75.0%). Through subgroup analysis, we could greatly eliminate the heterogeneity and found that neutropenia was associated with better survival in stage IV colorectal cancer patients, no matter the HR calculated by overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS). Meanwhile, the prognostic value of neutropenia in stage II/III colorectal cancer can be found when the HR is calculated by disease-free survival (DFS). Additionally, we observed significant differences after stratification according to various tumor stages, endpoints, and the use of G-CSF.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results which, based on a cohort study, indicate that CIN is associated with improved survival in patients with colorectal cancer. However, further randomized controlled trials are warranted.

Dose considerations for anti-cancer drugs in metastatic prostate cancer

Despite a growing number of treatment options, metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer remains almost universally fatal. Dose individualization ensures patients receive the maximal benefit from each line of treatment potentially leading to improved outcomes, a reduction in quality of life impairment and minimization of premature cessation for avoidable toxicity. Herein, we review drug-specific issues that may be associated with unexpected or unrecognized variations in drug systemic exposure despite the use of protocol doses. In particular, we discuss the potential for under-exposure of docetaxel and cabazitaxel; over-exposure of enzalutamide; and varied absorption of abiraterone acetate.

Timing of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia: the prognostic factor in advanced pancreatic cancer patients treated with gemcitabine / gemcitabine-based chemotherapy

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) was reported to be a predictor of better survival in several cancers. The objective of our study is to evaluate the relationship between the timing (onset) of CIN and prognosis. Between June 2008 and June 2015, 134 patients with confirmed advanced pancreatic cancer received at least one cycle of gemcitabine / gemcitabine-based chemotherapy as first-line chemotherapy were eligible for assessment. Timing of CIN was categorized into early onset and non-early onset CIN group. The end of cycle 2 was the cutoff to differentiate early onset or non-early onset. The correlation between timing of CIN with survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. Median overall survival (OS) was 8.05 months (95% CI: 5.97-10.13) for patients with early onset CIN compared with 5.82 months (95% CI: 5.00-6.63) for patients without early-onset neutropenia (P = 0.022). Multivariate analysis proved that timing of CIN was an independent prognostic factor, hazard ratios of death was 0.696 (95% CI: 0.466-0.938) for patients with early onset CIN. In conclusion, timing of CIN is an independent predictor of prognosis in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing gemcitabine / gemcitabine based chemotherapy. Early-onset CIN predicts better survival.

Neutrophil count and percentage: potential independent prognostic indicators for advanced cancer patients in a palliative care setting

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the count and percentage of neutrophils as prognostic indicators in advanced cancer patients undergoing palliative care. 378 consecutive patients receiving treatment at the palliative care unit of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center between July 2013 and October 2015 were reviewed. In 106 of these patients, the data were extended during the follow-up. The cut-off values selected for the neutrophil count and percentage were 8.0×109/L and 85%, respectively. Both a high pretreatment neutrophil count (HR = 1.828, 95% CI: 1.409∼2.371, P<0.001) and a high pretreatment neutrophil percentage (HR = 1.475, 95% CI: 1.106∼1.967, P=0.008) were independent prognostic factors for decreased overall survival. Furthermore, in the follow-up cohort of readmitted patients (n = 106), patients with a newly increased neutrophil count or percentage were respectively, 1.837 (95% CI: 1.096∼3.079) and 3.268 (95% CI: 1.848∼5.778) times more likely to have a poor prognosis compared with patients with low neutrophil conditions (P=0.021, P<0.001). In conclusions, both high pretreatment or newly increased count and percentage of neutrophils were confirmed as independent prognostic factors for adverse outcomes. These parameters may be used as stratification factors in identifying advanced cancer patients with poor prognosis in palliative care settings.

Inhibition of CYFIP2 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation and chemoresistance to 5-fluorouracil through activation of the Akt signaling pathway

Gastric cancer is a common gastrointestinal malignancy that accounts for a notable proportion of cancer-associated mortalities worldwide. Cytoplasmic fragile X mental retardation 1-interacting protein 2 (CYFIP2) is a novel p53-mediated pro-apoptotic protein whose expression is decreased in gastric cancer. However, whether decreased expression of CYFIP2 contributes to gastric carcinogenesis remains unclear. In order to mimic in vivo gastric tumor CYFIP2 expression levels, the present study used short hairpin RNA targeting CYFIP2 mRNA to silence CYFIP2 expression in MGC803 and SGC7901 gastric cancer cells. Gastric cancer cells with constitutively decreased CYFIP2 expression levels were successfully established. It was observed that CYFIP2 knockdown promoted proliferation and colony formation, and inhibited apoptosis in these cells. Furthermore, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced apoptosis was decreased following inhibition of CYFIP2 expression. In SGC7901 cells, protein expression of active caspase-3 and cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase was increased following treatment with 5-FU, while phosphorylated Akt serine/threonine kinase 1 (Akt) levels were decreased. These 5-FU-induced effects were reduced following CYFIP2 knockdown. In addition, inhibition of the Akt signaling pathway using the Akt inhibitor LY294002 restored CYFIP2-knockdown SGC7901 cell chemosensitivity to 5-FU. The results of the present study demonstrate that decreased CYFIP2 expression is associated with increased gastric tumor growth in vitro and that CYFIP2 knockdown-induced activation of the Akt pro-survival signaling pathway confers resistance to 5-FU-based chemotherapy in gastric cancer cells. Therefore, combined treatment with an Akt inhibitor and chemotherapeutic drugs may improve the efficacy of gastric cancer therapy in patients with low CYFIP2 expression.

Chemotherapy induced neutropenia at 1-month mark is a predictor of overall survival in patients receiving TAS-102 for refractory metastatic colorectal cancer: a cohort study

Background

TAS-102 (trifluridine and tipiracil hydrochloride; a novel combination oral nucleoside anti-tumor agent) has recently received regulatory approval for patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Internal review of data at a single-institution showed a trend towards better overall survival (OS) for patients who experienced chemotherapy-induced neutropenia at 1-month (CIN-1-month). To explore this finding further, a cohort study was designed based on outcome data from three centers in United States and one from Japan.

Methods

CIN-1-month after starting TAS-102 was defined by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), version 4.03 as a neutrophil count decrease of ≥ grade 2 (absolute neutrophil count < 1500/mm³). Patients had confirmed mCRC that was refractory to standard therapies. Patient demographics and clinical characteristics were compared between patients with CIN-1-month (CIN-1-month positive) versus those who did not have CIN-1-month (CIN-1-month negative); with the median progression-free survival (PFS) and OS were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences evaluated using the Log-rank test.

Results

Our cohort study had a total of 149 patients with data regarding their neutrophil assessment at 1-month mark. Patients who developed ≥ grade 2 CIN-1-month had a both longer PFS (median 3.0 months versus 2.4 months; Log-rank P-value = 0.01), as well as OS (14.0 versus 5.6 months; Log-rank P-value < 0.0001). Only CIN-1-month (adjusted HR: 0.21 (95 % CI: 0.11–0.38) and higher baseline CEA levels (adjusted HR: 2.00 (95 % CI: 1.22–3.35) were noted to be independent predictors of OS. Furthermore, the CIN-1-month was noted to be a statistically significantly predictor of OS over a wide range of cutoffs.

Conclusions

Our observations are novel and hypothesis generating. Neutropenia after starting TAS-102 was associated with better prognosis in patients with refractory mCRC. It can be postulated that the dosage of TAS-102 potentially may need to be increased to achieve better outcomes in patients not experiencing any neutropenia. Further pharmacologic investigations should help elucidate these issues.