A Retrospective Observational Study of Anlotinib in Patients with Platinum-Resistant or Platinum-Refractory Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer: Diagnosis and treatment strategies (Review)

Ovarian cancer is a malignant tumor that seriously endangers health. Early ovarian cancer symptoms are frequently challenging to detect, resulting in a large proportion of patients reaching an advanced stage when diagnosed. Conventional diagnosis relies heavily on serum biomarkers and pathological examination, but their sensitivity and specificity require improvement. Targeted therapy inhibits tumor growth by targeting certain characteristics of tumor cells, such as signaling pathways and gene mutations. However, the effectiveness of targeted therapy varies among individuals due to differences in their unique biological characteristics and requires individualized strategies. Immunotherapy is a promising treatment for ovarian cancer due to its long-lasting antitumor effect. Nevertheless, issues such as variable efficacy, immune-associated adverse effects and drug resistance remain to be resolved. The present review discusses the diagnostic strategies, rationale, treatment strategies and prospects of targeted therapy and immunotherapy for ovarian cancer.

Combined use of Anlotinib with chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer: a real-world cohort study and meta-analysis

Background

Anlotinib is a novel oral small-molecule receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. However, the efficacy and safety of its combined use with chemotherapy remain unclear in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Objectives

To assess the efficacy and safety of the combined use of Anlotinib with chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Design

A multi-center retrospective real-world analysis and a meta-analysis.

Data sources and methods

We enrolled patients with advanced ovarian cancer who received a combination therapy of Anlotinib and chemotherapy from 15 medical centers. We also searched electronic databases for studies assessing the efficacy and safety of the combined use of Anlotinib with chemotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer. The outcomes of interest included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and median progression-free survival (mPFS).

Results

A total of 71 patients, who were predominantly recurrent cases, were included in the real-world study. The ORR and DCR of the included patients were 40.8% and 76.1%, respectively; and their mPFS was 4.6 months. The log-rank test showed that previous antiangiogenic therapy was related to a longer mPFS (p < 0.05). Five studies in total were eligible for meta-analysis. The random-effects meta-analysis model showed that the ORR, DCR, and mPFS were 33.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 22.7-44.8% from four studies], 90.6% (95% CI 73.6-99.9% from five studies), and 6.6 months (95% CI 4.9-8.4 months from five studies). The most common adverse events were hand-foot syndrome and hypertension.

Conclusion

The combined use of Anlotinib with chemotherapy showed potential in treating patients with advanced ovarian cancer, with a tolerable safety profile.

Anlotinib in patients with recurrent platinum resistant/refractory ovarian cancer: a prospective, single arm, phase II study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in patients with platinum resistant/refractory ovarian cancer.

METHODS

In this prospective, single arm, phase II study, patients with platinum resistant/refractory ovarian cancer received anlotinib (12 mg once daily; days 1-14; 21 days per cycle) until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or study withdrawal. The study was conducted between May 2019 and May 2021. The primary endpoint was objective response rate. Secondary endpoints were disease control rate, progression free survival, overall survival, and safety. An exploratory biomarker analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation of baseline TP53 mutation status with outcomes.

RESULTS

33 of 34 enrolled patients received at least one dose of anlotinib. The objective response rate was 31.2% (95% confidence interval (CI) 16.1% to 50.0%), with 2 (6.3%) complete and 8 (25.0%) partial responses. In total, 14 (43.8%) patients achieved stable disease, resulting in a disease control rate of 75.0% (95% CI 56.6% to 88.5%). With a median follow-up of 4.6 months (range 0.5-17.2) at data cut-off (September 16, 2022), median progression free survival was 5.3 months (95% CI 4.04 to 6.56) and median overall survival was not reached. In a subgroup analysis, patients with a TP53 mutation showed a trend towards worse progression free survival than those with the wild-type TP53 (4.4 months vs 8.4 months; hazard ratio 2.48 (95% CI 0.91 to 6.76), p=0.067). Common adverse events were hypertension (42.4%), hand-foot syndrome (27.3%), and fatigue (24.2%). Grade 3 events were reported in 3 (9.1%) patients and no grade 4-5 events or deaths were observed.

CONCLUSION

Anlotinib showed antitumor activity with an acceptable safety profile in patients with platinum resistant/refractory ovarian cancer, and it might be a potential treatment in this population.

Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a malignant tumor originating from the pleura, and its incidence has been increasing in recent years. Due to the insidious onset and strong local invasiveness of MPM, most patients are diagnosed in the late stage and early screening and treatment for high-risk populations are crucial. The treatment of MPM mainly includes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Immunotherapy and electric field therapy have also been applied, leading to further improvements in patient survival. The Mesothelioma Group of the Yangtze River Delta Lung Cancer Cooperation Group (East China LUng caNcer Group, ECLUNG; Youth Committee) developed a national consensus on the clinical diagnosis and treatment of MPM based on existing clinical research evidence and the opinions of national experts. This consensus aims to promote the homogenization and standardization of MPM diagnosis and treatment in China, covering epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

Effect of anlotinib combined with ticeorgio for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a case report

For patients with locally unresectable recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma who relapsed after 2 years of radiotherapy, re-radiotherapy is also the preferred treatment. However, for patients relapsed within 2 years, the use of re-radiotherapy would be greatly limited by its adverse effects. Consequently, finding a new strategy to prolong the time of re-radiotherapy for locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma is very necessary to reduce the related side effects and improve the curative effect. Anlotinib is an orally available small molecule multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor that primarily inhibits VEGFR2/3, FGFR1-4, PDGFR α/β, c-Kit, and Ret. However, whether recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients can be treated with anlotinib combined with ticeorgio (also called S-1) remains unknown. Herein, we report a nasopharyngeal carcinoma patient with local recurrence after radical radiotherapy who benefited from combination treatment of anlotinib with ticeorgio.

Efficacy and Safety of Anlotinib in Overall and Disease-Specific Advanced Gynecological Cancer: A Real-World Study

Purpose

Anlotinib is a novel oral small-molecule multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has been approved for treating non-small cell lung cancer. However, its efficacy and safety among patients with advanced gynecological cancer have not been comprehensively evaluated. We conducted this study to address this issue in the real-world setting.

Patients and Methods

Data from patients treated with Anlotinib for persistent, recurrent or metastatic gynecological cancer were collected from 17 centers from August 2018. The database lock-time was on March 2022. Anlotinib was administered orally on days 1-14 every 3 weeks until disease progression, severe toxicity occurred, or death. In this study, disease-specific advanced gynecological cancer was mainly referred to cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer. The outcomes included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and progression-free survival (PFS).

Results

A total of 249 patients were analyzed, with a median follow-up of 14.5 months. The overall ORR and DCR were 28.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 22.6% to 34.1%] and 80.7% (95% CI 75.3% to 85.4%), respectively. Specifically, the ORR varied from 19.7% to 34.4% and the DCR differed from 81.7% to 90.0% in disease-specific advanced gynecological cancer. The median PFS was 6.1 months and ranged from 5.6 to 10.0 months in the overall and disease-specific advanced gynecological cancer, respectively. Larger cumulative dosage of Anlotinib (>700 mg) was in general associated with longer PFS in the overall and disease-specific advanced gynecological cancer. The most common adverse event related to Anlotinib treatment was pain/arthralgia (18.3%).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Anlotinib holds promise in treating patients with advanced gynecological cancer including its disease-specific types, with reasonable efficacy and tolerable safety.

Exploration of chemotherapy-free regimen after multi-line chemotherapy-induced renal impairment in recurrent ovarian cancer: Case report and literature review

Introduction

Platinum-based combination chemotherapy is recommended first choice for relapsed ovarian cancer. However, many of the chemotherapeutic agents are nephrotoxic and can promote kidney dysfunction, which affect the efficacy of cancer treatment and the survival of the patient. There is a need to explore long-term treatments of chemotherapy-free regimen of chronic kidney disease in recurrent ovarian cancer.

Case presentation

A 41-year-old female patient was presented with stage IIIC well-differentiated ovarian serous papillary adenocarcinoma in 2009. The patient had recurrence of platinum resistance after secondary cytoreductive surgery, and it was difficult to continue chemotherapy after multiple lines of chemotherapy due to myelosuppression, renal impairment and other factors. The patient accepted Niraparib-based treatment regimen after multi-line chemotherapy-induced stage 4 chronic kidney disease. Niraparib combined with anlotinib achieved median PFS of 11 months, disease re-progression, and the patient was switched to niraparib combined with letrozole from October 2021. No evidence of tumor progression was observed till date and the renal toxicity is acceptable.

Conclusions

In patients with relapsed ovarian cancer, treatment becomes increasingly challenging to subsequent therapies because of renal impairment and emerging drug resistance. Niraparib-based treatment regimen may be a good choice for patients with well-differentiated serous adenocarcinoma of the ovary who are intolerant to chemotherapy.

Anlotinib induces apoptosis and second growth/mitosis phase block in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells via the aurora kinase A/p53 pathway

BACKGROUND

Cisplatin (DDP) resistance in ovarian cancer (OC) patients usually leads to treatment failure and increased mortality. Anlotinib has been shown to improve progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, but the mechanism is unclear. This study aims to explore the mechanism by which anlotinib ameliorates platinum resistance in OC cells.

METHODS

Cell viability was detected by the 3-4,5-dimethylthiazol-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method, and the apoptosis rate and changes in the cell cycle distribution were evaluated by flow cytometry. Bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the potential gene target of anlotinib in DDP-resistance SKOV3 cells, and its expression was verifies it by RT-qPCR, western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. Finally, ovarian cancer cells overexpressing AURKA were constructed, and the predicted results were verified by animal experiments.

RESULTS

Anlotinib effectively induced apoptosis and G2/M arrest in OC cells and decreased the proportion of EdU-positive cells. AURKA was identified as a possible key target of anlotinib for inhibiting tumorigenic behaviors in SKOV3/DDP cells. Through combined immunofluorescence and western blot analyses, it was demonstrated that anlotinib could effectively inhibit the protein expression of AURKA and upregulate the expression of p53/p21, CDK1, and Bax protein. After overexpression of AURKA in OC cells, the induction of apoptosis and G2/M arrest by anlotinib were significantly inhibited. Anlotinib also effectively inhibited the growth of tumors in nude mice injected with OC cells.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that anlotinib can induce apoptosis and G2/M arrest in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells through the AURKA/p53 pathway.

Tislelizumab combined with anlotinib in the second-line treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma

RATIONALE

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a malevolent tumor originated from pleura and often leads to poor prognosis. Chemotherapy of pemetrexed and cisplatin combined with antiangiogenic therapy of bevacizumab is recommended as the first-line regimen by guidelines. However, there are few sustainable second-line anti-tumor theraies that bring distinct survival benefit after the occurrence of drug resistance as the reported mPFS (median progression-free survival) scarcely exceeds 6 months. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are extensively investigated in pan-cancer, and dual immunotherapy has been listed in the first-line recommendation of MPM in several guidelines, while MPM patients benefit modestly from immune checkpoint inhibitors combination or monotherapy in second-line practice.

PATIENT CONCERNS AND DIAGNOSIS

We report a 59-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with unresectable MPM in April 2021.

INTERVENTIONS

He received firstly pemetrexed combined with platinum and bevacizumab, which barely curbed disease progression; When the first line treatment failed, he was switched to tislelizumab combined with anlotinib.

OUTCOMES

Tislelizumab combined with anlotinib significantly relieved his clinical symptoms, and imaging examination further validated the improvement. Until present, the second-line treatment PFS is more than 10 months.

LESSONS

The case firstly demonstrated the efficacy of tislelizumab combined with anlotinib in the second-line management of MPM. Thus, immunotherapy combined with small-molecule multi-target anti-angiogenic medication may be alternative for the second-line schemes of MPM.

Anlotinib Exerts Inhibitory Effects against Cisplatin-Resistant Ovarian Cancer In Vitro and In Vivo

Background: Anlotinib is a highly potent multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Accumulating evidence suggests that anlotinib exhibits effective anti-tumor activity against various cancer subtypes. However, the effects of anlotinib against cisplatin-resistant (CIS) ovarian cancer (OC) are yet to be elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of anlotinib on the pathogenesis of cisplatin-resistant OC. Materials and Methods: Human OC cell lines (A2780 and A2780 CIS) were cultured and treated with or without anlotinib. The effects of anlotinib on cell proliferation were determined using cell-counting kit-8 and colony-formation assays. To evaluate the invasion and metastasis of OC cells, we performed wound-healing and transwell assays. The cell cycle was analyzed via flow cytometry. A xenograft mouse model was used to conduct in vivo studies to verify the effects of anlotinib. The expression of Ki-67 in the tumor tissue was detected via immunohistochemistry. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were used to measure the mRNA and protein levels. Results: Our study revealed that anlotinib significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of A2780 and A2780 CIS in a dose-dependent way in vitro (p < 0.05). Through R software ‘limma’ package analysis of GSE15372, it was found that, in comparison with A2780, PLK2 was expressed in significantly low levels in the corresponding cisplatin-resistant strains. The ERK1/2/Plk2 signaling axis mediates the inhibitory effect of anlotinib on the proliferation and migration of ovarian cancer cell lines. Moreover, our research found that anlotinib effectively inhibited the growth of tumor cells in an OC xenograft mouse model. Conclusions: In this study, anlotinib showed excellent inhibitory effects against cisplatin-resistant OC both in vitro and in vivo. These results add to the growing body of evidence supporting anlotinib as a potential anticancer agent against OC.

Feasibility and Tolerance of Apatinib plus PD-1 Inhibitors for Previously Treated Advanced Gastric Cancer: A Real-World Exploratory Study

Background

Apatinib is established to be the standard of care as third-line therapy for patients with previously treated advanced gastric cancer (GC). Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockades also exhibited promising efficacy and safety for patients with treatment-refractory advanced GC.

Objective

This study was to explore the feasibility and tolerance of apatinib plus PD-1 inhibitors for patients with previously treated advanced GC.

Methods

This study was performed as a real-world study; patients with advanced GC who were treated with previous systemic chemotherapy were screened retrospectively. Eligible patients were administered with apatinib combined with PD-1 blockade treatment. Efficacy of the patients was assessed with the change of target lesion using radiological evidence according to RECIST 1.1 criteria, and follow-up was carried out regularly. A safety profile was collected and documented during the combination treatment. Univariate analysis based on baseline characteristic subgroup was implemented in univariate analysis to identify the potential factor that might contribute to progression-free survival (PFS).

Results

Between August 2018 and October 2021, a total of 39 patients with advanced GC or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma participated in this study consecutively and all the patients were available for efficacy and safety assessment. The best overall response during apatinib plus PD-1 blockade administration exhibited that PR was observed in 8 patients, SD was noted in 19 patients, and PD was found in 12 patients, which yielded an ORR of 20.5% (95% CI: 9.3%-36.5%), and DCR was 69.2% (95% CI: 52.4%-83.0%). Furthermore, the relatively enough follow-up had resulted in the mature PFS and overall survival (OS) data, suggesting that the median PFS of the 39 patients with advanced GC was 3.9 months (95% CI: 2.74-5.06). Additionally, the median OS of the 39 patients with advanced GC was 7.8 months (95% CI: 4.82-10.78). Furthermore, the most common adverse reactions of the 39 patients who received apatinib plus PD-1 blockades treatment were fatigue (61.5%), nausea and vomiting (56.4%), diarrhea (48.7%), hypertension (46.2%), hand-foot syndrome (38.5%), and rash (28.2%). Furthermore, performance status was independently associated with PFS of apatinib plus PD-1 inhibitor combination administration in baseline characteristic subgroup analysis.

Conclusion

Apatinib plus PD-1 inhibitors exhibited promising effectiveness and acceptable tolerance for previously treated advanced GC preliminarily. And this conclusion should be confirmed in clinical trials in the future.

Efficacy and Safety of Anlotinib Combined with PD-1 Blockades for Patients with Previously Treated Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: A Retrospective Study

Purpose

This study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib combined with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockades for patients with previously treated advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Patients and Methods

Present study was designed as a retrospective study, a total of 32 patients with advanced EOC who progressed after at least two lines previously available standard therapy were included in this study. All the patients were administered with anlotinib combined with PD-1 blockades administration. Clinical activity was implemented and analyzed, which was assessed according to the change of target lesion by imaging evidence and all the subjects were followed up regularly. Safety profile were collected and documented during the treatment. Univariate analysis was carried out using log rank test and multivariate analysis were adjusted by Cox regression analysis.

Results

The best overall response suggested that partial response was noted in 12 patients, stable disease was observed in 14 patients, progressive disease was found in 6 patients. Therefore, the objective response rate (ORR) of the 32 patients was 37.5% (95% CI: 21.1–56.3%), disease control rate (DCR) of the patients was 81.3% (95% CI: 63.6–92.8%). The median follow-up duration of this study was 17.5 months (follow-up range: 0.9–33.5 months). And the median PFS and OS of the 32-patient cohort was 6.8 months (95% CI: 2.64–10.96) and 18.5 months (95% CI: 14.08–22.92), respectively. The most common treatment-related adverse reactions were fatigue (68.8%), nausea and vomiting (56.3%), hypertension (50.0%) and diarrhea (40.6%). Multivariate Cox regression analysis for PFS indicated that ECOG performance status and FIGO stage were independent factors to predict PFS of patients with previously treated EOC.

Conclusion

Anlotinib combined with PD-1 blockades demonstrated promising efficacy and tolerable safety profile for patients with previously treated advanced EOC preliminarily. The conclusion should be confirmed in more patients with advanced EOC subsequently.

Combination of Anti-PD-1 Antibody, Anlotinib and Pegaspargase “Sandwich” With Radiotherapy in Localized Natural Killer/T Cell Lymphoma

Asparaginase/pegaspargase containing regimens combined with radiotherapy are highly effective and considered the cornerstone of localized Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL) treatment. However, these chemotherapy regimens inevitably cause relatively high incidence of treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). Herein we retrospectively evaluated the efficacy and safety of the combined regimen of anti-PD-1 antibody, anlotinib and pegaspargase “sandwich” with radiotherapy in localized NKTL. Anti-PD-1 antibody and pegaspargase at 2500 U/m² were administered on day 1, while anlotinib (12 mg once a day) was orally administered on days 1-14. The treatment was repeated every 3 weeks. All the eight patients included received 3 cycles of the regimen followed by radiotherapy and an additional 3 cycles. The overall response rate was 100%, and the complete response rate was 87.5%. With a median follow-up time of 35.5 months (range, 34.03-40.90 months), median PFS and OS times were not reached. The 3-year PFS and OS rates were 100% and 100%, respectively. All patients were alive at the last follow-up. No treatment-related death and no grade 4 TRAE was reported. No grade 3/4 hematological toxicity was detected, and half of the patients didn’t report any hematological toxicity. This study indicates that anti-PD-1 antibody combined with anlotinib and pegaspargase is a promising chemoradiotherapy regimen for localized NTKL, with mild toxicity and good tolerance.

A Retrospective Cohort Study Evaluates Clinical Value of Anlotinib in Persistent, Metastatic, or Recurrent Cervical Cancer After Failure of First-Line Therapy

Background

Anlotinib is an oral anti-angiogenesis inhibitor targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs), platelet-derived growth factor receptors, fibroblast growth factor receptors, etc., and its clinical value in cervical cancer is rarely reported. We designed a retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in patients with persistent, metastatic, or recurrent cervical cancer who have failed first-line therapy, and compare the efficacy of anlotinib with that of apatinib which targets only VEGFR2 and has shown efficacy in recent studies.

Methods

Fifty-two patients with persistent, metastatic, or recurrent cervical cancer who failed first-line therapy and administrated anlotinib or apatinib as monotherapy or combination with chemo-, radio- or immunotherapy were included in this study. Among the 52 patients, 20 patients who received anlotinib from January 2019 to August 2020 were defined as anlotinib group, whereas 32 patients who received apatinib from our previous study were selected as apatinib group. The safety, objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were reviewed and recorded.

Results

The ORR and DCR in patients receiving anlotinib were 25% and 80%, respectively. The median PFS and OS in anlotinib group were significantly longer than those in apatinib group, respectively (PFS: 5 months vs 3 months, p=0.015; OS: 10 months vs 5 months, p=0.008). Moreover, the patients treated with anlotinib had better survival with a significantly lower cumulative incidence of cancer-related death than those treated with apatinib (HR=0.31, 95% CI: 0.13–0.77, p=0.012). The most common adverse effects in the patients treated with anlotinib were hypertension (20%), fatigue (20%), and nausea (15%). No drug-related death occurred.

Conclusion

Anlotinib showed beneficial efficacy and safety and can be a treatment option for patients with persistent, metastatic, or recurrent cervical cancer who have failed the first-line therapy.