Effect of ruxolitinib on the oral mucosa of patients with steroid-refractory chronic Graft-versus-Host disease and oral involvement

BACKGROUND

Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease (cGVHD) can impact quality of life, especially in patients with oral involvement. Half of the patients with cGVHD do not respond to first-line therapy with corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors. Ruxolitinib is effective in steroid-refractory (SR)-cGVHD cases, but the long-term effects of ruxolitinib on the oral mucosa are unknown.

OBJECTIVE(S)

This study aims to assess the effect of ruxolitinib on the oral mucosa of SR-cGVHD patients with oral involvement.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An observational longitudinal patient study was conducted in 53 patients with SR-cGVHD and oral involvement who were treated with ruxolitinib. The baseline condition of the oral mucosa was compared to its condition at 4 and 12 weeks after starting ruxolitinib.

RESULTS

The overall response was 81% (43/53), with a complete response in 53% (28/53) and partial response in 28% (15/53) after 12 weeks (p < 0.001). Men and patients concurrently using immunosuppressive therapy responded better than women (p = 0.005) and patients with ruxolitinib monotherapy (p = 0.02), respectively. At a longer follow-up (median 20 months), oral symptoms were comparable to the 12-week symptoms (p = 0.78), regardless of ruxolitinib use (p = 0.83).

CONCLUSION

Ruxolitinib treatment of SR-cGVHD patients with oral involvement was associated with a significant response of the oral manifestations at 12 weeks.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The oral mucosa of SR-cGVHD patients is likely to improve after 4 and 12 weeks of ruxolitinib treatment. Symptom severity at baseline does not affect the response of the oral mucosa.

Eltrombopag Added to Immunosuppression in Severe Aplastic Anemia

BACKGROUND

A single-group, phase 1-2 study indicated that eltrombopag improved the efficacy of standard immunosuppressive therapy that entailed horse antithymocyte globulin (ATG) plus cyclosporine in patients with severe aplastic anemia.

METHODS

In this prospective, investigator-led, open-label, multicenter, randomized, phase 3 trial, we compared the efficacy and safety of horse ATG plus cyclosporine with or without eltrombopag as front-line therapy in previously untreated patients with severe aplastic anemia. The primary end point was a hematologic complete response at 3 months.

RESULTS

Patients were assigned to receive immunosuppressive therapy (Group A, 101 patients) or immunosuppressive therapy plus eltrombopag (Group B, 96 patients). The percentage of patients who had a complete response at 3 months was 10% in Group A and 22% in Group B (odds ratio, 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3 to 7.8; P = 0.01). At 6 months, the overall response rate (the percentage of patients who had a complete or partial response) was 41% in Group A and 68% in Group B. The median times to the first response were 8.8 months (Group A) and 3.0 months (Group B). The incidence of severe adverse events was similar in the two groups. With a median follow-up of 24 months, a karyotypic abnormality that was classified as myelodysplastic syndrome developed in 1 patient (Group A) and 2 patients (Group B); event-free survival was 34% and 46%, respectively. Somatic mutations were detected in 29% (Group A) and 31% (Group Β) of the patients at baseline; these percentages increased to 66% and 55%, respectively, at 6 months, without affecting the hematologic response and 2-year outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

The addition of eltrombopag to standard immunosuppressive therapy improved the rate, rapidity, and strength of hematologic response among previously untreated patients with severe aplastic anemia, without additional toxic effects. (Funded by Novartis and others; RACE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02099747; EudraCT number, 2014-000363-40.).

Low relapse risk in poor risk AML after conditioning with 10-day decitabine, fludarabine and 2 Gray TBI prior to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Patients with poor risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a dismal outcome. We hypothesized that combining decitabine with a standard non-myeloablative (NMA) conditioning regimen prior to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo HCT), might decrease the relapse incidence. We conducted a multicenter prospective phase II study (NCT02252107) with 10-day decitabine (20 mg/m²/day) integrated in a standard non-myeloablative conditioning regimen (3 days fludarabine 30 mg/m² with 2 Gray total body irradiation (TBI)). Patients with AML ≥ 18 years in 1st (in)complete remission (CR/CRi) with a poor or very poor risk profile, as defined by the HOVON-132 protocol, were eligible. Results: Forty-six patients (median age 60; range 23-74) were included. Median follow up time was 44 months (range 31-65 months). The cumulative 1-year incidence of relapse and NRM were respectively 23% and 11%. Incidence of grade III-IV acute graft-vs-host-disease (GVHD) and severe chronic GVHD were 13% and 20%, respectively. One-year OS was 70%. Application of ELN 2017 risk classification to the study cohort revealed a cumulative one-year relapse rate of respectively 31% and 13% for the adverse and intermediate risk patients. To conclude, the 10-day DEC/FLU/TBI conditioning regimen prior to allo HCT in poor risk AML patients is effective and feasible.

Exploratory Study of Predicted Indirectly ReCognizable HLA Epitopes in Mismatched Hematopoietic Cell Transplantations

HLA-mismatches in hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation are associated with an impaired overall survival (OS). The aim of this study is to explore whether the Predicted Indirectly ReCognizable HLA-Epitopes (PIRCHE) algorithm can be used to identify HLA-mismatches that are related to an impaired transplant outcome. PIRCHE are computationally predicted peptides derived from the patient's mismatched-HLA molecules that can be presented by donor-patient shared HLA. We retrospectively scored PIRCHE numbers either presented on HLA class-I (PIRCHE-I) or class-II (PIRCHE-II) for a Dutch multicenter cohort of 103 patients who received a single HLA-mismatched (9/10) unrelated donor transplant in an early phase of their disease. These patients were divided into low and high PIRCHE-I and PIRCHE-II groups, based on their PIRCHE scores, and compared using multivariate statistical analysis methods. The high PIRCHE-II group had a significantly impaired OS compared to the low PIRCHE-II group and the 10/10 reference group (HR: 1.86, 95%-CI: 1.02–3.40; and HR: 2.65, 95%-CI: 1.53–4.60, respectively). Overall, PIRCHE-II seem to have a more prominent effect on OS than PIRCHE-I. This impaired OS is probably due to an increased risk for severe acute graft-vs.-host disease. These data suggest that high PIRCHE-II scores may be used to identify non-permissible HLA mismatches within single HLA-mismatched hematopoietic stem-cell transplantations.

Clinical application of a dried blood spot assay for sirolimus and everolimus in transplant patients

Background

Monitoring of immunosuppressive drugs such as everolimus and sirolimus is important in allograft rejection prevention in transplant patients. Dried blood spots (DBS) sampling gives patients the opportunity to sample a drop of blood from a fingerprick at home, which can be sent to the laboratory by mail.

Methods

A total of 39 sirolimus and 44 everolimus paired fingerprick DBS and whole blood (WB) samples were obtained from 60 adult transplant patients for method comparison using Passing-Bablok regression. Bias was assessed using Bland-Altman. Two validation limits were pre-defined: limits of analytical acceptance were set at >67% of all paired samples within 20% of the mean of both samples and limits of clinical relevance were set in a multidisciplinary team at >80% of all paired samples within 15% of the mean of both samples.

Results

For both sirolimus and everolimus, Passing-Bablok regression showed no differences between WB and DBS with slopes of 0.86 (95% CI slope, 0.72–1.02) and 0.96 (95% CI 0.84–1.06), respectively. Only everolimus showed a significant constant bias of 4%. For both sirolimus and everolimus, limits of analytical acceptance were met (76.9% and 81.8%, respectively), but limits or clinical relevance were not met (77.3% and 61.5%, respectively).

Conclusions

Because pre-defined limits of clinical relevance were not met, this DBS sampling method for sirolimus and everolimus cannot replace WB sampling in our center at this time. However, if the clinical setting is compatible with less strict limits for clinical relevance, this DBS method is suitable for clinical application.

Pooled Analysis of the Prognostic Relevance of Circulating Tumor Cells in Primary Breast Cancer

PURPOSE

Although unequivocal evidence has shown the prognostic relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic breast cancer, less evidence is available for the prognostic relevance of CTCs at the time of primary diagnosis.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

We conducted a pooled analysis of individual data from 3,173 patients with nonmetastatic (stage I-III) breast cancer from five breast cancer institutions. The prevalence and numbers of CTCs were assessed at the time of primary diagnosis with the FDA-cleared CellSearch System (Janssen Diagnostics, LLC). Patient outcomes were analyzed using meta-analytic procedures, univariate log-rank tests, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. The median follow-up duration was 62.8 months.

RESULTS

One or more CTCs were detected in 20.2% of the patients. CTC-positive patients had larger tumors, increased lymph node involvement, and a higher histologic tumor grade than did CTC-negative patients (all P < 0.002). Multivariate Cox regressions, which included tumor size, nodal status, histologic tumor grade, and hormone receptor and HER2 status, confirmed that the presence of CTCs was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival [HR, 1.82; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.47-2.26], distant disease-free survival (HR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.49-2.40), breast cancer-specific survival (HR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.52-2.75), and overall survival (HR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.51-2.59).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with primary breast cancer, the presence of CTCs was an independent predictor of poor disease-free, overall, breast cancer-specific, and distant disease-free survival. Clin Cancer Res; 22(10); 2583-93. ©2016 AACR.

Circulating tumor cells before and during follow-up after breast cancer surgery

The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is an independent prognostic factor for progression-free and overall survival for patients with metastatic and newly diagnosed breast cancer. The present study was undertaken to explore whether the presence of CTC before and during follow-up after surgery is associated with recurrence free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). In a prospective single center study, CTC were enumerated with the CellSearch system in 30 ml of peripheral blood of 403 stage I-III patients before undergoing surgery for breast cancer (A) and if available 1 week after surgery (B), after adjuvant chemo- and/or radiotherapy or before start of long-term hormonal therapy (C), one (D), two (E) and three (F) years after surgery. Patients were stratified into unfavorable (CTC≥1) and favorable (CTC=0) prognostic groups. >1 CTC in 30 ml blood was detected in 75/403 (19%) at A, 66/367 (18%) at B, 40/263 (15%) at C, 30/235 (12%) at D, 18/144 (11%) at E and 11/83 (13%) at F. RFS and OS was significantly lower for unfavorable CTC as compared to favorable CTC before surgery (p=0.022 and p=0.006), after adjuvant therapy (p<0.001 and p=0.018) and one (p=0.006 and p=0.013) and two (p<0.001 and p=0.045) years after surgery, but not 1 week post-surgery. The presence of CTC in blood drawn pre and one and two years after surgery, but not post-surgery is associated with shorter RFS and OS for stage I-III breast cancer.

Abstract 3064: Importance of circulating tumor cells in newly diagnosed colorectal cancer

Background: The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is associated with poor prognosis in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). This study was conducted to determine if the presence of CTC prior to surgery and during follow-up in patients with newly diagnosed non-metastatic CRC identifies patients who are at risk for disease recurrence.

Methods: In a prospective single center study 183 patients with newly diagnosed non-disseminated CRC scheduled for surgery were enrolled from 2003 till 2008 and followed up for a median of 5.1 years. CTC were enumerated with the CellSearch System in 4 aliquots of 7.5 ml of peripheral blood before and after surgery (1-26 weeks), after adjuvant therapy and 1, 2, 3 and 4 years after surgery.

Findings: ≥1 CTC/ 30ml of blood were detected in 44 (24%) patients before surgery. CTC frequency did not change significantly at the time points after surgery. Patients with CTC before surgery had a significant decrease in Recurrence Free Survival (RFS, logrank test p=0.014) and Colon Cancer Related Survival (CCRS, p=0.002). Five year RFS dropped from 75% to 61% and five year CCRS from 83% to 69% for patients with CTC before surgery. In a multivariate analysis of CTC, T-Stage and N-stage, the presence of CTC and N-stage remained as significant factors for RFS and CCRS. Surprisingly the presence of CTC after surgery was not significantly associated with RFS and CCRS whereas CTC 2-3 years after surgery was again significantly associated with RFS and CCRS.

Interpretation: The presence of CTC in patients with stage I-III CRC before surgery is associated with a significant reduction RFS and CCRS. Although similar amounts of CTC were detected within 3 months after surgery they were not associated with RFS or CCRS. In contrast CTC were again highly significant for RFS and CCRS 2-3 years after surgery. These findings suggest a role of CTC detection, to assess which patients need adjuvant treatment. To implement CTC detection in the non-metastatic setting a validated CTC detection technology is needed with increased sensitivity and specificity.

Citation Format: Guus van Dalum, Marco R. de Groot, Gerrit-Jan Stam, Loes F.A. Scholten, Walter J.B. Mastboom, Istvan Vermes, Arjan G.J. Tibbe, Leon W.M.M. Terstappen. Importance of circulating tumor cells in newly diagnosed colorectal cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3064. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3064

Circulating Tumor Cells Count and Morphological Features in Breast, Colorectal and Prostate Cancer

Background

Presence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in patients with metastatic breast, colorectal and prostate cancer is indicative for poor prognosis. An automated CTC (aCTC) algorithm developed previously to eliminate the variability in manual counting of CTC (mCTC) was used to extract morphological features. Here we validated the aCTC algorithm on CTC images from prostate, breast and colorectal cancer patients and investigated the role of quantitative morphological parameters.

Methodology

Stored images of samples from patients with prostate, breast and colorectal cancer, healthy controls, benign breast and colorectal tumors were obtained using the CellSearch system. Images were analyzed for the presence of aCTC and their morphological parameters measured and correlated with survival.

Results

Overall survival hazard ratio was not significantly different for aCTC and mCTC. The number of CTC correlated strongest with survival, whereas CTC size, roundness and apoptosis features reached significance in univariate analysis, but not in multivariate analysis. One aCTC/7.5 ml of blood was found in 7 of 204 healthy controls and 9 of 694 benign tumors. In one patient with benign tumor 2 and another 9 aCTC were detected.

Significance of the study

CTC can be identified and morphological features extracted by an algorithm on images stored by the CellSearch system and strongly correlate with clinical outcome in metastatic breast, colorectal and prostate cancer.

Circulating tumor cells, disease recurrence and survival in newly diagnosed breast cancer

Introduction

The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is an independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival and breast cancer-related death (BRD) for patients with metastatic breast cancer beginning a new line of systemic therapy. The current study was undertaken to explore whether the presence of CTC at the time of diagnosis was associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and BRD.

Methods

In a prospective single center study, CTC were enumerated with the CellSearch system in 30 ml of peripheral blood of 602 patients before undergoing surgery for breast cancer. There were 97 patients with a benign tumor, 101 did not meet the inclusion criteria of which there were 48 patients with DCIS, leaving 404 stage I to III patients. Patients were stratified into unfavorable (CTC ≥1) and favorable (CTC = 0) prognostic groups.

Results

≥1 CTC in 30 ml blood was detected in 15 (15%) benign tumors, in 9 DCIS (19%), in 28 (16%) stage I, 32 (18%) stage II and in 16 (31%) patients with stage III. In stage I to III patients 76 (19%) had ≥1 CTC of whom 16 (21.1%) developed a recurrence. In 328 patients with 0 CTC 38 (11.6%) developed a recurrence. Four-year RFS was 88.4% for favorable CTC and 78.9% for unfavorable CTC (P = 0.038). A total of 25 patients died of breast cancer-related causes and 11 (44%) had ≥1 CTC. BRD was 4.3% for favorable and 14.5% for unfavorable CTC (P = 0.001). In multivariate analysis ≥1 CTC was associated with distant disease-free survival, but not for overall recurrence-free survival. CTC, progesterone receptor and N-stage were independent predictors of BRD in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

Presence of CTC in breast cancer patients before undergoing surgery with curative intent is associated with an increased risk for breast cancer-related death.