Arising Novel Agents in Lung Cancer: Are Bispecifics and ADCs the New Paradigm?

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers with the highest mortality. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) contributes to around 85% of lung cancer diagnoses (vs. 15% for small cell lung cancer). The treatment of NSCLC has vastly changed in the last two decades since the development of immunotherapy and targeted therapy against driver mutations. As is the nature of malignancy, cancer cells have acquired resistance to these treatments prompting an investigation into novel treatments and new targets. Bispecific antibodies, capable of targeting multiple substrates at once, and antibody-drug conjugates that can preferentially deliver chemotherapy to tumor cells are examples of this innovation. From our initial evaluation, both treatment modalities appear promising.

Association between Immunosuppressive Therapy Utilized in the Treatment of Autoimmune Disease or Transplant and Cancer Progression

Autoimmunity and cancer rates have both been on the rise in Western civilization prompting many to investigate the link between the two entities. This review will investigate the complex interactions between the activation and deactivation of the immune system and the development of malignancy. Additional focus will be placed on the main classes of immune inhibitor therapy utilized in transplant patients and in autoimmune disease including TNF-alpha, Calcineurin, mTOR, purine synthesis antagonists and IMPDH inhibitors.

Usefulness of Circulating Tumor DNA in Identifying Somatic Mutations and Tracking Tumor Evolution in Patients With Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND

The usefulness of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in detecting mutations and monitoring treatment response has not been well studied beyond a few actionable biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

RESEARCH QUESTION

How does the usefulness of ctDNA analysis compare with that of solid tumor biopsy analysis in patients with NSCLC?

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 370 adult patients with NSCLC treated at the City of Hope between November 2015 and August 2019 to assess the usefulness of ctDNA in mutation identification, survival, concordance with matched tissue samples in 32 genes, and tumor evolution.

RESULTS

A total of 1,688 somatic mutations were detected in 473 ctDNA samples from 370 patients with NSCLC. Of the 473 samples, 177 showed at least one actionable mutation with currently available Food and Drug Administration-approved NSCLC therapies. MET and CDK6 amplifications co-occurred with BRAF amplifications (false discovery rate [FDR], < 0.01), and gene-level mutations were mutually exclusive in KRAS and EGFR (FDR, 0.0009). Low cumulative percent ctDNA levels were associated with longer progression-free survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.56; 95% CI, 0.37-0.85; P = .006). Overall survival was shorter in patients harboring BRAF mutations (HR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.24-4.6; P = .009), PIK3CA mutations (HR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.56-4.9; P < .001) and KRAS mutations (HR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.30-4.1; P = .004). Gene-level concordance was 93.8%, whereas the positive concordance rate was 41.6%. More mutations in targetable genes were found in ctDNA than in tissue biopsy samples. Treatment response and tumor evolution over time were detected in repeated ctDNA samples.

INTERPRETATION

Although ctDNA analysis exhibited similar usefulness to tissue biopsy analysis, more mutations in targetable genes were missed in tissue biopsy analyses. Therefore, the evaluation of ctDNA in conjunction with tissue biopsy samples may help to detect additional targetable mutations to improve clinical outcomes in advanced NSCLC.

Elevated Eosinophil Count Following Pembrolizumab Treatment for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Immune-related adverse events (IRAEs) are a common yet problematic phenomenon in patients who are treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Current research efforts have explored the exact pathophysiology of IRAEs in the clinical setting. However, a rare subset of IRAEs that is less highlighted and may cause detrimental effects are hematological IRAEs (heme-IRAEs). Of note, immune-induced eosinophilia itself is a heme-IRAE that is worthy of further investigation.

In this report, we present two cases of advanced staged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with single-agent pembrolizumab, and who subsequently sustained markedly elevated eosinophil counts (EEC) on laboratory findings. The two patients were Caucasian and both were diagnosed with NSCLC, although with differing histologies: a 76-year-old male with adenocarcinoma and a 66-year-old female with squamous cell carcinoma. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression was detected via immunohistochemistry (IHC) and molecular tumor profiling did not show any actionable oncogenic mutations. Both patients were treatment-naïve and received pembrolizumab as first-line systemic therapy. The male patient, a former heavy smoker, underwent 18 months of pembrolizumab treatment before high eosinophil counts and was diagnosed with immunotherapy-related apoptotic colopathy after colonoscopy. Following pembrolizumab discontinuation, he remains under surveillance with good disease control and does not show any ongoing symptoms. The female patient, a never-smoker, underwent 15 cycles of pembrolizumab before the discontinuation of the treatment after consistently high levels of eosinophil counts. Both patients were treated with systemic corticosteroids after the discontinuation of immunotherapy, and their eosinophil levels returned to normal values. However, the female patient declined any further therapy and expired 24 months after the discontinuation of immunotherapy.

Immune-induced eosinophilia is a rare event and reported in only 2.9% of NSCLC cases. Outcomes in the two patients differed, indicating that further research related to eosinophilia and its causes in the context of varying histologies and clinical profiles of patients is warranted.

Evaluation of Somatic Mutations in Solid Metastatic Pan-Cancer Patients

Metastasis continues to be the primary cause of all cancer-related deaths despite the recent advancements in cancer treatments. To evaluate the role of mutations in overall survival (OS) and treatment outcomes, we analyzed 957 metastatic patients with seven major cancer types who had available molecular testing results with a FoundationOne CDx® panel. The most prevalent genes with somatic mutations were TP53, KRAS, APC, and LRP1B. In this analysis, these genes had mutation frequencies higher than in publicly available datasets. We identified that the somatic mutations were seven mutually exclusive gene pairs and an additional fifty-two co-occurring gene pairs. Mutations in the mutually exclusive gene pair APC and CDKN2A showed an opposite effect on the overall survival. However, patients with CDKN2A mutations showed significantly shorter OS (HR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.34-2.21, p < 0.001) after adjusting for cancer type, age at diagnosis, and sex. Five-year post metastatic diagnosis survival analysis showed a significant improvement in OS (median survival 28 and 43 months in pre-2015 and post-2015 metastatic diagnosis, respectively, p = 0.00021) based on the year of metastatic diagnosis. Although the use of targeted therapies after metastatic diagnosis prolonged OS, the benefit was not statistically significant. However, longer five-year progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly associated with targeted therapy use (median 10.9 months (CI: 9.7-11.9 months) compared to 9.1 months (CI: 8.1-10.1 months) for non-targeted therapy, respectively, p = 0.0029). Our results provide a clinically relevant overview of the complex molecular landscape and survival mechanisms in metastatic solid cancers.

Molecular and Clinical Features of Hospital Admissions in Patients with Thoracic Malignancies on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Lung cancer patients undergoing systemic treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can lead to severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs) that may warrant immediate hospitalization. Patients with thoracic malignancies hospitalized at City of Hope while undergoing treatment with ICIs were identified. Pathology and available next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, including the programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) status and clinical information, including hospitalizations, invasive procedures, and the occurrence of irAEs, were collected. Unpaired T-tests, Chi-square/Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression were used to analyze our cohort. The overall survival (OS) was calculated and compared using univariate and multivariate COX models. Ninety patients with stage IV lung cancer were admitted after ICI treatment. Of those patients, 28 (31.1%) had documented irAEs. Genomic analyses showed an enrichment of LRP1B mutations (n = 5/6 vs. n = 7/26, 83.3% vs. 26.9%; odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI): 13.5 (1.7-166.1); p < 0.05) and MLL3 mutations (n = 4/6, 66.7% vs. n = 5/26, 19.2%; OR (95% CI): 8.4 (1.3-49.3), p < 0.05) in patients with irAE occurrences. Patients with somatic genomic alterations (GAs) in MET (median OS of 2.7 vs. 7.2 months; HR (95% CI): 3.1 (0.57-17.1); p < 0.05) or FANCA (median OS of 3.0 vs. 12.4 months; HR (95% CI): 3.1 (0.70-13.8); p < 0.05) demonstrated a significantly shorter OS. Patients with irAEs showed a trend toward improved OS (median OS 16.4 vs. 6.8 months, p = 0.19) compared to hospitalized patients without documented irAEs. Lung cancer patients who required treatment discontinuance or interruption due to irAEs (n = 19) had significantly longer OS (median OS 18.5 vs. 6.2 months; HR (95% CI): 0.47 (0.28-0.79); p < 0.05). Our results showed a significant survival benefit in lung cancer patients hospitalized due to irAEs that necessitated a treatment interruption. Patients with positive somatic GAs in MET and FANCA were associated with significantly worse OS compared to patients with negative GAs.

The improbable targeted therapy: KRAS as an emerging target in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

KRAS is a frequent oncogenic driver in solid tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It was previously thought to be an "undruggable" target due to the lack of deep binding pockets for specific small-molecule inhibitors. A better understanding of the mechanisms that drive KRAS transformation, improved KRAS-targeted drugs, and immunological approaches that aim at yielding immune responses against KRAS neoantigens have sparked a race for approved therapies. Few treatments are available for KRAS mutant NSCLC patients, and several approaches are being tested in clinicals trials to fill this void. Here, we review promising therapeutics tested for KRAS mutant NSCLC.

Hyperprogression on immunotherapy with complete response to chemotherapy in a NSCLC patient with high PD-L1 and STK11: A case report

RATIONALE

Patients reporting high PD-L1 expression have shown to respond well to immunotherapy; however, some patients develop hyperprogressive disease upon initiation of immune checkpoint inhibitors. We report a patient with lung cancer and 100% PD-L1 expression who developed hyperprogressive disease while treated with pembrolizumab and responded well to salvage chemotherapy with carboplatin and pemetrexed.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 66-year-old African American female with 25-pack year smoking history, diabetes mellitus type 2, essential thrombocytosis, and a history of papillary thyroid carcinoma developed relapsed lung adenocarcinoma after 13 months of no evidence of disease.

DIAGNOSIS

Surveillance imagine showed subcarinal and hilar lymphadenopathy, which was confirmed as recurrent lung adenocarcinoma via bronchoscopy. In addition, a brain scan showed a 5 mm enhancing left insular lesion. PD-L1 was reported as 100% expression. Staging was reported as stage IVB TxN3M1c lung adenocarcinoma.

INTERVENTIONS

One fraction of radiation with a total dose of 20 Gray was delivered to the left insular lesion. The patient initiated pembrolizumab (200 mg) every 3 weeks. She was then treated with salvage chemotherapy consisting of carboplatin (AUC 5) and pemetrexed (500 mg/m) every 3 weeks for 3 cycles.

OUTCOMES

The brain lesion resolved after the radiation therapy. The patient developed hyperprogression with a large pericardial effusion and right pleural effusion after 2 treatments of pembrolizumab. Her PD-L1 expression decreased from 100% to 0% over a 10-week period. Salvage chemotherapy with carboplatin and pemetrexed resulted with 20 months of ongoing to evidence of disease.

LESSONS

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-related hyperprogressive disease may respond to second-line salvage chemotherapy. Complete PD-L1 expression loss was observed after the patient's treatment and could be a marker of hyperprogressive disease or tumor immunoevasion.

Rapid progression of disease from immunotherapy following targeted therapy: insights into treatment management and sequence

With emerging promising therapeutic regimens in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the standard-of-care treatments for a variety of histologic and mutated subgroups in NSCLC has been regularly shifting in response to landmark clinical trials. However, with the availability of a range of therapeutic agents, clear grouping of patient populations to appropriate treatment strategies is essential. In this review, we illustrate past and current treatment strategies in NSCLC, specifically focusing on targeted therapy and immunotherapy. We describe a complex clinical scenario that oncologists will encounter of patients with multiple actionable mutations such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) sensitizing mutations and high expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). Recent data regarding sequential therapy of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) demonstrate severe adverse interactions between the therapies that impact patient quality-of-life and outcomes. As we enter further into an era of personalized and precision medicine, guidelines and standard-of-care therapies are essential to define separate patient groups based on molecular testing, histology, comorbidities, and more. This article explores the current status of generally understudied patient groups in NSCLC and proposes future directions in therapeutic strategies.

Role of immunotherapy and co-mutations on KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer survival

Background

KRAS mutations reported in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represent a significant percentage of patients diagnosed with NSCLC. However, there still remains no therapeutic option designed to target KRAS. In an era with immunotherapy as a dominant treatment option in metastatic NSCLC, the role of immunotherapy in

KRAS

mutated patients is not clear.

Methods

Eligible patients diagnosed with NSCLC and found to have a KRAS mutation were identified in an institutional lung cancer database. Demographic, clinical, and molecular data was collected and analyzed.

Results

A total of 60 patients were identified for this retrospective analysis. Majority of patients were Caucasian (73%), diagnosed with stage IV (70%) adenocarcinoma (87%), and had a KRAS codon 12 mutation (78%). Twenty percent of patients were treated with immunotherapy. Median overall survival was 28 months in the cohort and patients who received immunotherapy were found to have better survival versus those who did not (33 vs. 22 months, P=0.31). Furthermore, there was an association between high survival and patients who received immunotherapy (P=0.007).

Conclusions

Patients with KRAS mutations have a unique co-mutation phenotype that requires further investigation. Immunotherapy seems to be an effective choice of treatment for KRAS positive patients in any treatment-line setting and yields better outcomes than conventional chemotherapy. The relationship between immunotherapy and KRAS mutations requires further studies to confirm survival advantage.

Biomarkers in immunotherapy: literature review and future directions

Within the past decade, immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of advanced non-small lung cancer (NSCLC). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab, atezolizumab, and durvalumab have shown superiority over chemotherapy regimens in patients with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Several predictive molecular biomarkers, including PD-L1 expression and high tumor mutation burden, have shown utility in discovering lung cancer patient groups that would benefit from ICIs. However, there remains to be a reliable imaging biomarker that would clearly select patients, through baseline or restaging imaging, who would respond or have a prolonged response to ICIs. The purpose of this review is to highlight the role of ICIs in patients with advanced NSCLC and past or current studies in potential biomarkers as well as future directions on the role of imaging in immunotherapy.

Abstract 2037: Association of molecular heterogeneity and actionable mutations with survival in lung cancer

Introduction: Today, the use of new technologies such as electronic medical records and testing methods are standard throughout healthcare centers. These new tools deliver an abundance of information to physicians, researchers, and the medical community. Harnessing the potential of this data can be an influential instrument to assist physicians in offering personalized medicine to patients and conduct complex research with ease. Nevertheless, the development, infrastructure, and implementation of distinct disease-specific registries for the collection, storage, and utilization of this data is crucial to benefit from this vital clinical and research information.

Patients and Methods: In this study, we utilized an institutional thoracic patient registry complete with clinical and genomic data to carry out an in-depth analysis on lung adenocarcinoma patients (N=415). The patients selected and evaluated for analysis were seen at City of Hope from 2008 to 2016. The data was collected between 2016 and 2018 through retrospective chart review and compiled within the Thoracic Oncology Registry. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at COH under IRB 18217 and was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Data was de-identified and analyzed anonymously.

Results: The lung adenocarcinoma median age was 64 (range, 22-92) years old, and the median OS was 33.29 months (95% CI, 29.77-39.48). The majority of patients were female (245/415; 59%). All the patients had metastatic disease, while the bulk of the patients (369/415; 89%) presented as Stage IV at the time of initial diagnosis. Oncogenes with the most commonly occurring mutations were found in EGFR (207/415; 50%), KRAS (97/352; 28%), and ALK rearrangement (28/377; 7%), while most frequent alterations in tumor suppressor genes were in TP53 (140/283; 49%), LRP1B (63/228; 28%), and STK11 (39/278; 14%). The top three actionable mutations identified include EGFR (177/415; 42.7%), ALK (28/377; 7.4%), and BRAF V600E (7/288; 2.4%). When survival was compared between the number of patients with actionable mutations (222/415; 53.5%) and wild-type patients (193/415; 46.5%), there was a substantial difference in median OS (39.8 months v 26.0 months, P&lt;0.001). Comparing the TCGA and AACR Project GENIE dataset to our database, there was a surprising difference in the percentage of actionable mutations (15.0% v 22.3% v 53.5%).

Conclusion: Our results showed an increased median overall survival in patients with lung adenocarcinoma that harbor actionable mutations compared to wild-type patients. Exploiting the appropriate use of clinical and genomic data collected and maintained in patient registries may better account for patient populations seen in the academic and community settings to improve cohort selection for clinical trials and survival outcomes.

Citation Format: Jeremy Fricke, Isa Mambetsariev, Rebecca Pharaon, Yingyu Wang, Chen Chen, Fang Qiu, Lynette Smith, Surinder K. Batra, Wasim M. Nasser, Erminia Massarelli, Marianna Koczywas, Karen Reckamp, Ravi Salgia. Association of molecular heterogeneity and actionable mutations with survival in lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2037.

Abstract 6397: Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibition overcomes cisplatin resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)

Introduction: FAK is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase activated in response to interactions between transmembrane integrins and extracellular matrix involved in the activation of the PI3K–Akt pathway, required for cell proliferation and survival. Amplification of chromosome region 8q23-24, encoding FAK, is significantly associated with smoking, higher grade of dysplasia and progression from premalignant lesions to HNSCC. Multimodality treatment (surgery, radiation and platinum-based chemotherapy) is standard for locally advanced HNSCC. Local relapse/distant metastasis develop in 25-40% of patients with occurrence of platinum resistance. We hypothesize that FAK inhibition overcomes platinum resistance and immunosuppression in HNSCC.

Methods: RNA was extracted from normal and cancer tissue of 12 retrospectively surgically collected formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded HNSCC samples and analyzed by NanoString PanCancer Pathway and Immune Profiling panels. 93VU and SCC1 cell lines were used and cell-derived spheroids were generated on attachment plates. Cell proliferation, wound healing and apoptosis were measured by IncuCyte S3 Live-Cell Analysis System (Essen BioScience). Cells were treated with the following commercially available FAK small molecule inhibitors: NVP-TAE-226 (Novartis); PF-573228, PF-562271, PF-431396 (Pfizer); GSK2256098 (GlaxoSmithKline); VS-6063 (Verastem). FAK expression was measured by western blotting and qPCR analysis.

Results: In The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) HNSCC dataset, FAK RNA expression was significantly higher in stage IV compared to stage I–III cancers (p&lt;0.001). Among the genes significantly overexpressed (&gt;2-fold change) in the 12 HNSCC samples analyzed by Nanostring pathway and immune profile panels, 17 were involved in PI3K-Akt signaling activation and 15 of these were also involved in the anchorage-dependent cell proliferation and FAK activation including the alpha form of integrins (ITGA2, ITGA6, ITGA3), the beta form of integrins (ITGB4, ITGB6), collagens (COL5A2, COL1A1, COL27A1, COL4A6, COL11A1), and laminins (LAMA3, LAMB3, LAMC2). We screened and identified that the 93VU and SCC1 cell lines were tolerant to cisplatin up to a dose of 10 uM. TAE-226 was the most effective FAK inhibitor in significantly blocking cell proliferation and wound healing in 93VU and SCC1 cell lines. TAE-226 treatment also effectively inhibited spheroid growth and proliferation in 3D culture. FAK inhibition decreased expression of chemokines and cytokines known to promote immunosuppression and metastasis such as CSF3, CXCL1, CXCL2, IL8, GPI, LIF, and CCL1.

Conclusion: Our data suggests that FAK expression is associated with higher cancer stage. Its inhibition might have a role in overcoming cisplatin resistance and in affecting immunosuppressive signals in HNSCC. Immunocompetent syngeneic HNSCC animal models are currently ongoing.

Citation Format: Atish Mohanty, Rebecca Pharaon, Arin Nam, Holly Yin, Sue Chang, Linlin Guo, Raju Pillai, Prakash Kulkarni, Ravi Salgia, Erminia Massarelli. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibition overcomes cisplatin resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 6397.

Evaluation of Omics-Based Strategies for the Management of Advanced Lung Cancer

PURPOSE

Omic-informed therapy is being used more frequently for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) being treated on the basis of evidence-based decision-making. However, there is a lack of a standardized framework to evaluate those decisions and understand the association between omics-based management strategies and survival among patients. Therefore, we compared outcomes between patients with lung adenocarcinoma who received omics-driven targeted therapy versus patients who received standard therapeutic options.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This was a retrospective study of patients with advanced NSCLC adenocarcinoma (N = 798) at City of Hope who received genomic sequencing at the behest of their treating oncologists. A thoracic oncology registry was used as a clinicogenomic database to track patient outcomes.

RESULTS

Of 798 individuals with advanced NSCLC (median age, 65 years [range, 22-99 years]; 60% white; 50% with a history of smoking), 662 patients (83%) had molecular testing and 439 (55%) received targeted therapy on the basis of the omic-data. A fast-and-frugal decision tree (FFT) model was developed to evaluate the impact of omics-based strategy on decision-making, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). We calculated that the overall positive predictive value of the entire FFT strategy for predicting decisions regarding the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitor-based targeted therapy was 88% and the negative predictive value was 96%. In an adjusted Cox regression analysis, there was a significant correlation with survival benefit with the FFT omics-driven therapeutic strategy for both PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.56; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.74; P < .001) and OS (HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.71; P < .001) as compared with standard therapeutic options.

CONCLUSION

Among patients with advanced NSCLC who received care in the academic oncology setting, omics-driven therapy decisions directly informed treatment in patients and was correlated with better OS and PFS.

MET receptor in oncology: From biomarker to therapeutic target

First discovered in the 1984, the MET receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and its ligand hepatocyte growth factor or HGF (also known as scatter factor or SF) are implicated as key players in tumor cell migration, proliferation, and invasion in a variety of cancers. This pathway also plays a key role during embryogenesis in the development of muscular and nervous structures. High expression of the MET receptor has been shown to correlate with poor prognosis and resistance to therapy. MET exon 14 splicing variants, initially identified by us in lung cancer, is actionable through various tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). For this reason, this pathway is of interest as a therapeutic target. In this chapter we will be discussing the history of MET, the genetics of this RTK, and give some background on the receptor biology. Furthermore, we will discuss directed therapeutics, mechanisms of resistance, and the future of MET as a therapeutic target.

Complex Oncological Decision-Making Utilizing Fast-and-Frugal Trees in a Community Setting-Role of Academic and Hybrid Modeling

Non-small cell lung cancer is a devastating disease and with the advent of targeted therapies and molecular testing, the decision-making process has become complex. While established guidelines and pathways offer some guidance, they are difficult to utilize in a busy community practice and are not always implemented in the community. The rationale of the study was to identify a cohort of patients with lung adenocarcinoma at a City of Hope community site (n = 11) and utilize their case studies to develop a decision-making framework utilizing fast-and-frugal tree (FFT) heuristics. Most patients had stage IV (N = 9, 81.8%) disease at the time of the first consultation. The most common symptoms at initial presentation were cough (N = 5, 45.5%), shortness of breath (N = 3, 27.2%), and weight loss (N = 3, 27.2%). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ranged from 0-1 in all patients in this study. Distribution of molecular drivers among the patients were as follows: EGFR (N = 5, 45.5%), KRAS (N = 2, 18.2%), ALK (N = 2, 18.2%), MET (N = 2, 18.2%), and RET (N = 1, 9.1%). Seven initial FFTs were developed for the various case scenarios, but ultimately the decisions were condensed into one FFT, a molecular stage IV FFT, that arrived at accurate decisions without sacrificing initial information. While these FFT decision trees may seem arbitrary to an experienced oncologist at an academic site, the simplicity of their utility is essential for community practice where patients often do not get molecular testing and are not assigned proper therapy.

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer from Genomics to Therapeutics: A Framework for Community Practice Integration to Arrive at Personalized Therapy Strategies

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous disease, and therapeutic management has advanced with the identification of various key oncogenic mutations that promote lung cancer tumorigenesis. Subsequent studies have developed targeted therapies against these oncogenes in the hope of personalizing therapy based on the molecular genomics of the tumor. This review presents approved treatments against actionable mutations in NSCLC as well as promising targets and therapies. We also discuss the current status of molecular testing practices in community oncology sites that would help to direct oncologists in lung cancer decision-making. We propose a collaborative framework between community practice and academic sites that can help improve the utilization of personalized strategies in the community, through incorporation of increased testing rates, virtual molecular tumor boards, vendor-based oncology clinical pathways, and an academic-type singular electronic health record system.

Differential immune pathways in classic and mixed variants of anaplastic thyroid cancer

e18579

Background: Patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) have poor outcomes due to treatment resistance with an estimated 5-year survival rate of 7%. Although “classic” ATC can arise de novo from follicular thyroid cells, it can also arise in association with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), as a “mixed” histology. The immunologic and molecular differences between these histological subtypes have not been well-characterized. We aimed to investigate the differences in immune signatures in these histological subtypes to assess immune pathway differences in the classic ATC and mixed ATC/PTC tumor microenvironment. Methods: Classic ATC and mixed ATC/PTC cases (N = 12) from 1998 to 2018 with viable formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue were identified and selected by a board-certified pathologist. 4 samples exhibited both PTC and ATC components while 8 were classic ATC cases, as confirmed by a pathologist. In the 4 mixed ATC/PTC histology specimens, 3 were identified to contain greater than 80% ATC involvement while the fourth was characterized as 40% ATC and 60% PTC. The NanoString Immune Profiling panel contains more than 770 genes. It was performed with extracted RNA to evaluate and compare the gene expression of classic ATC versus mixed ATC/PTC. Results: Majority of patients (N = 11) developed metastatic disease, a common feature of ATC, and are currently deceased (N = 10). The NanoString panel identified several differentially expressed immune pathways in the mixed ATC/PTC in comparison to the classic ATC group. There is upregulation of CD3 (p < 0.01) and CD8 (p < 0.01) transcripts in the mixed ATC/PTC group, but not CD4 transcripts (p > 0.05). Additionally, we found that genes associated with B cell and T cell function were significantly upregulated in the mixed ATC group, including CD27 (p < 0.01), CD28 (p < 0.05), BTLA (p < 0.01), CTLA4 (p < 0.01), LAG3 (p < 0.05), and TIGIT(p < 0.01). We did not observe any significant differences in the expression of PD1 (p > 0.05) or MR1 (p > 0.05) between classic ATC and mixed ATC variants. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates a significant difference in the immune landscape between classic and mixed variants of ATC. Our results indicate there may be an increase in immune cell infiltration and tumor inflammation in the mixed ATC variant, which suggests patients with the mixed ATC variant may show a positive response to immunotherapy.

Evaluation of immune-related adverse events in patients treated with sequential immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment in non-small cell lung cancer

e21562

Background: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) have been frequently observed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with immunotherapy (IO). The severity of irAEs in response to IO treatment may reflect antitumor response. The effect of irAEs with sequential IO and tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapies has not been fully characterized. This study aims to evaluate the irAEs in NSCLC patients who have received sequential IO and TKI treatment. Methods: A retrospective cohort of 387 NSCLC patients previously treated with IO was identified from the City of Hope Thoracic Registry (THOR) from February 2010 to January 2020. Patients had confirmed pathologic disease and received IO and TKI, either on clinical trial or as standard of care. IO-treated patients were classified into two groups: TKI vs non-TKI treated. The non-TKI IO-treated group was used to verify that outcomes are not dependent on the immunotherapy given, but rather TKI therapy. IrAEs were collected from treatment courses and assessed based on the treating physician diagnosis. Results: A total of 63 NSCLC patients received sequential IO and TKI treatment. Histology was nonsquamous in 59 (93.7%) and squamous in 4 (6.3%). Multiple lines of therapies were accounted for in each patient. IO therapies received included nivolumab (n = 30), pembrolizumab (n = 24) and atezolizumab (n = 11). Mostly frequently used TKI therapies were erlotinib (n = 43), osimertinib (n = 25), afatinib (n = 11), crizotinib (n = 10), gefitinib (n = 5), and alectinib (n = 4). IrAEs occurred in 23 patients (36.5%). 22/23 (95.7%) patients who reported irAEs received TKI treatment prior to receiving IO treatment. The most common irAEs were pneumonitis (n = 5), diarrhea (n = 4), fatigue (n = 3) and rash/pruritus (n = 3). Other irAEs included arthralgias & myalgias (n = 2), new onset diabetes (n = 1) and renal insufficiency (n = 1). Conclusions: The severity of irAEs and sequential IO and TKI treatment in NSCLC patients is still not well-defined. Overall and progression-free survival were considered in this cohort. Preliminary data suggested that EGFR-TKI treated patients have low response to immune checkpoint inhibitors, but outcomes vary by allele variation. Further prospective analyses are needed to investigate the correlation of irAEs and survival outcomes with TKI-resistant NSCLC patients treated with IO. Also, treating physician’s diagnosis of irAEs exposed a need to clarify grade and severity of irAEs.

Alterations in STK11 to limit response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer

e21503

Background: The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) drastically transformed the treatment of lung cancer. However, a variety of response rates have been observed in patients due to intrinsic or acquired resistances. STK11 mutated patients represent a subgroup of lung cancer patients with diminished outcomes when given ICIs, with some of these patients developing hyperprogressive disease (HPD). Methods: In this study, a retrospective cohort of 384 lung cancer patients previously treated with ICIs was identified from the City of Hope Thoracic Registry (THOR) with a cutoff date of November 11, 2018. Next-generational sequencing (NGS) was performed on 246 patients. 24 of these patients were harboring an alteration in STK11. Data was collected on these patients until December 31, 2019. HPD was exclusively defined by time-to-treatment failure (TTF) < 2 months (TTF is defined as the time from the start of treatment with ICI to ICI discontinuation for any reason, including progression, patient preference, toxicity, or death). Overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) was started from the initiation of ICI therapy. OS and PFS was calculated between 2 groups (HPD vs non-HPD) using the Mantel-Cox Log-rank test. Results: Almost half (11/13; 45.8%) of the patients with STK11 developed HPD. There was a significant difference between HPD and non-HPD patients in median OS (2 vs 23 months; p = 0.0013) and median PFS (1 v 9 months; p < 0.0001). The median age was 66 (range, 41-90) years old with the majority of patients female (14/24; 58.3%). Most of the patients are deceased (16/24; 66.7%). 91.7% of STK11 patients histologically were adenocarcinoma and 91.7% were smokers with a median pack year history of 40 (range, 4-90). All of the patients had metastatic disease presenting with stage IV disease (21/24; 87.5%). ICI therapies used were pembrolizumab (11/24; 45.8%), Atezolizumab (8/24; 33.3%), nivolumab (4/24; 16.7%), and durvalumab (1/24; 4.2%). PD-L1 expression varied: negative (8/24; 33.3%), 1%- < 50% (7/24; 29.2%), ≥50% (4/24; 16.7%), and not reported (5/24; 20.8%). The most commonly occurring co-mutations were found in TP53 (14/24; 58.3%), KRAS (12/24; 50.0%), SMARCA4 (9/24; 37.5%), PRKDC (8/24; 33.3%) and LRP1B (8/24; 33.3%). Three patients had a pathological co-mutation that is targetable (1 ALK rearrangement, 1 EGFR exon 19 deletion, and 1 RET fusion). Conclusions: STK11 patients who developed HPD had worse OS and PFS compared to STK11 patients without HPD. These results are preliminary and additional analysis is needed to compare differences between various cohorts.

Precision medicine and actionable alterations in lung cancer: A single institution experience

OBJECTIVES

Oncology has become more reliant on new testing methods and a greater use of electronic medical records, which provide a plethora of information available to physicians and researchers. However, to take advantage of vital clinical and research data for precision medicine, we must initially make an effort to create an infrastructure for the collection, storage, and utilization of this information with uniquely designed disease-specific registries that could support the collection of a large number of patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, we perform an in-depth analysis of a series of lung adenocarcinoma patients (n = 415) with genomic and clinical data in a recently created thoracic patient registry.

RESULTS

Of the 415 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, 59% (n = 245) were female; the median age was 64 (range, 22-92) years with a median OS of 33.29 months (95% CI, 29.77-39.48). The most common actionable alterations were identified in EGFR (n = 177/415 [42.7%]), ALK (n = 28/377 [7.4%]), and BRAF V600E (n = 7/288 [2.4%]). There was also a discernible difference in survival for 222 patients, who had an actionable alteration, with a median OS of 39.8 months as compared to 193 wild-type patients with a median OS of 26.0 months (P<0.001). We identified an unprecedented number of actionable alterations [53.5% (222/415)], including distinct individual alteration rates, as compared with 15.0% and 22.3% in TCGA and GENIE respectively.

CONCLUSION

The use of patient registries, focused genomic panels and the appropriate use of clinical guidelines in community and academic settings may influence cohort selection for clinical trials and improve survival outcomes.

Precision medicine for lung cancer decision-making: Evaluation of an -omics based FFT approach to personalized medicine

e20713

Background: The prevalence of next-generation sequencing and the availability of a large number of targeted therapies in the clinics, has complicated treatment decision-making in lung cancer. While national guidelines and commercial pathways offer a method to improve the oncologists’ adherence to appropriate testing and treatment modalities available, more effort is required to solidify this as a standard of care model at academic and community sites. A better understanding of the improved durable survival of targeted therapy assignment compared with non-targeted therapy outside of the clinical trial setting is needed to understand the efficacy and accuracy of precision medicine. Methods: We perform an in-depth analysis of a series of lung AD patients (n = 798) with genomic and clinical data in a recently created thoracic patient registry, who were treated at COH between 2009-2018 period. Results: 798 individuals with lung AD were identified in the Thoracic Oncology Registry who were treated or were intended to be treated at COH; 662 (83%) of the patients had genomic testing performed at the request of their treating oncologist and 460 (58%) of whom received a 1st-line targeted therapy decision (including clinical trial assignment based on bio-marker). Oncogenic alterations were detected in 653 (82%) patients with the majority presenting with EGFR (47%), who were mostly treated with erlotinib (78%). 462/653 (70%) patients had an alteration detected with an available FDA approved therapy and 90% (416/462) of the patients were appropriately matched to a targeted therapy based on the oncologist’s decision. Several decision-making algorithms were tested and fast-and-frugal trees (FFTs) proved superior with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 90% and only required two important cues in informing the decision of the type of treatment to give to the patient. Furthermore, a targeted therapy treatment decision showed a significant benefit with a median OS of 38 months as compared to 22 months in the non-targeted therapy decision-making group (p < 0.00001). This was also evident in the PFS analysis where targeted therapy decision-making had a median survival of 9 months as compared with 5 months in the other groups (p < 0.00001). Conclusions: FFTs are a novel tool to test the efficacy of precision medicine in a real-world setting and can provide a more streamlined method for clinical guidance and decision-making. FFTs were able to predict with 90% PPV a precision medicine decision that was correlated with improved PFS (9 vs 5 months) and OS (38 vs 22 months).

Precision medicine and actionable alterations in lung cancer

e20707

Background: In recent years, healthcare centers have become more reliant on the advent of new technology, testing methods and a greater use of electronic medical records, which provide a plethora of information available to physicians, researchers, and the medical community. This aggregate of information stands to be a powerful tool that can enable one to perform highly complex investigations more easily, as well as aid physicians in their efforts to provide personalized medicine to patients. However, in order to take advantage of vital clinical and research data, we must initially make an effort to create an effective infrastructure for the collection, storage, utilization, and protection of this information with uniquely designed disease-specific registries that have adequate informatics support to allow for the collection of a large number of patients. Methods: In this study, we perform an in-depth analysis of a series of lung adenocarcinoma patients (n = 415) with genomic and clinical data in a recently created thoracic patient registry. Results: Of the 415 patients in the analysis, 59% (n = 245) were female; the median age was 64 (range, 22-92) years with a median OS of 33.29 months (95% CI, 29.77-39.48). The frequency of the most commonly occurring oncogenes was 50% EGFR (n = 207/415), 28% KRAS (n = 97/352), and 7% ALK rearrangement (n = 28/377), while the most commonly occurring tumor suppressor genes consisted of TP53 (n = 140/283 [49%]), LRP1B (n = 63/228 [28%]), and STK11 (n = 39/278 [14%]). The most common actionable alterations were identified in EGFR L858R/exon 19 deletion (n = 177/415 [42.7%]), ALK rearrangement (n = 28/377 [7.4%]), ROS1 rearrangement (n = 3/257 [1.2%]), BRAF V600E (n = 7/288 [2.4%]) and MET exon 14 splice site/deletion (n = 7/287 [2.4%]). While there were no median OS differences in patients who were tested under a broad-panel vs small-panel (33.4 months vs 33.5 months; 95% CI; P = 0.36), there was a discernible difference in survival for 222 patients, who had an actionable alteration, with a median OS of 39.8 months as compared to 193 patients who were wild-type with a median OS of 26.0 months (95% CI; P < 0.001). In addition, we identified an unprecedented number of patients with actionable alterations [53.5% (222/415)], including distinct individual alteration rates, as compared with 15.0% and 22.3% in TCGA and GENIE respectively. Conclusions: The use of patient registries, focused genomic panels and the appropriate use of clinical guidelines in community and academic settings may influence cohort selection for clinical trials and improve survival outcomes.

Heuristic value-based framework for lung cancer decision-making

Heuristics and the application of fast-and-frugal trees may play a role in establishing a clinical decision-making framework for value-based oncology. We determined whether clinical decision-making in oncology can be structured heuristically based on the timeline of the patient's treatment, clinical intuition, and evidence-based medicine. A group of 20 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were enrolled into the study for extensive treatment analysis and sequential decision-making. The extensive clinical and genomic data allowed us to evaluate the methodology and efficacy of fast-and-frugal trees as a way to quantify clinical decision-making. The results of the small cohort will be used to further advance the heuristic framework as a way of evaluating a large number of patients within registries. Among the cohort whose data was analyzed, substitution and amplification mutations occurred most frequently. The top five most prevalent genomic alterations were TP53 (45%), ALK (40%), LRP1B (30%), CDKN2A (25%), and MYC (25%). These 20 cases were analyzed by this clinical decision-making process and separated into two distinctions: 10 straightforward cases that represented a clearer decision-making path and 10 complex cases that represented a more intricate treatment pathway. The myriad of information from each case and their distinct pathways was applied to create the foundation of a framework for lung cancer decision-making as an aid for oncologists. In late-stage lung cancer patients, the fast-and-frugal heuristics can be utilized as a strategy of quantifying proper decision-making with limited information.