Dynamic contrast enhanced MRI of pulmonary adenocarcinomas for early risk stratification: higher contrast uptake associated with response and better prognosis

BACKGROUND

To explore the prognostic value of serial dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI in patients with advanced pulmonary adenocarcinoma undergoing first-line therapy with either tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKI) or platinum-based chemotherapy (PBC).

METHODS

Patients underwent baseline (day 0, n = 98), and post-therapeutic DCE MRI (PBC: day + 1, n = 52); TKI: day + 7, n = 46) at 1.5T. Perfusion curves were acquired at 10, 40, and 70 s after contrast application and analysed semiquantitatively. Treatment response was evaluated at 6 weeks by CT (RECIST 1.1); progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival  were analysed with respect to clinical and perfusion parameters. Relative uptake was defined as signal difference between contrast and non-contrast images, divided by the non-contrast signal. Predictors of survival were selected using Cox regression analysis. Median follow-up was 825 days.

RESULTS

In pre-therapeutic and early post-therapeutic MRI, treatment responders (n = 27) showed significantly higher relative contrast uptake within the tumor at 70 s after application as compared to non-responders (n = 71, p ≤ 0.02), response defined as PR by RECIST 1.1 at 6 weeks. There was no significant change of perfusion at early MRI after treatment. In multivariate regression analysis of selected parameters, the strongest association with PFS were relative uptake at 40 s in the early post-treatment MRI and pre-treatment clinical data (presence of liver metastases, ECOG performance status).

CONCLUSION

Higher contrast uptake within the tumor at pre-treatment and early post-treatment MRI was associated with treatment response and better prognosis. DCE MRI of pulmonary adenocarcinoma may provide important prognostic information.

Clinical Benefit of Ripretinib Dose Escalation After Disease Progression in Advanced Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: An Analysis of the INVICTUS Study

Background

Ripretinib 150 mg once daily (QD) is indicated for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) as at least fourth‐line therapy. In INVICTUS, ripretinib intrapatient dose escalation (IPDE) to 150 mg b.i.d. was allowed after progressive disease (PD) on 150 mg QD by blinded independent central review using modified RECIST 1.1. We report the efficacy and safety of ripretinib IPDE to 150 mg b.i.d. after PD among patients randomized to ripretinib 150 mg QD in the INVICTUS study.

Materials and Methods

Tumor imaging was performed every 28‐day cycle for the first four cycles in the ripretinib 150 mg QD period and then every other cycle, including the 150 mg b.i.d. period. Among the ripretinib IPDE patients, progression‐free survival (PFS)1 was the time from randomization until PD; PFS2 was the time from the first dose of ripretinib 150 mg b.i.d. to PD or death.

Results

Among 43 ripretinib IPDE patients, median PFS1 was 4.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7–6.4) and median PFS2 was 3.7 months (95% CI, 3.1–5.3). Median overall survival was 18.4 months (95% CI, 14.5–not estimable). Ripretinib 150 mg b.i.d. (median duration of treatment 3.7 months) was well tolerated with new or worsening grade 3–4 treatment‐emergent adverse events (TEAEs) of anemia in six (14%) and abdominal pain in three (7%) patients. Ripretinib 150 mg b.i.d. was discontinued because of TEAEs in seven (16%) patients.

Conclusion

Ripretinib 150 mg b.i.d. after PD on 150 mg QD may provide additional clinically meaningful benefit with an acceptable safety profile in patients with at least fourth‐line GISTs.

Implications for Practice

Of the 85 patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor having received at least three prior anticancer therapies randomized to ripretinib 150 mg once daily (QD) in the phase III INVICTUS study, 43 underwent ripretinib intrapatient dose escalation (IPDE) to 150 mg b.i.d. after progressive disease (PD). Median progression‐free survival was 4.6 months before and 3.7 months after ripretinib IPDE. The safety profile of ripretinib 150 mg b.i.d. was acceptable. These findings indicate ripretinib IPDE to 150 mg b.i.d. may provide additional clinical benefit in patients with PD on ripretinib 150 mg QD, for whom limited treatment options exist.

This article presents further results from the INVICTUS study, focusing on patients who received ripretinib 150 mg QD who received intrapatient dose escalation to 150 mg b.i.d. after progressive disease.

Avapritinib in Patients With Advanced Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Following at Least Three Prior Lines of Therapy

BACKGROUND

Most gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) driven by KIT or platelet-derived growth factor receptor A (PDGFRA) mutations develop resistance to available tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatments. NAVIGATOR is a two-part, single-arm, dose escalation and expansion study designed to evaluate safety and antineoplastic activity of avapritinib, a selective, potent inhibitor of KIT and PDGFRA, in patients with unresectable or metastatic GIST.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eligible patients were 18 years or older with histologically or cytologically confirmed unresectable GIST and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤2 and initiated avapritinib at 300 mg or 400 mg once daily. Primary endpoints were safety in patients who initiated avapritinib at 300 mg or 400 mg once daily and overall response rate (ORR) in patients in the safety population with three or more previous lines of TKI therapy.

RESULTS

As of November 16, 2018, in the safety population (n = 204), the most common adverse events (AEs) were nausea (131 [64%]), fatigue (113 [55%]), anemia (102 [50%]), cognitive effects (84 [41%]), and periorbital edema (83 [41%]); 17 (8%) patients discontinued due to treatment-related AEs, most frequently confusion, encephalopathy, and fatigue. ORR in response-evaluable patients with GIST harboring KIT or non-D842V PDGFRA mutations and with at least three prior therapies (n = 103) was 17% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10-25). Median duration of response was 10.2 months (95% CI, 7.2-10.2), and median progression-free survival was 3.7 months (95% CI, 2.8-4.6).

CONCLUSION

Avapritinib has manageable toxicity with meaningful clinical activity as fourth-line or later treatment in some patients with GIST with KIT or PDGFRA mutations.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

In the NAVIGATOR trial, avapritinib, an inhibitor of KIT and platelet-derived growth factor receptor A tyrosine kinases, provided durable responses in a proportion of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) who had received three or more prior therapies. Avapritinib had a tolerable safety profile, with cognitive adverse events manageable with dose interruptions and modification in most cases. These findings indicate that avapritinib can elicit durable treatment responses in some patients with heavily pretreated GIST, for whom limited treatment options exist.

[Kinase inhibitors in oncology : What is new?]

Kinase inhibitors are now among the most important drugs in targeted therapy and are used in particular for the treatment of different tumor entities. Since many kinase inhibitors inhibit various tyrosine kinases efficiently but not specifically, they are often characterized by their versatile use in a wide variety of entities and diseases. The diverse use of this group of drugs, as well as the challenge of their side-effect profile, continues to make kinase inhibitors the subject of numerous clinical studies. The following article provides an overview of recent new approvals in the field of kinase inhibitors and shows their importance for oncological therapy.

Lung function outcomes in the INPULSIS® trials of nintedanib in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

BACKGROUND

In the INPULSIS^® trials, nintedanib reduced the annual rate of decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) versus placebo, consistent with slowing of disease progression. We characterised the effects of nintedanib on physiologic outcomes using pooled data from the INPULSIS^® trials.

METHODS

Post-hoc analyses included changes in FVC over time, cumulative distribution of patients by change in FVC % predicted, and annual rate of decline in FVC in subgroups by diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLco) and composite physiologic index (CPI) at baseline. Changes from baseline in DLco and oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry (SpO₂) were pre-specified.

RESULTS

Nintedanib significantly reduced FVC decline versus placebo from week 12. A higher proportion of patients treated with nintedanib than placebo had an improvement or no decline in FVC % predicted, whereas a smaller proportion had absolute declines in FVC ≥5% or ≥10% predicted from baseline to week 52. The effect of nintedanib on FVC decline was similar in patients with baseline DLco >40% versus ≤40% predicted or CPI ≤45 versus >45. There were no significant differences between nintedanib and placebo in change from baseline in DLco % predicted, CPI, or SpO₂ at week 52. However, change (deterioration) in CPI was significantly lower with nintedanib versus placebo in patients with CPI > 45 at baseline (1.0 versus 2.9) and CPI >55 at baseline (-1.2 versus 3.3).

CONCLUSIONS

A range of physiologic outcome measures in the INPULSIS^® trials support the effect of nintedanib on reducing disease progression in patients with IPF.

Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumour : From Tumours to Therapies

Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumours (ATRTs) are the most common malignant central nervous system tumours in children ≤1 year of age and represent approximately 1–2% of all pediatric brain tumours. ATRT is a primarily monogenic disease characterized by the bi-allelic loss of the SMARCB1 gene, which encodes the hSNF5 subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex. Though conventional dose chemotherapy is not effective in most ATRT patients, high dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplant, radiotherapy and/or intrathecal chemotherapy all show significant potential to improve patient survival. Recent epigenetic and transcriptional studies highlight three subgroups of ATRT, each with distinct clinical and molecular characteristics with corresponding therapeutic sensitivities, including epigenetic targeting, and inhibition of tyrosine kinases or growth/lineage specific pathways.

[Monitoring of hypertension in patients orally treated by angiogenesis inhibitor in daily practice]

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to measure the monitoring and the incidence of renovascular effects of angiogenesis inhibitors in real population.

METHOD

Are included in this descriptive, monocentric, practical study, patients of 18 years old and more, orally treated by angiogenesis inhibitors and monitored in consultation by clinician nurses. The main interest variable is the incidence of hypertension at three months of treatment.

RESULTS

From January, 2011 to July, 2014, 324 patients have been included, whose 53% are men. Mean age is 62±13 years old. Antecedents are: 37% of hypertension, 17% of chronic renal insufficiency, 21% of nephrectomy, 13% of diabetes. Most frequent cancers are kidney (31%), liver (23%) and breast (16%). Most used molecules are: sorafenib (30%), sunitinib (23%) and everolimus (16%). Blood pressure has been measured at the beginning of the treatment in 157 patients (48%). Among them, during the first three months of treatment, 55 (35%) present hypertension according to the oncological definition and 59 (38%) according to the classical definition; 30 patients (19%) are considered as hypertensive according to only one of the two definitions. In multivariable analysis, variables significantly associated with hypertension are: age (OR=1.04; 95% CI 1.02-1.08; P<0.01) and antecedent of nephrectomy (OR=4.29; 95%CI 1.86-9.92; P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

In this cohort, only 48% of the patients had blood pressure determination before treatment. Hypertension under angiogenesis inhibitors is probably underestimated. Age and antecedent of nephrectomy seem to be correlated with the occurrence of hypertension.

Interferon treatment for Japanese patients with favorable-risk metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the era of targeted therapy

PURPOSE

Single-agent interferon (IFN) is no longer regarded as a standard option for first-line systemic treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in Western countries. However, some patients with favorable-risk RCC may still achieve complete and long-lasting remission in response to IFN treatment. The present study compared favorable-risk Japanese patients with metastatic RCC Japanese patients who had been treated with IFN or tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy as a first-line systemic therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From 1995 to 2014, a total of 48 patients with favorable risk as defined by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center criteria who did not receive adjuvant systemic therapy were retrospectively enrolled in this study. We assessed the tumor response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

The objective response rate for first-line therapy was 29% in the IFN group and 47% in the TKI group, but this difference did not reach the level of statistical significance. Median OS for IFN and TKI was 71 and 47 months, respectively (p=0.014). Median first-line PFS for IFN and TKI was 20 and 16 months, respectively (no significant difference). First-line IFN therapy did not prove inferior to TKI therapy in terms of OS according to metastatic sites.

CONCLUSIONS

IFN is associated with a survival benefit in Japanese patients with favorable-risk metastatic RCC in the era of targeted therapy. Further prospective study is needed.

[Response to treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in chronic myeloid leukemia]

BACKGROUND

Chronic myeloid leukemia represents 15 % of all the leukemias in adults. With the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, overall survival at 10 years is 80-90 %. The objective was to describe the epidemiology, complete cytogenetic response and major molecular response with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

METHODS

It was performed a descriptive cross-sectional study of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive in treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

RESULTS

The sample included 54 patients with a mean age of 41 years; 78 % of patients were in chronic phase, and in 8 % of patients were identified complex karyotype at diagnosis. All patients received imatinib as first-line treatment. We identified mutations in 8 %. The patients with primary or secondary resistance (30%) received second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors as a second-line therapy. Of 35 patients treated with imatinib, 23 had complete cytogenetic response, 23 had major molecular response, and 16 had loss of response to treatment. Of nine patients treated with nilotinib, two presented complete cytogenetic response, two major molecular response, and five loss of response to treatment. Of seven patients treated with dasatinib, two had complete cytogenetic response, two major molecular response, and four loss of response to treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Of patients studied, 30 % was resistant to imatinib, 52 % achieved a complete cytogenetic response, and 42 % major molecular response. The use of second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors led to obtain a complete cytogenetic and major molecular response in fewer time.

Antiangiogenesis beyond VEGF inhibition: a journey from antiangiogenic single-target to broad-spectrum agents

Although the inhibition of angiogenesis is an established modality of cancer treatment, concerns regarding toxicity and drug resistance still constitute barriers to be overcome. For almost a decade since the approval of bevacizumab in 2004, the efforts on antiangiogenic therapeutics have been mainly focused in inhibiting the VEGF pathway. The ongoing understanding of the complexity of the angiogenic process has broadened the spotlight to include concurrent and downstream players to the list of targeted inhibitors. In this review, we summarize the currently existing and the promising antiangiogenic treatments, envisioning an apparent evolutionary trend towards the development of angiogenesis inhibitors of three modalities: single-target, multi-target, and broad-spectrum agents. The clinical efficacy and some structural aspects of monoclonal antibodies, small molecules, endogenous and synthetic angiogenesis inhibitors and their molecular targets are discussed, and the targeting of endothelial cells with the use of cytotoxic drugs in a metronomic schedule is appraised. The reader is invited to revisit current expectations about antiangiogenic therapy in an attempt to set consistent clinical endpoints from which patients could gain real and lasting clinical benefits.

Imatinib resistance: a review of alternative inhibitors in chronic myeloid leukemia

The development of point mutations in the BCR-ABL kinase domain is the main reason for imatinib resistance in chronic myeloid leukemia. Different detection methods are used in chronic myeloid leukemia monitoring, such as direct sequencing, denaturing high performance liquid chromatography and allele specific polymerase chain reaction. Mutation analysis has become mandatory during patient workup of chronic myeloid leukemia in order for the physician to choose the most suitable tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This article, a review of possible therapies used to overcome imatinib resistance, investigates the current position by searching the PubMed electronic database using the following keywords: imatinib, dasatinib, nilotinib, aurora kinase, SRC kinase, mutation, treatment, drugs and resistance. New tyrosine kinase inhibitors include BCR-ABL kinase selective inhibitors, dual ABL/SRC kinase inhibitors and aurora kinase inhibitors. Awareness of the spectrum of new drugs against mutations, in particular the T315I mutation, makes it possible to properly select the best therapy for each patient.

Serum concentrations of nitrite and malondialdehyde as markers of oxidative stress in chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Background:

Chronic myeloid leukemia is a neoplasm characterized by clonal expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells resulting from the (9:22)(q34,11) translocation. The tyrosine kinase abl fusion protein,the initial leukemogenic event in chronic myeloid leukemia, is constitutively activated thus inducing the production of reactive oxygen species. Of particular relevance is the fact that an increase in reactive oxygen species can facilitate genomic instability and may contribute to disease progression.

Objetive:

To evaluate oxidative stress by determining the levels of malondialdehyde and nitrite in chronic myeloid leukemia patients under treatment with 1st and 2nd generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors monitored at a referral hospital in Fortaleza, Ceará.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was performed of 64 male and female adults. Patients were stratified according to treatment. The levels of malondialdehyde and nitrite were determined by spectrophotometry. Statistical differences between groups were observed using the Student t-test and Fisher's exact test. The results are expressed as mean ± standard error of mean. The significance level was set for a p-value < 0.05 in all analyses.

Results:

The results show significantly higher mean concentrations of nitrite and malondialdehyde in chronic myeloid leukemia patients using second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors compared to patients on imatinib. Conclusion: It follows that chronic myeloid leukemia patients present higher oxidative activity and that the increases in oxidative damage markers can indicate resistance to 1st generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors.