Longitudinal Natural History Study of Children and Adults with Rare Solid Tumors: Initial Results for First 200 Participants

Understanding of tumor biology and identification of effective therapies is lacking for many rare tumors. My Pediatric and Adult Rare Tumor (MyPART) network was established to engage patients, advocates, and researchers and conduct a comprehensive longitudinal Natural History Study of Rare Solid Tumors. Through remote or in-person enrollment at the NIH Clinical Center, participants with rare solid tumors ≥4 weeks old complete standardized medical and family history forms, patient reported outcomes, and provide tumor, blood and/or saliva samples. Medical records are extracted for clinical status and treatment history, and tumors undergo genomic analysis. A total of 200 participants (65% female, 35% male, median age at diagnosis 43 years, range = 2-77) enrolled from 46 U.S. states and nine other countries (46% remote, 55% in-person). Frequent diagnoses were neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN), adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC), medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTC), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)-deficient gastrointestinal stromal tumors (sdGIST), and chordomas. At enrollment, median years since diagnosis was 3.5 (range = 0-36.6), 63% participants had metastatic disease and 20% had no evidence of disease. Pathogenic germline and tumor mutations included SDHA/B/C (sdGIST), RET (MTC), TP53 and CTNNB1 (ACC), MEN1 (NEN), and SMARCB1 (poorly-differentiated chordoma). Clinically significant anxiety was observed in 20%-35% of adults. Enrollment of participants and comprehensive data collection were feasible. Remote enrollment was critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 30 patients were enrolled with ACC, NEN, and sdGIST, allowing for clinical/genomic analyses across tumors. Longitudinal follow-up and expansion of cohorts are ongoing to advance understanding of disease course and establish external controls for interventional trials.

SIGNIFICANCE

This study demonstrates that comprehensive, tumor-agnostic data and biospecimen collection is feasible to characterize different rare tumors, and speed progress in research. The findings will be foundational to developing external controls groups for single-arm interventional trials, where randomized control trials cannot be conducted because of small patient populations.

Survival in metastatic Ewing sarcoma (EWS) and rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) following consolidation immunotherapy with autologous lymphocyte infusion, dendritic cell vaccines ± CYT107 (rhIL-7)

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Background: Higher lymphocyte levels correlate with better survival in a variety of cancers, but it remains unclear whether there is a causal relationship between immune function and survival in cancer patients. A pilot study in high-risk pediatric sarcomas was undertaken to determine if a regimen designed to enhance immune reconstitution following standard cytotoxic therapy could improve survival. Methods: Forty-four patients (median 16 yrs, range 5-33) enrolled following a diagnosis of metastatic or late recurrent pediatric sarcoma, and underwent apheresis to collect mononuclear cells and tumor biopsy to generate tumor lysate, then received standard therapy at their home institution. After standard therapy, 29 patients received immunotherapy, comprising a single infusion of autologous lymphocytes depleted of CD4+CD25+regulatory T cells, plus dendritic cell vaccines pulsed with autologous tumor lysate and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH, Q14d x 6). After the first 5 patients, CYT107 (rhIL-7, 20 mcg/kg SQ Q14d x 4) was added to the regimen. Intensive biologic analyses measured global and regulatory T cell immune reconstitution and vaccine responses. Results: This outpatient regimen was well tolerated with toxicities limited to rash, low-grade fever and mild constitutional symptoms. CYT107 dramatically enhanced global immune reconstitution and diminished regulatory T cell frequency. All patients developed immune responses to KLH and 31% developed immune responses to tumor lysate. Intent-to-treat analysis of all patients enrolled shows 56% 5-yr OS, with immunotherapy recipients having a 64% 5-yr OS (median f/u 30 mos, range 23-65). Intent-to-treat analysis of the subset of patients enrolled at the time of a new diagnosis of metastatic EWS or RMS shows 83% 5-yr OS and 54% 5-yr EFS (n=13, median f/u 35 mos, range 24-63), which is superior to previous outcomes reported for this population. Conclusions: A low intensity immunotherapy regimen focused on enhancing immune reconstitution following standard therapy may diminish recurrence in newly diagnosed metastatic EWS and RMS. Clinical trial information: NCT00923351.

Effect of growth hormone treatment on testicular function, puberty, and adrenarche in boys with non-growth hormone-deficient short stature: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of growth hormone (GH) therapy on pubertal onset, pubertal pace, adult testicular function, and adrenarche in boys with non-GH-deficient short stature.

STUDY DESIGN

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. GH (0.074 mg/kg, subcutaneously, 3 times per week) or placebo treatment was initiated in prepubertal or early pubertal boys and continued until near final height was reached (n = 49). Statistical significance was assessed by survival analysis, repeated-measures analysis of variance, and Student t test.

RESULTS

GH therapy did not affect the age at pubertal onset, defined either by testicular volume >4 mL or by testosterone concentration >1.0 nmol/L (30 ng/dL). GH treatment also did not affect the pace of puberty, defined either by the rate of change in testicular volume or testosterone concentration during the 4 years after pubertal onset. In boys followed up to age > or =16 years during the study, there were no significant differences in final testicular volume or in plasma testosterone, luteinizing hormone, or follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations. The pace of adrenarche, assessed by change in dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels over time, also did not differ significantly between the GH and placebo groups.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that GH treatment does not cause testicular damage, alter the onset or pace of puberty, or alter the pace of adrenarche in boys with non-GH-deficient short stature.

Accidental needlesticks: do anesthesiologists practice proper infection control precautions?

Anesthesiologists as well as patients are at risk for acquiring blood-borne infections such as hepatitis and AIDS. We surveyed 2,530 anesthesiologists, a 10% random sample of the members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, with a response rate of 57.1%, to determine the incidence of accidental needlestick exposure among anesthesia personnel and whether anesthesiologists are adhering to infection control guidelines to protect themselves and their patients from exposure to infectious diseases. Eighty-eight percent of respondents reported at least 1 accidental needlestick in the past 10 years; 21% received a needlestick from a high-risk patient and 4.5% a needlestick from a known HIV-positive patients. Residents reported significantly more accidental needlesticks from known HIV-positive patients (8.5%). Mucous membrane, open cut, eye, or other significant exposure to HIV-contaminated blood or body fluids was sustained by 8.34% of respondents in the past 10 years. Sixty percent of respondents reported they almost never reuse common syringes now compared with a 40.8% non-reuse rate (P < 0.001) in a similar survey on infection control practices conducted in 1990. Sixty-three percent reported they almost never reuse a vasopressor syringe compared with the 1990 non-reuse rate of 52.5% (P < 0.001). In the current survey, 39% of anesthesiologists reported reusing syringes from one patient to another and 36% reported reusing the same vasopressor syringes for different patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)