Early morning immune checkpoint blockade and overall survival of patients with metastatic cancer: An In-depth chronotherapeutic study

INTRODUCTION

Recent retrospective studies suggest potential large patient's benefit through proper timing of immune checkpoint blockers (ICB). The association between ICB treatment timing and patient survival, neoplastic response and toxicities was investigated, together with interactions with performance status (PS) and sex.

METHODS

A cohort of patients with metastatic or locally advanced solid tumors, who received pembrolizumab, nivolumab, atezolizumab, durvalumab, or avelumab, alone or with concomitant chemotherapy, between November 2015 and March 2021, at the Centre Leon Bérard (France), was retrospectively studied.

RESULTS

361 patients were investigated (80% non-small cell lung cancer patients, mean [SD] age: 63 [11] years, 39% of women, 83% PS0-1 at first infusion, 19% received concomitant chemotherapy). ICB were administered from 07:25 to 17:21 and optimal morning/afternoon cut-off was 11:37. Morning infusions were associated with increased OS as compared to afternoon (median 30.3 vs 15.9 months, p = 0.0024; HR 1.56 [1.17-2.1], p = 0.003). A strong PS-timing interaction was found (PS0-1 patients, HR=1.53 [1.10-2.12], p = 0.011; PS2-3 patients, HR=0.50 [0.25-0.97], p = 0.042). Morning PS0-1 patients displayed increased OS (median 36.7 vs 21.3 months, p = 0.023), partial/complete response rate (58% vs 41%, p = 0.027), and grade1-3 toxicities (49% vs 34%, p = 0.028). Mortality risk ratio between infusions at worst time-of-day, estimated at 13:36 [12:48-14:23], and in early morning was equal to 4.8 ([2.3-10.1], p = 0.008). Timing differences in toxicities resulted significant only in female patients (women vs men: p < 0.001 vs 0.4).

CONCLUSIONS

Early morning ICB infusion was associated with increased OS, response, and toxicities in patients with PS0-1 as compared to later infusions within the day. Prospective randomized trials are needed to confirm this retrospective study.

Consore: A Powerful Federated Data Mining Tool Driving a French Research Network to Accelerate Cancer Research

BACKGROUND

Real-world data (RWD) related to the health status and care of cancer patients reflect the ongoing medical practice, and their analysis yields essential real-world evidence. Advanced information technologies are vital for their collection, qualification, and reuse in research projects.

METHODS

UNICANCER, the French federation of comprehensive cancer centres, has innovated a unique research network: Consore. This potent federated tool enables the analysis of data from millions of cancer patients across eleven French hospitals.

RESULTS

Currently operational within eleven French cancer centres, Consore employs natural language processing to structure the therapeutic management data of approximately 1.3 million cancer patients. These data originate from their electronic medical records, encompassing about 65 million medical records. Thanks to the structured data, which are harmonized within a common data model, and its federated search tool, Consore can create patient cohorts based on patient or tumor characteristics, and treatment modalities. This ability to derive larger cohorts is particularly attractive when studying rare cancers.

CONCLUSIONS

Consore serves as a tremendous data mining instrument that propels French cancer centres into the big data era. With its federated technical architecture and unique shared data model, Consore facilitates compliance with regulations and acceleration of cancer research projects.

From data strategy to implementation to advance cancer research and cancer care: A French comprehensive cancer center experience

In a comprehensive cancer center, effective data strategies are essential to evaluate practices, and outcome, understanding the disease and prognostic factors, identifying disparities in cancer care, and overall developing better treatments. To achieve these goals, the Center Léon Bérard (CLB) considers various data collection strategies, including electronic medical records (EMRs), clinical trial data, and research projects. Advanced data analysis techniques like natural language processing (NLP) can be used to extract and categorize information from these sources to provide a more complete description of patient data. Data sharing is also crucial for collaboration across comprehensive cancer centers, but it must be done securely and in compliance with regulations like GDPR. To ensure data is shared appropriately, CLB should develop clear data sharing policies and share data in a controlled, standardized format like OSIRIS RWD, OMOP and FHIR. The UNICANCER initiative has launched the CONSORE project to support the development of a structured and standardized repository of patient data to improve cancer research and patient outcomes. Real-world data (RWD) studies are vital in cancer research as they provide a comprehensive and accurate picture of patient outcomes and treatment patterns. By incorporating RWD into data collection, analysis, and sharing strategies, comprehensive cancer centers can take a more comprehensive and patient-centered approach to cancer research. In conclusion, comprehensive cancer centers must take an integrated approach to data collection, analysis, and sharing to enhance their understanding of cancer and improve patient outcomes. Leveraging advanced data analytics techniques and developing effective data sharing policies can help cancer centers effectively harness the power of data to drive progress in cancer research.

A Digital Solution for an Advanced Breast Tumor Board: Pilot Application Cocreation and Implementation Study

BACKGROUND

Cancer treatment is constantly evolving toward a more personalized approach based on clinical features, imaging, and genomic pathology information. To ensure the best care for patients, multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) meet regularly to review cases. Notwithstanding, the conduction of MDT meetings is challenged by medical time restrictions, the unavailability of critical MDT members, and the additional administrative work required. These issues may result in members missing information during MDT meetings and postponed treatment. To explore and facilitate improved approaches for MDT meetings in France, using advanced breast cancers (ABCs) as a model, Centre Léon Bérard (CLB) and ROCHE Diagnostics cocreated an MDT application prototype based on structured data.

OBJECTIVE

In this paper, we want to describe how an application prototype was implemented for ABC MDT meetings at CLB to support clinical decisions.

METHODS

Prior to the initiation of cocreation activities, an organizational audit of ABC MDT meetings identified the following four key phases for the MDT: the instigation, preparation, execution, and follow-up phases. For each phase, challenges and opportunities were identified that informed the new cocreation activities. The MDT application prototype became software that integrated structured data from medical files for the visualization of the neoplastic history of a patient. The digital solution was assessed via a before-and-after audit and a survey questionnaire that was administered to health care professionals involved in the MDT.

RESULTS

The ABC MDT meeting audit was carried out during 3 MDT meetings, including 70 discussions of clinical cases before and 58 such discussions after the implementation of the MDT application prototype. We identified 33 pain points related to the preparation, execution, and follow-up phases. No issues were identified related to the instigation phase. Difficulties were grouped as follows: process challenges (n=18), technological limitations (n=9), and the lack of available resources (n=6). The preparation of MDT meetings was the phase in which the most issues (n=16) were seen. A repeat audit, which was undertaken after the implementation of the MDT application, demonstrated that (1) the discussion times per case remained comparable (2 min and 22 s vs 2 min and 14 s), (2) the capture of MDT decisions improved (all cases included a therapeutic proposal), (3) there was no postponement of treatment decisions, and (4) the mean confidence of medical oncologists in decision-making increased.

CONCLUSIONS

The introduction of the MDT application prototype at CLB to support the ABC MDT seemed to improve the quality of and confidence in clinical decisions. The integration of an MDT application with the local electronic medical record and the utilization of structured data conforming to international terminologies could enable a national network of MDTs to support sustained improvements to patient care.

The Ambulatory Medical Assistance (AMA) programme during active-phase treatment in patients with haematological malignancies: A cost-effectiveness analysis

CONTEXT

The need for patient navigator is growing, and there is a lack of cost evaluation, especially during survivorship.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an Ambulatory Medical Assistance (AMA) programme in patients with haematological malignancies (HM).

DESIGN

A cost-effectiveness analysis of the AMA programme was performed compared to a simulated control arm.

SETTING

An interventional, single-arm and prospective study was conducted in a French reference haematology-oncology centre between 2016 and 2020.

PARTICIPANTS

Adult patients were enrolled with histologically documented malignant haematology, during their active therapy phase, and treated either by intravenous chemotherapy or oral therapy.

METHODS

An extrapolation of the effectiveness was derived from a similar nurse monitoring programme (CAPRI study). Cost effectiveness of the programme was evaluated through adverse events of Grade 3 or 4 avoided in different populations.

RESULTS

Included patient (n = 797) from the AMA programme were followed during 125 days (IQR: 0-181), and adverse events (Grade 3/4) were observed in 10.1% of patients versus 13.4% in the simulated control arm. The overall cost of AE avoided was estimated to €81,113, leading to an ICER of €864.

CONCLUSION

The AMA programme was shown to be cost-effective compared to a simulated control arm with no intervention.

Safety and Efficacy of the mTOR Inhibitor, Vistusertib, Combined With Anastrozole in Patients With Hormone Receptor-Positive Recurrent or Metastatic Endometrial Cancer: The VICTORIA Multicenter, Open-label, Phase 1/2 Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

Endometrial cancer is often hormone-dependent and treated with aromatase inhibitors. The PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway deregulation observed in endometrial cancer drives hormonal resistance, thus supporting the rationale of combining mTOR inhibitor with endocrine therapy.

Objective

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of vistusertib in combination with anastrozole in the treatment of women with hormone receptor-positive recurrent or metastatic endometrial cancer.

Design, Settings, and Participants

The VICTORIA study was a multicenter, open-label, randomized clinical trial that accrued 75 patients with hormone receptor-positive recurrent or metastatic endometrial cancer from 12 cancer centers in France in April 2016 to October 2019. After a safety run-in period, a Simon 2-stage design was used. Data analyses were performed from December 11, 2020, to March 11, 2021.

Interventions

Patients were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to oral vistusertib (125 mg twice daily 2 days per week) and oral anastrozole (1 mg daily) in the combination vistusertib with anastrozole arm (V+A arm) or oral anastrozole alone (A arm).

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary end point was serious adverse events for the safety run-in period and progression-free rate at 8 weeks (8wk-PFR)-assessed with a blinded independent central review in phase 2. The secondary end points were objective response rate, duration of response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival, and incidence of adverse events.

Results

Of the 75 patients who were randomized, 73 (median [range] age, 69.5 [37-88] y; all female) were treated: V+A arm, 49 patients; A arm, 24 patients. In the V+A arm, the 8wk-PFR was 67.3% (unilateral 95% CI, 54.7%) and in the A arm, 39.1% (unilateral 95% CI, 22.2%). No significant serious adverse events were reported during the safety run-in period (n = 6 in V+A arm). The overall response rate was 24.5% (95% CI, 13.3%-38.9%) in the V+A arm vs 17.4% (95% CI, 5.0%-38.8%) in the A arm. With a median follow-up of 27.7 months, median PFS was 5.2 (95% CI, 3.4-8.9) in the V+A arm and 1.9 (95% CI, 1.6-8.9) months in the A arm. Fatigue, lymphopenia, hyperglycemia, and diarrhea were the most common (grade ≥2) adverse events associated with vistusertib.

Conclusions and Relevance

This multicenter, open-label, phase 1/2 randomized clinical trial demonstrated that adding vistusertib to anastrozole improved 8wk-PFR, overall response rate, and PFS for patients with endometrial cancer and had manageable adverse events. Identification of molecular subgroups would allow for more precise selection of patients who may be most likely to experience favorable outcomes.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02730923.

Survival and risk of COVID-19 after SARS-COV-2 vaccination in a series of 2391 cancer patients

BACKGROUND

Patients with cancer are at high risk of severe or lethal COVID-19. The impact of SARS-COV-2 vaccination on the risk of developing COVID-19 was investigated in an exhaustive series of patients from a comprehensive cancer center.

METHODS

This is a study of the exhaustive population of 2391 cancer patients who were prescribed SARS-COV-2 vaccination until 09/21. Patient characteristics, documented SARS-COV-2 infection with RT-PCR, and survival were collected. The primary endpoint was the rate of COVID-19 after vaccination. Secondary endpoints included risk factors to develop COVID-19 after vaccination, with a comparison with the cohort of vaccinated health care workers (HCW), and risk factors for death.

RESULTS

From January to September 2021, among 2391 patients with cancer under active treatment in whom a SARS-COV-2 vaccine was prescribed, 659 (28%), 1498 (63%) and 139 (6%) received 1, 2, and 3 doses, respectively. Ninety five patients received a single dose of vaccine after a previous COVID-19. Two thousand two hundred eighty five health care workers (HCW) received one (N = 17, 0.7%), 2-3 (N = 2026, 88.7%) vaccine doses and one dose after COVID-19 (N = 242, 10.6%). With a median follow-up of 142 and 199 days for patients and HCW, respectively. Thirty nine (1.6%) patients and 35 (1.5%) HCW developed COVID-19 after vaccination. Six of 39 cancer patients and no HCW died because ofCOVID-19 within 50 days after diagnosis. Independent risk factors for COVID-19 in vaccinated patients were age, single dose of vaccine without previous COVID-19 and anti-CD20 treatment in the last three months. Independent risk factors for death included metastatic disease, gender, cancer type, but also documented COVID-19 before vaccination.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients receiving two or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine have reduced risk of COVID-19. The risk of death of vaccinated cancer patients presenting COVID-19 remains high. COVID-19 before vaccination is associated with an increased overall risk of death.

Lymphopenia combined with low TCR diversity (divpenia) predicts poor overall survival in metastatic breast cancer patients

Lymphopenia (< 1Giga/L) detected before initiation of chemotherapy is a predictive factor for death in metastatic solid tumors. Combinatorial T cell repertoire (TCR) diversity was investigated and tested either alone or in combination with lymphopenia as a prognostic factor at diagnosis for overall survival (OS) in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. The combinatorial TCR diversity was measured by semi quantitative multi-N-plex PCR on blood samples before the initiation of the first line chemotherapy in a development (n = 66) and validation (n = 67) MBC patient cohorts. A prognostic score, combining lymphocyte count and TCR diversity was evaluated. Univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic factors for OS were performed in both cohorts. Lymphopenia and severe restriction of TCR diversity called “divpenia” (diversity ≤ 33%) were independently associated with shorter OS. Lympho-divpenia combining lymphopenia and severe divpenia accurately identified patients with poor OS in both cohorts (7.6 and 10.6 vs 24.5 and 22.9 mo). In multivariate analysis including other prognostic clinical factors, lympho-divpenia was found to be an independent prognostic factor in the pooled cohort (p = 0.005) along with lack of HER2 and hormonal receptors expression (p = 0.011) and anemia (p = 0.009). Lympho-divpenia is a novel prognostic factor that will be used to improve quality of MBC patients’ medical care.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment of a first cancer is associated with a decreased incidence of second primary cancer

Background

Second primary cancers (SPCs) are diagnosed in over 5% of patients after a first primary cancer (FPC). We explore here the impact of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) given for an FPC on the risk of SPC in different age groups, cancer types and treatments.

Patients and methods

The files of the 46 829 patients diagnosed with an FPC in the Centre Léon Bérard from 2013 to 2018 were analyzed. Structured data were extracted and electronic patient records were screened using a natural language processing tool, with validation using manual screening of 2818 files of patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the incidence of SPC according to patient characteristics and treatment were conducted.

Results

Among the 46 829 patients, 1830 (3.9%) had a diagnosis of SPC with a median interval of 11.1 months (range 0-78 months); 18 128 (38.7%) received cytotoxic chemotherapy (CC) and 1163 (2.5%) received ICIs for the treatment of the FPC in this period. SPCs were observed in 7/1163 (0.6%) patients who had received ICIs for their FPC versus 437/16 997 (2.6%) patients receiving CC and no ICIs for the FPC versus 1386/28 669 (4.8%) for patients receiving neither CC nor ICIs for the FPC. This reduction was observed at all ages and for all histotypes analyzed. Treatment with ICIs and/or CC for the FPC are associated with a reduced risk of SPC in multivariate analysis.

Conclusion

Immunotherapy with ICIs alone and in combination with CC was found to be associated with a reduced incidence of SPC for all ages and cancer types.

•

From 2013 to 2018, 3.9% of the 46 829 patients diagnosed with a first cancer presented with an SPC.

•

Treatment of the first cancer with ICIs was associated with a major reduction of SPC.

•

CC given for an FPC was also associated with a lower magnitude of reduction of SPC.

•

There were no SPC in cancer patients treated with ICIs in the localized phase of their first cancer.

Real-world Evaluation of Oral Vinorelbine in the Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer: An ESME-MBC Study

BACKGROUND/AIM

Vinorelbine is indicated for use in the treatment of MBC as a single agent or in combination but there is little real world data on this molecule and even less on its oral form. We exploited the Unicancer Epidemiology Strategy Medical-Economics (ESME) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) database to investigate current patterns of use of oral vinorelbine (OV), as well as outcomes of patients receiving this drug.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Data were collected retrospectively from women and men treated for MBC between 2008 and 2014 at one of 18 French Comprehensive Cancer Centres. The efficacy of OV was evaluated in terms of progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) and treatment duration. The population and patterns of OV usage were also described.

RESULTS

A total of 1806 patients (11% of the ESME MBC database) were included in this analysis. OV was prescribed as monotherapy (46%) or in combination (29%), especially with capecitabine. mainly in later treatment lines. Median PFS was 3.3 months: 2.9 months for single agent, 3.6 months for combination therapy. Median OS was 40.9 months.

CONCLUSION

Real-world data offer complementary results to the data from traditional clinical trials, but they concern a much larger population. In this ESME MBC cohort, OV was only prescribed to a small subset of MBC patients. OV was mainly given as single agent to patients with heavily pre-treated MBC; less commonly, it was co-administered with capecitabine or anti-HER2, in earlier lines of therapy. PFS was modest but in line with previous reports.

A GINECO randomized phase II assessing addition of an aromatase inhibitor to oral vinorelbine in pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients

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Background: For ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (mBC), efficacy of endocrine therapy + chemotherapy combination remain an open question. We hypothesized that continuing ER targeted therapy after progression in combination with chemotherapy may improve disease control. The objective of the CHEOPS trial was to assess the benefit of adding aromatase inhibitor (AI) to metronomic chemotherapy,oral vinorelbine, 50mg/3 time a week (OV) for AI pre-treated, ER+/HER2- mBC patients. Methods: Eligible patients had to have progressed on endocrine therapy and one or two lines of chemotherapy. They were randomized between vinorelbine (OV) and vinorelbine + AI (OV+AI). Primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). To show an increase of median PFS (from 3.5 to 5.5 month, HR 0.636), with alpha = 5% and power = 80%, 130 evaluable patients were needed. Results: 121 patients were Included (OV = 61; OV+AI = 60). Median age was 68 (range: 49-87), Median time from metastatic diagnosis was 3.2 years (range 0 - 16.9). 109 patients (90%) had visceral metastases. They all had previously received an AI and had been treated with one line (N = 66, 54.5%), or 2 lines (N = 55, 45.5%) of chemotherapy. Median PFS was increased from 2.3 months with OV to 3.7 months with OV+AI, but this difference was not significant (HR 0.73 [95 % CI 0.50-1.06], log-rank test: P = 0.09) 81 patients (67%) had at least one adverse event (AE) of grade ≥ 3 (40 (66%) for OV vs 41 (68%) for OV+AI). The most common grade ≥ 3 AE were: GT gammas (23%), neutropenia (18%), arterial hypertension and lymphopenia (17%). The occurrence of 3 toxic deaths (OV = 1; OV+AI = 2) secondary to febrile aplasia motivated the early cessation of this clinical trial. 9 patients (5 OV (10%) and 4 OV+AI (8%) presented an objective complete or partial response. Conclusions: The addition of AI to OV over OV alone in AI resistant mBC was associated with a non-significant improvement of PFS, but both PFS are lower than expected. Metronomic OV schedule, at 50 mg three times a week, requires close biological monitoring. The question of hormonal treatment and chemotherapy combination remains open. Clinical trial information: EudraCT Number: 2015-000401-39.

Abstract CT153: A multicenter, prospective trial in progress exploring the association between low level of genomic alteration and exceptional and unexpected response to targeted therapies in patients with solid tumors

Background: Most targeted therapies in cancer have reached approval based on clinical studies performed in unselected patients. Small subsets of patients present exceptional responses (ER), which could be driven by a low level of genomic alterations in genes identified as causally implicated in cancer.

Methods: This is an exploratory, multicenter, prospective trial conducted in adult patients with advanced solid cancers (breast cancer, lung adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, renal clear cell cancer, skin cutaneous melanoma) having presented an ER to an approved antineoplastic targeted therapy will be included. ER is defined using the definition chosen by the NCI which combines the three criteria: - complete or partial response, - lasting &gt; 6 months, - and not expected in &gt; 10% of the patients in this drug - organ situation ER will be reviewed each month by the Response Confirmation Committee composed of the study coordinators and at least one expert of each organ. The primary objective is to identify whether tumors characterized by a low level of genomic alterations are associated with ER. A low level of genomic alteration is defined by the presence of less than the 5th quantile of genomic alterations to be expected in the given tumor type. For each tumor type, it is desired to test the null hypothesis H0: π=0.05 against the one-sided alternative hypothesis π&gt;0.05. For each of six cohorts, a sample size of 44 patients is necessary to achieve 80% power at π=15 with a one-sided level 5% test.

Results: As of January 2018, 152 patients were screened in 31 French centers. Forty-seven patients were included in the study (23 patients with breast cancer, 11 patients with kidney carcinoma, 5 with melanoma, 4 with lung cancer, 3 with colorectal cancer and 1 ovarian cancer). The 5 most frequent drugs were: sunitinib, everolimus, bevacizumab, trastuzumab and pazopanib. The EXPRESS study is still recruiting. Study completion date is estimated to be in August 2019.

Conclusion The identification of molecular traits associated with ER might serve the development of predictive classifiers for precision medicine. This study also represents a unique opportunity to better understand cancer biology.

Citation Format: Olivia Le Saux, Antoine Italiano, Dominique Spaeth, Pierre Heudel, Thomas Filleron, Laurence Albiges, Thomas Bachelot, Anthony Gonçalves, Jean-Yves Pierga, Fabrice Barlesi, Valérie Boige, Céleste Lebbé, Laurent Mortier, Jean Sébastien Frenel, Olivier Tredan, Marta Jimenez, François Legrand, Charles Ferte. A multicenter, prospective trial in progress exploring the association between low level of genomic alteration and exceptional and unexpected response to targeted therapies in patients with solid tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr CT153.

Abstract P3-13-02: Withdrawn

This abstract was withdrawn by the authors.

Safety of bevacizumab in clinical practice for recurrent ovarian cancer: A retrospective cohort study

The poor outcome of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer constitutes a continuous challenge for decision-making in clinical practice. In this setting, molecular targets have recently been identified, and novel compounds are now available. Bevacizumab has been introduced for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer and is, to date, the most extensively investigated targeted therapy in this setting. However, potential toxicities are associated with the use of this monoclonal antibody. These toxicities have been reported in clinical trials, and can also be observed outside of trials. As limited data is currently available regarding the safety of bevacizumab treatment in daily clinical practice, the current retrospective study was designed to evaluate this. Data from 156 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who had received bevacizumab treatment between January 2006 and June 2009 were retrospectively identified from the institutional records of five French centers. In contrast to clinical trials, the patients in the present study were not selected and had a heterogeneous profile according to their prior medical history, lines of treatment prior to bevacizumab introduction and number of relapses. The results first confirm the effect of heavy pretreatment on the occurrence of serious and fatal adverse events in clinical practice, as previously reported for clinical trials and for other retrospective cohort studies. Importantly, the data also demonstrates, for the first time, that medical history of hypertension is an independent predictive risk factor for the development of high-grade hypertension during bevacizumab treatment. These results thus suggest that treating physicians must consider all risk factors for managing bevacizumab toxicity prior to its introduction. Such risk factors include the time of bevacizumab introduction, a patient's history of hypertension and a low incidence of pre-existing obstructive disease.

[Molecular biology of sarcoma and therapeutic choices]

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a set of very heterogeneous tumors with numerous histological categories. The development of the molecular biology allowed identifying recurring molecular anomalies in certain subgroups of sarcomas, being able to represent diagnostic, prognosis and therapeutic tools. The molecular classification of STS includes until today 5 main groups of abnormalities: sarcomas with "simple genomic profile" showing reciprocal (1) chromosomal translocations, (2) activating mutation, (3) inhibitive mutation or (4) simple amplification; (5) sarcomas with "complex genomic profile" can include several tens of molecular abnormalities. The development of new-targeted therapies is based on the identification of a target, specific of a tumors subgroup and involved in carcinogenesis mechanisms and/or tumoral growth. Then, the aim of clinical research is to establish the proof of the concept through clinical trials, demonstrating the benefit brought to the patient and ending in the marketing of the drug. This proof of the concept was clearly established for imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib in gastrointestinal stromal tumors, for imatinib in dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans and pigmented vilo-nodular synovitis, for denosumab in giant cell tumors of the bone, ending in the authorization to use these new therapies in these indications. It is in progress and promising for anti-IGF-1R in Ewing sarcomas, for crizotinib in myofibroblastic inflammatory tumors, for mTOR inhibitor in PEComas... The role of molecular abnormalities identified in the mechanisms of tumoral progress for sarcomas and their potential therapeutic impact will be detailed.

Abstract 2574: Interleukin-7 (CYT107) treatment in lymphopenic 1st line metastatic breast carcinoma patients treated with chemotherapy regimen (Capecitabine) favors the restoration of T-cell subsets number

Introduction: We previously showed that T (&lt;1000/µl) or CD4 (&lt;450/µl) T cell lymphopenia detected before chemotherapy initiation predicts early death for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. ELYPSE-7, a placebo-controlled clinical trial aimed to evaluate impact of CYT107 treatment (before or during chemotherapy) on CD4 T cell count (see Ray-Coquard abstract). Our ancillary study reports in-depth quantitative and functional changes in circulating immune populations.

Methods: Lymphocytes, NK, monocytes and DC subpopulations quantification and functional competence after reactivation (PMA/ionomycin, TLR7/8-Ligand) were assessed by multiparametric flow-cytometry (surface markers/ intracytoplasmic cytokines) on fresh whole blood (D0, D21, D57, D78, EOS). Impact of CYT107 treatment before (D0-D21) or during (D57-D78) chemotherapy on immune parameters was assessed.

Results: At inclusion, 20 patients presented strong quantitative alteration of all lymphocytes subsets compared to a healthy donor women cohort (n=30). Inflammatory monocytes (infl-Mo) and DC subsets were quantitatively reduced. CD4 CD45R0+ T (IFNγ/IL-2), Tγδ cells and NK (IFNγ) cytokine productions were altered independently of quantitative alterations highlighting the importance to assess both. Pre-chemotherapy, CYT107 significantly increased CD3 T cell absolute number (median relative evolution: CYT107+128.5%[39;606cells/µL] vs placebo +1.6%[-34;85cells/µL], p=0.002) involving both CD4 (p=0.002) or CD8 (p=0.006) T cells and naïve (CD4:p=0.005 and CD8:p&lt;10-3) and memory subsets (CD4:p&lt;10-3 and CD8:p=0.008). CYT107 pre-chemotherapy induced a Treg number increase (p=0.017) remaining however in the normal range. In contrast, B cells, infl-Mo, DC and NK absolute numbers were not significantly modified. During chemotherapy (D57-D78, n=11), T cell absolute number increases in CYT107 group vs placebo (median relative evolution: CYT107 +61.5%[-11.1;229.7cells/µL] vs placebo -0.5%[-30.7;73.5cells/µL], p=0.083), CD4 and CD8 subsets being affected and in particular CD8 naive(median relative evolution: CYT107 +75.8%[39.0;314.6cells/µL] vs placebo -0.6%[-18.7;48.4cells/µL], p=0.022) and memory subsets (median relative evolution: CYT107 +72.1%[-21.9;282.7cells/µL] vs placebo -8.6%[-43.3;32.8cells/µL], p=0.055). Of importance, no significant modulation of immune cells functional competence was observed upon CYT107 treatment.

Conclusion: CYT107 administered before chemotherapy, increases all T cell subsets absolute number but no other compartments without affecting their functional responses. Interestingly, during chemotherapy, CYT107 induces an increase of CD8 memory cells, known to play a role in long lasting defense against tumors.

Citation Format: Christine Menetrier-Caux, Isabelle Ray-Coquard, Claire Cropet, Estelle Verronese, Thomas Bachelot, Olivier Tredan, Gwenaelle Garin, Pierre Heudel, Axelle N'Kodia, Ana Delgado, Christine Bardin-Dit-Courageot, Chantal Rigal, Gilles Clapisson, Sylvie Chabaud, David Perol, Paul Rebattu, Thérèse Croughs, Nicolas Pasqual, Manuarii Manuel, Michel Morre, Jean-Yves Blay, Christophe Caux. Interleukin-7 (CYT107) treatment in lymphopenic 1st line metastatic breast carcinoma patients treated with chemotherapy regimen (Capecitabine) favors the restoration of T-cell subsets number. [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 2574. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2574

SMAD4 gene mutation and prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

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Background: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains resistant to many key cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents and novel targeted therapies. The molecular heterogeneity of this cancer may account for therapy failures to date, although the growing arsenal of novel targeted agents could translate into patient survival. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular features of advanced disease will afford new opportunities for investigation, therapeutic intervention and clinical management of patients afflicted with pancreatic cancer. Methods: Data of 46 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma were analyzed. The clinicopathological parameters, the histologic features were determined and correlated to the stage at initial diagnosis and patterns of failure (locally advanced v metastatic disease). Using tissue microarray, we assessed the relationship of SMAD4 expression with the overall survival of patients. Results: Among the 46 treated patients, 32 underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy. 40% of patients died with metastatic disease and 15 % died with locally advance evolution. Loss of SMAD4 expression was found in 22% of patients and seems to be correlated with a high grade histologic features and progression to metastasis disease. Complementary data about correlation between the mutational status of SMAD4 and survival will be presented during congress. Conclusions: SMAD4 gene inactivation seems to be associated with poorer prognosis and disease progression. Prospective validation of SMAD4 as a predictive biomarker may personalize treatment strategies for patients with pancreatic cancer.

Pazopanib for the treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma

Pazopanib is a multikinase inhibitor which potently inhibits the activity of major receptor tyrosine kinases, including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-a, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-a, and c-Kit. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 in the United States for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, pazopanib has been tested in advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Unlike other tyrosine kinase inhibitors, a statistically significant efficacy in phase II but also in randomized phase III studies has been shown. In comparison with sunitinib or sorafenib, pazopanib has a similar toxicity profile and is generally well tolerated. This review details the development of this new therapeutic class in the treatment of metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas.

Correlation of SMAD4 mutational status and local or metastatic progression in patients with pancreatic cancer

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Background: Pancreatic cancer remains resistant to many key cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents and novel targeted therapies. The molecular heterogeneity of this cancer may account for therapy failures to date, although the growing arsenal of novel targeted agents could translate into patient survival. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular features of advanced disease will afford new opportunities for investigation, therapeutic intervention and clinical management of patients afflicted with pancreatic cancer. Methods: This study examined the expression profiles of Smad4 in 45 samples of surgically resected pancreatic cancer. Of these 45 patients, 32 underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy. The clinicopathological parameters, the histologic features were determined and correlated to the stage at initial diagnosis, patterns of failure (locally advanced v metastatic disease) and the status SMAD4 genes. Results: Among the 45 patients, 40% of patients died with metastatic disease and 15 % died with locally advanced evolution. SMAD4 genetic status was determined in 25 patients and seems to be correlated with a high grade histologic features and progression to metastasis. Complementary data about correlation between the mutational status of SMAD4 and survival will be presented during congress. Conclusions: SMAD4 gene inactivation seems to be associated with poorer prognosis and disease progression. Prospective validation of SMAD4 as a predictive biomarker may personalize treatment strategies for patients with pancreatic cancer.

Lymphopenia combined with low TCR diversity to predict overall survival in metastatic breast cancer patients

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Background: Lymphopenia (<1 Giga/L) before initiation of chemotherapy is a predictive factor for toxicity and death in metastatic phase for cancer patients. Combinatorial diversity of T Cell Receptor beta chain (TCR-ß), as a measure of T cell repertoire diversity, was investigated and tested either alone or in combination with lymphopenia as a prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) in first line treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Methods: Using semi quantitative multiplex PCR, the V-D-J combinatorial diversity of the TCR was measured on cryo-preserved blood samples from 2 cohorts of MBC patients before the initiation of the first line chemotherapy: in an experimental cohort (cohort A, n=66) and in a validation series (cohort B, n=67). A prognostic score, defined NDL (Number & Diversity of Lymphocytes) combining lymphocyte count and TCR diversity was delineated. Univariate and multivariate analysis of prognostic factors for OS were performed in both cohorts. Results: Lymphopenia (<1 Giga/L) was associated with shorter OS for cohort B while TCR diversity ≤33% (called divpenia) was associated with a reduced OS in cohort A. The combination of lymphopenia with low TCR diversity (called lympho-divpenia) was associated with poor OS compared to patients with either lymphocyte count ≥1 Giga/L or diversity >33% or both, in cohort A (median OS: 7.6 vs 24.5 months, p.value =0.0006) and cohort B (median OS 10.6 vs 22.9 months, p.value =0.0035). In a multivariate analysis, including all significant clinical factors from the univariate analysis (PS, liver metastasis, hemoglobin) lympho-divpenia was found to be an independent prognostic factor in the pooled cohort (A+B) (p=0.005) along with triple negative tumors (p=0.011) and hemoglobin level (11.5 g/dL) (p=0.009). Conclusions: NDL score combining lymphopenia and reduced TCR diversity seems to be a strong prognostic factor for OS and could be use to improve care quality of MBC patients.

Mechanisms of resistance to endocrine therapies for breast cancer

Abstract Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women and 70% of the cases are hormone-dependent. The presence of ERα is one of the most important prognostic factors predictive of response to endocrine therapy in human breast cancers. Resistance to endocrine therapies has become a major public health concern and it appears essential to understand the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. This review provides insights into the molecular mechanisms associated with resistance to endocrine therapies and presents the different strategies currently developed in pre-clinical models to overcome this resistance.

Therapeutic pipeline for soft-tissue sarcoma

INTRODUCTION

Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) represent a heterogeneous group of malignant tumors originating from connective tissues. Over recent years, this heterogeneity has led to a molecular breakdown of STS and subsequent use of targeted agents in several molecularly defined subgroups. After the initial success of imatinib in gastrointestinal stromal tumors, several other compounds have shown promising activity in some but not all subgroups of sarcoma.

AREAS COVERED

This review discusses the rational and clinical results, when available, that support this subtype-directed approach. In the vast majority of cases, these agents have been tested only in patients with advanced disease; as chemotherapeutic agents are developed as non-histotype-specific therapies, they are not discussed here. The PubMed literature was searched using the terms 'sarcoma', 'angiogenesis', 'mTOR' and 'targeted agents'. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology as well as those of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society were also searched for relevant information.

EXPERT OPINION

Many agents are currently developed in a subtype-specific manner in STS and this represents a significant leap forward. However, much remains to be done to improve our understanding of the molecular biology of this heterogeneous group of diseases.

Value of PET-FDG in primary breast cancer based on histopathological and immunohistochemical prognostic factors

BACKGROUND

The aim of the study was to analyze in breast tumors the correlation between [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) and histopathological and immunohistochemical prognostic factors.

METHODS

FDG-PET combined with computed tomography (CT) was performed before surgery in 45 women with biopsy-proven primary breast cancer. The standardized uptake value (SUV) was compared with histopathological findings after surgery.

RESULTS

A positive relationship was found between SUV and histological grade (p < 0.0001), histological type (p = 0.001), tumor size (p < 0.0435), estrogen receptor status (p < 0.0005), and progesterone receptor status (p = 0.002). FDG-PET/CT revealed unknown distant metastatic lesions in 2 of 12 patients with triple-negative breast cancer. The sensitivity of FDG-PET/CT for detecting axillary lymph node metastases was, respectively, 21% and 100% for pN1 and pN2 cases, whereas specificity was 100% for pN0.

CONCLUSION

SUV, a preoperative and noninvasive metabolic parameter, correlates with other known prognostic factors in breast cancer. This study provides valuable insight into the usefulness of FDG-PET/CT for preoperative staging of patients with triple-negative and poorly differentiated breast tumors but not for evaluating axillary lymph nodes and lobular carcinomas.

Micropapillary bladder cancer: a review of Léon Bérard Cancer Center experience

Background

Micropapillary bladder cancer is a rare and aggressive variant of urothelial carcinoma. A retrospective review of our experience in management of patients with muscle-invasive or metastatic micropapillary bladder cancer was performed to better define the behavior of this disease.

Methods

We reviewed the records of the 11 patients with micropapillary bladder cancer who were evaluated and treated at Léon Bérard Cancer Center between 1994 and 2007, accounting for 1,2% of all urothelial tumors treated in this institution.

Results

Mean patients age was 60 years. The majority of patients (72%) were diagnosed after 2004. After a median follow-up of 31.7 months, median overall survival was 19 months. Two patients presented with stage II, one with stage III and eight with stage IV disease All 5 patients who had node positive metastases and treated with radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy relapsed and had a disease free survival of 9.6 months.

Conclusion

Micropapillary bladder cancer is probably an underreported variant of urothelial carcinoma associated with poor prognosis. Adjuvant chemotherapy might have a questionable efficacy and the optimal treatment strategy is yet to be defined.