In the PAOLA-1/ENGOT-ov25 primary analysis, maintenance olaparib plus bevacizumab demonstrated a significant progression-free survival (PFS) benefit in newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer ...patients in clinical response after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab, irrespective of surgical status. Prespecified, exploratory analyses by molecular biomarker status showed substantial benefit in patients with a BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation (BRCAm) or homologous recombination deficiency (HRD; BRCAm and/or genomic instability). We report the prespecified final overall survival (OS) analysis, including analyses by HRD status.
Patients were randomized 2 : 1 to olaparib (300 mg twice daily; up to 24 months) plus bevacizumab (15 mg/kg every 3 weeks; 15 months total) or placebo plus bevacizumab. Analysis of OS, a key secondary endpoint in hierarchical testing, was planned for ∼60% maturity or 3 years after the primary analysis.
After median follow-up of 61.7 and 61.9 months in the olaparib and placebo arms, respectively, median OS was 56.5 versus 51.6 months in the intention-to-treat population hazard ratio (HR) 0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76-1.12; P = 0.4118. Subsequent poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor therapy was received by 105 (19.6%) olaparib patients versus 123 (45.7%) placebo patients. In the HRD-positive population, OS was longer with olaparib plus bevacizumab (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.45-0.85; 5-year OS rate, 65.5% versus 48.4%); at 5 years, updated PFS also showed a higher proportion of olaparib plus bevacizumab patients without relapse (HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.32-0.54; 5-year PFS rate, 46.1% versus 19.2%). Myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia, aplastic anemia, and new primary malignancy incidence remained low and balanced between arms.
Olaparib plus bevacizumab provided clinically meaningful OS improvement for first-line patients with HRD-positive ovarian cancer. These prespecified exploratory analyses demonstrated improvement despite a high proportion of patients in the placebo arm receiving poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors after progression, confirming the combination as one of the standards of care in this setting with the potential to enhance cure.
•First PARPi trial to show clinically meaningful OS benefit in HRD+ (BRCA/non-BRCA) newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer.•5-Year OS rate in HRD+ disease was 66% with olaparib + bevacizumab versus 48% with placebo + bevacizumab.•Forty-six percent of HRD+ patients receiving olaparib + bevacizumab were progression free at 5 years, versus 19% on bevacizumab alone.•No new safety signals were observed, and the incidence of myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia remained low.•Maintenance olaparib + bevacizumab as a standard of care may enhance potential for cure for HRD+ disease in this setting.
Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are now standard of care in many cancers. They can generate immune-related adverse events (irAEs), but no biomarkers are available to identify ...patients who are more likely to develop irAEs. We assess the association between pre-existing autoantibodies and occurrence of irAEs. Patients and Methods: We prospectively collected data from consecutive patients receiving ICIs for advanced cancers, in a single center between May 2015 and July 2021. Autoantibodies testing was performed before ICIs initiation including AntiNeutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies, Antinuclear Antibodies, Rheumatoid Factor anti-Thyroid Peroxidase and anti-Thyroglobulin. We analyzed the associations of pre-existing autoantibodies with onset, severity, time to irAEs and with survival outcomes. Results: Of the 221 patients included, most had renal cell carcinoma (n = 99; 45%) or lung carcinoma (n = 90; 41%). Grade ≥2 irAEs were more frequent among patients with pre-existing autoantibodies: 64 (50%) vs. 20 (22%) patients (Odds-Ratio= 3.5 95% CI=1.8-6.8; p < 0.001) in the positive vs negative group, respectively. irAEs occurred earlier in the positive group with a median time interval between ICI initiation and irAE of 13 weeks (IQR = 8.8-21.6) vs. 28.5 weeks (IQR=10.6-55.1) in the negative group (p = 0.01). Twelve patients (9.4%) experienced multiple (≥2) irAEs in the positive group vs. 2 (2%) in the negative group (OR = 4.5 95% CI: 0.98-36, p = 0.04). After a median follow-up of 25 months, median PFS and OS were significantly longer among patients experiencing irAE (p = 0.00034 and p = 0.016, respectively). Conclusion: The presence of pre-existing autoantibodies is significantly associated with the occurrence of grade ≥2 irAEs, with earlier and multiple irAEs in patients treated with ICIs.
The aim of our study was to determine whether the presence of bone metastases affects outcomes in patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (m-ccRCC) receiving sunitinib.
We reviewed ...the charts of all patients in four academic centers in Belgium and France who started first-line sunitinib (50 mg/day; 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off) between January 2005 and December 2008. Data were collected on known prognostic factors for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and metastatic sites. Response and progression were evaluated by computed tomography scan (according to RECIST).
Two hundred twenty-three patients were identified. With a median follow-up of 40 months, median progression-free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS) were significantly shorter in patients with bone metastases than in those without: respectively, 8.2 versus 19.1 months (P < 0.0001) and 19.5 versus 38.5 months (P < 0.0001). On multivariate analysis, taking on account platelet count, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, number of metastatic sites, neutrophil count, corrected serum calcium, time from diagnosis to systemic treatment, and the presence of bone metastases, bone metastasis was the independent variable most significantly associated with poor PFS (P < 0.0001) and OS (P = 0.001).
The presence of bone metastases in m-ccRCC patients has a significant and clinically relevant negative impact on outcome on sunitinib.
Cytokine therapies have been the standard of care in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, these agents only provide clinical benefit to a small subset of patients and are associated with ...significant toxicity. A better understanding of the molecular biology of RCC has identified the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived growth factor signalling pathways as rational targets for anticancer therapy. The multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors sunitinib and sorafenib have both demonstrated improved efficacy as second-line therapy in patients with RCC. Sunitinib has also been shown to be effective in the first-line setting, and has recently received European Union approval as first-line treatment for advanced and/or metastatic RCC. There is also recent evidence that temsirolimus (an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin) and bevacizumab (a mAb targeted against VEGF) may provide benefits in the first-line treatment setting. These results confirm that inhibiting these tumour targets is a feasible approach to treatment and provides a more positive outlook for the future management of metastatic RCC.
Background: In metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), antiangiogenic treatments rarely achieve a reduction of -30% in the sum of longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions required by RECIST for an ...‘objective response’, although they objectively improve progression-free survival (PFS). We sought to determine a threshold for the computed tomography evaluation of these patients’ best reflecting patient outcome.
Patients and methods: In 334 mRCC patients treated with sunitinib, we tested thresholds from -45% to +10%. We classified patients as ‘responders’ when the best relative variation of the sum of longest diameters (ΔSLD) reached the tested threshold and as ‘nonresponders’ otherwise. For each tested threshold, the median PFS of the two groups were compared. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was also carried out among the 103 patients that progressed during follow-up. Finally, the ‘optimal’ threshold was retested on an independent cohort of 39 patients.
Results: The ΔSLD threshold of -10% gave the most significant difference. It divided patients into 256 responders and 78 nonresponders (median PFS 11.1 and 5.6 months). The same -10% threshold was found using the ROC analysis. Results were confirmed on the external validation cohort.
Conclusion: A variation of -10% in the SLD accurately and rapidly identifies mRCC patients benefiting from sunitinib.
Sunitinib, a multitargeted tyrosine-kinase inhibitor, extends survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) and gastrointestinal stromal tumours. Between October 2005 and March ...2007, we retrospectively reviewed blood glucose level variations associated with sunitinib therapy in patients treated for mRCC. Nineteen of the patients had type II diabetes. All 19 patients had a decrease in blood glucose level (mean 1.77 mmol l(-1)) after 4 weeks of treatment. This was followed by re-elevation in the 2-week rest period. After two cycles of sunitinib administration, two patients had stopped blood glucose-lowering drugs whereas five other patients had normalised their blood glucose level. On the basis of pre-clinical data, we hypothesise that several mechanisms could be involved in this process, such as capillary regression of pancreatic islets, IGF-1 modulation through HIF1-alpha or NF-kappaB activation. In addition, a decrease of glucose uptake in the context of concomitant gastrointestinal toxicity cannot be excluded. Glycaemic control should be carefully evaluated in diabetic patients treated with sunitinib, and routine monitoring is warranted.
Metabolic toxicities of mTOR inhibitors (mTORi) are well characterized. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between these metabolic toxicities and mTORi efficacy.
From 2007 ...to 2011, metabolic toxicities were retrospectively collected in patients treated with an mTORi (everolimus, temsirolimus) for a metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) in a single institution. Patients were eligible if they have received an mTORi for at least 28 days. Changes in the following parameters were analyzed: lymphocytes, serum creatinine, glycemia, serum phosphate, liver transaminases, cholesterol, and triglycerides. The efficacy was assessed by progression-free survival (PFS) and tumor response.
Data were collected from seventy-five patients (everolimus = 44 patients; temsirolimus = 31 patients). Six patients exhibited a partial response, 42 a stable disease and 15 had a progressive disease (12 missing). After a median follow-up of 12.8 months, the median PFS was 6.7 months (95% confidence interval: 4.0-9.1 months). Patients with CB had a statistically more severe absolute increase of glycemia and absolute decrease in phosphatemia (p = 0.002 and p = 0.02 respectively). The Progression Free Survival was significantly higher with the onset rate of hypophosphatemia (p = 0.03) and hyperglycemia (p = 0.001) and lower with the onset rate of lymphopenia (p = 0.004).
Hyperglycemia, hypophosphatemia and lymphopenia, were significantly associated with tumor response and/or PFS. Those events, as well as their onset rate, should be prospectively monitored as predictors of response to mTORi.
POD1UM-203, an open-label, multicenter, phase II study, evaluated retifanlimab, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) in patients with selected solid tumors ...where immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies have previously shown efficacy.
Eligible patients (≥18 years) had measurable disease and included unresectable or metastatic melanoma, treatment-naive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression (tumor proportion score ≥50%), cisplatin-ineligible locally advanced/metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) with PD-L1 expression (combined positive score ≥10%), or treatment-naive locally advanced/metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Retifanlimab 500 mg was administered intravenously every 4 weeks as a 30-min infusion. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed overall response rate.
Overall, 121 patients (35 melanoma, 23 NSCLC, 29 UC, 34 RCC) were enrolled and treated. The overall response rate 95% confidence interval (CI) was 40.0% (23.9-57.9) in the melanoma cohort, 34.8% (16.4-57.3) in the NSCLC cohort, 37.9% (20.7-57.7) in the UC cohort, and 23.5% (10.7-41.2) in the RCC cohort. Median duration of response was 11.5 months (95% CI 2.2-not reached) in the UC cohort, and was not reached in the other cohorts. Retifanlimab safety was consistent with previous experience for PD-(L)1 inhibitors.
Retifanlimab demonstrated durable antitumor activity in patients with melanoma, NSCLC, UC, or RCC. The efficacy and safety of retifanlimab were as expected for a PD-(L)1 inhibitor. These data support further study of retifanlimab in solid tumors.
•Retifanlimab demonstrates clinical efficacy in PD-1 inhibitor-responsive tumors, including melanoma, UC, NSCLC, and RCC.•Clinical activity and pharmacokinetic data support a 30-min infusion of retifanlimab at a fixed dose of 500 mg.•Efficacy and safety support further clinical investigation of retifanlimab alone or as combination therapy in solid tumors.