For patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), the current standard of care is chemotherapy involving the tubulin-binding taxane docetaxel. However, as the tumor cells ...become resistant to docetaxel-based therapy, disease progression is inevitable, and until recently there was no further available treatment beyond palliative care. In June 2010, cabazitaxel, a next-generation taxane, was approved by the US FDA for the treatment of mCRPC that has progressed after docetaxel therapy. This article describes the background and rationale of cabazitaxel's development and the clinical study program that led to its FDA approval, focusing on the Phase III TROPIC trial that demonstrated the efficacy of cabazitaxel plus prednisone in the treatment of mCRPC. Future development of this therapy and others under investigation is discussed.
Apalutamide, a competitive inhibitor of the androgen receptor, is under development for the treatment of prostate cancer. We evaluated the efficacy of apalutamide in men with nonmetastatic ...castration-resistant prostate cancer who were at high risk for the development of metastasis.
We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial involving men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and a prostate-specific antigen doubling time of 10 months or less. Patients were randomly assigned, in a 2:1 ratio, to receive apalutamide (240 mg per day) or placebo. All the patients continued to receive androgen-deprivation therapy. The primary end point was metastasis-free survival, which was defined as the time from randomization to the first detection of distant metastasis on imaging or death.
A total of 1207 men underwent randomization (806 to the apalutamide group and 401 to the placebo group). In the planned primary analysis, which was performed after 378 events had occurred, median metastasis-free survival was 40.5 months in the apalutamide group as compared with 16.2 months in the placebo group (hazard ratio for metastasis or death, 0.28; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.23 to 0.35; P<0.001). Time to symptomatic progression was significantly longer with apalutamide than with placebo (hazard ratio, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.63; P<0.001). The rate of adverse events leading to discontinuation of the trial regimen was 10.6% in the apalutamide group and 7.0% in the placebo group. The following adverse events occurred at a higher rate with apalutamide than with placebo: rash (23.8% vs. 5.5%), hypothyroidism (8.1% vs. 2.0%), and fracture (11.7% vs. 6.5%).
Among men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, metastasis-free survival and time to symptomatic progression were significantly longer with apalutamide than with placebo. (Funded by Janssen Research and Development; SPARTAN ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01946204 .).
The presence of intratumoral tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) is associated with positive clinical outcomes and responses to immunotherapy in cancer. Here, we used spatial transcriptomics to ...examine the nature of B cell responses within TLS in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). B cells were enriched in TLS, and therein, we could identify all B cell maturation stages toward plasma cell (PC) formation. B cell repertoire analysis revealed clonal diversification, selection, expansion in TLS, and the presence of fully mature clonotypes at distance. In TLS+ tumors, IgG- and IgA-producing PCs disseminated into the tumor beds along fibroblastic tracks. TLS+ tumors exhibited high frequencies of IgG-producing PCs and IgG-stained and apoptotic malignant cells, suggestive of anti-tumor effector activity. Therapeutic responses and progression-free survival correlated with IgG-stained tumor cells in RCC patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Thus, intratumoral TLS sustains B cell maturation and antibody production that is associated with response to immunotherapy, potentially via direct anti-tumor effects.
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•Tertiary lymphoid structures are sites of in situ B cell maturation toward plasma cells•IgG+ and IgA+ plasma cells disseminate into the tumor tissue along fibroblastic tracks•Tumor cells are labeled by locally produced IgG•Patients with IgG-labeled tumor cells have high response rate to ICI and prolonged PFS
Meylan et al. show that tertiary lymphoid structures found in tumors are sites of generation of fully mature B cell immunity. Plasma cells disseminate into tumor beds, producing antibodies that bind to tumor cells and initiate their apoptosis, providing a mechanism to support cancer immunotherapies that modulate the tumor microenvironment.
Summary In 2010, the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) developed treatment guidelines for men with prostate cancer who are older than 70 years old. In 2013, a new multidisciplinary ...SIOG working group was formed to update these recommendations. The consensus of the task force is that older men with prostate cancer should be managed according to their individual health status, not according to age. On the basis of a validated rapid health status screening instrument and simple assessment, the task force recommends that patients are classed into three groups for treatment: healthy or fit patients who should have the same treatment options as younger patients; vulnerable patients with reversible impairment who should receive standard treatment after medical intervention; and frail patients with non-reversible impairment who should receive adapted treatment.
We conducted a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor of tumor-cell proliferation and angiogenesis, in patients with advanced clear-cell ...renal-cell carcinoma.
From November 2003 to March 2005, we randomly assigned 903 patients with renal-cell carcinoma that was resistant to standard therapy to receive either continuous treatment with oral sorafenib (at a dose of 400 mg twice daily) or placebo; 451 patients received sorafenib and 452 received placebo. The primary end point was overall survival. A single planned analysis of progression-free survival in January 2005 showed a statistically significant benefit of sorafenib over placebo. Consequently, crossover was permitted from placebo to sorafenib, beginning in May 2005.
At the January 2005 cutoff, the median progression-free survival was 5.5 months in the sorafenib group and 2.8 months in the placebo group (hazard ratio for disease progression in the sorafenib group, 0.44; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.35 to 0.55; P<0.01). The first interim analysis of overall survival in May 2005 showed that sorafenib reduced the risk of death, as compared with placebo (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.94; P=0.02), although this benefit was not statistically significant according to the O'Brien-Fleming threshold. Partial responses were reported as the best response in 10% of patients receiving sorafenib and in 2% of those receiving placebo (P<0.001). Diarrhea, rash, fatigue, and hand-foot skin reactions were the most common adverse events associated with sorafenib. Hypertension and cardiac ischemia were rare serious adverse events that were more common in patients receiving sorafenib than in those receiving placebo.
As compared with placebo, treatment with sorafenib prolongs progression-free survival in patients with advanced clear-cell renal-cell carcinoma in whom previous therapy has failed; however, treatment is associated with increased toxic effects. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00073307 ClinicalTrials.gov.).
Cabozantinib is an inhibitor of kinases, including MET and vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, and has shown activity in men with previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate ...cancer (mCRPC). This blinded phase III trial compared cabozantinib with prednisone in patients with mCRPC.
Men with progressive mCRPC after docetaxel and abiraterone and/or enzalutamide were randomly assigned at a two-to-one ratio to cabozantinib 60 mg once per day or prednisone 5 mg twice per day. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Bone scan response (BSR) at week 12 as assessed by independent review committee was the secondary end point; radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) and effects on circulating tumor cells (CTCs), bone biomarkers, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and symptomatic skeletal events (SSEs) were exploratory assessments.
A total of 1,028 patients were randomly assigned to cabozantinib (n = 682) or prednisone (n = 346). Median OS was 11.0 months with cabozantinib and 9.8 months with prednisone (hazard ratio, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.76 to 1.06; stratified log-rank P = .213). BSR at week 12 favored cabozantinib (42% v 3%; stratified Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel P < .001). rPFS was improved in the cabozantinib group (median, 5.6 v 2.8 months; hazard ratio, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.57; stratified log-rank P < .001). Cabozantinib was associated with improvements in CTC conversion, bone biomarkers, and post-random assignment incidence of SSEs but not PSA outcomes. Grade 3 to 4 adverse events and discontinuations because of adverse events were higher with cabozantinib than with prednisone (71% v 56% and 33% v 12%, respectively).
Cabozantinib did not significantly improve OS compared with prednisone in heavily treated patients with mCRPC and progressive disease after docetaxel and abiraterone and/or enzalutamide. Cabozantinib had some activity in improving BSR, rPFS, SSEs, CTC conversions, and bone biomarkers but not PSA outcomes.
The efficacy of PD-1 checkpoint blockade as adjuvant therapy in localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is currently unknown. The identification of tumor microenvironment (TME) prognostic ...biomarkers in this setting may help define which patients could benefit from checkpoint blockade and uncover new therapeutic targets.
We performed multiparametric flow cytometric immunophenotypic analysis of T cells isolated from tumor tissue tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), adjacent non-malignant renal tissue renal-infiltrating lymphocytes (RIL), and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), in a cohort of patients (
= 40) with localized ccRCC. Immunophenotypic data were integrated with prognostic and histopathologic variables, T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire analysis of sorted CD8
PD-1
TILs, tumor mRNA expression, and digital quantitative immunohistochemistry.
On the basis of TIL phenotypic characterization, we identified three dominant immune profiles in localized ccRCC: (i) immune-regulated, characterized by polyclonal/poorly cytotoxic CD8
PD-1
Tim-3
Lag-3
TILs and CD4
ICOS
cells with a Treg phenotype (CD25
CD127
Foxp3
/Helios
GITR
), that developed in inflamed tumors with prominent infiltrations by dysfunctional dendritic cells and high PD-L1 expression; (ii) immune-activated, enriched in oligoclonal/cytotoxic CD8
PD-1
Tim-3
TILs, that represented 22% of the tumors; and (iii) immune-silent, enriched in TILs exhibiting RIL-like phenotype, that represented 56% of patients in the cohort. Only immune-regulated tumors displayed aggressive histologic features, high risk of disease progression in the year following nephrectomy, and a CD8
PD-1
Tim-3
and CD4
ICOS
PBL phenotypic signature.
In localized ccRCC, the infiltration with CD8
PD-1
Tim-3
Lag-3
exhausted TILs and ICOS
Treg identifies the patients with deleterious prognosis who could benefit from adjuvant therapy with TME-modulating agents and checkpoint blockade. This work also provides PBL phenotypic markers that could allow their identification.
.
Inhibitory receptors expressed by T cells mediate tolerance to tumor antigens, with coexpression of these receptors exacerbating this dysfunctional state. Using the VectraR automated multiparametric ...immunofluorescence technique, we quantified intratumoral CD8
T cells coexpressing the inhibitory receptors PD-1 and Tim-3 from patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). A second validation cohort measured the same parameters by cytometry. The percentage of tumor-infiltrating CD8
T cells coexpressing PD-1 and Tim-3 correlated with an aggressive phenotype and a larger tumor size at diagnosis. Coexpression of PD-1 and Tim-3 above the median conferred a higher risk of relapse and a poorer 36-month overall survival. Notably, other CD8
T-cell subsets did not exert a similar effect on overall survival. Moreover, only the PD-1
Tim-3
subset of CD8
T cells exhibited impaired function after stimulation. Our findings establish intratumoral Tim-3
PD1
CD8
T cells as critical mediators of an aggressive phenotype in RCC. Use of the Vectra tool may be useful to identify similarly critical prognostic and predictive biomarkers in other tumor types and their response to immunotherapy.
.
If immune cells are involved in tumor surveillance and have a prognostic impact in most primary tumors, little is known about their significance in metastases. Because patients' survival is ...heterogeneous, even at metastatic stages, we hypothesized that immune cells may be involved in the control of metastases. We therefore characterized the tumor immune microenvironment and its prognostic value in colorectal and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) metastases, and compared it to primary tumors.
We analyzed by immunohistochemistry (n = 192) and qPCR (n = 32) the immune environments of colorectal carcinoma and RCC lung metastases.
Metastases from colorectal carcinoma and RCC have different immune infiltrates. Higher densities of DC-LAMP(+) mature dendritic cells (P < 0.0001) and lower densities of NKp46(+) NK cells (P < 0.0001) were observed in colorectal carcinoma as compared to RCC metastases, whereas densities of T cells were similar. High densities of CD8(+) and DC-LAMP(+) cells correlated with longer overall survival (OS) in colorectal carcinoma (P = 0.008) and shorter OS in RCC (P < 0.0001). High NK-cell densities were associated with improved survival in RCC (P = 0.002) but not in colorectal carcinoma. Densities of immune cells correlated significantly from primary to relapsing metastases for the same patient. A TH1 orientation was found in colorectal carcinoma metastases, whereas a heterogeneous immune gene expression was found in RCC metastases.
Our results show a major prognostic value of the immune pattern (CD8(+)/DC-LAMP(+) cell densities) in colorectal carcinoma and RCC, reproducible from primary to metastatic tumors, although with opposite clinical impacts, and highlight the role of the tumor cell in shaping its immune environment.
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) has shown durable responses to checkpoint blockade therapies. However, important gaps persist in the understanding of its immune microenvironment. This study ...aims to investigate the expression and prognostic significance of immune checkpoints in primary and metastatic ccRCC, in relation with mature dendritic cells (DC) and T-cell densities.
We investigated the infiltration and the localization of CD8(+) T cells and mature DC, and the expression of immune checkpoints (PD-1, LAG-3, PD-L1, and PD-L2) in relation with prognosis, in 135 primary ccRCC tumors and 51 ccRCC lung metastases. RNA expression data for 496 primary ccRCC samples were used as confirmatory cohort.
We identify two groups of tumors with extensive CD8(+) T-cell infiltrates. One group, characterized by high expression of immune checkpoints in the absence of fully functional mature DC, is associated with increased risk of disease progression. The second group, characterized by low expression of immune checkpoints and localization of mature DC in peritumoral immune aggregates (tertiary lymphoid structures), is associated with good prognosis.
The expression of the immune checkpoints and the localization of DC in the tumor microenvironment modulate the clinical impact of CD8(+) T cells in ccRCC.
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