scholarly journals Infection risk with PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced solid tumours in phase I clinical trials

ESMO Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. e000653
Author(s):  
Yutaka Fujiwara ◽  
Aya Kuchiba ◽  
Takafumi Koyama ◽  
Ryunosuke Machida ◽  
Akihiko Shimomura ◽  
...  

BackgroundPatients undergoing chemotherapy are known to be at risk for infection from myelosuppression by cytotoxic agents (CTAs) or immunosuppressive effects from mTOR inhibitors. The infection risk of newly developed anticancer agents has not been fully evaluated. It remains unknown how T-cell activation induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) relates to infection.MethodsWe retrospectively examined infection risk in patients with cancer treated with investigational agents in a phase I study. The investigational agents were classified into four groups: CTA, phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor (PAM), molecular targeted agent (MTA) and ICI. All infection-related adverse events (AEs) during treatment were recorded. We compared the CTA, PAM and ICI with MTA, because MTA are already considered low risk and were used in the largest number of patients.ResultsA total of 641 patients were enrolled: 35 CTAs (5.5%), 61 PAMs (9.5%), 445 MTAs (69.4%) and 100 ICIs (15.6%). Among all patients, 132 (20.6%) experienced infection-related AEs and 46 (7.2%) developed 50 ≥grade 3 infection-related AEs. In any infection-related AEs, the ORs compared with MTAs were 2.19 (95% CI 1.03 to 4.66) for CTAs, 3.55 (95% CI 2.02 to 6.24) for PAMs and 1.05 (95% CI 0.60 to 1.85) for ICIs, respectively. In time to the first infection-related AE analysis, the risks for any infection-related AE from CTAs and PAMs were higher than those from MTAs (HR 1.84 (95% CI 0.82 to 4.11); p=0.05 and 3.96 (95% CI 2.18 to 7.22); p<0.001). The risk from ICIs was not significantly different from that of MTAs (HR 0.71 (95% CI 0.46 to 1.10); p=0.19).ConclusionOur results validate that PAMs and CTAs carry a higher infection risk in patients with advanced solid tumours compared with MTAs. We suggest that the infection risk of ICIs is a similar infection risk to MTAs.

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1012-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis L. Jardim ◽  
Débora de Melo Gagliato ◽  
Razelle Kurzrock

Immunotherapies are becoming increasingly important in the treatment armamentarium of a variety of malignancies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are the most representative drugs receiving regulatory approval over the past few years. In a recent study published in Clinical Cancer Research, we demonstrated that these agents are being developed faster than other prior anticancer therapies. All checkpoint inhibitors received priority review, being granted with at least one Food and Drug Administration expedited program. Hence, some of them are getting marketing approval after preliminary trials. The model continues to rely on phase I trials, designed with traditional models for dose definition, although a substantial number of patients are treated during the dose expansion cohorts. We demonstrated that efficacy and safety are reasonably predicted from the dose-finding portion of phase I trials with these agents, assuring a low treatment-related mortality for patients throughout the development process. In this article, we further discuss and summarize these findings and update some recent approval information for immune checkpoint inhibitors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A388-A388
Author(s):  
Byoung Chul Cho ◽  
Ki Hyeong Lee ◽  
Ji-Youn Han ◽  
Byoung Yong Shim ◽  
Hye Ryun Kim ◽  
...  

BackgroundTargeting transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is reported to augment the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) through either enhanced anti-tumor immunity or the correction of tumor microenvironment (TME). Therefore, the combination of vactosertib, a highly selective TGF-β RI kinase inhibitor, and durvalumab is anticipated to improve anti-tumor activity of the ICI. A phase 1b/2a study was conducted to evaluate the combination of vactosertib and durvalumab in patients with advanced NSCLC who progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy.MethodsPatients were treated with vactosertib at a dose of 200 mg twice daily (five days on and two days off) and durvalumab at a dose of 1500 mg every four weeks. Eligible patients were ≥19 years old with good performance status (ECOG 0–1) and have no prior exposure to immune checkpoint inhibitors or other TGF- β R1 kinase inhibitors. The objectives of this analysis were to evaluate the safety, antitumor activity including objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), and time to response (TTR) as well as circulating pharmacodynamic biomarkers related to TGF-β signaling. Response was assessed per RECIST (v1.1).ResultsBy August 4 2020, twenty-six PD-L1 positive (SP263 assay) patients were analyzed. Median age was 61.5 years (range 48–83), 69.2% were male, median number of previous lines of chemotherapy was 1 (range 1–4), and all patients were PD-L1 positive (15 patients with PD-L1≥25% and 11 patients with PD-L1 1–24%). The most frequently reported treatment-related adverse events (TRAE) were itching (38.5%) and skin rash (34.6%), but no Gr≥3 itching and rash were observed. Each case of the following was reported as Grade 3 TRAEs: adrenal insufficiency, anemia, and pneumonitis; Grade 4 TRAE, CPK increase, was observed in one patient. Objective response rate was 30.8% and 40.0% in patients with PD-L1≥1% and ≥25% respectively. Circulating PAI-1 and CTGF evaluated in 15 patients decreased significantly on Cycle 1 day 5. Ongoing biomarker results will be presented.ConclusionsThe combination of vactosertib and durvalumab has demonstrated a manageable safety profile and encouraging anti-tumor activity as a potential therapeutic strategy in patients with advanced NSCLC. The efficacy outcomes of this combination in a larger number of patients with advanced NSCLC will be followed.Trial RegistrationNCT03732274Ethics ApprovalThe study was approved by Ethics Board of Severance Hospital (4-2018-0892), National Cancer Center (NCC2019-0057), St. Vincent’s Hospital (VC19MDDF0205), and Chungbuk National University Hospital (2019-08-015).


Author(s):  
Revati Sharma ◽  
Elif Kadife ◽  
Mark Myers ◽  
George Kannourakis ◽  
Prashanth Prithviraj ◽  
...  

AbstractVascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGF-TKIs) have been the mainstay of treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Despite its early promising results in decreasing or delaying the progression of RCC in patients, VEGF-TKIs have provided modest benefits in terms of disease-free progression, as 70% of the patients who initially respond to the treatment later develop drug resistance, with 30% of the patients innately resistant to VEGF-TKIs. In the past decade, several molecular and genetic mechanisms of VEGF-TKI resistance have been reported. One of the mechanisms of VEGF-TKIs is inhibition of the classical angiogenesis pathway. However, recent studies have shown the restoration of an alternative angiogenesis pathway in modulating resistance. Further, in the last 5 years, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized RCC treatment. Although some patients exhibit potent responses, a non-negligible number of patients are innately resistant or develop resistance within a few months to ICI therapy. Hence, an understanding of the mechanisms of VEGF-TKI and ICI resistance will help in formulating useful knowledge about developing effective treatment strategies for patients with advanced RCC. In this article, we review recent findings on the emerging understanding of RCC pathology, VEGF-TKI and ICI resistance mechanisms, and potential avenues to overcome these resistance mechanisms through rationally designed combination therapies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A401-A401
Author(s):  
Shubham Pant ◽  
Amishi Shah ◽  
Pavlos Msaouel ◽  
Matthew Campbell ◽  
Shi-Ming Tu ◽  
...  

BackgroundMRx0518 is a novel, human gut microbiome-derived, single-strain, oral live biotherapeutic. It is a bacterium of the Enterococcus genus that was selected for development in the treatment of solid tumours for its strong in vitro and in vivo immunostimulatory activity. In vivo studies have shown that MRx0518 can inhibit tumour growth in different syngeneic cancer models as monotherapy and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors. MRx0518 has been shown to reduce Treg and increase Th1 and Tc1 lymphocyte differentiation in vitro, and increase intratumoral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and NK cells in vivo.This phase I/II clinical study is evaluating the combination of MRx0518 and pembrolizumab in a cohort of heavily pre-treated patients refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) to assess whether it is safe and can provide a clinical benefit.MethodsThe study is being conducted in two parts. Part A is complete and evaluated safety of the combination therapy in a cohort of 12 mRCC and mNSCLC patients. This data was assessed by the Safety Review Committee and it was determined appropriate to proceed to Part B. Part B is now recruiting up to 30 additional patients per indication (RCC, NSCLC or bladder cancer) at several US sites. Patients in both parts must be refractory to checkpoint inhibition. This is defined as having had an initial benefit from PD-1 pathway targeting immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) but developing disease progression confirmed by two radiological scans ≥4 weeks apart in the absence of rapid clinical progression and within 12 weeks of last dose of ICI. Patients are treated with 1 capsule of MRx0518 (1 × 1010 to 1 × 1011 CFU) twice daily and pembrolizumab (200 mg every 3 weeks) for up to 35 cycles or until disease progression. Tumour response is assessed every 9 weeks per RECIST. Blood, stool and urine samples are collected throughout the study to evaluate immune markers and microbiome. Patients may choose to consent to tissue biopsies. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate safety of the combination by monitoring toxicities in the first cycle of treatment. Secondary objectives are to evaluate efficacy via ORR, DOR, DCR (CR, PR or SD ≥6 months) and PFS. Exploratory objectives are to evaluate biomarkers of treatment effect, impact on microbiota and OS and correlation of clinical outcome with PD-L1 CPS/TPS.ResultsN/AConclusionsN/ATrial RegistrationNCT03637803Ethics ApprovalThis study was approved by University of Texas MD Anderson’s Institutional Review Board; approval ref. 2018-0290


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 5239
Author(s):  
Rui Kitadai ◽  
Yusuke Okuma

Thymic carcinoma is a rare cancer that arises from thymic epithelial cells. Its nature and pathology differ from that of benign thymoma, presenting a poorer prognosis. If surgically resectable, surgery alone or surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy is recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines. Metastatic and refractory thymic carcinomas require systemic pharmacotherapy. Combined carboplatin and paclitaxel, and cisplatin and anthracycline-based regimens have been shown a fair response rate and survival to provide a de facto standard of care when compared with other drugs employed as first-line chemotherapy. Cytotoxic agents have been pivotal for treating thymic carcinoma, as little is known regarding its tumorigenesis. In addition, genetic alterations, including driver mutations, which play an important role in treatments, have not yet been discovered. However, molecular pathways and biomarker studies assessing thymic epithelial tumors have been reported recently, resulting in the development of new agents, such as molecular targeted agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors. As treatment options are currently limited and the prognosis remains poor in metastases and recurrent thymic carcinoma, genetic alterations need to be assessed. In the present review, we focused on the current role of targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors in treating thymic carcinoma.


Author(s):  
Mingming Tian ◽  
Si Zhang ◽  
Yujen Tseng ◽  
Xizhong Shen ◽  
Ling Dong ◽  
...  

: Application of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is a major breakthrough in the field of cancer therapy, which has displayed tremendous potential in various types of malignancies. However, their response rates range widely in different cancer types and a significant number of patients experience immune-related adverse effects (irAEs) induced by these drugs, limiting the proportion of patients who can truly benefit from ICIs. Gut microbiota has gained increasing attention due to its emerging role in regulating the immune system. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that gut microbiota can modulate antitumor response, as well as decrease the risk of colitis due to ICIs in patients receiving immunotherapy. The present review analyzed recent progress of relevant basic and clinical studies in this area and explored new perspectives to enhance the efficacy of ICIs and alleviate associated irAEs via manipulation of the gut microbiota.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. TPS178-TPS178
Author(s):  
Yukiya Narita ◽  
Hirokazu Shoji ◽  
Sadayuki Kawai ◽  
Takuro Mizukami ◽  
Michio Nakamura ◽  
...  

TPS178 Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that block specific proteins produced by the immune system cells, such as T-cells; these proteins prevent T-cells from killing cancer cells. NIV is a standard care for pretreated mGC patients (pts), with increasing clinical use in Japan. Data from retrospective studies on various tumors have shown that after exposure to immune checkpoint inhibitors, the objective response rate to CTx potentially improves; however, enough data have not been accumulated. Although there are no recommended CTx regimen following NIV therapy, in a clinical setting, an irinotecan or oxaliplatin combination regimen (limited to cisplatin-refractory or cisplatin-intolerant pts) is frequently used as post-NIV CTx. This multicenter observational study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CTx in NIV-refractory or NIV-intolerant mGC pts. Methods: We prospectively collect clinical and imaging data from NIV-pretreated mGC pts; these pts will be treated with cytotoxic agents. Pts who meet inclusion criteria A (histologically proven mGC pretreated with NIV, prior administration of a combination therapy of fluoropyrimidine plus platinum and taxanes, and written informed consent) at primary registration are registered. After primary registration, pts who meet inclusion criteria B [Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS 0-2), refractory or intolerant to NIV; prior administration of irinotecan monotherapy or oxaliplatin combination regimens and prior use of cisplatin; evaluable lesions according to RECIST ver. 1.1] at formal registration are registered. The primary endpoint is overall survival of NIV-pretreated mGC pts after CTx. For this study, we require 146 pts, with bilateral alpha = 0.05 and beta = 0.10, with a median threshold survival of 4.0 months and an expected median survival of 6.0 months. Therefore, we plan to enroll 200 pts, considering exclusions from the analysis; since May 2018, we have enrolled 27 pts. Clinical trial information: UMIN000032182.


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