Abstract
Background: TAS-117 is a highly potent and selective allosteric pan-v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog (Akt) inhibitor. We conducted a single-arm, single-center, phase 2 study of TAS-117 in heavily treated patients with multiple tumors refractory to systemic chemotherapy harboring phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt mutations using a basket trial design.Methods: Patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers were orally administered 16 mg of TAS-117 daily and those with non-GI tumors were administered 24 mg of TAS-117, 4 days on/3-days off. The study was conducted over 21-day treatment cycles. Tumors were assessed by imaging every 6 weeks until disease progression, intolerable toxicity, or withdrawal. The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), PFS ratio, and safety and tolerability of TAS-117. Results: Thirteen patients were enrolled; eight with non-GI cancer (breast cancer (31%), ovarian cancer (15%), endometrial cancer (8%), and non-small cell lung cancer (8%)) and five with GI cancer (colon cancer (15%), rectal cancer (8%), gastric cancer (8%), and gallbladder cancer (8%)). The median age was 53 years. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status was 0 in eight patients; ten patients were treated with TAS-117 after >4 lines of therapy. Twelve patients showed mutations in PIK3 catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA): E542K (15%), E545A (8%), E545K (31%), H1047R (31%), and Q546K (8%). One patient harbored an Akt1E17K mutation. The median treatment duration was 1.4 months; the median number of treatment cycles was 2. The ORR was 8%, and the DCR was 23%. The median PFS and OS were 1.4 and 4.8 months, respectively. Nine patients had disease progression, two experienced adverse events, one withdrew, and one discontinued treatment on the physician’s recommendation. Treatment-related adverse events (AEs) occurred in 85% of patients, and 27% experienced grade 3–4 AEs (grade 3 anorexia, 9%) and hyperglycemia (grade 3, 9%; grade 4, 9%). Conclusions: TAS-117 showed limited antitumor activity and manageable toxicity in patients with advanced solid tumors. Clinical efficacy was observed in patients with ovarian cancer harboring PIK3CA E545K mutations and in those with breast cancer harboring PIK3CA H1047R and Akt1E17K mutations. Trial registration: This study was registered with ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT03017521 in January 11, 2017.).