scholarly journals Potential Reasons for Unresponsiveness to Anti-PD1 Immunotherapy in Young Patients with Advanced Melanoma

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1318
Author(s):  
Devayani Machiraju ◽  
Sarah Schäfer ◽  
Jessica C. Hassel

The impact of age on the clinical benefit of anti-PD1 immunotherapy in advanced melanoma patients has been evolving recently. Due to a reduced immune function in elderly patients, young patients with a robust immune system are theoretically expected to benefit more from the treatment approach. However, in contrast to this hypothesis, recent studies in patients with metastatic melanoma have demonstrated that immunotherapy, especially with anti-PD1 treatment, is less effective in patients below 65 years, on average, with significantly lower responses and reduced overall survival compared to patients above 65 years of age. Besides, data on young patients are even more sparse. Hence, in this review, we will focus on age-dependent differences in the previously described resistance mechanisms to the treatment and discuss the development of potential combination treatment strategies for enhancing the anti-tumor efficacy of anti-PD1 or PDL1 treatment in young melanoma patients.

Immunotherapy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy A Pinto ◽  
Xinyue Liu ◽  
Xiaoyun Li ◽  
Emilie Scherrer ◽  
Mizuho Kalabis

Background: Little is known regarding treatment patterns and overall survival (OS) for patients with advanced melanoma who progress after anti-PD-1 exposure. Methods: The Kaplan–Meier method was used to evaluate OS from electronic health records for patients with advanced melanoma who progressed on anti-PD-1 therapy and received subsequent therapy. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize treatment. Results: A total of 304 patients who progressed after anti-PD-1 therapy received subsequent therapy: 50% immunotherapy, 36% BRAF and/or MEK inhibitors, 14% other therapies. Median OS was 7.2 months (95% CI: 6.4–8.8), with an association (p < 0.01) with best response to baseline anti-PD-1 therapy and further associations with Eastern Co-operative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤1 (p < 0.001 compared with ECOG ≥2), normal LDH (p < 0.001 compared with elevated levels) and treatment with BRAF and/or MEK inhibitors (p = 0.02 compared with other treatment). There was an association (p < 0.01) of survival with best response to baseline anti-PD-1 therapy. Conclusions: OS for advanced melanoma patients who progress on anti-PD-1 therapy is suboptimal, which highlights the need for further research to develop new medications and optimize treatment strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e21587-e21587
Author(s):  
Ting Ye ◽  
Jieying Zhang ◽  
Xinyi Liu ◽  
Mengmei Yang ◽  
Yuhan Zhou ◽  
...  

e21587 Background: Immunotherapies targeting immune checkpoint receptors have become the cornerstone of systemic treatment options for malignant melanoma. The response to these immunotherapies may correlate with driver mutations. MAP2K1/2 genes are mutated in approximately 10% of melanomas, however, the impact of MAP2K1/2 gene alterations on the efficiency of immunotherapy has not been clarified. Methods: Six metastatic melanoma clinical cohorts treated with ICIs were included to investigate the association between clinical efficacy of immunotherapy and MAP2K1/2 mutations. Survival analyses were conducted in cohorts receiving two kinds of ICB agents, namely anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1. RNA expression profiling from these cohorts and from the TCGA melanoma cohort were used to explore the potential mechanism related to immune activation. Results: In an independent anti-CTLA-4-treated cohort (n = 110), we found that MAP2K1/2 mutations are predictive of high objective response rate (17.6% vs 1.3%, p = 0.0185) and long progression-free survival [median OS, 49.2 months vs 8.3 months; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15–0.91; p = 0.0307] and overall survival (median PFS, 19.4 months vs 2.8 months; HR = 0.2; 95% CI, 0.05–0.83; p = 0.0262). This predictive value was further validated in a pooled anti-CTLA-4-treated cohort (n = 235) in terms of overall survival (median OS, 49.3 months vs 22.0 months; HR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.22–0.91; p = 0.0255). However, no correlation between MAP2K1/2 mutations and overall survival was observed in the anti-PD-1-treated cohort (n = 285). Subgroup Cox regression analysis indicated that MAP2K-mutated patients receive less benefit from the anti-PD-1 monotherapy than from the anti-CTLA-4 treatment (median OS, 27.0 months vs 49.3 months; HR = 3.26; 95% CI, 1.18–9.02; p = 0.0225), which was contrary to the result obtained for the total population. Furthermore, transcriptome profiling analysis revealed that MAP2K-mutated tumors are enriched in CD8+ T cells, B cells, and neutrophil cells and also express high levels of CD33 and IL10, which might be the underlying mechanism for melanoma patients with MAP2K1/2-mutated benefit more from anti-CTLA-4 treatment. Conclusions: We identified mutations in MAP2K1/2 genes as the independent predictive factors for anti-CTLA-4 therapy in melanoma patients and found that anti-CTLA-4 treatment in patient harbouring MAP2K1/2 mutations might be more effective than the anti-PD-1 therapy.


1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 2792-2799 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Gajjar ◽  
R A Sanford ◽  
R Heideman ◽  
J J Jenkins ◽  
A Walter ◽  
...  

PURPOSE To evaluate the impact of primary tumor site, age at diagnosis, extent of resection, and histology on progression-free survival (PFS) in pediatric low-grade astrocytoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS Medical, pathologic, and imaging information were reviewed for 142 children (ages 2 months to 19 years) with low-grade astrocytoma treated between January 1984 and July 1994. Gross total resection (GTR) was attempted for cerebellar and cerebral hemisphere tumors, with biopsy or less aggressive resection used predominantly for tumors in other sites. Surgery was followed by observation in 107 cases, radiation therapy in 31, and chemotherapy in four. RESULTS The overall survival rate was 90% +/- 3% (SE) at 4 years. PFS was significantly better for patients with cerebellar and cerebral hemisphere tumors (n = 75) than those with tumors in all other sites (P = .0006). Within the former group, there was no significant difference in PFS for patients in whom GTR was achieved versus those with incomplete resections (4-year estimates, 89% and 77%, respectively). Histology (juvenile pilocytic v astrocytoma not otherwise specified [NOS]) was not related to PFS in an analysis that controlled for tumor site and patient age. Patients younger than 5 years at diagnosis had a significantly poorer PFS than older children, regardless of histology (P < .03) or tumor site (P < .002). Treatment for progressive/recurrent disease was effective in a majority of patients, but appeared more successful in patients with hemispheric than thalamic or hypothalamic tumors. CONCLUSION The overall survival in this series of pediatric low-grade astrocytomas is excellent. Age at diagnosis and tumor location, but not histology, had a significant impact on PFS. Efforts to improve treatment outcome should focus on young patients (< 5 years) and on those with central midline tumors. The majority of patients with completely resected hemispheric tumors were monitored without further therapy, which supports attempted GTR of cerebral and cerebellar hemisphere low-grade astrocytoma.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1020-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne L. Topalian ◽  
Mario Sznol ◽  
David F. McDermott ◽  
Harriet M. Kluger ◽  
Richard D. Carvajal ◽  
...  

PurposeProgrammed cell death 1 (PD-1) is an inhibitory receptor expressed by activated T cells that downmodulates effector functions and limits the generation of immune memory. PD-1 blockade can mediate tumor regression in a substantial proportion of patients with melanoma, but it is not known whether this is associated with extended survival or maintenance of response after treatment is discontinued.Patients and MethodsPatients with advanced melanoma (N = 107) enrolled between 2008 and 2012 received intravenous nivolumab in an outpatient setting every 2 weeks for up to 96 weeks and were observed for overall survival, long-term safety, and response duration after treatment discontinuation.ResultsMedian overall survival in nivolumab-treated patients (62% with two to five prior systemic therapies) was 16.8 months, and 1- and 2-year survival rates were 62% and 43%, respectively. Among 33 patients with objective tumor regressions (31%), the Kaplan-Meier estimated median response duration was 2 years. Seventeen patients discontinued therapy for reasons other than disease progression, and 12 (71%) of 17 maintained responses off-therapy for at least 16 weeks (range, 16 to 56+ weeks). Objective response and toxicity rates were similar to those reported previously; in an extended analysis of all 306 patients treated on this trial (including those with other cancer types), exposure-adjusted toxicity rates were not cumulative.ConclusionOverall survival following nivolumab treatment in patients with advanced treatment–refractory melanoma compares favorably with that in literature studies of similar patient populations. Responses were durable and persisted after drug discontinuation. Long-term safety was acceptable. Ongoing randomized clinical trials will further assess the impact of nivolumab therapy on overall survival in patients with metastatic melanoma.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 3931-3931
Author(s):  
Long Xuan Trinh ◽  
Young Kwang Chae ◽  
Preetesh Jain ◽  
Ohad Benjamini ◽  
Xuemei Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3931 Introduction - Statins are a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. In addition, statins possess anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, and cell growth inhibitory properties. In B- CLL cells, statins induce in-vitro apoptosis (Daphne Chapman-Shimshon et-al), suggesting that statins might possess properties. We noticed a high prevalence of dyslipidemia in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However the impact of dyslipidemia and its modulation by statins on clinical outcomes of patients with CLL remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective analysis to assess the effect of statins in patients with CLL who received salvage (fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab) FCR chemotherapy. Methods - We analyzed the clinical outcome of relapsed/refractory patients with CLL (n=284) who underwent FCR salvage therapy at our institution between 1999 and 2012. Patients who were uninterruptedly treated with statins at least one month prior to and during salvage therapy (n=35) were assigned to the statins arm, whereas the other arm consisted of 249 patients who were not treated with statins. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to assess the association between patient characteristics and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Actual survival and PFS were estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier, and OS and PFS were compared among two groups of patients using log-rank test. Results - All pretreatment characteristics of the patients with concurrent use of statins were similar to those who were not treated with statins except for their age. Patients in the statins arm were older: 21 patients (60%) were older than 65 compared to 74 patients of 249 (30%) in the other group (p<0.05). The median OS and PFS of all 284 patients were 3.9 years (95% CI: 3.4–4.5) and 1.74 years (95% CI: 1.6–2.3), respectively. PFS was significantly longer in patients treated with statins. Fifteen of the 35 statin-treated patients (43%) as opposed to only 36 of 249 (14%) in the non-statins group experience no disease progression. Concurrent use of statins significantly prolonged PFS. The median PFS for statin-treated v/s. untreated was 4.6 and 1.7 years, respectively (p<0.05). This significantly improved PFS was consistent in young and elderly patients. In young patients (age < 65) with statins, the median PFS was not reached whereas in patients who were not treated with statins it was 2 years (p<0.05). In older patients (age ≥ 65), PFS was significant longer with concurrent use of statins than without statins; estimated PFS were 2 and 1.6 years, respectively (p<0.05). With the median follow-up of 5 years, the median overall survival was significantly longer in patients treated with statins, with 17 of 35 (49%) patients of the statins group and 59 (24%) of 249 in patients who were not treated with statins alive at the end of study. Concurrent use of statins significantly prolonged OS with an estimated median OS for the two groups of 6.9 years and 3.9 years, respectively (p<0.05). This significantly improved OS was consistent in young and elderly patients. Young patients (age <65) with statins had a significant prolonged survival with an estimated OS of 8.6 years whereas estimated OS in young patients without statins (p<0.05) was only 4 years. In older patients (age ≥65) the median OS was significantly longer with the concurrent use of statins than without statins; estimated OS in the two subgroups were 6.9 and 2.6 years respectively, (p<0.05). Conclusions - In conclusion, concurrent use of statins significantly improved OS, PFS in relapsed/refractory CLL patients treated with salvage FCR therapy. Further studies to determine the role of statins and mechanism of action in patients with CLL are warranted. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 11096-11096
Author(s):  
J. C. Becker ◽  
M. Schneider ◽  
D. Scherer ◽  
S. Ugurel ◽  
M. Zapatka ◽  
...  

11096 Background: Sunlight is a major risk factor for melanoma. Since UV radiation causes DNA damage, it is not surprisingly, that genetic variants in DNA repair enzymes contribute to the susceptibility to cutaneous melanoma. Methods: Presence of common non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism in different DNA repair enzymes were established and correlated with overall survival of melanoma patients. To this end, the SNPs of 6 different DNA repair enzymes were evaluated in a cohort of 742 melanoma patients. The impact of these polymorphisms on overall survival was subsequently calculated by the cox hazard model. Results: This analysis demonstrated that after adjustment to gender and primary tumor T classification XPG 1104 His/His as well as XPD 751 Lys/Lys genotypes were significantly associated with improved survival. Cox hazard coefficients were 0.744 for XPG 1104 His/His (p = 0.0059) and 0.651 for XPD 751 Lys/Lys (p = 0.017). Importantly, bootstrapping confirmed theses results for subpopulations. Furthermore, multivariate analysis demonstrated that XPG 1104 His/His is an independent factor affecting overall survival (cox coefficient 0.95788; p = 0.0011). Conclusions: XPG codon 1104 polymorphism may be predictive of survival outcome in patients with cutaneous melanoma. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9514-9514
Author(s):  
Andrea Forschner ◽  
Petra Riedel ◽  
Maximilian Gassenmaier ◽  
Alexander Scheu ◽  
Lukas Kofler ◽  
...  

9514 Background: There is limited data about the impact of melanoma on the psychological burden of patients. Despite some known predictors for distress like female gender or younger age, melanoma stages have not been found being related to distress in melanoma patients and there is no data concerning distress in melanoma patients under systemic treatment for metastases. Methods: Between July and September 2016, 820 melanoma patients at the outpatient clinic at the Department of Dermatology at the University of Tuebingen underwent psycho-oncological screening. The patients routinely completed the distress thermometer (DT), supplemented by a problem list, before consulting the physician. DT scores ≥ 5 are above-threshold, indicating the need for psycho-oncological support. We matched psycho-oncological data with tumor and patient specific data to examine tumor or patient specific influence on distress using logistic regression. Results: 406 (49.5%) men and 414 (50.5%) women were included, mean age was 62.35 years (IQR 52-75), mean time since primary diagnosis of melanoma was 54.84 months (IQR 15-76). 359 (44%) of the patients suffered from advanced melanoma (stage III n = 182, stage IV n = 177). 120 patients (14.6%) received systemic treatment for metastases: 90/120 (75%) checkpoint inhibitors, 27/120 (22.5%) targeted therapy and 3/120 (2.5%) chemotherapy. 338/820 (41.2%) of the patients met the cut-off score for distress. Significant influencing factors (p < 0.05) for DT values of ≥ 5 were: female gender, younger age, melanoma stage III and IV. Interestingly we found a lower risk for values above-threshold for patients under systemic treatment, although this was not significant (p = 0.252). Conclusions: This is the first analysis to demonstrate the impact of advanced melanoma stages on DT scores above-threshold. Our study is also the first to indicate a lower risk for distress in patients under systemic treatment. This might be due to the closer contact between these patients and their physicians. Nevertheless, more than 40% of our patients needed psycho-oncological support. Departments that care for melanoma patients should therefore be fitted by a sufficient number of psycho-oncologists.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (7_suppl) ◽  
pp. TPS684-TPS684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Christine Harshman ◽  
Maneka Puligandla ◽  
Naomi B. Haas ◽  
Mohamad Allaf ◽  
Charles G. Drake ◽  
...  

TPS684 Background: The anti-PD-1 antibody nivo improves overall survival in metastatic RCC and is well tolerated. There is no standard adjuvant systemic therapy that increases overall survival (OS) over surgery alone for non-metastatic RCC. Priming the immune system prior to surgery with anti-PD-1 has shown an OS benefit compared to a pure adjuvant approach in mouse solid tumor models. The PROSPER RCC trial aims to improve clinical outcomes by priming the immune system prior to nephrectomy with neoadjuvant nivo and continued engagement with adjuvant blockade in patients with high risk M0 RCC compared to surgery alone. Methods: This global, unblinded, phase 3 National Clinical Trials Network study is currently accruing patients with clinical stage ≥T2 or node positive M0 RCC of any histology. Tumor biopsy prior to randomization is mandatory to ensure RCC and permits in depth correlative science. The investigational arm will receive two doses of nivo 240mg prior to surgery followed by adjuvant nivo for 9 months (q2 wks x 3 mo followed by 480mg q4 wks x 6 mo). The control arm will undergo standard nephrectomy followed by observation. Randomized patients are stratified by clinical T stage, node positivity, and histology. To enhance accrual and patient quality of life, key upcoming amendments are being instituted. These include biopsy only in the nivo arm, allowance of oligometastatic disease and bilateral renal masses that can be fully resected/ablated, and change of nivo dosing to q4 wks (1 neoadj; 9 adj). With accrual of 766 patients, there is 84.2% power to detect a 14.4% absolute benefit in recurrence-free survival (RFS) at 5 years assuming the ASSURE historical control of ~56% to 70% (HR = 0.70). The study is also powered to evaluate a significant increase in overall survival (HR 0.67). Safety, feasibility, and quality of life endpoints critical to adjuvant therapy considerations are incorporated. PROSPER RCC embeds a wealth of translational work aimed at investigating the impact of the baseline immune milieu, the changes induced by neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 priming, and how both correlate with clinical outcomes. Clinical trial information: NCT03055013.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e22043-e22043
Author(s):  
Li Zhou ◽  
Chuanliang Cui ◽  
Lu Si ◽  
Zhihong Chi ◽  
Xinan Sheng ◽  
...  

e22043 Background: Immunotherapy is first-line therapy in advanced melanoma. Because of different subtypes and gene alterations, the efficacy of immunotherapy in Asians, mostly comprised of acral and mucosal melanoma, is lower than Caucasians. There are no standard treatment strategies after immunotherapy failure. Chemotherapy and anti-angiogenesis combination showed emerging evidence of activity in mucosal and acral melanoma. This study was to evaluate the efficacy of apatinib combined with temozolomide in advanced immunotherapy refractory melanoma patients (pts). Methods: This prospective, single-arm, phase II study recruited unresectable or metastatic melanoma pts after failure of anti-PD-1 therapy. Other treatment including targeted therapy, chemotherapy, and clinical trials were allowed. Primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and secondary endpoints were objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs). According to the dose recommended from previous phase I study, pts were given apatinib 500 mg every day and temozolomide 300mg day 1-5, 28 days for one cycle. Results: 31 pts were enrolled between Feb 2018 and Dec 2018, with 8 males, average age 55 yrs (range 24 – 69 yrs). 13 pts (41.9%) were from mucosal primaries, 9 (29.0%) acral, 5 (16.1%) cutaneous (non-acral), and 4 (12.9%) unknown primaries. One had BRAF mutation, 1 CKIT, and 3 NRAS mutations. 9 pts (29.0%) were classified as IIIc/M1a, 9 (29.0%) M1b, and 13 (41.9%) M1c. 18 pts (58.1%) had elevated lactate dehydrogenase level. All pts progressed after anti-PD-1 therapy. In addition, 29.0% pts received dacarbazine based chemotherapy, 29.0% paclitaxel or albumin-bound paclitaxel, and 3.2% had dabrafenib with trametinib. Up to Dec 2019, 30 pts can be evaluated for efficacy. Median follow-up time was 10.2 mos (2.0-23.1 mos). There were 5 confirmed PRs and 20 SDs. ORR was 16.7%, DCR 83.3%, and median PFS was 5.0 mos (95%CI 1.9-8.1 mos). Median overall survival was 10.1 mos (95%CI 4.7-15.5 mos). Common AEs were hypertension (51.6%), proteinuria (41.9%), elevated transaminase (25.8%), thrombocytopenia (16.1%), and hand-foot syndrome (16.1%). Most were grade 1-2. Grade 3-4 AEs included proteinuria (12.9%), hypertension (6.4%), and thrombocytopenia (6.4%); 10 pts required a dose reduction, and 1 had to discontinue. No treatment-related deaths were observed. Conclusions: In pts progressed after anti-PD-1 therapy, apatinib in combination with temozolomide demonstrated promising efficacy and favorable safety profile. Clinical trial information: NCT03422445.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9025-9025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Mangana ◽  
Simone M. Goldinger ◽  
Katja Schindler ◽  
Sima Rozati ◽  
Anna L. Frauchiger ◽  
...  

9025 Background: Ipilimumab and tremelimumab are human monoclonal antibodies against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4). Ipilimumab was the first agent to show a statistically significant benefit in overall survival with durable-long-term responses for advanced melanoma patients both in first-and second-line setting. Up to date, there is no proven association between the BRAF-V600E mutation and the disease control rate (DCR) in response to Ipilimumab. Moreover, significantly shorter survival rates have been reported in patients harboring an NRAS mutation than in those without. This retrospective analysis was carried out to assess if BRAF (V600) and NRAS mutation status affects the clinical outcome of Ipilimumab-treated melanoma patients. Methods: This is a retrospective multi-center analysisof 71 patients, with confirmed BRAF and NRAS mutation status, treated with anti-CTLA-4 antibodies from December 2006 until August 2012. The cut-off for the estimation of overall survival was end of November 2012. Results: The median overall survival of BRAFV600/NRAS mutant patients (n=44) was 1,41 years compared with 2.67 years in BRAF/NRAS wild-type patients (n=27). Although this difference was not statistically significant there was a trend for improved survival in wild-type patients. Of the 71 patients analyzed, 56 received chemotherapy prior to Ipilimumab. In the BRAF/NRAS mutant cohort, 12 patients received Ipilimumab following either a BRAF- or a MEK- inhibitor. Of those 12 patients, 8 progressed and were unable to complete Ipilimumab. Of the 4 patients who completed 4 cycles of Ipilimumab, 2 were subsequently treated with a BRAF inhibitor. Furthermore out of the 71 patients, 8 patients received a BRAF or a MEK inhibitor after progression; 5 of them are still alive. Conclusions: This is the first retrospective study to evaluate the association of both BRAF and NRAS mutational status with the overall survival of Ipilimumab-treated patients. There was a trend towards an improved survival in the BRAF/NRAS wild-type subpopulation. Additional patients will be examined to foster these preliminary results.


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