Project description:Angiogenesis is an essential process in the development, growth, and metastasis of malignant tumors including lung cancer. Several angiogenesis inhibitors have been developed as potential therapies for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nintedanib is a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets receptors for vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor as well as RET (rearranged during transfection) and Flt3. When administered as monotherapy, nintedanib was well tolerated at doses up to 250 mg or 200 mg twice daily in European and Japanese patients, respectively, with liver toxicity featuring prominently among dose-limiting toxicities in both populations. A recent Phase III trial demonstrated that treatment with the combination of nintedanib and docetaxel resulted in a significant and clinically meaningful improvement in both progression-free survival and overall survival compared with docetaxel alone in predefined NSCLC patients with adenocarcinoma tumor histology. Although the incidence of elevated alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase as well as of diarrhea was higher in patients treated with nintedanib plus docetaxel, most of these adverse events were manageable with supportive treatment or dose reduction. The results of completed and ongoing clinical trials of nintedanib monotherapy and combination therapy for the treatment of NSCLC are summarized in this study.
Project description:BackgroundAgents targeting programmed death-1 receptor (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) are showing promising results in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is unknown whether PD-1/PD-L1 are differently expressed in oncogene-addicted NSCLC.MethodsWe analysed a cohort of 125 NSCLC patients, including 56 EGFR mutated, 29 KRAS mutated, 10 ALK translocated and 30 EGFR/KRAS/ALK wild type. PD-L1 and PD-1 expression were assessed by immunohistochemistry. All cases with moderate or strong staining (2+/3+) in >5% of tumour cells were considered as positive.ResultsPD-1 positive (+) was significantly associated with current smoking status (P=0.02) and with the presence of KRAS mutations (P=0.006), whereas PD-L1+ was significantly associated to adenocarcinoma histology (P=0.005) and with presence of EGFR mutations (P=0.001). In patients treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (N=95), sensitivity to gefitinib or erlotinib was higher in PD-L1+ vs PD-L1 negative in terms of the response rate (RR: P=0.01) time to progression (TTP: P<0.0001) and survival (OS: P=0.09), with no difference in PD1+ vs PD-1 negative. In the subset of 54 EGFR mutated patients, TTP was significantly longer in PD-L1+ than in PD-L1 negative (P=0.01).ConclusionsPD-1 and PD-L1 are differentially expressed in oncogene-addicted NSCLC supporting further investigation of specific checkpoint inhibitors in combination with targeted therapies.
Project description:Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the United States. Platinum-based doublet chemotherapy has been a standard for patients with advanced stage disease. Improvements in overall survival and quality of life have been modest. Improved knowledge of the aberrant molecular signaling pathways found in NSCLC has led to the development of biomarkers with associated targeted therapeutics, thus changing the treatment paradigm for many NSCLC patients. In this review, we present a summary of many of the currently investigated biologic targets in NSCLC, discuss their current clinical trial status, and also discuss the potential for development of other targeted agents.
Project description:Evidence has suggested survival benefits of maintenance for advanced NSCLC patients not progressing after first-line chemotherapy. Additionally, particular first-line targeted therapies have shown survival improvements in selected populations. Optimal first-line and maintenance therapies remain unclear. Here, currently available evidence was synthesized to elucidate optimal first-line and maintenance therapy within patient groups. Literature was searched for randomized trials evaluating first-line and maintenance regimens in advanced NSCLC patients. Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed within molecularly and clinically selected groups. The primary outcome was combined clinically meaningful OS and PFS benefits. A total of 87 records on 56 trials evaluating first-line treatments with maintenance were included. Results showed combined clinically meaningful OS and PFS benefits with particular first-line with maintenance treatments, (1) first-line intercalated chemotherapy+erlotinib, maintenance erlotinib in patients with EGFR mutations, (2) first-line afatinib, maintenance afatinib in patients with EGFR deletion 19, (3) first-line chemotherapy + bevacizumab, maintenance bevacizumab in EGFR wild-type patients, (4) chemotherapy+conatumumab, maintenance conatumumab in patients with squamous histology, (5) chemotherapy+cetuximab, maintenance cetuximab or chemotherapy + necitumumab, maintenance necitumumab in EGFR FISH-positive patients with squamous histology, and (6) first-line chemotherapy+bevacizumab, maintenance bevacizumab or first-line sequential chemotherapy+gefitinib, maintenance gefitinib in patients clinically enriched for EGFR mutations with nonsquamous histology. No treatment showed combined clinically meaningful OS and PFS benefits in patients with EGFR L858R or nonsquamous histology. Particular first-line with maintenance treatments show meaningful OS and PFS benefits in patients selected by EGFR mutation or histology. Further research is needed to achieve effective therapy for patients with EGFR mutation L858R or nonsquamous histology.
Project description:Advances in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) lacking an actionable driver mutation have included the approval of immunotherapies, such as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy. However, limited evidence exists to guide clinical decision-making after progression with immunotherapy. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway promotes tumor angiogenesis and the development of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Anti-VEGF treatment is postulated to favor an immunosupportive TME through an "angio-immunogenic switch." Nintedanib, an anti-VEGF receptor treatment, is approved in the EU and other countries, in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of locally advanced, metastatic, or locally recurrent adenocarcinoma NSCLC after failure of first-line chemotherapy. We present a case series from 5 patients treated with nintedanib plus docetaxel, after chemotherapy and immunotherapy, during routine clinical practice in Austria and Hungary. Four patients were treated with nintedanib plus docetaxel as a second- or third-line treatment after chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and a fifth patient received immunotherapy before and after nintedanib plus docetaxel. Although these patients would typically have a poor prognosis, each achieved a partial response with nintedanib plus docetaxel, with response duration from 8 months to over 30 months. Adverse events were manageable. The fifth patient case shows that nintedanib does not preclude later-line immunotherapy or chemotherapy, supporting the angio-immunogenic switch hypothesis. Overall, the case studies indicate that nintedanib plus docetaxel is an effective and well tolerated treatment, after sequential or combined chemo-immunotherapy for advanced NSCLC, and is compatible with a rechallenge with immunotherapy.
Project description:IntroductionThe mainstay systemic treatment for non-oncogenic addictive advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer is chemotherapy. Anti-angiogenic agents are additive compounds that enhance disease control and lead to improvement of overall survival benefit. Recently PD-(L)1 blockage, a checkpoint inhibitor, has been adopted as another line of treatment. A sequential strategy to enhance the efficacy of combination docetaxel and nintedanib after immunotherapy, correlated with genomic mutation, has been explored.MethodA retrospective cohort study of 56 patients from 8 centers in Thailand who received combination docetaxel and nintedanib via the Thai nintedanib Named Patient Use program was conducted. Demographic characteristics, treatment details, and treatment responses were retrieved from medical records.ResultsThe majority of patients were male (62.5%) with adenocarcinoma subtype (88%). Thirty-five percent had sensitizing EGFR mutation. Combination docetaxel and nintedanib was given as second to fourth line of treatment. Median PFS of docetaxel/nintedanib was 5.6 months [95% CI 4.8-6.9]. Median OS of the entire cohort was 22.5 months [95% CI 20.2-31.1]. Among them, only four patients received this combination after immunotherapy which limited the validity of efficacy analysis. Median PFS of those four patients was 7.9 months [range 5.2-9.1] which was slightly higher than the remaining cohort (median PFS 4.5 months, 95% CI: 4.0-6.0, p-value 0.09). Among the adenocarcinoma subtype, a relapse-time of platinum-doublet chemotherapy of more than 6 months was solely indicated as a benefit of combination docetaxel/nintedanib treatment compared to the relapse-time of platinum-doublet chemotherapy of less than 6 months by multivariate HR of PFS 0.32 [95% CI: 0.14-0.68, p-value 0.003].ConclusionCombination docetaxel and nintedanib provided more benefit in relapse-time of platinum-doublet chemotherapy of more than 6 months in advanced stage adenocarcinoma lung cancer. Neither EGFR nor ALK alteration influenced the outcome of treatment.
Project description:The present study describes supportive care (SC) in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), evaluating whether it is affected by concomitant chemotherapy, patient's performance status (PS) and age. Data of patients enrolled in three randomised trials of first-line chemotherapy, conducted between 1996 and 2001, were pooled. The analysis was limited to the first three cycles of treatment. Supportive care data were available for 1185 out of 1312 (90%) enrolled patients. Gastrointestinal drugs (45.7%), corticosteroids (33.4%) and analgesics (23.8%) were the most frequently observed categories. The mean number of drugs per patient was 2.43; 538 patients (45.4%) assumed three or more supportive drugs. Vinorelbine does not produce substantial variations in the SC pattern, while cisplatin-based treatment requires an overall higher number of supportive drugs, with higher use of antiemetics (41 vs 27%) and antianaemics (10 vs 4%). Patients with worse PS are more exposed to corticosteroids (42 vs 30%). Elderly patients require drugs against concomitant diseases significantly more than adults (20 vs 7%) and are less frequently exposed to antiemetics (12 vs 27%). In conclusion, polypharmacotherapy is a relevant issue in patients with advanced NSCLC. Chemotherapy does not remarkably affect the pattern of SC, except for some drugs against side effects. Elderly patients assume more drugs for concomitant diseases and receive less antiemetics than adults.
Project description:Osimertinib is a potent, irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) selective for EGFR-TKI sensitizing (EGFRm) and T790M resistance mutations. The primary objective of the cytology cohort in the AURA study was to investigate safety and efficacy of osimertinib in pretreated Japanese patients with EGFR T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with screening EGFR T790M mutation status determined from cytology samples. The cytology cohort was included in the Phase I dose expansion component of the AURA study. Patients were enrolled based on a positive result of T790M by using cytology samples, and received osimertinib 80 mg in tablet form once daily until disease progression or until clinical benefit was no longer observed at the discretion of the investigator. Primary endpoint for efficacy was objective response rate (ORR) by investigator assessment. Twenty-eight Japanese patients were enrolled into the cytology cohort. At data cut-off (February 1, 2016), 12 (43%) were on treatment. Investigator-assessed ORR was 75% (95% confidence interval [CI] 55, 89) and median duration of response was 9.7 months (95% CI 3.8, not calculable [NC]). Median progression-free survival was 8.3 months (95% CI 4.2, NC) and disease control rate was 96% (95% CI 82, 100). The most common all-causality adverse events were paronychia (46%), dry skin (46%), diarrhea (36%) and rash (36%). Osimertinib provided clinical benefit with a manageable safety profile in patients with pretreated EGFR T790M mutation-positive NSCLC whose screening EGFR T790M mutation-positive status was determined from cytology samples. (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01802632).
Project description:PurposeThe study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and antitumor response of letetresgene autoleucel (lete-cel), genetically modified autologous T cells expressing a T-cell receptor specific for New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 1 (NY-ESO-1)/LAGE-1a shared epitope, alone or in combination with pembrolizumab, in HLA-A*02-positive (HLA-A*02:01, HLA-A*02:05, and/or HLA-A*02:06) patients with NY-ESO-1- and/or LAGE-1a-positive non-small cell lung cancer.Patients and methodsStudy 208749 was a single-arm study of lete-cel alone. Study 208471 was a multiarm study of lete-cel alone or in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer.ResultsMore than 2,500 patients were screened for target expression. In the multiarm study, 738 (45%) of 1,638 tested patients were HLA-A*02-positive. NY-ESO-1 and LAGE-1a testing was positive in 12% (62/525) and 4% (15/348) of tested patients, respectively. Forty-one patients positive for HLA-A*02 and antigen expression were screened in the single-arm study. Overall, 43 patients underwent leukapheresis and 18 received lete-cel across studies. Lete-cel demonstrated a manageable safety profile. No fatal treatment-related serious adverse events (AE) were reported in either study. Cytopenias and cytokine release syndrome were the most common treatment-emergent AEs. Combining pembrolizumab with lete-cel did not seem to increase toxicity over lete-cel alone. Limited antitumor activity was observed; one of 18 patients had a durable response persisting for 18 months. Pharmacokinetic data showed similar T-cell expansion in all patients.ConclusionsExtensive HLA-A*02 and antigen expression testing was performed to identify potential participants. Lete-cel was generally well tolerated and had no unexpected AEs. Antitumor activity was observed in a limited number of patients.
Project description:BackgroundIn evaluation of the clinical benefit of a new targeted agent in a phase 3 trial enrolling molecularly selected patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), overall survival (OS) as an endpoint seems to be of limited use because of a high level of treatment crossover for ethical reasons. A more efficient and useful indicator for assessing efficacy is needed.Methods and findingsWe identified 18 phase 3 trials in the literature investigating EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKIs) or ALK-TKIs, now approved for use to treat NSCLC, compared with standard cytotoxic chemotherapy (eight trials were performed in molecularly selected patients and ten using an "all-comer" design). Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to identify the best threshold by which to divide the groups. Although trials enrolling molecularly selected patients and all-comer trials had similar OS-hazard ratios (OS-HRs) (0.99 vs. 1.04), the former exhibited greater progression-free survival-hazard ratios (PFS-HR) (mean, 0.40 vs. 1.01; P<0.01). A PFS-HR of 0.60 successfully distinguished between the two types of trials (sensitivity 100%, specificity 100%). The odds ratio for overall response was higher in trials with molecularly selected patients than in all-comer trials (mean: 6.10 vs. 1.64; P<0.01). An odds ratio of 3.40 for response afforded a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 90%.ConclusionThe notably enhanced PFS benefit was quite specific to trials with molecularly selected patients. A PFS-HR cutoff of ∼0.6 may help detect clinical benefit of molecular targeted agents in which OS is of limited use, although desired threshold might differ in an individual trial.