Post-radiation neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is a prognostic marker in patients with localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with anti-PD-1 antibody and stereotactic body radiation therapy

Purpose@#To investigate the role of pre- and post-stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with localized pancreatic cancer treated with anti-PD-1 (programmed cell death protein-1) antibody and SBRT. @*Materials and Methods@#This was a retrospective review of 68 patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced pancreatic cancer treated with anti-PD-1 antibody and SBRT after multi-agent chemotherapy. Immunotherapy was administered with 5-fraction SBRT in the neoadjuvant, concurrent, or adjuvant/maintenance setting. Clinical outcomes included overall survival (OS), local progression-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and progression-free survival. Median pre- and post-SBRT peripheral blood markers were compared with the Mann-Whitney U test. Univariate and multivariable analyses (UVA and MVA) were performed to identify variables associated with clinical outcomes. Linear regression was performed to determine correlations between variables and peripheral blood markers. @*Results@#A total of 68 patients were included in the study. The percent change between median pre- and post-SBRT absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), absolute neutrophil count, and NLR were -36.0% (p < 0.001), -5.6% (p = 0.190), and +35.7% (p = 0.003), respectively. Median OS after SBRT was 22.4 months. On UVA, pre-SBRT CA19-9 (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.001; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.000–1.001; p = 0.031), post-SBRT ALC (HR = 0.33; 95% CI, 0.11–0.91; p = 0.031), and post-SBRT NLR (HR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.04–1.22; p = 0.009) were associated with OS. On MVA, induction chemotherapy duration (HR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.57–0.99; p = 0.048) and post-SBRT NLR (HR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.04–1.23; p = 0.002) predicted for OS. Patients with post-SBRT NLR ≥3.2 had a median OS of 15.6 months versus 27.6 months in patients with post-SBRT NLR <3.2 (p = 0.009). On MVA linear regression, log10CTV had a negative correlation with post-SBRT ALC (regression coefficient = -0.314; 95% CI, -0.626 to -0.003; p = 0.048). @*Conclusion@#Elevated NLR after SBRT is primarily due to depletion of lymphocytes and associated with worse survival outcomes in localized pancreatic cancer treated with anti-PD-1 antibody. Larger CTVs were associated with decreased post-SBRT ALC.

Impact of somatic mutations on clinical and pathologic outcomes in borderline resectable and locally advanced pancreatic cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and stereotactic body radiotherapy followed by surgical resection

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to determine if somatic mutations are associated with clinical and pathologic outcomes in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) or locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). @*Materials and Methods@#Patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and SBRT followed by surgical resection from August 2016 to January 2019 and who underwent next generation sequencing of their primary tumor were included in the study. Next-generation sequencing was performed either in-house with a Solid Tumor Panel or with FoundationOne CDx. Univariate (UVA) and multivariable analyses (MVA) were performed to determine associations between somatic mutations and pathologic and clinical outcomes. @*Results@#Thirty-five patients were included in the study. Chemotherapy consisted of modified FOLFIRINOX, gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, or gemcitabine and capecitabine. Patients were treated with SBRT in 33 Gy in 5 fractions. On UVA and MVA, tumors with KRAS G12V mutation demonstrated better pathologic tumor regression grade (TRG) to neoadjuvant therapy when compared to tumors with other KRAS mutations (odds ratio = 0.087; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.009–0.860; p = 0.036). On UVA and MVA, mutations in NOTCH1/2 were associated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.15; 95% CI, 1.57–10.95; p = 0.004) and progression-free survival (HR = 3.61; 95% CI, 1.41–9.28; p = 0.008). On UVA, only mutations in NOTCH1/2 were associated with inferior distant metastasis-free survival (HR = 3.38; 95% CI, 1.25–9.16; p = 0.017). @*Conclusion@# In BRPC and LAPC, the KRAS G12V mutation was associated with better TRG following chemotherapy and SBRT. Additionally, NOTCH1/2 mutations were associated with worse overall survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and progression-free survival.

Monoamine Oxidase-A Genetic Variants and Childhood Abuse Predict Impulsiveness in Borderline Personality Disorder

OBJECTIVE: Impulsivity is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) that likely arises from combined genetic and environmental influences. The interaction of the low activity variant of the monoamine oxidase-A (MAOA-L) gene and early childhood adversity has been shown to predict aggression in clinical and non-clinical populations. Although impulsivity is a risk factor for aggression in BPD and ASPD, little research has investigated potential gene-environment (G×E) influences impacting its expression in these conditions. Moreover, G×E interactions may differ by diagnosis. METHODS: Full factorial analysis of variance was employed to investigate the influence of monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) genotype, childhood abuse, and diagnosis on Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) scores in 61 individuals: 20 subjects with BPD, 18 subjects with ASPD, and 23 healthy controls. RESULTS: A group×genotype×abuse interaction was present (F(2,49)=4.4, p=0.018), such that the interaction of MAOA-L and childhood abuse predicted greater BIS-11 motor impulsiveness in BPD. Additionally, BPD subjects reported higher BIS-11 attentional impulsiveness versus ASPD participants (t(1,36)=2.3, p=0.025). CONCLUSION: These preliminary results suggest that MAOA-L may modulate the impact of childhood abuse on impulsivity in BPD. Results additionally indicate that impulsiveness may be expressed differently in BPD and ASPD.

Serotonin transporter occupancy of SKL10406 in humans: comparison of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling methods for estimation of occupancy parameters

SKL10406, triple monoamine reuptake inhibitor, is a novel antidepressant candidate. A PET study was performed to investigate the occupancies of serotonin and dopamine transporters (SERT and DAT) in human brain, and the relationship between SKL10406 concentration and SERT occupancy was assessed using pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) modeling methods. Fifteen healthy volunteers were given SKL10406 100 mg/day for 6 days or 150 mg/day for 6 days after 100 mg/day for 4 days. Each subject underwent full PK sampling for SKL10406 and PET scans at predose, 4 h and 16 h after dosing at a steady state to investigate the occupancies of SERT and DAT using 11C-DASB and 11C-PE2I, respectively. Naive pooled method (NPM) and nonlinear mixed-effect methods (ME) including a direct ME (DME) and an effect compartmental ME (EME) were used (NONMEM Ver. 7.2). Six and five subjects completed the studies for SERT and DAT, respectively. The final estimates of Emax (53.4%) and EC50 (11.8 ng/mL) from DME were relatively lower than those from NPM (Emax, 74.1%; EC50, 36.8 ng/mL) and EME (Emax, 68.6%; EC50, 40.2 ng/mL). DAT occupancy results were not modeled because of lower occupancies. The results showed that the dosage regimens may be applied in patient studies. However, difference between estimation methods alerts that ME may not be a recommendable analysis tool for sparsely sampled PET scan data.