Pembrolizumab in Patients With Tumors With High Tumor Mutational Burden: Results From the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry Study.

PURPOSE: The Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study is a pragmatic basket trial evaluating antitumor activity of approved targeted agents in patients with advanced cancers harboring potentially actionable genomic alterations. Data from cohorts of patients with high tumor mutational burden (HTMB, defined as ≥9 mutations per megabase) with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) and other advanced cancers treated with pembrolizumab are reported. METHODS: Eligible patients were 18 years and older with measurable tumors and a lack of standard treatment options, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1, and adequate organ function. The primary end point was disease control (DC), defined as complete or partial response or stable disease (SD) of at least 16-weeks duration. For the CRC cohort, Simon's two-stage design with a null DC rate of 15% versus 35% (power = 0.85; α = .10) was used. Low accruing histology-specific cohorts were collapsed into one histology-pooled (HP) cohort. For the HP cohort, the null hypothesis of a DC rate of 15% was rejected if the lower limit of a one-sided 90% CI was >15%. Secondary end points included objective response (OR), safety, progression-free survival, overall survival, duration of response, and duration of SD. RESULTS: Seventy-seven patients with HTMB with CRC (n = 28) or advanced cancers (n = 49) were treated with pembrolizumab. For the CRC cohort, the DC rate was 31% (P = .04) and the OR rate was 11%. For the HP cohort, the DC rate was 45% (one-sided 90% CI, 35 to 100) and the OR rate was 26%. The null hypothesis of a 15% DC rate was rejected for both cohorts. Twelve of 77 patients experienced treatment-related grade 3 adverse events (AEs) or serious AEs, including two deaths. CONCLUSION: Pembrolizumab demonstrated antitumor activity in pretreated patients with advanced cancers and HTMB.

Anemias excluding cobalamin and folate deficiencies.

Anemias are one of the commonest maladies affecting humans. They result from either a failure of production by the bone marrow (hypoproliferative), or from premature destruction or loss (hyperproliferative) of red cells. Hypoproliferative anemias typically result from deficiencies of essential nutrients, stem cell abnormalities or deficiency, and infiltrative processes of the bone marrow. In the hyperproliferative forms, the bone marrow function is normal and anemia results from bleeding or shortened erythrocyte lifespan due to hemoglobinopathies, red cell enzyme disorders, membrane defects, or external factors such as antibodies, trauma, or heat injury. The etiology of anemia is frequently obvious, but when obscure, a systematic diagnostic approach frequently yields the answer. It is important to realize that anemias are usually a consequence of another disease process, which must be identified. Without correction of the underlying disease process, the treatment is likely to fail.