Theranostic AGuIX nanoparticles as radiosensitizer: A phase I, dose-escalation study in patients with multiple brain metastases (NANO-RAD trial).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brain metastasis impacts greatly on patients' quality of life and survival. The phase I NANO-RAD trial assessed the safety and maximum tolerated dose of systemic administration of a novel gadolinium-based nanoparticle, AGuIX, in combination with whole brain radiotherapy in patients with multiple brain metastases not suitable for stereotactic radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with measurable brain metastases received escalating doses of AGuIX nanoparticles (15, 30, 50, 75, or 100 mg/kg intravenously) on the day of initiation of WBRT (30 Gy in 10 fractions) in 5 cohorts of 3 patients each. Toxicity was assessed using NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.03. RESULTS: Fifteen patients with 354 metastases were included. No dose-limiting toxic effects were observed up to AGuIX 100 mg/kg. Plasma elimination half-life of AGuIX was similar for all groups (mean 1.3 h; range 0.8-3 h). Efficient targeting of metastases (T1 MRI enhancement, tumor selectivity) and persistence of AGuIX contrast enhancement were observed in metastases from patients with primary melanoma, lung, breast, and colon cancers. The concentration of AGuIX in metastases after administration was proportional to the injected dose. Thirteen of 14 evaluable patients had a clinical benefit, with either stabilization or reduction of tumor volume. MRI analysis showed significant correlation between contrast enhancement and tumor response, thus supporting a radiosensitizing effect. CONCLUSION: Combining AGuIX with radiotherapy for patients with brain metastases is safe and feasible. AGuIX specifically targets brain metastases and is retained within tumors for up to 1 week; ongoing phase II studies will more definitively assess efficacy.

An innovative plasmacytoid dendritic cell line-based cancer vaccine primes and expands antitumor T-cells in melanoma patients in a first-in-human trial.

The efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors has been shown to depend on preexisting antitumor immunity; thus, their combination with cancer vaccines is an attractive therapeutic approach. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) are strong inducers of antitumor responses and represent promising vaccine candidates. We developed a cancer vaccine approach based on an allogeneic PDC line that functioned as a very potent antigen-presenting cell in pre-clinical studies. In this phase Ib clinical trial, nine patients with metastatic stage IV melanoma received up to 60 million irradiated PDC line cells loaded with 4 melanoma antigens, injected subcutaneously at weekly intervals. The primary endpoints were safety and tolerability. The vaccine was well tolerated and no serious vaccine-induced side effects were recorded. Strikingly, there was no allogeneic response toward the vaccine, but a significant increase in the frequency of circulating anti-tumor specific T lymphocytes was observed in two patients, accompanied by a switch from a naïve to memory phenotype, thus demonstrating priming of antigen-specific T-cells. Signs of clinical activity were observed, including four stable diseases according to IrRC and vitiligoïd lesions. Four patients were still alive at week 48. We also demonstrate the in vitro enhancement of specific T cell expansion induced by the synergistic combination of peptide-loaded PDC line with anti-PD-1, as compared to peptide-loaded PDC line alone. Taken together, these clinical observations demonstrate the ability of the PDC line based-vaccine to prime and expand antitumor CD8+ responses in cancer patients. Further trials should test the combination of this vaccine with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Treatment of multiple brain metastases using gadolinium nanoparticles and radiotherapy: NANO-RAD, a phase I study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Occurrence of multiple brain metastases is a critical evolution of many cancers with significant neurological and overall survival consequences, despite new targeted therapy and standard whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). A gadolinium-based nanoparticle, AGuIX, has recently demonstrated its effectiveness as theranostic and radiosensitiser agent in preclinical studies. The favourable toxicity profile in animals and its administration as a simple intravenous injection has motivated its use in patients with this first in human study. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The NANO-RAD study is a phase I, first in human injection, monocentric, open-label, dose-escalation study to investigate the safety, the tolerability and the spectrum of side effects of AGuIX in combination with WBRT (30 Gy, 10 fractions of 3 Gy) for patients with multiple brain metastases. Five dose escalation cohorts are planned: 15, 30, 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg. A total of 15-18 patients will be recruited into this trial. The primary objective is to determine the maximum-tolerated dose of AGuIX nanoparticles combined with WBRT for the treatment of multiple brain metastases. Toxicity will be assessed using the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria V.4.03. Secondary objectives are pharmacokinetic profile, distribution of AGuIX in metastases and surrounding healthy tissue visualised by MRI, intracranial progression-free survival and overall survival. Intracranial response will be determined according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumour Criteria V.1.1 comparing MRI performed prior to treatment and at each follow-up visits. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approval was obtained from the ethics committee Sud Est V, France (Reference number 15-CHUG-48). The study was approved by the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) (Reference number 151519A-12). The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals or disseminated through national and international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02820454; Pre-results.

High Resectability Rate of Initially Unresectable Colorectal Liver Metastases After UGT1A1-Adapted High-Dose Irinotecan Combined with LV5FU2 and Cetuximab: A Multicenter Phase II Study (ERBIFORT).

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and tolerance of induction chemotherapy combining LV5FU2 with increased doses of irinotecan adapted to UGT1A1 genotyping and cetuximab in untreated potentially resectable liver metastases of colorectal cancer. METHODS: Twenty-six patients, PS 0-1, with class II hepatic metastases received chemotherapy combining irinotecan 260 mg/m(2) on day 1 for UGT1A1 6/6 and 6/7 genotypes and 220 mg/m(2) for UGT1A1 7/7 genotypes, with leucovorin on day 1, 5FU 400 mg/m(2) bolus on day 1 and continuous 5FU infusion for 46 h, and cetuximab on day 1 (day 1 = day 14). Primary prevention with lenograstim (day 5-9) was given to UGT1A1 6/7 and 7/7 genotypes. The primary endpoint was the response rate (RECIST1.1), and the secondary endpoints were tolerance (NCI-CTC criteria) and R0 resection rate. RESULTS: The average number of cycles per patient was 6 (±1.9). The UGT1A1 genotype was 6/6 in 34.6 %, 6/7 in 53.9 %, and 7/7 in 11.5 % of patients. At 6 cycles, 18 patients (69.2 %) presented a partial response, 5 patients (19.2 %) had stable disease, 2 patients (7.7 %) died independently of chemotherapy, and 1 patient (3.9 %) refused the treatment after 3 cycles. Four patients received 2 more cycles and the cumulative response rate at 8 cycles was 76.9 % (20/26). There was no progression. Among assessable patients (n = 23), the overall response rate was 82.6 % and 21 patients (80.7 %) had a metastasis resection. The most frequent grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia (31 %), diarrhea (20.8 %), and anorexia (16.4 %). There were no deaths due to toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose FOLFIRI combined with cetuximab yielded high response rates and enabled complete resection of class II hepatic metastases in most patients. It seemed to be well-tolerated among healthy selected patients thanks to irinotecan dose adaptation according to UGT1A1 pharmacogenomics status. This intensified chemotherapy regimen needs to be confirmed in a randomized, phase III study.

Evidence for post-translational processing of vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin in brain tumors: towards a candidate biomarker.

Vessel abnormalities are among the most important features in malignant glioma. Vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin is of major importance for vascular integrity. Upon cytokine challenge, VE-cadherin structural modifications have been described including tyrosine phosphorylation and cleavage. The goal of this study was to examine whether these events occurred in human glioma vessels. We demonstrated that VE-cadherin is highly expressed in human glioma tissue and tyrosine phosphorylated at site Y(685), a site previously found phosphorylated upon VEGF challenge, via Src activation. In vitro experiments showed that VEGF-induced VE-cadherin phosphorylation, preceded the cleavage of its extracellular adhesive domain (sVE, 90 kDa). Interestingly, metalloproteases (MMPs) secreted by glioma cell lines were responsible for sVE release. Because VEGF and MMPs are important components of tumor microenvironment, we hypothesized that VE-cadherin proteolysis might occur in human brain tumors. Analysis of glioma patient sera prior treatment confirmed the presence of sVE in bloodstream. Furthermore, sVE levels studied in a cohort of 53 glioma patients were significantly predictive of the overall survival at three years (HR 0.13 [0.04; 0.40] p ≤ 0.001), irrespective to histopathological grade of tumors. Altogether, these results suggest that VE-cadherin structural modifications should be examined as candidate biomarkers of tumor vessel abnormalities, with promising applications in oncology.