Intracranial and extracranial efficacy of lorlatinib in patients with ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer previously treated with second-generation ALK TKIs.

BACKGROUND: Lorlatinib, a potent, brain-penetrant, third-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has substantial activity against ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study assessed the overall, intracranial, and extracranial efficacy of lorlatinib in ALK-positive NSCLC that progressed on second-generation ALK TKIs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the ongoing phase II study (NCT01970865), patients with ALK-positive advanced NSCLC treated with ≥1 prior second-generation ALK TKI ± chemotherapy were enrolled in expansion cohorts (EXP) based on treatment history. Overall, intracranial and extracranial antitumor activity were assessed independently per modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1. RESULTS: Of the 139 patients with ≥1 prior second-generation ALK TKI (EXP3B-5), 28 received one prior second-generation ALK TKI (EXP3B), 65 two prior ALK TKIs (EXP4), and 46 three prior ALK TKIs (EXP5). In EXP3B-5, the objective response rate (ORR) [95% confidence intervals] was 39.6% (31.4-48.2), intracranial ORR (IC-ORR) was 56.1% (42.4-69.3), extracranial ORR (EC-ORR) was 36.7% (28.7-45.3), median duration of response (DOR) was 9.6 months [5.6-16.7; IC-DOR, 12.4 (6.0-37.1); EC-DOR, 9.7 (6.1-33.3)], median progression-free survival was 6.6 (5.4-7.4) months, and median overall survival was 20.7 months (16.1-30.3). In EXP3B, the ORR was 42.9% (24.5-62.8), the IC-ORR was 66.7% (29.9-92.5), and the EC-ORR was 32.1% (15.9-52.4). In EXP4 and EXP5, the ORR was 38.7% (29.6-48.5), the IC-ORR was 54.2% (39.2-68.6), and the EC-ORR was 37.8% (28.8-47.5). CONCLUSIONS: Lorlatinib had clinically meaningful intracranial and extracranial antitumor activity in the post-second-generation ALK TKI setting, with elevated intracranial versus extracranial ORR, particularly in patients with fewer lines of therapy.

Gene expression profiling reveals GC and CEACAM1 as new tools in the diagnosis of lung carcinoids.

BACKGROUND: Classification of lung carcinoids into typical and atypical is a diagnostic challenge since no immunohistochemical tools are available to support pathologists in distinguishing between the two subtypes. A differential diagnosis is essential for clinicians to correctly discuss therapy, prognosis and follow-up with patients. Indeed, the distinction between the two typical and atypical subtypes on biopsies/cytological specimens is still unfeasible and sometimes limited also after radical surgeries. By comparing the gene expression profile of typical (TC) and atypical carcinoids (AC), we intended to find genes specifically expressed in one of the two subtypes that could be used as diagnostic markers. METHODS: Expression profiling, with Affymetrix arrays, was performed on six typical and seven atypical samples. Data were validated on an independent cohort of 29 tumours, by means of quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: High-throughput gene expression profiling was successfully used to identify a gene signature specific for atypical lung carcinoids. Among the 273 upregulated genes in the atypical vs typical subtype, GC (vitamin D-binding protein) and CEACAM1 (carcinoembryonic antigen family member) emerged as potent diagnostic markers. Quantitative PCR and IHC on a validation set of 17 ACs and 12 TCs confirmed their reproducibility and feasibility. CONCLUSIONS: GC and CEACAM1 can distinguish between TC and AC, defining an IHC assay potentially useful for routine cytological and histochemical diagnostic procedures. The high sensitivity and reproducibility of this new diagnostic algorithm strongly support a further validation on a wider sample size.

The choice of whether to participate in a phase I clinical trial: increasing the awareness of patients with cancer. An exploratory study.

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study, we found that patients who were offered the possibility of participation in a clinical trial had unexpressed concerns and fears that prevented them from making free or fully knowledgeable choices about their trial participation. In a selected population of patients who were offered participation in a phase I trial, we prospectively investigated whether a face-to-face discussion about their unexpressed fears might lead to a more conscious decision about whether to accept/refuse participation in the trial. METHODS: After the presentation of the trial, a questionnaire was administered to assess the presence of specific fears. Before the patients decided whether to participate in the trial, they discussed any fears that they had; finally, the impact of the discussion on the patients' choice to participate was evaluated. RESULTS: The majority (86%) of the patients thought that physicians conduct clinical trials for scientific interest, 13% felt exploited as 'guinea pigs' and 20% believed they were offered participation because they had no further hope for improvement. These existing fears were not elicited during the trial interview because the patients were themselves unaware of having them (28%) and because of fear of the doctors (3%). The possibility of discussing these fears was felt as an opportunity and made patients feel more conscious (92%) and freer (97%) when making their choice. CONCLUSIONS: Recognising and discussing misconceptions and fears, often unexpressed, make patients freer and more aware when facing the choice of whether or not \to participate in a phase I clinical trial.

Optimizing clinical care in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma: a phase II study of a new schedule of high-dose continuous infusion ifosfamide and doxorubicin combination.

BACKGROUND: Ifosfamide and doxorubicin combination is an active regimen for patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas (STS) but is burdened by high toxicity. A phase II trial was designed to assess the activity of continuous infusion ifosfamide and doxorubicin combination. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced STS were treated with ifosfamide (13 g/m(2)/12 days as continuous infusion) and doxorubicin (75 mg/m(2) on day 8) every 28 days with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. RESULTS: The major toxicity was hematological: grade 3/4 neutropenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia occurred in 63, 30 and 12% of patients, respectively. The disease control rate was 68% and the median time to progression was 7.1 months. Among leiomyosarcomas, 2 partial responses and 4 stable diseases were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that the ifosfamide and doxorubicin combination has a very low non-hematological toxicity profile. This regimen attained a high disease control rate with moderate activity. Further investigation into leiomyosarcoma is warranted.

Vatalanib for metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) resistant to imatinib: final results of a phase II study.

BACKGROUND: Vatalanib (PTK787/ZK 222584) inhibits a few tyrosine kinases including KIT, platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs). We report efficacy and safety results of vatalanib in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) resistant to imatinib or both imatinib and sunitinib. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-five patients whose metastatic GIST had progressed on imatinib were enrolled. Nineteen (42.2%) patients had received also prior sunitinib. Vatalanib 1250 mg was administered orally daily. RESULTS: Eighteen patients (40.0%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 25.7-54.3%) had clinical benefit including 2 (4.4%) confirmed partial remissions (PR; duration, 9.6 and 39.4 months) and 16 (35.6%) stabilised diseases (SDs; median duration, 12.5 months; range, 6.0-35.6+ months). Twelve (46.2%) out of the 26 patients who had received prior imatinib only achieved either PR or SD compared with 6 (31.6%, all SDs) out of the 19 patients who had received prior imatinib and sunitinib (P=0.324). The median time to progression was 5.8 months (95% CI, 2.9-9.5 months) in the subset without prior sunitinib and 3.2 (95% CI, 2.1-6.0) months among those with prior imatinib and sunitinib (P=0.992). Vatalanib was generally well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Vatalanib is active despite its narrow kinome interaction spectrum in patients diagnosed with imatinib-resistant GIST or with imatinib and sunitinib-resistant GIST.

Expression of gemcitabine- and cisplatin-related genes in non-small-cell lung cancer.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of histology and site of analysis (primary tumor versus lymph node) on the expression of genes involved in gemcitabine and cisplatin activity in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Excision repair cross-complementing-1 (ERCC1), human equilibrative nucleoside transporter-1 (hENT1), deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), 5'-nucleotidase (5'-NT), cytidine deaminase (CDA) and ribonucleotide-reductase regulatory subunits (RRM1 and RRM2) were analyzed by quantitative-reverse transcription-PCR in 88 microdissected samples from 69 chemonaive patients. The results showed different patterns of expression for all studied genes, suggesting a possible stratification of the patients. No difference was observed between primary tumor and lymph node metastasis, as well as in adenocarcinoma and squamous-cell carcinoma specimens, while we found a correlation between the CDA-A79C polymorphism and gene expression levels. These data suggest a similar genetic susceptibility to gemcitabine-cisplatin regimens for squamous cell and adenocarcinoma and support the use of both lymph node and primary tumor for the expression profiling of NSCLC.

Gemcitabine-induced progressive and sustained tumour response in a patient with multi-drug resistant uterine leiomyosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: despite the fact that the combination of gemcitabine (GCB) and docetaxel shows an increased benefit for disease-free survival and overall survival compared to GCB alone in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma, GCB mono-chemotherapy should be considered as a preferable option with respect to the combination because of its lower toxicity profile and the possibility of it being administered continuously for a long time period. CASE REPORT: we report a clinical case of a woman with advanced high-grade uterine leiomyosarcoma, refractory to ifosfamide, doxorubicin and trabectedin, who experienced a sustained and progressive response to GCB alone. CONCLUSIONS: GCB given as mono-chemotherapy can obtain long-lasting tumour control in patients heavily pre-treated with various chemotherapeutic regimes for uterine LMS and should be considered as a possible option for this subset of patients.