WhARIO: whole-slide-image-based survival analysis for patients treated with immunotherapy.

Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are now one of the standards of care for patients with lung cancer and have greatly improved both progression-free and overall survival, although <20% of the patients respond to the treatment, and some face acute adverse events. Although a few predictive biomarkers have integrated the clinical workflow, they require additional modalities on top of whole-slide images and lack efficiency or robustness. In this work, we propose a biomarker of immunotherapy outcome derived solely from the analysis of histology slides. Approach: We develop a three-step framework, combining contrastive learning and nonparametric clustering to distinguish tissue patterns within the slides, before exploiting the adjacencies of previously defined regions to derive features and train a proportional hazards model for survival analysis. We test our approach on an in-house dataset of 193 patients from 5 medical centers and compare it with the gold standard tumor proportion score (TPS) biomarker. Results: On a fivefold cross-validation (CV) of the entire dataset, the whole-slide image-based survival analysis for patients treated with immunotherapy (WhARIO) features are able to separate a low- and a high-risk group of patients with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.29 (CI95=1.48 to 3.56), whereas the TPS 1% reference threshold only reaches a HR of 1.81 (CI95=1.21 to 2.69). Combining the two yields a higher HR of 2.60 (CI95=1.72 to 3.94). Additional experiments on the same dataset, where one out of five centers is excluded from the CV and used as a test set, confirm these trends. Conclusions: Our uniquely designed WhARIO features are an efficient predictor of survival for lung cancer patients who received ICI treatment. We achieve similar performance to the current gold standard biomarker, without the need to access other imaging modalities, and show that both can be used together to reach even better results.

Lorlatinib Versus Crizotinib in Patients With Advanced ALK-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: 5-Year Outcomes From the Phase III CROWN Study.

PURPOSE: Lorlatinib improved progression-free survival (PFS) and intracranial activity versus crizotinib in patients with previously untreated, advanced, ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the phase III CROWN study. Here, we report long-term outcomes from CROWN after 5 years of follow-up. METHODS: Two hundred ninety-six patients with ALK-positive NSCLC were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive lorlatinib 100 mg once daily (n = 149) or crizotinib 250 mg twice daily (n = 147). This post hoc analysis presents updated investigator-assessed efficacy outcomes, safety, and biomarker analyses. RESULTS: With a median follow-up for PFS of 60.2 and 55.1 months, respectively, median PFS was not reached (NR [95% CI, 64.3 to NR]) with lorlatinib and 9.1 months (95% CI, 7.4 to 10.9) with crizotinib (hazard ratio [HR], 0.19 [95% CI, 0.13 to 0.27]); 5-year PFS was 60% (95% CI, 51 to 68) and 8% (95% CI, 3 to 14), respectively. Median time to intracranial progression was NR (95% CI, NR to NR) with lorlatinib and 16.4 months (95% CI, 12.7 to 21.9) with crizotinib (HR, 0.06 [95% CI, 0.03 to 0.12]). Safety profile was consistent with that in prior analyses. Emerging new ALK resistance mutations were not detected in circulating tumor DNA collected at the end of lorlatinib treatment. CONCLUSION: After 5 years of follow-up, median PFS has yet to be reached in the lorlatinib group, corresponding to the longest PFS ever reported with any single-agent molecular targeted treatment in advanced NSCLC and across all metastatic solid tumors. These results coupled with prolonged intracranial efficacy and absence of new safety signals represent an unprecedented outcome for patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC and set a new benchmark for targeted therapies in cancer.

Therapeutic bronchoscopy for malignant central airway obstructions caused by non-bronchogenic cancers: Results from the EpiGETIF registry.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Little is known about malignant central airway obstruction (MCAO) complicating the metastatic spread of non-bronchogenic solid cancers (NBC) and their bronchoscopic management. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of this population and determine prognostic factors before therapeutic bronchoscopy (TB). METHODS: In this multicenter study using the EpiGETIF registry, we analysed patients treated with TB for MCAO caused by NBC between January 2019 and December 2022. RESULTS: From a database of 2389 patients, 436 patients (18%) with MCAO and NBC were identified. After excluding patients with direct local invasion, 214 patients (8.9%) were analysed. The main primaries involved were kidney (17.8%), colon (16.4%), sarcoma (15.4%), thyroid (8.9%) and head and neck (7.9%) cancers. Most patients (63.8%) had already received one or more lines of systemic treatment. Obstructions were purely intrinsic in 58.2%, extrinsic in 11.1% and mixed in 30.8%. Mechanical debulking was used in 73.4% of cases, combined with thermal techniques in 25.6% of cases. Airway stenting was required in 38.4% of patients. Median survival after TB was 11.2 months, influenced by histology (p = 0.002), performance status (p = 0.019), initial hypoxia (HR 1.45 [1.01-2.18]), prior oncologic treatment received (HR 1.82 [1.28-2.56], p < 0.001) and assessment of success at the end of the procedure (HR 0.66 [0.44-0.99], p < 0.001). Complications rate was 8.8%, mostly mild, with no procedure-related mortality. CONCLUSION: TB for MCAO caused by a NBC metastasis provides rapid improvement of symptoms and prolonged survival. Patients should be promptly referred by medical oncologists for bronchoscopic management based on the prognostic factors identified.

STK11/LKB1 alterations worsen the poor prognosis of KRAS mutated early-stage non-squamous non-small cell lung carcinoma, results based on the phase 2 IFCT TASTE trial.

BACKGROUND: STK11/LKB1 mutations have been associated with primary resistance to PD-1 axis inhibitors and poor prognosis in advanced KRAS-mutant lung adenocarcinoma. This study aimed to assess the prognostic significance of STK11/LKB1 alterations in localized non-squamous non-small cell lung carcinoma (non-sq NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Surgical samples from patients undergoing complete resection for stage IIa, IIb, or IIIa (N2 excluded) non-sq NSCLC in the randomized adjuvant phase II trial (NCT00775385 IFCT-1801 TASTE trial) were examined. Patients received either standard chemotherapy (Pemetrexed Cisplatin) or personalized treatment based on EGFR mutation (Erlotinib) and ERCC1 expression. Tumor molecular profiles were analyzed using targeted NGS and correlated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), adjusting for relevant clinical variables. Additionally, interactions between treatment groups and molecular alterations on OS, PD-L1 expression, and tumor-circulating DNA in post-operative plasma samples were evaluated. RESULTS: Among 134 patients (predominantly male smokers with adenocarcinoma), KRAS mutations were associated with shorter DFS (HR: 1.95, 95 % CI: 1.1-3.4, p = 0.02) and OS (HR: 2.32, 95 % CI: 1.2-4.6, p = 0.014). Isolated STK11/LKB1 mutations (n = 18) did not significantly impact DFS or OS. However, within KRAS-mutated samples (n = 53), patients with concurrent STK11/LKB1 mutations (n = 10) exhibited significantly shorter DFS (HR: 3.85, CI: 1.5-10.2, p = 0.006) and a trend towards shorter OS (HR: 1.80, CI: 0.6-5.3, p = 0.28). No associations were found between PD-L1 expression, other gene mutations, progression-free survival (PFS), or OS. CONCLUSION: This analysis reinforces KRAS mutations as predictive factors for relapse and poor survival in localized non-sq NSCLC. Furthermore, the presence of concomitant STK11/LKB1 mutations exacerbated the prognosis within the KRAS-mutated subset. These findings emphasize the clinical relevance of these molecular markers and their potential impact on treatment strategies in non-sq NSCLC.

Deleterious association between proton pump inhibitor and protein kinase inhibitor exposure and survival for patients with lung cancer: A nationwide cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have identified an interaction between protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs) and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in patients with lung cancer. This type of interaction may reduce the efficacy of PKIs. However, the effect of PKI-PPI interaction on patient mortality remains controversial. This study set out to determine the impact of PKI-PPI interaction on overall survival for lung cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted using data from the French National Health Care Database from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2021. We identified patients with: (i) an age equal to or greater than 18 years; (ii) lung cancer; and (iii) at least one reimbursement for one of the following drugs: erlotinib, gefitinib, afatinib and osimertinib. Patients were followed-up between the first date of PKI reimbursement and either December 31, 2021 or if they died, the date on which death occurred. The cumulative exposure to PPI duration during PKI treatment was calculated as the ratio between the number of concomitant exposure days to PKI and PPI and the number of exposure days to PKI. A survival analysis using a Cox proportional hazards model was then performed to assess the risk of death following exposure to a PKI-PPI interaction. RESULTS: 34,048 patients received at least one reimbursement for PKIs of interest in our study: 26,133 (76.8 %) were exposed to erlotinib; 3,142 (9.2 %) to gefitinib; 1,417 (4.2 %) to afatinib; and 3,356 (9.9 %) to osimertinib. Patients with concomitant exposure to PKI-PPI interaction during 20 % or more of the PKI treatment period demonstrated an increased risk of death (HR, 1.60 [95 % CI, 1.57-1.64]) compared to other patients. When this cut-off varied from 10 % to 80 %, the estimated HR ranged from 1.46 [95 % CI, 1.43-1.50] to 2.19 [95 % CI, 2.12-2.25]. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: In our study, an elevated risk of death was observed in patients exposed to PKI-PPI interaction. Finally, we were able to identify a dose-dependent effect for this interaction. This deleterious effect of osimertinib and PPI was revealed for the first time in real life conditions.

A pragmatic guide for management of adverse events associated with lorlatinib.

Lorlatinib is a brain-penetrant, third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) indicated for the treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In clinical trials, lorlatinib has shown durable efficacy and a manageable safety profile in treatment-naive patients and in those who have experienced progression while receiving first- and/or second-generation ALK TKIs. Lorlatinib has a distinct safety profile from other ALK TKIs, including hyperlipidemia and central nervous system effects. Clinical trial data showed that most adverse events (AEs) can be managed effectively or reversed with dose modifications (such as dose interruptions or reductions) or with concomitant medications without compromising clinical efficacy or quality of life for patients. A pragmatic approach to managing AEs related to lorlatinib is required. We present patient-focused recommendations for the evaluation and management of select AEs associated with lorlatinib developed by clinicians and nurses with extensive lorlatinib expertise in routine clinical practice. The recommendations follow the general framework of "prepare, monitor, manage, reassess" to streamline AE management and assist in practical, actionable, and personalized patient care.

Overall Survival From the EORTC LCG-1613 APPLE Trial of Osimertinib Versus Gefitinib Followed by Osimertinib in Advanced EGFR-Mutant Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned co-primary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported.Osimertinib has been established as a standard of care for patients with common sensitizing EGFR-mutant advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) although the sequential approach (first-generation inhibitor gefitinib followed by osimertinib) has not been formally compared. The phase II APPLE trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02856893) enrolled 156 treatment-naïve patients, and two treatment strategies were evaluated: osimertinib up front or the sequential treatment approach with gefitinib up front followed by osimertinib at the time of progression, either molecular progression (detection of plasma T790M resistance mutation) regardless of the radiologic status or just at the time of radiologic progression. Patients' characteristics were well balanced, except for the higher proportion of baseline brain metastases in the sequential approach (29% v 19%). Per protocol, 73% of patients switched to osimertinib in the sequential arm. Up-front treatment with osimertinib was associated with a lower risk of brain progression versus the sequential approach (hazard ratio [HR], 0.54 [90% CI, 0.34 to 0.86]), but a comparable overall survival was observed between both strategies (HR, 1.01 [90% CI, 0.61 to 1.68]), with the 18-month survival probability of 84% and 82.3%, respectively. The APPLE trial suggests that a sequential treatment approach is associated with more frequent progression in the brain but a similar survival in advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC.

Pralsetinib in patients with RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer: A plain language summary of the ARROW study.

WHAT IS THIS SUMMARY ABOUT?: This is a summary of a research study called ARROW, which tested a medicine called pralsetinib in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), thyroid cancer, and other advanced solid tumours caused by a change in a gene called RET. For the purposes of this summary, only patients with NSCLC with a change in RET called fusion (RET fusion+) are highlighted. WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?: In total, 281 patients with RET fusion+ NSCLC had taken part in this study across the USA, Europe, and Asia. Patients were asked to take four pills (adding up to 400 mg) of pralsetinib each day and were checked for any changes in their tumours, as well as for any side effects. After an average of 8 months of treatment with pralsetinib, 72% of previously untreated patients and 59% of patients who had previously received chemotherapy had considerable shrinkage of their tumours. Among 10 patients with tumours which had spread to the brain (all of whom had received previous treatments), 70% had their tumours shrink greatly in the brain after treatment with pralsetinib. On average, patients lived with little to no tumour growth for 16 months. In previously untreated patients, the most common severe side effects that were considered related to pralsetinib treatment were decreased white blood cells (neutrophils and lymphocytes), increased blood pressure, and an increase in a blood protein called creatine phosphokinase. In previously treated patients, the severe side effects were decreased white blood cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, and leukocytes), increased blood pressure, and low levels of red blood cells. In both untreated and previously treated patients, the most common severe side effects that required hospital attention were lung inflammation/swelling causing shortness of breath (pneumonitis) and lung infection (pneumonia). WHAT DO THE RESULTS MEAN?: Overall, the ARROW study showed that pralsetinib was effective in shrinking tumours in patients with RET fusion+ NSCLC regardless of previous treatment history. The recorded side effects were expected in patients receiving this type of medicine. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT03037385 (ARROW) (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Immune changes in hilar tumor draining lymph nodes following node sparing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy of localized cN0 non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: While much progress has been accomplished in the understanding of radiation-induced immune effects in tumors, little is known regarding the mechanisms involved at the tumor draining lymph node (TDLN) level. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the immune and biological changes arising in non-involved TDLNs upon node sparing concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors. Methods: Patients with proven localized (cN0M0) NSCLC, treated by radical surgery plus lymph node dissection with (CRT+) or without (CRT-) neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, whereby radiotherapy was targeted on the primary tumor with no significant incidental irradiation of the non-involved TDLN station (stations XI), were identified. Bulk RNA sequencing of TDLNs was performed and data were analyzed based on differential gene expression (DGE) and gene sets enrichment. Results: Sixteen patients were included and 25 TDLNs were analyzed: 6 patients in the CRT+ group (12 samples) and 10 patients in the CRT- group (13 samples). Overall, 1001 genes were differentially expressed between the two groups (CRT+ and CRT-). Analysis with g-profiler revealed that gene sets associated with antitumor immune response, inflammatory response, hypoxia, angiogenesis, epithelial mesenchymal transition and extra-cellular matrix remodeling were enriched in the CRT+ group, whereas only gene sets associated with B cells and B-cell receptor signaling were enriched in the CRT- group. Unsupervised dimensionality reduction identified two clusters of TDLNs from CRT+ patients, of which one cluster (cluster 1) exhibited higher expression of pathways identified as enriched in the overall CRT+ group in comparison to the CRT- group. In CRT+ cluster 1, 3 out of 3 patients had pathological complete response (pCR) or major pathological response (MPR) to neoadjuvant CRT, whereas only 1 out of 3 patients in the other CRT+ cluster (cluster 2) experienced MPR and none exhibited pCR. Conclusion: Neoadjuvant node sparing concurrent CRT of NSCLC patients is associated with distinct microenvironment and immunological patterns in non-involved TDLNs as compared to non-involved TDLNs from patients with non-irradiated tumors. Our data are in line with studies showing superiority of lymph node sparing irradiation of the primary tumor in the induction of antitumor immunity.

Patient-Reported Health-Related Quality of Life in KEYNOTE-604: Pembrolizumab or Placebo Added to Etoposide and Platinum as First-Line Therapy for Extensive-Stage SCLC.

Introduction: In the phase 3 KEYNOTE-604 study (NCT03066778), pembrolizumab plus etoposide and platinum chemotherapy (EP) significantly (p = 0.0023) improved progression-free survival versus placebo plus EP in previously untreated extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC). We present health-related quality of life (HRQoL) results from KEYNOTE-604. Methods: Patients with stage IV SCLC were randomized 1:1 to pembrolizumab 200 mg or placebo every 3 weeks for 35 cycles plus four cycles of EP. Secondary end points included mean change from baseline to week 18 in the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) global health status/quality of life (GHS/QoL) scale and time to deterioration in the composite outcome of cough, chest pain, or dyspnea from QLQ-C30 and QLQ-Lung Cancer Module 13. Two-sided, nominal p values are reported. Results: A total of 439 patients completed at least one QLQ-C30 and QLQ-Lung Cancer Module 13 assessment (pembrolizumab + EP, n = 221; placebo + EP, n = 218). GHS/QoL scores improved from baseline to week 18: least squares mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) changes were 8.7 (5.3-12.1) for pembrolizumab plus EP and 4.2 (0.9-7.5) for placebo plus EP. Between-group differences in least squares mean scores were improved for pembrolizumab plus EP (4.4 [95% CI: 0.2-8.7], p = 0.040]). Median time to deterioration for the composite end point was not reached and 8.7 (95% CI: 5.9-not reached) months, respectively (hazard ratio = 0.80 [95% CI: 0.56-1.14], p = 0.208). Conclusions: First-line pembrolizumab plus EP therapy maintained HRQoL in patients with ES-SCLC and may be associated with greater improvement than placebo plus EP. Together with the efficacy and safety findings in KEYNOTE-604, HRQoL data support the benefit of pembrolizumab in ES-SCLC.

Characterization of 164 patients with NRAS mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

BACKGROUND: NRAS mutations are observed in less than 1% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Clinical data regarding this rare subset of lung cancer are scarce and response to systemic treatment such as chemotherapy or immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has never been reported. METHODS: All consecutive patients with an NRAS mutated NSCLC, diagnosed between August 2014 and November 2020 in 14 French centers, were included. Clinical and molecular data were collected and reviewed from medical records. RESULTS: Out of the 164 included patients, 106 (64.6%) were men, 150 (91.5%) were current or former smokers, and 104 (63.4%) had stage IV NSCLC at diagnosis. The median age was 62 years, and the most frequent histology was adenocarcinoma (81.7%). NRAS activating mutations were mostly found in codon 61 (70%), while codon 12 and 13 alterations were observed in 16.5% and 4.9% of patients, respectively. Programmed death ligand-1 expression level <1%/1-49%/≥50% were respectively found in 30.8%/27.1%/42.1% of tumors. With a median follow-up of 12.5 months, median overall survival (OS) of stage IV patients was 15.3 months (95% CI 9.9-27.6). No significant difference in OS was found according to the type of mutation (codon 61 vs. other), HR = 1.12 (95% CI 0.65-1.95). Among stage IV patients treated with platinum-based doublet (n = 66), ICI (n = 48), or combination of both (n = 10), objective response rate, and median progression free survival were respectively 45% and 5.8 months, 35% and 6.9 months, 70% and 8.6 months. CONCLUSION: NRAS mutated NSCLC are characterized by a high frequency of smoking history and codon 61 mutations. Further studies are needed to confirm the encouraging outcome of immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy.

Neoadjuvant Durvalumab Alone or Combined with Novel Immuno-Oncology Agents in Resectable Lung Cancer: The Phase II NeoCOAST Platform Trial.

Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy improves pathologic complete response rate and event-free survival in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) versus chemotherapy alone. NeoCOAST was the first randomized, multidrug platform trial to examine novel neoadjuvant immuno-oncology combinations for patients with resectable NSCLC, using major pathologic response (MPR) rate as the primary endpoint. Eighty-three patients received a single cycle of treatment: 26 received durvalumab (anti-PD-L1) monotherapy, 21 received durvalumab plus oleclumab (anti-CD73), 20 received durvalumab plus monalizumab (anti-NKG2A), and 16 received durvalumab plus danvatirsen (anti-STAT3 antisense oligonucleotide). MPR rates were higher for patients in the combination arms versus durvalumab alone. Safety profiles for the combinations were similar to those of durvalumab alone. Multiplatform immune profiling suggested that improved MPR rates in the durvalumab plus oleclumab and durvalumab plus monalizumab arms were associated with enhanced effector immune infiltration of tumors, interferon responses and markers of tertiary lymphoid structure formation, and systemic functional immune cell activation. SIGNIFICANCE: A neoadjuvant platform trial can rapidly generate clinical and translational data using candidate surrogate endpoints like MPR. In NeoCOAST, patients with resectable NSCLC had improved MPR rates after durvalumab plus oleclumab or monalizumab versus durvalumab alone and tumoral transcriptomic signatures indicative of augmented immune cell activation and function. See related commentary by Cooper and Yu, p. 2306. This article is featured in Selected Articles from This Issue, p. 2293.

Real-World Progression-Free Survival as an Endpoint in Lung Cancer: Replicating Atezolizumab and Docetaxel Arms of the OAK Trial Using Real-World Data.

Evaluating cancer treatments in real-world data (RWD) requires informative endpoints. This study replicated the atezolizumab and docetaxel arms of the OAK trial using RWD and compared progression-free survival (PFS) outcomes derived from abstracted physician's notes in RWD (rwPFS) against PFS outcomes derived from the clinical trial PFS (ctPFS). Atezolizumab and docetaxel arms of the phase III OAK randomized controlled trial (RCT; NCT02008227) were replicated in a US nationwide real-world database using selected OAK inclusion/exclusion criteria and propensity score-based adjustment for baseline prognostic variables. Concordance of outcomes was assessed using Kaplan-Meier medians and hazard ratios (HRs). The RWD cohorts comprised 133 patients on atezolizumab and 479 patients on docetaxel. After adjustment, prognostic variables were balanced between RCT arms and corresponding RWD cohorts. The rwPFS and ctPFS outcomes showed better concordance for docetaxel (2.99 vs. 3.52 months; HR: 0.99, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85-1.15) than for atezolizumab (3.71 vs. 2.76 months; HR: 0.8, 95% CI: 0.61-1.02). Excluding events labeled "pseudo-progression" from both RWD and RCT improved concordance for atezolizumab (4.24 vs. 4.14 months; HR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.70-1.25). These findings were robust across sensitivity analyses. Replicating RCTs using RWD and comparing outcomes can help characterize RWD endpoints. Similarity of results between rwPFS and ctPFS at the cohort level may depend on drug category, highlighting the need for further studies to verify and understand when the corresponding outcomes can be compared, including within the same patient.

Druggable redox pathways against Mycobacterium abscessus in cystic fibrosis patient-derived airway organoids.

Mycobacterium abscessus (Mabs) drives life-shortening mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, primarily because of its resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. To date, our knowledge on the host and bacterial determinants driving Mabs pathology in CF patient lung remains rudimentary. Here, we used human airway organoids (AOs) microinjected with smooth (S) or rough (R-)Mabs to evaluate bacteria fitness, host responses to infection, and new treatment efficacy. We show that S Mabs formed biofilm, and R Mabs formed cord serpentines and displayed a higher virulence. While Mabs infection triggers enhanced oxidative stress, pharmacological activation of antioxidant pathways resulted in better control of Mabs growth and reduced virulence. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of the CFTR is associated with better growth and higher virulence of S and R Mabs. Finally, pharmacological activation of antioxidant pathways inhibited Mabs growth, at least in part through the quinone oxidoreductase NQO1, and improved efficacy in combination with cefoxitin, a first line antibiotic. In conclusion, we have established AOs as a suitable human system to decipher mechanisms of CF-driven respiratory infection by Mabs and propose boosting of the NRF2-NQO1 axis as a potential host-directed strategy to improve Mabs infection control.

Impact of radiation on host immune system in patients treated with chemoradiotherapy and durvalumab consolidation for unresectable locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: The optimal modalities of radiotherapy when combining concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) and immunotherapy (IO) for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) remain to be determined. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of radiation on different immune structures and immune cells in patients treated with CCRT followed by durvalumab. Material and methods: Clinicopathologic data, pre- and post-treatment blood counts, and dosimetric data were collected in patients treated with CCRT and durvalumab consolidation for LA-NSCLC. Patients were divided into two groups according to the inclusion (NILN-R+) or not (NILN-R-) of at least one non-involved tumor-draining lymph node (NITDLN) in the clinical target volume (CTV). Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Fifty patients were included with a median follow-up of 23.2 months (95% CI 18.3-35.2). Two-year PFS and 2-year OS were 52.2% (95% CI 35.8-66.3) and 66.2% (95% CI 46.5-80.1), respectively. In univariable analysis, NILN-R+ (hazard ratio (HR) 2.60, p = 0.028), estimated dose of radiation to immune cells (EDRIC) >6.3 Gy (HR 3.19, p = 0.049), and lymphopenia ≤ 500/mm3 at IO initiation (HR 2.69, p = 0.021) were correlated with poorer PFS; lymphopenia ≤ 500/mm3 was also associated with poorer OS (HR 3.46, p = 0.024). In multivariable analysis, NILN-R+ was the strongest factor associated with PFS (HR 3.15, p = 0.017). Conclusion: The inclusion of at least one NITDLN station within the CTV was an independent factor for poorer PFS in the context of CCRT and durvalumab for LA-NSCLC. The optimal sparing of immune structures might help in achieving better synergy between radiotherapy and immunotherapy in this indication.

MET Exon 14 Skipping in NSCLC: A Systematic Literature Review of Epidemiology, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping is a rare oncogenic driver in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for which targeted therapy with MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) was recently approved. Given the heterogeneity in published data of METex14 skipping NSCLC, we conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate its frequency, patient characteristics, and outcomes. METHODS: On June 13, 2022 we conducted a systematic literature review of publications and conference abstracts reporting frequency, patient characteristics, or outcomes of patients with METex14 skipping NSCLC. RESULTS: We included 139 studies reporting frequency or patient characteristics (350,997 patients), and 39 studies reporting clinical outcomes (3989 patients). Median METex14 skipping frequency was 2.0% in unselected patients with NSCLC, with minimal geographic variation. Median frequency was 2.4% in adenocarcinoma or nonsquamous subgroups, 12.0% in sarcomatoid, and 1.3% in squamous histology. Patients with METex14 skipping NSCLC were more likely to be elderly, have adenocarcinoma histology; there was no marked sex or smoking status distribution. In first line of treatment, median objective response rate ranged from 50.7% to 68.8% with targeted therapies (both values correspond to MET TKIs), was 33.3% with immunotherapy, and ranged from 23.1% to 27.0% with chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with METex14 skipping are more likely to have certain characteristics, but no patient subgroup can be ruled out; thus, it is crucial to test all patients with NSCLC to identify suitable candidates for MET inhibitor therapy. MET TKIs appeared to result in higher efficacy outcomes, although no direct comparison with chemotherapy or immunotherapy regimens was found.

VEGFR2 and CD34 expression associated with longer survival in patients with pleural mesothelioma in the IFCT-GFPC-0701 MAPS phase 3 trial.

OBJECTIVES: VEGF/VEGFR autocrine loop is a hallmark of pleural mesothelioma (PM). We thus assayed the prognostic and predictive values of VEGFR-2 [vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 or Flk-1] and CD34, a marker of endothelial cells, in samples from patients accrued in the Mesothelioma Avastin Cisplatin Pemetrexed Study ('MAPS', NCT00651456). MATERIALS AND METHODS: VEGFR2 and CD34 expression were assayed using immunohistochemistry in 333 MAPS patients (74.3%), and their prognostic value was evaluated in terms of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in univariate and multivariate analyses, before validation by bootstrap methodology. RESULTS: Positive VEGFR2 or CD34 staining was observed in 234/333 (70.2%) and 322/323 (99.6%) of tested specimens, respectively. VEGFR2 and CD34 staining correlated weakly, yet significantly, with each other (r = 0.36, p < 0.001). High VEGFR2 expression or high CD34 levels were associated with longer OS in PM patients in multivariate analysis (VEGFR2: adjusted [adj.] hazard ratio [HR]: 0.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.88; 0.95], p < 0.001; CD34: adj. HR: 0.86, 95 %CI [0.76; 0.96], p = 0.010), with only high VEGFR2 expression resulting in significantly longer PFS (VEGFR2: adj. HR: 0.96, 95 %CI [0.92; 0.996], p = 0.032). Stability of these results was confirmed using bootstrap procedure. Nevertheless, VEGFR2 expression failed to specifically predict longer survival in bevacizumab-chemotherapy combination trial arm, regardless of whether the VEGFR2 score was combined or not with serum VEGF concentrations. CONCLUSION: VEGFR2 overexpression independently correlated with longer OS or PFS in PM patients, such biomarker deserving prospective evaluation as stratification variable in future clinical trials.