Antibody-drug conjugates combinations in cancer treatment

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have emerged as a promising class of anticancer agents. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration has granted approval to 12 compounds, with 2 later undergoing withdrawal. Moreover, several other compounds are currently under clinical development at different stages. Despite substantial antitumoral activity observed among different tumor types, adverse events and the development of resistance represent significant challenges in their use. Over the last years, an increasing number of clinical trials have been testing these drugs in different combinations with other anticancer agents, such as traditional chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and small targeted agents, reporting promising results based on possible synergistic effects and a potential for improved treatment outcomes among different tumor types. Here we will review combinations of ADCs with other antitumor agents aiming at describing the current state of the art and future directions

A Phase I Study of the Pan-Notch Inhibitor CB-103 for Patients with Advanced Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma and Other Tumors

Pan-notch inhibitor CB-103; Advanced adenoid cystic carcinomaInhibidor pan-notch CB-103; Carcinoma adenoide quístic avançatInhibidor pan-notch CB-103; Carcinoma adenoide quístico avanzadoPurpose: CB-103 selectively inhibits the CSL–NICD (Notch intracellular domain) interaction leading to transcriptional downregulation of oncogenic Notch pathway activation. This dose-escalation/expansion study aimed to determine safety, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary antitumor activity. Experimental Design: Patients ≥18 years of age with selected advanced solid tumors [namely, adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC)] and hematologic malignancies were eligible. CB-103 was dosed orally in cycles of 28 days at escalating doses until disease progression. Notch-activating mutations were required in a dose confirmatory cohort. Endpoints included dose-limiting toxicities (DLT), safety, tumor response, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. Exploratory analyses focused on correlates of Notch and target gene expression. Results: Seventy-nine patients (64, 12 dose-escalation cohorts; 15, confirmatory cohort) enrolled with 54% receiving two or more lines of prior therapy. ACC was the dominant tumor type (40, 51%). Two DLTs were observed [elevated gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), visual change]; recommended phase II dose was declared as 500 mg twice daily (5 days on, 2 days off weekly). Grade 3–4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 15 patients (19%), including elevated liver function tests (LFTs), anemia, and visual changes. Five (6%) discontinued drug for toxicity; with no drug-related deaths. There were no objective responses, but 37 (49%) had stable disease; including 23 of 40 (58%) patients with ACC. In the ACC cohort, median progression-free survival was 2.5 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.5–3.7] and median overall survival was 18.4 months (95% CI, 6.3–not reached). Conclusions: CB-103 had a manageable safety profile and biological activity but limited clinical antitumor activity as monotherapy in this first-in-human study. Significance: CB-103 is a novel oral pan-Notch inhibitor that selectively blocks the CSL–NICD interaction leading to transcriptional downregulation of oncogenic Notch pathway activation. This first-in-human dose-escalation and -confirmation study aimed to determine the safety, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary antitumor efficacy of CB-103. We observed a favorable safety profile with good tolerability and biological activity but limited clinical single-agent antitumor activity. Some disease stabilization was observed among an aggressive NOTCH-mutant ACC type-I subgroup where prognosis is poor and therapies are critically needed. Peripheral downregulation of select Notch target gene levels was observed with escalating doses. Future studies exploring CB-103 should enrich for patients with NOTCH-mutant ACC and investigate rational combinatorial approaches in tumors where there is limited success with investigational or approved drugs

Validation of pre-operational access phase to selected SERIES datasets

This deliverable is written within the framework of the project “Seismology and Earthquake Engineering Research Infrastructure Alliance for Europe – SERA” (Project no: 730900), funded by the Horison2020, INFRAIA-01-2016-2017 Programme. Main objective of this deliverable is to describe the pre-operational access phase of selected SERIES datasets through the existing EPOS service as a new Thematic Core Service (TCS).JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building

Safety and anti-tumor activity of lisavanbulin administered as 48-hour infusion in patients with ovarian cancer or recurrent glioblastoma: a phase 2a study

Lisavanbulin (BAL101553) is the prodrug of avanbulin (BAL27862), a microtubule-destabilizing agent. The goal of this study (NCT02895360) was to characterize the safety, tolerability and antitumor activity of lisavanbulin administered as a 48-hour intravenous (IV) infusion at the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D) of 70 mg/m$^{2}$. Results from the Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the study identifying the RP2D have been previously reported. Here, we present the findings from the Phase 2a portion of this study. Methods. This multi-center, open-label study included patients with ovarian, fallopian-tube, or primary peritoneal cancer that was either platinum-resistant or refractory (11 patients), or with first recurrence of glioblastoma (12 patients). Lisavanbulin was administered as a 48-hour IV infusion on Days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. Results. Lisavanbulin was well tolerated in both patient cohorts. Thirteen patients (56.5%) developed 49 adverse events assessed as related to study treatment. The majority were mild or moderate; four were grade 3/4. Sixteen SAEs were reported in nine patients (39.1%), with none considered related to study treatment. No AEs led to permanent treatment discontinuation. Three patients in the ovarian cancer cohort had stable disease with lesion size reductions after two cycles of treatment; in the glioblastoma cohort, one patient showed partial response with a > 90% glioblastoma area reduction as best response, and one patient had stable disease after eight cycles of treatment. Conclusion. This study demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile of 48-hour continuous IV infusion of lisavanbulin in patients with solid extracranial tumors or glioblastoma

Maintenance of the SERIES database

This deliverable is written within the framework of the project “Seismology and Earthquake Engineering Research Infrastructure Alliance for Europe – SERA” (Project no: 730900), funded by the Horison2020, INFRAIA-01-2016-2017 Programme. Main objective of this deliverable is the maintenance of the SERIES databases and the update of user interface of the SERIES Data Access Portal.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building

The bromodomain and extra-terminal domain degrader MZ1 exhibits preclinical anti-tumoral activity in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the activated B cell-like type

AIM: Bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins are epigenetic readers that play a fundamental role in transcription regulation. Preclinical and early clinical evidence sustain BET targeting as an anti-cancer approach. BET degraders are chimeric compounds comprising of a BET inhibitor, which allows the binding to BET bromodomains, linked to a small molecule, binder for an E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, triggering BET proteins degradation via the proteasome. These degraders, called proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), can exhibit greater target specificity compared to BET inhibitors and overcome some of their limitations, such as the upregulation of the BET proteins themselves. Here are presented data on the anti-tumor activity and the mechanism of action of the BET degrader MZ1 in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the activated B-cell like (ABC, ABC DLBCL), using a BET inhibitor as a comparison. METHODS: Established lymphoma cell lines were exposed for 72 h to increasing doses of the compounds. Cell proliferation was evaluated by using an 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) assay. Fluorescent-Activated Cell Sorter (FACS) analysis was performed to measure apoptotic activation and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to study the transcriptional changes induced by the compounds. RESULTS: MZ1, and not its negative control epimer cisMZ1, was very active with a median half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 49 nmol/L. MZ1 was more in vitro active than the BET inhibitor birabresib (OTX015). Importantly, MZ1 induced cell death in all the ABC DLBCL cell lines, while the BET inhibitor was cytotoxic only in a fraction of them. BET degrader and inhibitor shared partially similar changes at transcriptome level but the MZ1 effect was stronger and overlapped with that caused cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: The BET degrader MZ1 had strong cytotoxic activity in all the ABC DLBCL cell lines that were tested, and, at least in vitro, it elicited more profound effects than BET inhibitors, and encourages further investigations

Evaluation of performance at experimental buildings and real demonstration sites in BFIRST project: Theoretical and practical aspects for BIPV monitoring system

Monitoring is one of the main activity of BFIRST, Building-integrated FIbre-Reinforced Solar Technology, project, a 5 years funded European project, project reference number 29601, that started in April 2102 and deals with the design, development and demonstration of a portfolio of innovative photovoltaic products for building integration, based on cell encapsulation within fibre-reinforced composite materials. Automatic data acquisition systems are generally required for monitoring, performance evaluation and exchanging data of PV systems. Standard IEC 61724:1998 “Photovoltaic system performance monitoring –Guidelines for measurement, data exchange and analysis” provides a guideline that shall be followed in these cases. As far as Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) are considered, besides electrical parameters there is in addition the need to monitor the specific building performances. That is because a BIPV module operates as a multi-functional building construction material; it generates energy and serves as part of the building envelope. Since the building related performances are not included in the aforementioned IEC standard, a general guideline for monitoring was prepared within the project that has been used within the project at two levels: one at experimental sites mainly related to experimental single module testing and the other at demosite with real PV size plants