Thoracoscopic Assessment of Pleural Tumor Burden in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusion: Prognostic and Therapeutic Implications

Background:Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is encountered at an advanced stage of disease progression and often heralds a poor prognosis. The most reliable predictive factor of survival in such patients is the primary tumor. Thoracoscopy is often performed for accurate diagnosis and/or thoracoscopic talc insufflation as a therapeutic modality. It remains unknown whether pleural tumor burden, as visualized on thoracoscopy, has potential prognostic value. The objective of this study was to determine the prognostic accuracy of pleural tumor extent and localization (parietal, visceral, or diaphragmatic involvement), as assessed during medical thoracoscopy.Methods:Medical records of all patients who underwent thoracoscopy for suspicion of MPE between 2001 and 2008 at a tertiary care referral hospital were reviewed. Patients were included if pleural metastatic invasion was confirmed on tissue biopsy and survival status ascertained.Results:Four hundred twenty-one patients underwent diagnostic or therapeutic medical thoracoscopy at our referral center. Among them, 122 had confirmed metastatic pleural spread, but survival data were lacking in 15. Primary tumor consisted of non-mall cell lung cancer in 56, breast cancer in 23, melanoma in eight, and other malignancies in 20. Median survival of the entire population was 9.4 months. On univariate analysis, the following variables were significantly associated with reduced median overall survival: pleural metastatic melanoma, age less than 60 years, bloody MPE, extensive pleural adhesions, and widespread visceral pleural nodules (p < 0.05). On multivariate analysis, only melanoma as a primary tumor, pleural fluid appearance and extent of pleural adhesions remained independent and significant predictors of survival.Conclusion:No significant association was found between the extent or localization of pleural tumor burden and overall survival

465 Bintrafusp alfa in combination with chemotherapy in patients with stage IV NSCLC: safety and pharmacokinetic results of the INTR@PID LUNG 024 study

BackgroundBintrafusp alfa is a first-in-class bifunctional fusion protein composed of the extracellular domain of the TGF-βRII receptor (a TGF-β "trap") fused to a human IgG1 mAb blocking PD-L1. Here we report cumulative safety and pharmacokinetic (PK) results from the global, phase 1b/2 INTR@PID LUNG 024 study (NCT03840915), which evaluated bintrafusp alfa in combination with chemotherapy (CT) in patients with stage IV NSCLC.MethodsAdult patients with stage IV nonsquamous or squamous NSCLC and an ECOG PS ≤1 were included. Cohorts A, B, and C included patients with no prior systemic therapy; patients in cohort D had disease that progressed with previous anti–PD-(L)1 therapy. Cohorts received bintrafusp alfa 2400 mg every 3 weeks intravenously in combination with CT for 4 cycles (A [nonsquamous only]: cisplatin or carboplatin + pemetrexed; B: carboplatin + nab-paclitaxel or paclitaxel; C: cisplatin or carboplatin + gemcitabine; D: docetaxel) followed by bintrafusp alfa maintenance (monotherapy or in combination with pemetrexed in cohort A) for up to 31 cycles. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the safety of bintrafusp alfa in combination with CT. Dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) were assessed during a 3-week observation period. Serial samples were drawn to assess serum concentration and calculate PK parameters by noncompartmental analysis.ResultsAs of the May 5, 2021, data cutoff, 70 patients received bintrafusp alfa in combination with CT. Of 35 patients included in the DLT analysis, 4 experienced 1 DLT according to a safety monitoring committee (data cutoff May 5, 2021; A: n=1/8; B: n=1/8; C: n=0/8; D: n=2/11). Cumulative safety data are reported in table 1. PK data were available for 67 patients (A: n=38; B: n=9; C: n=8; D: n=12). PK profiles were similar across cohorts and between patients who did and did not experience a DLT. Observed bintrafusp alfa first-cycle exposures (Cmax, AUC, and Ctrough) were consistent with the published population PK (popPK) model.1Abstract 465 Table 1Safety results from the INTR@PID LUNG 024 studyConclusionsThe safety profile of bintrafusp alfa in combination with CT was manageable and similar to that reported for ICIs in combination with CT, with the exception of TGF-β–related skin lesions known to occur with TGF-β inhibition. No new safety signals were identified and there were no treatment-related deaths. The PK profile was consistent with the predicted monotherapy popPK model, suggesting no victim DDI potential for bintrafusp alfa with CT.AcknowledgementsThe authors thank the patients and their families, investigators, co-investigators, and the study teams at each of the participating centers, at the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and at EMD Serono, Billerica, Massachusetts, USA.Trial RegistrationNCT03840915ReferenceWilkins JJ, Vugmeyster Y, Dussault I. Population pharmacokinetic analysis of bintrafusp alfa in different cancer types. Adv Ther 2019;36:2414–2433.Ethics ApprovalThe trial was approved by each site's independent ethics committee

Targeted Therapy for Older Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Systematic Review and Guidelines from the French Society of Geriatric Oncology (SoFOG) and the French-Language Society of Pulmonology (SPLF)/ French-Language Oncology Group (GOLF)

Systematic molecular profiling and targeted therapy (TKI) have changed the face of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) treatment. However, there are no specific recommendations to address the prescription of TKI for older patients. A multidisciplinary task force from the French Society of Geriatric Oncology (SoFOG) and the French Society of Pulmonology/Oncology Group (SPLF/GOLF) conducted a systematic review from May 2010 to May 2021. Protocol registered in Prospero under number CRD42021224103. Three key questions were selected for older patients with NSCLC: (1) to whom TKI can be proposed, (2) for whom monotherapy should be favored, and (3) to whom a combination of TKI can be proposed. Among the 534 references isolated, 52 were included for the guidelines. The expert panel analysis concluded: (1) osimertinib 80 mg/day is recommended as a first-line treatment for older patients with the EGFR mutation; (2) full-dose first generation TKI, such as erlotinib or gefitinib, is feasible; (3) ALK and ROS1 rearrangement studies including older patients were too scarce to conclude on any definitive recommendations; and (4) given the actual data, TKI should be prescribed as monotherapy. Malnutrition, functional decline, and the number of comorbidities should be assessed primarily before TKI initiation. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Development of new strategies to improve the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma

Le mésothéliome pleural malin (MPM) est un cancer rare et de mauvais pronostic. Le diagnostic de MPM restant difficile à ce jour, nous avons tout d'abord évalué l'intérêt de l'analyse du transcriptome, à partir des cellules présentes dans le liquide pleural, à des fins diagnostiques. Si cette approche parait faisable, ses contraintes techniques la rendent incompatibles avec une utilisation en routine. Notre deuxième axe de travail s'est inscrit dans le domaine du traitement local du MPM, avec l'évaluation de l'administration intrapleurale (IP) de deux molécules de chimiothérapie : le pemetrexed et le lipoplatine. Les résultats sur modèle animal montrent que les profils pharmacocinétiques de ces deux molécules sont significativement différents entre une administration intraveineuse et une administration IP. Dans l'optique d'identifier de nouvelles cibles thérapeutiques, nous avons évalué la voie de l'adrénomédulline (AM) dans le MPM. L'AM et ses récepteurs sont conjointement exprimés dans les biopsies pleurales de MPM. In vitro, l'AM augmente les capacités de prolifération, de migration et d'invasion des cellules de MPM, par l'intermédiaire de la voie des MAPK. L'inhibition de l'AM ou de ses récepteurs apparait comme une stratégie thérapeutique prometteuse dans le MPM, de part ses effets directs sur les cellules néoplasiques, mais aussi ses effets indirects, via une inhibition de l'angiogénèse et de la lymphangiogénèse tumorale (in vivo). Enfin, nous avons évalué de nouveaux critères de jugement pour les essais cliniques de phase II. Nous avons montré que le taux de survie sans progression à 9 semaines est le critère le plus performant pour prédire la survie globale.Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare cancer with poor prognosis. As MPM diagnosis remains difficult today, we first assessed the potential value of transcriptome analysis, from cells in pleural fluid, with diagnostic purpose. If this approach looks feasible, its technical constraints make it incompatible with routine practice. The second axis of our work concerned MPM local treatment, with the assessment of intrapleural (IP) administration of two chemotherapy drugs: pemetrexed and lipoplatin. Results obtained in an animal model show that the pharmacokinetic profiles of these two drugs are significantly different between intravenous and IP administration. With the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets, we explored the adrenomedullin (AM) pathway in MPM. AM and its receptors are jointly expressed in pleural biopsies from MPM. Moreover we demonstrated in vitro that AM increases the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of MPM cells, through the MAPK signaling pathway. Inhibition of AM or its receptors appears as a promising therapeutic strategy, because of its direct effects on malignant cells, but also its indirect effects, via tumor angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis inhibition (in vivo). Finally, we assessed new endpoints for phase II clinical studies. We showed that the progression-free survival rate at 9 weeks is the most performant criterion to predict overall survival

Etude descriptive monocentrique sur le rôle du médecin généraliste dans le diagnostic du cancer bronchique chez les sujets jeunes

AIX-MARSEILLE2-BU Méd/Odontol. (130552103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Pharmacocinétique de l'administration intrapleurale de Pemetrexed (étude expérimentale sur l'animal)

AIX-MARSEILLE2-BU Méd/Odontol. (130552103) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

The clinical utility of tumor mutational burden in non-small cell lung cancer

Despite advances made during the last two decades, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Recently, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) became available for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Although ICIs showed a survival advantage in comparison with chemotherapy in the second and first-line setting, overall response rate is only around 20% and a large proportion of patients will undergo disease progression within the first weeks of treatment. For this reason, there is a need for biomarkers to predict the efficacy of ICIs in NSCLC and to identify patients who will benefit from ICIs. The first biomarker developed was programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. However, the predictive role of PD-L1 expression varied from one clinical trial to another, due to the multiple assays used, with different antibodies, different platforms, and different thresholds. Moreover, PD-L1 expression is highly heterogeneous. For these reasons, PD-L1 expression alone is not a good biomarker to predict the efficacy of ICIs and there is a need for the identification of other biomarkers. Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is defined as the number of mutations per DNA megabases. It was first assessed as a biomarker for ICI based on the observation of successful immune checkpoint inhibition in solid tumors with high TMB such as NSCLC, melanoma or bladder cancer. Pre-clinical data suggested that the association between TMB and ICIs efficacy could be explained by the creation of neoantigens induced by mutations acquisition, increasing tumor immunogenicity and response to ICIs. Preliminary observations of TMB role as a predictive biomarker for the efficacy of ICIs in patients with advanced NSCLC led to the assessment of TMB clinical utility in phase III clinical trials. This review reports the clinical features and prognostic role of TMB in NSCLC. This review also focuses on TMB predictive role for the treatment of NSCLC patients with single-agent programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and PD-L1 inhibitors such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab and atezolizumab or ICIs combination

The Value of Population Screening in Advancing Personalized Medicine in the Field of Lung Cancer

International audienceDuring the past decade, progress has been made in the field of lung cancer molecular biology and onco-immunology, leading to prolonged survival of patients. The combination of increased fundamental knowledge and the pharmaceutical pipeline has allowed the development of various tyrosine kinase inhibitors, targeting numerous molecular alterations. These drugs are now available in daily practice and have transformed survival outcomes for patients harboring EGFR, ALK or ROS1 alterations. Multiple clinical trials are now ongoing in order to increase the number of approved drugs, thus overcoming the issues of rare mutations and tyrosine kinase inhibitors resistance. Immune checkpoint inhibitors development has also changed lung cancer outcomes, but underwhelming response rates highlight the need for immune biomarkers. While PD-L1 expression was the first approved immune biomarker, it has shown several limitations and new biomarkers have to be identified to predict response or resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Testing methods, molecular results and targeted therapeutic schedules will be harmonized in the coming years, with the help of dedicated molecular multidisciplinary boards

Bevacizumab in the treatment of nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer: clinical trial evidence and experience

Angiogenesis is one of the hallmarks of cancer. Antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy, including bevacizumab, is therefore a major option in targeting angiogenesis, especially for the management of stage IV nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer patients. This review focuses first on the data from clinical trials available to date regarding efficacy and safety of chemotherapy plus bevacizumab. This review then highlights the current remaining questions related to the use of this drug in daily practice and how the patients might be clinically and radiologically selected. Finally, this review explores the future directions for bevacizumab development in nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer and for a biological selection of patients with research on predictive biomarkers

Personalised medicine for nonsmall cell lung cancer

After years of standard care prescribed to cancer patients without any selection except the primary site and histology of the tumour, the era of precision medicine has revolutionised cancer care. Personalised medicine refers to the selection of patients for specific treatment based on the presence of specific biomarkers which indicate sensitivity to corresponding targeted therapies and/or lower toxicity risk, such that patients will have the greatest chance of deriving benefit from the treatments. Here, we review personalised medicine for nonsmall cell lung cancer