EOADR1–19/SPENCER study is a phase 1/2 trial of EO2401, evaluating the combination of EO2401 with nivolumab, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) or malignant pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (MPP). EO2401 is a novel immunotherapy designed to activate memory T cells specific to gut microbiota derived peptides crossreacting with tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). EO2401 comprises three HLA-A2 restricted peptides derived from commensal proteins (EO2316, EO2317 and EO2318), mimicking three TAAs overexpressed in adrenal tumors: IL13RA2, BIRC5 and FOXM1. The study (NCT04187404) was approved by all participating institution's Ethics Boards.
Methods
Blood samples were collected at baseline, every two weeks during the first 3 months, then every month until disease progression. Immune response in cryopreserved PBMCs was investigated using tetramer staining and IFNγ ELISpot ex vivo and after in vitro stimulation (IVS). The functionality of specific CD8+T cells was also studied through cytotoxic T-cell based killing assays using T2 cells and intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) after IVS.
Results
The efficacy of EO2401 in generating immune responses against TAAs was studied ex vivo or after IVS. Commensal-specific T cells were detected through tetramer staining against at least one peptide in 92% of tested patients (35/38) while TAA specific T cells were observed in 88% of tested patients (32/36). Positivity could be detected as early as two weeks after the treatment initiation (with 1 injection) and maintained for at least 20 months (longer follow up). The most immunogenic peptides were EO2317 and EO2318 with 80% and 72% of responding patients respectively. Lower immunogenicity was observed for EO2316. Moreover, when investigated using IFNγ ELISpot, 87% and 80% of patients showed functional T cells against the pool of commensal-derived peptides or of TAAs. Notably, generated antigen specific CD8+ T cells observed ex vivo displayed a memory phenotype (TEM and TEMRA). Finally, cytotoxic killing assays using T2 cells loaded with commensal-derived peptides, showed that to date, 3 out of 4 patients tested presented a specific killing of T2 cells correlated with a strong capacity of cytokine production (ICS) after IVS.
Conclusions
EO2401, in combination with nivolumab induces fast, strong and long-lasting immune response, with detection of bacterial peptide- and TAA- specific functional CD8+ T cells in almost all patients. These results highlight the potential of this innovative approach to overcome the limitations of current cancer vaccine strategies.
Ethics Approval
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of CPP Ouest II Angers – France (ref 19.10.18.72055 – 2020/25); the Ethics Committee of Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron - Spain; the Ethics Committee of Universität Würzburg - Germany (ref 264/19_m); the Ethics Committee of Di Brescia – Italy; the Ethics Committee from the Center for Regional Udvikling – Denmark (ref: H-20003010); the CCMO – Netherlands (ref: CCMO20.021/JvG/rm/71766); the Överklagandenämnden för etikprövning – Sweden (Dnr 34–2020/3.1) and the Institutional Review Board from the Office of Human subject Protection of MD Anderson Center (IRB ID: 2020–0054).
Consent
All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before participating in the study
Current knowledge on prognostic biomarkers (especially BRAFV600E /RAS mutations) in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is mainly based on mCRC patients with proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) tumors. It is uncertain whether these biomarkers have the same prognostic value in mCRC patients with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) tumors. This observational cohort study combined a population-based Dutch cohort (2014-2019) and a large French multicenter cohort (2007-2017). All mCRC patients with a histologically proven dMMR tumor were included. In our real-world data cohort of 707 dMMR mCRC patients, 438 patients were treated with first-line palliative systemic chemotherapy. Mean age of first-line treated patients was 61.9 years, 49% were male, and 40% had Lynch syndrome. BRAFV600E mutation was present in 47% of tumors and 30% harbored a RAS mutation. Multivariable regression analysis on OS showed significant hazard rates (HR) for known prognostic factors as age and performance status, however showed no significance for Lynch syndrome (HR: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.66-1.72), BRAFV600E mutational status (HR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.67-1.54), and RAS mutational status (HR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.64-1.59), with similar results for PFS. BRAFV600E and RAS mutational status are not associated with prognosis in dMMR mCRC patients, in contrast to pMMR mCRC patients. Lynch syndrome is also not an independent prognostic factor for survival. These findings underline that prognostic factors of patients with dMMR mCRC are different of those with pMMR, which could be taken into consideration when prognosis is used for clinical decision-making in dMMR mCRC patients and underline the complex heterogeneity of mCRC.
There is currently no standard second-line treatment for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (MPA), and progression-free survival is consistently <4 months in this setting. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of Nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine (A+G) after Folfirinox failure in MPA. From February 2013 to July 2014, all consecutive patients treated with A+G for histologically proven MPA after Folfirinox failure were prospectively enrolled in 12 French centres. A+G was delivered as described in the MPACT trial, until disease progression, patient refusal or unacceptable toxicity. Fifty-seven patients were treated with Nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine, for a median of 4 cycles (range 1–12). The disease control rate was 58%, with a 17.5% objective response rate. Median overall survival (OS) was 8.8 months (95% CI: 6.2–9.7) and median progression-free survival was 5.1 months (95% CI: 3.2–6.2). Since the start of first-line chemotherapy, median OS was 18 months (95% CI: 16–21). No toxic deaths occurred. Grade 3–4 toxicities were reported in 40% of patients, consisting of neutropenia (12.5%), neurotoxicity (12.5%), asthenia (9%) and thrombocytopenia (6.5%). A+G seems to be effective, with a manageable toxicity profile, after Folfirinox failure in patients with MPA.
Abstract Introduction: With the increasing complexity of current diagnostic investigations, the integration of clinical, pathological and genomic characteristics is crucial for the management of patients (pts) with cancers of unknown primary (CUP). A national multidisciplinary tumor board (NatCUPMTB) was created in July 2020 in France to discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic management of CUP pts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic impact of this NatCUPMTB after 30 months of activity. Methods: This was a multicenter retrospective study with prospective follow-up. All pts discussed at least once in the NatCUPMTB between July 2020 and January 2023 were included. Pts and tumors characteristics, pathological and genomic analyses including WGS, WES and transcriptome analysis performed on the two PFMG2025 (French Genomic Medecine Plan 2025) national sequencing laboratories, multidisciplinary tumor board (MTB) conclusions, and follow-up after MTB were collected. Results: 151 pts were included. The median age at diagnosis was 58 yo, 55% were female, and the majority of patients had an OMS status <2. The median number of metastatic sites at diagnosis was 2, with a majority located in the lymph nodes (63%). The median time between diagnosis and first MTB presentation was 4 months (1-20). At the time of analysis, NatCUPMTB conclusions and long-term follow up (30 months) were available for 93 pts alive at the second MTB presentation. MTB investigations enabled to identify a likely primary origin in 62/93 (67%) pts, the most frequent being renal carcinoma (N=10), lung carcinoma (N=9) and breast carcinoma (N=8). The most frequently molecular alterations found were in TP53 (37%), KRAS (19%), CDKN2A (18%), NF2 (12%), KMT2C (10%), CDKN2B (9%), PBRM1 (9%) genes. MTB diagnoses were based on the combination of clinical, pathological and genomic investigations in 34/93 (37%) of pts. The others were based on pathological and genomic investigations in 15/93 pts (16%), genomic in 4/93 pts (4%), clinical and genomic in 3/93 pts (3%), clinical and pathological in 3/93 pts (3%) and pathological in 3/93 pts (3%). After a median follow-up of 11.2 months, the median overall survival (OS) was 11.9 months from the 2nd MTB presentation. Importantly, a personalized therapeutic strategy was recommended by NatCUPMTB in 79/93 (85%) of pts. Among these recommendations, 38/79 (49%) were based on the diagnosis of tissue of origin (TOO), 12/79 (15%) on an actionable molecular alteration, 24/79 (30%) on both the TOO and an actionable molecular alteration, and 5/79 (6%) were based on an unguided clinical trial. Conclusion: NatCUPMTB provides significant diagnostic and therapeutic benefit in 85% of pts with CUP. Early presentation of pts at NatCUPMTB as soon as CUP diagnosis is suspected should be recommended. Citation Format: Ivan Bieche, Maud Kamal, Nicolas Jacquin, Célia Dupain, Isabelle Guillou, Etienne Rouleau, Julien Masliah Planchon, Isabelle Soubeyran, Christelle De La Fouchardière, Camille Tlemsani, Hélène Blons, Laëtitia Marisa, Anna Patrikidou, Fabienne Escande, Pierre Blanc, Jennifer Wong, Pierre Saintigny, Sandrine Boyault, Adrien Buisson, Yves Allory, Anne Vincent-Salomon, Vincent Cockenpot, Janick Selves, Christophe Le Tourneau, Sarah Watson. National multidisciplinary tumor board improves diagnostic stratification and therapeutic management in cancers of unknown primary [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC Virtual International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2023 Oct 11-15; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2023;22(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A113.
PURPOSE GEMPAX was an open-label, randomized phase III clinical trial designed to assess the efficacy and tolerability of gemcitabine plus paclitaxel versus gemcitabine alone as second-line treatment for patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) who previously received 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan. METHODS Patients with histologically or cytologically confirmed mPDAC were randomly assigned (2:1) to receive GEMPAX (paclitaxel 80 mg/m 2 + gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m 2 ; IV; once at day (D) 1, D8, and D15/arm A) or gemcitabine (arm B) alone once at D1, D8, and D15 every 28 days until progression, toxicity, or patient's decision. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), quality of life, and safety. RESULTS Overall, 211 patients (median age, 64 [30-86] years; 62% male) were included. After a median study follow-up for alive patients of 13.4 versus 13.8 months in arm A versus arm B, the median OS (95% CI) was 6.4 (5.2 to 7.4) versus 5.9 months (4.6 to 6.9; hazard ratio [HR], 0.87 [0.63 to 1.20]; P = 0.4095), the median PFS was 3.1 (2.2 to 4.3) versus 2.0 months (1.9 to 2.3; HR, 0.64 [0.47 to 0.89]; P = 0.0067), and the ORR was 17.1% (11.3 to 24.4) versus 4.2% (0.9 to 11.9; P = 0.008) in arm A versus arm B, respectively. Overall, 16.7% of patients in arm A and 2.9% in arm B discontinued their treatment because of adverse events (AEs). One grade 5 AE associated with both gemcitabine and paclitaxel was reported in arm A (acute respiratory distress), and 58.0% versus 27.1% of patients experienced grade ≥3 treatment-related AEs in arm A versus arm B, among which 15.2% versus 4.3% had anemia, 15.9% versus 15.7% had neutropenia, 19.6% versus 4.3% had thrombocytopenia, 10.1% versus 2.9% had asthenia and 12.3% versus 0.0% had neuropathy. CONCLUSION While GEMPAX did not meet the primary end point of OS versus gemcitabine alone in patients with mPDAC in the second-line setting, both PFS and ORR were significantly improved.
