Erdafitinib in patients with advanced solid tumours with FGFR alterations (RAGNAR): an international, single-arm, phase 2 study.

BACKGROUND: FGFR alterations are reported across various malignancies and might act as oncogenic drivers in multiple histologies. Erdafitinib is an oral, selective pan-FGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor with activity in FGFR-altered advanced urothelial carcinoma. We aimed to evaluate the safety and activity of erdafitinib in previously treated patients with FGFR-altered advanced solid tumours. METHODS: The single-arm, phase 2 RAGNAR study was conducted at 156 investigative centres (hospitals or oncology practices that are qualified oncology study centres) across 15 countries. The study consisted of four cohorts based on tumour histology and patient age; the results reported in this Article are for the primary cohort of the study, defined as the Broad Panel Cohort, which was histology-agnostic. We recruited patients aged 12 years or older with advanced or metastatic tumours of any histology (except urothelial cancer) with predefined FGFR1-4 alterations (mutations or fusions according to local or central testing). Eligible patients had disease progression on at least one previous line of systemic therapy and no alternative standard therapy available to them, and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1 (or equivalent for adolescents aged 12-17 years). Patients received once-daily oral erdafitinib (8 mg/day with provision for pharmacodynamically guided up-titration to 9 mg/day) on a continuous 21-day cycle until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. The primary endpoint was objective response rate by independent review committee according to Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST), version 1.1, or Response Assessment In Neuro-Oncology (RANO). The primary analysis was conducted on the treated population of the Broad Panel Cohort. This ongoing study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT04083976. FINDINGS: Patients were recruited between Dec 5, 2019, and Feb 15, 2022. Of 217 patients treated with erdafitinib, 97 (45%) patients were female and 120 (55%) were male. The data cutoff was Aug 15, 2022. At a median follow-up of 17·9 months (IQR 13·6-23·9), an objective response was observed in 64 (30% [95% CI 24-36]) of 217 patients across 16 distinct tumour types. The most common grade 3 or higher treatment-emergent adverse events related to erdafitinib were stomatitis (25 [12%]), palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia syndrome (12 [6%]), and hyperphosphataemia (11 [5%]). The most commonly occurring serious treatment-related adverse events (grade 3 or higher) were stomatitis in four (2%) patients and diarrhoea in two (1%). There were no treatment-related deaths. INTERPRETATION: RAGNAR results show clinical benefit for erdafitinib in the tumour-agnostic setting in patients with advanced solid tumours with susceptible FGFR alterations who have exhausted other treatment options. These results support the continued development of FGFR inhibitors in patients with advanced solid tumours. FUNDING: Janssen Research & Development.

High-Dose Ipilimumab and High-Dose Interleukin-2 for Patients With Advanced Melanoma.

High-dose ipilimumab (IPI) and high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) are approved agents for metastatic melanoma, but the efficacy and safety of the combination are unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of combination high-dose IPI and high-dose IL-2 in patients with histologically confirmed advanced unresectable stage III and IV melanoma. This Phase II, multicenter, open-label, single-arm trial was conducted in nine patients enrolled between 12/2014 and 12/2015. Subjects were treated with high-dose IPI 10 mg/kg intravenous (IV) every 3 weeks for four doses starting at week 1 and high-dose IL-2 (600,000 IU/kg IV bolus every 8 h for up to 14 doses) concurrently with IPI at weeks 4 and 7. After the first 12 weeks of combination therapy, maintenance IPI (10 mg/kg IV) monotherapy was administered every 12 weeks for up to 1 year. No patient had received prior PD-1 blockade, and only one received prior vemurafenib. Confirmed partial response was achieved in one (11%), stable disease in four (44%), and progressive disease in four (44%) of nine patients. Two patients achieved durable disease control of 44+ and 50+ months at the most recent follow-up without subsequent therapy. The median overall survival was not reached after a minimum 24 months of follow-up time. One-year and 2-year survival rates were 89 and 67%, respectively. Seven patients (78%) experienced grade 3 or 4 adverse events related to the study therapy, three of which were attributed to both agents. One patient discontinued the treatment due to liver and kidney toxicity. While toxicity was significant, all events were reversible, and there was no treatment-related mortality. In peripheral blood of patients with decreasing tumor burden, the ratio of the non-classical MHC-II proteins HLA-DM to HLA-DO increased 2-fold, raising the possibility of the ratio of HLA-DM:HLA-DO as a novel biomarker of response to treatment. Although the sample size was limited, combination therapy with high-dose IPI and high-dose IL-2 was feasible and associated with clinical benefit. IL-2-based compounds in combination with CTLA-4 blockade should be studied in advanced melanoma patients who fail to benefit from first-line PD-1 blockade. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02203604. Registered 30 July 2014, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02203604.

First-in-Human Clinical Trial of Oral ONC201 in Patients with Refractory Solid Tumors.

Purpose: ONC201 is a small-molecule selective antagonist of the G protein-coupled receptor DRD2 that is the founding member of the imipridone class of compounds. A first-in-human phase I study of ONC201 was conducted to determine its recommended phase II dose (RP2D).Experimental Design: This open-label study treated 10 patients during dose escalation with histologically confirmed advanced solid tumors. Patients received ONC201 orally once every 3 weeks, defined as one cycle, at doses from 125 to 625 mg using an accelerated titration design. An additional 18 patients were treated at the RP2D in an expansion phase to collect additional safety, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic information.Results: No grade >1 drug-related adverse events occurred, and the RP2D was defined as 625 mg. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed a Cmax of 1.5 to 7.5 µg/mL (∼3.9-19.4 µmol/L), mean half-life of 11.3 hours, and mean AUC of 37.7 h·µg/L. Pharmacodynamic assays demonstrated induction of caspase-cleaved keratin 18 and prolactin as serum biomarkers of apoptosis and DRD2 antagonism, respectively. No objective responses by RECIST were achieved; however, radiographic regression of several individual metastatic lesions was observed along with prolonged stable disease (>9 cycles) in prostate and endometrial cancer patients.Conclusions: ONC201 is a selective DRD2 antagonist that is well tolerated, achieves micromolar plasma concentrations, and is biologically active in advanced cancer patients when orally administered at 625 mg every 3 weeks. Clin Cancer Res; 23(15); 4163-9. ©2017 AACR.

Microfluidic techniques for single-cell protein expression analysis.

BACKGROUND: The analysis of single cells obtained from needle aspirates of tumors is constrained by the need for processing. To this end, we investigated two microfluidic approaches to measure the expression of surface proteins in single cancer cells or in small populations (<50 cells). METHODS: One approach involved indirect fluorescence labeling of cell-surface proteins and channeling of cells in a microfluidic device past a fluorescence detector for signal quantification and analysis. A second approach channeled cells in a microfluidic device over detection zones coated with ligands to surface proteins and measured rates of passage and of retardation based on transient interactions between surface proteins and ligands. RESULTS: The fluorescence device detected expression of integrin alpha5 induced by basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) treatment in MCF-7 cells and that of Her-2/neu in SK-BR-3 cells compared with controls. Experiments measuring passage retardation showed significant differences in passage rates between FGF-2-treated and untreated MCF-7 cells over reaction regions coated with fibronectin and antibody to integrin alpha5beta1 compared with control regions. Blocking peptides reversed the retardation, demonstrating specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Immunofluorescence detection in a microfluidic channel demonstrates the potential for assaying surface protein expression in a few individual cells and will permit the development of future iterations not requiring cell handling. The flow retardation device represents the first application of this technology for assessing cell-surface protein expression in cancer cells and may provide a way for analyzing expression profiles of single cells without preanalytical manipulation.

Flavopiridol blocks integrin-mediated survival in dormant breast cancer cells.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer micrometastases in the bone marrow are resistant to chemotherapy. They can remain dormant for years before some begin to proliferate. We seek to understand survival mechanisms and develop targeted approaches to eliminating these cells. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In an in vitro model of dormancy, basic fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2), abundant in the bone marrow, inhibits the growth of well-differentiated cells in the 2- to 10-cell stage and up-regulates integrin alpha(5)beta(1). Through this integrin, cells bind fibronectin, spread out, and acquire a survival advantage, partly through activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway. We investigated the effects of Taxotere, flavopiridol, and mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase and p38 inhibitors on survival of dormant clones and that of flavopiridol on expression of integrins, adhesion strength, and phosphorylation of Akt, ERK 1/2, and p38. RESULTS: Dormant MCF-7 and T-47D cell clones were resistant to Taxotere concentrations 10-fold higher than needed to eliminate growing clones but were almost completely eradicated by 200 nmol/L flavopiridol. Flavopiridol caused a decrease in FGF-2-induced expression of integrins, including alpha(5) and beta(1), and decreased FGF-2-induced specific adhesion to fibronectin. It diminished Akt phosphorylation, but reexpression of active Akt was not sufficient to reverse dormant clone inhibition. Flavopiridol did not affect phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and p38 but diminished total protein levels. Chemical inhibition of these pathways partially abrogated dormant clone survival. CONCLUSIONS: Flavopiridol has pleiotropic effects on key targets involved with survival of dormant breast cancer cells and may represent a useful approach to eliminating cells dependent on multiple signal pathways for survival.