Second-line nivolumab in relapsed small-cell lung cancer: CheckMate 331☆.

BACKGROUND: Patients with relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) have few treatment options and dismal survival. Phase I/II data show activity of nivolumab in previously treated SCLC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: CheckMate 331 is a randomized, open-label, phase III trial of nivolumab versus standard chemotherapy in relapsed SCLC. Patients with relapse after first-line, platinum-based chemotherapy were randomized 1 : 1 to nivolumab 240 mg every 2 weeks or chemotherapy (topotecan or amrubicin) until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Overall, 284 patients were randomized to nivolumab and 285 to chemotherapy. Minimum follow-up was 15.8 months. No significant improvement in OS was seen with nivolumab versus chemotherapy [median OS, 7.5 versus 8.4 months; hazard ratio (HR), 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.72-1.04; P = 0.11]. A survival benefit with nivolumab was suggested in patients with baseline lactate dehydrogenase ≤ upper limit of normal and in those without baseline liver metastases. OS (nivolumab versus chemotherapy) was similar in patients with programmed death-ligand 1 combined positive score ≥1% versus <1%. Median progression-free survival was 1.4 versus 3.8 months (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.18-1.69). Objective response rate was 13.7% versus 16.5% (odds ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.50-1.27); median duration of response was 8.3 versus 4.5 months. Rates of grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events were 13.8% versus 73.2%. CONCLUSION: Nivolumab did not improve survival versus chemotherapy in relapsed SCLC. No new safety signals were seen. In exploratory analyses, select baseline characteristics were associated with improved OS for nivolumab.

Clinical characteristic and survival outcomes of patients with advanced NSCLC according to KRAS mutational status in the French real-life ESME cohort.

PURPOSE: The RAS/MEK signaling pathway is essential in carcinogenesis and frequently altered in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), notably by KRAS mutations (KRASm) that affect 25%-30% of non-squamous NSCLC. This study aims to explore the impact of KRASm subtypes on disease phenotype and survival outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the French Epidemiological Strategy and Medical Economics database for advanced or metastatic lung cancer from 2011 to 2021. Patient demographics, histology, KRASm status, treatment strategies, and outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: Of 10 177 assessable patients for KRAS status, 17.6% had KRAS p.G12C mutation, 22.6% had KRAS non-p.G12C mutation, and 59.8% were KRASwt. KRASm patients were more often smokers (96.3%) compared with KRASwt (85.8%). A higher proportion of programmed death-ligand 1 ≥50% was found for KRASm patients: 43.5% versus 38.0% (P < 0.01). KRASm correlated with poorer outcomes. First-line median progression-free survival was shorter in the KRASm than the KRASwt cohort: 4.0 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.7-4.3 months] versus 5.1 months (95% CI 4.8-5.3 months), P < 0.001. First-line overall survival was shorter for KRASm than KRASwt patients: 12.6 months (95% CI 11.6-13.6 months) versus 15.4 months (95% CI 14.6-16.2 months), P = 0.012. First-line chemoimmunotherapy offered better overall survival in KRAS p.G12C (48.8 months) compared with KRAS non-p.G12C (24.0 months) and KRASwt (22.5 months) patients. Second-line overall survival with immunotherapy was superior in the KRAS p.G12C subgroup: 12.6 months (95% CI 8.1-18.6 months) compared with 9.4 months (95% CI 8.0-11.4 months) for KRAS non-p.G12C and 9.6 months (8.4-11.0 months) for KRASwt patients. CONCLUSION: We highlighted distinct clinical profiles and survival outcomes according to KRASm subtypes. Notably KRAS p.G12C mutations may provide increased sensitivity to immunotherapy, suggesting potential therapeutic implications for sequencing or combination of therapies. Further research on the impact of emerging KRAS specific inhibitors are warranted in real-world cohorts.

Reduced risk of secondary primary extra pulmonary cancer in advanced/metastatic lung cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer survivors are at high risk of developing a second primary cancer (SPC). We explored the Unicancer Epidemiology Strategy Medical-Economics for advanced or metastatic lung cancer (AMLC) database to assess the impact of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) on the risk of SPC in patients with advanced/metastatic lung cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study used data from patients with AMLC, with treatment initiated between January 1st 2015 and December 31st 2018. Patients with lung cancer as the second primary cancer were excluded and a 6-months landmark threshold was applied to exclude patients with synchronous SPC, patients dead without SPC or with a follow-up inferior to 6 months. A propensity score (PS) was calculated on the following baseline covariates: Age at locally advanced or metastatic diagnosis, sex, smoking status, metastatic status, performance status and histological type. The inverse probability of treatment weighting approach was used on the analyses aiming to assess the impact of ICI administered for AMLC, on the risk of occurrence of SPC. RESULTS: Among the 10 796 patients, 148 (1.4%) patients had a diagnosis of SPC in a median interval of 22 (min-max: 7-173) months. All the patients (100%) with locally advanced or metastatic LC received at least one systemic treatment including (chemotherapy regimen (n = 9 851, 91.2%); ICI (n = 4 648, 43.0%); targeted treatment (n = 3 500; 32.4%). 40 (0.9%) SPC were reported in the 4 648 patients with metastatic LC treated with ICI vs 108 (1.7%) out of the 6 148 who did not receive immunotherapy (p < 0.0001). The multivariate analysis identified that treatment with ICI in patients with AMLC is associated with a reduced risk of SPC (HR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.27-0.58). CONCLUSION: Treatment with ICI in AMLC patients was associated with a significantly reduced risk of SPC. Prospective studies are required to confirm these results.

IFCT-1502 CLINIVO: real-world evidence of long-term survival with nivolumab in a nationwide cohort of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Immunotherapy using inhibitors targeting immune checkpoint programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is currently the standard of care in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out a nationwide cohort retrospective study of consecutive patients with advanced, refractory NSCLC who received nivolumab as second to later lines of treatment as part of the expanded access program. Key objectives were to assess the efficacy and safety of nivolumab and the efficacy of first post-nivolumab treatment. RESULTS: Nine hundred and two patients were enrolled: 317 (35%) with squamous cell carcinoma and 585 (65%) with non-squamous cell carcinoma. Median age was 64 years; there were 630 (70%) men, 795 (88%) smokers, 723 (81%) patients with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) of 0/1, 197 (22%) patients with brain metastases, and 212 (27%) with liver metastases. Best response was partial response for 16.2% and stable disease (SD) for 30.5%. Progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) rates at 2, 3, and 5 years were 8% and 25%, 6% and 16%, and 4% and 10%, respectively. At multivariate analysis, ECOG PS ≥2 [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.13, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.78-2.55, P < 0.001], squamous histology (HR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.01-1.36, P = 0.04), and presence of central nervous system metastases (HR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.08-1.54, P = 0.005) were significantly associated with lower OS. Four hundred and ninety-two patients received at least one treatment after discontinuation of nivolumab, consisting of systemic therapies in 450 (91%). Radiation therapy was delivered to 118 (24%) patients. CONCLUSION: The CLINIVO cohort represents the largest real-world evidence cohort with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitor in advanced, metastatic NSCLC after failure of first-line chemotherapy, with long-term follow-up and analysis of subsequent therapies. Our data confirm the efficacy of nivolumab in a cohort larger than that reported in landmark clinical trials and identify prognostic factors, which reinforces the need for accurate selection of patients for treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Our data indicate that oligoprogression is frequent after nivolumab exposure and provide a unique insight into the long-term survival.

PTEN, ATM, IDH1 mutations and MAPK pathway activation as modulators of PFS and OS in patients treated by first line EGFR TKI, an ancillary study of the French Cooperative Thoracic Intergroup (IFCT) Biomarkers France project.

OBJECTIVES: Tumor mutation screening is standard of care for patients with stage IV NSCLC. Since a couple of years, widespread NGS approaches used in routine diagnostics to detect driver mutations such as EGFR, KRAS, BRAF or MET allows the identification of other alterations that could modulated the intensity or duration of response to targeted therapies. The prevalence of co-occurring alterations that could affect response or prognosis as not been largely analyzed in clinical settings and large cohorts of patients. Thanks to the IFCT program "Biomarkers France", a collection of samples and data at a nation-wide level was available to test the impact of co-mutations on first line EGFR TKI in patients with EGFR mutated cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Targeted NGS was assessed on available (n = 208) samples using the Ion AmpliSeq™ Cancer Hotspot Panel v2 to screen for mutations in 50 different cancer genes. RESULTS: This study showed that PTEN inactivating mutations, ATM alterations, IDH1 mutations and complex EGFR mutations were predictors of short PFS in patients with a stage 4 lung adenocarcinoma receiving first line EGFR TKI and that PTEN, ATM, IDH1 and KRAS mutations as well as alterations in the MAPK pathway were related to shorter OS. CONCLUSION: These findings may lead to new treatment options in patients with unfavorable genotypes to optimize first line responses.

Proposals for managing patients with thoracic malignancies during COVID-19 pandemic.

The objective of this document is to formalize a degraded mode management for patients with thoracic cancers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposals are based on those of the French High Council for Public Health, on published data outside the context of COVID-19, and on a concerted analysis of the risk-benefit ratio for our patients by a panel of experts specialized on thoracic oncology under the aegis of the French-Language Society of Pulmonology (SPLF)/French-language oncology group. These proposals are evolving (10 April 2020) according to the situations encountered, which will enrich it, and are to be adapted to our institutional organisations and to the evolution of resources during the COVID-19 epidemic. Patients with symptoms and/or COVID-19+ are not discussed in this document and are managed within the framework of specific channels.

[Early diagnosis of lung cancer: impact of autofluorescence bronchoscopy]. / Diagnostic précoce du cancer bronchique : apport de la bronchoscopie en autofluorescence.

INTRODUCTION: Less than 15% of all patients survive five years after a diagnosis of lung cancer. This poor prognosis is attributed to a lack of early detection. Among the methods of early diagnosis of bronchial cancer, autofluorescence bronchoscopy allows for the early identification of preinvasive bronchial lesions. The goal of this prospective study is to evaluate the contribution of the autofluorescence bronchoscopy, on a hospital site, over a period of one year. METHODS: All patients with an indication of autofluorescence bronchoscopy were included in the study. The following parameters were collected: age, sex, smoking status, FEV1, FVC, biopsy sites, histology, duration of examination. RESULTS: Two hundred and seventy-four patients were included. The average age was 63.8 years (+/-12), the smoking status was 35 packs/year (+/-19). A fluorescence abnormality was detected in 131 patients and 165 sites were biopsied. An histological abnormality was found in 76% of the samples, with 34 hyperplasia (28%), 56 squamous metaplasia (46%), three mild dysplasia (3%), two moderate dysplasia (2%), one severe dysplasia (1%), two carcinomas in situ (2%) and 21 invasive carcinomas (18%). CONCLUSION: Autofluorescence bronchoscopy is an effective examination for the detection of the preinvasive neoplasic lesions and may be proposed when lung cancer is suspected.

Impact of Continuing First-Line EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy Beyond RECIST Disease Progression in Patients with Advanced EGFR-Mutated Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): Retrospective GFPC 04-13 Study.

UNLABELLED: Retrospective studies suggested a benefit of first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment continuation after response evaluation in solid tumors (RECIST) progression in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The aim of this multicenter observational retrospective study was to assess the frequency of this practice and its impact on overall survival (OS). The analysis included advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients treated with first-line TKI who experienced RECIST progression between June 2010 and July 2012. Among the 123 patients included (67 ± 12.7 years, women: 69 %, non smokers: 68 %, PS 0-1: 87 %), 40.6 % continued TKI therapy after RECIST progression. There was no difference between the patients who did and did not continue TKI therapy with respect to progression-free survival (PFS1: 10.5 versus 9.5 months, p = 0.4). Overall survival (OS) showed a non-significant trend in favor of continuing TKI therapy (33.0 vs. 21.2 months, p = 0.054). Progressions were significantly less symptomatic in the TKI continuation group than in the discontinuation group (18 % vs. 37 %, p < 0.01). Univariate analysis showed a higher risk of death among patients with PS >1 (HR 4.33, 95 %CI: 2.21-8.47, p = 0.001), >1 one metastatic site (HR 1.96, 95 %CI: 1.06-3.61, p = 0.02), brain metastasis (HR 1.75, 95 %CI: 1.08-2.84, p = 0.02) at diagnosis, and a trend towards a higher risk of death in cases of TKI discontinuation after progression (HR 1.62, 95 %CI: 0.98-2.67, p = 0.056 ). In multivariate analysis only PS >1 (HR 6.27, 95 %CI: 2.97-13.25, p = 0.00001) and >1 metastatic site (HR 2.54, 95 %CI: 1.24-5.21, p = 0.02) at diagnosis remained significant. This study suggests that under certain circumstances, first-line TKI treatment continuation after RECIST progression is an acceptable option in EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients. CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION: NCT02293733.

Fatal Microascus trigonosporus (anamorph Scopulariopsis) pneumonia in a bone marrow transplant recipient.

Over the past decade, an increasing number of opportunistic mycelial fungal infections have been reported in immunocompromised patients. Presented here is the first reported case of Microascus trigonosporus pneumonia, which occurred in a 24-year-old-man with a history of allogenic bone marrow transplantation with graft-versus-host disease. Despite the administration of effective antifungal treatment, the patient died after uncontrollable respiratory failure and multiorgan failure developed. This report confirms the results of previous studies that suggested a very poor outcome for bone marrow transplant recipients with non-Aspergillus mould infections.