Patterns of response and progression in bone and soft tissue during and after treatment with radium-223 for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Radium-223 improves survival and time to first symptomatic skeletal event in symptomatic bone predominant metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The imaging response to radium-223 has not been well characterized. METHODS: To describe patterns of response and progression with radium-223, we performed a retrospective review of all mCPRC patients who received radium-223 at Duke from 1 June 2013 to 1 June 2015. Radionuclide bone scans obtained at baseline, during, and after treatment were reviewed by two radiologists. The automated bone scan index (aBSI) was generated at each time point using EXINI boneBSI version 2.4. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) clinical radiology reports were reviewed to evaluate for soft tissue, visceral, epidural, and bone progression. Clinical data were abstracted from the electronic health record. RESULTS: We identified 61 men who received at least one dose of radium-223 at Duke during the study period (median, 5 doses; range, 1-6). Among men with imaging during treatment, 2 of 14 (14.3%) had resolution of greater than or equal to 1 lesion on bone scan, 4 of 14 (28.6%) had zero new bone lesions, 10 of 14 (71.4%) had greater than or equal to 1 new bone lesion, 14 of 26 (53.9%) progressed on CT. After radium-223, 6 of 39 (15.4%) had resolution of 1 to 4 bone lesions, 15 of 39 (38.5%) demonstrated zero new bone lesions, 24 of 39 (61.5%) progressed on bone scan, 15 of 37 (40.5%) progressed on CT, and 10 of 34 (29.4%) progressed on both bone scan and CT. No men with zero new bone lesions after radium-223 ultimately progressed in bone alone and only 3 of 15 eventually demonstrated any progression in the bone. aBSI decreased significantly from baseline to after radium-223 among men with zero new bone lesions (median change in aBSI -0.23 [IQR, -1.5, 0.02]) and increased significantly for men with greater than or equal to 1 new postradium bone lesions (median change in aBSI 1.41 [IQR, -0.05, 3.63] [P = 0.018]). CONCLUSIONS: Bone and soft tissue progression during and following radium-223 is common in heavily pretreated men with mCRPC. However, stable disease and responses were observed in a subset of patients and may be associated with durable treatment response in the bone. Prospective studies are needed to further investigate the change in aBSI as a biomarker of bone scan response/stabilization and progression following treatment with radium-223.

Primary myelofibrosis and its targeted therapy.

Primary myelofibrosis is a unique entity among BCR-ABL-negative myeloproliferative diseases, manifesting as bone marrow fibrosis and pancytopenia. Considerable evidence indicates that genetic and epigenetic abnormalities can result in defective clonal hematopoietic stem cell proliferation in addition to bone marrow microenvironment alteration. The "bad seeds in bad soil" theory illustrates the orchestrating efforts of hematopoietic stem cells, stromal cells, and their surrounding signaling molecules in myelofibrosis progression and malignancy transformation, though the exact mechanism of myelofibrosis is still not clear. This study reviews current concepts and questions regarding the pathogenesis of primary myelofibrosis and discusses the emerging targeted therapy aimed at restoring normal bone marrow environment and halting bone marrow fibrotic deterioration.

Association of sarcopenia with survival in advanced NSCLC patients receiving concurrent immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Background: Frailty, sarcopenia and malnutrition are powerful predictors of clinical outcomes that are not routinely measured in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association of sarcopenia, determined by the psoas muscle index (PMI) with overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced NSCLC treated with concurrent immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) and chemotherapy (CTX). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from a cohort of patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC who were treated between 2015 and 2021 at the University of Virginia Medical Center. The cross-sectional area of the psoas muscle was assessed on CT or PET/CT imaging prior to treatment initiation. Multivariate analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results: A total of 92 patients (median age: 64 years, range 36-89 years), 48 (52.2%) men and 44 (47.8%) women, were included in the study. The median follow-up was 29.6 months. The median OS was 17.8 months. Sarcopenia, defined by a PMI below the 25th percentile, was associated with significantly lower OS (9.1 months in sarcopenic patients vs. 22.3 months in non-sarcopenic patients, P = 0.002). Multivariate analysis revealed that sarcopenia (HR 2.12, P = 0.0209), ECOG ≥ 2 (HR 2.88, P = 0.0027), prognostic nutritional index (HR 3.02, P = 0.0034) and the absence of immune related adverse events (HR 2.04, P = 0.0185) were independently associated with inferior OS. Conclusions: Sarcopenia is independently associated with poor OS in patients with advanced NSCLC undergoing concurrent ICI and CTX.

Variant Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Presenting Without Auer Rods Highlights the Need for Correlation with Cytogenetic Data in Leukemia Diagnosis.

Variant acute promyelocytic leukemia (vAPL) is a rare leukemia characterized by rearrangement between RARα and a non-PML partner gene. This type of leukemia can be difficult to recognize by histomorphologic evaluation, particularly in patients with few or no Auer rods, and by flow cytometry, but it can be identified by distinct cytogenetic features. Herein, we report on a patient with vAPL with t(11;17)(q23;q21) who presented an initial diagnostic challenge. Detailed flow cytometry findings are presented for this rare entity. Our case study also presents novel treatment (chemotherapy in combination with venetoclax) chosen based on mechanistic data from preclinical studies.

Use of Low-Frequency Driver Mutations Detected by Cell-Free Circulating Tumor DNA to Guide Targeted Therapy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Multicenter Case Series.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical outcome of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer treated by targeting low variant allelic frequency (VAF) driver mutations identified through cell-free DNA (cfDNA) next-generation sequencing (NGS). Detection of driver mutations in cancer is critically important in the age of targeted therapy, where both tumor-based as well as cfDNA sequencing methods have been used for therapeutic decision making. We hypothesized that VAF should not be predictive of response and that low VAF alterations detected by cfDNA NGS can respond to targeted therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A multicenter retrospective case review was performed to identify patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who received targeted molecular therapy on the basis of findings of low VAF alterations in cfDNA NGS. Mutations at low VAF were defined as < 0.2% mutated cfDNA molecules in a background of wild-type cfDNA. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-two patients underwent cfDNA NGS testing. Of the 172 patients, 12 were identified as having low VAF driver alterations and were considered for targeted therapy. The median progression-free survival (PFS) for all patients was 52 weeks (range, 17 to 88 weeks). For patients with EGFR exon 19 deletion (n = 7), the median PFS was 52 weeks (range, 17 to 60.5 weeks). For patients with EML4-ALK fusions (n = 3), the median PFS was 60 weeks (range, 18 to 88 weeks). The median overall survival for all patients after diagnosis was 57.6 weeks. CONCLUSION: Targeted treatment response for driver mutations detected by cfDNA may be independent of VAF, even in relation to other higher VAF aberrations in plasma, and directly dependent on the underlying disease biology and ability to treat the patient with appropriate targeted therapy.