Phase I Study of GS-3583, a FLT3 Agonist Fc Fusion Protein, in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors.

PURPOSE: GS-3583, a FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) agonist Fc fusion protein, expanded conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) in the periphery of healthy volunteers, suggesting potential for GS-3583 to increase cDCs in the tumor microenvironment and promote T cell-mediated antitumor activity in cancer patients. This phase Ib open-label study assessed GS-3583 in adults with advanced solid tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Multiple escalating doses of GS-3583 (standard 3+3 design) were administered intravenously on days 1 and 15 of cycle 1 and day 1 of each subsequent 28-day cycle for up to 52 weeks. Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was evaluated during the first 28 days of GS-3583 at each dose level. RESULTS: Thirteen participants enrolled in 4 dose-escalation cohorts, after which the study was terminated following safety review. Median (range) age was 71 (44-79), and 7 (54%) participants were male. There were no DLTs. Seven participants had grade ≥3 AEs; 2 participants had grade 5 AEs, including a second primary malignancy (acute myeloid leukemia) considered treatment-related. Dose-dependent increase in GS-3583 serum exposure was observed in the dose range of 2-20 mg with GS-3583 accumulation at higher dose levels. Expansions of cDCs occurred at all 4 doses with a dose-dependent trend in the durability of the cDC expansion. CONCLUSIONS: GS-3583 was relatively well tolerated and induced dose-dependent expansion of cDCs in the periphery of patients with advanced solid tumors. However, development of a second primary malignancy provides a cautionary tale for the FLT3 agonist mechanism.

Approaches to handling missing or "problematic" pharmacology data: Pharmacokinetics.

Missing or erroneous information is a common problem in the analysis of pharmacokinetic (PK) data. This may present as missing or inaccurate dose level or dose time, drug concentrations below the analytical limit of quantification, missing sample times, or missing or incorrect covariate information. Several methods to handle problematic data have been evaluated, although no single, broad set of recommendations for commonly occurring errors has been published. In this tutorial, we review the existing literature and present the results of our simulation studies that evaluated common methods to handle known data errors to bridge the remaining gaps and expand on the existing knowledge. This tutorial is intended for any scientist analyzing a PK data set with missing or apparently erroneous data. The approaches described herein may also be useful for the analysis of nonclinical PK data.

Overcoming resistance to anabolic SARM therapy in experimental cancer cachexia with an HDAC inhibitor.

No approved therapy exists for cancer-associated cachexia. The colon-26 mouse model of cancer cachexia mimics recent late-stage clinical failures of anabolic anti-cachexia therapy and was unresponsive to anabolic doses of diverse androgens, including the selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) GTx-024. The histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) AR-42 exhibited anti-cachectic activity in this model. We explored combined SARM/AR-42 therapy as an improved anti-cachectic treatment paradigm. A reduced dose of AR-42 provided limited anti-cachectic benefits, but, in combination with GTx-024, significantly improved body weight, hindlimb muscle mass, and grip strength versus controls. AR-42 suppressed the IL-6/GP130/STAT3 signaling axis in muscle without impacting circulating cytokines. GTx-024-mediated ß-catenin target gene regulation was apparent in cachectic mice only when combined with AR-42. Our data suggest cachectic signaling in this model involves catabolic signaling insensitive to anabolic GTx-024 therapy and a blockade of GTx-024-mediated anabolic signaling. AR-42 mitigates catabolic gene activation and restores anabolic responsiveness to GTx-024. Combining GTx-024, a clinically established anabolic therapy, with AR-42, a clinically evaluated HDACi, represents a promising approach to improve anabolic response in cachectic patients.

Transcriptionally Active Androgen Receptor Splice Variants Promote Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression.

Owing to the marked sexual dimorphism of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), sex hormone receptor signaling has been implicated in numerous aspects of liver cancer pathogenesis. We sought to reconcile the clear contribution of androgen receptor (AR) activity that has been established in preclinical models of HCC with the clinical failure of AR antagonists in patients with advanced HCC by evaluating potential resistance mechanisms to AR-targeted therapy. The AR locus was interrogated for resistance-causing genomic modifications using publicly available primary HCC datasets (1,019 samples). Analysis of HCC tumor and cell line RNA-seq data revealed enriched expression of constitutively active, treatment-refractory AR splice variants (AR-SV). HCC cell lines expressed C-terminal-truncated AR-SV; 28 primary HCC samples abundantly expressed AR-SV. Low molecular weight AR species were nuclear localized and constitutively active. Furthermore, AR/AR-SV signaling promoted AR-mediated HCC cell progression and conferred resistance to AR antagonists. Ligand-dependent and -independent AR signaling mediated HCC epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition by regulating the transcription factor SLUG. These data suggest that AR-SV expression in HCC drives HCC progression and resistance to traditional AR antagonists. Novel therapeutic approaches that successfully target AR-SVs may be therapeutically beneficial for HCC. SIGNIFICANCE: Treatment-refractory, constitutively active androgen receptor splice variants promote hepatocellular carcinoma progression by regulating the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition pathway.

Pharmacogenomics of statins: understanding susceptibility to adverse effects.

Statins are a cornerstone of the pharmacologic treatment and prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerotic disease is a predominant cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Statins are among the most commonly prescribed classes of medications, and their prescribing indications and target patient populations have been significantly expanded in the official guidelines recently published by the American and European expert panels. Adverse effects of statin pharmacotherapy, however, result in significant cost and morbidity and can lead to nonadherence and discontinuation of therapy. Statin-associated muscle symptoms occur in ~10% of patients on statins and constitute the most commonly reported adverse effect associated with statin pharmacotherapy. Substantial clinical and nonclinical research effort has been dedicated to determining whether genetics can provide meaningful insight regarding an individual patient's risk of statin adverse effects. This contemporary review of the relevant clinical research on polymorphisms in several key genes that affect statin pharmacokinetics (eg, transporters and metabolizing enzymes), statin efficacy (eg, drug targets and pathways), and end-organ toxicity (eg, myopathy pathways) highlights several promising pharmacogenomic candidates. However, SLCO1B1 521C is currently the only clinically relevant pharmacogenetic test regarding statin toxicity, and its relevance is limited to simvastatin myopathy.

GATM polymorphism associated with the risk for statin-induced myopathy does not replicate in case-control analysis of 715 dyslipidemic individuals.

Statin-induced myopathy (SIM) is the most common reason for discontinuation of statin therapy. A polymorphism affecting the gene encoding glycine amidinotransferase (GATM rs9806699 G > A) was previously associated with reduced risk for SIM. Our objective was to replicate the GATM association in a large, multicenter SIM case-control study. Mild and severe SIM cases and age- and gender-matched controls were enrolled. Participants were genotyped, and associations were tested (n = 715) using chi-square and logistic regression with consideration for SIM severity and exclusion of subjects with potentially confounding comedications. The minor allele (A) frequencies of GATM rs9806699 in the controls (n = 106), mild SIM (n = 324), and severe SIM (n = 285) cases were 0.26, 0.28, and 0.29, respectively (p = 0.447). The unadjusted odds ratio for the A allele for any SIM (mild or severe) was 1.14 (0.82-1.61; p = 0.437), which remained nonsignificant in all models. Our results do not replicate the association between GATM rs9806699 and SIM.