Overall Survival with Brentuximab Vedotin in Stage III or IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Five-year follow-up in a trial involving patients with previously untreated stage III or IV classic Hodgkin's lymphoma showed long-term progression-free survival benefits with first-line therapy with brentuximab vedotin, a CD30-directed antibody-drug conjugate, plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (A+AVD), as compared with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD). A planned interim analysis indicated a potential benefit with regard to overall survival; data from a median of 6 years of follow-up are now available. METHODS: We randomly assigned patients in a 1:1 ratio to receive up to six cycles of A+AVD or ABVD. The primary end point, modified progression-free survival, has been reported previously. The key secondary end point was overall survival in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was also assessed. RESULTS: A total of 664 patients were assigned to receive A+AVD and 670 to receive ABVD. At a median follow-up of 73.0 months, 39 patients in the A+AVD group and 64 in the ABVD group had died (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40 to 0.88; P = 0.009). The 6-year overall survival estimates were 93.9% (95% CI, 91.6 to 95.5) in the A+AVD group and 89.4% (95% CI, 86.6 to 91.7) in the ABVD group. Progression-free survival was longer with A+AVD than with ABVD (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.86). Fewer patients in the A+AVD group than in the ABVD group received subsequent therapy, including transplantation, and fewer second cancers were reported with A+AVD (in 23 vs. 32 patients). Primary prophylaxis with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was recommended after an increased incidence of febrile neutropenia was observed with A+AVD. More patients had peripheral neuropathy with A+AVD than with ABVD, but most patients in the two groups had resolution or amelioration of the event by the last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who received A+AVD for the treatment of stage III or IV Hodgkin's lymphoma had a survival advantage over those who received ABVD. (Funded by Takeda Development Center Americas and Seagen; ECHELON-1 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01712490; EudraCT number, 2011-005450-60.).

AMG 386 in combination with sorafenib in patients with metastatic clear cell carcinoma of the kidney: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the tolerability and antitumor activity of AMG 386, a peptibody (a peptide Fc fusion) that neutralizes the interaction of angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 with Tie2 (tyrosine kinase with immunoglobulin-like and EGF-like domains 2), plus sorafenib in patients with clear cell metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) in a randomized controlled study. METHODS: Previously untreated patients with mRCC were randomized 1:1:1 to receive sorafenib 400 mg orally twice daily plus intravenous AMG 386 at 10 mg/kg (arm A) or 3 mg/kg (arm B) or placebo (arm C) once weekly (qw). Patients in arm C could receive open-label AMG 386 at 10 mg/kg qw plus sorafenib following disease progression. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). RESULTS: A total of 152 patients were randomized. Median PFS was 9.0, 8.5, and 9.0 months in arms A, B, and C, respectively (hazard ratio for arms A and B vs arm C, 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60-1.30; P = .523). The objective response rate (95% CI) for arms A, B, and C, respectively, was 38% (25%-53%), 37% (24%-52%), and 25% (14%-40%). Among 30 patients in arm C who had disease progression and subsequently received open-label AMG 386 at 10 mg/kg qw, the objective response rate was 3% (95% CI, 0%-17%). Frequently occurring adverse events (AEs) included diarrhea (arms A/B/C, 70%/67%/56%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (52%/47%/54%), alopecia (50%/45%/50%), and hypertension (42%/49%/46%). Fifteen patients had grade 4 AEs (arms A/B/C, n = 3/7/5); 4 had fatal AEs (n = 2/1/1), with 1 (abdominal pain, arm B) considered possibly related to AMG 386. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with mRCC, AMG 386 plus sorafenib was tolerable but did not significantly improve PFS compared with placebo plus sorafenib.

Role of stem cell transplant in CD30+ PTCL following frontline brentuximab vedotin plus CHP or CHOP in ECHELON-2.

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are a heterogeneous group of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas, the majority of which have high relapse rates following standard therapy. Despite use of consolidative stem cell transplant (SCT) following frontline therapy, there remains no consensus on its utility. The double-blind randomized phase 3 ECHELON-2 study (#NCT01777152; clinicaltrials.gov) demonstrated improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival with frontline brentuximab vedotin plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (A+CHP). Herein, we conducted an exploratory subgroups analysis of the impact of consolidative SCT on PFS in patients with previously untreated CD30+ PTCL (ALK- anaplastic large cell lymphoma [ALCL] and non-ALCL) who were in complete response (CR) after frontline treatment with A+CHP or cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone. Median PFS follow-up was 47.57 months. The PFS hazard ratio was 0.36, equating to a 64% reduction in the risk of a PFS event in patients who underwent SCT. The median PFS in patients who underwent SCT was not reached, vs 55.66 months in patients who did not undergo SCT. PFS results favored the use of SCT in both ALK- ALCL and non-ALCL subgroups. These data support the consideration of consolidative SCT in patients with CD30+PTCL who achieve CR following treatment with A+CHP.

The role of interleukin 1 in growth and metastasis of human cancer xenografts.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin 1 (IL-1) is a pluripotent cytokine that promotes angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis in experimental models; its presence in some human cancers is associated with aggressive tumor biology. The purpose of these studies was to characterize the role of IL-1 in human cancers and determine if inhibition of IL-1 via its receptor antagonist, IL-1Ra, alters tumor growth and metastatic potential. METHODS: IL-1 mRNA or protein levels were determined in clinical tumor samples, cancer cell lines, and xenografts using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR or ELISA. Biological activity of tumor-derived IL-1 protein was shown via induction of permeability across endothelial cell monolayers. The effects of recombinant IL-1Ra on tumor lines in culture (cell proliferation and IL-8 secretion) and in xenograft models (tumor growth, metastatic potential, and intratumoral levels of IL-8 and VEGF) were characterized. The effects of IL-1Ra-mediated regression of xenograft growth on angiogenic proteins (IL-8 and VEGF) were evaluated in an IL-1-producing melanoma (SMEL) xenograft model. RESULTS: IL-1 mRNA was highly expressed in more than half of all tested metastatic human tumor specimens including non-small-cell lung carcinoma, colorectal adenocarcinoma, and melanoma tumor samples. Constitutive IL-1 mRNA expression was identified in several cancer cell lines; tumor supernatant from these cell lines produced a significant increase in endothelial cell monolayer permeability, a hallmark event in early angiogenesis, in an IL-1-dependent manner. Moreover, systemic recombinant IL-1Ra resulted in significant inhibition of xenograft growth and neovessel density of IL-1-producing, but not non-IL-1-producing, tumor cell lines. Subsequent analysis of SMEL, a melanoma cell line with constitutive IL-1 production, showed that neither exogenous IL-1 nor IL-1Ra altered tumor cell proliferation rates in vitro. Gene expression analyses of IL-1Ra-treated SMEL xenografts showed a >3-fold down-regulation of 100 genes compared with control including a marked down-regulation of IL-8 and VEGF. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that the IL-1 gene is frequently expressed in metastases from patients with several types of human cancers. IL-1Ra inhibits xenograft growth in IL-1-producing tumors but has no direct antiproliferative effects in vitro; decreased tumor levels of IL-8 and VEGF may be an early surrogate of IL-1Ra-mediated antitumor activity. IL-1Ra may have a role alone or with other agents in the treatment of human cancers.

Effect of interleukin 1 receptor antagonist gene transduction on human melanoma xenografts in nude mice.

Interleukin (IL)-1 is a pleiotropic inflammatory cytokine that promotes angiogenesis and enhances tumor growth and metastases. We evaluated the effects of IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) on tumor growth and metastases in human melanoma xenografts. We selected two human melanoma lines (SMEL and PMEL) with differential (high versus low, respectively) constitutive production of IL-1 by ELISA. The IL-1ra gene was isolated from monocyte RNA by PCR and retrovirally transduced into SMEL and PMEL. In vitro cell proliferation was evaluated using a WST-1 assay. Athymic nude mice received s.c. or i.v. injection with parental, vector-transduced, or IL-1ra-transduced melanoma cells, and tumor growth, lung metastases, and histology were characterized. IL-1 was produced by SMEL in vitro and ex vivo (117 and 67 pg/ml/10(6) cells/24 h, respectively), but not by PMEL (15 and 0 pg/ml/10(6) cells/24 h, respectively). Neither made IL-1ra natively. Gene-transduced cell lines secreted >1000 pg/ml/10(6) cells/24 h of IL-1ra by ELISA. In vitro proliferation of each parental cell line was comparable to the proliferation rate of each transduced cell line. IL-1ra-transduced SMEL (SMEL/IL-1ra) showed significantly slower tumor growth compared with null-transduced and parental cell lines (P < 0.001, ANOVA-Bonferroni/Dunn). There was no difference in growth rates between PMEL and IL-1ra-transduced PMEL (PMEL/IL-1ra). A mixing study of SMEL and SMEL/IL-1ra showed significant inhibition of tumor growth at various ratios (P < 0.001, ANOVA-Bonferroni/Dunn). There were significantly fewer lung metastases with SMEL/IL-1ra versus SMEL (P < 0.002). IL-1ra decreases in vivo growth and metastatic potential of a human melanoma xenograft that constitutively secretes IL-1. This effect may be exploitable using clinically available IL-1ra for the treatment of human cancers.

Interleukin-1beta induced vascular permeability is dependent on induction of endothelial tissue factor (TF) activity.

IL-1beta is a pleotropic cytokine that may mediate increased procoagulant activity and permeability in endothelial tissue during inflammatory conditions. The procoagulant effects of IL-1beta are mediated through induction of tissue factor (TF) but its alterations on vascular permeability are not well characterized. We found that IL-1beta induced a rapid and dose-dependent increase in TF activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (ECs) under routine culture conditions. However, IL-1beta caused a rapid and marked increase in permeability across confluent EC monolayers using a two-compartment in vitro model only in the presence of factor VIII-deficient plasma that was completely abrogated by neutralizing anti-TF antibody pre-treatment. In vitro permeability was associated with loss of EC surface expression of VE-cadherin and contraction of F-actin cytoskeletal elements that resulted in EC intercellular gap formation. These data demonstrate that IL-1beta induces marked changes in permeability across activated endothelium via a TF dependent mechanism and suggest that modulation of TF activity may represent a strategy to treat various acute and chronic inflammatory conditions mediated by this cytokine.

Direct evidence for rapid and selective induction of tumor neovascular permeability by tumor necrosis factor and a novel derivative, colloidal gold bound tumor necrosis factor.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) causes regression of advanced cancers when used in isolation perfusion with melphalan; evidence suggests these effects are mediated via selective yet uncharacterized actions on tumor neovasculature. A novel derivative, colloidal gold bound TNF (cAu-TNF) has been shown to have similar antitumor effects as native TNF with less systemic toxicity in mice. These studies were done to determine their effects on tumor neovasculature, using in vivo video microscopy. Female C57BL/6 mice bearing 20 mm(2) MC38 or LLC tumors that are TNF sensitive and resistant tumors, respectively, had dorsal skinfold chambers implanted. The rate of interstitial accumulation of Texas red fluorescently labeled albumin in tumor and normal vasculature was measured after intravenous TNF, cAu-TNF or PBS. Changes in interstitial fluorescent intensity over time were quantified as a reflection of alterations in vascular permeability. MC38 bearing mice treated with TNF or cAu-TNF demonstrated a rapid, selective and significant increase in tracer accumulation in areas of neovasculature compared to those of normal vasculature. Experiments in LLC tumor bearing mice showed similar results. Monoclonal antibody against tissue factor partially abrogated the effects of TNF on MC38 neovasculature. These data provide direct evidence that TNF and cAu-TNF selectively and rapidly alter permeability in tumor neovasculature; a phenomenon that may be exploited to enhance selective delivery of chemotherapeutics to tumor.

Alterations in tumor necrosis factor-induced endothelial cell procoagulant activity by hyperthermia.

TNF is a cytokine with potent antitumor activity in murine models and when administered clinically via regional perfusion. There is substantial evidence that this antitumor activity depends in large part on TNF's procoagulant effect on tumor neovasculature, which is mediated by induction of endothelial cell tissue factor (TF), a component of the extrinsic clotting cascade. In regional perfusion of a cancer-bearing limb or organ, TNF is always administered under hyperthermic temperatures; however, little is known about the effect of hyperthermia on TNF-mediated procoagulant activity in endothelium. We examined the effects of hyperthermia on TNF-mediated procoagulant activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HUVECs were exposed to TNF at normothermic (37 degrees C) and hyperthermic (41 degrees C) temperatures for 90 min, then assayed for clotting activity, TF protein production and mRNA production of TF and tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2), an endogenous inducible inhibitor of TF activity in HUVECs. TNF treatment at 41 degrees C significantly reduced clotting activity, TF protein and mRNA as well as TFPI-2 mRNA compared to treatment at 37 degrees C. These data show that hyperthermia significantly reduces the procoagulant effects of TNF on endothelial tissue compared to normothermia, which may have important clinical implications for the use of TNF in regional perfusion.

Induction of permeability across endothelial cell monolayers by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) occurs via a tissue factor-dependent mechanism: relationship between the procoagulant and permeability effects of TNF.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) has marked effects on permeability and procoagulant activity on tumor-associated neovasculature when used in isolation perfusion, the latter effect primarily mediated via induction of cell surface expression of tissue factor (TF) on endothelial tissue. However, the cellular events that result in rapid alterations in endothelial cell (EC) permeability after intravascular TNF administration in isolation perfusion are not well characterized. We demonstrate that short exposure intervals to TNF induces TF expression on ECs but has no effect on permeability as assessed by flux of Evans blue-bound albumin across confluent EC monolayers using a 2-compartment model under basal culture conditions. However, a rapid and significant increase in EC permeability occurred with TNF in the presence of factor VIII-deficient plasma. Permeability was induced only with luminal versus abluminal TNF exposure and was blocked by antithrombin III, TF pathway inhibitor, or anti-TF antibody cotreatment. These data indicate that EC surface expression of TF and extrinsic clotting factors are critical in augmenting capillary leak following intravascular TNF administration. Alterations in permeability were associated with intercellular gap formation at sites of down-regulation of vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin expression, the primary endothelial intercellular adhesion molecule, and intracellular contraction and alignment of F-actin cytoskeletal elements. Rapid induction of TF by TNF may be the primary EC response that results in alterations in permeability and procoagulant activity observed following intravascular TNF administration in isolation perfusion.

Gene-expression profiling of the response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and melanoma metastases to systemic IL-2 administration.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-2 (IL-2) has direct pluripotent effects on cells with immune and inflammatory function. Which of these effects has a critical role in mediating tumor regression remains enigmatic. In this study, we compared early changes in transcriptional profiles of circulating mononuclear cells with those occurring within the microenvironment of melanoma metastases following systemic IL-2 administration. RESULTS: The results suggest that the immediate effects of IL-2 administration on the tumor microenvironment is transcriptional activation of genes predominantly associated with monocyte cell function; minimal effects were noted on migration, activation and proliferation of T cells. However, production of chemokines and markers of adhesion and migration within few hours of IL-2 administration may be responsible for a secondary recruitment of immune cells to the tumor site later. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that IL-2 induces inflammation at tumor sites with three predominant secondary effects: activation of antigen-presenting monocytes; massive production of chemoattractants that may recruit other immune cells to the tumor (including MIG and PARC, which are specific for T cells); and activation of cytolytic mechanisms in monocytes (calgranulin, grancalcin) and NK cells (NKG5, NK4).