Clinical Use of a Diagnostic Gene Expression Signature for Melanocytic Neoplasms.

A gene expression signature has been validated as an adjunct to traditional methods of differentiating malignant and benign melanocytic neoplasms, and its use in clinical practice warrants further study. This study followed patients whose melanocytic neoplasms were managed according to a benign result from the gene expression signature (N=25). Eligible patients whose tested lesions were classified as benign by the gene expression signature and were subsequently treated as benign by their dermatology providers were observed for a mean follow-up period of 38.5 months. Results suggest that many patients with melanocytic neoplasms classified as benign by the gene expression signature may safely forego additional surgical excision.

The EndoPredict score predicts response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and neoendocrine therapy in hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer patients from the ABCSG-34 trial.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NaCT) and neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) can reduce pre-operative tumour burden in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative early-stage breast cancer. This prospective translational study assessed the ability of a 12-gene molecular score (MS; EndoPredict®) to predict response to NaCT or NET within the ABCSG-34 trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative samples from patients in the ABCSG-34 randomized phase II trial were selected and EndoPredict testing was performed to generate a 12-gene MS. ABCSG-34 patients were assigned to receive either NaCT or NET based on menopausal status, HR expression, grade and Ki67. Response was measured by residual cancer burden (RCB). RESULTS: Patients selected for NaCT generally had high-risk disease by 12-gene MS (125/134), while slightly more patients treated with NET had low-risk disease (44/83). Low-risk NaCT-treated and high-risk NET-treated tumours responded poorly (NPV 100% [95% CI 66.4%-100%] and NPV 92.3% [95% CI 79.1%-98.4%], respectively]. The 12-gene MS significantly predicted treatment response for NaCT (AUC 0.736 [95% CI 0.63-0.84]) and NET (AUC 0.726 [95% CI 0.60-0.85]). CONCLUSIONS: The 12-gene MS predicted RCB after treatment with neoadjuvant therapies for patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer. Tumours with low MS were unlikely to benefit from NaCT, whereas a high MS predicted resistance to NET. This additional biologic information can aid personalized treatment selection in daily practice and builds a strong rationale to use EndoPredict in biomarker-driven studies in the neoadjuvant setting.

A phase I study of intratumoral ipilimumab and interleukin-2 in patients with advanced melanoma.

PURPOSE: Intratumoral interleukin-2 (IL-2) is effective but does not generate systemic immunity. Intravenous ipilimumab produces durable clinical response in a minority of patients, with potentially severe toxicities. Circulating anti-tumor T cells activated by ipilimumab may differ greatly from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes activated by intratumoral ipilimumab in phenotypes and functionality. The objective of this study was to primarily assess the safety of intratumoral ipilimumab/IL-2 combination and to obtain data on clinical efficacy. RESULTS: There was no dose limiting toxicity. While local response of injected lesions was observed in 67% patients (95% CI, 40%-93%), an abscopal response was seen in 89% (95% CI, 68%-100%). The overall response rate and clinical benefit rate by immune-related response criteria (irRC) was 40% (95% CI, 10%-70%) and 50% (95% CI, 19%-81%), respectively. Enhanced systemic immune response was observed in most patients and correlated with clinical responses. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Twelve patients with unresectable stages III/IV melanoma were enrolled. A standard 3+3 design was employed to assess highest tolerable intratumoral dose of ipilimumab and IL-2 based on toxicity during the first three weeks. Escalated doses of ipilimumab was injected into only one lesion weekly for eight weeks in cohorts of three patients. A fixed dose of IL-2 was injected three times a week into the same lesion for two weeks, followed by two times a week for six weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Intratumoral injection with the combination of ipilimumab/IL-2 is well tolerated and generates responses in both injected and non-injected lesions in the majority of patients.