Clinical Outcome and Treatment Sequences of Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Treated with Contemporary Chemotherapy Protocols.

INTRODUCTION: Systemic therapy is firmly established in patients with advanced or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Clinical efficacy is still modest and options are limited. Combination therapy protocols such as FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel (Gem/NP) define standard-of-care. Patients may receive a sequence of both regimens as first- and second-line palliative treatment. However, there is no guidance regarding a preferred order. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of clinical characteristics, treatment trajectories, and outcomes of patients with advanced PDAC treated at the West German Cancer Center Essen from 2014 to 2020 to inform treatment decisions with respect to predictive factors, impact of chemotherapy regimen sequence, and maintenance treatment. RESULTS: We identified 170 patients with available follow-up. Of those, 160 (94.1%) patients received palliative CTX for primary metastatic, locally advanced, or recurrent PDAC. Median progression-free survival (PFS) upon first palliative chemotherapy was 4.1 (3.1-5.9) months. First-line FOLFIRINOX was associated with superior PFS (median 6.3 months) and OS (9.7 months, HR 0.7, p = 0.03) as compared to Gem/NP or other regimens (PFS 3.0, OS 6.9 months). However, OS benefit of first-line FOLFIRINOX was lost in patients who received at least two treatment lines (median OS 12.1 vs. 13.1 months, p = 0.43). A landmark analysis of patients with clinical benefit (defined as CR/PR/SD for at least 20 weeks) upon first-line therapy revealed improved OS (HR 0.53, p = 0.02) for patients receiving continued deescalated maintenance therapy. Second-line regimens resulted in similar PFS (overall log-rank p = 0.92, median PFS upon second-line therapy 2.3 [1.8-2.9], per-regimen median between 1.8 and 3.9 months). A previously established systemic inflammation score proved to be strongly prognostic and allowed identification of a patient subgroup with dismal prognosis (OS 2.9 vs. 11.4 months, HR 5.23, p < 0.001), independent of other prognostic factors and with no relevant interaction with the choice of first-line regimen. CONCLUSION: In this real-world population of PDAC patients treated with contemporary combination chemotherapies, a positive impact of first-line FOLFIRINOX was only observed when no second or further line treatment was administered. Intensity-reduced maintenance therapy may lead to superior survival.

Preemptive tumor profiling for biomarker-stratified early clinical drug development in metastatic breast cancer patients.

Biomarker-stratified cancer pharmacotherapy was pioneered in the care of breast cancer patients. The utility of agents modulating hormone receptors, synthesis of steroid hormones, or HER2-targeting agents has been greatly enhanced by the detection of predictive biomarkers in diagnostic tumor samples. Based on deeper understanding of breast cancer biology multiple drug candidates have been developed to modulate additional molecular targets which may associate with specific biomarker profiles. Accordingly, exploratory biomarkers are increasingly incorporated in early clinical trials, thus demanding a new process of patient selection. Here, we describe the implementation of preemptive, multiplexed biomarker profiling linked to standard diagnostic algorithms for metastatic breast cancer patients treated at the West German Cancer Center. Profiling for experimental biomarkers was prospectively offered to patients with metastatic breast cancer who met generic clinical trial inclusion criteria. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples were retrieved and studied for potentially "actionable" biomarkers related to active clinical trials by immunohistochemistry, amplicon sequencing, and in situ hybridization. The clinical course of those "profiled" patients was closely monitored to offer trial participation whenever applicable. Here, we report results from the first 131 patients enrolled in this program. PIK3CA mutations (23 %) and amplifications (2 %), loss of PTEN expression (13 %), and FGFR1 amplifications (8 %) were detected next to established biomarkers such as estrogen (67 %) and progesterone receptor expression (52 %), and HER2 overexpression or amplification (23 %). So far 16 "profiled" patients (12 %) have been enrolled in biomarker-stratified early clinical trials. Preemptive profiling of investigational biomarkers can be integrated into the diagnostic algorithm of a large Comprehensive Cancer Center. Extensive administrative efforts are required to successfully enroll "profiled" patients with metastatic breast cancer in early clinical trials stratified by exploratory biomarkers.