Baseline gut microbiota predicts clinical response and colitis in metastatic melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab.

BACKGROUND: Ipilimumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting CTLA-4, prolongs survival in a subset of patients with metastatic melanoma (MM) but can induce immune-related adverse events, including enterocolitis. We hypothesized that baseline gut microbiota could predict ipilimumab anti-tumor response and/or intestinal toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-six patients with MM treated with ipilimumab were prospectively enrolled. Fecal microbiota composition was assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing at baseline and before each ipilimumab infusion. Patients were further clustered based on microbiota patterns. Peripheral blood lymphocytes immunophenotypes were studied in parallel. RESULTS: A distinct baseline gut microbiota composition was associated with both clinical response and colitis. Compared with patients whose baseline microbiota was driven by Bacteroides (cluster B, n = 10), patients whose baseline microbiota was enriched with Faecalibacterium genus and other Firmicutes (cluster A, n = 12) had longer progression-free survival (P = 0.0039) and overall survival (P = 0.051). Most of the baseline colitis-associated phylotypes were related to Firmicutes (e.g. relatives of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Gemmiger formicilis), whereas no colitis-related phylotypes were assigned to Bacteroidetes. A low proportion of peripheral blood regulatory T cells was associated with cluster A, long-term clinical benefit and colitis. Ipilimumab led to a higher inducible T-cell COStimulator induction on CD4+ T cells and to a higher increase in serum CD25 in patients who belonged to Faecalibacterium-driven cluster A. CONCLUSION: Baseline gut microbiota enriched with Faecalibacterium and other Firmicutes is associated with beneficial clinical response to ipilimumab and more frequent occurrence of ipilimumab-induced colitis.

Inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases associated with PD-1 blockade antibodies.

BACKGROUND: Immune check-point blockade agents have shown clinical activity in cancer patients but are associated with immune-related adverse events that could limit their development. The aim of this study was to describe the gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events (GI-irAE) in patients with cancer treated with anti-PD-1. METHODS: this is a retrospective study of consecutive adult patients who had a suspected GI-irAE due to anti-PD-1 antibodies between 2013 and 2016. Patients were recruited through a pharmacovigilance registry. Patients' data were reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee that included gastroenterologists, oncologists and a pathologist. Quantitative variables are described by median (range), qualitative variable by frequency (percentage). RESULTS: Forty-four patients were addressed to a Gastroenterology unit for a suspected GI-IrAE. Twenty patients had a confirmed GI-irAE related to anti-PD-1, which occurred 4.2 months (0.2; 22.1) after the initiation of anti-PD-1. GI-IrAE incidence rate under anti-PD-1 treatment was estimated to be 1.5%. Among patients with GI-IrAE, main symptoms were diarrhoea (n = 16, 80%), abdominal pain (n = 13, 65%), nausea and vomiting (n = 11, 55%), intestinal obstruction (n = 1, 5%), and haematochezia (n = 2, 10%). No patient had colectomy. Four distinct categories of GI-irAE were observed: acute colitis (n = 8, 40%), microscopic colitis (n = 7, 35%), upper gastrointestinal tract inflammation (n = 4, 20%) and pseudo-obstruction (n = 1, 5%). Response rates to corticosteroids were 87.5% (7/8) in acute colitis, 57% (4/7) in microscopic colitis and 75% (3/4) in upper gastrointestinal tract inflammation. Median time to resolution was 36 days (6-172) in acute colitis, and 98 days (42-226) in microscopic colitis. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that GI-irAE are different and less frequent with anti PD-1 than with anti CTLA-4.

Triplet chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab as first line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer: An AGEO multicenter real-world study.

BACKGROUND: Prior trials validated triplet chemotherapy (Tri-CT) with bevacizumab as first line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) but real-world data are scarce and practices remain heterogeneous. AIMS: To evaluate Tri-CT +/- bevacizumab efficacy and safety, and to identify factors influencing treatment decisions. METHODS: The COLOTRIP retrospective study enrolled mCRC patients treated from 2014 to 2019 in 14 French centers. RESULTS: Of 299 patients (81% PS 0-1, 58% RAS-mutated and 19% BRAF-mutated), 51% received Tri-CT and 49% Tri-CT + bevacizumab. Metastatic disease was classified as resectable (6.5%), potentially resectable (40%), and unresectable (54%). Bevacizumab use was associated with primary tumor location, mutational status and number of metastases. Median overall survival was 33.5 months in the Tri-CT group and 23.9 months in the Tri-CT + bevacizumab group, with median progression-free survival being 14.5 and 11.4 months. After adjusting for initial characteristics, no difference in survival was noted. Around 30% of patients experienced grade ≥3 adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights several factors influencing Tri-CT use +/- bevacizumab decision and confirms the real-world good oncological outcomes and tolerability of these regimens in mCRC patients. Our results suggest that Tri-CT alone may by an appropriate option for specific subgroups of patients.

Advanced oesophago-gastric adenocarcinoma in older patients in the era of immunotherapy. A review of the literature.

Gastric (G) and gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinomas are of the most common and deadly cancers worldwide and affect mainly patients over 70 years at diagnosis. Older age has been associated in gastric cancers with distal tumour location, well-differentiated adenocarcinoma and microsatellite instability and is not identified itself as an independent prognostic factor. As immune checkpoint inhibitors recently changed the landmark of advanced G and GEJ adenocarcinomas treatment, we decided to perform a literature review to define the evidence-level of clinical data in older patients. This work underlined the lasting low -inclusion rate of older patients and -implementation rate of frailty screening tools in clinical trials in G/GEJ carcinomas. In the first-line metastatic setting, two prospective randomized phase III studies have specifically assessed the efficacy of chemotherapy in older patients with HER2-negative gastric cancers, demonstrating the feasibility of reduced dose oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy regimen in this population. Only few data are available in HER2-positive tumors, or in the second-line setting. Furthermore, no specific trial with immune checkpoint inhibitors was performed in older frail patients whereas their benefit/adverse events ratio make them attractive candidates in this patient's population. We conclude that older fit patients can be treated in the same way as younger ones and included in clinical trials. Improving the outcome of older frail patients should be the oncology community next focus by implementing targeted interventions before initiating cancer therapy and designing specific clinical trials. Frailty screening tools and geriatric data collection have to be implemented in routine-practice and clinical trials.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment of a first cancer is associated with a decreased incidence of second primary cancer.

BACKGROUND: Second primary cancers (SPCs) are diagnosed in over 5% of patients after a first primary cancer (FPC). We explore here the impact of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) given for an FPC on the risk of SPC in different age groups, cancer types and treatments. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The files of the 46 829 patients diagnosed with an FPC in the Centre Léon Bérard from 2013 to 2018 were analyzed. Structured data were extracted and electronic patient records were screened using a natural language processing tool, with validation using manual screening of 2818 files of patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the incidence of SPC according to patient characteristics and treatment were conducted. RESULTS: Among the 46 829 patients, 1830 (3.9%) had a diagnosis of SPC with a median interval of 11.1 months (range 0-78 months); 18 128 (38.7%) received cytotoxic chemotherapy (CC) and 1163 (2.5%) received ICIs for the treatment of the FPC in this period. SPCs were observed in 7/1163 (0.6%) patients who had received ICIs for their FPC versus 437/16 997 (2.6%) patients receiving CC and no ICIs for the FPC versus 1386/28 669 (4.8%) for patients receiving neither CC nor ICIs for the FPC. This reduction was observed at all ages and for all histotypes analyzed. Treatment with ICIs and/or CC for the FPC are associated with a reduced risk of SPC in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Immunotherapy with ICIs alone and in combination with CC was found to be associated with a reduced incidence of SPC for all ages and cancer types.

Immunotherapy in advanced gastric cancer, is it the future?

The prognosis of advanced gastric cancer remains extremely poor despite the use of standard therapies such as chemotherapy and biological agents. Blocking immune checkpoint especially programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1 or B7-H1), has proven efficacy in several solid cancers, and seems to become a potential option in gastric cancer treatment. This review will focus on data describing the immune microenvironment of gastric tumors on which blocking PD-1/PD-L1 axis may have an anti-tumor efficacy. Then, the encouraging results of clinical trials evaluating anti-PD-1/PD-L1-based therapeutic strategy in first or later-line settings will be discuss. Finally, clinical outcomes according to PD-L1 expression, mismatch repair phenotype and other potential predictive biomarkers of anti-tumor response will be described. Altogether, immunotherapy seems promising in advanced gastric cancer in monotherapy or in combining strategies probably for a specific subgroup of patients who need to be better identified.

Cancer Immunotherapy with Anti-CTLA-4 Monoclonal Antibodies Induces an Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic monoclonal anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) antibodies are associated with immune-mediated enterocolitis. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of this entity. METHODS: We included patients with endoscopic signs of inflammation after anti-CTLA-4 infusions for cancer treatment. Other causes of enterocolitis were excluded. Clinical, biological and endoscopic data were recorded. A single pathologist reviewed endoscopic biopsies and colectomy specimens from 27 patients. Patients with and without enterocolitis after ipilimumab-treated melanoma were compared, to identify clinical factors associated with enterocolitis. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients with anti-CTLA-4 enterocolitis were included (ipilimumab n = 37; tremelimumab n = 2). The most frequent symptom was diarrhoea. Ten patients had extra-intestinal manifestations. Most colonoscopies showed ulcerations involving the rectum and sigmoid, 66% of patients had extensive colitis, 55% had patchy distribution and 20% had ileal inflammation. Endoscopic colonic biopsies showed acute colitis in most patients, while half of the patients had chronic duodenitis. Thirty-five patients received steroids that led to complete clinical remission in 13 patients (37%). Twelve patients required infliximab, of whom 10 (83%) responded. Six patients underwent colectomy (perforation n = 5; toxic megacolon n = 1); one of them died postoperatively. Four patients had a persistent enterocolitis at follow-up colonoscopy. Patients with enterocolitis were more frequently prescribed NSAIDs compared with patients without enterocolitis (31 vs 5%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Ipilimumab and tremelimumab may induce a severe and extensive form of inflammatory bowel disease. Rapid escalation to infliximab should be advocated in patients who do not respond to steroids. Patients treated with anti-CTLA-4 should be advised to avoid NSAIDs.

Association Between Infliximab Trough Levels and the Occurrence of Paradoxical Manifestations in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: a Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Anti-tumour necrosis factor [TNF] agents have dramatically improved the prognosis of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. However, despite their good safety profile, use of these agents may lead to paradoxical manifestations involving skin or joints. Pathogenesis of such side effects is poorly understood and may involve anti-TNF pharmacokinetics. The aim of the present study was to look for an association between infliximab trough levels [ITL] and cutaneous [CPM] or rheumatological [RPM] paradoxical manifestations. METHODS: IBD patients receiving infliximab as maintenance therapy were included in a cross-sectional prospective monocentre study. At inclusion, patients had an ITL measurement [LISA-TRACKER®, Biomedical Diagnostics BMD] and were assessed for paradoxical manifestations: a CPM was defined by new onset or exacerbation of pre-existing psoriasis lesions during IFX therapy, and an RPM by new onset of severe poly-arthralgia during IFX therapy. RESULTS: Among the 121 patients included [69 female; median age: 38.9 years; 92 with Crohn's disease], 7% had CPM and 8% RPM. Median ITL values were 5.87 [range: 0.52-19.53] µg/ml in patients with CPM and 1.90 [0.00-13.5] µg/ml in those with RPM, as compared respectively with 5.12 [0.00-49.12] µg/ml in patients without CPM [p = 0.56] and 5.57 [0.00-49.12] µg/ml in those without RPM [p = 0.058]. No prognostic factor was associated with CPM. The single factor associated with RPM was elevated antinuclear antibodies. CONCLUSION: ITL were not elevated in IBD patients developing cutaneous or rheumatological paradoxical manifestations when receiving IFX as maintenance therapy. As suggested by the high level of antinuclear antibodies, RPM could be related to an induced autoimmune disorder.