Prognostic value of total metabolic tumour volume and therapy-response assessment by [18F]FDG PET/CT in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with BRAF/MEK inhibitors.

OBJECTIVES: Target therapy with BRAF/MEK inhibitors in metastatic melanoma is characterised by a high response rate; however, acquired resistance to treatment develops in many cases. We aimed to investigate if baseline total metabolic tumour volume (TMTV) and therapy-response assessment by [18F]FDG PET/CT have a prognostic role on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic melanoma receiving BRAF ± MEK inhibitors. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients who performed an [18F]FDG PET/CT at baseline and on treatment were retrospectively evaluated. A Cox proportional-hazard model was used to examine associations between OS and PFS with baseline clinical/PET parameters as well as for PET response. RESULTS: According to EORTC criteria, 34 patients were classified as responders (partial/complete metabolic response [PMR/CMR]) and 23 as non-responders (progressive/stable metabolic disease [PMD/SMD]). Baseline characteristics associated with a shorter PFS were more than two metastatic organ sites and TMTV > 56 cm3; the latter was the only independent feature at multivariate analysis. Patients achieving a CMR were associated with a prolonged PFS compared with those with PMR (median PFS 42.9 vs 8.8 months; p = 0.009). Disease progression occurred in new-onset disease sites in 87.5% of CMR, 7.1% of PMR and 34.8% of PMD/SMD (p < 0.001). High baseline TMTV and lack of treatment response were independent prognostic factors for OS, stratifying patients in three different prognostic classes (median OS 6.7, 18.3 and 102.2 months, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Baseline TMTV and metabolic response may be useful prognostic indicators for PFS and OS in patients with advanced melanoma treated with BRAF/MEK inhibitors. KEY POINTS: • In a retrospective cohort of 57 metastatic melanoma patients treated with BRAF/MEK inhibitors, a TMTV > 56 cm3 at baseline [18F]FDG PET/CT was significantly correlated with a shorter PFS and OS. • The combined use of baseline TMTV along with PET response during treatment allowed for the identification of three groups of patients with very different median OS.

Malignant Transformation of Giant Cell Tumour of Bone: A Review of Literature and the Experience of a Referral Centre.

Giant cell tumour of bone (GCTB) is a benign, locally aggressive primary bone neoplasm that represents 5% of all bone tumours. The principal treatment approach is surgery. Although generally GCTB is considered only a locally aggressive disease, it can metastasise, and lung metastases occur in 1-9% of patients. To date, only the use of denosumab has been approved as medical treatment for GCTB. Even more rarely, GCTB undergoes sarcomatous transformation into a malignant tumour (4% of all GCTB), but history of this malignant transformation is unclear and unpredictable. Considering the rarity of the event, the data in the literature are few. In this review, we summarise published data of GCTB malignant transformation and we analyse three cases of malignant transformation of GCTB, evaluating histopathology, genetics, and radiological aspects. Despite the rarity of this event, we conclude that a strict follow up is recommended to detect early malignant transformation.

Palbociclib plus letrozole induces a complete metabolic response in metastatic breast cancer patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenia.

Breast cancer is still the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women aged 20-59 and metastatic breast cancer remains an incurable disease. The therapeutic paradigm of patients with HR-positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer has been expanded by the introduction of the inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4/6. Three compounds, palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib, have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use together with endocrine therapy; abemaciclib is also approved as a single agent. In the first-line setting, all three agents - together with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) - substantially prolonged progression-free survival. Hematologic toxicities are the most common adverse events associated with CDK4/6i, mainly with palbociclib and ribociclib. Due to the hematologic toxicity, the prescribing information of palbociclib (P) recommends monitoring complete blood counts before starting therapy and at the beginning of each cycle, as well as on day 15 of the first 2 cycles. However, there are no guidelines regarding the management of patients candidate to CDK4/6i who have bone marrow impairment. Neutropenia frequently occurs during the treatment with P, whereas thrombocytopenia represents a rare event. We here report a case of a 60-year-old woman with idiopathic thrombocytopenia treated with P plus letrozole, who presented a metabolic complete response.

Rapid decline of humoral response to two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine in patients with solid cancer after six months: The urgent need of the additional dose!

INTRODUCTION: We previously reported on the immunogenicity and safety of BNT162b2 in a large cohort of patients with cancer after the first and second doses (Di Noia et al., 2021) [1]. Herein, we present result after six months of follow-up. METHODS: This prospective study included patients affected by solid tumors and afferent to our institution who received two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine. A cohort of vaccinated healthcare workers (HCW) was used as control-group. Both cohorts were evaluated for the titer of anti-Spike (S) IgG at prefixed time-points (TPs). Time-point 4 was scheduled at 24-26 weeks after the second dose. RESULTS: In the current analysis, 400 patients and 232 healthcare workers were evaluated. Responders (IgG > 15 AU/mL) in patients group were 86.5% compared with 94.4% among healthcare workers. Also the IgG titer at TP4 was significantly inferior in patients than in healthcare workers (70.81 vs 134.64 AU/ml, p < 0.001). There was a more rapid decline of the antibody level from TP3 to TP4 in patients than in healthcare workers (1.78 vs 1.3 fold). The estimated IgG half-life was significantly shorter for patients (73 days) than in healthcare workers (118 days) as well as the time to reach negative serological status (340 vs 532 days). CONCLUSION: The decline of humoral response to the vaccine observed in patients with solid cancer after six months from the first dose support the urgent need of an early additional dose.

Exploring CT Texture Parameters as Predictive and Response Imaging Biomarkers of Survival in Patients With Metastatic Melanoma Treated With PD-1 Inhibitor Nivolumab: A Pilot Study Using a Delta-Radiomics Approach.

In the era of artificial intelligence and precision medicine, the use of quantitative imaging methodological approaches could improve the cancer patient's therapeutic approaches. Specifically, our pilot study aims to explore whether CT texture features on both baseline and first post-treatment contrast-enhanced CT may act as a predictor of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in metastatic melanoma (MM) patients treated with the PD-1 inhibitor Nivolumab. Ninety-four lesions from 32 patients treated with Nivolumab were analyzed. Manual segmentation was performed using a free-hand polygon approach by drawing a region of interest (ROI) around each target lesion (up to five lesions were selected per patient according to RECIST 1.1). Filtration-histogram-based texture analysis was employed using a commercially available research software called TexRAD (Feedback Medical Ltd, London, UK; https://fbkmed.com/texrad-landing-2/) Percentage changes in texture features were calculated to perform delta-radiomics analysis. Texture feature kurtosis at fine and medium filter scale predicted OS and PFS. A higher kurtosis is correlated with good prognosis; kurtosis values greater than 1.11 for SSF = 2 and 1.20 for SSF = 3 were indicators of higher OS (fine texture: 192 HR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.32-0.96, p = 0.03; medium texture: HR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.29-0.99, p = 0.04) and PFS (fine texture: HR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.29-0.95, p = 0.03; medium texture: HR = 0.49, 209 95% CI = 0.25-0.96, p = 0.03). In delta-radiomics analysis, the entropy percentage variation correlated with OS and PFS. Increasing entropy indicates a worse outcome. An entropy variation greater than 5% was an indicator of bad prognosis. CT delta-texture analysis quantified as entropy predicted OS and PFS. Baseline CT texture quantified as kurtosis also predicted survival baseline. Further studies with larger cohorts are mandatory to confirm these promising exploratory results.

The first report on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine refusal by patients with solid cancer in Italy: Early data from a single-institute survey.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with cancer have an increased risk of complications from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, including death, and thus, they were considered as high-priority subjects for COVID-19 vaccination. We report on the compliance with the COVID-19 vaccine of patients affected by solid tumours. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with cancer afferent to Medical Oncology 1 Unit of Regina Elena National Cancer Institute in Rome were considered eligible for vaccination if they were receiving systemic immunosuppressive antitumor treatment or received it in the last 6 months or having an uncontrolled advanced disease. The Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine was proposed to all candidates via phone or during a scheduled visit. The reasons for refusal were collected by administrating a 6-item multiple-choice questionnaire. RESULTS: From 1st March to 20th March 2021, of 914 eligible patients, 102 refused vaccination (11.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 9.1-13.2). The most frequent (>10%) reasons reported were concerns about vaccine-related adverse events (48.1%), negative interaction with concomitant antitumor therapy (26.7%), and the fear of allergic reaction (10.7%). The refusal rate (RR) after 15th March (date of AstraZeneca-AZD1222 suspension) was more than doubled compared with the RR observed before (19.7% versus 8.6%, odds ratio [OR] 2.60, 95% CI 1.69-3.99; P < 0.0001). ECOG-PS 2 was associated with higher RR compared with ECOG-PS 0-1 (OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.04-8.34; P = 0.04). No statistically significant differences in RR according to other clinical characteristics were found. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience represents the first worldwide report on the adherence of patients with cancer to COVID-19 vaccination and underlines how regulatory decisions and media news spreading could influence the success of the campaign.

Immunogenicity and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccine BNT162b2 for Patients with Solid Cancer: A Large Cohort Prospective Study from a Single Institution.

PURPOSE: We assessed the immunogenicity and safety of the BNT162b2 vaccine in a large cohort of patients with cancer (CP). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: From March 1, 2021 to March 20, 2021, this prospective cohort study included 816 CP afferent to our institution and eligible for the vaccination. A cohort of 274 health care workers (HCW) was used as age- and sex-matched control group. BNT162b2 was administered as a two-dose regimen given 21 days apart. Blood samples to analyze anti-Spike (S) IgG antibodies (Ab) were collected prevaccination [timepoint (TP) 0], and at 3 weeks (TP1) and 7 weeks (TP2) after the first dose. RESULTS: Patients characteristics: median age 62 (range, 21-97); breast/lung cancer/others (31/21/48%); active treatment/follow-up (90/10%). In the whole CP cohort, the serologic response rate (RR) and the titre of anti-S IgG significantly increased across the TPs; at TP2, the responders (IgG >15 AU/mL) were 94.2%. Active chemotherapy and chronic use of steroids were independent predictors of lower RR. Adverse events (AE) after the booster predicted higher likelihood of response (OR, 4.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.63-9.99; P = 0.003). Comparing the matched cohorts, the responders were significantly lower in CP than in HCW at TP1 (61.2% vs. 93.2%) and TP2 (93.3% vs. 100%), while the geometric mean concentration of IgG did not significantly differ at TP2 being significantly lower in CP (23.3) than in HCW (52.1) at TP1. BNT162b2 was well tolerated in CP; severe-grade AEs were 3.5% and 1.3% after the first and second doses, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: BNT162b2 assures serologic immunization without clinically significant toxicity in CP. The second dose is needed to reach a satisfactory humoral response.

Chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer patients after prior immunotherapy: The multicenter retrospective CLARITY study.

OBJECTIVES: In the most of cases, for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who progressed to previous immune checkpoint inhibitors (CKI) administered as first- or as second-line therapy, chemotherapy (CT) remains the only viable options in the absence of "druggable" mutations. We aimed to explore the efficacy of salvage chemotherapy after immunotherapy (SCAI) in advanced NSCLC patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed a retrospective, multicenter study, involving 20 Italian centers, with the primary objective of describing the clinical outcome of advanced NSCLC patients treated with SCAI at the participating institutions from November 2013 to July 2019. The primary endpoint of the study was represented by overall survival (OS), defined as the time from CT initiation to death. Secondary outcome endpoints of the SCAI (progression free survival, PFS, objective response rate, ORR and toxicity) and explorative biomarkers (lactate dehydrogenase, LDH, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, NLR during immunotherapy) were also analyzed. RESULTS: In our study population of 342 NSCLC patients, SCAI obtained a median OS of 6.8 months (95 % confidence interval, CI 5.5-8.1), median PFS of 4.1 months (95 % CI 3.4-4.8) and ORR of 22.8 %. A "Post-CKI score" was constructed by combining significant predictors of OS at the multivariate analyses (sex, ECOG PS, disease control with prior immunotherapy), Harrell'C was 0.65, (95 % CI:0.59-0.71). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the late-line settings, our findings support the hypothesis that previous immunotherapy might increase the sensitivity of the tumor to the subsequent chemotherapy. The "Post-CKI score" was clinically effective in successfully discriminating three distinct prognostic subgroups of patients after the failure of CKI, representing a possibly useful tool for the tailored decision-making process of advanced treatment-line settings in NSCLC.