MGMT promoter methylation in 1p19q-intact gliomas.

OBJECTIVE: Standard-of-care for 1p19q-intact anaplastic gliomas is defined by the international randomized phase III CATNON trial, which found an overall survival (OS) benefit for adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) when added to radiotherapy. Paradoxically, TMZ did not appear to benefit patients with IDH-wildtype gliomas, regardless of MGMT promoter status. The authors concluded that well-powered prospective study on the clinical efficacy of TMZ for patients with IDH-wildtype anaplastic gliomas (meeting criteria for glioblastoma) is warranted. Given that the prognostic and predictive role of MGMT status for grade 2-3 gliomas is unresolved, we determined the effect of MGMT status on OS in patients with 1p19q-intact gliomas in the National Cancer Database (NCDB). METHODS: We queried the NCDB from 2018 to 2019 for patients with diffuse (grade 2) and anaplastic (grade 3) IDH-wildtype or -mutant astrocytomas who received chemotherapy with follow-up through 2022. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regressions models were used to determine the association of MGMT with OS. RESULTS: We identified 1514 patients who were newly diagnosed with IDH-wildtype (n = 802, 33% methylated) or -mutant astrocytomas (n = 712, 48% methylated) and received chemotherapy during initial management. An unmethylated promoter was associated with poorer survival in patients with IDH-wildtype (3-year OS 34% [95%CI 29-39%] vs. 46% [95%CI 39-54%], p < .001, adjusted HR 1.53 [95%CI 1.24-1.89]) but not IDH-mutant astrocytomas (3-year OS 79% [95%CI 74-84%] vs. 80% [95%CI 75-86%], p =0 .81, HR 1.04 [95%CI 0.73-1.50]). CONCLUSIONS: This ancillary analysis supports conclusions from the CATNON trial for adjuvant TMZ as standard-of-care for anaplastic astrocytomas (IDH-mutant and 1p19q-intact), irrespective of MGMT status. Determining the optimal strategy for diffuse gliomas that are IDH-wildtype will be particularly important. MGMT promoter methylation should be considered as a stratification factor in future clinical trials for these patients.

Chronic convection-enhanced delivery of topotecan for patients with recurrent glioblastoma: a first-in-patient, single-centre, single-arm, phase 1b trial.

BACKGROUND: Topotecan is cytotoxic to glioma cells but is clinically ineffective because of drug delivery limitations. Systemic delivery is limited by toxicity and insufficient brain penetrance, and, to date, convection-enhanced delivery (CED) has been restricted to a single treatment of restricted duration. To address this problem, we engineered a subcutaneously implanted catheter-pump system capable of repeated, chronic (prolonged, pulsatile) CED of topotecan into the brain and tested its safety and biological effects in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. METHODS: We did a single-centre, open-label, single-arm, phase 1b clinical trial at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (New York, NY, USA). Eligible patients were at least 18 years of age with solitary, histologically confirmed recurrent glioblastoma showing radiographic progression after surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, and a Karnofsky Performance Status of at least 70. Five patients had catheters stereotactically implanted into the glioma-infiltrated peritumoural brain and connected to subcutaneously implanted pumps that infused 146 µM topotecan 200 µL/h for 48 h, followed by a 5-7-day washout period before the next infusion, with four total infusions. After the fourth infusion, the pump was removed and the tumour was resected. The primary endpoint of the study was safety of the treatment regimen as defined by presence of serious adverse events. Analyses were done in all treated patients. The trial is closed, and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03154996. FINDINGS: Between Jan 22, 2018, and July 8, 2019, chronic CED of topotecan was successfully completed safely in all five patients, and was well tolerated without substantial complications. The only grade 3 adverse event related to treatment was intraoperative supplemental motor area syndrome (one [20%] of five patients in the treatment group), and there were no grade 4 adverse events. Other serious adverse events were related to surgical resection and not the study treatment. Median follow-up was 12 months (IQR 10-17) from pump explant. Post-treatment tissue analysis showed that topotecan significantly reduced proliferating tumour cells in all five patients. INTERPRETATION: In this small patient cohort, we showed that chronic CED of topotecan is a potentially safe and active therapy for recurrent glioblastoma. Our analysis provided a unique tissue-based assessment of treatment response without the need for large patient numbers. This novel delivery of topotecan overcomes limitations in delivery and treatment response assessment for patients with glioblastoma and could be applicable for other anti-glioma drugs or other CNS diseases. Further studies are warranted to determine the effect of this drug delivery approach on clinical outcomes. FUNDING: US National Institutes of Health, The William Rhodes and Louise Tilzer Rhodes Center for Glioblastoma, the Michael Weiner Glioblastoma Research Into Treatment Fund, the Gary and Yael Fegel Foundation, and The Khatib Foundation.

Surgery plus adjuvant radiotherapy for primary central nervous system lymphoma.

Objective: Recent studies of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) have found a positive association between cytoreductive surgery and survival, challenging the traditional notion that surgery is not beneficial and potentially harmful. However, no studies have examined the potential added benefits of adjuvant treatment in the post-operative setting. Here, we investigate survival in PCNSL patients treated with surgery plus radiation therapy (RT).Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results Program was used to identify patients with PCNSL from 1995-2013. We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between treatment, prognostic factors, and survival using case-control design. Treatment categories were compared to biopsy alone.Results: We identified 5417 cases. Median survival times for biopsy alone (n = 1824, 34%), biopsy + RT (n = 1460, 27%), surgery alone (n = 1222, 27%), and surgery + RT (n = 911, 17%) were 7, 8, 20, and 27 months, respectively. On multivariable analysis, surgery + RT was associated with improved survival over surgery alone (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.58 [95% confidence interval = 0.53-0.64] vs. HR = 0.71 [0.65-0.77]). Adjuvant RT was associated with improved survival, regardless of the extent of resection. HR's for subtotal resection, gross-total resection, subtotal resection + RT, and gross-total resection + RT were 0.77 (0.66-0.89), 0.66 (0.57-0.76), 0.62 (0.52-0.72), and 0.54 (0.46-0.63), respectively. Survival improved after adjuvant RT in patients under and over 60 years old. All findings were confirmed by multivariable analysis of cause-specific survival.Conclusion: Adjuvant RT was associated with improved survival in PCNSL patients who underwent surgery. Although these data are hypothesis-generating, additional information on neurotoxicity, dosing, and concurrent chemotherapy will be necessary to validate these findings. Cytoreductive surgery for PCNSL is common in the general population, and more studies are needed to assess optimal treatment in the post-operative setting.

PD-1 blockade with nivolumab in relapsed/refractory primary central nervous system and testicular lymphoma.

Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma (PCNSL) and primary testicular lymphoma (PTL) are rare extranodal large B-cell lymphomas with similar genetic signatures. There are no standard-of-care treatment options for patients with relapsed and refractory PCNSL and PTL, and the overall prognosis is poor. PCNSLs and PTLs exhibit frequent 9p24.1 copy-number alterations and infrequent translocations of 9p24.1 and associated increased expression of the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2. The activity of PD-1 blockade in other lymphomas with 9p24.1 alterations prompted us to test the efficacy of the anti-PD1 antibody, nivolumab, in 4 patients with relapsed/refractory PCNSL and 1 patient with CNS relapse of PTL. All 5 patients had clinical and radiographic responses to PD-1 blockade, and 3 patients remain progression-free at 13+ to 17+ months. Our data suggest that nivolumab is active in relapsed/refractory PCNSL and PTL and support further investigation of PD-1 blockade in these diseases.

First results on survival from a large Phase 3 clinical trial of an autologous dendritic cell vaccine in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

BACKGROUND: Standard therapy for glioblastoma includes surgery, radiotherapy, and temozolomide. This Phase 3 trial evaluates the addition of an autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell vaccine (DCVax®-L) to standard therapy for newly diagnosed glioblastoma. METHODS: After surgery and chemoradiotherapy, patients were randomized (2:1) to receive temozolomide plus DCVax-L (n = 232) or temozolomide and placebo (n = 99). Following recurrence, all patients were allowed to receive DCVax-L, without unblinding. The primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS); the secondary endpoint was overall survival (OS). RESULTS: For the intent-to-treat (ITT) population (n = 331), median OS (mOS) was 23.1 months from surgery. Because of the cross-over trial design, nearly 90% of the ITT population received DCVax-L. For patients with methylated MGMT (n = 131), mOS was 34.7 months from surgery, with a 3-year survival of 46.4%. As of this analysis, 223 patients are ≥ 30 months past their surgery date; 67 of these (30.0%) have lived ≥ 30 months and have a Kaplan-Meier (KM)-derived mOS of 46.5 months. 182 patients are ≥ 36 months past surgery; 44 of these (24.2%) have lived ≥ 36 months and have a KM-derived mOS of 88.2 months. A population of extended survivors (n = 100) with mOS of 40.5 months, not explained by known prognostic factors, will be analyzed further. Only 2.1% of ITT patients (n = 7) had a grade 3 or 4 adverse event that was deemed at least possibly related to the vaccine. Overall adverse events with DCVax were comparable to standard therapy alone. CONCLUSIONS: Addition of DCVax-L to standard therapy is feasible and safe in glioblastoma patients, and may extend survival. Trial registration Funded by Northwest Biotherapeutics; Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT00045968; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00045968?term=NCT00045968&rank=1 ; initially registered 19 September 2002.

Correction to: First results on survival from a large Phase 3 clinical trial of an autologous dendritic cell vaccine in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported an error in the spelling of one of the author names. In this Correction the incorrect and correct author names are indicated and the author name has been updated in the original publication. The authors also reported an error in the Methods section of the original article. In this Correction the incorrect and correct versions of the affected sentence are indicated. The original article has not been updated with regards to the error in the Methods section.

Clinical and molecular characteristics of gliosarcoma and modern prognostic significance relative to conventional glioblastoma.

Gliosarcoma is a rare histopathologic variant of glioblastoma traditionally associated with a poor prognosis. While gliosarcoma may represent a distinct clinical entity given its unique histologic composition and molecular features, its relative prognostic significance remains uncertain. While treatment of gliosarcoma generally encompasses the same standardized approach used in glioblastoma, supporting evidence is limited given its rarity. Here, we characterized 32 cases of gliosarcoma and retrospectively evaluated survival relative to 451 glioblastoma patients diagnosed during the same era within the same institution. Overall, we identified 22 primary gliosarcomas, representing 4.7% of WHO Grade IV primary glioblastomas, and 10 secondary gliosarcomas. With median age of 62, patients were predominately Caucasian (87.5%) and male (65.6%). Tumors with available molecular profiling were primarily MGMT-unmethylated (87.5%), IDH-1-preserved (100%) and EGFR wild-type (100%). Interestingly, while no significant median survival difference between primary gliosarcoma and glioblastoma was observed across the entire cohort (11.0 vs. 14.8 months, p = 0.269), median survival was worse for gliosarcoma specifically among patients who received modern temozolomide-based (TMZ) chemoradiotherapy (11.0 vs. 17.3 months, p = 0.006). Matched-pair analysis also trended toward worse median survival among gliosarcomas (11.0 vs. 19.6 months, log-rank p = 0.177, Breslow p = 0.010). While adjuvant radiotherapy (HR 0.206, p = 0.035) and TMZ-based chemotherapy (HR 0.531, p = 0.000) appeared protective, gliosarcoma emerged as a significantly poor prognostic factor on multivariate analysis (HR 3.27, p = 0.012). Collectively, our results suggest that gliosarcoma may still portend worse prognosis even with modern trimodality therapy.

A phase II trial of enzastaurin (LY317615) in combination with bevacizumab in adults with recurrent malignant gliomas.

We evaluated the efficacy of combination enzastaurin (LY317615) and bevacizumab for recurrent malignant gliomas and explored serologic correlates. We enrolled 81 patients with glioblastomas (GBM, n = 40) and anaplastic gliomas (AG, n = 41). Patients received enzastaurin as a loading dose of 1125 mg, followed by 500 or 875 mg daily for patients on non-enzyme-inducing or enzyme-inducing antiepileptics, respectively. Patients received bevacizumab 10 mg/kg intravenously biweekly. Clinical evaluations were repeated every 4 weeks. Magnetic resonance imaging was obtained at baseline and every 8 weeks from treatment onset. Phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 levels from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were checked with each MRI. Median overall survival was 7.5 and 12.4 months for glioblastomas and anaplastic glioma cohorts, with median progression-free survivals of 2.0 and 4.4 months, respectively. Of GBM patients, 3/40 (7.5 %) were not evaluable, while 8/37 (22 %) had partial or complete response and 20/37 (54 %) had stable disease for 2+ months. Of the 39 evaluable AG patients, 18 (46 %) had an objective response, and 16 (41 %) had stable disease for 2+ months. The most common grade 3+ toxicities were lymphopenia (15 %), hypophosphatemia (8.8 %) and thrombotic events (7.5 %). Two (2.5 %) GBM patients died suddenly; another death (1.3 %) occurred from intractable seizures. Phosphorylated GSK-3 levels from PBMCs did not correlate with treatment response. A minimally important improvement in health-related quality of life was self-reported in 7-9/24 (29.2-37.5 %). Early response based on Levin criteria was significantly associated with significantly longer progression free survival for glioblastomas. Enzastaurin (LY317615) in combination with bevacizumab for recurrent malignant gliomas is well-tolerated, with response and progression-free survival similar to bevacizumab monotherapy.

NRG-BN002: Phase I Study of Ipilimumab, Nivolumab, and the Combination in Patients with Newly Diagnosed GBM.

BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have efficacy in several solid tumors but limited efficacy in glioblastoma (GBM). This study evaluated the safety of anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 ICIs alone or in combination in newly diagnosed GBM after completion of standard radiochemotherapy with the subsequent intent to test combinatorial ICIs in this setting. METHODS: The primary endpoint was dose limiting toxicity (DLT) for adults with unifocal, supratentorial newly diagnosed GBM after resection and chemoradiation. Ipilimumab and nivolumab were tested separately and in combination with a planned expansion cohort dependent upon DLT results. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients were enrolled at 9 institutions; 6 to each DLT assessment cohort and 14 to the expansion cohort. Median age: 55 years, 67.7% male, 83.9% white. Treatment was well tolerated with a 16% Grade 4 events; the combination did not have unexpectedly increased toxicity, with no Grade 5 events. One DLT was seen in each single-agent treatment; none were observed in the combination, leading to expanded accrual of the combined treatment. Median follow-up was 19.6 mo. For all patients receiving combination treatment, median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 20.7 mo. and 16.1 mo., respectively. CONCLUSIONS: IPI and NIVO are safe and tolerable with toxicities similar to those noted with other cancers when given in combination with adjuvant TMZ for newly diagnosed GBM. Combination IPI+NIVO is not substantially more toxic than single agents. These results support a subsequent efficacy trial to test the combination of ICIs in a phase II/III for patients with newly diagnosed GBM.

The IDH paradox: Meta-analysis of alkylating chemotherapy in IDH-wildtype and -mutant lower grade gliomas.

BACKGROUND: IDH-wildtype (-wt) status is a pre-requisite for the diagnosis of glioblastoma (GBM); however, IDH-wt gliomas with low grade or anaplastic morphology have historically been excluded from GBM trials and may represent a distinct prognostic entity. While alkylating agent chemotherapy improves overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for IDH-wt GBM and also IDH-mutant gliomas, irrespective of grade, the benefit for IDH-wt diffuse histologic lower grade gliomas is unclear. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials for World Health Organization (WHO) grade 2-3 gliomas (2009 to present) to determine the effect of alkylating chemotherapy on IDH-wt and -mutant gliomas using a random-effects model with inverse-variance pooling. RESULTS: We identified six trials with 1,204 patients (430 IDH-wt, 774 IDH-mutant) that evaluated alkylating chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone, allowing us to perform an analysis focused on the value of adding alkylating chemotherapy to radiotherapy. For patients with IDH-wt tumors, alkylating chemotherapy added to radiotherapy was associated with improved PFS (HR:0.77 [95%CI 0.62-0.97], P=.03) but not OS (HR:0.87 [95%CI 0.64-1.18], P=.17). For patients with IDH-mutant tumors, alkylating chemotherapy added to radiotherapy improved both OS (HR:0.52 [95%CI 0.42-0.64], P<.001) and PFS (HR=0.47 [95%CI 0.39-0.57], P<.001) compared to radiotherapy alone. The magnitude of benefit was similar for IDH-mutant gliomas with or without 1p19q-codeletion. CONCLUSIONS: Alkylating chemotherapy reduces mortality by 48% and progression by 53% for patients with IDH-mutant gliomas. Optimal management of IDH-wt diffuse histologic lower grade gliomas remains to be determined, as there is little evidence supporting an OS benefit from alkylating chemotherapy.

Continuous daily sunitinib for recurrent glioblastoma.

Bevacizumab ((BEV) has become a mainstay of treating recurrent glioblastoma, but eventual tumor resistance is expected. Targeting multiple growth-associated signaling pathways may result in more effective treatment than targeting VEGF alone. Patients with recurrent glioblastoma were stratified by prior BEV exposure and treated with sunitinib 37.5 mg daily in this phase II study. Response evaluations were performed at baseline and at the end of every 4 week cycle. Six-month progression-free survival (PFS6) was the primary endpoint for both arms of the study. Secondary endpoints included health related quality of life measures and FDG-PET correlatives with patient outcomes. Sixty-three patients were accrued to this study; thirty-two were BEV-naïve, 31 were BEV-resistant. PFS6 was 10.4 % [95 % CI 3.2-33.8] in the BEV-naïve cohort and 0 % in the BEV-resistant cohort. Median overall survival was 9.4 months [95 % CI 6.15-21.90] in the BEV-naïve cohort and 4.37 months [95 % CI 3.02-6.21] in the BEV-resistant cohort. 3/29 patients (10 %) of the BEV-naïve, and 0/27 BEV-resistant patients achieved radiographic response. Thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and neutropenia were the most common drug-associated adverse events and occurred with higher frequency than expected. Sunitinib treatment in BEV-naïve patients did not appear to affect outcomes with subsequent BEV therapy. Continuous daily sunitinib did not prolong progression-free survival in BEV-naïve nor BEV-resistant patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

MGMT promoter methylation in 1p19q-intact gliomas.

Objective: Standard-of-care for 1p19q-intact anaplastic gliomas is defined by the international randomized phase III CATNON trial, which found an overall survival (OS) benefit for adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) when added to radiotherapy. Paradoxically, TMZ did not appear to benefit patients with IDH-wildtype gliomas, regardless of MGMT promoter status. The authors concluded that well-powered prospective study on the clinical efficacy of TMZ for patients with IDH-wildtype anaplastic gliomas (meeting criteria for glioblastoma) is warranted. Given that the prognostic and predictive role of MGMT status for grade 2-3 gliomas is unresolved, we determined the effect of MGMT status on OS in patients with 1p19q-intact gliomas in the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Methods: We queried the NCDB from 2018-2019 for patients with IDH-wildtype or -mutant astrocytomas who received chemotherapy with follow-up through 2022. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regressions models were used to determine the association of MGMT with OS. Results: We identified 1,514 patients who were newly diagnosed with IDH-wildtype (n = 802, 33% methylated) or - mutant astrocytomas (n = 712, 48% methylated) and received chemotherapy during initial management. An unmethylated promoter was associated with poorer survival in patients with IDH-wildtype (3-year OS 34% [95%CI 29-39%] vs. 46% [95%CI 39-54%], p < .001, adjusted HR 1.53 [95%CI 1.24-1.89]) but not IDH-mutant astrocytomas (3-year OS 79% [95%CI 74-84%] vs. 80% [95%CI 75-86%], p = .81, HR 1.04 [95%CI 0.73-1.50]). Conclusions: This ancillary analysis supports adjuvant TMZ as standard-of-care for anaplastic astrocytomas (IDH-mutant and 1p19q-intact), irrespective of MGMT status. Determining the optimal strategy for diffuse gliomas that are IDH-wildtype will be particularly important. MGMT promoter methylation should be considered as a stratification factor in future clinical trials for these patients.

Association of MGMT Promoter Methylation With Survival in Low-grade and Anaplastic Gliomas After Alkylating Chemotherapy.

Importance: O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT [OMIM 156569]) promoter methylation (mMGMT) is predictive of response to alkylating chemotherapy for glioblastomas and is routinely used to guide treatment decisions. However, the utility of MGMT promoter status for low-grade and anaplastic gliomas remains unclear due to molecular heterogeneity and the lack of sufficiently large data sets. Objective: To evaluate the association of mMGMT for low-grade and anaplastic gliomas with chemotherapy response. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study aggregated grade II and III primary glioma data from 3 prospective cohort studies with patient data collected from August 13, 1995, to August 3, 2022, comprising 411 patients: MSK-IMPACT, EORTC (European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer) 26951, and Columbia University. Statistical analysis was performed from April 2022 to January 2023. Exposure: MGMT promoter methylation status. Main Outcomes and Measures: Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression modeling was used to assess the association of mMGMT status with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) after adjusting for age, sex, molecular class, grade, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Subgroups were stratified by treatment status and World Health Organization 2016 molecular classification. Results: A total of 411 patients (mean [SD] age, 44.1 [14.5] years; 283 men [58%]) met the inclusion criteria, 288 of whom received alkylating chemotherapy. MGMT promoter methylation was observed in 42% of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wild-type gliomas (56 of 135), 53% of IDH-mutant and non-codeleted gliomas (79 of 149), and 74% of IDH-mutant and 1p/19q-codeleted gliomas (94 of 127). Among patients who received chemotherapy, mMGMT was associated with improved PFS (median, 68 months [95% CI, 54-132 months] vs 30 months [95% CI, 15-54 months]; log-rank P < .001; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] for unmethylated MGMT, 1.95 [95% CI, 1.39-2.75]; P < .001) and OS (median, 137 months [95% CI, 104 months to not reached] vs 61 months [95% CI, 47-97 months]; log-rank P < .001; aHR, 1.65 [95% CI, 1.11-2.46]; P = .01). After adjusting for clinical factors, MGMT promoter status was associated with chemotherapy response in IDH-wild-type gliomas (aHR for PFS, 2.15 [95% CI, 1.26-3.66]; P = .005; aHR for OS, 1.69 [95% CI, 0.98-2.91]; P = .06) and IDH-mutant and codeleted gliomas (aHR for PFS, 2.99 [95% CI, 1.44-6.21]; P = .003; aHR for OS, 4.21 [95% CI, 1.25-14.2]; P = .02), but not IDH-mutant and non-codeleted gliomas (aHR for PFS, 1.19 [95% CI, 0.67-2.12]; P = .56; aHR for OS, 1.07 [95% CI, 0.54-2.12]; P = .85). Among patients who did not receive chemotherapy, mMGMT status was not associated with PFS or OS. Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that mMGMT is associated with response to alkylating chemotherapy for low-grade and anaplastic gliomas and may be considered as a stratification factor in future clinical trials of patients with IDH-wild-type and IDH-mutant and codeleted tumors.

MGMT Promoter Methylation Predicts Overall Survival after Chemotherapy for 1p/19q-Codeleted Gliomas.

PURPOSE: While MGMT promoter methylation (mMGMT) is predictive of response to alkylating chemotherapy and guides treatment decisions in glioblastoma, its role in grade 2 and 3 glioma remains unclear. Recent data suggest that mMGMT is prognostic of progression-free survival in 1p/19q-codeleted oligodendrogliomas, but an effect on overall survival (OS) has not been demonstrated. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We identified patients with newly diagnosed 1p/19q-codeleted gliomas and known MGMT promoter status in the National Cancer Database from 2010 to 2019. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression modeling was used to assess the effect of mMGMT on OS after adjusting for age, sex, race, comorbidity, grade, extent of resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. RESULTS: We identified 1,297 eligible patients, 938 (72.3%) of whom received chemotherapy in their initial course of treatment. The MGMT promoter was methylated in 1,009 (77.8%) patients. Unmethylated MGMT (uMGMT) was associated with worse survival compared with mMGMT [70% {95% confidence interval (CI), 64%-77%} vs. 81% (95% CI, 78%-85%); P < 0.001; adjusted HR (aHR), 2.35 (95% CI, 1.77-3.14)]. uMGMT was associated with worse survival in patients who received chemotherapy [63% (95% CI, 55-73%) vs. 80% (95% CI, 76%-84%); P < 0.001; aHR, 2.61 (95% CI, 1.89-3.60)] but not in patients who did not receive chemotherapy [P = 0.38; HR, 1.31 (95% CI, 0.71-2.42)]. Similar results were observed regardless of World Health Organization grade and after single- or multiagent chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates an association between mMGMT and OS in 1p/19q-codeleted gliomas. MGMT promoter status should be considered as a stratification factor in future clinical trials of 1p/19q-codeleted gliomas that use OS as an endpoint.

Association of Autologous Tumor Lysate-Loaded Dendritic Cell Vaccination With Extension of Survival Among Patients With Newly Diagnosed and Recurrent Glioblastoma: A Phase 3 Prospective Externally Controlled Cohort Trial.

Importance: Glioblastoma is the most lethal primary brain cancer. Clinical outcomes for glioblastoma remain poor, and new treatments are needed. Objective: To investigate whether adding autologous tumor lysate-loaded dendritic cell vaccine (DCVax-L) to standard of care (SOC) extends survival among patients with glioblastoma. Design, Setting, and Participants: This phase 3, prospective, externally controlled nonrandomized trial compared overall survival (OS) in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (nGBM) and recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM) treated with DCVax-L plus SOC vs contemporaneous matched external control patients treated with SOC. This international, multicenter trial was conducted at 94 sites in 4 countries from August 2007 to November 2015. Data analysis was conducted from October 2020 to September 2021. Interventions: The active treatment was DCVax-L plus SOC temozolomide. The nGBM external control patients received SOC temozolomide and placebo; the rGBM external controls received approved rGBM therapies. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary and secondary end points compared overall survival (OS) in nGBM and rGBM, respectively, with contemporaneous matched external control populations from the control groups of other formal randomized clinical trials. Results: A total of 331 patients were enrolled in the trial, with 232 randomized to the DCVax-L group and 99 to the placebo group. Median OS (mOS) for the 232 patients with nGBM receiving DCVax-L was 19.3 (95% CI, 17.5-21.3) months from randomization (22.4 months from surgery) vs 16.5 (95% CI, 16.0-17.5) months from randomization in control patients (HR = 0.80; 98% CI, 0.00-0.94; P = .002). Survival at 48 months from randomization was 15.7% vs 9.9%, and at 60 months, it was 13.0% vs 5.7%. For 64 patients with rGBM receiving DCVax-L, mOS was 13.2 (95% CI, 9.7-16.8) months from relapse vs 7.8 (95% CI, 7.2-8.2) months among control patients (HR, 0.58; 98% CI, 0.00-0.76; P < .001). Survival at 24 and 30 months after recurrence was 20.7% vs 9.6% and 11.1% vs 5.1%, respectively. Survival was improved in patients with nGBM with methylated MGMT receiving DCVax-L compared with external control patients (HR, 0.74; 98% CI, 0.55-1.00; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, adding DCVax-L to SOC resulted in clinically meaningful and statistically significant extension of survival for patients with both nGBM and rGBM compared with contemporaneous, matched external controls who received SOC alone. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00045968.

A Transcriptome-Based Precision Oncology Platform for Patient-Therapy Alignment in a Diverse Set of Treatment-Resistant Malignancies.

Predicting in vivo response to antineoplastics remains an elusive challenge. We performed a first-of-kind evaluation of two transcriptome-based precision cancer medicine methodologies to predict tumor sensitivity to a comprehensive repertoire of clinically relevant oncology drugs, whose mechanism of action we experimentally assessed in cognate cell lines. We enrolled patients with histologically distinct, poor-prognosis malignancies who had progressed on multiple therapies, and developed low-passage, patient-derived xenograft models that were used to validate 35 patient-specific drug predictions. Both OncoTarget, which identifies high-affinity inhibitors of individual master regulator (MR) proteins, and OncoTreat, which identifies drugs that invert the transcriptional activity of hyperconnected MR modules, produced highly significant 30-day disease control rates (68% and 91%, respectively). Moreover, of 18 OncoTreat-predicted drugs, 15 induced the predicted MR-module activity inversion in vivo. Predicted drugs significantly outperformed antineoplastic drugs selected as unpredicted controls, suggesting these methods may substantively complement existing precision cancer medicine approaches, as also illustrated by a case study. SIGNIFICANCE: Complementary precision cancer medicine paradigms are needed to broaden the clinical benefit realized through genetic profiling and immunotherapy. In this first-in-class application, we introduce two transcriptome-based tumor-agnostic systems biology tools to predict drug response in vivo. OncoTarget and OncoTreat are scalable for the design of basket and umbrella clinical trials. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 1275.

Recursive partitioning analysis of prognostic factors for glioblastoma patients aged 70 years or older.

BACKGROUND: The most-used prognostic scheme for malignant gliomas included only patients aged 18 to 70 years. The purpose of this study was to develop a prognostic model for patients ≥70 years of age with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. METHODS: A total of 437 patients ≥70 years of age with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, pooled from 2 tertiary academic institutions, was identified for recursive partitioning analysis (RPA). The resulting prognostic model, based on the final pruned RPA tree, was validated using 265 glioblastoma patients ≥70 years of age from a data set independently compiled by a French consortium. RESULTS: RPA produced 9 terminal nodes, which were pruned to 4 prognostic subgroups with markedly different median survivals: subgroup I = patients <75.5 years of age who underwent surgical resection (9.3 months); subgroup II = patients ≥75.5 years of age who underwent surgical resection (6.4 months); subgroup III = patients with Karnofsky performance status of 70 to 100 who underwent biopsy only (4.6 months); and subgroup IV = patients with Karnofsky performance status <70 who underwent biopsy only (2.3 months). Application of this prognostic model to the French cohort also resulted in significantly different (P < .0001) median survivals for subgroups I (8.5 months), II (7.7 months), III (4.3 months), and IV (3.1 months). CONCLUSIONS: This model divides elderly glioblastoma patients into prognostic subgroups that can be easily implemented in both the patient care and the clinical trial settings. This purely clinical prognostic model serves as a backbone for the future incorporation of the increasing number of potential molecular prognostic markers.

YKL-40 and MMP-9 as serum markers for patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate YKL-40 and MMP-9 proteins as tumor biomarkers in serum samples from patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). METHODS: In this prospective longitudinal study, serum samples from consecutive patients with histologically confirmed PCNSL were collected concurrently with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at multiple time points and were analyzed for levels of YKL-40 and MMP-9 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Marker levels were correlated to disease status and survival. RESULTS: Forty-five patients with PCNSL were accrued. Median follow-up for survivors was 25 months, and 21 (47%) died during the study. A total of 230 serum samples were collected, and 93% had corresponding MRI scans. PCNSL patients without evidence of radiographic disease (29 patients, 131 samples) had significantly lower levels of serum YKL-40 and MMP-9 than patients with active tumor (n = 34 patients, 84 samples; p = 0.03 and 0.01, respectively). There was a significant inverse correlation between survival and doubling of the YKL-40 level (hazard ratio, 1.7; p = 0.01). INTERPRETATION: In patients with PCNSL, serum levels of YKL-40 and MMP-9 are associated with radiographic disease status. Longitudinal increase in serum levels of YKL-40, but not MMP-9, predicts survival in patients with PCNSL.

Spinal cord glioneuronal tumor with neuropil-like islands with 1p/19q deletion in an adult with low-grade cerebral oligodendroglioma.

Glioneuronal tumor with neuropil-like islands (GTNI) is considered a rare variant of astrocytoma, characterized by discrete aggregates of cells expressing neuronal markers that punctuate a GFAP-positive glial background. Of the 24 published GTNI cases, only two occurred in adult spinal cords; none occurred concurrent with another CNS tumor; and none of those tested exhibited the 1p/19q deletion typical of oligodendroglioma. A 48-year-old man without significant past medical history was diagnosed with a WHO grade II oligodendroglioma by stereotactic biopsy of a lesion discovered after the patient suffered a generalized tonic-clonic seizure. By FISH analysis, this tumor exhibited the 1p/19q deletion present in up to 80% of oligodendrogliomas. The patient received 14 monthly cycles of temozolomide, and his cerebral tumor had a minor response. When the patient subsequently reported progressive paresthesias of his lower extremities, an MRI revealed an enhancing, cystic tumor of the thoracic spinal cord that was diagnosed as GTNI by histological analysis. By FISH analysis, this lesion exhibited the same 1p/19q deletion present in the concurrent cerebral oligodendroglioma. This case of a spinal cord GTNI with 1p/19q deletions constitutes the third report of a spinal cord GTNI in an adult patient; the first report of a GTNI in an individual with a separate CNS neoplasm; and the first report of a GTNI with 1p/19q deletions. This case establishes a potential genetic kinship between GTNI and oligodendroglioma that warrants further investigation.

Radiotherapy and concomitant temozolomide may improve survival of elderly patients with glioblastoma.

Survival of elderly patients with glioblastoma (GBM) is poor, but improves with tumor resection and radiotherapy (RT). Concurrent temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy during RT improves the survival of younger patients with GBM, but the benefit in elderly patients is unclear. Medical records of patients ≥65 years old with primary GBM, histologically confirmed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and treated with RT, were reviewed. Survival was associated with patient (age, performance status), tumor (single or multiple), and treatment (extent of surgery, RT field, technique, fractionation and use of concurrent TMZ) characteristics in a multivariable Cox regression model. Grade ≥3 hematologic toxicity rates were compared to reported rates in younger patients. Median age of the 291 patients studied was 71 years. Longer survival was associated with younger age, tumor resection, and concomitant TMZ and RT (p < 0.01). Concurrent TMZ and RT improved median survival of patients with favorable prognostic factors from 12 to 21 months and from 10 to 13 months in patients 65-70 and ≥71 years old, respectively. Concomitant TMZ and RT increased the 2 year OS rate from 14 to 41 % and from 5 to 24 % in patients 65-70 and ≥71 years old, respectively. Grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia was significantly more frequent in the present cohort. Survival of elderly patients with GBM may be prolonged with the use of concomitant TMZ during RT. An ongoing randomized study will determine the benefit of this approach in a prospective fashion.