Targeting the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in Addition to Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) occurs in >90% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) and is associated with a poorer prognosis. A systematic review of electronic databases identified studies exploring the addition of EGFR-targeted treatment to chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced (LA)/metastatic PDAC. Efficacy, safety and tolerability of EGFR-targeted therapy were explored using meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Meta-regression was utilised to explore factors associated with improved prognosis (all studies) and benefit from EGFR-targeted therapy (RCTs). Twenty-eight studies (7 RCTs and 21 cohort studies) comprising 3718 patients were included. The addition of EGFR-targeted treatment to chemotherapy did not improve progression-free (pooled hazard ratio (HR): 0.90, p = 0.15) or overall survival (HR: 0.94, p = 0.18). EGFR-targeted therapy was associated with increased treatment-related deaths (pooled odds ratio (OR): 5.18, p = 0.007), and grade (G)3/4 rash (OR: 4.82, p = 0.03). There was a borderline significant increase in G3/4 diarrhoea (OR: 1.75, p = 0.06), but no effect on treatment discontinuation without progression (OR: 0.87, p = 0.25). Neither G3/4 rash nor diarrhoea were associated with increased survival benefit from EGFR-targeted therapy. The effect of EGFR-targeted therapy on overall survival (OS) appeared greater in studies with a greater proportion of LA rather than metastatic patients (R = -0.69, p < 0.001). Further studies in unselected patients with advanced PDAC are not warranted. The benefit from EGFR inhibitors may be limited to patient subgroups not yet clearly defined.

Prognostic importance of lymph node yield after curative resection of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic significance of lymph nodes (LNs) metastases and the optimum number of LN yield in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP NETs) undergoing curative resection is still debatable. Many studies have demonstrated that cure rate for patients with GEP NETs can be improved by the resection of the primary tumour and regional lymphadenectomy. AIM: To evaluate the effect of lymph node (LN) status and yield on relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with resected GEP NETs. METHODS: Data on patients who underwent curative resection for GEP NETs between January 2002 and March 2017 were analysed retrospectively. Grade 3 tumours (Ki67 > 20%) were excluded. Univariate Cox proportional hazard models were computed for RFS and OS and assessed alongside cut-point analysis to distinguish a suitable binary categorisation of total LNs retrieved associated with RFS. RESULTS: A total of 217 patients were included in the study. The median age was 59 years (21-97 years) and 51% (n = 111) were male. Primary tumour sites were small bowel (42%), pancreas (25%), appendix (18%), rectum (7%), colon (3%), gastric (2%), others (2%). Median follow up times for all patients were 41 mo (95%CI: 36-51) and 71 mo (95%CI: 63-76) for RFS and OS respectively; 50 relapses and 35 deaths were reported. LNs were retrieved in 151 patients. Eight or more LNs were harvested in 106 patients and LN positivity reported in 114 patients. Three or more positive LNs were detected in 62 cases. The result of univariate analysis suggested perineural invasion (P = 0.0023), LN positivity (P = 0.033), LN retrieval of ≥ 8 (P = 0.047) and localisation (P = 0.0049) have a statistically significant association with shorter RFS, but there was no effect of LN ratio on RFS: P = 0.1 or OS: P = 0.75. Tumour necrosis (P = 0.021) and perineural invasion (P = 0.016) were the only two variables significantly associated with worse OS. In the final multivariable analysis, localisation (pancreas HR = 27.33, P = 0.006, small bowel HR = 32.44, P = 0.005), and retrieval of ≥ 8 LNs (HR = 2.7, P = 0.036) were independent prognostic factors for worse RFS. CONCLUSION: An outcome-oriented approach to cut-point analysis can suggest a minimum number of adequate LNs to be harvested in patients with GEP NETs undergoing curative surgery. Removal of ≥ 8 LNs is associated with increased risk of relapse, which could be due to high rates of LN positivity at the time of surgery. Given that localisation had a significant association with RFS, a prospective multicentre study is warranted with a clear direction on recommended surgical practice and follow-up guidance for GEP NETs.

Utility of ctDNA to support patient selection for early phase clinical trials: the TARGET study.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) supports blood-based genomic profiling but is not yet routinely implemented in the setting of a phase I trials clinic. TARGET is a molecular profiling program with the primary aim to match patients with a broad range of advanced cancers to early phase clinical trials on the basis of analysis of both somatic mutations and copy number alterations (CNA) across a 641 cancer-associated-gene panel in a single ctDNA assay. For the first 100 TARGET patients, ctDNA data showed good concordance with matched tumor and results were turned round within a clinically acceptable timeframe for Molecular Tumor Board (MTB) review. When a 2.5% variant allele frequency (VAF) threshold was applied, actionable mutations were identified in 41 of 100 patients, and 11 of these patients received a matched therapy. These data support the application of ctDNA in this early phase trial setting where broad genomic profiling of contemporaneous tumor material enhances patient stratification to novel therapies and provides a practical template for bringing routinely applied blood-based analyses to the clinic.

The Role of Targeted Agents and Immunotherapy in Older Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly. This subgroup of patients poses many challenges and an appropriate geriatric assessment is crucial for treatment personalisation in order to reduce the risk of over- or under-treatment. Whilst cytotoxic chemotherapy has been the backbone of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment for decades, the development of targeted agents for driver mutations such as EGFR, ALK, BRAF and ROS1 has changed the treatment paradigm and natural history of this disease. More recently, the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionised treatment for a larger group of patients with locally advanced/metastatic disease. Limited data exist on safety and efficacy of these agents in the elderly population. Many questions remain regarding the available evidence for targeted therapies and immune checkpoint blockade in NSCLC and, in particular, their role in this subgroup of patients.

Current and future therapeutic approaches for the treatment of small cell lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a very aggressive disease characterized by a high response rate to first-line chemotherapy, but most patients relapse within 1 year with disappointing results to second-line treatments. Chemotherapy has reached a plateau of effectiveness and new therapeutic strategies are needed to change the natural history of SCLC. Areas covered: This review will focus on the current results and the future development of the therapeutic approaches for the treatment of SCLC. Expert commentary: Immunotherapy is becoming a new frontier for the management of SCLC with preliminary interesting results. To date, no targeted drugs have been approved for clinical practice but several novel agents are in an advanced stage of clinical development in SCLC.