Adrenal Metastases Are Associated with Poor Outcomes in Patients with Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated with Nivolumab in the GETUG-AFU-26 NIVOREN Phase 2 Trial.

BACKGROUND: Glandular metastases (GMs; adrenal gland, pancreas, thyroid, ovary, breast, or prostate) are rare in metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mccRCC). Previous studies have indicated that GM patients treated with antiangiogenic therapy experience significantly longer overall survival (OS). OBJECTIVES: To assess outcomes for mccRCC with or without GMs treated with nivolumab. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The GETUG-AFU-26 NIVOREN phase 2 trial evaluated the activity and safety of nivolumab in patients with mccRCC who experienced failure of antiangiogenic therapies (NCT03013335). In this ancillary study, patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of at least one GM. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The primary outcome was OS; secondary outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS) and the objective response rate (ORR). Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariable Cox regression models are used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for survival outcomes. Subgroup analyses were performed for patients with pancreatic metastases and patients with adrenal metastases. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: Among 720 patients treated with nivolumab between February 2016 and July 2017, 217 had GMs, of whom 151/217 had adrenal metastases and 86/217 had pancreatic metastasis. Patients with adrenal metastases had worse 12-mo OS (64% vs 71.1%) and 6-mo PFS (27.2% vs 36.6%) and a lower objective response rate (12.5%, 95% CI 7.6%-19.0%, vs 23.2%, 95% CI 19.8-27.0%; p = 0.005) than patients without adrenal metastases. Conversely, univariate analysis showed that patients with pancreatic metastases had significantly better 12-mo OS (82.3% vs 67.9%; HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.40-0.85) in comparison to patients with nonpancreatic GMs. On multivariable analysis, only adrenal metastasis remained associated with adverse prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Adrenal metastasis is an independent prognostic factor for poor response and survival in the GETUG-AFU-26 NIVOREN trial. Limited activity with nivolumab was observed for patients with mccRCC with adrenal metastases. These results warrant an evaluation of the prognostic value of adrenal metastases in patients treated with immunotherapy combinations with ipilimumab or tyrosine kinase inhibitors. PATIENT SUMMARY: Our study showed that metastasis in the adrenal glands could be an independent factor associated with poor response to immunotherapy and survival for patients with metastatic kidney cancer. It would be useful to evaluate the prognostic value of adrenal gland metastasis in patients treated with immunotherapy combinations or immunotherapy agents combined with drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Molecular Profiles of Advanced Urological Cancers in the PERMED-01 Precision Medicine Clinical Trial.

INTRODUCTION: The prognosis of advanced urological cancers (AUC) remains unfavorable, and few data are available regarding precision medicine. METHODS: the PERMED-01 prospective clinical trial assessed the impact of molecular profiling in adults with refractory advanced solid cancer, in terms of number of patients with tumor actionable genetic alterations (AGA), feasibility, description of molecular alterations, treatment, and clinical outcome. We present here those results in the 64 patients enrolled with AUC. DNA extracted from a new tumor biopsy was profiled in real-time (targeted NGS, whole-genome array-comparative genomic hybridization), and the results were discussed during a weekly molecular tumor board meeting. RESULTS: a complete molecular profile was obtained in 49 patients (77%). Thirty-eight (59%) had at least one AGA. Twelve (19%) received a matched therapy on progression, of which 42% had a PFS2/PFS1 ratio ≥ 1.3 versus 5% in the "non-matched therapy group" (n = 25). The objective response and disease control rates were higher in the "matched therapy group" (33% and 58%, respectively) than in the "non-matched therapy group" (13% and 22%), as was the 6-month OS (75% vs. 42%). CONCLUSION: the profiling of a newly biopsied tumor sample identified AGA in 59% of patients with AUC, led to "matched therapy" in 19%, and provided clinical benefit in 8%.

[Very old patients in multidisciplinary team meeting in PACA: a one-year survey]. / Patients très âgés dans les RCP en région PACA : observation sur une année.

INTRODUCTION: In 2011, 11% of all cancers were diagnosed in people over 85 years old. With the current aging of the French population associated with health progress, we will be confronted more and more frequently with the treatment of very old patients, and this until the horizon 2050, when the population over 75 years old will represent approximately 15% of the total French population (compared to 9.1% in 2015). METHODS: To understand the management methods for patients over 85 years old with cancer, we carried out an observational study, based on data collected in the OncoPACA-Corse network, with the objective to describe the demographic data of very elderly patients, the characteristics of their pathology and to analyze the therapeutic strategies proposed by oncologists to patients in this population. RESULTS: One thousand three hundred and fifty five cases were analyzed. The mean age of the patients was 88.9 years with 3% of patients over 95 years old and only one was over 100 years old. 51.6% were women. Digestive tumors were the most represented (23.4%), followed by breast tumors (17.7%) and prostate tumors (10.5%), with a diagnosis made at a metastatic stage in 20% of cases. We note that treatment was offered for nearly 85% of patients with a wide range of options, exclusive palliative care was offered in 15% of cases; and whena treatment considered to be not very aggressive, such as hormone therapy, was offered, it seems to be preferred as monotherapy.

Soluble BTN2A1 Is a Potential Prognosis Biomarker in Pre-Treated Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma.

The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has dramatically changed the landscape of therapies for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. However, many patients do not benefit from such therapy and prognostic or predictive validated biomarker validated for ICI are still needed to better select and treat patient. Plasmatic soluble immune checkpoints have been described as potential immune biomarkers in hematological malignancies and solids tumors, then, we would like to explore the prognostic value of different soluble immune checkpoints in patients with mRCC treated with nivolumab after TKI. We prospectively collected plasma samples before nivolumab infusion from 38 patients previously treated for mRCC with TKI at Paoli-Calmettes Institute, from the NIVOREN GETUG-AFU 26 study (NCT03013335). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were performed for soluble forms of PD-1, PD-L1, global BTN3, BTLA, BTN3A1 and BTN2A1. Among the different soluble checkpoints analyzed, only high baseline plasmatic level of BTN2A1 was significantly associated with shorter PFS: median PFS was 3.95 months for sBTN2A1high vs 14.30 months for sBTN2A1low (sBTN2A1 cut-off: 6.7ng/mL; HR = 2.26, 95%CI [0.68 - 4.60], p = 0.0307). There was no statistical difference in OS between sBTN2A1high and sBTN2A1low. Our results suggest that the baseline level of plasmatic BTN2A1 could be an independent prognosis factor of PFS after nivolumab for pre-treated patient with mRCC. However, these results need to be validated in a larger prospective cohort and the biological role of BTN subfamily and γδ T cell immunity in mRCC must be elucidated.

Prospective high-throughput genome profiling of advanced cancers: results of the PERMED-01 clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: The benefit of precision medicine based on relatively limited gene sets and often-archived samples remains unproven. PERMED-01 (NCT02342158) was a prospective monocentric clinical trial assessing, in adults with advanced solid cancer, the feasibility and impact of extensive molecular profiling applied to newly biopsied tumor sample and based on targeted NGS (t-NGS) of the largest gene panel to date and whole-genome array-comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) with assessment of single-gene alterations and clinically relevant genomic scores. METHODS: Eligible patients with refractory cancer had one tumor lesion accessible to biopsy. Extracted tumor DNA was profiled by t-NGS and aCGH. We assessed alterations of 802 "candidate cancer" genes and global genomic scores, such as homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) score and tumor mutational burden. The primary endpoint was the number of patients with actionable genetic alterations (AGAs). Secondary endpoints herein reported included a description of patients with AGA who received a "matched therapy" and their clinical outcome, and a comparison of AGA identification with t-NGS and aCGH versus whole-exome sequencing (WES). RESULTS: Between November 2014 and September 2019, we enrolled 550 patients heavily pretreated. An exploitable complete molecular profile was obtained in 441/550 patients (80%). At least one AGA, defined in real time by our molecular tumor board, was found in 393/550 patients (71%, two-sided 90%CI 68-75%). Only 94/550 patients (17%, 95%CI 14-21) received an "AGA-matched therapy" on progression. The most frequent AGAs leading to "matched therapy" included PIK3CA mutations, KRAS mutations/amplifications, PTEN deletions/mutations, ERBB2 amplifications/mutations, and BRCA1/2 mutations. Such "matched therapy" improved by at least 1.3-fold the progression-free survival on matched therapy (PFS2) compared to PFS on prior therapy (PFS1) in 36% of cases, representing 6% of the enrolled patients. Within patients with AGA treated on progression, the use of "matched therapy" was the sole variable associated with an improved PFS2/PFS1 ratio. Objective responses were observed in 19% of patients treated with "matched therapy," and 6-month overall survival (OS) was 62% (95%CI 52-73). In a subset of 112 metastatic breast cancers, WES did not provide benefit in term of AGA identification when compared with t-NGS/aCGH. CONCLUSIONS: Extensive molecular profiling of a newly biopsied tumor sample identified AGA in most of cases, leading to delivery of a "matched therapy" in 17% of screened patients, of which 36% derived clinical benefit. WES did not seem to improve these results. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ID-RCB identifier: 2014-A00966-41; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02342158 .

Vitiligo Adverse Event Observed in a Patient With Durable Complete Response After Nivolumab for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Renal cell carcinoma is the third most prevalent urological cancer worldwide and about 30% of patients present with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. Systemic treatments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma have improved recently. Vascular endothelial growth factor targeting therapies were the previous standard of care. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors used in second line therapy have now been shown to improve patient survival. We report a case of metastatic renal cell carcinoma with nivolumab as a second-line therapy after progression with tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Unusual adverse events in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, such as vitiligo, were observed in this patient who developed a remarkable documented pathological complete response to his renal tumor. Case presentation: A 60-year-old caucasian male was diagnosed with a pulmonary metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Sunitinib was used as first line treatment without success. He received nivolumab in second-line treatment. He developed several immune-related adverse events, most notably vitiligo. The patient had a radiological complete response on metastatic sites, with a significant decrease of renal tumor volume and underwent cytoreductive nephrectomy after 2 years of treatment, confirming the pathological complete response. The patient remains disease-free for 10 months without further systemic therapy after nivolumab discontinuation. Conclusions: Pathological complete response with nivolumab in metastatic renal cell carcinoma is rare. This case further highlights the potentially predictive role of immune-related adverse events during nivolumab therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and raises questions concerning the role of nephrectomy after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Further studies are needed to better identify predictive factors for treatment response to immunotherapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and to better understand the role of nephrectomy after nivolumab treatment.

PDL1 expression is associated with longer postoperative, survival in adrenocortical carcinoma.

Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) are heterogeneous cancers associated with a very poor prognosis. The improvement of prognostic tools and systemic therapy are urgently needed. Targeting the immune system using checkpoint inhibitors such as PD1/PDL1 inhibitors is an attractive novel therapeutic strategy for poor-prognosis tumors. Multiple clinical trials are ongoing, including in advanced ACC. However, PDL1 expression has been studied in ACC in only one heterogeneous series of 28 clinical samples. Here, we have retrospectively analyzed PDL1 mRNA expression in 146 clinical ACC samples and searched for correlations between expression and biological and clinicopathological data, including post-operative disease-free survival (DFS). PDL1 mRNA expression was heterogeneous across samples. "PDL1-high" tumors were not associated with the classical prognostic variables but were associated with longer DFS in both uni- and multivariate analyses. High PDL1 mRNA expression was associated with biological signs of the cytotoxic local immune response. Supervised analysis between "PDL1-high" and "PDL1-low" tumors identified a robust 370-gene signature whose ontology analysis suggested the existence in "PDL1-high" tumors of a cytotoxic T-cell response, however, associated with some degree of T-cell exhaustion. In conclusion, PDL1 mRNA expression refines the prognostication in ACC and high expression is associated with longer DFS. Clinical validation at the protein level and functional validation are required to fully understand the role of PDL1 in ACC. Reactivation of dormant tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes by PDL1-inhibitors could represent a promising strategy in "PDL1-high" ACCs, supporting the ongoing clinical trials.

Reversible rituximab-induced rectal Kaposi's sarcoma misdiagnosed as ulcerative colitis in a patient with HIV-negative follicular lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Kaposi's sarcoma is a low-grade mesenchymal angioproliferative tumor, most commonly observed in immunocompromised individuals, such as HIV-infected patients. Iatrogenic Kaposi's sarcoma occurs in patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapies. Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody targeted against the pan B cell marker CD20. Because of its immunosuppressive effects through reduction of mature B-cells, it may exacerbate Kaposi's sarcoma in HIV-positive patients. Rituximab-related Kaposi's sarcomas have been previously reported in only two HIV-negative patients and were treated surgically. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we report on a Kaposi's sarcoma that developed under rituximab treatment in a HIV-negative 55-year-old patient treated for follicular lymphoma. The lesion developed during the maintenance rituximab therapy at the rectal level with an aspect of apparent ulcerative colitis, without any cutaneous lesion. The premature stop of rituximab led to the complete regression of Kaposi's sarcoma, without any additional specific treatment. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the third case of Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosed under rituximab in a HIV-negative patient, the first one at the rectal level and the first one that completely regresses after stop of rituximab. This case raises awareness of iatrogenic Kaposi's sarcoma in HIV-negative patients treated with rituximab, and further highlights the importance of immunosuppression in the pathophysiology of disease.