Phase I Trial of First-line Bintrafusp Alfa in Patients with Locally Advanced or Persistent/Recurrent/Metastatic Cervical Cancer.

PURPOSE: Bintrafusp alfa, a first-in-class bifunctional fusion protein composed of the extracellular domain of TGFß receptor II (a TGFß "trap") fused to a human IgG1 mAb blocking programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), was evaluated as treatment in patients with locally advanced or persistent, recurrent, or metastatic (P/R/M) cervical cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this multicenter, open-label, phase Ib trial (NCT04551950), patients with P/R/M cervical cancer received bintrafusp alfa 2,400 mg once every 3 weeks plus cisplatin or carboplatin plus paclitaxel with (Cohort 1A; n = 8) or without (Cohort 1B; n = 9) bevacizumab; patients with locally advanced cervical cancer received bintrafusp alfa 2,400 mg every 3 weeks plus cisplatin plus radiation, followed by bintrafusp alfa monotherapy maintenance (Cohort 2; n = 8). The primary endpoint was safety; secondary endpoints included efficacy (including objective response rate) and pharmacokinetics. RESULTS: At the data cutoff of April 27, 2022, patients in Cohorts 1A, 1B, and 2 had received bintrafusp alfa for a median duration of 37.9, 31.1, and 16.7 weeks, respectively. Two dose-limiting toxicities (grade 4 amylase elevation and grade 3 menorrhagia) unrelated to bintrafusp alfa were observed in Cohort 1B and none in other cohorts. Most treatment-emergent adverse events of special interest were grades 1-2 in severity, most commonly anemia (62.5%-77.8%) and bleeding events (62.5%-77.8%). Objective response rate was 75.0% [95% confidence interval (CI), 34.9-96.8], 44.4% (95% CI, 13.7-78.8), and 62.5% (95% CI, 24.5-91.5) in Cohorts 1A, 1B, and 2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Bintrafusp alfa had manageable safety and demonstrated clinical activity, further supporting the investigation of TGFß/PD-L1 inhibition in human papillomavirus-associated cancers, including cervical cancer.

A phase II, open-labeled, single-arm study of dose-dense paclitaxel plus carboplatin in advanced or recurrent uterine endometrial cancer treatment: a KCOG-G1303, DOENCA trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of dose-dense (dd) paclitaxel (PTX) and carboplatin (CBDCA) in treating advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. METHODS: Women aged 20-75 years with histologically confirmed endometrial cancer, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage III disease with some residual tumor, FIGO stage IV disease, recurrence after front-line curative treatment, or recurrence after second-line chemotherapy or radiotherapy were enrolled in this study. PTX (80 mg/m²) was administered intravenously (IV) to every participant on days 1, 8, and 15, and CBDCA (area under the curve of 5) was administered IV on day 1 once every 3 weeks until the disease progressed, unacceptable adverse events occurred, or consent was withdrawn. The primary endpoint was the response rate (RR), while the secondary endpoints were progression-free survival, overall survival, and adverse effects. RESULTS: Forty-eight participants were enrolled, and 46 were eligible to receive treatment. The patients' median age was 61 years (range, 43-76 years). Twenty-two participants had experienced recurrence, and the remaining patients had primary advanced endometrial cancer. There were 10 cases of serous carcinoma, 3 cases of endometrioid carcinoma G3, 2 cases of carcinosarcoma, and 2 cases of clear-cell carcinoma according to histology. Twenty-nine participants (63.0%) received ≥6 cycles of chemotherapy. The RR (complete, 13 cases; partial, 20 cases) was 71.3% (95% confidence interval: 59.0%-84.5%). CONCLUSION: The dd PTX with CBDCA is feasible and available as a treatment option for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry Identifier: UMIN000017138.

Validation of tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 as a specific biomarker for preoperative prediction of clear cell carcinoma of the ovary.

BACKGROUND: Tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 (TFPI2) is a novel serum biomarker that discriminates ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) from borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) and non-clear cell epithelial ovarian cancers (EOCs). Here, we examined the performance of TFPI2 for preoperative diagnosis of CCC. METHODS: Serum samples were obtained preoperatively from patients with ovarian masses, who needed surgical treatment at five hospitals in Japan. The diagnostic powers of TFPI2 and cancer antigen 125 (CA125) serum levels to discriminate CCC from BOTs, other EOCs, and benign lesions were compared. RESULTS: A total of 351 patients including 69 CCCs were analyzed. Serum TFPI2 levels were significantly higher in CCC patients (mean ± SD, 508.2 ± 812.0 pg/mL) than in patients with benign lesions (154.7 ± 46.5), BOTs (181 ± 95.5) and other EOCs (265.4 ± 289.1). TFPI2 had a high diagnostic specificity for CCC (79.5%). In patients with benign ovarian endometriosis, no patient was positive for TFPI2, but 71.4% (15/21) were CA125 positive. TFPI2 showed good performance in discriminating stage II-IV CCC from BOTs and other EOCs (AUC 0.815 for TFPI2 versus 0.505 for CA125) or endometriosis (AUC 0.957 for TFPI2 versus 0.748 for CA125). The diagnostic sensitivity of TFPI2 to discriminate CCC from BOTs and other EOCs was improved from 43.5 to 71.0% when combined with CA125. CONCLUSIONS: High specificity of TFPI2 for preoperative detection of CCC was verified with the defined cutoff level of TFPI2 in clinical practice. TFPI2 and CA125 may contribute substantially to precise prediction of intractable CCC.

Current status of tertiary debulking surgery and prognosis after secondary debulking surgery for recurrent Müllerian epithelial cancer in Japan: a retrospective analysis of 164 patients (KCOG-G1402).

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the current status of secondary debulking surgery (SDS) and tertiary debulking surgery (TDS; performed for recurrence after SDS) and to assess the overall survival after recurrence of Müllerian epithelial cancer in Japan. We also evaluated the data of patients who underwent a fourth debulking surgery (i.e., quaternary debulking surgery (QDS)). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 164 patients with recurrent Müllerian epithelial cancers (i.e., ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers). The SDS was performed between January 2000 and September 2014 in 20 Japanese hospitals. Clinicopathological data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 164 patients, 66 patients did not have a recurrence or died after SDS. Ninety-eight patients had a recurrence after SDS. Forty-three of the 98 patients underwent TDS; 55 of the 98 patients did not undergo TDS and were classified into the non-TDS group. The overall survival (OS) after SDS was significantly better in the TDS group than in the non-TDS group. The median OS after SDS was 123 and 42 months in the TDS group and non-TDS group, respectively. Of the 43 patients who received TDS, 11 patients were further treated with QDS. The median OS after SDS was 123 months for patients who underwent QDS. CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter study on the prognosis of post-SDS is apparently the first report on QDS in Japan. Patients undergoing TDS have a good prognosis, compared to patients in the non-TDS group. Novel drugs are being evaluated; however, debulking surgery remains a necessary treatment for recurrence.

The issues regarding postoperative adjuvant therapy and prognostic risk factors for patients with stage I-II cervical cancer: A review.

The treatment for most patients with early-stage cervical cancer involves radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection, and indications for postoperative adjuvant therapy have been determined by evaluating the prognostic risk factors for recurrence in each case. The aim of this review is to raise and discuss the various issues that have not yet been resolved regarding the prognostic risk factors and postoperative adjuvant therapy. Several clinicopathological factors, such as tumor size, lymphovascular space involvement, deep stromal invasion, parametrial involvement and lymph node metastasis, have been identified to have prognostic significance in early-stage cervical cancer. However, this remains controversial because there is suggested to be substantial heterogeneity among patients after radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy and it would be difficult to define the risk groups clearly. This indicates the need to develop more convenient and accurate criteria to define risk groups. According to the currently available evidence, patients in the high-risk group should receive adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with cisplatin (CDDP) and fluolouracil. However, CCRT with CDDP administered weekly (CCRT-P) has instead been applied in a clinical context worldwide. Whether CCRT-P has a survival benefit compared with radiotherapy (RT) alone is unknown because no randomized phase III trials have been performed for patients in the high-risk group after radical surgery. Patients with high-risk factors have a high incidence of distant metastasis, for whom systemic chemotherapy might be a key to improving overall survival. The pivotal study that investigated the role of RT alone for patients with intermediate-risk factors after hysterectomy is the GOG092 trial. This trial showed a 47% reduction in the risk of recurrence after RT compared with no further treatment (NFT). However, the improvement in overall survival with RT did not reach statistical significance, while patients allocated to the RT group did experience an increase in severe toxicities compared with the NFT group. This could be why many physicians are reluctant to treat patients with this approach, although guidelines recommend RT for patients with intermediate-risk factors. With regard to toxicities, postoperative RT would be problematic because the organs in the pelvis targeted by RT have already been damaged by radical surgery. To reduce the toxicities, intensity-modulated radiotherapy would best be used worldwide. Further improvement in adjuvant therapy will come from enhanced definition of prognostic risk factors, better patient selection, and refinements in both local and systematic therapies.

Adjuvant chemotherapy versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy for high-risk cervical cancer after radical hysterectomy and systematic lymphadenectomy.

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy (CT) compared with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) after radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy in high-risk patients with early-stage cervical cancer and to evaluate whether the radicality of the lymphadenectomy would affect the outcome and toxicity of postoperative adjuvant therapy. METHODS: The cases of all patients (n = 393) with FIGO IB1-IIB cervical cancer who were treated by radical surgery at Shizuoka Cancer Center between January 2002 and December 2013 were reviewed. Of these, 111 patients met the inclusion criteria for this retrospective study: (1) high risk for occurrence due to pathologically confirmed parametrial invasion and/or pelvic lymph node metastasis; (2) postoperative treatment with adjuvant CT or CCRT. The clinical data of these patients were reviewed. RESULTS: Of the 111 patients, 37 and 74 patients underwent CT and CCRT, respectively. The 4-year progression-free survival rate [PFS; 71.7 (CT) vs. 68.3 % (CCRT)] and overall survival rate [76.0 (CT) vs. 82.7 % (CCRT)] did not differ significantly between the two groups. The CT group contained significantly more patients with severe neutropenia than the CCRT group (66.7 vs. 23.0 %, respectively; p < 0.001), and the CCRT group contained significantly more patients with diarrhea than the CT group (10.8 vs. 0 %, respectively; p = 0.04). The patients who had ≥40 lymph nodes dissected (≥40 group) had higher PFS than the patients who had <40 lymph nodes dissected (<40 group) (73.2 vs. 64.2 %, respectively), although the difference was not significant. In the CT group, there was no significant association between the number of dissected lymph nodes and severe toxicities. However, in the CCRT group, significantly more vomiting (p = 0.046) and edema (p = 0.046) occurred in the ≥40 group than in the <40 group. CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapy after surgery for high-risk patients had similar efficacy and a different toxicity profile compared with CCRT, and a more radical surgical procedure would improve the survival outcome. However, CCRT was associated with worse toxicity than CT. We advocate a prospective randomized study to compare CT with CCRT for patients with high-risk factors for recurrence.

Efficacy and safety of olanzapine combined with aprepitant, palonosetron, and dexamethasone for preventing nausea and vomiting induced by cisplatin-based chemotherapy in gynecological cancer: KCOG-G1301 phase II trial.

PURPOSE: Olanzapine is effective in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). In patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC), its efficacy was reported as rescue therapy for breakthrough emesis refractory to triplet therapy (palonosetron, aprepitant, and dexamethasone). However, its preventive effects with triplet therapy for CINV are unknown. This study aimed to investigate efficacy and safety of preventive use of olanzapine with triplet therapy for CINV of HEC. METHODS: This study is a prospective multicenter study conducted by Kansai Clinical Oncology Group. Forty chemo-naïve gynecological cancer patients receiving HEC with cisplatin (≥50 mg/m(2)) were enrolled. Oral olanzapine (5 mg) was administered with triplet therapy a day prior to cisplatin administration and on days 1-5. The primary endpoint was complete response (no vomiting and no rescue) rate for the overall phase (0-120 h post-chemotherapy). Secondary endpoints were complete response rate for acute phase (0-24 h post-chemotherapy) and delayed phase (24-120 h post-chemotherapy) and complete control (no vomiting, no rescue, and no significant nausea) rate and total control (no vomiting, no rescue, and no nausea) rate for each phase. These endpoints were evaluated during the first cycle of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Complete response rates for acute, delayed, and overall phases were 97.5, 95.0, and 92.5 %, respectively. Complete control rates were 92.5, 87.5, and 82.5 %, respectively. Total control rates were 87.5, 67.5, and 67.5 %, respectively. There were no grade 3 or 4 adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Preventive use of olanzapine combined with triplet therapy gives better results than those from previously reported studies of triplet therapy.

Efficacy of Olanzapine Combined Therapy for Patients Receiving Highly Emetogenic Chemotherapy Resistant to Standard Antiemetic Therapy.

OBJECTIVE: Olanzapine is proved to be effective for chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). But its efficacy in combination with standard antiemetic therapy is unknown. The purpose of this study is to prove the preventive effect of olanzapine for the prevention of CINV caused by highly emetogenic chemotherapy when used with standard antiemetic therapy. METHOD: Gynecologic cancer patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy who had grade 2 or 3 nausea in overall phase (0-120 h after chemotherapy) despite standard therapy were assigned to this study. From the next cycles to cycles in which patients developed grade 2 or 3 nausea, they received olanzapine with standard therapy. 5 mg oral olanzapine was administered for 7 days from the day before chemotherapy. The effectiveness of preventive administration of olanzapine was evaluated retrospectively. The primary endpoint was nausea control rate (grade 0 or 1) with olanzapine. RESULTS: Fifty patients were evaluable. The nausea control rate with olanzapine was improved from 58% to 98% in acute phase (0-24 h after chemotherapy) and 2% to 94% in delayed phase (24-120 h after chemotherapy). In overall phase, the nausea control rate improved from 0% to 92%, and it was statistically significant (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Preventive use of olanzapine combined with standard antiemetic therapy showed improvement in control of refractory nausea.

Reconsideration of postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy with fluorouracil and cisplatin for uterine cervical cancer.

AIM: The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze data for patients with stage IB-IIB uterine cervical cancer who were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy with fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin (CCRT-FP) as postoperative adjuvant therapy and to re-examine these issues and further treatment. METHODS: Patients with high risk for recurrence underwent CCRT-FP as postoperative adjuvant therapy. A total of 73 patients who met these criteria were included in this study. Data related to survival, toxicity, and treatment feasibility were analyzed, and the question of whether there were differences in survival and toxicity according to the number of dissected lymph nodes at surgery was evaluated. RESULTS: Median patient age was 45 years (range, 24-67 years). Two-thirds of patients had squamous cell histologic type, 41 patients (56.2%) had parametrial invasion, and 60 patients (82.2%) had lymph node metastases. Estimated 4-year progression-free survival, overall survival, and local control rates were 71.8%, 84.1%, and 88.5%, respectively. Sixteen patients (21.9%) had grade 3-4 neutropenia and one of them died of septic shock. Non-hematological toxicities were also common: 13 (17.8%) experienced grade 3-4 nausea, and nine (12.3%) experienced grade 3-4 diarrhea. Ileus occurred in 17 patients (23.3%), and seven of them (9.6%) were not yet cured. One patient experienced gastrointestinal perforation. CONCLUSIONS: CCRT-FP in the postoperative setting resulted in good survival outcome but toxicity remained problematic. Development of appropriate treatment for patients with high-risk prognostic factors after radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy is required.

Characterization of follistatin-related gene as a negative regulatory factor for activin family members during mouse heart development.

Follistatin-related gene (FLRG) encodes a secretory glycoprotein that has characteristic cysteine-rich follistatin domains. FLRG protein binds to and neutralizes several transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily members, including myostatin (MSTN), which is a potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass. We have previously reported that FLRG was abundantly expressed in fetal and adult mouse heart. In this study, we analyzed the expression of FLRG mRNA during mouse heart development. FLRG mRNA was continuously expressed in the embryonic heart, whereas it was very low in skeletal muscles. By contrast, MSTN mRNA was highly expressed in embryonic skeletal muscles, whereas the expression of MSTN mRNA was rather low in the heart. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analysis revealed that FLRG expressed in smooth muscle of the aorta and pulmonary artery, valve leaflets of mitral and tricuspid valves, and cardiac muscles in the ventricle of mouse embryonic heart. However, MSTN was expressed in very limited areas, such as valve leaflets of pulmonary and aortic valves, the top of the ventricular and atrial septa. Interestingly, the expression of MSTN was complementary to that of FLRG, especially in the valvular apparatus. Biochemical analyses with surface plasmon resonance biosensor and reporter assays demonstrated that FLRG hardly dissociates from MSTN and activin once it bound to them, and efficiently inhibits these activities. Our results suggest that FLRG could function as a negative regulator of activin family members including MSTN during heart development.