Efficacy and safety of cadonilimab in previously treated recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma(COMPASSION-06): A phase II multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of cadonilimab monotherapy, a first-in-class, bi-specific PD-1/CTLA-4 antibody, in patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (R/M-NPC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This multicenter, open-label, single-arm, phase II clinical trial enrolled patients with R/M-NPC who had failed first-line platinum-based chemotherapy and second-line single agent or combined chemotherapy, and immunotherapy-naive. Patients received cadonilimab for 6 mg/kg once every 2 weeks (Q2W). The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) in full analysis set (FAS) assessed by investigators according to RECIST v.1.1. The secondary endpoint included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), duration of response (DoR), time to response (TTR) and safety. RESULTS: A total of 23 patients were assessed. The median time from first dose to data cutoff was 16.56 (range, 0.8-25.2) months. ORR was 26.1 % (95 %CI:10.2-48.4). The ORR were 44.4 % (95 %CI: 13.7-78.8) and 14.3 % (95 %CI:1.8-42.8) in patients with tumor PD-L1 expression ≥50 % and <50 %, respectively. ORR was achieved in 40.0 % (95 %CI:12.2-73.8) of patients with EBV-DNA level <4000 IU/ml (n = 10) and 15.4 % (95 %CI:1.9-45.4) of those with ≥4000 IU/ml. The median PFS was 3.71 months (95 %CI: 1.84-9.30). respectively. Median OS was not reached, and the 12-month OS rate was 79.7 % (95 % CI:54.5-91.9). Only two patients (8.3 %) experienced Grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) with hypothyroidism (30.4 %), rash (21.7 %) and pruritus (21.7 %) being the most prevalent TRAEs. CONCLUSION: Cadonilimab monotherapy demonstrated a promising efficacy and manageable toxicity in patients with previously treated R-M/NPC and provide an efficacious salvage treatment option.

Envonalkib versus crizotinib for treatment-naive ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized, multicenter, open-label, phase III trial.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements are present in about 5-6% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases and associated with increased risks of central nervous system (CNS) involvement. Envonalkib, a novel ALK inhibitor, demonstrated promising anti-tumor activity and safety in advanced ALK-positive NSCLC in the first-in-human phase I study. This phase III trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04009317) investigated the efficacy and safety of first-line envonalkib in advanced ALK-positive NSCLC cases. Totally 264 participants were randomized 1:1 to receive envonalkib (n = 131) or crizotinib (n = 133). Median independent review committee (IRC)-assessed progression-free survival (PFS) times were 24.87 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 15.64-30.36) and 11.60 (95% CI: 8.28-13.73) months in the envonalkib and crizotinib groups, respectively (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.34-0.64, p < 0.0001). IRC-assessed confirmed objective response rate (ORR) was higher (81.68% vs. 70.68%, p = 0.056) and duration of response was longer (median, 25.79 [95% CI, 16.53-29.47] vs. 11.14 [95% CI, 9.23-16.59] months, p = 0.0003) in the envonalkib group compared with the crizotinib group. In participants with baseline brain target lesions, IRC-assessed CNS-ORR was improved with envonalkib compared with crizotinib (78.95% vs. 23.81%). Overall survival (OS) data were immature, and median OS was not reached in either group (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.48-1.47, p = 0.5741). The 12-month OS rates were 90.6% (95% CI, 84.0%-94.5%) and 89.4% (95% CI, 82.8%-93.6%) in the envonalkib and crizotinib groups, respectively. Grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events were observed in 55.73% and 42.86% of participants in the envonalkib and crizotinib groups, respectively. Envonalkib significantly improved PFS and delayed brain metastasis progression in advanced ALK-positive NSCLC.

Efficacy and safety of KL-A167 in previously treated recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a multicenter, single-arm, phase 2 study.

Background: KL-A167 is a fully humanized monoclonal antibody targeting programmed cell death-ligand 1. This phase 2 study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of KL-A167 in Chinese patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic (R/M) nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: This was a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 study of KL-A167 in R/M NPC (KL167-2-05-CTP) (NCT03848286), conducted at 42 hospitals across the People's Republic of China. Eligible patients had histologically confirmed non-keratinising R/M NPC, and had failed at least two lines of chemotherapy. Patients received KL-A167 900mg intravenously once every 2 weeks until confirmed disease progression, intolerable toxicity, or withdrawal of informed consent. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) assessed by the independent review committee (IRC) according to RECIST v1.1. Findings: Between Feb 26th, 2019 and Jan 13th, 2021, 153 patients were treated. Totally, 132 patients entered full analysis set (FAS) and were evaluated for the efficacy. As of data cutoff date on Jul 13th, 2021, the median follow-up time was 21.7 months (95%CI 19.8-22.5). For FAS population, the IRC-assessed ORR was 26.5% (95%CI 19.2-34.9%), and disease control rate (DCR) was 56.8% (95%CI 47.9-65.4%). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 2.8 months (95%CI 1.5-4.1) . Median duration of response was 12.4 months (95%CI 6.8-16.5), and median overall survival (OS) was 16.2 months (95%CI 13.4-21.3). When using the cutoff of 1000 copies/ml, 5000 copies/ml and 10,000 copies/ml for plasma EBV DNA titer, baseline low plasma EBV DNA was consistently related with better DCR, PFS and OS. Dynamic change of plasma EBV DNA was significantly associated with ORR and PFS. Among 153 patients, treatment related-adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 73.2% of patients, and grade ≥3 TRAEs were in 15.0% of patients. No TRAE leading to death was reported. Conclusion: In this study, KL-A167 showed promising efficacy and an acceptable safety profile in patients with previously treated R/M NPC. Baseline plasma EBV DNA copy number might be a potentially useful prognostic biomarker for KL-A167 treatment, and post-treatment EBV DNA decrease might be correlated with better response to KL-A167. Funding: Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd., China National Major Project for New Drug Innovation (2017ZX09304015).

Investigation of Hippo pathway-related prognostic lncRNAs and molecular subtypes in liver hepatocellular carcinoma.

This study aimed to investigate Hippo pathway-related prognostic long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and their prognostic value in liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). Expression and clinical data regarding LIHC were acquired from The Cancer Genome Atlas and European Bioinformatics Institute array databases. Hippo pathway-related lncRNAs and their prognostic value were revealed, followed by molecular subtype investigations. Differences in survival, clinical characteristics, immune cell infiltration, and checkpoint expression between the subtypes were explored. LASSO regression was used to determine the most valuable prognostic lncRNAs, followed by the establishment of a prognostic model. Survival and differential expression analyses were conducted between two groups (high- and low-risk). A total of 313 Hippo pathway-related lncRNAs were identified from LIHC, of which 88 were associated with prognosis, and two molecular subtypes were identified based on their expression patterns. These two subtypes showed significant differences in overall survival, pathological stage and grade, vascular invasion, infiltration abundance of seven immune cells, and expression of several checkpoints, such as CTLA-4 and PD-1/L1 (P < 0.05). LASSO regression identified the six most valuable independent prognostic lncRNAs for establishing a prognosis risk model. Risk scores calculated by the risk model assigned patients into two risk groups with an AUC of 0.913 and 0.731, respectively, indicating that the high-risk group had poor survival. The risk score had an independent prognostic value with an HR of 2.198. In total, 3007 genes were dysregulated between the two risk groups, and the expression of most genes was elevated in the high-risk group, involving the cell cycle and pathways in cancers. Hippo pathway-related lncRNAs could stratify patients for personalized treatment and predict the prognosis of patients with LIHC.

Detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma susceptibility with single nucleotide polymorphism analysis using next-generation sequencing technology.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a head and neck cancer with high incidence in South China and East Asia. To provide a theoretical basis for NPC risk screening and early prevention, we conducted a meta-analysis of relevant literature on the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)s with NPC susceptibility. Further, expression of 15 candidate SNPs identified in the meta-analysis was evaluated in a cohort of NPC patients and healthy volunteers using next-generation sequencing technology. Among the 15 SNPs detected in the meta-analysis, miR-146a (rs2910164, C>G), HCG9 (rs3869062, A>G), HCG9 (rs16896923, T>C), MMP2 (rs243865, C>T), GABBR1 (rs2076483, T>C), and TP53 (rs1042522, C>G) were associated with decreased susceptibility to NPC, while GSTM1 (+/DEL), IL-10 (rs1800896, A>G), MDM2 (rs2279744, T>G), MDS1-EVI1 (rs6774494, G>A), XPC (rs2228000, C>T), HLA-F (rs3129055, T>C), SPLUNC1 (rs2752903, T>C; and rs750064, A>G), and GABBR1 (rs29232, G>A) were associated with increased susceptibility to NPC. In our case-control study, an association with increased risk for NPC was found for the AG vs AA genotype in HCG9 (rs3869062, A>G). In addition, heterozygous deletion of the GSTM1 allele was associated with increased susceptibility to NPC, while an SNP in GABBR1 (rs29232, G>A) was associated with decreased risk, and might thus have a protective role on NPC carcinogenesis. This work provides the first comprehensive assessment of SNP expression and its relationship to NPC risk. It suggests the need for well-designed, larger confirmatory studies to validate its findings.

[Regulating human interferon-gamma gene expression in marrow stromal cells in mice by Tet-off system].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: We have constructed plasmid "pTre-IFN-gamma" and proved that the Tet-off system could regulate the expression of human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) gene in murine marrow stromal cells in vitro. This study was to investigate the regulatory reversibility of Tet-off system and its effect on the expression of human IFN-gamma gene in murine marrow stromal cells in mice. METHODS: Plasmids pTet-off and pTre-IFN-gamma were co-transfected into murine marrow stromal cells. The expression of IFN-gamma in marrow stromal cells was detected with ELISA. The marrow stromal cells were transfused into BABL/c naked mice after co-transfection. The expression of IFN-gamma mRNA in the spleen was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: IFN-gamma protein was detected in the culture solution of marrow stromal cells after co-transfection. The secretion peak appeared within the first 72 h. The protein level of IFN-gamma was significantly lower in 300 ng/ml tetracycline hydrochloride-treated marrow stroma cells than in untreated cells [(67.11+/-22.14) pg/1 x 10(7) cells vs. (319.96+/-29.04) pg/1 x 10(7) cells, P<0.001]; its expression was increased when removed tetracycline hydrochloride (P=0.032). The expression of human IFN-gamma mRNA was detected in the spleen. The mRNA level of IFN-gamma was significantly higher in untreated group than in continuous tetracycline hydrochloride-treated group [(1.5+/-0.7)x10(5) copies . (100 mg)(-1) vs. (6.9+/-5.3)x10(2) copies . (100 mg)(-1), P<0.001]; its expression in the mice received tetracycline hydrochloride for one single time lay between the above two groups with significant difference. CONCLUSION: In mice, Tet-off system could rapidly, efficiently and reversibly regulate the expression of human IFN-gamma gene in marrow stromal cells in vitro and in vivo.

[Correlation of hepatitis B virus infection to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Previous studies showed that the infection rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is higher in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients than in non-primary liver cancer solid tumor patients and general population in the same region, but the correlation of HBV infection to NHL is inconclusive. This study was to compare HBV infection rate of NHL patients with that of non-primary liver cancer solid tumor patients, and explore the correlation of HBV infection to NHL. METHODS: The infection of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) in 109 NHL patients and 128 colorectal carcinoma patients was detected. The positive rates of HBsAg in the patients and general population were compared by Chi-square test. RESULTS: The positive rate of HBsAg was significantly higher in NHL patients than in colorectal carcinoma patients and general population (40.4% vs. 14.1% and 17.3%, P<0.01). Regarding colorectal carcinoma patients as a reference group, odds ratio (OR) of NHL in HbsAg-positive population was 2.87, and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 1.830-4.502. CONCLUSION: The positive rate of HBsAg is higher in NHL patients than in colorectal carcinoma patients and general population.