Avelumab in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is incurable, and median overall survival is less than 2½ years. Although monoclonal antibodies that block PD-1/PD-L1 interactions are active in microsatellite unstable/mismatch repair deficient tumors, a growing dataset shows that most patients with microsatellite stable/mismatch repair proficient tumors will not benefit from the blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions. Here we present results from patients with mCRC (n = 22) treated with the anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody avelumab. METHODS: Patients received treatment on a phase I, open-label, dose-escalation trial via a consecutive parallel-group expansion in colorectal cancer. Patients aged 18 years and older with mCRC measurable by RECIST v1.1 who had received at least 1 line of systemic therapy for metastatic disease enrolled. Patients with prior immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment were excluded. Patients received avelumab 10 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate. RESULTS: Twenty-two participants received treatment from July 2013 to August 2014. There were no objective responses and median progression-free survival was 2.1 months (95% CI: 1.4-5.5 months). There were 5 grade 3 treatment-related adverse events: GGT elevation (n = 2), PRESS (n = 1), lymphopenia (n = 1), and asymptomatic amylase/lipase elevation (n = 1). CONCLUSION: As demonstrated with other anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies, avelumab is not active in unselected patients with mCRC (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01772004).

A Phase I Single-Arm Study of Biweekly NHS-IL12 in Patients With Metastatic Solid Tumors.

BACKGROUND: NHS-IL12 is a first-in-class, recombinant fusion protein composed of the human monoclonal antibody NHS76 (binds exposed DNA/histones at sites of intratumoral necrosis) fused to 2 IL-12 heterodimers. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of NHS-IL12 monotherapy given subcutaneously (SC) every 4 weeks was previously reported. The study was expanded to include a high-exposure cohort with NHS-IL12 SC every 2 weeks (q2w). METHODS: This single-arm, phase I trial evaluated NHS-IL12 12 µg/kg SC q2w or 16.8µg/kg SC q2w in patients with metastatic solid tumors. The primary endpoint was safety. RESULTS: Using a 3+3 design, 13 patients with advanced cancer were enrolled and 12 were dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) evaluable. There was 1 DLT (Grade 3 aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase [AST/ALT] elevation). Other grade 3 toxicities included: flu-like symptoms 1/13 (8%), decreased absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) 1/13 (8%), decreased white blood cell count (WBC) 1/13 (8%), but most adverse events reported were low grade and self-limiting grade. Fifty percent of evaluable patients (6/12) experienced stable disease (SD) with 42% (5/12) developing progressive disease (PD) at the first restaging. CONCLUSION: Biweekly NHS-IL12 was well tolerated in this small phase I study. Additional studies incorporating NHS-IL12 with other immunomodulating agents are underway. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01417546).

A Randomized Phase II Trial of mFOLFOX6 + Bevacizumab Alone or with AdCEA Vaccine + Avelumab Immunotherapy for Untreated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: FOLFOX plus bevacizumab is a standard of care (SOC) for first-line treatment of microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer (MSS mCRC). This study randomized patients to SOC or SOC plus avelumab (anti-PD-L1) plus CEA-targeted vaccine. METHODS: Patients with untreated MSS mCRC enrolled to a lead-in arm assessing safety of SOC + immuno-oncology agents (IO). Next, patients were randomized to SOC or SOC + IO. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Multiple immune parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: Six patients enrolled to safety lead-in, 10 randomized to SOC, and 10 to SOC + IO. There was no difference in median PFS comparing SOC versus SOC + IO (8.8 months (95% CI: 3.3-17.0 months) versus 10.1 months (95% CI: 3.6-16.1 months), respectively; hazard ratio 1.061 [P = .91; 95% CI: 0.380-2.966]). The objective response rate was 50% in both arms. Of patients analyzed, most (8/11) who received SOC + IO developed multifunctional CD4+/CD8+ T-cell responses to cascade antigens MUC1 and/or brachyury, compared to 1/8 who received SOC alone (P = .020). We detected post-treatment changes in immune parameters that were distinct to the SOC and SOC + IO treatment arms. Accrual closed after an unplanned analysis predicted a low likelihood of meeting the primary endpoint. CONCLUSIONS: SOC + IO generated multifunctional MUC1- and brachyury-specific CD4+/CD8+ T cells despite concurrent chemotherapy. Although a tumor-directed immune response is necessary for T-cell-mediated antitumor activity, it was not sufficient to improve PFS. Adding agents that increase the number and function of effector cells may be required for clinical benefit.

A Phase I Trial Using a Multitargeted Recombinant Adenovirus 5 (CEA/MUC1/Brachyury)-Based Immunotherapy Vaccine Regimen in Patients with Advanced Cancer.

LESSONS LEARNED: Concurrent ETBX-011, ETBX-051, and ETBX-061 can be safely administered to patients with advanced cancer. All patients developed CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-cell responses after vaccination to at least one tumor-associated antigen (TAA) encoded by the vaccine; 5/6 patients (83%) developed MUC1-specific T cells, 4/6 (67%) developed CEA-specific T cells, and 3/6 (50%) developed brachyury-specific T cells. The presence of adenovirus 5-neutralizing antibodies did not prevent the generation of TAA-specific T cells. BACKGROUND: A novel adenovirus-based vaccine targeting three human tumor-associated antigens-CEA, MUC1, and brachyury-has demonstrated antitumor cytolytic T-cell responses in preclinical animal models of cancer. METHODS: This open-label, phase I trial evaluated concurrent administration of three therapeutic vaccines (ETBX-011 = CEA, ETBX-061 = MUC1 and ETBX-051 = brachyury). All three vaccines used the same modified adenovirus 5 (Ad5) vector backbone and were administered at a single dose level (DL) of 5 × 1011 viral particles (VP) per vector. The vaccine regimen consisting of all three vaccines was given every 3 weeks for three doses then every 8 weeks for up to 1 year. Clinical and immune responses were evaluated. RESULTS: Ten patients enrolled on trial (DL1 = 6 with 4 in the DL1 expansion cohort). All treatment-related adverse events were temporary, self-limiting, grade 1/2 and included injection site reactions and flu-like symptoms. Antigen-specific T cells to MUC1, CEA, and/or brachyury were generated in all patients. There was no evidence of antigenic competition. The administration of the vaccine regimen produced stable disease as the best clinical response. CONCLUSION: Concurrent ETBX-011, ETBX-051, and ETBX-061 can be safely administered to patients with advanced cancer. Further studies of the vaccine regimen in combination with other agents, including immune checkpoint blockade, are planned.

Advances in immunotherapy for melanoma.

In recent years, the introduction and Federal Drug Administration approval of immune checkpoint inhibitor antibodies has dramatically improved the clinical outcomes for patients with advanced melanoma. These antagonist monoclonal antibodies are capable of unleashing dormant or exhausted antitumor immunity, which has led to durable complete and partial responses in a large number of patients. Ipilimumab targets the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) receptor. Nivolumab and pembrolizumab target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) receptors and have proven to be superior to ipilimumab alone. The combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab has yielded higher response rates, greater tumor shrinkage, and longer progression-free survival than either monotherapy alone. As other promising immunotherapies for melanoma proceed through clinical trials, future goals include defining the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors as adjuvant therapy, identifying optimal combination strategies, and developing reliable predictive biomarkers to guide treatment selection for individual patients.

TGF-ß neutralization attenuates tumor residency of activated T cells to enhance systemic immunity in mice.

A tissue resident-like phenotype in tumor infiltrating T cells can limit systemic anti-tumor immunity. Enhanced systemic anti-tumor immunity is observed in head and neck cancer patients after neoadjuvant PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) neutralization. Using T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing and functional immunity assays in a syngeneic model of oral cancer, we dissect the relative contribution of these treatments to enhanced systemic immunity. The addition of TGF-ß neutralization to ICB resulted in the egress of expanded and exhausted CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) into circulation and greater systemic anti-tumor immunity. This enhanced egress associated with reduced expression of Itgae (CD103) and its upstream regulator Znf683. Circulating CD8+ T cells expressed higher Cxcr3 after treatment, an observation also made in samples from patients treated with dual TGF-ß neutralization and ICB. These findings provide the scientific rationale for the use of PD-L1 ICB and TGF-ß neutralization in newly diagnosed patients with carcinomas prior to definitive treatment of locoregional disease.

A deep-learning framework to predict cancer treatment response from histopathology images through imputed transcriptomics.

Advances in artificial intelligence have paved the way for leveraging hematoxylin and eosin-stained tumor slides for precision oncology. We present ENLIGHT-DeepPT, an indirect two-step approach consisting of (1) DeepPT, a deep-learning framework that predicts genome-wide tumor mRNA expression from slides, and (2) ENLIGHT, which predicts response to targeted and immune therapies from the inferred expression values. We show that DeepPT successfully predicts transcriptomics in all 16 The Cancer Genome Atlas cohorts tested and generalizes well to two independent datasets. ENLIGHT-DeepPT successfully predicts true responders in five independent patient cohorts involving four different treatments spanning six cancer types, with an overall odds ratio of 2.28 and a 39.5% increased response rate among predicted responders versus the baseline rate. Notably, its prediction accuracy, obtained without any training on the treatment data, is comparable to that achieved by directly predicting the response from the images, which requires specific training on the treatment evaluation cohorts.

Tumor cell HLA class I expression and pathologic response following neoadjuvant immunotherapy for newly diagnosed head and neck cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Biomarkers are needed to identify patients likely to respond to neoadjuvant immunotherapy (NIT) prior to receiving definitive treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We hypothesized that expression of tumor cell HLA class I would correlate with pathologic response (PR) following NIT for primary untreated head and neck cancer. Multispectral immunofluorescence of pre- and post-treatment biopsy specimens from a neoadjuvant study of bintrafusp alfa, a dual TGF-ß and PD-L1 inhibitor, was performed. RESULTS: Discordant expression of tumor cell HLA class I and PD-L1 measured by multispectral immunofluorescence was observed with most positive tumor cells expressing HLA class I or PD-L1 but not both. Spatial analysis revealed colocalization between tumor parenchyma T cells and HLA class I positive tumors cells, but no clear colocalization between T cells and PD-L1 positive tumor cells. Greater pre-treatment tumor cell HLA class I expression, but not PD-L1 expression or tumor T cell infiltration, correlated with the development of a PR. Additionally, increased tumor cell HLA class I expression after NIT compared to before NIT correlated with development of a PR, whereas inconsistent changes in PD-L1 and T cell infiltration were observed after treatment in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide the rationale for the study of tumor cell HLA class I expression in larger prospective studies powered to determine the performance of biomarkers of PR in newly diagnosed HNSCC patients receiving NIT.

Avelumab in Men With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Enriched for Patients Treated Previously With a Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines including sipuleucel- T , a prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) targeted vaccine that improves survival in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), can produce immune responses that translate to clinical benefit. The effects of sequential checkpoint inhibitors after therapeutic vaccine on immune responses are unknown. Avelumab is an anti-programmed death ligand-1 monoclonal antibody evaluated in patients with mCRPC in the JAVELIN solid tumor phase 1 trial expansion cohort, enriched for patients with a previous therapeutic prostate cancer-targeted vaccine. mCRPC patients received intravenous avelumab 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks with imaging every 6 weeks. Peripheral blood T-cell responses to PAP and to PA2024, the peptide containing PAP utilized by the vaccine, were evaluated pre and posttreatment. Eighteen patients enrolled, and previous treatments included abiraterone or enzalutamide in 14 (78%), therapeutic cancer vaccine in 14 (78%), and chemotherapy in 4 (22%). Avelumab had a manageable safety profile. There were no sustained prostate specific antigen decreases. Of 17 patients evaluable for best overall response by RECISTv1.1, 12 had stable disease (SD) and 5 had progressive disease. Seven patients had SD for >24 weeks posttreatment. Fourteen patients had previously received therapeutic cancer vaccines. Eleven (79%) had SD as the best overall response. Of these 14 patients, 9 had previously received sipuleucel T . Analysis of antigen-specific T-cell responses pre and postavelumab treatment did not demonstrate changes in interferon-γ production or proliferation in response to PAP or PA2024. This unplanned analysis does not support the use of sequential therapeutic cancer vaccine therapy followed by programmed death ligand-1 inhibition in mCRPC.

Phenotypic plasticity and reduced tissue retention of exhausted tumor-infiltrating T cells following neoadjuvant immunotherapy in head and neck cancer.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapies (NITs) have led to clinical benefits in several cancers. Characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying responses to NIT may lead to improved treatment strategies. Here we show that exhausted, tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T (Tex) cells display local and systemic responses to concurrent neoadjuvant TGF-ß and PD-L1 blockade. NIT induces a significant and selective increase in circulating Tex cells associated with reduced intratumoral expression of the tissue-retention marker CD103. TGF-ß-driven CD103 expression on CD8+ T cells is reversed following TGF-ß neutralization in vitro, implicating TGF-ß in T cell tissue retention and impaired systemic immunity. Transcriptional changes implicate T cell receptor signaling and glutamine metabolism as important determinants of enhanced or reduced Tex treatment response, respectively. Our analysis illustrates physiological and metabolic changes underlying T cell responses to NIT, highlighting the interplay between immunosuppression, tissue retention, and systemic anti-tumor immunity and suggest antagonism of T cell tissue retention as a promising neoadjuvant treatment strategy.

Prediction of cancer treatment response from histopathology images through imputed transcriptomics.

Advances in artificial intelligence have paved the way for leveraging hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained tumor slides for precision oncology. We present ENLIGHT-DeepPT, an approach for predicting response to multiple targeted and immunotherapies from H&E-slides. In difference from existing approaches that aim to predict treatment response directly from the slides, ENLIGHT-DeepPT is an indirect two-step approach consisting of (1) DeepPT, a new deep-learning framework that predicts genome-wide tumor mRNA expression from slides, and (2) ENLIGHT, which predicts response based on the DeepPT inferred expression values. DeepPT successfully predicts transcriptomics in all 16 TCGA cohorts tested and generalizes well to two independent datasets. Our key contribution is showing that ENLIGHT-DeepPT successfully predicts true responders in five independent patients' cohorts involving four different treatments spanning six cancer types with an overall odds ratio of 2.44, increasing the baseline response rate by 43.47% among predicted responders, without the need for any treatment data for training. Furthermore, its prediction accuracy on these datasets is comparable to a supervised approach predicting the response directly from the images, which needs to be trained and tested on the same cohort. ENLIGHT-DeepPT future application could provide clinicians with rapid treatment recommendations to an array of different therapies and importantly, may contribute to advancing precision oncology in developing countries.

Environmental and antigen receptor-derived signals support sustained surveillance of the lungs by pathogen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

Viral infections often gain access to the body of their host by exploiting areas of natural vulnerability, such as the semipermeable surfaces of mucosal tissues which are adapted for adsorption of nutrients and other diffusible molecules. Once the microbes have crossed the epithelial barrier, they can disperse to other tissues where eradication may not be possible. The best opportunity for successful immune intervention is immediately after infection while the pathogen is confined to a localized area of the body. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) which reside at the site where the infection begins can make an important contribution to immunity by reducing early dissemination of the infection. Because the lungs provide easy access points for many pathogens to enter the body, they require protection from many complementary mechanisms, including pathogen-specific cytotoxic T cells. In this study we show that an enduring response to pathogen-derived peptide antigens facilitates sustained surveillance of the lungs by pathogen-specific CTL during the recovery from influenza virus infection. Our studies show that these processed peptide antigens reinforce expression of two homing receptors (CD69 and CD103) which help recently activated virus-specific CTL colonize the lungs during a mild inflammatory response. We suggest that this requirement for prolonged antigen presentation to reinforce local CTL responses in the lungs explains why protective cellular immunity quickly declines following influenza virus infection and other viral infections that enter the body via mucosal tissues.

Enhanced neoepitope-specific immunity following neoadjuvant PD-L1 and TGF-ß blockade in HPV-unrelated head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUNDHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma not associated with HPV (HPV-unrelated HNSCC) is associated with a high rate of recurrence and poor survival.METHODSWe conducted a clinical trial in 14 patients with newly diagnosed HPV-unrelated HNSCC to evaluate the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant bintrafusp alfa, a bifunctional fusion protein that blocks programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and neutralizes TGF-ß.RESULTSBintrafusp alfa was well tolerated, and no treatment-associated surgical delays or complications occurred. Objective pathologic responses (PRs) were observed, and 12 of the 14 (86%) patients were alive and disease free at 1 year. Alterations in Treg infiltration and spatial distribution relative to proliferating CD8+ T cells indicated a reversal of Treg immunosuppression in the primary tumor. Detection of neoepitope-specific tumor T cell responses, but not virus-specific responses, correlated with the development of a PR. Detection of neoepitope-specific responses and PRs in tumors was not correlated with genomic features or tumor antigenicity but was associated with reduced pretreatment myeloid cell tumor infiltration. These results indicate that dual PD-L1 and TGF-ß blockade can safely enhance tumor antigen-specific immunity and highlight the feasibility of multimechanism neoadjuvant immunotherapy for patients with HPV-unrelated HNSCC.CONCLUSIONOur studies provide insight into the ability of neoadjuvant immunotherapy to induce polyclonal neoadjuvant-specific T cell responses in tumors and suggest that features of the tumor microenvironment, such as myeloid cell infiltration, may be a major determinant of enhanced antitumor immunity following such treatment.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicalTrials.gov NCT04247282.FUNDINGThis work was funded by the Center for Cancer Research, the NCI, and the Intramural Research Program of the NIDCD, NIH. Bintrafusp alfa was provided by the health care business of Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany), through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the NCI. Additional funding was provided by ImmunityBio through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the NIDCD.

Case report: severe toxicity in an African-American patient receiving FOLFOX carrying uncommon allelic variants in DPYD.

Cancers of the colon are commonly treated with fluoropyrimidines, which often cause severe toxicities in patients with certain variants in DPYD. Y186C (rs115232898) and a variant in the 3' untranslated region (rs12132152) are uncommon alleles previously observed in African-Americans. An African-American female underwent 5-fluorouracil-based therapy (400 mg/m2 bolus, 1200 mg/m2/day over 46 h). The patient experienced severe pancytopenia after the first cycle. After 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) dose reduction (600 mg/m2/day), the steady-state 5-FU plasma concentration became 474 ng/ml (range 301-619 ng/ml) and increased following a subsequence dose increase (800 mg/m2/day; 1248 ng/ml). After a 1000 mg/m2/day dose resulted in myelosuppression, 5-FU was again de-escalated for the remaining cycles (600 mg/m2). The observed complications are likely a function of uncommon genetic variants that affect DPYD metabolism.

Phase I study of a multitargeted recombinant Ad5 PSA/MUC-1/brachyury-based immunotherapy vaccine in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

BACKGROUND: Antitumor vaccines targeting tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) can generate antitumor immune response. A novel vaccine platform using adenovirus 5 (Ad5) vectors [E1-, E2b-] targeting three TAAs-prostate-specific antigen (PSA), brachyury, and MUC-1-has been developed. Both brachyury and the C-terminus of MUC-1 are overexpressed in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and have been shown to play an important role in resistance to chemotherapy, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and metastasis. The transgenes for PSA, brachyury, and MUC-1 all contain epitope modifications for the expression of CD8+ T-cell enhancer agonist epitopes. We report here the first-in-human trial of this vaccine platform. METHODS: Patients with mCRPC were given concurrently three vaccines targeting PSA, brachyury, and MUC-1 at 5×1011 viral particles (VP) each, subcutaneously every 3 weeks for a maximum of three doses (dose de-escalation cohort), followed by a booster vaccine every 8 weeks for 1 year (dose-expansion cohort only). The primary objective was to determine the safety and the recommended phase II dose. Immune assays and clinical responses were evaluated. RESULTS: Eighteen patients with mCRPC were enrolled between July 2018 and September 2019 and received at least one vaccination. Median PSA was 25.58 ng/mL (range, 0.65-1006 ng/mL). The vaccine was tolerable and safe, and no grade >3 treatment-related adverse events or dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) were observed. One patient had a partial response, while five patients had confirmed PSA decline and five had stable disease for >6 months. Median progression-free survival was 22 weeks (95% CI: 19.1 to 34). Seventeen (100%) of 17 patients mounted T-cell responses to at least one TAA, whereras 8 (47%) of 17 patients mounted immune responses to all three TAAs. Multifunctional T-cell responses to PSA, MUC-1, and brachyury were also detected after vaccination in the majority of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Ad5 PSA/MUC-1/brachyury vaccine is well tolerated. The primary end points were met and there were no DLTs. The recommended phase II dose is 5×1011 VP. The vaccine demonstrated clinical activity, including one partial response and confirmed PSA responses in five patients. Three patients with prolonged PSA responses received palliative radiation therapy. Further research is needed to evaluate the clinical benefit and immunogenicity of this vaccine in combination with other immuno-oncology agents and/or palliative radiation therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03481816.

Phase 1 open-label trial of intravenous administration of MVA-BN-brachyury-TRICOM vaccine in patients with advanced cancer.

BACKGROUND: MVA-BN-brachyury-TRICOM is a recombinant vector-based therapeutic cancer vaccine designed to induce an immune response against brachyury. Brachyury, a transcription factor overexpressed in advanced cancers, has been associated with treatment resistance, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and metastatic potential. MVA-BN-brachyury-TRICOM has demonstrated immunogenicity and safety in previous clinical trials of subcutaneously administered vaccine. Preclinical studies have suggested that intravenous administration of therapeutic vaccines can induce superior CD8+ T cell responses, higher levels of systemic cytokine release, and stronger natural killer cell activation and proliferation. This is the first-in-human study of the intravenous administration of MVA-BN-brachyury-TRICOM. METHODS: Between January 2020 and March 2021, 13 patients were treated on a phase 1, open-label, 3+3 design, dose-escalation study at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. The study population was adults with advanced solid tumors and was enriched for chordoma, a rare sarcoma of the notochord that overexpresses brachyury. Vaccine was administered intravenously at three DLs on days 1, 22, and 43. Blood samples were taken to assess drug pharmacokinetics and immune activation. Imaging was conducted at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months post-treatment. The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability as determined by the frequency of dose-limiting toxicities; a secondary endpoint was determination of the recommended phase 2 dose. RESULTS: No dose-limiting toxicities were observed and no serious adverse events were attributed to the vaccine. Vaccine-related toxicities were consistent with class profile (ie, influenza-like symptoms). Cytokine release syndrome up to grade 2 was observed with no adverse outcomes. Dose-effect trend was observed for fever, chills/rigor, and hypotension. Efficacy analysis of objective response rate per RECIST 1.1 at the end of study showed one patient with a partial response, four with stable disease, and eight with progressive disease. Three patients with stable disease experienced clinical benefit in the form of improvement in pain. Immune correlatives showed T cell activation against brachyury and other tumor-associated cascade antigens. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous administration of MVA-BN-brachyury-TRICOM vaccine was safe and tolerable. Maximum tolerated dose was not reached. The maximum administered dose was 109 infectious units every 3 weeks for three doses. This dose was selected as the recommended phase 2 dose. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04134312.

Novel immunotherapy combinations for genitourinary cancers.

Introduction: Several immune checkpoint inhibitors are FDA-approved for metastatic/advanced RCC and urothelial carcinoma (UC) based on improvements in survival. The dendritic cell vaccine, sipuleucel-T, is also approved for patients with mCRPC, based on a 4-month survival benefit.Areas covered: Preclinical evidence suggests that there is promise in combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with several different classes of anti-cancer agents, including tumor-directed vaccines, cytokines, chemotherapy, and multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Here we review immunotherapy combinations currently approved for RCC, UC, and prostate cancer with a focus on emerging therapies. We conducted a search of peer-reviewed publications and recent meeting abstracts and provide an overview of ongoing combination immunotherapy trials for genitourinary malignancies and discussion of preliminary findings where available.Expert opinion: Recently, many potential immunotherapy combinations have emerged. In addition to determining clinical activity, important challenges include investigating additive adverse effects and determining the best sequence of therapy.

Bintrafusp alfa, a bifunctional fusion protein targeting TGF-ß and PD-L1, in patients with human papillomavirus-associated malignancies.

BACKGROUND: Bintrafusp alfa is a first-in-class bifunctional fusion protein composed of the extracellular domain of transforming growth factor (TGF)-ßRII (a TGF-ß 'trap') fused to a human IgG1 mAb blocking programmed cell death ligand 1. This is the largest analysis of patients with advanced, pretreated human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated malignancies treated with bintrafusp alfa. METHODS: In these phase 1 (NCT02517398) and phase 2 trials (NCT03427411), 59 patients with advanced, pretreated, checkpoint inhibitor-naive HPV-associated cancers received bintrafusp alfa intravenously every 2 weeks until progressive disease, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal. Primary endpoint was best overall response per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) V.1.1; other endpoints included safety. RESULTS: As of April 17, 2019 (phase 1), and October 4, 2019 (phase 2), the confirmed objective response rate per RECIST V.1.1 in the checkpoint inhibitor-naive, full-analysis population was 30.5% (95% CI, 19.2% to 43.9%; five complete responses); eight patients had stable disease (disease control rate, 44.1% (95% CI, 31.2% to 57.6%)). In addition, three patients experienced a delayed partial response after initial disease progression, for a total clinical response rate of 35.6% (95% CI, 23.6% to 49.1%). An additional patient with vulvar cancer had an unconfirmed response. Forty-nine patients (83.1%) experienced treatment-related adverse events, which were grade 3/4 in 16 patients (27.1%). No treatment-related deaths occurred. CONCLUSION: Bintrafusp alfa showed clinical activity and manageable safety and is a promising treatment in HPV-associated cancers. These findings support further investigation of bintrafusp alfa in patients with advanced, pretreated HPV-associated cancers.

In situ imaging reveals different responses by naïve and memory CD8 T cells to late antigen presentation by lymph node DC after influenza virus infection.

Pulmonary influenza infection causes prolonged lymph node hypertrophy while processed viral antigens continue to be presented to virus-specific CD8 T cells. We show that naïve, but not central/memory, nucleoprotein (NP)-specific CD8 T cells recognized antigen-bearing CD11b(+) DC in the draining lymph nodes more than 30 days after infection. After these late transfers, the naïve CD8 T cells underwent an abortive proliferative response in the mediastinal lymph node (MLN), where large clusters of partially activated cells remained in the paracortex until at least a week after transfer. A majority of the endogenous NP-specific CD8 T cells that were in the MLN between 30 and 50 days after infection also showed signs of a continuing response to antigen stimulation. A high frequency of endogenous NP-specific CD8 T cells in the MLN indicates that late antigen presentation may help shape the epitope dominance hierarchy during reinfection.

Prevalence of Mental Health Problems and Willingness to Participate in a Mindfulness Treatment: An Examination among Veterans Injured in Combat.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that combat-exposed military veterans are at risk for numerous psychiatric disorders and rates of comorbid mental health and substance use disorders are high. Veterans wounded in combat are a particularly high-risk group of military veterans, however treatment services are often underutilized among this group and it is unclear whether an online treatment program that targets emotional and physical distress (including mental health symptoms and substance use disorders) would be appealing to Veterans wounded in combat. The goal of the current study was to conduct formative research on whether veterans wounded in combat would be interested in an online mindfulness-based treatment to help them cope with emotional and physical discomfort. We recruited Veterans from Combat Wounded Coalition (n = 163; 74.2% non-Hispanic White; 95.7% male) to complete an online survey of mental health and substance use disorder symptoms and willingness to participate in mindfulness treatment. The majority of participants reported significant mental health symptoms and indicated that they would be willing to participate in mindfulness treatment, either at the VA (54.0%) or online (59.5%). Those with problems in multiple health domains and lower self-compassion were significantly more likely to express interest in treatment and likely to represent a very high need group of veterans. The development of a mindfulness-based treatment for this group of individuals could be very helpful in reducing mental health symptoms and improving quality of life among wounded warriors.