Nude mice bearing s.c. xenografts of the human colon adenocarcinoma HT29 were given intratumor in... more Nude mice bearing s.c. xenografts of the human colon adenocarcinoma HT29 were given intratumor injections of a mixture of 125I-labeled specific antibody (AUA1) and 131I-labeled control antibody (HMFG1), or with the labels reversed. After dissection at 1 and 4 h postadministration, both specific and control antibodies had 47-63% of the injected dose (% ID) in the tumor. By 24 h, the tumor contained 43 +/- 11% ID of AUA1 which persisted at around this level for 5 days and remained at nearly 20% ID at 18 days. In contrast, the HMFG1 activity was 23 +/- 9% ID at 24 h, which continued to fall and was less than 5% ID by 7 days. Normal organ levels were less than 2% ID/g for both antibodies, with HMFG1 being higher than AUA1 at all times, resulting in specificity indices greater than 20 by 5 days. Autoradiography of tumors removed 2 h postinjection of 125I-labeled AUA1 or HMFG1 showed high levels of antibody at the injection site. At 48 h and 7 days postinjection, the specific antibody was...
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2006
Purpose: The cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein (cIAP) is regarded as an important prognosti... more Purpose: The cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein (cIAP) is regarded as an important prognostic biomarker in cancer. Here, we sought to determine the prognostic value of cIAP protein levels in epithelial ovarian cancer using a novel method of compartmentalized in situ protein analysis. Methods: A tissue array composed of 150 advanced-stage ovarian cancers, treated with surgical debulking followed by platinum/paclitaxel–based combination chemotherapy, was constructed. For evaluation of protein expression, we used an immunofluorescence-based method of automated in situ quantitative measurement of protein analysis. Results: The mean follow-up time for the entire cohort was 34.4 months. Patients with tumors bearing high cIAP membranous expression had a 3-year survival rate of 31% compared with 73% for patients with low cIAP expressing tumors (P = 0.0020). In multivariable analysis, adjusting for well-characterized prognostic variables, low membranous cIAP expression level was the onl...
430 Background: Third-line targeted therapy efficacy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is... more 430 Background: Third-line targeted therapy efficacy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is not well characterized and many funding bodies do not provide reimbursement for it. Methods: The International mRCC Database Consortium (IMDC) consists of consecutive patient series from 25 cancer centers. It was queried for specific sequences of targeted therapy and third-line therapy. Kaplan Meier estimates were used for survival. Cox proportional hazards models were used to adjust hazard ratios for confounders. Patients that stopped second-line therapy were divided into two groups: those that went onto third-line therapy and those did not. Results: 4,050 patients were treated with first-line targeted therapy, of which 2,011 (49.6%) had second-line therapy and 879 (21.7%) had third-line targeted therapy. The most common third-line therapies were everolimus 25%, sorafenib 14%, sunitinib 13%, temsirolimus 11%, pazopanib 10%, and axitinib 6%. IMDC prognostic groups at third-line therapy initiation were 6% favorable risk, 67% intermediate risk, and 27% poor risk. Overall response rate for third-line therapy was 10.5% and 50.9% had stable disease in those patients that were evaluable. Median PFS was 5.1 months (95% CI, 4.5-5.7) and median OS from third-line therapy initiation was 12.0 months (95% CI, 10.7-12.9). Patients stopping second-line therapy that move on to third-line therapy vs. those that do not receive third line therapy have a median OS from stopping second-line therapy of 13.1 vs. 2.3 mons (p<0.0001). When adjusted for second-line IMDC prognostic criteria and KPS at second-line treatment cessation, patients who do receive third-line therapy have a HR of death of 0.41 (95% CI, 0.32-0.52; p<0.0001) compared to those that do not receive third-line therapy. This may be in part due to patient selection. To further limit bias, when excluding patients that live less than 3 months after second-line therapy cessation, the adjusted HR was similar. Conclusions: Third-line targeted therapy has demonstrated activity and is prevalent in use. Further studies are required to determine appropriate sequencing.
Background/aim: Easily assessable clinical predictors of response to chemotherapy in advanced cas... more Background/aim: Easily assessable clinical predictors of response to chemotherapy in advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) are few. The objective of this retrospective study was to search for and identify such candidate predictors of outcome. Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical data of CRPC patients entered in the Clinical Therapeutics' departmental prostate cancer database from 1996-2009 was performed. Univariate and multivariate analyses for progression-free survival and overall survival included patients receiving both docetaxel- and non-docetaxel-containing regimens. Results: From 1996 until June 2009, 286 out of 313 patients in our database were treated with chemotherapy. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) reduction >30% correlated with improved survival irrespective of treatment. Beyond previously reported predictors, i.e. baseline PSA >30 ng/dl, hemoglobin below 10 mg/dl, weight loss, poor performance status, elevated lactic dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase, and time to CRPC of less than or equal to two years was associated with a poor overall survival and shorter progression-free survival upon univariate analysis. Pain was associated with shorter survival. Multivariate analysis confirmed time to CRPC, lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase as independent predictors of overall and progression-free survival. Conclusion: Time to castration resistance is an important predictor of outcome in CRPC. PSA reduction >30% predicts survival improvement following chemotherapy for CRPC regardless of chemotherapy applied.
Background:Several ongoing phase 2 trials are evaluating new neoadjuvant therapy regimens in pati... more Background:Several ongoing phase 2 trials are evaluating new neoadjuvant therapy regimens in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The 1-yr recurrence-free survival (RFS) after radical cystectomy (RC), with or without perioperative chemotherapy, can be used to model statistical assumptions and interpret outcomes from these studies.Objective:To provide a benchmark for predicting 1-yr RFS in patients with cT2–4N0 MIBC.Design, setting, and participants:We identified 950 patients with clinical stage T2–4N0 MIBC undergoing RC at 27 centers between 1990 and 2016. We assessed 1-yr RFS rates for patients managed with no perioperative chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), adjuvant chemotherapy (AC), or NAC followed by AC. Cox regression analyses tested for 1-yr postsurgical RFS predictors. A Cox-based nomogram was developed to estimate 1-yr RFS and its accuracy was assessed in terms of Harrell’s c-index, a calibration plot, and decision curve analysis. We report 1-yr RFS rates across the nomogram tertiles.Results and limitations:The 1-yr RFS rates were 67.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 64–72) after no perioperative chemotherapy, 76.9% (95% CI 72–83%) after NAC, 77.8% (95% CI 71–85%) after AC, and 57% (95% CI 37–87) after NAC + AC. On multivariable analysis, positive surgical margins (p = 0.002), pT stage (p < 0.0001), and pN stage (p<.0001) were significantly associated with RFS, while NAC was not (p = 0.6). The model including all these factors yielded a c-index of 0.76 (95% CI 0.72–0.79), good calibration, and a high net benefit. The 1-yr RFS rates across nomogram tertiles were 90.5% (95% CI 87–94%), 73.4% (95% CI 68–79%), and 51.1% (95% CI 45–58%), respectively. The results lack external validation.Conclusions:Benchmark 1-yr RFS estimates for phase 2 design of new neoadjuvant trials are proposed and can be used for statistical assumptions, pending external validation.Patient summary:Our prognostic model predicting 1-yr survival free from recurrence of bladder cancer after radical cystectomy, with or without standard chemotherapy, could provide an improvement to the quality of phase 2 clinical trial designs and interpretation of their results.
Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and T regulatory cells (Tregs) have been associated with pr... more Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and T regulatory cells (Tregs) have been associated with prognosis in ovarian cancer, but their prognostic significance in ascites has not been studied. We performed a prospective study of T lymphocytes isolated from ascites from patients with ovarian carcinoma and we compared them with the respective populations in blood and tumors. Mononuclear cells from ascites (n=71) and blood were isolated by Ficoll, while tumor lymphocytes (n=20) were obtained upon mechanical dissociation. Phenotypic analysis was performed with flow cytometry. Ascites from 10 patients with cirrhosis was used as control. Tregs containing CD4(+)CD25(+) cells, NK-T containing CD3(+)CD56(+) cells and CD69 and HLADR expression of CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes were significantly increased in tumor ascites compared to blood and control ascites. A selective accumulation of these populations in the ascites of cancer patients, was suggested by the significantly higher ascites/blood (A/B) ratios in cancer patients but not controls. Cancer cell content in ascites was correlated with CD4(+)CD25(+), CD4(+)CD69(+), CD4(+)HLADR(+) and CD8(+)CD69(+) cells. There was no correlation of lymphocyte populations between ascites and samples from peritoneal metastases. Higher tumor grade was associated with increased A/B CD4(+)CD25(+) ratio and reduced CD3(+)CD56(+) cells, while platinum resistance was associated with reduced A/B CD3(+)CD56(+) ratio. There are significant differences of CD3(+)CD56(+) and CD25(+)CD4(+) lymphocytes and increase in lymphocyte activation between blood, ascites and peritoneal metastases from patients with ovarian cancer. The selective accumulation of CD3(+)CD56(+) population in ascites may be a predictive factor for platinum resistance.
e15040 Background: The use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in mRCC has improved prognosis bu... more e15040 Background: The use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in mRCC has improved prognosis but the individual outcome remains largely unpredictable. The MSKCC model, used to identify risk groups, was developed in cytokine-treated patients and has not been externally validated in the TKI era. It contains 3 laboratory factors (total 5), making its application to retrospective series somewhat problematic. Subsequently, a more complicated model, using 4 laboratory factors (total 6) has been described. The Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group recently described a simpler model with only 3 clinical factors. We are describing the application and external validation of this model. Methods: 128 Greek patients with mRCC treated with 1st line sunitinib were included. All had had nephrectomy. Previous interferon was allowed. Cox regression was used to develop a predictive model for overall survival (OS). Our model was compared to that of MSKCC and Heng’s using ROC curves and Harrell’s Concordance Index. Risk groups were defined by the calculated prognostic index and by clinical factors. External validation was done using a sample of 226 French patients. The Royston and Sauerbrei D statistic was used as a measure of discrimination of the survival model. Results: Time from diagnosis of RCC to start of sunitinib (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;12), PS (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;1) and number of metastatic sites (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;1) were independent adverse prognostic factors in the Greek dataset. The co-efficients for each factor were: 0.51, 0.97, 0.61, respectively. The 3 risk groups were defined by the 25th and 75th percentiles of the prognostic index values (Table 1). The model was of equal prognostic value to the MSKCC (p=.272) and Heng’s (p=.075). French had better survival than Greek patients especially in the high risk group (for all models). Validation of our model in the French data showed that it was applicable (R2 D: 0.14, SE: 0.09), especially for the low/medium risk groups. Conclusions: Our model is the only one externally validated in TKI-treated patients. It may be considered as a simpler alternative to those currently applied. [Table: see text]
Background: Members of the α-thymosin family have long been studied for their immunostimulating p... more Background: Members of the α-thymosin family have long been studied for their immunostimulating properties. Among them, the danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) prothymosin α (proTα) and its C-terminal decapeptide proTα(100–109) have been shown to act as immunomodulators in vitro, due to their ability to promote T helper type 1 (Th1) responses. Recently, we verified these findings in vivo, showing that both proTα and proTα(100-109) enhance antitumor-reactive T cell-mediated responses. Methods: In view of the eventual use of proTα and proTα(100-109) in humans, we investigated their safety profile in silico, in human leukocytes and cancer cell lines in vitro, and in immunocompetent mice in vivo, in comparison to the proTα derivative thymosin alpha 1 (Τα1), a 28-mer peptide extensively studied for its safety in clinical trials. Results: In silico prediction via computational tools showed that all three peptide sequences likely are non-toxic or do not induce allergic regions. In...
Sunitinib is approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). No data are ava... more Sunitinib is approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). No data are available on sunitinib use specifically in patients with significantly impaired renal function. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of sunitinib in patients with advanced RCC and Grade 4 renal function impairment. Four patients had a calculated creatinine clearance of 15 - 29 ml/min/1.73 m2 prior to initiation of sunitinib. Three patients tolerated treatment well with no renal toxicity: 2 received 17 and 5 cycles of sunitinib at full dose, while 1 received 5 cycles with a dose reduction due to myelotoxicity. We observed one partial response and two patients had stable disease for 24 and 4 months, respectively. The 4th patient had a creatinine clearance of 18 ml/min/1.73 m2 and had treatment discontinued during the first cycle due to poorly controlled hypertension and deterioration of his renal function. We conclude that sunitinib can be administered to the majority of patients with RCC and significant renal function impairment.
396 Background: The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy is unclear in patients with synchronous met... more 396 Background: The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy is unclear in patients with synchronous metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the age of targeted therapy. Methods: Comparisons were made between patients treated with targeted therapy who had a CN versus not and adjusted using proportional hazards regression for known poor prognostic criteria (IMDC criteria Heng et al JCO 2009). Results: 2569/3245 (79%) mRCC patients received a nephrectomy. Patients who had nephrectomy before the diagnosis of metastatic disease were excluded (n=1634). Among the remaining patients, 935 patients had a CN and 676 patients did not have nephrectomy. All patients received targeted therapy with the majority receiving first-line sunitinib 72%, sorafenib 15%, temsirolimus 5%, bevacizumab 3%, pazopanib 3%. Patients who had CN had better IMDC prognostic profiles versus those without (favorable/intermediate/poor in 9%/63%/28% vs 1%/45%/54% p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001). The median overall survival of patients with CN vs without was 20.6 vs 9.5 months (p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001). When adjusted for IMDC criteria to correct for imbalances, the HR of death was 0.60 (95%CI 0.52-0.69, p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001). The Table demonstrates the increasing benefit of CN if a given patient has a longer survival time. Conclusions: CN can be beneficial in patients with synchronous metastatic RCC even after adjustment for prognostic factors. Patients who are estimated to survive less than 9-12 months may have a marginal benefit compared to those with longer estimated survival. This may aid in patient selection as we await results from randomized controlled trials. [Table: see text]
Nude mice bearing s.c. xenografts of the human colon adenocarcinoma HT29 were given intratumor in... more Nude mice bearing s.c. xenografts of the human colon adenocarcinoma HT29 were given intratumor injections of a mixture of 125I-labeled specific antibody (AUA1) and 131I-labeled control antibody (HMFG1), or with the labels reversed. After dissection at 1 and 4 h postadministration, both specific and control antibodies had 47-63% of the injected dose (% ID) in the tumor. By 24 h, the tumor contained 43 +/- 11% ID of AUA1 which persisted at around this level for 5 days and remained at nearly 20% ID at 18 days. In contrast, the HMFG1 activity was 23 +/- 9% ID at 24 h, which continued to fall and was less than 5% ID by 7 days. Normal organ levels were less than 2% ID/g for both antibodies, with HMFG1 being higher than AUA1 at all times, resulting in specificity indices greater than 20 by 5 days. Autoradiography of tumors removed 2 h postinjection of 125I-labeled AUA1 or HMFG1 showed high levels of antibody at the injection site. At 48 h and 7 days postinjection, the specific antibody was...
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2006
Purpose: The cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein (cIAP) is regarded as an important prognosti... more Purpose: The cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein (cIAP) is regarded as an important prognostic biomarker in cancer. Here, we sought to determine the prognostic value of cIAP protein levels in epithelial ovarian cancer using a novel method of compartmentalized in situ protein analysis. Methods: A tissue array composed of 150 advanced-stage ovarian cancers, treated with surgical debulking followed by platinum/paclitaxel–based combination chemotherapy, was constructed. For evaluation of protein expression, we used an immunofluorescence-based method of automated in situ quantitative measurement of protein analysis. Results: The mean follow-up time for the entire cohort was 34.4 months. Patients with tumors bearing high cIAP membranous expression had a 3-year survival rate of 31% compared with 73% for patients with low cIAP expressing tumors (P = 0.0020). In multivariable analysis, adjusting for well-characterized prognostic variables, low membranous cIAP expression level was the onl...
430 Background: Third-line targeted therapy efficacy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is... more 430 Background: Third-line targeted therapy efficacy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is not well characterized and many funding bodies do not provide reimbursement for it. Methods: The International mRCC Database Consortium (IMDC) consists of consecutive patient series from 25 cancer centers. It was queried for specific sequences of targeted therapy and third-line therapy. Kaplan Meier estimates were used for survival. Cox proportional hazards models were used to adjust hazard ratios for confounders. Patients that stopped second-line therapy were divided into two groups: those that went onto third-line therapy and those did not. Results: 4,050 patients were treated with first-line targeted therapy, of which 2,011 (49.6%) had second-line therapy and 879 (21.7%) had third-line targeted therapy. The most common third-line therapies were everolimus 25%, sorafenib 14%, sunitinib 13%, temsirolimus 11%, pazopanib 10%, and axitinib 6%. IMDC prognostic groups at third-line therapy initiation were 6% favorable risk, 67% intermediate risk, and 27% poor risk. Overall response rate for third-line therapy was 10.5% and 50.9% had stable disease in those patients that were evaluable. Median PFS was 5.1 months (95% CI, 4.5-5.7) and median OS from third-line therapy initiation was 12.0 months (95% CI, 10.7-12.9). Patients stopping second-line therapy that move on to third-line therapy vs. those that do not receive third line therapy have a median OS from stopping second-line therapy of 13.1 vs. 2.3 mons (p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001). When adjusted for second-line IMDC prognostic criteria and KPS at second-line treatment cessation, patients who do receive third-line therapy have a HR of death of 0.41 (95% CI, 0.32-0.52; p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001) compared to those that do not receive third-line therapy. This may be in part due to patient selection. To further limit bias, when excluding patients that live less than 3 months after second-line therapy cessation, the adjusted HR was similar. Conclusions: Third-line targeted therapy has demonstrated activity and is prevalent in use. Further studies are required to determine appropriate sequencing.
Background/aim: Easily assessable clinical predictors of response to chemotherapy in advanced cas... more Background/aim: Easily assessable clinical predictors of response to chemotherapy in advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) are few. The objective of this retrospective study was to search for and identify such candidate predictors of outcome. Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical data of CRPC patients entered in the Clinical Therapeutics' departmental prostate cancer database from 1996-2009 was performed. Univariate and multivariate analyses for progression-free survival and overall survival included patients receiving both docetaxel- and non-docetaxel-containing regimens. Results: From 1996 until June 2009, 286 out of 313 patients in our database were treated with chemotherapy. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) reduction >30% correlated with improved survival irrespective of treatment. Beyond previously reported predictors, i.e. baseline PSA >30 ng/dl, hemoglobin below 10 mg/dl, weight loss, poor performance status, elevated lactic dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase, and time to CRPC of less than or equal to two years was associated with a poor overall survival and shorter progression-free survival upon univariate analysis. Pain was associated with shorter survival. Multivariate analysis confirmed time to CRPC, lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase as independent predictors of overall and progression-free survival. Conclusion: Time to castration resistance is an important predictor of outcome in CRPC. PSA reduction >30% predicts survival improvement following chemotherapy for CRPC regardless of chemotherapy applied.
Background:Several ongoing phase 2 trials are evaluating new neoadjuvant therapy regimens in pati... more Background:Several ongoing phase 2 trials are evaluating new neoadjuvant therapy regimens in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The 1-yr recurrence-free survival (RFS) after radical cystectomy (RC), with or without perioperative chemotherapy, can be used to model statistical assumptions and interpret outcomes from these studies.Objective:To provide a benchmark for predicting 1-yr RFS in patients with cT2–4N0 MIBC.Design, setting, and participants:We identified 950 patients with clinical stage T2–4N0 MIBC undergoing RC at 27 centers between 1990 and 2016. We assessed 1-yr RFS rates for patients managed with no perioperative chemotherapy, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), adjuvant chemotherapy (AC), or NAC followed by AC. Cox regression analyses tested for 1-yr postsurgical RFS predictors. A Cox-based nomogram was developed to estimate 1-yr RFS and its accuracy was assessed in terms of Harrell’s c-index, a calibration plot, and decision curve analysis. We report 1-yr RFS rates across the nomogram tertiles.Results and limitations:The 1-yr RFS rates were 67.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 64–72) after no perioperative chemotherapy, 76.9% (95% CI 72–83%) after NAC, 77.8% (95% CI 71–85%) after AC, and 57% (95% CI 37–87) after NAC + AC. On multivariable analysis, positive surgical margins (p = 0.002), pT stage (p < 0.0001), and pN stage (p<.0001) were significantly associated with RFS, while NAC was not (p = 0.6). The model including all these factors yielded a c-index of 0.76 (95% CI 0.72–0.79), good calibration, and a high net benefit. The 1-yr RFS rates across nomogram tertiles were 90.5% (95% CI 87–94%), 73.4% (95% CI 68–79%), and 51.1% (95% CI 45–58%), respectively. The results lack external validation.Conclusions:Benchmark 1-yr RFS estimates for phase 2 design of new neoadjuvant trials are proposed and can be used for statistical assumptions, pending external validation.Patient summary:Our prognostic model predicting 1-yr survival free from recurrence of bladder cancer after radical cystectomy, with or without standard chemotherapy, could provide an improvement to the quality of phase 2 clinical trial designs and interpretation of their results.
Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and T regulatory cells (Tregs) have been associated with pr... more Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and T regulatory cells (Tregs) have been associated with prognosis in ovarian cancer, but their prognostic significance in ascites has not been studied. We performed a prospective study of T lymphocytes isolated from ascites from patients with ovarian carcinoma and we compared them with the respective populations in blood and tumors. Mononuclear cells from ascites (n=71) and blood were isolated by Ficoll, while tumor lymphocytes (n=20) were obtained upon mechanical dissociation. Phenotypic analysis was performed with flow cytometry. Ascites from 10 patients with cirrhosis was used as control. Tregs containing CD4(+)CD25(+) cells, NK-T containing CD3(+)CD56(+) cells and CD69 and HLADR expression of CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes were significantly increased in tumor ascites compared to blood and control ascites. A selective accumulation of these populations in the ascites of cancer patients, was suggested by the significantly higher ascites/blood (A/B) ratios in cancer patients but not controls. Cancer cell content in ascites was correlated with CD4(+)CD25(+), CD4(+)CD69(+), CD4(+)HLADR(+) and CD8(+)CD69(+) cells. There was no correlation of lymphocyte populations between ascites and samples from peritoneal metastases. Higher tumor grade was associated with increased A/B CD4(+)CD25(+) ratio and reduced CD3(+)CD56(+) cells, while platinum resistance was associated with reduced A/B CD3(+)CD56(+) ratio. There are significant differences of CD3(+)CD56(+) and CD25(+)CD4(+) lymphocytes and increase in lymphocyte activation between blood, ascites and peritoneal metastases from patients with ovarian cancer. The selective accumulation of CD3(+)CD56(+) population in ascites may be a predictive factor for platinum resistance.
e15040 Background: The use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in mRCC has improved prognosis bu... more e15040 Background: The use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in mRCC has improved prognosis but the individual outcome remains largely unpredictable. The MSKCC model, used to identify risk groups, was developed in cytokine-treated patients and has not been externally validated in the TKI era. It contains 3 laboratory factors (total 5), making its application to retrospective series somewhat problematic. Subsequently, a more complicated model, using 4 laboratory factors (total 6) has been described. The Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group recently described a simpler model with only 3 clinical factors. We are describing the application and external validation of this model. Methods: 128 Greek patients with mRCC treated with 1st line sunitinib were included. All had had nephrectomy. Previous interferon was allowed. Cox regression was used to develop a predictive model for overall survival (OS). Our model was compared to that of MSKCC and Heng’s using ROC curves and Harrell’s Concordance Index. Risk groups were defined by the calculated prognostic index and by clinical factors. External validation was done using a sample of 226 French patients. The Royston and Sauerbrei D statistic was used as a measure of discrimination of the survival model. Results: Time from diagnosis of RCC to start of sunitinib (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;12), PS (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;1) and number of metastatic sites (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;1) were independent adverse prognostic factors in the Greek dataset. The co-efficients for each factor were: 0.51, 0.97, 0.61, respectively. The 3 risk groups were defined by the 25th and 75th percentiles of the prognostic index values (Table 1). The model was of equal prognostic value to the MSKCC (p=.272) and Heng’s (p=.075). French had better survival than Greek patients especially in the high risk group (for all models). Validation of our model in the French data showed that it was applicable (R2 D: 0.14, SE: 0.09), especially for the low/medium risk groups. Conclusions: Our model is the only one externally validated in TKI-treated patients. It may be considered as a simpler alternative to those currently applied. [Table: see text]
Background: Members of the α-thymosin family have long been studied for their immunostimulating p... more Background: Members of the α-thymosin family have long been studied for their immunostimulating properties. Among them, the danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) prothymosin α (proTα) and its C-terminal decapeptide proTα(100–109) have been shown to act as immunomodulators in vitro, due to their ability to promote T helper type 1 (Th1) responses. Recently, we verified these findings in vivo, showing that both proTα and proTα(100-109) enhance antitumor-reactive T cell-mediated responses. Methods: In view of the eventual use of proTα and proTα(100-109) in humans, we investigated their safety profile in silico, in human leukocytes and cancer cell lines in vitro, and in immunocompetent mice in vivo, in comparison to the proTα derivative thymosin alpha 1 (Τα1), a 28-mer peptide extensively studied for its safety in clinical trials. Results: In silico prediction via computational tools showed that all three peptide sequences likely are non-toxic or do not induce allergic regions. In...
Sunitinib is approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). No data are ava... more Sunitinib is approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). No data are available on sunitinib use specifically in patients with significantly impaired renal function. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of sunitinib in patients with advanced RCC and Grade 4 renal function impairment. Four patients had a calculated creatinine clearance of 15 - 29 ml/min/1.73 m2 prior to initiation of sunitinib. Three patients tolerated treatment well with no renal toxicity: 2 received 17 and 5 cycles of sunitinib at full dose, while 1 received 5 cycles with a dose reduction due to myelotoxicity. We observed one partial response and two patients had stable disease for 24 and 4 months, respectively. The 4th patient had a creatinine clearance of 18 ml/min/1.73 m2 and had treatment discontinued during the first cycle due to poorly controlled hypertension and deterioration of his renal function. We conclude that sunitinib can be administered to the majority of patients with RCC and significant renal function impairment.
396 Background: The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy is unclear in patients with synchronous met... more 396 Background: The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy is unclear in patients with synchronous metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the age of targeted therapy. Methods: Comparisons were made between patients treated with targeted therapy who had a CN versus not and adjusted using proportional hazards regression for known poor prognostic criteria (IMDC criteria Heng et al JCO 2009). Results: 2569/3245 (79%) mRCC patients received a nephrectomy. Patients who had nephrectomy before the diagnosis of metastatic disease were excluded (n=1634). Among the remaining patients, 935 patients had a CN and 676 patients did not have nephrectomy. All patients received targeted therapy with the majority receiving first-line sunitinib 72%, sorafenib 15%, temsirolimus 5%, bevacizumab 3%, pazopanib 3%. Patients who had CN had better IMDC prognostic profiles versus those without (favorable/intermediate/poor in 9%/63%/28% vs 1%/45%/54% p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001). The median overall survival of patients with CN vs without was 20.6 vs 9.5 months (p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001). When adjusted for IMDC criteria to correct for imbalances, the HR of death was 0.60 (95%CI 0.52-0.69, p&amp;amp;amp;lt;0.0001). The Table demonstrates the increasing benefit of CN if a given patient has a longer survival time. Conclusions: CN can be beneficial in patients with synchronous metastatic RCC even after adjustment for prognostic factors. Patients who are estimated to survive less than 9-12 months may have a marginal benefit compared to those with longer estimated survival. This may aid in patient selection as we await results from randomized controlled trials. [Table: see text]
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