Anlotinib combined with penpulimab and nab-paclitaxel as first-line treatment for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC): A single-arm, open-label phase II clinical trial.

Abstract

340 Background: Recently, PD-1 blockades combined with dual chemotherapy in first-line setting exhibited encouraging efficacy for patients with ESCC. However, the safety profile of conventional dual chemotherapy remained unsatisfactory. Therefore, PD-1 blockades combined with anti-angiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and single chemotherapy regimen might be a promising strategy. Anlotinib, a novel multitarget TKI primarily targeting VEGFR1-3, demonstrated promising therapeutic activity as first-line combination therapy or second-line monotherapy for patients with ESCC in China clinically. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the efficacy and safety of anlotinib combined with penpulimab (PD-1 blockade) and nab-paclitaxel as first-line therapy in advanced ESCC. Methods: Patients with previously untreated metastatic or locally advanced ESCC were recruited and treated with anlotinib (12mg, po, d1~14, q3w) and penpulimab (200mg, iv, d1, q3w) plus nab-paclitaxel (220mg/m2, iv, d1, q3w) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The tumor response was assessed according to RECIST 1.1 using CT scans every two cycles. Adverse events were recorded by severity in accordance with the NCI CTC AE Version 5.0. The predefined sample size was 30. Primary endpoint was PFS and secondary endpoints included safety, ORR, DCR and OS. Results: From Jul 2022 to Aug 2023, a total of 23 patients were enrolled, 19 patients who had received first tumor response were included in this analysis. The best overall response indicated that there were 14 PR (73.7%), 2 SD (10.5%) and 3 NE (15.8%). Therefore, the preliminary ORR was 73.7% (95%CI: 48.8%-90.9%), DCR was 84.2% (95%CI: 60.4%-96.6%). Median PFS of the 19 patients was not yet reached. Additionally, safety profile exhibited that the regimen was tolerable. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events among the 23 patients with the incidence >20% were leukopenia (30%) and anemia (30%). Common grade ≥3 treatment-emergent adverse events were leukopenia (9%), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase was elevated (4%), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase increased (4%), hypertension (4%) and diarrhea (4%). Conclusions: The combination of anlotinib plus penpulimab and nab-paclitaxel as first-line therapy for advanced ESCC demonstrated promising efficacy and manageable safety profile. The conclusions needed to be confirmed in subsequent trials.