Efficacy and safety of surufatinib, toripalimab, nab-paclitaxel in combination with radiotherapy or surgery in the first-line treatment of esophageal squamous cell cancer: A single-centered prospective clinical trial.

Abstract

e16047 Background: Chemotherapy(CT) plus immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has become the current standard of care in the first-line treatment of metastatic esophageal squamous cell cancer(ESCC). In locally advanced setting, radiochemotherapy with or without resection remains the standard of care. Surufatinib, a novel small-molecule kinase inhibitor targeting VEGFR1-3, FGFR and CSF-1R, in combination with PD-1 inhibitors have demonstrated synergistic anti-tumor activities in previous studies. This single-centered prospective clinical trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of surufatinib(SUR), toripalimab(TOR), nab-paclitaxel(NAB) in combination with radiotherapy or surgery in the first-line treatment of locally advanced(LA) or metastatic(R/M) ESCC. Methods: Eligible patients(pts) with confirmed LA or R/M, ECOG PS 0-2 and no prior systematic treatment were enrolled in the trial. Pts would receive 260mg/m2 NAB and TOR 240mg on day 1 and SUR 250mg once daily in each 21-day cycle as induction therapy for two cycles, followed by surgery or another two cycles of concurrent chemoradiotherapy(CCRT) with NAB, SUR and radiotherapy, in which involved-field irradiation were conducted at the dose of 50-63 Gy/25-30F, 1.8-2 Gy per fraction, 5 fractions per week. As maintenance therapy, daily SUR and TOR every three week were administered until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities. Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint. Results: As of Jan 7, 2024, 16 pts were enrolled, of whom 15 were evaluable. 14(87.5%) pts were male. The median age was 69.5 (range: 45-79). Tumor located in upper(18.8%), middle(25%) and lower(56.2%) thoracic. 1(6.2%) is Stage II disease, 12(75%) Stage III and 3(18.8%) Stage IV. 8 (50%) pts were with PD-L1 CPS greater than 1, 5 (31.25%) pts greater than 5, and 3 (18.75%) pts greater than 10. PD-L1 CPS of 6(37.50%) pts was unknown. With a median follow-up time of 5 (range: 1-12) months, despite the immatureness of PFS, the 12-month PFS rate was 77.14% (95% CI: 48.89%-100%). The objective response rate was 93.3% (14/15), and disease control rate was 100% (15/15). Five of the included pts met the resection criteria during treatment and underwent subsequent R0 resection. The most common adverse events (≥20%) of all grades were hypoesthesia (62.5%), nausea and vomiting (50%), and white blood cell decrease (43.75%). Conclusions: The combination ofsurufatinib, toripalimab, nab-paclitaxel with radiotherapy or surgery has demonstrated promising efficacy and a well-tolerated safety profile as a potential first-line treatment for LA or R/M ESCC. This ongoing trial merits further investigation and holds significant implications for clinical practice.