Efficacy of nivolumab and temozolomide in advanced neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) in a phase 2 clinical trial.

Abstract

4121 Background: Treatment options are limited in patients with metastatic NEN. Temozolomide (TEM) alone and in combination with capecitabine is active in NEN and has been shown to have immunomodulatory impact. Here we present the final results for the NEN cohort of a phase 2 trial of combination nivolumab and TEM in patients with advanced NEN along with observed peripheral immune changes. Methods: NCT03728361 is a non-randomized, two-cohort, open-label phase 2 trial of nivolumab and TEM in patients with metastatic NEN and small cell lung cancer. The NEN cohort enrolled patients with tumors of any WHO grade, location, and line of therapy; all patients had evidence of progression prior to study. Prior immunotherapy was not allowed. Treatment consisted of nivolumab 480 mg IV on day 1 and TEM 150 mg/m2 on days 1-5 of a 28-day cycle. The primary objective was efficacy measured as response rate (RR) by RECIST v1.1. Secondary objectives were progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), by the method of Kaplan–Meier. The translational objective was to analyze peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected at screening (baseline) and on cycle 1, day 15 (C1D15) via mass cytometry. Results: The RR was 36% (n=10/28, 95% CI: 18.6%-55.9%), including 10 patients (36%) with PR, 16 (57%) with SD, and 2 (7%) with PD (Table). The disease control rate was 93%. Responses occurred across all WHO grades; 44% of patients with tumors with Ki-67 >20% had PR. There was a significant difference in ORR by primary tumor location (bronchial vs pancreas vs other, p=0.004). There was no significant difference in response by Ki-67% (p=0.872), or in patients treated as first line (31%) or beyond (40%, p=0.706). The median PFS was 8.9 months (95% CI: 3.9 – 11.1 months), and median OS was not reached (95% CI: 20.7 – NR months). Two immune related SAE’s occurred: myocarditis and diarrhea in one patient each; gr4 toxicities included neutropenia (10%) and thrombocytopenia (7%). Profiling of PBMCs revealed no correlation of baseline MDSC levels with clinical benefit, however significant changes within the T cell landscape, including a decrease in CD4+ T cells (59.6% ±13.08 vs. 56.5% ±13.01, p=0.001) and increase in CD8+ T cells (27.9% ±13.36 vs. 31.7% ±14.57, p=0.03) were observed. Conclusions: Combination nivolumab and TEM demonstrated promising efficacy in patients with NENs; median OS has not been reached. Clinical trial information: NCT03728361. [Table: see text]