Safety and efficacy of tazemetostat, a first-in-class EZH2 inhibitor, in patients (pts) with epithelioid sarcoma (ES) (NCT02601950).

Abstract

11003 Background: ES is a rare soft tissue sarcoma that metastasizes in approximately 30% to 50% of cases. More than 90% of ES tumors lack expression of INI1, an important component of epigenetic regulation. Loss of INI1 function allows another epigenetic modifier, EZH2, to become an oncogenic driver in tumor cells. Tazemetostat, a first-in-class, selective, oral inhibitor of EZH2, has demonstrated tumor regression and favorable safety in phase 1/2 trials. Methods: Data from a phase 2 open-label, multicenter trial of pts with locally advanced or metastatic ES are reported. Efficacy was assessed with primary and secondary endpoints including objective response rate (ORR) by RECIST 1.1, disease control rate (DCR; objective confirmed response of any duration or stable disease [SD] lasting ≥32 weeks), duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS); safety and tolerability were also evaluated. Results: As of September 17, 2018, 62 INI1-negative ES pts were enrolled and treated with tazemetostat 800 mg BID. The median number of prior lines of therapy was 1 (range: 0-9). There were 9/62 (15%) confirmed partial responses (PRs) with an ORR of 15% and DCR of 26%. The DOR ranged from 7.1+ weeks to 103.0+ weeks (median: not reached) with a median OS of 82.4 weeks (95% CI: 47.4, not estimable) for all 62 pts. Tazemetostat was generally well tolerated. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were generally mild to moderate with the most commonly reported adverse events (AEs; ≥10% incidence) regardless of attribution being fatigue (24/62; 39%), nausea (22/62; 35%), and cancer pain (20/62; 32%). Any treatment-related TEAEs of grade ≥3 were reported in 10/62 (16%) pts. TEAEs grade ≥3 reported in ≥2 pts included anemia (6%) and decreased weight (3%). There were no drug-related deaths and a low discontinuation rate (1.7%). Conclusions: In the largest prospective clinical trial of ES to date, tazemetostat achieved disease control in 26% of pts with advanced ES who entered this study. Durable clinical response of the drug was documented. Tazemetostat demonstrated favorable safety with few pts with treatment-related AEs grade ≥3. Clinical trial information: NCT02601950.