Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Cohort Research Articles

A retrospective observational study of the natural history of advanced non–small-cell lung cancer in patients with KRAS p.G12C mutated or wild-type disease

IntroductionThe KRAS p.G12C mutation, prevalent in non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), has only recently become a viable target. Here we present results of the largest retrospective observational study analyzing KRAS p.G12C in patients with advanced NSCLC. Materials and MethodsAdults with advanced NSCLC (All Advanced NSCLC cohort) and subcohorts with different mutation profiles (KRAS p.G12C [G12C] and KRAS/EGFR/ALK wild type [Triple WT]) diagnosed January 2011 to March 2019 were selected from a US clinico-genomic database; treatment-related characteristics, molecular profiles, real-world overall (rwOS) and progression-free survival (rwPFS) were analyzed. ResultsDemographics were similar across cohorts, with more smokers and nonsquamous cell carcinoma histology in the G12C cohort. KRAS p.G12C was nearly mutually exclusive (≤1.2 %) with known actionable driver mutations, but non-driver co-mutations were common (STK11, 21.5 %; KEAP1, 7.0 %; TP53, 48.0 %). Among G12C patients, 20 % had no documentation of receiving systemic therapy. Across treated G12C patients, 67 % received immune checkpoint inhibitors; first-line usage increased from 0% (2014) to 81 % (2019). Among G12C patients, median (95 % CI) rwOS was 12.0 (9.6–15.3), 9.5 (8.1–13.1), and 6.7 (5.9–10.7) months after first, second, and third line of therapy, respectively; median (95 % CI) rwPFS was 5.0 (4.4–5.8), 4.0 (2.8–5.3), and 3.1 (2.4–4.3) months. Outcomes for the G12C subcohort were similar to those for all patients (All Advanced NSCLC cohort). Mutations in STK11/KEAP1 were associated with poorer survival across all cohorts. ConclusionThe poor outcomes associated with KRAS p.G12C mutated advanced NSCLC indicate an unmet need for more effective novel treatments.

Real-world outcomes in older adults treated with immunotherapy: A United Kingdom multicenter series of 2,049 patients.

12026 Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy is now commonly used in a range of tumours and settings. Most data relating to outcomes and rates of immune-related adverse events (irAE) is derived from clinical trial or registry populations and small case series. Limited data exist for patients aged > 75 years. Here we present a multi-centre, real-world analysis of the outcomes and incidence of irAEs in older adults managed within a single comprehensive public health service. We also compare these outcomes to younger patients in the same cohort. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 2049 patients treated with ICIs was undertaken across 12 centres. All patients were managed within the UK National Health Service outside of a trial setting between June 2016 and September 2018. Patients received either ICI monotherapy (MT) or duel combination ICI therapy (CT) for malignant melanoma (MM), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or renal cell cancer (RCC). Data were collected using a standardised, collection tool. IrAEs ≥ grade 2 or all-grade endocrinopathies were recorded as per the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (V5) (CTCAE). Statistical analyses were performed using T-tests, Mann-Whitney and Chi-squared. Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test were used for overall survival (OS) analysis. Results: 409 (20%) of patients were aged > 75 years(a), 1413 (69%) aged 50-75(b) and 227 (11.1%) aged < 50(c). There was no difference in sex, ethnicity or PD-L1 status (in the NSCLC cohort) between groups. Older patients were less likely to receive combination therapy (3%(a) v 13%(b) v 34%(c), p < 0.001). There was no difference in median OS across age groups in the cohort as a whole (p = 0.822) or for the individual tumour groups when treated with single agent ICI. Across the total cohort patients aged > 75 had no increased risk of any irAE (35%(a) v 33%(b) v 41%(c),p = 0.074). However there was an increase in irAEs in older patients treated with MT (36%(a) v 26(b) v 25%(c), p = 0.011) However there was no difference in the > 75s with regard to severe (G3/4) toxicity, toxicity type, admission or discontinuation due to toxicity in the aPD-1 group. In the overall cohort younger patients were more likely to develop irAEs and be admitted. Conclusions: Patients aged > 75 years treated with anti-PD1 therapy in the standard of care setting derive similar survival benefit to younger patients. There was no increase in ≥G3 toxicity. Our data support the safety of single agent aPD-1 ICI therapy in older adults and provide reassurance relating to the impact of toxicity.[Table: see text]

Targeted ctDNA sequencing analysis reveals concurrent genomic alterations and its impact on TKI and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in advanced NSCLC from Asian population.

3042 Background: For advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), liquid biopsy followed by targeted DNA sequencing is used in the clinical setting for driver-gene identification in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), tumor evolution and treatment monitoring. To understand the complexity and diversity of genetic alterations in advanced NSCLC, we examined the genetic landscape of late-stage NSCLC from an Asian population and its association with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) or immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment. Methods: Plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from 142 Asian patients with advanced NSCLC underwent real-world testing in a CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified central laboratory. We analyzed genetic alterations in cfDNA using an amplicon-based next-generation sequencing assay that covers 61 NSCLC related genes. 88 patients (62%) had received one or more lines of treatment. A similar cohort from Caucasian NSCLC was used for comparison (Blakely et al. Nat Genet 2017). Systematic co-mutation analysis, functional annotation and pathway enrichment analysis were performed. Results: The top 10 mutated genes in the Asian cohort were EGFR (66.2%), TP53 (48.6%), KRAS (11.3%), BRCA2 (7%), CTNNB1 (6.3%), PIK3CA (6.3%), SMAD4 (5.6%), BRCA1 (4.9%), MET (3.5%) and RB1 (3.5%). EGFR mutations occurred at hotspots in exons 18 – 21, with exon19 deletion, L858R, T790M, C797S, and G719A being the top-ranking alleles, similar to the Caucasian NSCLC cohort. Concurrent KRAS and EGFR mutations were higher in Asian cohort (8.5%) than in Caucasian cohort (0.56%). A rare PD-L1 structural variant (1.1%), reported to be related to immune evasion in other cancers (Kataoka et al. Nature 2016), was detected in the EGFR-mutated subgroup. Within the first line TKI-treated group, responders (CR+PR) harbored more alterations than non-responders (p < 0.017). Among ICI-treated NSCLC patients (anti-PD-1/PD-L1 mono- or polytherapy), responders from 1st line or 2nd line ICI treatment harbored fewer mutations than non-responders, but the distribution of mutational allele frequency (MAF) in responders was shifted to the right (more clonal than subclonal mutations). Functional annotation suggests that concurrent mutated genes and copy number alterations in advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC were enriched in cell cycle, DNA repair, PI3K-AKT signaling pathways. Conclusions: We characterized the ctDNA-derived genetic landscape of advanced NSCLC from an Asian population and dissected mutated genes with the outcome of TKI or ICI treatment. We also report a rare PD-L1 structural variant in the EGFR mutated subgroup, which could be associated with immune evasion. Our analyses support the occurrence of clonal and subclonal driver co-alterations in EGFR-driven NSCLC, underlining the clinical utility of ctDNA detection for NSCLC diagnosis and treatment selection.

Neratinib efficacy in a subgroup of patients with EGFR exon 18-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and central nervous system (CNS) involvement: Findings from the SUMMIT basket trial.

9068 Background: The phase 2 SUMMIT basket trial (NCT01953926) demonstrated efficacy of neratinib in patients with EGFR exon 18-mutant NSCLC [Boni et al. WCLC 2020]. Neratinib also has documented activity in HER2+ metastatic breast cancer with CNS metastases [Saura et al. SABCS 2020 & J Clin Oncol 2020]. Here we report neratinib efficacy in a subgroup of patients with EGFR exon 18-mutant NSCLC and CNS involvement from SUMMIT. Methods: Patients with EGFR exon 18-mutant NSCLC were treated with single-agent neratinib (240 mg po daily). Prior EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), chemotherapy, and checkpoint inhibitors (IO) were allowed. Patients with stable, asymptomatic CNS metastasis were enrolled. Study endpoints: objective response rate (ORR) at week 8 (±1 week); ORR (RECIST 1.1 confirmed); duration of response (DOR); clinical benefit rate (CBR); progression-free survival (PFS); safety; biomarkers. Results: Baseline characteristics of 11 patients with EGFR exon 18-mutant NSCLC: median age 67 (range 56–83) years; ECOG PS 0/1 (45%/55%). Prior lines of therapies: 2 (range 1–3): EGFR TKIs (91%); chemotherapy (55%); IO (27%). 3/11 patients had baseline CNS metastasis and received radiation 8–22 months prior to study enrollment. Best CNS response in these 3 patients was stable disease with overall individual PFS of 1.9 (censored), 6.9 and 9.1 months and OS of 2.6 (censored), 17.7 (censored), and 17.9 months. Efficacy is summarized in Table. Efficacy summary: TKI-pretreated EGFR exon 18-mutant NSCLC cohort receiving neratinib monotherapy. Conclusions: Activity of single-agent neratinib was observed in prior TKI-exposed patients with EGFR exon 18-mutant NSCLC. Despite the small sample size of only 3 patients with baseline CNS metastases, findings suggest a potential role for neratinib as a systemic treatment option for patients with NSCLC and difficult-to-treat uncommon mutations with CNS involvement. The SUMMIT trial continues to enroll patients with EGFR exon 18-mutant NSCLC. Clinical trial information: NCT01953926. [Table: see text]

Prognostic impact of XPO1 mutations in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

e20533 Background: Nuclear protein transport is essential in guiding the organized traffic of important proteins and RNAs between the nucleus and cytoplasm of the cell. Export of proteins from the nucleus is exclusively regulated by Exportin 1(XPO1). In cancer, XPO1 is universally hyperactive and can promote the export of important tumor suppressors to the cytoplasm, leading to their functional inactivation. XPO1 is aberrantly over expressed in NSCLC and this over expression has been linked to poor overall survival. The underlying mechanisms of XPO1 over expression are not known. Currently there are no studies evaluating the impact of XPO1 mutations on NSCLC incidence and therapy resistance. Additionally, there are no studies that examined the XPO1 related pathways in NSCLC harboring co-alterations with other driver mutations such as EGFR or ALK. Methods: Tumor samples were analyzed using next-generation sequencing (NextSeq, 592 Genes), IHC, and whole transcriptome sequencing (WTS ,NovaSeq) (Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ). PD-L1 expression was tested by IHC using 22c3 (Dako) and TPS scores were reported (cutoff > 1%). TMB was measured by totaling somatic mutations (TMB-high cut-off ³ 10 mutations per Megabase). Gene fusions were detected by RNA sequencing using either the Archer FusionPlex panel or WTS. Survival was extracted from insurance claims data and calculated from time of tissue collection to last contact using Kaplan-Meier estimate. Statistical significance was determined using chi-square and Wilcoxon rank sum test and adjusted for multiple comparisons. Results: Among 18,218 NSCLC tumors sequenced, 26 harbored XPO1 mutations. XPO1 mutant tumors were more likely to be TMB High(79% vs. 52%, p = 0.007) and less likely to have high PDL1(32% vs. 68%, p = 0.03). KRAS mutations were seen in 19%(n = 5), EGFR mutation were rare (n = 2), and no targetable fusions were seen. Among the 17,449 NSCLC tumors with clinical data, there were 24 XPO1 mutant tumors with no histology imbalance observed in mutant vs. wild-type(WT). Comparison of survival in the NSCLC group between XPO1 mutant and WT showed a negative association with a hazard ratio(HR) of 1.932 (95% CI: 1.144- 3.264 p = 0.012). Comparing the survival within the subgroup with confirmed adenocarcinoma histology (9973 XPO1 WT and 14 XPO1 mutant) showed a similar negative correlation in survival with a HR of 2.156 (95% CI: 1.027- 4.525 P = 0.037). Conclusions: Presence of XPO1 pathogenic mutations was associated with a poor survival in both the entire NSCLC cohort and the adenocarcinoma subgroup. Further studies of this negative association at the molecular level along with effect of other co-existing mutations can result in development of novel treatment strategies.

Clinical attributes and outcomes in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer bearing BRAF mutations treated with targeted therapy versus immunotherapy.

e21219 Background: Mutations in BRAF oncogene have been identified in about 2-4% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Combination of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), dabrafenib and trametinib has shown improved and enduring results in both first line and second line setting. Given the rarity of BRAF mutations, and the approval of TKI, the role of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICI) still needs to be ascertained. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 19 BRAF-mutant lung cancer patients from 2013-2020 at the University of Miami. Clinicopathologic features, and patient’s response to chemotherapy/ICI vs anti-BRAF targeted therapy (ABTT) was investigated. Duration of response (DOR) was calculated from the initiation of therapy, and Overall survival (OS) was calculated from the diagnosis of metastatic disease. OS was estimated by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test was used to compare groups. Hazard ratio (HR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model. All tests were two sided and statistical significance was considered when p<0.05. Results: Total 19 patients with a median age of 63 (range 54-87) were identified from a cohort of 575 sequenced lung cancer patients (prevalence of 3.3%). 6 patients were never-smokers, 13 former/current smokers; 10 were women; 10 were Non-Hispanic White, 8 Hispanic, and 1 African American. Majority had adenocarcinoma (n=17) and non-V600E BRAF mutation (n=13)). PD-L1 expression testing (n=11) was negative in 55% (n=6 of 11), low in 9% (n=1 of 11), and high in 36% (n=4 of 11). All patients presented with metastatic disease; lung (16), bone (7), brain (5), and liver (4). 47.4% (n=9) of patients received platinum-based doublet chemotherapy as first-line (FL) treatment; 21.1% (n=4) received combined chemotherapy+ICI as FL; 5% (n=1) received ABTT as FL. Overall, 47% (n=9) received ABTT; 11.1% (n=1) as FL, 33.3% (n=3) as second line, 44.4% (n=4) as third line, and 11.1% (n=1) as fourth line. Median OS in the entire cohort was 1.86 years (95 % CI :1.26-2.32). Median DOR to ICI as first line or second line agent was 3 months (mos) (range 0.5-25mos). Median DOR to TKI in BRAFV600E cases was 13 mos (range 7-53mos), as second line agent or beyond. Among patients with BRAFV600E mutation, median OS was 4.89 years (95% CI 4.31-NA) in recipients of ABTT, and 1.68 years (95% CI not estimable) in patients who did not receive ABTT. Conclusions: In our BRAF-mutant NSCLC cohort, median DOR was greater in patients treated with ABTT, than those with ICI. ABTT treated BRAFV600E-mutant patients had longer OS, in comparison to those treated without ABTT. Our analysis highlights a potentially significant benefit of ABTT, and an unsatisfactory response with ICI, in patients harboring BRAFV600E mutation; therefore, the role of ICI in this subgroup needs further investigation.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as mortality predictor of advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with COVID-19 in Indonesia.

This study aimed to compare the mortality rate between advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients (NSCLC) with and without COVID-19. This study also explores the possible laboratory characteristics used for prognostication in patients with NSCLC and COVID-19. Additionally, this study evaluated potential differences in laboratory values between the case and control groups. This is a single-center retrospective cohort study conducted in Dharmais National Cancer Hospital, Indonesia, enrolling patients with NSCLC undergoing chemotherapy or targeted therapy between May 2020 and January 2021. All patients with NSCLC and COVID-19 in these periods were enrolled into the case group. The control group was age-matched NSCLC patients without COVID-19 that was derived from the NSCLC cohort through randomization. There were 342 patients with NSCLC between May 2020 and January 2021. Twenty-seven (7.9%) of the patients were infected by COVID-19. To facilitate comparison, thirty-five age-matched controls with NSCLC were selected from the cohort. The mortality rate in patients with COVID-19 was 46.2%. Eleven patients (40.7%) had severe COVID-19, of which none survived. NLR >8.35 has a sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity of 92.9%, LR+ of 12, and LR- of 0.18. The AUC was 0.946 (95% CI 0.867-1.000), p<0.001. PLR >29.14 has a sensitivity of 75.0%, specificity of 71.4%, LR+ 2.62, LR- 0.35, and AUC 0.851 (95% CI 0.706-0.996), p=0.002. Both NLR and PLR were associated with shorter time-to-mortality in the unadjusted and adjusted model CONCLUSIONS: NLR and PLR are independent predictors of mortality in COVID-19 patients with NSCLC.

Prophylactic cranial irradiation in non-small cell lung cancer: evidence and future development.

In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) brain metastases (BM) will affect up to 50% of patients during whole disease period. BM themselves impact heavily not only on patient’s prognosis but also are a source of symptoms aggravating quality of life. Standard (pemetrexed), and non-standard chemotherapy (temozolomide) in patients with NSCLC failed to prevent them from BM. In terms of systemic treatment there are promising results showed when durvalumab (PACIFIC study), osimertinib (FLAURA trial) or alectinib (JALEX study) was used. However, those substances are effective only in small cohort with ALK or EGFR alterations. Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) as a non-specific treatment has proven to be a powerful tool in preventing BM without affecting overall survival in neither way. That has been proved in nearly all earlier and all recent studies—NVALT11/DLCRG-02, RTOG 0214 update, Li et al. The positive effect of BM incidence reduction may draw fear form PCI usage due to potential cognitive toxicity the PCI may cause. Results of recent trials show that after PCI only mild cognitive disorders (MCD) may arise. Promising results in terms of reducing MCD are shown when memantine is used or/and hippocampal avoidance techniques are implemented. HA in PCI seem to be cost effective but calculations were made on small-cell lung cancer cohorts. Still even recent studies did not clarify finally which patients could benefit from PCI or other forms of preventing BM. It seems that new trials should focus on younger, fit and non-squamous histology patients and use the tests for mild cognitive disorders (MoCA, BHA) rather than screening tests for dementia (MMSE, HVLT, ADL). The main obstacle in performing new trials on PCI in NSCLC cohorts may be, however, patients’ accrual, as a difficulty which occurred during latest trials.

Robust Prediction of Immune Checkpoint Inhibition Therapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

BackgroundThe development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is a revolutionary milestone in the field of immune-oncology. However, the low response rate is the major problem of ICI treatment. The recent studies showed that response rate to single-agent programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibition in unselected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is 25% so that researchers defined several biomarkers to predict the response of immunotherapy in ICIs treatment. Common biomarkers like tumor mutational burden (TMB) and PD-L1 expression have several limitations, such as low accuracy and inadequately validated cutoff value.MethodsTwo published and an unpublished ICIs treatment NSCLC cohorts with 129 patients were collected and divided into a training cohort (n = 53), a validation cohort (n = 22), and two independent test cohorts (n = 34 and n = 20). We identified six immune-related pathways whose mutational status was significantly associated with overall survival after ICIs treatment. Then these pathways mutational status combined with TMB, PD-L1 expression and intratumor heterogeneity were incorporated to build a Bayesian-regularization neural networks (BRNN) model to predict the ICIs treatment response.ResultsWe firstly proved that TMB, PD-L1, and mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity (MATH) were independent biomarkers. The survival analysis of six immune-related pathways revealed the mutational status could distinguish overall survival after ICIs treatment. When predicting immunotherapy efficacy, the overall accuracy of area under curve (AUC) in validation cohort reaches 0.85, outperforming previous predictors in either sensitivity or specificity. And the AUC in two independent test cohorts reach 0.74 and 0.80.ConclusionWe developed a pathway-model that could predict the efficacy of ICIs in NSCLC patients. Our study made a significant contribution to solving the low prediction accuracy of immunotherapy of single biomarker. With the accumulation of larger data sets, further studies are warranted to refine the predictive performance of the approach.

SMAD4 mutation correlates with poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer

SMAD4 is an intracellular signaling mediator of the TGF-β pathway. Its mutation was commonly observed in gastrointestinal cancers, such as pancreatic cancer. The loss of SMAD4 on immunohistochemical staining is often used to suggest a pancreaticobiliary differentiation in evaluating a metastatic adenocarcinoma with unknown origin. However, the function and molecular mechanism of SMAD4 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) development are largely unknown. Thus, we studied the correlation between SMAD4 mutations and clinico-molecular features in the patients with NSCLC. We reported the frequencies and prognostic values of SMAD4 mutations in a Chinese NSCLC cohort using next-generation sequencing. The NSCLC cases from several public databases, including The Cancer Genome Atlas and others, were also used in this study to elucidate SMAD4-related molecular partners and mechanisms. Integrated bioinformatics analyses were conducted, such as analysis of Gene Ontology enrichment analysis, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and survival analysis. Immunohistochemistry showed that the tissues harboring SMAD4 mutations tended to show SMAD4 deficiency or loss, while SMAD4 expression was significantly reduced at all stages of NSCLC cases. We found that reduced SMAD4 expression was more frequent in the patients with poor disease-free survival and resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. SMAD4 mutation was an independent risk factor for the survival of NSCLC patients. The expression of SMAD4 was associated with that of SMAD2. The GSEA showed that SMAD4 might promote NSCLC progression by regulating proliferation, adhesion, and immune response. In conclusion, these data suggest that SMAD4 mutation or loss as well as reduced expression can be used to identify the NSCLC patients with poor survival and resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. SMAD4 may be a predictive marker or therapeutic target in NSCLC. The source code and user's guide are freely available at Github: https://github.com/wangyue77-ab/smad4.

MA09.10 Location of Lymph Nodes Missed after Invasive Mediastinal Staging in a Well-Staged Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cohort

Nodal stage is prognostic and predictive of adjuvant therapy benefit in potentially curable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Using a cohort of patients who met National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) pathologic nodal staging quality (examination of ≥1 N1 and ≥3 mediastinal nodal stations) as reference, we evaluated the thoroughness of invasive nodal staging to determine the frequency of non-examination of specific hilar/mediastinal nodes and missed node metastasis. We also compared survival between NCCN-quality and non-NCCN quality-attaining resections on the basis of missed nodal metastasis on invasive staging.

Stromal FAP is an independent poor prognosis marker in non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma and associated with p53 mutation

ObjectivesFibroblasts regulate tumor growth and immune surveillance. Here, we study FAP, PDGFβR and α-SMA fibroblast markers in a well-annotated clinical cohort of non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for analyses of associations with immune cell infiltration, mutation status and survival. Materials and MethodsA well-annotated NSCLC cohort was subjected to IHC analyses of stromal expression of FAP, PDGFβR and α-SMA and of stromal CD8 density. Fibroblast markers-related measurements were analyzed with regard to potential associations with CD8 density, cancer genetic driver mutations, survival and PD-L1 expression in the whole NSCLC cohort and in subsets of patients. ResultsHigh stromal FAP expression was identified as an independent poor prognostic marker in the whole study population (HR 1.481; 95 % CI, 1.012–2.167, p = 0.023) and in the histological subset of adenocarcinoma (HR 1.720; 95 % CI, 1.126–2.627, p = 0.012). Among patients with adenocarcinoma, a particularly strong association of FAP with poor survival was detected in patients with low stromal CD8 infiltration, and in other subpopulations identified by specific clinical characteristics; elderly patients, females, non-smokers and patients with normal ECOG performance status. α-SMA expression was negatively associated with CD8 infiltration in non-smokers, but none of the fibroblast markers expression was associated with CD8 density in the whole study population. Significant associations were detected between presence of p53 mutations and high α-SMA (p = 0.003) and FAP expression (p < 0.001). ConclusionThe study identifies FAP intensity as a candidate independent NSCLC prognostic biomarker. The study also suggests continued analyses of the relationships between genetic driver mutations and the composition of tumor stroma, as well as continued probing of marker-defined fibroblasts as NSCLC subset-specific modifiers of immune surveillance and outcome.

PD-L1 amplification is associated with an immune cell rich phenotype in squamous cell cancer of the lung

Gene amplification is considered to be one responsible cause for upregulation of Programmed Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to represent a specific molecular subgroup possibly associated with immunotherapy response. Our aim was to analyze the frequency of PD-L1 amplification, its relation to PD-L1 mRNA and protein expression, and to characterize the immune microenvironment of amplified cases. The study was based on two independent NSCLC cohorts, including 354 and 349 cases, respectively. Tissue microarrays were used to evaluate PD-L1 amplification by FISH and PD-L1 protein by immunohistochemistry. Immune infiltrates were characterized immunohistochemically by a panel of immune markers (CD3, CD4, CD8, PD-1, Foxp3, CD20, CD138, CD168, CD45RO, NKp46). Mutational status was determined by targeted sequencing. RNAseq data was available for 197 patients. PD-L1 amplification was detected in 4.5% of all evaluable cases. PD-L1 amplification correlated only weakly with mRNA and protein expression. About 37% of amplified cases were negative for PD-L1 protein. PD-L1 amplification did not show any association with the mutational status. In squamous cell cancer, PD-L1 amplified cases were enriched among patients with high tumoral immune cell infiltration and showed gene expression profiles related to immune exhaustion. In conclusion, PD-L1 amplification correlates with PD-L1 expression in squamous cell cancer and was associated with an immune cell rich tumor phenotype. The correlative findings help to understand the role of PD-L1 amplification as an important immune escape mechanism in NSCLC and suggest the need to further evaluate PD-L1 amplification as predictive biomarker for checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

Lymphovascular invasion is an independent prognostic factor for survival in pathologically proven N2 non-small cell lung cancer.

We aimed to analyse the nodal spread of our non-small cell lung cancer pN2 cohort according to tumour location, the possible implications of an unusual spreading pattern, and other factors influencing postoperative survival after anatomical lung resection. In this retrospective observational study, clinical data was collected for 124 consecutive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with a pathological N2 (stage IIIA or B) undergoing anatomical lung resection at our institution between 2001 and 2010. Cox regression was used to analyse independent predictors of 5-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival. A total of 105 patients were included in the final analysis. Tumour location in the right upper lobe and middle lobe&nbsp; was significantly more often associated with involvement of lymph node stations 2 and 4 than NSCLC in the right lower lobe (station 2: right upper vs right lower lobe, p = 0.001 and middle vs right lower lobe, p = 0.038; station 4: right upper vs right lower lobe, p&lt;0.001 and middle vs right lower lobe, p = 0.056), while tumours in the right upper lobe showed significantly less involvement of stations 7 and 8 compared with right lower lobe tumours (station 7 p &lt;0.001, station 8 p = 0.004). Left sided tumours in the upper lobe had significantly more involvement of station 5 compared to lower lobe tumours (p = 0.009). However, atypical lymphatic nodal zone involvement did not emerge as a significant predictor of survival. Lymphovascular invasion was the only independent prognostic factor for 5-year overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] 2.10, p = 0.015) and recurrence-free survival (HR 1.68, p = 0.049) when controlled for adjuvant therapy. Lymphovascular invasion was identified as the only independent prognostic factor for 5-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival in our pathologically proven N2 NSCLC cohort when controlled for adjuvant therapy. This study extends the current evidence of an adverse prognostic effect of lymphovascular invasion on a stage III population, confirms the adverse prognostic effect of lymphovascular invasion detected by immunohistochemistry, and thereby reveals another subgroup within the pN2 population with worse prognosis regarding 5-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival. &nbsp.

Relevance of PD-L1 Non-Coding Polymorphisms on the Prognosis of a Genetically Admixed NSCLC Cohort.

PurposeAlthough non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains a deadly disease, new predictive biomarkers have emerged to assist in managing the disease, of which one of the most promising is the programmed death‐ligand 1 (PD-L1). Each, PD-L1 variant seem to modulate the function of immune checkpoints differently and affect response to adjuvant treatment and outcome in NSCLC patients. We thus investigated the influence of these PD-L1 genetic variations in genetically admixed NSCLC tissue samples, and correlated these values with clinicopathological characteristics, including prognosis.Materials and MethodsWe evaluated PD-L1 non-coding genetic variants and protein expression in lung adenocarcinomas (ADC), squamous cell carcinomas (SqCC), and large cell carcinomas (LCC) in silico. Microarray paraffin blocks from 70 samples of ADC (N=33), SqCC (N=24), and LCC (N=13) were used to create PD-L1 multiplex immunofluorescence assays with a Cell Signaling E1L3N clone. Fifteen polymorphisms of the PD-L1 gene were investigated by targeted sequencing and evaluated in silico using dedicated tools.ResultsAlthough PD-L1 polymorphisms seemed not to interfere with protein expression, PD-L1 expression varied among different histological subtypes, as did clinical outcomes, with the rs4742098A>G, rs4143815G>C, and rs7041009G>A variants being associated with relapse (P=0.01; P=0.05; P=0.02, respectively). The rs7041009 GG genotype showed a significant correlation with younger and alive patients compared to carriers of the A allele (P=0.02 and P<0.01, respectively). The Cox regression model showed that the rs7041009 GG genotype may influence OS (P<0.01) as a co-dependent factor associated with radiotherapy and recurrence in NSCLC patients. Furthermore, the Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that rs7041009 and rs4742098 might impact PPS in relapsed patients. In silico approaches identified the variants as benign.ConclusionPD-L1 non-coding variants play an important role in modulating immune checkpoint function and may be explored as immunotherapy biomarkers. We highlight the rs7041009 variant, which impacts OS and PPS in NSCLC patients.

Using cfRNA as a tool to evaluate clinical treatment outcomes in patients with metastatic lung cancers and other tumors.

Aim: We report an exploratory analysis of cfRNA as a biomarker to monitor clinical responses in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer, and colorectal cancer (CRC). An analysis of cfRNA as a method for measuring PD-L1 expression with comparison to clinical responses was also performed in the NSCLC cohort. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 127 patients with metastatic disease that were undergoing therapy, 52 with NSCLC, 50 with breast cancer, and 25 with CRC. cfRNA was purified from fractionated plasma, and following reverse transcription (RT), total cfRNA and gene expression of PD-L1were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) using beta-actin expression as a surrogate for relative amounts of cfDNA and cfRNA. For the concordance study of liquid biopsies and tissue biopsies, the isolated RNA was analyzed by RNAseq for the expressions of 13 genes. We had to close the study early due to a lack of follow-up during the Covid-19 pandemic. Results: We collected a total of 373 blood samples. Mean cfRNA PCR signals after RT were about 50-fold higher than those of cfDNA. cfRNA was detected in all patients, while cfDNA was detected in 88% of them. A high concordance was found for the expression levels of 13 genes between blood and solid tumor tissue. Changes in cfRNA levels followed over the course of treatments were associated with response to therapy, increasing in progressive disease (PD) and falling when a partial response (PR) occurred. The expression of PD-L1 over time in patients treated with immunotherapy decreased with PR but increased with PD. Pre-treatment levels of PD-L1 were predictive of response in patients treated with immunotherapy. Conclusion: Changes in cfRNA correlate with clinical response to the therapy. Total cfRNA may be useful in predicting clinical outcomes. PD-L1 gene expression may provide a biomarker to predict response to PD-L1 inhibition.

Systematic Review of Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for Patients With Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

There is a paucity of robust clinical evidence for the role of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer. The primary aim of the study was to identify the available data on the feasibility, safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy. A systematic review was conducted using electronic databases. Relevant studies were identified according to predefined selection criteria. Five relevant publications on 4 completed trials were identified. In most studies, >90% of patients were able to undergo surgery within the planned timeframe after neoadjuvant immunotherapy. There was a high incidence of open thoracotomy procedures, either planned or converted from a planned minimally invasive approach. Mortality ranged from 0 to 5%, but none of the reported deaths were considered directly treatment-related. Morbidities were reported according to adverse events related to neoadjuvant systemic therapy, and postoperative surgical complications. Survival outcomes were limited due to short follow-up periods. Major pathologic response ranged from 40.5 to 56.7%, whilst complete pathologic response of the primary tumor ranged from 15 to 33%. Radiological responses were reported according to RECIST criteria and fluorodeoxyglucose-avidity. This systematic review reported safe perioperative outcomes of patients who underwent resection following neoadjuvant immunotherapy. However, there was a relatively high incidence of open thoracotomy procedures, partly due to the technical challenges associated with increased fibrosis and inflammation of tissue, as well as the more advanced stages of disease in patients enrolled in the studies. Future studies should focus on identifying predictors of pathological response.

Clinicopathologic, genomic and protein expression characterization of 356 ROS1 fusion driven solid tumors cases.

Based on the approvals of crizotinib and entrectinib by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of ROS1 positive nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we sought to examine the mutational profile of a variety of solid tumors (excluding sarcomas) with ROS1 fusions that underwent comprehensive genomic profiling. A review of our database was performed to extract all nonsarcoma patients with ROS1 fusions that were discovered by the hybrid capture-based DNA only sequencing assays. We examined the coalterations representing potentially targetable biomarkers, resistance alterations and other alterations in these cases. In addition, we examined the histologic characteristics and protein expression with immunohistochemistry (IHC). From a series of clinically advanced nonsarcoma solid tumors, 356 unique cases with ROS1 fusions included 275 (77.2%) NSCLC and 81 (22.8%) non-NSCLC. Ten novel ROS1 fusions were discovered. Importantly, the NSCLC ROS1 fusionpos tumors had a higher PD-L1 IHC expression positivity when compared to the NSCLC ROS1 fusionneg population (P = .012, Chi-squared). The frequency of known and likely anti-ROS1 targeted therapy resistance genomic alterations in NSCLC was 7.3% (20/275) and in non-NSCLC was 4.9% (4/81). Overall, the coalteration profile of ROS1 fusionpos NSCLC and non-NSCLC was similar with only three genes altered significantly more frequently in non-NSCLC vs NSCLC: TERT, PTEN, APC. In our study, we characterized a large cohort of ROS1 fusionpos NSCLC and non-NSCLC solid tumors and discovered 10 novel ROS1 fusions.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy mitigates radiation induced lymphopenia in early stage non-small cell lung cancer.

IntroductionRadiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) occurs during treatment with conventional radiation in multiple organ sites. Development of RIL portends poor prognosis. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) spares RIL in pancreatic cancer, but has not been examined in other sites commonly treated with SBRT. This work examines if SBRT similarly spares RIL in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Materials and methodsRetrospective analysis was done at a single institution on 40 distinct cases of SBRT for early stage NSCLC from 2006–2017. Incidentally collected lymphocyte counts collected within 6 months of SBRT treatment were analyzed to determine if RIL occurred. The presence of RIL was correlated with location of initial failure and survival endpoints. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed with significance defined at the level p < 0.05.ResultsRIL was observed in 35% of the analyzed patients. Patterns of failure and survival data were comparable to prior SBRT literature. There was no observed association in two year local, nodal, or distant failure, progression free survival, or overall survival based on the presence of RIL.DiscussionSBRT spares RIL in NSCLC compared to historical rates observed with conventionally fractionated radiation. As understanding of the role of the immune system in cancer control continues to evolve, the importance of RIL sparing techniques take on increasing importance. This study represents further analysis of RIL sparing in SBRT in an early stage NSCLC cohort without the confounding influence of chemotherapy.

Cetuximab in Patients with Breast Cancer, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, and Ovarian Cancer Without KRAS, NRAS, or BRAF Mutations: Results from the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study.

The Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study, a phase II basket study, evaluates anti-tumor activity of commercially available targeted agents in patients with advanced cancers harboring genomic alterations known as drug targets. With no known genomic targets predictive of sensitivity to cetuximab, cetuximab was evaluated in patients with breast cancer (BC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and ovarian cancer (OC), without KRAS, NRAS, or BRAF mutations. Eligible patients with advanced BC, NSCLC, and OC received a cetuximab loading dose, then weekly infusions (250mg/m2 over 60min). A Simon two-stage design, requiring ten patients in stage I, was employed per each disease-specific cohort. The primary endpoint was disease control (objective response or stable disease for at least 16weeks). If two or more patients in stage I achieved disease control, the cohort would enroll 18 more patients in stage II. Power and alpha of the design are 85% and 10%, respectively. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival, overall survival, and safety. Patients with BC (n = 10), NSCLC (n = 10), and OC (n = 29) were enrolled between June 2016 and September 2018. No objective responses or stable disease for at least 16weeks were observed in the BC and NSCLC cohorts. No objective responses and four patients with stable disease for at least 16weeks were observed in the OC cohort. Six of 49 patients reported grade 3 or higher adverse events or serious adverse events at least possibly related to cetuximab. Cetuximab does not have clinical activity in patients with advanced BC, NSCLC, and OC without KRAS, NRAS, or BRAF mutations. NCT02693535 (26 February, 2016).