Citations

Abstract We evaluated outcomes by management type for patients with stage IA nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) in the Global NLPHL One Working Group retrospective database of 2243 patients with stages I to IV disease diagnosed from 1992 to 2021 at 38 international institutions. A total of 779 patients had stage IA disease with median age of 35 years (range, 3-89) and median follow-up of 6.1 years. The 6-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were 86.3% and 97.7%, respectively. Outcomes were analyzed for the 2 groups: complete resection and unresected disease. Patients with a complete resection and observation alone (n = 99) had a 6-year PFS of 65.5% vs 90.5% for those who received radiotherapy (RT) (n = 53). Patients with unresected disease (n = 627; 80.5%) had a 6-year PFS of 62.0% for rituximab alone (n = 31), 89.6% for RT alone (n = 325), 76.8% for ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) alone (n = 40), and 94.3% for ABVD plus RT (n = 130). A total of 127 patients relapsed (16.3%), of which 25 (19.7%) had transformation. Our analysis suggests the following: (1) RT improves the PFS in patients with completely resected disease; (2) rituximab or ABVD alone does not appear to achieve a durable response; and (3) chemotherapy was not observed to add additional PFS benefit when used in combination with RT. Thus, for stage IA NLPHL, RT alone is likely sufficient for definitive treatment.

ABSTRACTBackgroundWe aim to evaluate whether increased lymph node yield at prostatectomy (RP) is associated with improved outcomes in NRG/RTOG 9601, a randomized clinical trial of men who underwent either radiation (RT) alone or RT + bicalutamide for PSA elevation following RP for pT2/T3 prostate cancer.MethodsWe reviewed available pathology reports for patients in NRG/RTOG 9601 to determine the nodal count at RP. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess effect of lymph nodes yield, arm (RT alone or RT + bicalutamide), Gleason score, positive margins, and seminal vesicle invasion on the following endpoints: times to local and distant failure and overall and disease‐specific survival.ResultsOf 760 patients, 552 (73%, 276 in each arm) had complete data available. Median node count in the entire cohort was 6 (range: 0–33, IQR: 3–9). There were no significant differences between arms in terms of patient demographic or clinical characteristics, including total lymph nodes removed in either arm. There was no significant association between total lymph nodes and overall or disease‐specific survival with both arms combined and when adjusting for arm. Notably, interaction analysis revealed that in seminal vesicle invasion, there was a significant association between lymph node yield and OS and DSS (HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.83–0.99, p = 0.034; HR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.77–0.99, p = 0.029, respectively).ConclusionsAlthough lymph node yield in NRG/RTOG 9601 did not show association with adverse outcomes in the entire cohort or either arm alone, there was significant association between lymph node yield and adverse outcomes when seminal vesicle invasion was present. The therapeutic benefit of extensive lymph node dissection remains uncertain but could be more relevant in higher risk patients.

320 Background: sRT is used in men with prostate cancer (PC) recurrence following radical prostatectomy (RP) signaled by a persistent or delayed elevation in PSA. It was previously reported that the use of AAT with RT improved cancer control and overall survival (OS). Long-term follow-up (FU) results are presented here. Methods: From 1998to 2003, 760 eligible post-RP patients with Stage pT3N0 or with pT2N0 and positive margins and PSA from 0.2 to 4.0 ng/mL were randomly assigned on a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of RT + placebo vs. RT + anti-androgen therapy (AAT) (24 months of bicalutamide, 150mg daily) during and after RT (64.8 Gy in 36 fractions prostate bed). The primary endpoint was OS estimated using Kaplan-Meier method. Time to PC death and metastatic PC (competing risk of death without an event) was estimated using cumulative incidence. The hazard ratio (HR) was obtained using Cox models (OS) and subdistribution HRs (sHRs) used the Fine-Gray model (time to PC death and metastatic PC). All tests are one-sided based on study design. Results: Median FU for surviving patients was 19 years. OS at 18 years was 53% [95% confidence interval (CI): 47-58%] for RT + AAT and 43% [95% CI: 38-48%] for RT + placebo (adjusted HR 0.82 [95% CI: 0.67-1.00], p = 0.025). The 18-year incidence of centrally reviewed PC deaths were 18% [95% CI: 14-22%] RT + AAT and 28% [95% CI: 23-32%] RT + placebo (adjusted sHR = 0.57 [95% CI: 0.42-0.78], p<0.001). The 18-year incidence of metastatic PC was 22% [95% CI: 18-26%] and 31% [95% CI: 26-35%] for AAT and placebo arms respectively with adjusted sHR = 0.59 [95% CI: 0.44-0.80, p<0.001]. Subgroup analyses is shown in the Table. Conclusions: Long term results of 24-month duration AAT during and after sRT are consistent with the primary report with significantly improved long-term OS, reduced incidence of metastatic PC and PC death for RT+AAT. Statistically significant metastatic PC was noted for Gleason score 8-10, study entry PSA>1.5 and margin positive patients and borderline significance was observed in patients with study entry PSA 0.7-1.5. Clinical trial information: NCT00002874 . [Table: see text]

Background: Morreton virus (MORV) is an oncolytic Vesiculovirus , genetically distinct from vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). Aim: To report that MORV induced potent cytopathic effects (CPEs) in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in vitro models. Approach and Results: In preliminary safety analyses, high intranasal doses (up to 10 10 50% tissue culture infectious dose [TCID 50 ]) of MORV were not associated with significant adverse effects in immune competent, non–tumor‐bearing mice. MORV was shown to be efficacious in a Hep3B hepatocellular cancer xenograft model but not in a CCA xenograft HuCCT1 model. In an immune competent, syngeneic murine CCA model, single intratumoral treatments with MORV (1 × 10 7 TCID 50 ) triggered a robust antitumor immune response leading to substantial tumor regression and disease control at a dose 10‐fold lower than VSV (1 × 10 8 TCID 50 ). MORV led to increased CD8 + cytotoxic T cells without compensatory increases in tumor‐associated macrophages and granulocytic or monocytic myeloid‐derived suppressor cells. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that wild‐type MORV is safe and can induce potent tumor regression via immune‐mediated and immune‐independent mechanisms in HCC and CCA animal models without dose limiting adverse events. These data warrant further development and clinical translation of MORV as an oncolytic virotherapy platform.

PURPOSE Metastasis-free survival (MFS), but not event-free survival, is a validated surrogate end point for overall survival (OS) in men treated for localized prostate cancer. It remains unknown if this holds true in biochemically recurrent disease after radical prostatectomy. Leveraging NRG/RTOG 9601, we aimed to determine the performance of intermediate clinical end points (ICEs) as surrogate end points for OS in recurrent prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS NRG/RTOG 9601 randomly assigned 760 men with recurrence after prostatectomy to salvage radiation therapy with 2 years of placebo versus bicalutamide 150 mg daily. ICEs assessed were biochemical failure (BF) per NRG/RTOG 9601 (prostate-specific antigen nadir + 0.3-0.5 ng/mL or initiation of salvage hormone therapy; [BF1]) and NRG/RTOG 0534 (prostate-specific antigen nadir+2 ng/mL; [BF2]), distant metastasis (DM), and MFS (DM or death). Surrogacy was assessed by the Prentice criteria and a two-stage meta-analytic approach (condition one assessed at the patient level with Kendall's τ and condition two assessed by randomly dividing the entire trial cohort into 10 pseudo trial centers and calculating the average R2 between treatment hazard ratios for ICE and OS). RESULTS BF1, BF2, DM, and MFS satisfied the four Prentice criteria. However, with the two-condition meta-analytic approach, there was strong correlation between MFS and OS (τ = 0.86), moderate correlation between DM and OS (τ = 0.66), and weaker correlation between BF1 (τ = 0.25) or BF2 (τ = 0.40) and OS. Similarly, for condition two, the treatment effect of antiandrogen therapy on MFS and OS were correlated ( R2 = 0.67), but this was not true for BF1 ( R2 = 0.09), BF2 ( R2 = 0.12), or DM ( R2 = 0.18) and OS. CONCLUSION MFS is also a strong surrogate for OS in men receiving salvage radiation therapy for recurrence after prostatectomy. Caution should be used when inferring survival benefit from effects on BF in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. Lack of comorbidity data did not allow us to assess whether BF in men with no/minimal comorbidity could serve as a surrogate for OS.

PURPOSE This investigation sought to evaluate the prognostic value of pretreatment of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in metastatic biliary tract cancers (BTCs) treated with platinum-based first-line chemotherapy treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of 67 patients who underwent ctDNA testing before platinum-based chemotherapy for first-line treatment for metastatic BTC. For analysis, we considered the detected gene with highest variant allele frequency as the dominant clone allele frequency (DCAF). Results of ctDNA analysis were correlated with patients' demographics, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). RESULTS The median age of patients was 67 (27-90) years. Fifty-four (80.6%) of 67 patients evaluated had intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma; seven had extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and six gallbladder cancers. Forty-six (68.6%) of the patients were treated with cisplatin plus gemcitabine, and 16.4% of patients received gemcitabine and other platinum (carboplatin or oxaliplatin) combinations, whereas 15% of patients were treated on a clinical trial with gemcitabine and cisplatin plus additional agents (CX4945, PEGPH20, or nab-paclitaxel). TP53, KRAS, FGFR2, ARID1A, STK11, and IDH1 were the genes with highest frequency as DCAF. The median DCAF was 3% (0%-97%). DCAF > 3% was associated with worse OS (median OS: 10.8 v 18.8 months, P = .032). Stratifying DCAF in quartiles, DCAF > 10% was significantly related to worse PFS (median PFS: 3 months, P = .014) and worse OS (median OS: 7.0 months, P = .001). Each 1% increase in ctDNA was associated with a hazard ratio of 13.1 in OS when adjusting for subtypes, metastatic sites, size of largest tumor, age, sex, and CA19-9. CONCLUSION DCAF at diagnosis of advanced BTC can stratify patients who have worse outcomes when treated with upfront platinum-based chemotherapy. Each increase in %ctDNA decreases survival probabilities.

Single particle analysis cryo-electron microscopy (EM) and molecular dynamics (MD) have been complimentary methods since cryo-EM was first applied to the field of structural biology. The relationship started by biasing structural models to fit low-resolution cryo-EM maps of large macromolecular complexes not amenable to crystallization. The connection between cryo-EM and MD evolved as cryo-EM maps improved in resolution, allowing advanced sampling algorithms to simultaneously refine backbone and sidechains. Moving beyond a single static snapshot, modern inferencing approaches integrate cryo-EM and MD to generate structural ensembles from cryo-EM map data or directly from the particle images themselves. We summarize the recent history of MD innovations in the area of cryo-EM modeling. The merits for the myriad of MD based cryo-EM modeling methods are discussed, as well as, the discoveries that were made possible by the integration of molecular modeling with cryo-EM. Lastly, current challenges and potential opportunities are reviewed.

265 Background: A recent study ( Fossati et al, 2018) found that higher lymph node count at radical prostatectomy was associated with improved outcomes in patients treated with salvage radiation for elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after surgery. We sought to validate these results in NRG/RTOG 9601, a randomized controlled trial of men with pT2/T3 disease who underwent either radiation (RT) alone or RT+antiandrogen (bicalutamide) therapy for PSA elevation following radical prostatectomy from 1998-2003. Methods: We reviewed available pathology reports for all patients in NRG/RTOG 9601 to determine the nodal count at radical prostatectomy. Clinical data was as of 11/5/2015, same as the primary endpoint for the trial. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the effect of number of positive lymph nodes, treatment arm (RT alone or RT+bicalutamide), Gleason score, positive margins, and seminal vesicle invasion on the following endpoints: times to local and distant failure and overall and disease specific survival. Results: Out of the 760 patients originally eligible in the trial, 552 (73%, 276 in each arm) had complete data available. Median node count in the entire cohort was 6 (range 0-33, Q1-Q3 3-9). There were no significant differences between treatment arms in terms of patient demographic or clinical characteristics, including total lymph nodes removed in either arm (RT alone vs RT+bicalutamide median 5 vs 6, p = 0.11). There was no significant association between total lymph nodes and overall survival with both arms combined (HR = 1.00, 95% CI:0.97-1.03, p = 0.87) or in the individual arms alone (RT+Casodex: HR = 1.01, 95% CI:0.97-1.05, p = 0.65; RT+Placebo: HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.94-1.03, p = 0.45). There was also no significant association between total lymph nodes and disease-specific survival with both arms combined (HR = 1.00, 95% CI:0.95-1.04, p = 0.84) and in the arms alone (RT+Casodex: HR = 1.00, 95% CI:0.95-1.05, p = 0.92; RT+Placebo: HR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.92-1.07, p = 0.86). In multivariable analysis performed on the two arms, Gleason score was the only feature associated with worse overall and disease-specific survival, seen only in the RT alone arm. Similar findings were seen when evaluating times to local and distant failure. Conclusions: Lymph node yield in NRG/RTOG 9601 did not show any association with adverse outcomes in the entire cohort, or in either treatment arm alone. The therapeutic benefit of an extensive lymph node dissection in this population remains uncertain. Clinical trial information: NCT00002874.

We observe previously unknown interactions between clinically important adenovirus vector capsids, platelet factor 4, and CAR.

Abstract Background and aims Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are uncommon, but highly lethal, gastrointestinal malignancies. Gemcitabine/cisplatin is a standard‐of‐care systemic therapy, but has a modest impact on survival and harbors toxicities, including myelosuppression, nephropathy, neuropathy, and ototoxicity. Whereas BTCs are characterized by aberrations activating the cyclinD1/cyclin‐dependent kinase (CDK)4/6/CDK inhibitor 2a/retinoblastoma pathway, clinical use of CDK4/6 inhibitors as monotherapy is limited by lack of validated biomarkers, diffident preclinical efficacy, and development of acquired drug resistance. Emerging studies have explored therapeutic strategies to enhance the antitumor efficacy of CDK4/6 inhibitors by the combination with chemotherapy regimens, but their mechanism of action remains elusive. Approach and results Here, we report in vitro and in vivo synergy in BTC models, showing enhanced efficacy, reduced toxicity, and better survival with a combination comprising gemcitabine/cisplatin and CDK4/6 inhibitors. Furthermore, we demonstrated that abemaciclib monotherapy had only modest efficacy attributable to autophagy‐induced resistance. Notably, triplet therapy was able to potentiate efficacy through elimination of the autophagic flux. Correspondingly, abemaciclib potentiated ribonucleotide reductase catalytic subunit M1 reduction, resulting in sensitization to gemcitabine. Conclusions As such, these data provide robust preclinical mechanistic evidence of synergy between gemcitabine/cisplatin and CDK4/6 inhibitors and delineate a path forward for translation of these findings to preliminary clinical studies in advanced BTC patients.