Citations

11524 Background: Ripretinib is a switch-control tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for patients (pts) with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) who received prior treatment with ≥3 kinase inhibitors, including imatinib. Sunitinib is approved for advanced GIST after imatinib failure. In the first interim analysis (IA) for overall survival (OS) in the INTRIGUE trial, data were immature (OS event rate, 22.3%), and median OS was not reached in either arm for the KIT exon 11 intent-to-treat (ITT) and all-patient (AP) ITT populations (S Bauer, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2022). Additionally, ripretinib had a more favorable safety profile with fewer grade 3/4 treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) than sunitinib. Here, we present the second IA of OS and updated safety from INTRIGUE. Methods: INTRIGUE is a global, open-label, phase 3 study that enrolled adult pts with advanced GIST who had disease progression on or intolerance to imatinib (NCT03673501). Randomization was 1:1 to ripretinib 150 mg once daily (QD) or sunitinib 50 mg QD (4 wks on/2 wks off) and was stratified by KIT mutational status and imatinib intolerance. OS was a key secondary endpoint; data cutoff for the second IA was Sept 1, 2022. Results: Of 453 pts in the AP ITT population, 444 received treatment; 51 remain on treatment (33/223 [14.8%] with ripretinib and 18/221 [8.1%] with sunitinib). Common reasons for treatment discontinuation were progressive disease (PD) assessed by independent radiologic review (55.4%), PD assessed by investigator (10.6%), clinical PD (5.9%), withdrawal of consent (5.4%), and adverse event (AE; 4.5%); fewer pts discontinued due to an AE for ripretinib vs sunitinib (2.7% vs 6.3%). Following study treatment discontinuation, 58 pts (25.6%) from the sunitinib arm received ripretinib; 139 pts (61.5%) from the ripretinib arm later received sunitinib. There were 185 OS events (40.8%) in the AP ITT population; median duration of follow-up was 28.7 and 28.5 months for ripretinib and sunitinib, respectively. OS was similar with ripretinib vs sunitinib in the AP ITT (median 35.5 vs 30.9 months; HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.18; nominal P = 0.39) and KIT exon 11 ITT populations (median 34.0 vs 31.5 months; HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.48; nominal P = 0.77). The updated safety profile was consistent with the primary analysis; fewer pts had grade 3/4 TEAEs with ripretinib vs sunitinib (95 [42.6%] vs 149 [67.4%]). Dose interruptions and reductions were lower with ripretinib vs sunitinib. The median (range) treatment duration was 7.9 (0.2–38.2) months for ripretinib and 6.5 (0.2–38.3) months for sunitinib. Conclusions: In the second IA from INTRIGUE, OS was similar between treatment arms. The safety profile remained consistent with additional data, and results demonstrate favorable safety with ripretinib in pts with advanced GIST previously treated with imatinib. Clinical trial information: NCT03673501 .

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe management and outcomes from a contemporary cohort of children with Wilms tumor complicated by inferior vena caval thrombus. Background: The largest series of these patients was published almost 2 decades ago. Since then, neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been commonly used to manage these patients, and outcomes have not been reported. Methods: Retrospective review of 19 North American centers between 2009 and 2019. Patient and disease characteristics, management, and outcomes were investigated and analyzed. Results: Of 124 patients, 81% had favorable histology (FH), and 52% were stage IV. IVC thrombus level was infrahepatic in 53 (43%), intrahepatic in 32 (26%), suprahepatic in 14 (11%), and cardiac in 24 (19%). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy using a 3-drug regimen was administered in 82% and postresection radiation in 90%. Thrombus level regression was 45% overall, with suprahepatic level showing the best response (62%). Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was potentially avoided in 67%. The perioperative complication rate was significantly lower after neoadjuvant chemotherapy [(25%) vs upfront surgery (55%); P=0.005]. CPB was not associated with higher complications [CPB (50%) vs no CPB (27%); P=0.08]. Two-year event-free survival was 93% and overall survival was 96%, higher in FH cases (FH 98% vs unfavorable histology/anaplastic 82%; P=0.73). Neither incomplete resection nor viable thrombus cells affected event-free survival or overall survival. Conclusions: Multimodal therapy resulted in excellent outcomes, even with advanced-stage disease and cardiac extension. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy decreased the need for CPB to facilitate resection. Complete thrombectomy may not always be necessary.

Background Although corticosteroids have become the standard of care for patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on supplemental oxygen, there is growing evidence of differential treatment response. This study aimed to evaluate if there was an association between biomarker-concordant corticosteroid treatment and COVID-19 outcomes. Methods This registry-based cohort study included adult COVID-19 hospitalized patients between January 2020 and December 2021 from 109 institutions. Patients with available C-reactive protein (CRP) levels within 48 h of admission were evaluated. Those on steroids before admission, stayed in the hospital for <48 h, or were not on oxygen support were excluded. Corticosteroid treatment was biomarker-concordant if given with high baseline CRP ≥150 mg/L or withheld with low CRP (<150 mg/L) and vice-versa was considered discordant (low CRP with steroids, high CRP without steroids). Hospital mortality was the primary outcome. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using varying CRP level thresholds. The model interaction was tested to determine steroid effectiveness with increasing CRP levels. Results Corticosteroid treatment was biomarker-concordant in 1778 (49%) patients and discordant in 1835 (51%). The concordant group consisted of higher-risk patients than the discordant group. After adjusting for covariates, the odds of in-hospital mortality were significantly lower in the concordant group than the discordant (odds ratio [95% confidence interval (C.I.)] = 0.71 [0.51, 0.98]). Similarly, adjusted mortality difference was significant at the CRP thresholds of 100 and 200 mg/L (odds ratio [95% C.I.] = 0.70 [0.52, 0.95] and 0.57 [0.38, 0.85], respectively), and concordant steroid use was associated with lower need for invasive ventilation for 200 mg/L threshold (odds ratio [95% C.I.] = 0.52 [0.30, 0.91]). In contrast, no outcome benefit was observed at CRP threshold of 50. When the model interaction was tested, steroids were more effective at reducing mortality as CRP levels increased. Conclusion Biomarker-concordant corticosteroid treatment was associated with lower odds of in-hospital mortality in severe COVID-19.

Abstract The intrinsic and acquired resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade is an important challenge for patients and clinicians because no reliable tool has been developed to predict individualized response to immunotherapy. In this study, we demonstrate the translational relevance of an ex vivo functional assay that measures the tumor cell killing ability of patient-derived CD8 T and NK cells (referred to as “cytotoxic lymphocytes,” or CLs) isolated from the peripheral blood of patients with renal cell carcinoma. Patient-derived PBMCs were isolated before and after nephrectomy from patients with renal cell carcinoma. We compared the efficacy of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (pembrolizumab, nivolumab, atezolizumab) and a newly developed PD-L1 inhibitor (H1A Ab) in eliciting cytotoxic function. CL activity was improved at 3 mo after radical nephrectomy compared with baseline, and it was associated with higher circulating levels of tumor-reactive effector CD8 T cells (CD11ahighCX3CR1+GZMB+). Treatment of PBMCs with FDA-approved PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors enhanced tumor cell killing activity of CLs, but a differential response was observed at the individual-patient level. H1A demonstrated superior efficacy in promoting CL activity compared with FDA-approved PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. PBMC immunophenotyping by mass cytometry revealed enrichment of effector CD8 T and NK cells in H1A-treated PBMCs and immunosuppressive regulatory T cells in atezolizumab-treated samples. Our study lays the ground for future investigation of the therapeutic value of H1A as a next-generation immune checkpoint inhibitor and the potential of measuring CTL activity in PBMCs as a tool to predict individual response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women’s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women’s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality.

VEXAS is caused by somatic mutations in UBA1 (UBA1mut) and characterized by heterogenous systemic auto-inflammation and progressive hematologic manifestations, meeting criteria for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and plasma cell dyscrasias. The landscape of myeloid-related gene mutations leading to typical clonal hematopoiesis (CH) in these patients is unknown. Retrospectively, we screened 80 VEXAS patients for CH in their peripheral blood (PB) and correlated findings with clinical outcomes in 77. UBA1mutwere most common at hotspot p.M41 (median variant allele frequency/VAF = 75%). Typical CH mutations co-occurred with UBA1mut in 60% of patients, mostly in DNMT3A and TET2, and were not associated with inflammatory or hematologic manifestations. In prospective single-cell proteogenomic sequencing (scDNA), UBA1mutwas the dominant clone, present mostly in branched clonal trajectories. Based on integrated bulk and scDNA analyses, clonality in VEXAS followed two major patterns: with either typical CH preceding UBA1mutselection in a clone (Pattern 1), or occurring as an UBA1mutsubclone or in independent clones (Pattern 2). VAF in PB differed markedly between DNMT3A and TET2 clones (median VAF of 25% vs 1%). DNMT3A and TET2 clones associated with hierarchies representing patterns 1 and 2, respectively. Overall survival for all patients was 60% at 10 years. Transfusion-dependent anemia, moderate thrombocytopenia, and typical CH mutations, each correlated with poor outcome. In VEXAS, UBA1mut cells are the primary cause of systemic inflammation and marrow failure, being a new molecularly defined somatic entity associated with MDS. VEXAS-associated MDS is distinct from classical MDS in its presentation and clinical course.