Citations

PURPOSERegular physical activity is associated with reduced risk of recurrence and mortality in patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. Its influence on patients with advanced/metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) has been largely unexplored.PATIENTS AND METHODSWe conducted a prospective cohort study nested in Cancer and Leukemia Group B (Alliance)/SWOG 80405 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00265850 ), a National Cancer Institute–sponsored phase III trial of systemic therapy for mCRC. Within 1 month after therapy initiation, patients were invited to complete a validated questionnaire that reported average physical activity over the previous 2 months. On the basis of responses, we calculated metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours per week to quantify physical activity. The primary end point of the clinical trial and this companion study was overall survival (OS). Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS) and first grade 3 or greater treatment-related adverse events. To minimize confounding by poor and declining health, we excluded patients who experienced progression or died within 60 days of activity assessment and used Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to adjust for known prognostic factors, comorbidities, and weight loss.RESULTSThe final cohort included 1,218 patients. Compared with patients engaged in less than 3 MET hours per week of physical activity, patients engaged in 18 or more MET hours per week experienced an adjusted hazard ratio for OS of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.71 to 1.02; PTrend= .06) and for PFS of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.99; PTrend= .01). Compared with patients engaging in less than 9 MET hours per week, patients engaging in 9 or more MET hours per week experienced an adjusted hazard ratio for grade 3 or greater treatment-related adverse events of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.62 to 0.86; PTrend< .001).CONCLUSIONAmong patients with mCRC in Cancer and Leukemia Group B (Alliance)/SWOG 80405, association of physical activity with OS was not statistically significant. Greater physical activity was associated with longer PFS and lower adjusted risk for first grade 3 or greater treatment-related adverse events.

AbstractEpidemiologic studies show an increased risk of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in patients with autoimmune disease (AD), due to a combination of shared environmental factors and/or genetic factors, or a causative cascade: chronic inflammation/antigen‐stimulation in one disease leads to another. Here we assess shared genetic risk in genome‐wide‐association‐studies (GWAS).Secondary analysis of GWAS of NHL subtypes (chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and marginal zone lymphoma) and ADs (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis). Shared genetic risk was assessed by (a) description of regional genetic of overlap, (b) polygenic risk score (PRS), (c)"diseasome", (d)meta‐analysis.Descriptive analysis revealed few shared genetic factors between each AD and each NHL subtype. The PRS of ADs were not increased in NHL patients (nor vice versa). In the diseasome, NHLs shared more genetic etiology with ADs than solid cancers (p = .0041). A meta‐analysis (combing AD with NHL) implicated genes of apoptosis and telomere length.This GWAS‐based analysis four NHL subtypes and three ADs revealed few weakly‐associated shared loci, explaining little total risk. This suggests common genetic variation, as assessed by GWAS in these sample sizes, may not be the primary explanation for the link between these ADs and NHLs.

Abstract BACKGROUND: nal-IRI is a liposomal formulation of irinotecan (topoisomerase-1 inhibitor). Preclinical data show that nal-IRI accumulates in BMs and prolongs survival in animal models of BM. Findings from a phase 1 expansion study (NCT01770353), evaluating patients with mBC and active BM, are reported. METHODS: This phase 1 expansion study enrolled patients with mBC who received multiple prior lines of cytotoxic therapy in the metastatic setting, including one cohort with mBC and active BM, defined as radiographic evidence of new or progressive central nervous system (CNS) metastases after radiation therapy with ≥1 lesion of ≥1 cm in the longest dimension on gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Patients received nal-IRI 50 mg/m2 (free-base equivalent; FBE) every two weeks (q2w) as an intravenous infusion over 90 minutes, escalating to 70 mg/m2 FBE q2w, if tolerated. RECIST v1.1 and modified RECIST criteria were used to assses non-CNS and CNS disease, respectively. RESULTS: In total, 30 patients were enrolled (10 with active BM). Median age was 53 years (range 29–70 years) and median number of prior cytotoxic anti-cancer regimens was 3 (range 0–6); 29 patients received ≥1 dose of nal-IRI 50 mg/m2 FBE. Overall, nal-IRI monotherapy appeared to be well tolerated, and achieved ≥30% objective response rates for both CNS and non-CNS disease. Among the 10 patients with active BM, 6 achieved CNS disease control (3 partial responses [PRs] and 3 stable disease [SD]), including one patient with durable CNS SD and non-CNS PR for 2 years. Among 7 patients with serial evaluation of CNS metastases posttreatment, 6 patients achieved a reduction in target CNS lesions compared with baseline. CONCLUSION: Treatment with nal-IRI resulted in CNS disease control among 6 of 10 heavily pretreated patients with mBC and active BM. Further exploration of nal-IRI in patients with mBC and active BM is warranted.

Abstract Patients with primary cancers often develop delayed brain metastases. One of the most common cancer types and sources of brain metastasis is lung cancer. For metastasis from lung cancer the 3-year survival is &lt; 5%. Cancer cells in circulation are responsible for metastatic spread. The mechanical microenvironment plays an important role in cancer cells behavior. When cancer cells reach the bloodstream they are exposed to hemodynamic shear stress. It has been shown that most of the circulating tumor cells die once they reach the bloodstream, but the biology of the survival cells is poorly understood. We designed a microfluidics system that simulated the mechanical stress in the human circulating system such as turbulence, change in pressure (0.4-15dyn/cm2) and flow rate (1.06–106.1mm/s). Lung adenocarcinoma cells (A549) were put into circulation and collected after 72 hours. It was found that, 1.4±0.3% of the cells survived, and viability was evaluated by LDH and calcein. CD133, SOX2, and NANOG were downregulated and EMT genes were upregulated in the circulating cancer cells (CCCs) compared with cells in static-suspension or 2D. After re-seeding in 2D, CCCs overexpressed CD133. Female athymic nude rats (6-8weeks,n=16) received intracardiac injections of CCCs or 2D cells (GFP-LUC lentivirus traduced). Bioluminescence imaging was performed every week; the survival in of the CCCs group was lower than the 2D group. One-way ANOVA test was used to analyze survival and gene expression. Survival data was plotted on a Kaplan-Meier curve and compared using the Mantel-Cox logrank test, p=&lt; 0.05. We have isolated a cellular subpopulation of lung adenocarcinoma with high resistance to hemodynamic shear stress that shows a higher metastatic capacity and genetic plasticity compared with cells growing in suspension or 2D. Targeting these cells would potentially allow us to develop personalized treatments to help to stop metastatic spread and improve actual therapeutical strategies.

Abstract Neuroblastoma is an embryonal tumor arising in the peripheral sympathetic nervous system (PSNS), and often presents with widespread metastasis at diagnosis. We recently demonstrated that overexpression of LMO1 can synergize with MYCN to promote tumor metastasis in our zebrafish model system. Here, we identify a “metastasis suppressor” gene – growth arrest specific 7 (GAS7) – whose loss of function or reduced expression can promote dissemination and migration of neuroblastoma cells with MYCN overexpression, both in vitro and in vivo. GAS7 resides on chromosome 17p13.1, a region that is deleted in high-risk neuroblastomas with higher frequency in MYCN-amplified cases. Expression levels of GAS7 are also significantly downregulated in MYCN-amplified or otherwise MYCN-overexpressing human neuroblastoma cells, as well as MYCN-overexpressing zebrafish PSNS cells, suggesting an inverse relationship between the oncogenic activities of MYCN and GAS7downregulation. To determine whether loss of function or reduced expression of GAS7 could contribute to neuroblastoma pathogenesis in the context of MYCN overexpression, we developed a gas7 knockout zebrafish line using a transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) method. Loss of function of gas7 promoted hematogenous metastasis of MYCN-overexpressing tumor cells to tissues and organs that paralleled the common sites of metastasis in neuroblastoma patients. Further RNA-sequencing and qRT-PCR analyses showed that representative signature genes encoding proteins involved in tumor cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix interactions were significantly downregulated in fish tumors with loss of function of gas7, consistent with our electron microscopic finding in the fish model showing a loss of contact among tumor cells in fish lacking functional gas7, suggesting that GAS7 may physically act as a metastasis suppressor. Thus, in high-risk neuroblastoma with MYCNamplification or overexpression, we propose that deletion or reduced expression of GAS7 cooperates with MYCN to promote neuroblastoma cell dissemination. Although the precise mechanism of this interaction remains unclear, we suggest that it relies, in part, on the downregulation of pivotal genes involved in tumor cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix contacts. Citation Format: Zhiwei Dong, Gonzalo Lepez Garcia, Cheng Zhang, Erin N. Dankert, Jo Lynne Harenza, Xiaonan Hou, Hu Li, John M. Maris, Shizhen (Jane) Zhu. Loss of function of GAS7 promotes neuroblastoma metastasis in the context of MYCN overexpression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-127.

Abstract Introduction. Voyager-V1 (VV1) is an oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus engineered to express human interferon beta (IFNβ) to enhance cellular antitumor immune responses and tumor selectivity. VV1 also contains the human sodium iodide symporter (NIS) as an imaging gene. We report here the novel use of virus-encoded IFNβ as a PD marker using correlative data from three Phase I trials of VSV-IFNβ-NIS in patients with refractory cancers (n=46). Methods. 46 patients with solid tumors (n=34) and hematological malignancies (n=12) received 1 dose of VV1 either intratumorally (ITu) or intravenously (IV) at doses ranging from 3 x 106 to 5 x 1010 TCID50. Plasma IFNβ levels were collected pre-treatment, 4 hours post-infusion, Day 2 (24-hour), Day 3, 8, 15 and 29 (IT only). Samples were processed using a standard IFNβ specific ELISA kit. Results. ITu dose escalation is complete with 27 patients treated and no DLTs. IV escalation is ongoing at 5 x 1010 TCID50 with 19 patients treated to date. In the ITu study, plasma IFNβ levels at 24h were undetected at the lowest dose levels (up to 1 x 107 TCID50), and became detectable from 3 x 107 TCID50. In the IV patients, IFNβ was detectable at all dose levels (5 x 109 through 5 x 1010 TCID50) with the highest peak and longest duration in a patient with metastatic endometrial cancer coincident with shrinkage of multiple tumors. The IFNβ produced by virus-infected cells can be differentiated from the acute innate antiviral responses by magnitude of response and AUC as the majority of the inflammatory cytokines returned to baseline by 48h. Peak IFNβ levels were variable between patients, likely reflecting heterogeneity in tumor susceptibility to VV1, ranging from 1.4pg/mL to 656pg/mL across 6 patients (mean 153pg/ml) at the highest ITu dose. Plasma IFNβ 24 hours post-therapy of &gt;20pg/mL appears to predict for RECIST 1.1-evaluated SD vs PD, p=0.048 in the ITu patients. Peak IFNβ ranged from 18 to 1700 pg/mL across 9 patients (mean=442pg/ml) at 1.7 x 1010 in the IV study. Peak IFNβ was highest in two cases of endometrial cancer (1500 and 1700 pg/ml). The patient with the highest IFNβ levels on the IV trial showed 16.7% tumor shrinkage at the first tumor evaluation. SPECT imaging, which shows location of viral replication, was positive in 50% of ITu injected tumors, also validating of VV1 infection of target cells. To date, SPECT images were negative in the IV trial despite IFNβ positivity, reflecting IFNβ as a more sensitive PD marker of viral infection. IHC staining of tumor biopsies collected pre-treatment and 1 month after VSV showed increased numbers of CD3, CD8, CD68, PDL1 or PD1 in some injected or noninjected tumors. Other immune markers and tumor gene signatures are also being evaluated. Conclusions. Plasma IFNβ has emerged as a simple and convenient biomarker of viral replication in tumors. IFNβ will be used in future studies as a PD marker to assess the impact of immune-modulating combination drugs with VV1. Citation Format: Timothy P. Cripe, Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, Jaime R. Merchan, Martha Q. Lacy, Manish R. Patel, Steven Powell, James Strauss, Lianwen Zhang, Toshie Sakuma, Memy Diaz, Nandakumar Packiriswamy, Deepak Upreti, Bethany Brunton, Dragan Jevremovic, Stephen J. Russell, Alice Bexon, Kah-Whye Peng. Rational design of an oncolytic virus permits use of interferon beta as a pharmacodynamic marker for clinical application [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr CT090.

Abstract Background nal-IRI is a liposomal formulation of irinotecan (topoisomerase-1 inhibitor), using intraliposomal stabilisation technology to enable high drug load and in-vivo stability. The expansion of Phase I NCT01770353 evaluated nal-IRI in patients (pts) with mBC. Methods This Phase I expansion study enrolled mBC pts (Cohort 1: ER+ and/or PR+ HER2 BC (C-1); Cohort 2: Triple Negative BC (TNBC, C-2); Cohort 3: BC with active Brain Metastasis (C-3)). Key inclusion criteria: ECOG ≤1; adequate organ function; received &gt;1 to ≤5 prior lines of cytotoxic therapy in metastatic setting, except TNBC pts who could have progressed within 12 months of adjuvant therapy. Pts received nal-IRI 50 mg/m2 (Free-base equivalent, FBE) q2w iv infusion, escalating to 70 mg/m2 FBE q2w, if tolerated. Results 30 pts (10 per cohort) were enrolled: 29 received &gt;1 dose nal-IRI 50 mg/m2 FBE (median age 53 yrs, range 29-70 yrs). Median number of cytotoxic therapies prior to study entry was 3. The most frequent treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were gastrointestinal disorders (all cohorts, 100%), primarily diarrhea (C-1, 100% / C-2, 100% / C-3, 70%), nausea (C-1, 80% / C-2, 56% / C-3, 30%), and vomiting (C-1, 60% / C-2, 33% / C-3, 30%). The incidence of neutropenia was low (C-1, 10% / C-2, 0% / C-3, 10%), all grade 1 / 2. Most common grade 3 TEAEs were diarrhea (28%), nausea (17%), fatigue (14%), hypokalemia (10%) and asthenia (10%), with none reported as grade 4. No grade 5 TEAEs were reported. Partial response (per RECIST) was observed in 10 pts for an objective response rate (ORR) of 35% (C-1, 40% / C-2, 33%) / C-3, 30%). Stable disease was observed in 5 pts (17%). Duration of Response (median, months) was C-1, 7.5 (6.4-13.0) / C-2, 5.6 (3.7-7.4) / C-3, 4.1 (0.0-22.2, extracranial: RECIST) / C-3, 1.8 (0.0-1.9, intracranial: mRECIST). Table 1.Study Demographics, Adverse Events, and Best Overall ResponseDemographicsCohort 1ER+ and/or PR+ Breast Cancern=10Cohort 2Triple Negative Breast Cancern=10Cohort 3Breast Cancer with Active Brain Metastasisn=10Total PopulationN=30Gender, Female, n (%)10 (100%)10 (100%)10 (100%)30 (100%)Age, Years Median (range)56 (49-68)52.5 (37-70)45.5 (29-63)53 (29-70)Race, n (%)WhiteBlack/AfricanOther8 (80%)02 (20%)8 (80%)1 (10%)1 (10%)7 (70%)1 (10%)2 (20%)23(77%)2 (7%)5(16%)Months Since Metastatic diagnosis, Months Median (Range)63.7 (16-87)20.7 (0-34)32.4 (8-55)24.0 (0-87)Number of Prior Cytotoxic Anti-cancer Regimens Median (Range)3.0 (1-6)3.0 (0-5)32.4 (1-6)3.0 (0-6)Safety PopulationCohort 1ER+ and/or PR+ Breast Cancern=10Cohort 2Triple Negative Breast Cancern=9Cohort 3Breast Cancer with Active Brain Metastasisn=10Total PopulationN=29ExposureTreatment Duration, Weeks Median (range)6.1 (0-78)12.3 (0-49)13.9 (1-105)12.3 (0-105)Adverse EventsAny TEAE10 (100%)9 (100%)10 (100%)29 (100%)Grade 38 (80%)6 (67%)10 (100%)20 (69%)Grade 41 (10%)06 (60%)3 (10%)TEAE Related to nal-IRI10 (100%)8 (89%)10 (100%)28 (97%)Grade &gt; 36 (60%)3 (33%)3 (30%)12 (41%)TEAE Related to nal-IRILeading to Dose Adjustment*7 (70%)3 (33%)4 (40%)14 (48%)SAEs6 (60%)4 (44%)7 (70%)17 (59%)SAE Related to nal-IRI4 (40%)1 (11%)1 (10%)6 (21%)Duration of Objective ResponseRECIST 1.1RECIST 1.1RECIST 1.1mRECISTMonths Median (Range)7.5 (6.4-13.0)5.6 (3.7-7.4)4.1 (0.0-22.2)1.84 (0.0-1.9)Best Overall ResponseRECISTRECISTRECISTmRECISTComplete Response (CR)0000Partial Response (PR)4 (40%)3 (33%)3 (30%)3 (30%)Stable Disease (SD)03 (33%)2 (20%)3 (30%)Progressive Disease (PD)5 (50%)2 (22%)3 (30%)2 (20%)Not Evaluable (NE)1 (10%)1 (11%)2 (20%)2 (20%)Objective Response RateCR+PR(95% CI)4 (40%)12.2 -73.83 (33%)7.5-70.73 (30%)6.7-65.33 (30%)(6.7-65.3)*n=1 patient in Cohort 1 discontinued treatment due to TEAE related to treatment with nal-IRI CI, Confidence Interval; nal-IRI, Irinotecan Liposome Injection; SAE, Serious Adverse Event; TEAE, Treatment Emergent Adverse EventSystemic tumor response was evaluated according to RECIST version 1.1CNS tumor response was evaluated according to mRECIST (Anders C. et al., Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2014: 146(3):557-66) Conclusion nal-IRI monotherapy 50g/m2 FBE Q2W appears well tolerated, and achieved &gt;30% ORR for systemic and CNS disease among heavily pre-treated mBC pts regardless of receptor status. Citation Format: Jasgit Sachdev, Pamela Munster, Donald Northfelt, Hyo S. Han, Cynthia MA, Fiona Maxwell, Tiffany Wang, Bruce Belanger, Bin Zhang, Yan Moore, Carey Anders. Phase I expansion study of irinotecan liposome injection (nal-IRI) in patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr CT048.

Abstract Lung cancer is the deadliest and most frequently diagnosed type of tumor worldwide, with 1.6 million deaths reported annually. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents 85% of all lung cancer cases and carries a poor 5-year survival rate below 15%. Prognoses remain dismal due to the large number of patients diagnosed with advanced stage disease and the development of resistance to current therapies. A better understanding of acquired drug resistance will help to circumvent the progression of lung cancer and make significant strides in improving NSCLC patient treatment. Our recent work demonstrates that dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, Mr 32000 (DARPP-32) and its amino-terminally truncated splice variant (t-DARPP) promote lung tumor growth in orthotopic mouse models. IHC staining of 62 human lung adenocarcinoma tissues showed that t-DARPP expression is elevated with increasing tumor (T) staging score, which represents the size of the primary tumor and whether it has grown into nearby areas, as a metric of tumor progression and growth. Correspondingly, a computational biology analysis of 513 lung adenocarcinoma patients revealed upregulation of t-DARPP isoform expression correlates with advanced T stage and is associated with poor overall survival. We identified a novel physical interaction between DARPP-32 and inhibitory kappa B kinase-α (IKKα) that promotes NSCLC cell migration through activation of non-canonical NF-κB2 signaling. It has been shown that DARPP-32 overexpression inhibits gefitinib-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer and t-DARPP contributes to the trastuzumab resistance phenotype in breast cancer. Our recent findings suggest DARPP-32 and t-DARPP overexpression in NSCLC promotes resistance to specific molecular targeted inhibitors by enabling tumor cells to evade apoptosis via Akt- and Erk-dependent cell survival mechanisms. Current ongoing studies are focused on manipulating expression of DARPP-32 isoforms in lung tumor cells to prevent resistance to targeted therapies in NSCLC patients. Citation Format: SK Kayum Alam, Matteo Astone, Ping Liu, Li Wang, Abbygail M. Coyle, Erin N. Dankert, Dane K. Hoffman, Stephanie R. Hall, Wei Zhang, Rui Kuang, Anja C. Roden, Aaron S. Mansfield, Luke H. Hoeppner. Molecular mechanisms of non-small cell lung cancer growth and drug resistance [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 873.