Citations

Advances in pharmacogenomics (PGx) have the potential to transform healthcare by allowing precision medicine to become a reality. However, PGx knowledge is new, complex, and evolving, and relying on the cognition of clinicians alone is insufficient for clinical implementation. Integrating clinical decision support (CDS) tools in the electronic health record (EHR) is critical for translating PGx into clinical practice. Herein, we review current strategies to implement PGx using EHR‐CDS functionalities.

Background Allografts from living donors survive longer than those from deceased donors but the role of HLA mismatching in living kidney donation is still in question. We examined the effect of HLA compatibility on kidney allograft survival from living donors by studying all first adult kidney transplants performed in the United States over 25 years. Methods Using the United Network for Organ Sharing data, we identified first kidney transplants between October 1, 1987, and December 31, 2013. Recipients were classified by their number of HLA mismatches and stratified by donor origin. Cox multivariate regression analyses adjusting for recipient and donor transplant characteristics were performed to determine impact of HLA compatibility on kidney allograft survival for all living donors and for living related and living unrelated subsets. Results There were 66 596 first adult transplants from living donors with 348 960 years of follow-up. We found a linear relationship between HLA mismatch and allograft survival. In adjusted analyses, among all living donors, 1 mismatch conferred a 44% higher risk, whereas 6 mismatches conferred a twofold higher risk of allograft failure. When using 0-mismatched full siblings as a reference, living-donor kidneys reduce the hazard of failure by approximately 34% when compared with deceased donors. Twenty-five years of transplant experience, stratified by donor source, was summarized and presented as a guide for allocation. Conclusions These data reinforce the importance of optimizing HLA matching to further improve survival in first adult kidney allografts in the future, especially in living unrelated donations, when possible.

Purpose Treatment options for neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) remain limited. This trial assessed the progression-free survival (PFS) of bevacizumab or interferon alfa-2b (IFN-α-2b) added to octreotide among patients with advanced NETs. Patients and Methods Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) S0518, a phase III study conducted in a US cooperative group system, enrolled patients with advanced grades 1 and 2 NETs with progressive disease or other poor prognostic features. Patients were randomly assigned to treatment with octreotide LAR 20 mg every 21 days with either bevacizumab 15 mg/kg every 21 days or 5 million units of IFN-α-2b three times per week. The primary end point was centrally assessed PFS. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT00569127. Results A total of 427 patients was enrolled, of whom 214 were allocated to bevacizumab and 213 to IFN-α-2b. The median PFS by central review was 16.6 months (95% CI, 12.9 to 19.6 months) in the bevacizumab arm and was 15.4 months (95% CI, 9.6 to 18.6 months) in the IFN arm (hazard ratio [HR], 0.93; 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.18; P = .55). By site review, the median PFS times were 15.4 months (95% CI, 12.6 to 17.2 months) for bevacizumab and 10.6 months (95% CI, 8.5 to 14.4 months) for interferon (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.72 to 1.12; P = .33). Time to treatment failure was longer with bevacizumab than with IFN (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.89; P = .003). Confirmed radiologic response rates were 12% (95% CI, 8% to 18%) for bevacizumab and 4% (95% CI, 2% to 8%) for IFN. Common adverse events with bevacizumab and octreotide included hypertension (32%), proteinuria (9%), and fatigue (7%); with IFN and octreotide, they included fatigue (27%), neutropenia (12%), and nausea (6%). Conclusion No significant differences in PFS were observed between the bevacizumab and IFN arms, which suggests that these agents have similar antitumor activity among patients with advanced NETs.

Background Stress is the most commonly reported migraine trigger. Dynorphin, an endogenous opioid peptide acting preferentially at kappa opioid receptors (KORs), is a key mediator of stress responses. The aim of this study was to use an injury-free rat model of functional cephalic pain with features of migraine and medication overuse headache (MOH) to test the possible preventive benefit of KOR blockade on stress-induced cephalic pain. Methods Following sumatriptan priming to model MOH, rats were hyper-responsive to environmental stress, demonstrating delayed cephalic and extracephalic allodynia and increased levels of CGRP in the jugular blood, consistent with commonly observed clinical outcomes during migraine. Nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI), a long-acting KOR antagonist or CYM51317, a novel short-acting KOR antagonist, were given systemically either during sumatriptan priming or immediately before environmental stress challenge. The effects of KOR blockade in the amygdala on stress-induced allodynia was determined by administration of nor-BNI into the right or left central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). Results KOR blockade prevented both stress-induced allodynia and increased plasma CGRP. Stress increased dynorphin content and phosphorylated KOR in both the left and right CeA in sumatriptan-primed rats. However, KOR blockade only in the right CeA prevented stress-induced cephalic allodynia as well as extracephalic allodynia, measured in either the right or left hindpaws. U69,593, a KOR agonist, given into the right, but not the left, CeA, produced allodynia selectively in sumatriptan-primed rats. Both stress and U69,593-induced allodynia were prevented by right CeA U0126, a mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor, presumably acting downstream of KOR. Conclusions Our data reveal a novel lateralized KOR circuit that mediated stress-induced cutaneous allodynia and increased plasma CGRP in an injury-free model of functional cephalic pain with features of migraine and medication overuse headache. Selective, small molecule, orally available, and reversible KOR antagonists are currently in development and may represent a novel class of preventive therapeutics for migraine.

Abstract Background Pathogenic variants in ryanodine receptor 1 ( RYR 1, MIM # 180901) are the cause of congenital myopathy with fiber‐type disproportion, malignant hyperthermia susceptibility type 1, central core disease of muscle, multiminicore disease and other congenital myopathies. Methods We present a patient with global developmental delay, hypotonia, myopathy, joint hypermobility, and multiple other systemic complaints that were noted early in life. Later she was found to have multiple bone deformities involving her spine, with severe scoliosis that was corrected surgically. She was also diagnosed with ophthalmoplegia, chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure, and hypertension. At 22 years of age she presented to the genetics clinic with a diagnosis of mitochondrial myopathy and underwent whole exome sequencing ( WES ). Results Whole exome sequencing revealed two novel compound heterozygous variants in RYR 1 (c.7060_7062del, p.Val2354del and c.4485_4500del, p.Tyr1495X). Conclusion Review of her clinical, pathologic, and genetic findings pointed to a diagnosis of a congenital myopathy with fiber‐type disproportion.

169 Background: Cabozantinib (Cabo), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of c-Met and VEGFR2, modulates the tumor microenvironment in a therapeutically favorable manner. We combined Cabo with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in patients (pts) with androgen-dependent metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) (NCT01630590). Methods: Pts received Cabo (starting dose 60 mg PO daily) and ADT with a GnRH analogue. Pts could receive up to 3 months of ADT prior to initiating Cabo. Bone scan (BS) and CT scans were performed every 12 weeks (wks). Efficacy endpoints included response in markers, BS and RECIST, and time to castrate-resistant progression defined by radiographic progression, clinical progression, or receipt of additional anti-cancer therapy. Results: From 01/27/2014 to 01/12/2016, 62 pts were enrolled: 94% (58/62) with bone metastasis, 56% (35/62) with measurable disease, 15% (9/62) with visceral involvement and 26% (16/62) with prior treatment of their primary tumor. 79% (49/62) of pts have high volume disease defined by > 4 bone lesions and/or involvement of viscera. Median time from start of ADT to start of Cabo was 3.4 wks. Improvements in BS were observed in 81% (44/54) of evaluable pts including complete responses (CR) in 15% (8/54). In evaluable pts with measurable disease, best response was stable disease in 9% (3/33), PR in 61% (20/33) and CR in 30% (10/33). Reductions in PSA > 90%, bone specific alkaline phosphatase > 50% and urine N-telopeptides > 50% occurred in 83% (50/60), 87% (34/39), 86% (19/22) of evaluable pts, respectively. With a median follow up of 21.4 months (mo), median PFS is 15.6 mo. Median duration of Cabo treatment is 13 mo. Most common toxicities are Grade 3 hypertension (16%), pulmonary embolus (6%), diarrhea (4%), fatigue (3%), nausea (3%), and deep venous thrombosis (3%) with no Grade 4 events. Cabo dose reductions to 40 and 20 mg occurred in 68% and 18% of pts, respectively, with discontinuations due to toxicity in 10% of pts. Conclusions: Cabo plus ADT has potent clinical activity in pts with high volume androgen-dependent PCa including improvements BS and reduction in markers of bone stromal function. Studies are underway to identify biomarkers predictive of best response. Clinical trial information: NCT01630590.

106 Background: Pharmacoepidemiologic studies suggest prognostic benefits of aspirin in prostate cancer. We hypothesized that prostate cancer tissue from regular aspirin users at cancer diagnosis compared to nonusers is characterized by specific transcriptional changes. Methods: We analyzed tumor whole-transcriptome data from men diagnosed with prostate cancer during prospective follow up of the Physicians Health Study 1 (PHS1, n1 = 150), initially a randomized-controlled trial of aspirin for prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. We compared the expression of putative aspirin target genes ( PTGS2, CTNNB1, MYC, AXIN2, PTGER3) between regular aspirin users ( ≥ 3 x 324 mg/week) and non-users at cancer diagnosis. We used Gene Set Enrichment Analysis to identify Gene Ontology biological process gene sets (total, 3609) associated with aspirin use. Leading edge genes of ≥ 3 functionally related gene sets were summarized in a meta-gene score. Results were validated among prostate cancer patients from the Health-Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS, n2 = 254; aspirin use, ≥ 2 x/week). Results: Regular aspirin use was common (65% in PHS1; 45% in HPFS) and not associated with age, stage, and Gleason grade. In PHS1, none of the predefined genes were associated with aspirin use (all p > 0.05). 26 gene sets were downregulated in aspirin users at a false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.25 (9 at FDR < 0.05). 11 gene sets were clustered functionally around ribosome function and protein translation. A “ribosome” score of 96 genes was higher in aspirin users compared to nonusers (difference, 35.5 standard deviations [SD]; p = 0.0001). There was no dose-dependency for cumulative duration of aspirin use before cancer diagnosis ( ptrend = 0.17) or time since stopping use among non-users at diagnosis ( p = 0.32). In HPFS, neither the pre-defined target genes (all p > 0.18) nor the score were associated with aspirin use (difference, –9.8 SD; p = 0.18). Conclusions: Although RNA acetylation and resulting intratumoral gene expression changes due to aspirin use may be biologically plausible, we were unable to corroborate this association in two-long term prospective studies. Short-term trials might assess if aspirin has direct effects on tumor gene expression.