Citations

514 Background: Randomized trials and OCSs have demonstrated that BV treatment in 1st-line (1L), in 2L, and across multiple lines is associated with longer survival in patients (pts) with mCRC. This analysis was aimed at comparing the effectiveness of BV after 1st disease progression (PD) between male and female mCRC pts who received 1L BV-containing therapy in a real-world setting. Methods: ARIES is a large, prospective OCS that enrolled pts who received BV and chemotherapy (CT) for 1L mCRC. Post-PD effectiveness was assessed for men and women characterizing BV use by cumulative and dichotomous approaches. The primary analysis treated BV exposure as cumulative BV doses after 1st PD and post-progression overall survival (ppOS) as the time from 1st PD to death. A time-dependent Cox regression model was fitted to assess the effect of cumulative BV exposure on ppOS, while controlling for potential confounders. A dichotomous secondary analysis characterized BV exposure as receipt of CT + BV (BBP) or CT alone (No BBP) within 2 months after PD and ppOS as time from 1st PD + 2 months to death. Results: Among the 1,550 1L mCRC pts enrolled, 1,199 (532 women) had PD. In the primary analysis, hazard ratios (HRs) for ppOS decreased, on average, by 1.2% with each additional BV dose. When stratified by sex, the average risk reduction per BV dose over 15 doses was 1.8% in women and 0.7% in men. In the secondary analysis that included 331 women (BBP, 180; No BBP, 151) and 417 men (BBP, 245, No BBP, 172) who received BV ± CT within 2 months post-PD, the HRs for ppOS with BBP treatment were 0.46 (95% CI, 0.35–0.59) in women and 0.52 (95% CI, 0.41–0.67) in men. Statistical interaction tests for differences in the effectiveness of BV between men and women were negative for primary and secondary analyses (P of 0.58 and 0.77). Protocol-specified adverse events occurred in 17.8% of women and 10.2% of men in the BBP population; this difference was largely related to rates of hypertension (8.3% vs 2.4%, respectively). Conclusions: In ARIES, the effectiveness of BV after first PD was not statistically different between women and men with mCRC. Clinical trial information: NCT00388206.

702 Background: Median overall survival (OS) in mCRC has significantly improved over the past 20 yrs, but the observed range of OS in pts remains wide; a large percentage of pts have OS <1 yr or >4 yrs. ARIES was a prospective OCS conducted from 2006–2012 that evaluated outcomes in pts receiving BV + chemotherapy (CT) for mCRC in general clinical practice. The objective of this analysis is to examine clinical characteristics of pts with long vs short OS. Methods: This analysis included 1,417/1,550 first-line (1L) BV-treated mCRC pts who died or had complete follow-up on study. Long OS was defined as OS within the upper quartile of the analysis population (range 42–67 mos); short OS was defined as OS within the lower quartile (range 0.3–12 mos). Progression-free survival (PFS) was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Pt and disease characteristics and treatment patterns were described using summary statistics. Results: Pt and disease characteristics are shown in the Table. Median PFS was 22.3 mos (95% CI, 19.9–23.3) vs. 4.9 mos (95% CI, 4.6–5.4), in the long-OS vs. short-OS groups. More pts with long OS received any second-line (2L) therapy (71% vs. 46%), and were exposed to 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan throughout the course of their disease (53% vs. 32%) compared with pts with short OS. KRAS/BRAF mutation status was not collected. Conclusions: Pts with long OS had better baseline performance status, primary tumors more likely to have been resected, and were more likely to have received 2L CT. Additional analyses of detailed treatment patterns and safety are ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT00388206. [Table: see text]

535 Background: Prior ARIES analyses showed that BV-treated mCRC patients (pts) receiving chemotherapy (CT)/biologics + BV within 2 months (mo) after 1st progressive disease (PD) had longer post-progression survival (PPS) than pts receiving only CT/biologics. The present analysis evaluated whether this effect of BV was consistent when used with common 2L CT regimens— irinotecan- (iri-) and oxaliplatin- (ox-) based—in mCRC pts exposed to 1L BV in ARIES. Methods: ARIES enrolled mCRC pts receiving 1L CT + BV. No tx regimens or assessments were protocol specified. This analysis evaluated 1L BV-treated mCRC pts who had PD, survived ≥2 mo after PD, and received 2L iri- or ox-based tx. PPS was estimated by Kaplan-Meier methods. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs), while adjusting for covariates (eg, 1L time to progression). Results: Of 1550 1L pts in ARIES, 1074 had 1st PD and survived ≥2 mo after PD. Of these 1074, 390 and 114 received 2L iri- and ox-based tx, respectively, ± BV ( table ). Baseline characteristics were generally similar between groups. The incidence of targeted adverse events (TAEs) was as expected and similar between the BV and No BV groups over time. In pts receiving 2L iri- or ox-based CT tx, PPS in BV-treated pts was longer compared to those not on BV. Analyses may be limited by small pt numbers in some groups. Conclusions: Consistent with prior ARIES analyses, the continued use of BV after 1st PD was associated with prolonged PPS regardless of the 2L CT backbone used. [Table: see text]

Background— Ventricular tachycardia and premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) most frequently occur in the context of structural heart disease. However, the burden of idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (IVA) in the general population is unknown. Methods and Results— We identified incident cases of IVA between 2005 and 2013 from Olmsted County, Minnesota, using the Rochester Epidemiology Project database. For PVC cohorts, we included those with frequent (defined as ≥100 PVC/24 hours) symptomatic PVCs. We defined IVA-associated cardiomyopathy as a drop in ejection fraction of ≥10% from baseline. Between 2005 and 2013, we identified 614 individuals with incident IVA (229 [37.3%] were male; average age was 52.1±17.2 years). Of these, 177 (28.8%) had idiopathic ventricular tachycardia, 408 (66.5%) had symptomatic PVCs, and 29 (4.7%) had IVA-associated cardiomyopathy. The age- and sex-adjusted incidence rates in 2005 to 2007, 2008 to 2010, and 2011 to 2013 were 44.9 per 100 000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 38.0–51.8), 47.6 per 100 000 (95% CI, 40.8–54.5), and 62.0 per 100 000 (95% CI, 54.4–69.6), respectively. In idiopathic ventricular tachycardia, there was an increase in incidence rate with ages ( P <0.001) but not between sexes ( P =0.12). The age-adjusted incidence of symptomatic PVC was higher in females than in males (46.2 per 100 000 [95% CI, 40.9–51.6] versus 20.5 per 100 000 [95% CI, 16.8–24.3]; P <0.001). The small number of individuals with IVA-associated cardiomyopathy precluded any formal testing. Conclusions— The incidence of IVA is increasing. Furthermore, overall incidence increases with age. Although the rate of idiopathic ventricular tachycardia is similar across sexes, women have a higher incidence of symptomatic PVC.

BackgroundMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with non‐MRI‐conditional cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) has been shown to be safe when performed under closely monitored protocols. However, the safety of MRI in patients with devices with a nearly depleted battery has not been reported.MethodsProspective data were collected between January 2008 and May 2015 in patients with non‐MRI‐conditional CIEDs undergoing clinically indicated MRI under institutional protocol. Patients who were pacemaker dependent were excluded. Patients whose devices were at elective replacement indicator (ERI) at the time of MRI or close to ERI (ERI or replacement for battery depletion within 3 months of scan) were identified through database review and analyzed for clinical events.ResultsMRI scans (n = 569) were performed in 442 patients. Of these, we identified 13 scans performed with a nearly depleted battery in nine patients. All scans with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs, n = 9) were uneventful. However, two scans with pacemakers close to ERI resulted in a power‐on‐reset (PoR) event. One scan with a pacemaker close to ERI that was programmed to DOO mode reached ERI during MRI and automatically changed to VVI mode. Additionally, one scan with a pacemaker at ERI did not allow programming. All pacemakers with events were implanted before 2005.ConclusionPatients with pacemakers and ICDs with a nearly depleted battery can safely undergo MRI when patients are not pacemaker dependent. Attention should be paid because old devices can result in PoR or ERI during MRI, which may lead to oversensing and inhibition of pacing.

Purpose Long-term occlusion of coiled aneurysms frequently fails, probably because of poor intrasaccular healing and inadequate endothelialization across the aneurysm neck. The purpose of this study was to determine if attachment of autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to platinum coils would improve the healing response in an elastase-induced aneurysm model in rabbits. Materials and methods With approval from the institutional animal care and use committee, aneurysms were created in rabbits and embolized with control platinum coils (Axium; Medtronic) (n=6) or coils seeded ex vivo with autologous adipose-tissue MSCs (n=7). Aneurysmal occlusion after embolization was evaluated at 1 month with angiography. Histological samples were analyzed by gross imaging and graded on the basis of neck and dome healing on H&E staining. Fibrosis was evaluated using a ratio of the total area presenting collagen. Endothelialization of the neck was quantitatively analyzed using CD31 immunohistochemistry. χ2 and Student's t-test were used to compare groups. Results Healing score (11.5 vs 8.0, p=0.019), fibrosis ratio (10.3 vs 0.13, p=0.006) and endothelialization (902 262 μm2 vs 31 810 μm2, p=0.041) were significantly greater in the MSC group. The MSC group showed marked cellular proliferation and thrombus organization, with a continuous membrane bridging the neck of the aneurysm. Angiographic stable or progressive occlusion rate was significantly lower in the MSC group (0.00, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.41) compared with controls (0.67, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.96) (p=0.02). Conclusions Autologous MSCs attached to platinum coils significantly improve histological healing, as they result in improved neck endothelialization and collagen matrix formation within the aneurysm sac.

Pediatric cancers rarely exhibit recurrent mutational events when compared to most adult cancers. This poses a challenge in understanding how cancers initiate, progress, and metastasize in early childhood. Also, due to limited detected driver mutations, it is difficult to benchmark key genes for drug development. In this review, we use neuroblastoma, a pediatric solid tumor of neural crest origin, as a paradigm for exploring “big data” applications in pediatric oncology. Computational strategies derived from big data science–network- and machine learning-based modeling and drug repositioning—hold the promise of shedding new light on the molecular mechanisms driving neuroblastoma pathogenesis and identifying potential therapeutics to combat this devastating disease. These strategies integrate robust data input, from genomic and transcriptomic studies, clinical data, and in vivo and in vitro experimental models specific to neuroblastoma and other types of cancers that closely mimic its biological characteristics. We discuss contexts in which “big data” and computational approaches, especially network-based modeling, may advance neuroblastoma research, describe currently available data and resources, and propose future models of strategic data collection and analyses for neuroblastoma and other related diseases.