Randomized Phase II Study of Paclitaxel plus Alisertib versus Paclitaxel plus Placebo as Second-Line Therapy for SCLC: Primary and Correlative Biomarker Analyses

IntroductionWe assessed the Aurora A kinase inhibitor, alisertib, plus paclitaxel (henceforth referred to as alisertib/paclitaxel) as second-line treatment for SCLC.MethodsIn this double-blind study, patients with relapsed or refractory SCLC were stratified by relapse type (sensitive versus resistant or refractory) and brain metastases and randomized 1:1 to alisertib/paclitaxel or placebo plus paclitaxel (henceforth referred to as placebo/paclitaxel) in 28-day cycles. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Associations of c-Myc expression in tumor tissue (prespecified) and genetic alterations in circulating tumor DNA (retrospective) with clinical outcome were evaluated.ResultsA total of 178 patients were enrolled (89 in each arm). The median PFS was 3.32 months with alisertib/paclitaxel versus 2.17 months with placebo/paclitaxel (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.77, 95% confidence limit [CI]: 0.557–1.067, p = 0.113 in the intent-to-treat population versus HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.509–0.985, p = 0.038 with corrected analysis applied). Among 140 patients with genetic alternations, patients with cell cycle regulator mutations (cyclin-dependent kinase 6 gene [CDK6], retinoblastoma-like 1 gene [RBL1], retinoblastoma-like 2 gene [RBL2], and retinoblastoma 1 gene [RB1]) had significantly improved PFS with alisertib/paclitaxel versus with placebo/paclitaxel (3.68 versus 1.80 months, respectively [HR = 0.395, 95% CI: 0.239–0.654, p = 0.0003]), and overall survival (7.20 versus 4.47 months, respectively [HR = 0.427, 95% CI: 0.259–0.704, p = 0.00085]). A subset of patients with c-Myc expression showed significantly improved PFS with alisertib/paclitaxel. The incidence of grade 3 or higher drug-related adverse events was 67% (58 patients) with alisertib/paclitaxel versus 22% (25 patients) with placebo/paclitaxel. Twelve patients (14%) versus 11 (12%) died on study, including four versus zero treatment-related deaths.ConclusionsEfficacy signals were seen with alisertib/paclitaxel in relapsed or refractory SCLC. c-Myc expression and mutations in cell cycle regulators may be potential predictive biomarkers of alisertib efficacy; further prospective validations are warranted.     

Pembrolizumab After Two or More Lines of Previous Therapy in Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic SCLC: Results From the KEYNOTE-028 and KEYNOTE-158 Studies

IntroductionPembrolizumab has shown clinical benefit in patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic SCLC in the phase 1b multicohort study KEYNOTE-028 (NCT02054806) and the phase 2 multicohort study KEYNOTE-158 (NCT02628067). We present a pooled analysis of patients from KEYNOTE-028 and KEYNOTE-158 who had received two or more lines of previous therapy for SCLC.MethodsEligible patients were aged 18 years and above, had histologically or cytologically confirmed incurable recurrent or metastatic SCLC, had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 1 and below, and had received two or more lines of previous therapy. Patients in KEYNOTE-028 were required to have a programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive tumor. Patients received pembrolizumab (10 mg/kg every 2 weeks in KEYNOTE-028 or 200 mg every 3 weeks in KEYNOTE-158) for up to 2 years. The primary end point was objective response rate per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1, which is presented here per independent review.ResultsEighty-three patients who had received two or more lines of previous therapy (KEYNOTE-028, n = 19; KEYNOTE-158, n = 64) were included. Median follow-up duration was 7.7 (range, 0.5–48.7) months. Objective response rate was 19.3% (95% confidence interval: 11.4–29.4); two patients had complete response (one with a PD-L1–positive tumor), and 14 patients had partial response (13 with PD-L1–positive tumors). The median duration of response was not reached (range, 4.1‒35.8+ mo; plus sign indicates ongoing response); 61% of responders had responses lasting 18 months or longer. Fifty-one patients (61.4%) experienced any-grade treatment-related adverse events; eight patients (9.6%) had grade 3 or higher events.ConclusionsPembrolizumab exhibited durable antitumor activity in a subset of patients with recurrent or metastatic SCLC who had undergone two or more previous lines of therapy, regardless of PD-L1 expression. Pembrolizumab was well tolerated.     

五种肿瘤标志物联检在小细胞肺癌诊断中的价值

目的:探讨五种肿瘤标志物［癌胚抗原（CEA）、神经元特异性烯醇化酶（NSE）、细胞角蛋白19片段（Cyfra21-1）、胃泌素释放肽前体（ProGRP）、人附睾蛋白4（HE4）］联合检测在不同分期小细胞肺癌诊断中的价值。方法:应用电化学发光法分别检测117例小细胞肺癌患者（Ⅰ期23例、Ⅱ期26例、Ⅲ期39例、Ⅳ期29例）,70例肺部良性疾病患者及120名健康体检者血清中CEA、NSE、Cyfra21-1、ProGRP和HE4水平。结果:小细胞肺癌组五种肿瘤标志物水平均高于健康对照组和肺部良性病变组,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）;血清ProGRP浓度随疾病进展而明显升高,其表达水平与临床分期密切相关（P＜0.05）。血清HE4表达水平Ⅱ期高于Ⅰ期,Ⅳ期高于Ⅲ期,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）;五种肿瘤标志物联合检测诊断小细胞肺癌的效能最高,各单项指标诊断效能由高到低依次为AUCProGRP 0.91>AUCHE4 0.89>AUCNSE 0.80>AUCCyfra21-1 0.64>AUCCEA 0.60。结论:血清ProGRP是诊断不同分期SCLC良好的肿瘤标志物,在SCLC早期也具有较高的灵敏度和特异度,血清HE4和NSE是较好的补充,多肿瘤标志物联合检测仍是提高诊断效能的最佳选择。     

Signatures of plasticity,metastasis, and immunosuppression in an atlas of human small cell lung cancer

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Beyond Programmed Death-Ligand 1: B7-H6 Emerges as a Potential Immunotherapy Target in SCLC

IntroductionThe programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitors, atezolizumab and durvalumab, have received regulatory approval for the first-line treatment of patients with extensive-stage SCLC. Nevertheless, when used in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy, these PD-L1 inhibitors only improve overall survival by 2 to 3 months. This may be due to the observation that less than 20% of SCLC tumors express PD-L1 at greater than 1%. Evaluating the composition and abundance of checkpoint molecules in SCLC may identify molecules beyond PD-L1 that are amenable to therapeutic targeting.MethodsWe analyzed RNA-sequencing data from SCLC cell lines (n = 108) and primary tumor specimens (n = 81) for expression of 39 functionally validated inhibitory checkpoint ligands. Furthermore, we generated tissue microarrays containing SCLC cell lines and patient with SCLC specimens to confirm expression of these molecules by immunohistochemistry. We annotated patient outcomes data, including treatment response and overall survival.ResultsThe checkpoint protein B7-H6 (NCR3LG1) exhibited increased protein expression relative to PD-L1 in cell lines and tumors (p < 0.05). Higher B7-H6 protein expression correlated with longer progression-free survival (p = 0.0368) and increased total immune infiltrates (CD45+) in patients. Furthermore, increased B7-H6 gene expression in SCLC tumors correlated with a decreased activated natural killer cell gene signature, suggesting a complex interplay between B7-H6 expression and immune signature in SCLC.ConclusionsWe investigated 39 inhibitory checkpoint molecules in SCLC and found that B7-H6 is highly expressed and associated with progression-free survival. In addition, 26 of 39 immune checkpoint proteins in SCLC tumors were more abundantly expressed than PD-L1, indicating an urgent need to investigate additional checkpoint targets for therapy in addition to PD-L1.     

miR-9通过靶向E盒结合锌指蛋白2调控小细胞肺癌的恶性生物学行为及其可能的机制

目的：探讨 miR-9 通过靶向 E 盒结合锌指蛋白 2（zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2,ZEB2）对小细胞肺癌（small cell lung cancer,SCLC）细胞生物学行为的调控作用,分析miR-9在SCLC中的作用及其工作机制。方法：采用qPCR、WB和免疫组化方法检测于2018年2月至2019年11月于河北医科大学第四医院肿瘤内科接受手术治疗的67例SCLC患者癌组织及癌旁组织中ZEB2的表达。采用TargetScan预测miR-9的潜在靶基因并通过双荧光素酶报告基因试验、qPCR和WB法进行验证。CCK-8法、流式细胞术和Transwell实验检测miR-9和ZEB2 过表达对 NCI-H446 的生物学行为影响,WB法检测对细胞中E-cadherin,N-cadherin和Vimentin蛋白表达的影响。利用miR-9过表达NCI-H446细胞构建SCLC裸鼠移植瘤模型,观察miR-9对裸鼠移植瘤生长的影响。结果：SCLC组织中ZEB2的mRNA和蛋白表达水平明显高于癌旁正常组织（P<0.01）。miR-9在ZEB2的3'' UTR上具有潜在的结合位点,与对照组相比,miR-9过表达组NCI-H446细胞中ZEB2的mRNA和蛋白表达水平明显降低（P<0.01）,细胞增殖、迁移和侵袭能力均显著下降（P<0.05或P<0.01）,促EMT蛋白表达减少,而同时过表达ZEB2能够逆转上述影响。体内实验中,miR-9过表达组移植瘤体积、重量均明显低于对照组（P<0.05或P<0.01）。miR-9组裸鼠肿瘤组织中和ZEB2蛋白的表达均较对照组明显降低（P<0.01）。结论：miR-9通过靶向调控ZEB2从而抑制SCLC细胞的生物学行为以及NCI-H446裸鼠移植瘤的生长。     

小细胞肺癌血清NSE、CIC、CEA检测的临床意义

对４８名肺癌病人治疗前的神经烯醇化酶（ＮＳＥ）、循环免疫复合物（ＣＩＣ）、癌胚抗原（ＣＥＡ）分别进行了测定，并对部分小细胞肺癌（ＳＣＬＣ）进行了治疗前后ＮＳＥ的动态观察。结果显示：ＮＳＥ对ＳＣＬＣ病人阳性诊断率为６６．７％，其中广泛期达８０％，而ＣＥＡ和ＣＩＣ对ＳＣＬＣ病人分别为１１．１％和４６．６％。ＳＣＬＣ与非小细胞肺癌（ＮＳＣＬＣ）、良性肺部疾病（ＢＰＤ）相比较，其血清ＮＳＥ显著升高（Ｐ＜０．０５）。对小细胞肺癌病人连续观察：化疗完全缓解及部分缓解者血清ＮＳＥ明显下降，而病情恶化或出现转移时，血清ＮＳＥ持续升高。血清ＮＳＥ作为诊断小细胞肺癌、预测疗效、判断复发具有一定的临床意义。     

Decrease of Interleukin-2 secretion is a new independent prognostic factor associated with poor survival in patients with small-cell lung cancer

Background: We have previously shown that suppression of Interleukin-2(IL-2) secretion was mediated by transforming growth factor (TGF) 1secreted by small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) tumor cells. We have also shown thatIL-2 secretion was significantly impaired in patients with SCLC at the timeof diagnosis. Reconstitution of cytokine secretion correlated with reductionof tumor load. These data suggested that the immune system was suppressed bythe tumor. To address the clinical relevance of cytokine suppression in SCLC,we investigated the correlation of the level of IL-2 secretion with survival.Patients and methods: The significance of correlations between singleparameters in the test groups was calculated by using the linear regressionanalysis, the Wilcoxon rank sum test and the exact test according to Fisher.Using the Kaplan–Meier method, the log-rank test and the Cox-regressionmodel, we analysed the relation of IL-2 secretion in whole blood cell culturesfrom 52 patients with SCLC at the time of diagnosis to established prognosticfactors relevant for survival in SCLC.Results: Impairment of IL-2 secretion significantly correlates to survivalin SCLC (P = 0.004). Further univariate and multivariate analysis showed thatthis prognostic factor is independent from other factors of prognosticrelevance in SCLC, namely stage of disease, neurone specific enolase (NSE),lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), age, and sex. More important, the prognosticvalue of IL-2 secretion is comparable to the most predominant prognosticfactors for survival in SCLC identified so far. In the final model of the coxregression analysis, the P-value for IL-2 secretion in relation to stage ofdisease was 0.012 and 0.019, respectively.Conclusions: IL-2 secretion at the time of diagnosis represents anindependent prognostic factor for survival in SCLC. Although its prognosticvalue has to be confirmed in a larger group of patients, our resultsdemonstrate that IL-2 secretion may play an important role in diagnosis andtreatment of SCLC. Moreover, in contrast to other prognostic factors,impairment of IL-2 secretion may help to understand immunosuppression in SCLCand, thus, important elements of the pathogenesis of this disease.     

Outcome of combination chemotherapy in extensive stage small-cell lung cancer: Any treatment related progress?

During the past two decades many different treatment regimens of combination chemotherapy have been applied in extensive stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). This study was carried out to identify whether these modifications have resulted in an improved overall survival for extensive stage during the past two decades. In total, 1111 patients with extensive stage SCLC were included in six consecutive randomised trials in our setting from 1973 until 1992. Of these, 526 patients treated in the early period (1973–1981) were compared with 585 patients treated in the late period (1981–1992) with respect to pretreatment prognostic factors, staging, treatment and outcome. No change in the distribution of prognostic factors was detected and the frequency of patients with extensive stage was equal in the two periods, and no difference in overall response rates and survival was observed (P=0.49). Median survival in the two periods was 208 days and 215 days, respectively. No stage migration or treatment-related improved outcome was observed in extensive disease. We suggest restricting aggressive treatment to patients with favorable prognosis and long-term survival as a realistic aim.