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Introduction: Lung cancer is most common in older patients; despite this, older patients are historically under-represented in clinical studies. Here we present data from GIDEON, a study undertaken in Germany in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive (EGFRm+) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving first-line afatinib. GIDEON enrolled a high proportion of patients aged ≥70 years, providing an opportunity to study afatinib use in older patients., Materials and Methods: In GIDEON (NCT02047903), a prospective non-interventional study, patients with EGFRm+ NSCLC received first-line afatinib in routine clinical practice until disease progression, death or intolerable adverse events. Key objectives were twelve-month progression-free survival (PFS) rate and objective response rate (ORR). Overall survival (OS) and safety were also assessed. This post hoc analysis explores outcomes of patients grouped by age (≥70 and <70 years)., Results: In the 152 patients enrolled in GIDEON (69.7% female, 64.5%/22.4%/13.2% with Del19/L858R/other exon 18-21 mutations, 33.6% with brain metastases), the median age was 67 years (range 38-89) and 43.4% were aged ≥70 years. In the ≥70 years age group and the <70 years age group, twelve-month PFS rate was 58.9% and 43.9%, median PFS was 17.2 months and 10.6 months, ORR was 72.0% and 76.5%, twelve-month OS rate was 79.1% and 79.2%, 24-month OS rate was 52.0% and 61.7%, and median OS was 30.4 months and 27.4 months, respectively. In the ≥70 years age group and the <70 years age group, grade ≥3 adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were observed in 34.8% and 40.7% of patients, respectively; the most common were diarrhea (13.6% and 14.0%), acneiform dermatitis (7.6% and 7.0%), stomatitis (1.5% and 4.7%) and maculopapular rash (1.5% and 4.7%)., Discussion: Patients with EGFRm+ NSCLC aged ≥70 years showed clinical benefit from first-line afatinib with no unexpected safety signals, supporting the use of afatinib in this setting., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Wolfgang M. Brueckl reports receiving lecture and educational event (personal) fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Chugai, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Roche Pharmaceuticals, and Takeda; receiving congress (personal) fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, and Roche Pharmaceuticals; and receiving advisory board fees (personal) from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Lilly Pharma, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Roche. Martin Reck reports serving on advisory councils or committees and receiving consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Lilly, Merck, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi; and receiving speaker honoraria from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, Merck, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche. Kai Neben reports receiving honoraria (personal fees) from Roche, Takeda, Amgen, Janssen, Pfizer, Bayer, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Chugai. Frank Griesinger reports receiving support for scientific research from ASTRA, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, Siemens, Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, and Janssen; receiving honoraria for presentations from ASTRA, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, Ariad, Abbvie, Siemens, Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, and Sanofi; and advisory board participation for ASTRA, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, Ariad, Abbvie, Siemens, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, and Sanofi. Justyna Rawluk reports serving on advisory councils or committees for AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, and Takeda; and receiving consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, and Takeda. Stefan Krüger reports receiving honoraria and grants or funds from Boehringer Ingelheim. Joachim H. Ficker reports receiving speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi Aventis, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Miriam Möller reports receiving consulting fees (consulting or advisory role) from Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche; and receiving payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers' bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, AstraZeneca, and Merck Sharp & Dohme. Andrea Schueler is an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG. Eckart Laack, Konrad Kokowski and Harald Schäfer report no potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death in Germany and worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises ~80% of lung cancer diagnoses; in White patients, around 10% of NSCLC cases are epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive ( EGFR m+). Head-to-head clinical trials have demonstrated superior efficacy with second-/third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) versus first-generation EGFR TKIs in EGFR m+ NSCLC. Data from routine clinical practice are necessary to confirm that clinical trial findings are transferable to real-world populations., Methods: In NCT02047903, a prospective non-interventional study in Germany, patients with EGFR m+ NSCLC received first-line afatinib until disease progression or intolerable adverse events. Key objectives were progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 12 months, objective response rate (ORR) and overall survival (OS). Safety/tolerability was also assessed., Results: Of 152 patients, 106 (69.7%) were female, 20 (13.1%) patients had an uncommon EGFR mutation and 51 patients (33.6%) had brain metastases. A starting dose of <40 mg was received by 39 (25.7%) patients. Overall, the 12-month PFS rate was 50.2% while the median PFS was 12.2 months. The ORR was 74.6% and the median OS was 30.4 months. In patients with brain metastases and uncommon mutations, the median PFS was 10.5 and 10.7 months, and the ORR was 77.3% and 83.3%, respectively. Treatment effectiveness was similar in patients with a starting dose of <40 mg (median PFS: 16.4 months; ORR, 81.3%) and a starting dose of 40 mg (median PFS: 10.8 months; ORR, 72.1%). Adverse drug reactions were manageable and consistent with the known afatinib safety profile., Conclusion: The results support clinical trial data for afatinib in routine clinical practice, including in patients generally excluded from clinical trials. Outcomes were positive in patients with uncommon EGFR mutations and in those with brain metastases. Treatment benefit was also seen in patients receiving a <40 mg afatinib starting dose, supporting patient-tailored dosing., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: This study was supported by Boehringer Ingelheim. Wolfgang Brückl has received honoraria for consulting from AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Chugai, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Roche Pharmaceuticals and Takeda. Joachim Ficker has received speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, GSK, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi-Aventis. Frank Griesinger has served on advisory councils or committees for Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, and AstraZeneca; and has received honoraria, consulting fees, and grants or funds, from Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, and Astra Zeneca. Stefan Krüger has received honoraria, and grants or funds, from Boehringer Ingelheim. Justyna Rawluk has served on advisory councils or committees for AstraZeneca, BMS, MSD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, and Takeda; and has received consulting fees from AstraZeneca, BMS, MSD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, and Takeda. Martin Reck has served on advisory councils or committees for AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Lilly, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi; received speaker honoraria from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche; and received consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Lilly, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi. Christopher Hoffman and Andrea Schüler are employees of Boehringer Ingelheim. Stephan Budweiser, Tobias Gaska, Cornelius Kortsik, Konrad Kokowski, Eckart Laack, and Harold Schäfer have no potential conflicts of interest to declare., (© The Author(s), 2021.)

Objectives: After decades of unsuccessful efforts in inhibiting KRAS, promising clinical data targeting the mutation subtype G12C emerge. Since little is known about outcome with standard treatment of patients with G12C mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we analyzed a large, representative, real-world cohort from Germany., Patients and Methods: A total of 1039 patients with advanced KRAS-mutant or -wildtype NSCLC without druggable alterations have been recruited in the prospective, observational registry CRISP from 12/2015 to 06/2019 by 98 centers in Germany. Details on treatment, best response, and outcome were analyzed for patients with KRAS wildtype, G12C, and non-G12C mutations., Results: Within the study population, 160 (15.4 %) patients presented with KRAS G12C, 251 (24.2 %) with non-G12C mutations, 628 (60.4 %) with KRAS wildtype. High PD-L1 expression (Tumor Proportion Score, TPS > 50 %) was documented for 28.0 %, 43.5 %, and 28.9 % (wildtype, G12C, non-G12C) of the tested patients; 68.8 %, 89.3 %, and 87.7 % of the patients received first-line treatment combined with an immune checkpoint-inhibitor in 2019. TPS > 50 % vs. TPS < 1 % was associated with a significantly decreased risk of mortality in a multivariate Cox model (HR 0.39, 95 % CI 0.26-0.60, p=<0.001). There were no differences in clinical outcome between KRAS wildtype, G12C or non-G12C mutations and KRAS mutational status was not prognostic in the model., Conclusion: Here we describe the so far largest prospectively recruited cohort of patients with advanced NSCLC and KRAS mutations, with special focus on the G12C mutation. These data constitute an extremely valuable historical control for upcoming clinical studies that employ KRAS inhibitors., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a fatal disease with poor prognosis. A membrane-bound form of Hsp70 (mHsp70) which is selectively expressed on high-risk tumors serves as a target for mHsp70-targeting natural killer (NK) cells. Patients with advanced mHsp70-positive NSCLC may therefore benefit from a therapeutic intervention involving mHsp70-targeting NK cells. The randomized phase II clinical trial (EudraCT2008-002130-30) explores tolerability and efficacy of ex vivo -activated NK cells in patients with NSCLC after radiochemotherapy (RCT)., Patients and Methods: Patients with unresectable, mHsp70-positive NSCLC (stage IIIa/b) received 4 cycles of autologous NK cells activated ex vivo with TKD/IL2 [interventional arm (INT)] after RCT (60-70 Gy, platinum-based chemotherapy) or RCT alone [control arm (CTRL)]. The primary objective was progression-free survival (PFS), and secondary objectives were the assessment of quality of life (QoL, QLQ-LC13), toxicity, and immunobiological responses., Results: The NK-cell therapy after RCT was well tolerated, and no differences in QoL parameters between the two study arms were detected. Estimated 1-year probabilities for PFS were 67% [95% confidence interval (CI), 19%-90%] for the INT arm and 33% (95% CI, 5%-68%) for the CTRL arm ( P = 0.36, 1-sided log-rank test). Clinical responses in the INT group were associated with an increase in the prevalence of activated NK cells in their peripheral blood., Conclusions: Ex vivo TKD/IL2-activated, autologous NK cells are well tolerated and deliver positive clinical responses in patients with advanced NSCLC after RCT., (©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Background: Membrane heat shock protein 70 (mHsp70) is indicative of high-risk tumors and serves as a tumor-specific target for natural killer (NK) cells stimulated with Hsp70 peptide (TKD) and Interleukin(IL)-2. Radiochemotherapy (RCT), mHsp70-targeting NK cells, and programmed death(PD)-1 inhibition were combined to improve the efficacy of tumor-specific immune cells in a non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patient., Patient: Following simultaneous RCT (64.8 Gy), a patient with inoperable NSCLC (cT4, cN3, cM0, stage IIIb) was treated with 4 cycles of autologous ex vivo TKD/IL-2-activated NK cells and the PD-1 antibody nivolumab as a second-line therapy. Blood samples were taken for immunophenotyping during the course of therapy., Results: Adoptive transfer of ex vivo TKD/IL-2-activated NK cells after RCT combined with PD-1 blockade is well tolerated and results in superior overall survival (OS). No viable tumor cells but a massive immune cell infiltration in fibrotic tissue was detected after therapy. Neither tumor progression nor distant metastases were detectable by CT scanning 33 months after diagnosis. Therapy response was associated with significantly increased CD3 - /NKG2D + /CD94 + NK cell counts, elevated CD8 + to CD4 + T cell and CD3 - /CD56 bright to CD3 - /CD56 dim NK cell ratios, and significantly reduced regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the peripheral blood., Conclusion: A combined therapy consisting of RCT, mHsp70-targeting NK cells, and PD-1 antibody inhibition is well tolerated, induces anti-tumor immunity, and results in long-term tumor control in one patient with advanced NSCLC. Further, randomized studies are necessary to confirm the efficacy of this combination therapy.

The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood is a pre-requisite for progression, invasion, and metastatic spread of cancer. Consequently, the enumeration and molecular characterization of CTCs from the peripheral blood of patients with solid tumors before, during and after treatment serves as a valuable tool for categorizing disease, evaluating prognosis and for predicting and monitoring therapeutic responsiveness. Many of the techniques for isolating CTCs are based on the expression of epithelial cell surface adhesion molecule (EpCAM, CD326) on tumor cells. However, the transition of adherent epithelial cells to migratory mesenchymal cells (epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, EMT)-an essential element of the metastatic process-is frequently associated with a loss of expression of epithelial cell markers, including EpCAM. A highly relevant proportion of mesenchymal CTCs cannot therefore be isolated using techniques that are based on the "capture" of cells expressing EpCAM. Herein, we provide evidence that a monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against a membrane-bound form of Hsp70 (mHsp70)-cmHsp70.1-can be used for the isolation of viable CTCs from peripheral blood of tumor patients of different entities in a more quantitative manner. In contrast to EpCAM, the expression of mHsp70 remains stably upregulated on migratory, mesenchymal CTCs, metastases and cells that have been triggered to undergo EMT. Therefore, we propose that approaches for isolating CTCs based on the capture of cells that express mHsp70 using the cmHsp70.1 mAb are superior to those based on EpCAM expression.

Introduction: Mucin 1, encoded by the MUC1 gene, is a tumor-associated antigen expressed on the surface of breast cancer cells. It would be of interest to see whether there is a naturally existing T cell immune response against mucin epitopes in cancer patients., Materials and Methods: Using tetramer and interferon-gamma assays, the immune response to one MUC1 peptide epitope in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients was quantified. The data were compared with the clinical course of the patients., Results: CD8(+) T cells capable of recognizing the HLA-A*0201-restricted STAPPVHNV epitope were detected in 9 of 19 patients with a frequency ranging 0.01-0.082%. No significant difference was found between the occurrence of epitope-specific CD8(+) T cells of patients with progressive disease and disease-free patients. However, all patients with stable disease showed a specific immune response, including both patients with the highest frequency., Conclusions: The results of this study provide further evidence that a natural specific cellular immune response against this mucin epitope exists in breast cancer patients.