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Background The XELAVIRI trial compared sequential (fluoropyrimidine and bevacizumab; irinotecan (Iri) at progression) versus initial combination therapy (fluoropyrimidine, bevacizumab, Iri) of treatment-naive metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). In the confirmatory analysis, the primary end-point (non-inferiority of sequential therapy regarding time to failure of strategy, TFS) was not met. Nevertheless, significant differences regarding treatment efficacy were observed according to RAS status. Here, we evaluate the consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) as additional biomarkers for sequential versus combination therapy. Material and methods Gene expression was measured using NanoString after mRNA extraction from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour specimens. CMS were predicted using multinomial regression and correlated with updated data for TFS, overall (OS) and progression-free survival. Results CMS were predicted in 337 of 421 (80.0%) patients (CMS1: 18.4%; CMS2: 51.6%; CMS3: 2.7%; CMS4: 27.3%). CMS2 together with RAS/BRAF wild-type status was identified as potential predictive marker of benefit from initial combination therapy for OS (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.33–0.96, p = 0.036) and progression-free survival (HR 0.28, 95% CI 0.29–0.79, p = 0.004) and also trending in TFS (HR 0.63, 90% CI 0.41–0.95, p = 0.066). In patients with RAS-mutated mCRC, CMS1 was associated with longer OS after initial combination therapy (HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.20–0.95, p = 0.038). Interaction testing (two-sided) of CMS and RAS/BRAF status in favour of the combination treatment strategy was significant for OS (p = 0.012) Conclusions In patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type mCRC, CMS2 may serve as an additional biomarker of benefit from the initial combination therapy, including Iri. Trial registration Trial registration ID ( clinicaltrials.gov ) NCT01249638 .

Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors - monoclonal antibodies targeting cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) or the programmed death-1 receptor (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 - is now standard of care in the treatment of patients with various tumor types. Therefore, the management of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) has become part of clinical routine.Immune-related adverse events can involve any organ or tissue. They can occur very early within days or weeks after initiation of treatment but can also occur months into treatment and after termination of treatment. Newest data suggest that irAEs can occur until 2 years after stopping therapy.Immune-related adverse events are graded according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). Treatment ranges from local or symptomatic treatment, systemic application of corticosteroids to other immunosuppressive agents according to severity.The following article seeks to give a general approach to the management of patients receiving immunotherapy and experiencing irAEs including prevention, diagnostics and treatment.

Secondary resection of metastases is recommended in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Data describing changes in mutational profiles of corresponding primary tumor and metastatic tissue after conversion treatment are limited. Next generation sequencing was performed in formalin-fixed mCRC samples from patients of the FIRE-3 trial (FOLFIRI plus cetuximab or bevacizumab) before treatment start (baseline) and after secondary resection of metastases (post baseline). Changes of mutational profiles and tumor mutational burden (TMB) were assessed within a post-hoc analysis. Median overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) were compared between treatment arms. Paired tumor samples were obtained from 25 patients (19 RAS wild-type, 6 RAS mutant by pyrosequencing). ORR (92.0% vs 58.0%) and OS (60.8 vs 35.4 months, hazard ratio = 0.39 [95% CI 0.14-1.12], P = .08) were higher for patients receiving cetuximab. After conversion therapy, 56 alterations (42 in the cetuximab and 14 in the bevacizumab arm) were newly observed in 18 patients (9 each treated with cetuximab or bevacizumab). Gains (n = 21) and losses (n = 21) of alterations occurred during cetuximab-based treatment, while mainly gains of alterations occurred during bevacizumab (n = 10). Three of nine patients treated with cetuximab that presented a change of mutational profiles, developed resistance to cetuximab. Mutational profiles were largely comparable before and after treatment with anti-VEGF or anti-EGFR directed monoclonal antibodies after secondary resection. Mutations associated with resistance to anti-EGFR antibodies were observed in only one-third of patients.

Background Tumor assessments after first-line therapy of RAS wild-type mCRC with cetuximab (cet) versus bevacizumab (bev) in combination with FOLFIRI were evaluated for factors influencing resectability, conversion to resectability, and survival after best response. Methods Conversion to resectability was defined as conversion of initially unresectable to resectable disease at best response as determined by retrospective assessment. Univariate and multivariate logistic models were fitted with resectability at best response as response variable. A Cox model comparing the survival from best response was used to measure the influence of treatment, resectability at best response, and resection. Interaction of resection and treatment arm on survival was tested by likelihood ratio test. Results Overall, 270 patients were evaluable (127 cet-arm, 143 bev-arm). Lung metastases (odds ratio [OR] 0.35, 95% confidence response [CI] 0.19–0.63), BRAF mutation (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.12–0.82), and elevated alkaline phosphatase (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.18–0.9) before randomization were associated with less chance of successful conversion and were integrated into a nomogram. Early tumor shrinkage (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.06–3.3; p 0.034) and depth of response (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01–1.03; p p = 0.039), predominantely in cet-treated patients (interaction test, p = 0.02). Conclusions Conversion to resectability is significantly associated with baseline characteristics that can be used in a nomogram to predict conversion. Moreover, early efficacy parameters (ETS and DpR) are associated with successful conversion therapy. In FIRE-3, resection of metastases was associated with improved post-best response survival, this effect originated predominantly from the cetuximab-based study arm.

CAR-T-Zell-Therapien haben Eingang in die hamatoonkologische Standardbehandlung gefunden. CAR-T-Zellen, die gegen das CD19-Antigen gerichtet sind, wurden zur Therapie refraktarer akuter lymphatischer Leukamien und hochmaligner B-Zell-Lymphome auf Basis hoher Ansprechraten zugelassen. Diesen potenten Therapien stehen starke Nebenwirkungen gegenuber, die sich deutlich von denen konventioneller Verfahren unterscheiden. Ziel dieser Ubersichtsarbeit ist es, einen Uberblick uber diese Nebenwirkungen und deren Behandlung zu geben.

Das Prinzip der Prazisionsonkologie beruht heute im Wesentlichen auf einer sich standig verfeinernden molekularen Charakterisierung von Tumoren. Im Idealfall bedingt diese Charakterisierung eine personalisierte, zielgerichtete, molekular gesteuerte medikamentose Behandlung. In diesem Kontext verschiebt sich das diagnostische Spektrum zunehmend in Richtung einer breiten genomischen Charakterisierung mittels neuer massiv paralleler Sequenziertechnologien („next generation sequencing“). Diese Weiterentwicklung birgt jedoch nicht nur Chancen fur die onkologische Patientenversorgung, sondern bringt auch eine Reihe von inhaltlichen und strukturellen Herausforderungen mit sich, die nur durch eine enge interdisziplinare Zusammenarbeit gemeistert werden konnen. In diesem Ubersichtsartikel sollen verschiedene Aspekte der breiteren Genomanalyse maligner Tumoren zusammenfassend beleuchtet und diskutiert werden. Zudem wird – auf dieser Basis – ein Blick in die nahe Zukunft der Prazisionsonkologie geworfen.

BackgroundPrimary tumor location (left vs. right) has prognostic and predictive impact on the therapeutic management of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in particular in the context of anti-epithelial growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) antibodies. This analysis evaluates the relevance of exact segment-by-segment tumor location in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer on outcome and efficacy of anti-EGFR-antibodies.MethodsThis is a retrospective, pooled analysis of five randomized clinical trials (FIRE-1, CIOX, FIRE-3, XELAVIRI and VOLFI) treating metastatic colorectal cancer patients in a first-line setting, published between 2011-2019. Each trial was a multicentre, phase 2 or phase 3 trial in which patients with untreated metastatic colorectal cancer received chemotherapy regimens with or without monoclonal antibodies (anti-VEGF, anti-EGFR). Eligible were patients with histologically confirmed metastatic colorectal cancer in good performance status who were at least 18 years old. Individual data of 1809 patients with available exact primary tumor location were included into this analysis. Prognostic and predictive effects of primary tumor location were evaluated in uni- and multivariate analyses using the Kaplan Meier method, log rank tests, Cox regressions and logistic regressionsResults Exact primary tumor location is an important determinant of overall survival (OS) in mCRC patients (PConclusions Primary tumor location of metastatic colorectal cancer affects prognosis. Anti-EGFR efficacy increases continuously from proximal to distal segments of the colorectum in metastatic colorectal cancer patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type and BRAF mutant tumors. Therefore, patients with BRAF mutant tumors of the distal segments may benefit from first-line Anti-EGFR-based therapy.Trial registrationFIRE1 trial registration ID n/aCIOX trial registration ID NCT00254137FIRE3 trial registration ID NCT00433927XELAVIRI trial registration ID NCT01249638VOLFI trial registration ID NCT01328171

3502 Background: FIRE-4.5 (AIO KRK-0116) compared FOLFOXIRI plus either cetuximab or bevacizumab in BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients not treated for metastatic disease before. Methods: Within this 1:2 randomized, controlled, open-label phase-II study, patients received FOLFOXIRI every two weeks at the following schedule: irinotecan 150mg/m² (30-90min, day 1), folinic acid 400mg/m² (120min, day 1), oxaliplatin 85mg/m² (120 min, day 1), followed by 5-fluorouracil 3,000 mg/m², 48h. FOLFOXIRI was combined with either bevacizumab (arm A) at a dose of 5mg/kg body weight, every 2 weeks or cetuximab (arm B) at a loading dose of 400mg/m² and subsequent weekly doses of 250mg/m². FOLFOXIRI was applied for a maximum of 12 cycles before maintenance treatment was recommended. Primary endpoint was superiority of Arm B with respect to overall response rate (ORR) according to RECIST 1.1 criterions. Secondary endpoints included PFS, OS, and tolerability. Results: From November 2016 to December 2020 108 patients were randomized in 90 German and 10 French centers (35 arm A and 73 in arm B). No new or unexpected toxicities were observed. Primary endpoint was not met with an ORR of 66.7% and 52.0% (p =0.23) in the respective arms. Median PFS was significantly longer in arm A vs arm B (8.3 months vs 5.9 months; logrank p = 0.03; HR 1.8). While OS data is still immature, median OS time are comparable at the time of analysis. Patients with left-sided primary tumors had comparable results with either bevacizumab or cetuximab, whereas those with right-sided primary tumors showed a trend towards better efficacy of the bevacizumab combination. Updated results will be presented at the annual meeting. Conclusions: FIRE-4.5 is the first prospective and randomized study investigating efficacy of FOLFOXIRI combined with targeted therapy in the first-line treatment of BRAF V600E-mutant mCRC. FOLFOXIRI plus either bevacizumab or cetuximab have comparable efficacy with differential effects according to primary tumor sidedness supporting the heterogeneity of BRAF V600E-mutant subpopulation of mCRC. Clinical trial information: NCT04034459.

XELAVIRI compared sequential (Arm A) versus initial (Arm B) irinotecan in combination with fluoropyrimidine plus bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, trial identification: NCT01249638. In the full analysis set of the study, non-inferiority of time to failure of strategy (TFS) was not shown. The present analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of gender on treatment outcome and tolerability.The study end-points overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), TFS and overall survival (OS) were evaluated in female versus male patients and in molecular subgroups (i.e. RAS mutational status). Interaction of treatment and gender was tested by likelihood ratio tests.In total, 281 male and 140 female patients (n = 421) were evaluated. Among the male patients, the ORR was 33.6% without and 58.3% with initial irinotecan (P 0.001). PFS (hazard ratio [HR] 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42-0.69; P 0.001) and OS (HR 0.63; 95% CI 0.47-0.85; P = 0.002) were also significantly better with initial irinotecan. Among the female patients, the ORR was 42.7% in Arm A and 43.1% in Arm B, PFS was similar (HR 1.09; 95% CI 0.76-1.55; P = 0.649) without and with initial irinotecan. A strong trend for inferior outcome with regard to OS with initial irinotecan was observed (HR 1.46; 95% CI 0.95-2.24; P = 0.081) and the trend reached significance in the multivariate analysis (HR 1.78; 95% CI 1.08-2.95; P = 0.02). Formal interaction of treatment and gender was observed for ORR (P = 0.018), PFS (P = 0.002) and OS (P = 0.001). Treatment-related adverse events were not significantly different between male and female patients.The present analysis suggests that gender interacts with efficacy of initial irinotecan when used in combination with fluoropyrimidines and bevacizumab. Although male patients derived a significant and clinically meaningful benefit from initial combination chemotherapy, this was not observed in female patients.

Magnesium wasting is a frequent side effect of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-antibody treatment as magnesium-absorption mechanisms are dependent on EGFR signaling. EGFR-inhibition results in decreased renal reabsorption. There is evidence that hypomagnesemia during cetuximab treatment correlates with response. The prognostic role of hypomagnesemia during bevacizumab treatment has not been studied yet. Here, we evaluate the prognostic value of hypomagnesemia in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with FOLFIRI plus cetuximab or bevacizumab as first-line therapy. A total of 391 of 752 patients of the firstline irinotecan study population had magnesium levels measured at baseline and for the first three cycles (6 weeks) of treatment. Of those, 240 had Rat Sarkoma wildtype tumors. Overall hypomagnesemia was more common in the cetuximab compared to the bevacizumab arm (80 vs. 43%, P < 0.005). During therapy, magnesium showed a time-dependent decrease to 80% of baseline in the cetuximab and to 89% in the bevacizumab arm. Whereas magnesium continued to decrease over time in the cetuximab-treated patients, it remained stable in the bevacizumab-treated. Overall response rate (ORR) was associated with higher magnesium at week 6 (20.9 vs. 79.1%, P = 0.041). Bevacizumab-treated patients with magnesium levels below the median value at week 6 had a significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS; 11.7 vs. 9.9 months, P = 0.034; hazard ratio 0.73) and a trend towards longer overall survival (OS) (29.6 vs. 23.2 months, P = 0.089; hazard ratio 0.77). Hypomagnesemia at predefined time points and magnesium nadir had no significant effect on ORR, OS and PFS in the cetuximab arm. Our data show different magnesium kinetics in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with cetuximab or bevacizumab. For patients treated with cetuximab, hypomagnesemia did not have an impact on response and survival. Hypomagnesemia might have a prognostic value in bevacizumab treatment.

The aim of the study was to investigate the predictive impact of extracranial metastatic patterns on course of disease and survival in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and brain metastasis (BM). A total of 228 patients (134 male [59%], 94 female [41%]) with histologically proven CRC and BM were classified into different groups according to extracranial metastatic patterns. Time intervals to metastatic events and survival times from initial CRC diagnosis, extracranial and intracranial metastasis were analyzed. Extracranial organs mostly affected were liver (102 of 228 [44.7%]) and lung (96 of 228 [42.1%]). Liver and lung metastases were detected in 31 patients (13.6%). Calculated over the entire course of disease, patients with lung metastasis showed longer overall survival (OS) than patients with liver metastasis or patients without lung metastasis (43.9 vs 34.6 [P = .002] vs 35.0 months [P = .002]). From the date of initial CRC diagnosis, lung metastasis occurred later in CRC history than liver metastasis (24.3 vs 7.5 months). Once lung metastasis was diagnosed, BM occurred faster than in patients with liver metastasis (15.8 vs 26.0 months; Δ 10.2 months). Accordingly, OS from the diagnosis of liver metastasis was longer than from lung metastasis (27.1 vs 19.6 months [P = .08]). Once BM was present, patients with lung metastasis lived longer than patients with liver metastasis (3.8 vs 1.1 months [P = .028]). Shortest survival times in all survival categories analyzed revealed patients with concurrent liver and lung metastasis. Patients with CRC and BM form a heterogeneous cohort where extracranial metastasis to liver or lungs predicts survival.

Purpose Although biomarkers for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer exist, the benefit patients with RAS mutated tumors derive from established regimens is unclear. Methods Efficacy of therapeutic strategies available for RAS mutated patients (addition of chemotherapeutic agents and/or anti angiogenic agents) were investigated in fourteen randomized controlled phase III trials at trial level by meta-analysing individual study hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS). Results 6810 of 10,748 patients (63.3%) were available (48.5% RAS wildtype, 51.5% RAS mutated). Across all treatment lines, additional treatment efficacy (chemotherapy and/or anti angiogenic agents) was significantly smaller in RAS mutated compared to wildtype tumors for OS and PFS. In detail, patients with RAS mutated metastatic colorectal cancer derived significant benefit in PFS but not in OS by the addition of either chemotherapy or anti angiogenic agents to the respective comparator. In patients with RAS wildtype metastatic colorectal cancer, PFS and OS were improved by the addition of chemotherapy or anti angiogenic agent. Conclusion The therapeutic benefit of additional substances is less distinct in patients with RAS mutated as compared to RAS wildtype metastatic colorectal cancer, especially with regard to OS.

Background Molecular biomarkers and primary tumour sidedness guide treatment decisions in metastatic colorectal cancer. Comprehensive molecular profiling aims to identify targetable alterations and measure tumour mutational burden (TMB) to enable precision oncology. Material and methods FoundationOne® next-generation sequencing identified single-nucleotide variants (SNVs), copy number alterations, high TMB (TMB-H) and high-grade microsatellite instability (MSI-H) in patients treated in the FIRE-3 trial. Data were correlated with objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results Three hundred seventy-three (49.6%) of 752 patients provided material for this analysis. Frequent SNVs included TP53, APC, KRAS, PIK3CA, BRAF, SMAD4 and FBXW7. KRAS, BRAF V600E and SMAD4 mutations were confirmed as prognostic biomarkers by logistic penalised regression for ORR. OS was significantly longer in patients with SMAD4 wild-type (WT) tumours than in those with SMAD4-mutated tumours (hazard ratio = 0.59 [95% confidence interval {CI} = 0.34–1.01], p = 0.05), with a higher probability of ORR [odds ratio, SMAD4 SNV versus WT = 0.32 [95% CI = 0.10–0.98], p = 0.05] when treated with cetuximab. MSI-H (30.0%, p = 0.03) and TMB-H (17.3%, p = 0.003) tumours were enriched by FBXW7 mutations. Numerically lower ORR, OS and PFS were observed in MSI-H tumours. Conclusions RAS, BRAF V600E and SMAD4 mutations were identified as poor prognostic biomarkers in patients of the FIRE-3 trial, whereas improved outcome was observed for BRAF non-V600E mutation. SMAD4 mutation might provide predictive relevance for cetuximab efficacy. MSI-H tumours showed numerically lower ORR, OS and PFS.

The XELAVIRI study compared application of fluoropyrimidine (FP) and bevacizumab (Bev) followed by sequential escalation to irinotecan (Iri), FP and Bev (arm A) to upfront combination therapy with FP, Iri and Bev (arm B) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). To elucidate the impact of age on survival, we evaluated efficacy and early mortality in the underlying trial.Patients were stratified for age in three cohorts (65 years, 65-74 years and ≥75 years). Survival end-points were expressed by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank testing and Cox regression. Objective response and 60-day mortality were evaluated by chi-square testing.The efficacy analyses suggest more substantial benefit from upfront combination chemotherapy in younger patients with mCRC. Elderly patients (≥75 years) derived limited benefit from upfront combination chemotherapy, particularly in terms of overall survival. Of 421 randomised patients, 13 patients (3.1%) died within 60 days after treatment initiation with the highest prevalence in elderly patients (1.6% 65 years, 2.8% 65-74 years and 5.2% ≥ 75 years, p = 0.26). The frequency of 60-day mortality was significantly associated with age (with a maximum of 8.7% in patients aged ≥75 years) in patients undergoing upfront combination therapy (p = 0.027) but not in patients receiving sequential treatment (p = 0.63).Combination therapy with FP, Iri and Bev does not substantially improve the outcome of patients aged ≥75 years as compared with sequential treatment algorithm. These patients appear to be at a relevant risk for 60-day mortality under Iri-based combination chemotherapy plus Bev.

3552 Background: Prognostic biomarkers beside RAS/BRAF status are necessary to identify metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients who benefit from combined (COMB) versus sequential (SEQ) treatment with fluoropyrimidine, bevacizumab and irinotecan (randomized phase III XELAVIRI trial). Methods: mRNA was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue of 337 patients, gene expression was measured by the Nanostring PanCancer Progression Panel. Consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) classification was re-derived using a multinomial regression model. Data of Guinney et al. (Nat. Med. 2015. 21:1350-6) and FIRE-3 served as training and validation set. RAS/BRAF MUT were assessed by pyrosequencing. Median overall (OS) and progression free survival (PFS), hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method and univariate Cox regression. Results: The multinomial regression model employed in the present analysis correctly predicted CMS labels in 98.3 % of the original Guinney- and 100.0 % of FIRE-3 population. In XELAVIRI, CMS subgroups were predicted as follows: CMS1: n = 62 (18.4 %); CMS2: n = 174 (51.6 %); CMS3: n = 9 (2.7 %); CMS4: n = 92 (27.3 %). A general prognostic impact of CMS was not observed when all patients were analysed. In RAS/BRAF WT mCRC patients, substantial benefit of COMB versus SEQ treatment was shown for OS and PFS in CMS2 and CMS4, but not in CMS1. Conversely, OS was significantly longer for COMB treatment in patients with RAS MUT and CMS1 mCRC, while SEQ treatment was not inferior in RAS MUT and CMS2 or CMS4 subgroups (see TABLE). Additional data for overall response rates, early tumor shrinkage and sidedness might be presented at the meeting. Conclusions: This retrospective analysis of XELAVIRI suggests that CMS may serve as biomarker that predicts response to initially combined versus less intensive sequential chemotherapy in patients with RAS/BRAF WT mCRC.[Table: see text]

3553 Background: This trial investigates the addition of panitumumab to chemotherapy with fluorouracil/ folinic acid and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) in a 2:1 randomized, controlled, open label, phase II trial in RAS wild-type colorectal cancer patients with R0/1-resected liver metastases. Methods: The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) two years after randomisation. The experimental arm (12 wks of biweekly mFOLFOX6 plus panitumumab followed by 12 wks of panitumumab alone) was considered active if the 2-year-PFS rate was ≥65%. Based on historical data, a 2-year-PFS rate of 50% was estimated in the control arm (12 wks of biweekly FOLFOX). The trial was performed with a power of 80% and an alpha of 0.05. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and toxicity. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01384994. Results: The full analysis set consists of 70 patients (pts) in the experimental arm and 36 pts in the control arm. The 2-year-PFS rate was 34.3% with FOLFOX plus panitumumab and failed to meet the primary endpoint. The 2-year-PFS rate in the control arm was 25%. In the experimental arm, a more favourable outcome was observed with regard to PFS (HR: 0.72, 95%CI 0.45-1.17; P = 0.18) and OS (HR: 0.76 (95% CI 0.34-1.71, P = 0.51) which did, however, not reach the level of significance. Updated data including toxicity and subgroup analyses might be presented at the meeting Conclusions: The PARLIM trial clearly failed to demonstrate a PFS rate of 65% after resection of colorectal liver metastases 2 years after randomisation, potentially indicating that the generally high frequency of recurrence and the choice of primary endpoint did not correspond in this study population. However, a trend for improved PFS and OS by the addition of panitumumab to 12 wks of FOLFOX followed by 12 wks panitumumab maintenance therapy may support future trials with ant-EGFR antibodies in this specific treatment setting. Clinical trial information: NCT01384994.

Background S-1 has been shown to be an effective adjuvant treatment for East Asian patients who underwent gastrectomy with a D2 lymph-node dissection for stage II/III gastric cancer. We designed a phase I/II study to evaluate the efficacy, toxicity and feasibility of administering S-1 in the adjuvant setting after R0-Resection of adenocarcinoma of the stomach and esophagogastric junction in caucasian patients. Methods Eligible patients with histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma T2/T3/T4, any N category, M0 or any uT, N+, M0 of the stomach or esophago gastric junction had undergone R0-resection with or without neoadjuvant treatment and D2 lymph node dissection. They had performance status of ECOG 0-1 and adequate organ function. Treatment was orally administered S-1 (30mg/m² twice daily) for 14 days every three weeks for 18 cycles (54 weeks). A primary endpoint of the study is the determination of the recommended dose for S-1. Follow up will be continued until one year after last patient’s end of treatment. Results Between Oct 2015 and Feb 2018, 30 patients were enrolled in 12 German centres. Male/female ratio was 56.7%/43.3%, median age was 61.5 years. Of 30 patients included, 10 were diagnosed with gastric cancer, 20 with EGJ cancer (3 AEG I, 6 AEG II and 11 AEG III). Of 30 patients starting adjuvant therapy, 17 completed all 18 cycles, 2 patients had to terminate study treatment due to adverse events. Five patients terminated study treatment due to patients wish, 4 patients suffered a relapse or distant metastasis. Nine patients had to be reduced to dose level 25 mg/m², 1 patient had to be reduced to 20 mg/m². One patient was underdosed for the first 6 cycles and received full dosage from cycle 7. Of patients completing all 18 cycles, 5 had did so with reduced dosage of S-1. Documented grade ≥ 3 adverse events were neutropenia (n = 2), diarrhoea (n = 2), vomiting (n = 1), polyneuropathy (n = 1), palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia syndrome (n = 1) and rash (n = 1). Conclusions From this first analysis we can conclude that adjuvant treatment with S-1 for one year of patients suffering from gastric adenocarcinoma or EGJ cancer after R0-resection is a feasible and safe option for Caucasian patients. Clinical trial identification 2014-004116-11. Legal entity responsible for the study AIO-Studien-gGmbH, Berlin. Funding Funded by AIO-Studien-gGmbH, supported by Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd and Nordic Pharma Group. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

3584 Background: We investigated the role of the MAPK pathway by mRNA expression profiles in microarrays of the FIRE-3 trial as it was formerly associated with prognosis. Methods: 451 patients provided eligible mRNA material for subsequent analyses of the MAPK pathway (295 genes). Non-negative matrix factorized (NMF) clustering for normalized mRNA microarray data (Almac Inc, Xcel Array) was performed for 2 to 6 ranks against randomized controls. Linear models with adjustment for multiple testing showed differential gene expression between groups. Single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was used to compare differentially enriched hallmarks of cancer gene sets. Kaplan Meier method, log rank test and Cox regression analyses were performed to estimate overall (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) between MAPK subtypes. Results: NMF clustering built two groups of MAPK mRNA expression (coph: 0.91, silh: 1.00) without cohort-based bias in principal component analysis. Group MAPK1 (n = 238) was significantly associated with CMS2 (66.4 %), group MAPK2 (n = 213) with CMS4 (67.6 %, p < 0.0001). 5.551 of 23.561 genes were significantly differentially expressed between MAPK subtypes. 49 cancer hallmark gene sets were significantly differentially enriched in ssGSEA ( MAPK1: myc targets, DNA repair, cell cycle, PI3K- AKT- mTOR pathway upregulation; MAPK2: EMT-related signatures, TGFß pathway, angiogenesis upregulation among others). In overall analysis, MAPK1 showed slightly better outcome than MAPK2 (OS: HR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65 – 0.99, p = 0.049; PFS: HR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.66 – 1.00, p = 0.05). However, MAPK1 was significantly more favourable for bevacizumab treatment in OS ( MAPK1: 30.8 m, MAPK2: 19.4 m, HR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.39 – 0.81, p = 0.002) and PFS ( MAPK1: 11.7 m, MAPK2: 9.8 m, HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.48 – 0.98, p = 0.038) in left sided tumors, while no difference was seen for cetuximab treatment, RAS and BRAF status. Conclusions: mCRC subtypes by MAPK mRNA expression might contain prognostic information for the treatment with bevacizumab beyond mutational status in patients with left sided tumors of the FIRE-3 trial.

549 Background: XELAVIRI compared initial versus sequential irinotecan (iri) in combination with fluoropyrimidine (FP) plus bevacizumab (bev) in patients (pts) with mCRC, trial identification: NCT01249638. In the full analysis set of the study, non inferiority of time to failure of strategy (TFS) of the sequential use could not be demonstrated (primary endpoint). Methods: The secondary endpoints overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) as well as overall survival (OS) were evaluated in female versus male pts as well as molecular subgroups (RAS mutational status). Interaction of treatment and gender was tested by likelihood ratio tests. Results: Of 421 patients, 281/140 were male/female. In female pts, ORR was 43% in both arms, PFS was 8.9 (95% CI 6.8-11.1) versus 10.1 (95% CI 8.5-11.8) months (HR: 1.09 (95% CI 0.76-1.55), P = 0.65) in pts with initial iri versus pts without initial iri, respectively. In females, a trend for inferior OS with initial iri was seen: 21.8 (95% CI 14.8-28.8) months with initial iri versus 28.4 (95% CI 21.9-34.9) months without initial iri (HR: 1.46 (95% CI 0.95-2.24), P = 0.08). This difference was significant in the multivariate analysis (HR: 1.73 (95% CI 1.04-2.86, P = 0.034). Male pts benefitted across all analysed endpoints from initial iri: ORR was 58.3% with initial iri and 33.6% without iri (P < 0.001), PFS was 10.1 (95% CI 9.2-11.0) versus 7.4 (95% CI 6.3-8.5) months (HR: 0.54 (95% CI 0.42-0.69) P < 0.001) and OS 23.9 (95% CI 19.1- 28.6) versus 20.5 (95% CI 18.1-22.9) months (HR: 0.63 (95% CI 0.47-0.85), P = 0.002), with initial iri versus without initial iri, respectively. Interaction of treatment and gender was seen for ORR (P = 0.018), PFS (P = 0.002) and OS (P = 0.001). Additional data including treatment and toxicities will be presented at the meeting. Conclusions: This unplanned exploratory analysis suggests that gender might interact with efficacy of initial iri when used in the context of FP and bev. While male patients derived a significant and clinically meaningful benefit from initial use of iri, this was not observed in female patients. Clinical trial information: NCT01249638.

Background— Endothelial dysfunction and injury are thought to play an important role in the progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). High-density lipoprotein from healthy subjects (HDL Healthy ) has been proposed to exert endothelial antiapoptotic effects that may represent an important antiatherogenic property of the lipoprotein. The present study therefore aimed to compare effects of HDL CAD and HDL Healthy on the activation of endothelial anti- and proapoptotic pathways and to determine which changes of the lipoprotein are relevant for these processes. Methods and Results— HDL was isolated from patients with stable CAD (HDL sCAD ), an acute coronary syndrome (HDL ACS ), and healthy subjects. HDL Healthy induced expression of the endothelial antiapoptotic Bcl-2 protein Bcl-xL and reduced endothelial cell apoptosis in vitro and in apolipoprotein E–deficient mice in vivo. In contrast, HDL sCAD and HDL ACS did not inhibit endothelial apoptosis, failed to activate endothelial Bcl-xL, and stimulated endothelial proapoptotic pathways, in particular, p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase–mediated activation of the proapoptotic Bcl-2 protein tBid. Endothelial antiapoptotic effects of HDL Healthy were observed after inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and after delipidation, but not completely mimicked by apolipoprotein A-I or reconstituted HDL, suggesting an important role of the HDL proteome. HDL proteomics analyses and subsequent validations and functional characterizations suggested a reduced clusterin and increased apolipoprotein C-III content of HDL sCAD and HDL ACS as mechanisms leading to altered effects on endothelial apoptosis. Conclusions— The present study demonstrates for the first time that HDL CAD does not activate endothelial antiapoptotic pathways, but rather stimulates potential endothelial proapoptotic pathways. HDL-proteome remodeling plays an important role for these altered functional properties of HDL. These findings provide novel insights into mechanisms leading to altered vascular effects of HDL in coronary disease.

Therapies that raise levels of HDL, which is thought to exert atheroprotective effects via effects on endothelium, are being examined for the treatment or prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the endothelial effects of HDL are highly heterogeneous, and the impact of HDL of patients with CAD on the activation of endothelial eNOS and eNOS-dependent pathways is unknown. Here we have demonstrated that, in contrast to HDL from healthy subjects, HDL from patients with stable CAD or an acute coronary syndrome (HDLCAD) does not have endothelial antiinflammatory effects and does not stimulate endothelial repair because it fails to induce endothelial NO production. Mechanistically, this was because HDLCAD activated endothelial lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor 1 (LOX-1), triggering endothelial PKCβII activation, which in turn inhibited eNOS-activating pathways and eNOS-dependent NO production. We then identified reduced HDL-associated paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity as one molecular mechanism leading to the generation of HDL with endothelial PKCβII-activating properties, at least in part due to increased formation of malondialdehyde in HDL. Taken together, our data indicate that in patients with CAD, HDL gains endothelial LOX-1- and thereby PKCβII-activating properties due to reduced HDL-associated PON1 activity, and that this leads to inhibition of eNOS-activation and the subsequent loss of the endothelial antiinflammatory and endothelial repair-stimulating effects of HDL.

Background— High-density lipoprotein (HDL)–raising therapies are currently under intense evaluation, but the effects of HDL may be highly heterogeneous. We therefore compared the endothelial effects of HDL from healthy subjects and from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and low HDL (meeting the criteria for metabolic syndrome), who are frequently considered for HDL-raising therapies. Moreover, in diabetic patients, we examined the impact of extended-release (ER) niacin therapy on the endothelial effects of HDL. Methods and Results— HDL was isolated from healthy subjects (n=10) and patients with type 2 diabetes (n=33) by sequential ultracentrifugation. Effects of HDL on endothelial nitric oxide and superoxide production were characterized by electron spin resonance spectroscopy analysis. Effects of HDL on endothelium-dependent vasodilation and early endothelial progenitor cell–mediated endothelial repair were examined. Patients with diabetes were randomized to a 3-month therapy with ER niacin (1500 mg/d) or placebo, and endothelial effects of HDL were characterized. HDL from healthy subjects stimulated endothelial nitric oxide production, reduced endothelial oxidant stress, and improved endothelium-dependent vasodilation and early endothelial progenitor cell–mediated endothelial repair. In contrast, these beneficial endothelial effects of HDL were not observed in HDL from diabetic patients, which suggests markedly impaired endothelial-protective properties of HDL. ER niacin therapy improved the capacity of HDL to stimulate endothelial nitric oxide, to reduce superoxide production, and to promote endothelial progenitor cell–mediated endothelial repair. Further measurements suggested increased lipid oxidation of HDL in diabetic patients, and a reduction after ER niacin therapy. Conclusions— HDL from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome has substantially impaired endothelial-protective effects compared with HDL from healthy subjects. ER niacin therapy not only increases HDL plasma levels but markedly improves endothelial-protective functions of HDL in these patients, which is potentially more important. Clinical Trial Registration— clinicaltrials.gov. Identifier: NCT00346970.

Laser-spectrometric methods to derive absolute and traceable carbon monoxide (CO) amount fractions in exhaled human breath could be of advantage for early disease detection as well as for treatment monitoring. As proof-of-principle laboratory experiment, we employed intra-pulse and continuous wave (cw) quantum cascade laser spectroscopy (QCLAS), both at 4.6 μm. Additional experiments were carried out applying cw cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) with a CO sideband laser and a QCL. We emphasize metrological data quality objectives, thatis, traceability and uncertainty, which could serve as essential benefits to exhaled breath measurements. The results were evaluated and compared on a 100 μmol/mol CO level using the two QCLAS spectrometers, and the cw CO sideband laser CRDS setup. The relative standard uncertainties of the pulsed and the cw QCLAS CO amount fraction results were ±4.8 and ±2.8%, respectively, that from the CO sideband laser CRDS was ±2.7%. Sensitivities down to a 3 nmol/mol CO level were finally demonstrated and quantified by means of cw CRDS equipped with a QCL yielding standard uncertainties of about ±2.5 that are exclusively limited by the available line strength figure quality. With this study we demonstrate the achieved comparability of CO quantifications, adhering metrological principles.

Reduced levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) are associated with a substantially increased risk of coronary disease and cardiovascular events. Furthermore, numerous studies have suggested that HDL may exert several potentially important antiatherosclerotic and endothelial-protective effects. In particular, the promotion of reverse cholesterol transport, i.e. cholesterol efflux from lipid-loaded macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions and the subsequent cholesterol transport back to the liver, has been proposed as an anti-atherogenic effect of HDL that may promote regression of atherosclerotic lesions. Moreover, endothelial dysfunction is thought to play a critical role in development and progression of atherosclerosis and several recent studies have suggested that HDL exerts direct endothelial-protective effects, such as stimulation of endothelial production of the anti-atherogenic molecule nitric oxide, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic effects. Furthermore, it has been observed that HDL may stimulate endothelial repair processes, involving mobilisation and promotion of endothelial repair capacity of endothelial progenitor cells. The relative significance of these different potential anti-atherosclerotic effects of HDL remains still unclear at present. Importantly, at the same time it has been recognized that the vascular effects of HDL may be variable, i.e. the capacity of HDL to stimulate macrophage cholesterol efflux and endothelial-protective effects may be altered in patients with inflammatory or cardiovascular disease. The further characterisation of underlying mechanisms and the identification of the clinical relevance of this "HDL dysfunction" are currently an active field of research. HDL-targeted treatment strategies are at present intensely evaluated and may lead to increased HDL plasma levels and/or HDL-stimulated anti-atherosclerotic effects. The cardiovascular protection provided by such approaches may likely depend on HDL function or quality, i.e. the anti-atherosclerotic and endothelial-protective properties of the on-treatment HDL. Currently, several HDL-raising treatment strategies are examined in clinical trials, i.e. extended-release niacin, the CETP inhibitors dalcetrapib and anacetrapib, reconstituted forms of HDL (i.e. CSL-111) or apoA-I mimetics, and some of these are already in large clinical outcome studies on top of statin therapy to determine their efficacy and safety for cardiovascular prevention.