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BACKGROUND Targeted therapy based on pathway analysis of hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may be a promising remedy. CASE SUMMARY The present case involved an advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patient who did not receive local regional therapy and was intolerant to sorafenib. Total RNA extracted from the patient’s tumor tissue was used to obtain the gene mutation profile. The c.3676A>T and c.4402A>T stop-gain mutations in adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) were the most prevalent (42.2% and 35.1%, respectively). MutationMapper analysis indicated that the functional domain of APC was lost in the two APC mutant genes. APC is a major suppressor of the Wnt signaling pathway. Thus, the Wnt pathway was exclusively activated due to APC dysfunction, as other elements of this pathway were not found to be mutated. Aspirin has been reported to suppress the Wnt pathway by inducing β-catenin phosphorylation through the activation of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta via cyclooxygenase-2 pathway inhibition. Therefore, aspirin was administered to the patient, which achieved four years of disease control. CONCLUSION Exclusive mutations of APC of all the Wnt pathway elements could be a therapeutic target in HCC, with aspirin as an effective treatment option.

Fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO), an N6-methyladenosine (m6A) demethylase, participates in tumor progression and metastasis in many malignancies, but its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) is still unclear. Here, we found that FTO protein levels, but not RNA levels, were downregulated in CRC tissues. Reduced FTO protein expression was correlated with a high recurrence rate and poor prognosis in resectable CRC patients. Moreover, we demonstrated that hypoxia restrained FTO protein expression, mainly due to an increase in ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. The serine/threonine kinase receptor associated protein (STRAP) might served as the E3 ligase and K216 was the major ubiquitination site responsible for hypoxia-induced FTO degradation. FTO inhibited CRC metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, FTO exerted a tumor suppressive role by inhibiting metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) expression in an m6A-dependent manner. Methylated MTA1 transcripts were recognized by an m6A “reader”, insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 2 (IGF2BP2), which then stabilized its mRNA. Together, our findings highlight the critical role of FTO in CRC metastasis and reveal a novel epigenetic mechanism by which the hypoxic tumor microenvironment promotes CRC metastasis.

Sorafenib remains the standard first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), although other clinical trials are currently underway for treatments that show better curative effects. However, some patients are not sensitive to sorafenib. α-Mangostin, extracted from the pericarp of the mangosteen, which is widely used as a traditional medicine, has anticancer and anti-proliferative properties in various types of cancers, including HCC. In the present study, we found that combining sorafenib and α-Mangostin could be synergistically toxic to HCC both in vitro and in vivo. We then demonstrated that the combination of sorafenib and α-Mangostin enhances the inhibition of cell proliferation in HCC cell lines. Combination therapy leads directly to apoptosis. In xenograft mouse models, the in vivo safety and effectivity was confirmed by a reduction in tumor size after combination treatment. RNA sequencing and protein testing showed that the expression of LRRC8A and RNF181 genes and mTOR and MAPK pathways may be associated with the synergistic effect of the two drugs. In conclusion, our results highlight the synergistic effect of the combination of sorafenib and α-Mangostin, which indicates a potential treatment for advanced HCC for patients that are not sensitive to sorafenib therapy.

CD45+CD71+ erythroid cells generated through splenic extramedullary erythropoiesis have recently been found to suppress anti-infection and tumor immunity in neonates and adults with malignances. However, their role in tumor microenvironment has not been investigated. In the present study, we found that the number of CD45+CD71+ erythroid cells was significantly elevated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues compared to that in paratumor region and circulation. Additionally, they were more abundant in HCC tissues compared to some immune suppressive cells as well as CD45-CD71+ erythroid cells. CD45+CD71+ erythroid cells suppressed T cells through generation of reactive oxygen species, IL-10, and TGF-β in a paracrine and cell-cell contact manner, and their suppressive effect was stronger than that of myeloid-derived suppressor cells. The abundance of CD45+CD71+ erythroid cells in tumor tissue, as illustrated via immunofluorescence, predicted disease-free survival and overall survival, and its prognostic value was better than that of Cancer of the Liver Italian Program score. This study demonstrated that accumulation of intratumoral CD45+CD71+ erythroid cells in HCC tissues could play a superior immunosuppressive role in tumor microenvironment and may serve as a valuable biomarker to predict recurrence of HCC.

CD36 plays a critical role in lipid metabolism, which is closely associated with human immunity. However, the role of CD36 in cancer remains unclear. We performed a pan-cancer analysis to elucidate the potential role of CD36 in cancer by investigating its prognostic value and current predictors for the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in multiple cancer types. CD36 expression in cancer cell lines, tumor tissue, and their adjacent normal tissues displayed heterogeneity among different cancers. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect CD36 expression and confirmed the results. CD36 expression significantly affects prognosis in the six cancer types. High CD36 expression was marginally associated with poorer prognosis in four of them and improved prognosis in the remaining two types. CD36 expression was significantly correlated with the 6 immune infiltrates in most cancer types. In addition, CD36 gene expression was positively correlated with Stromal score, Immune score, and ESTIMATE score. A total of 47 immune checkpoint genes were collected and their relationship with CD36 expression was analyzed. CD36 expression was significantly associated with multiple stimulatory and inhibitory checkpoint molecules with a disease-specific pattern. As to the genes reported to positively relate to the efficacy of ICIs, CD36 expression was positively correlated with most of them but negatively associated with a small proportion of cancer type-specific patterns. Concerning the genes negatively related to the efficacy of ICIs, CD36 expression was positively correlated with NRP1 and TNFSF15 in multiple cancers. CD36 expression was negatively correlated with tumor neoantigen burden in most cancer types. However, CD36 expression was negatively correlated with tumor mutation burden in most cancer types. The correlation between CD36 expression and the four methyltransferases was also significant in multiple cancers, but also with a cancer type-specific pattern. In summary, the current study found CD36 expression and its prognostic value in multiple cancer types. In addition, the expression of CD36 was significantly associated with current predictors for the efficacy of ICIs. The practical application value of CD36 is disease specific.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most prevalent cancer among men and the second leading cause of tumor‐associated deaths worldwide, with increasing incidence rates over the last 10 years. Recently, miR‐195 was reported to be hypermethylated at its promoter CpG island and down‐regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the function of miR‐195 and the underlying mechanisms in PCa remain unknown. Here, we report that a significant down‐regulation of microRNA‐195 (miR‐195) in PCa tissues and cell lines was associated with promoter methylation status. Overexpression of miR‐195 significantly suppressed cell proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (increased E‐cadherin and decreased N‐cadherin) in PCa cells. We further demonstrated that transfection with a miR‐195 inhibitor reversed the inhibitory effect of the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5‐azacytidine on the proliferation, migration and invasion ability of PCa cells. In summary, our findings suggest that miR‐195 may function as a crucial tumor suppressor in PCa., The tumor environment of prostate cancer promotes the methylation of microRNA‐195 (miR‐195) promoter, thereby inhibiting the expression of miR‐195, and the methyltransferase inhibitor 5‐azacytidine can reverse the methylation, promote the expression of miR‐195, and inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of tumor cells.

Objective Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a fatal disease, and tumor development is a complex cellular event involving a multistep cascade process involving proliferation, invasion, and migration. In recent years, it has been shown that microRNA-126 (miR-126) plays a key role in the tumorigenesis of CRC, but further studies are required to investigate the regulatory mechanisms through which this miRNA affects cell viability, autophagy, and apoptosis in CRC. We aimed to study the effect of miR-126 in gene regulation in CRC HCT116 cells. Methods CRC biopsy samples and normal colorectal tissue samples were used for miRNA profiling. Real-time quantitative PCR and WB were utilized to detect RNA and protein levels. MTT and colony formation assays were performed to examine cell viability. Furthermore, an immunofluorescence assay and Annexin V/PI flow cytometry were performed to detect autophagy and apoptosis, respectively. Results The expression of miR-126 was downregulated in CRC biopsies and cell lines compared with that in normal cells and tissues. The upregulation of miR-126 resulted in impaired viability and growth of CRC cells. Furthermore, with the overexpression of miR-126, cell autophagy was increased, as evidenced by LC3-I/II transformation and p62 degradation. Meanwhile, apoptosis induction was also observed because of the increased miR-126 levels. The autophagy inhibitor Bafilomycin A1 (BafA1) repressed both autophagy and apoptosis, indicating that miR-126 induced autophagy was responsible for the induction of apoptosis. A dual-luciferase reporter assay (DLRA) and bioinformatics prediction revealed that miR-126 silenced the mTOR gene by targeting the 3'-UTR. mTOR mRNA levels in CRC biopsy tissues and cell lines were upregulated to a greater extent than that in normal cells and tissues. Furthermore, HCT116 cells transfected with an miR-126 mimic showed a decreased expression of mTOR. In addition, the overexpression of mTOR counteracted miR-126 on autophagy and apoptosis. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that miR-126-induced can regulate the activity of CRC cells via autophagy and apoptosis and suggested a new mechanism of miR-126-mTOR interaction in CRC pathogenesis.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and safety of high-dose vitamin C plus FOLFOX ± bevacizumab versus FOLFOX ± bevacizumab as first-line treatment in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Patients and Methods: Between 2017 and 2019, histologically confirmed patients with mCRC (n = 442) with normal glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase status and no prior treatment for metastatic disease were randomized (1:1) into a control (FOLFOX ± bevacizumab) and an experimental [high-dose vitamin C (1.5 g/kg/d, intravenously for 3 hours from D1 to D3) plus FOLFOX ± bevacizumab] group. Randomization was based on the primary tumor location and bevacizumab prescription. Results: The progression-free survival (PFS) of the experimental group was not superior to the control group [median PFS, 8.6 vs. 8.3 months; HR, 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.70–1.05; P = 0.1]. The objective response rate (ORR) and overall survival (OS) of the experimental and control groups were similar (ORR, 44.3% vs. 42.1%; P = 0.9; median OS, 20.7 vs. 19.7 months; P = 0.7). Grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events occurred in 33.5% and 30.3% of patients in the experimental and control groups, respectively. In prespecified subgroup analyses, patients with RAS mutation had significantly longer PFS (median PFS, 9.2 vs. 7.8 months; HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50–0.91; P = 0.01) with vitamin C added to chemotherapy than with chemotherapy only. Conclusions: High-dose vitamin C plus chemotherapy failed to show superior PFS compared with chemotherapy in patients with mCRC as first-line treatment but may be beneficial in patients with mCRC harboring RAS mutation.

Although androgen deprivation therapy remains the standard treatment for the initial therapy of advanced prostate cancer (PC), castration does not eliminate persistent intratumoral androgens within the prostate tumor microenvironment, which is capable of activating androgen receptor. Abiraterone effectively target adrenal and tumor androgen production in castration-resistant PC (CRPC). However, abiraterone-resistant CRPC is now common challenge in clinic via multiple mechanisms.In this study, human CRPC cell line PC3 and androgen-sensitive cells LNCaP were used. The authors investigated the role of autophagy during the therapy of abiraterone in CRPC by analysis of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Western blot and immunofluorescence assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis using flow cytometry analysis.The analysis of TEM showed more autophagic vesicles (AVs) in PC3 cell line than that in LNCaP cell line and indicated the high basic cellular autophagy in CRPC cell line PC3, which was confirmed by the upregulation of autophagy-related protein LC3, Atg5, and Beclin1. Interestingly, the treatment of abiraterone reduced the level of autophagic vesicles in two cell lines and inhibited the expressions of autophagic markers LC3, Atg5 and Beclin1 in parallel with decreased cell vitality and induced G2/M arrest in PC3 cell line and LNCaP cell line. Moreover, the addition of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine to the treatment of abiraterone inhibited the formation of AVs with downregulated autophagic markers, and inhibition of autophagy promoted the efficiency of cytotoxicity of abiraterone with further impaired cell vitality and G2/M arrest.These data suggested that inhibition of autophagy by its inhibitor benefits the treatment of abiraterone for CRPC patients.

The inflammatory microenvironment serves an important function in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Peripheral blood lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), as a novel inflammatory biomarker combining an estimate of host immune homeostasis with the tumor microenvironment, has been identified to be a predictor of clinical outcomes in a number of malignancies. The present study aimed at investigating the prognostic value of LMR in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated advanced HCC. A total of 174 patients with HBV-associated advanced HCC, without fever or signs of infections, were analyzed. Clinicopathological parameters, including LMR, were evaluated to identify predictors of overall survival time. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed using Cox's proportional hazards model. A threshold value was determined using a time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve. Univariate and multivariate analysis identified LMR as an independent prognostic factor in overall survival (OS) time in patients with HBV-associated advanced HCC (P2.22). The OS time of the high LMR group was significantly longer compared with the low LMR group (P

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ability of seven staging systems to predict 3- and 6-month and cumulative survival rates of patients with advanced hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Data were collected from 220 patients with HBV-associated HCC who did not receive any standard anticancer treatment. Participants were patients at The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from September 2008 to June 2010. The participants were classified according to the Chinese University Prognostic Index (CUPI), the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP), Japan Integrated Staging (JIS), China Integrated Score (CIS) systems, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC), Okuda and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging systems at the time of diagnosis and during patient follow-up. The sensitivity and specificity of the predictive value of each staging system for 3- and 6-month mortality were analyzed by relative operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis with a non-parametric test being used to compare the area under curve (AUC) of the ROC curves. In addition, log-rank tests and Kaplan-Meier estimator survival curves were applied to compare the overall survival rates of the patients with HCC defined as advanced using the various staging systems, and the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and likelihood ratio tests (LRTs) were used to evaluate the predictive value for overall survival in patients with advanced HCC. Using univariate and multivariate Cox's model analyses, the factors predictive of survival were also identified. A total of 220 patients with HBV-associated HCC were analyzed. Independent prognostic factors identified by multivariate analyses included tumor size, α-fetoprotein levels, blood urea nitrogen levels, the presence or absence of portal vein thrombus, Child-Pugh score and neutrophil count. When predicting 3-month survival, the AUCs of CLIP, CIS, CUPI, Okuda, TNM, JIS and BCLC were 0.806, 0.772, 0.751, 0.731, 0.643, 0.754 and 0.622, respectively. When predicting 6-month survival, the AUCs of CLIP, CIS, CUPI, Okuda, TNM, JIS and BCLC were 0.828, 0.729, 0.717, 0.692, 0.664, 0.746 and 0.575, respectively. For 3-month mortality, the prognostic value of CLIP ranked highest, followed by CIS; for 6-month mortality, the prognostic value of CLIP also ranked highest, followed by JIS. No significant difference between the AUCs of CLIP and CIS (P>0.05) in their predictive value for 3-month mortality was observed. The AUC of CLIP was significantly higher compared with that of the other staging systems (P

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive capability of neutrophil-to-apolipoprotein A1 ratio (NAR) for predicting overall survival (OS) among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Patients and Methods We investigated the clinical features of 554 patients with HCC receiving TACE and assessed NAR's predictive value for OS with 222 patients (the discovery cohort) and 332 patients (the validation cohort). The association of NAR with circulation lectin-type oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1–positive (LOX-1+) polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) was illustrated. Results Multivariate Cox regression revealed that lymphocyte count; Tumor, Node, Metastasis (TNM) stage; and NAR were independent prognostic factors in the discovery cohort. The validation cohort confirmed the independent prognostic value of TNM stage and NAR. Patients with low NAR ( Conclusion This study identified NAR as an independent predictor for OS among patients with HCC receiving TACE. NAR reflected circulation LOX-1+ PMN-MDSC level. Implications for Practice The present study identified neutrophil-to-apolipoprotein A1 ratio (NAR) as an independent predictor for overall survival among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving transarterial chemoembolization. NAR reflected circulation level of lectin-type oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1–positive polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells.

Background: Blood-based tumor mutational burden (bTMB) was recently found to be suboptimal in predicting overall survival (OS) benefits of atezolizumab over docetaxel among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The maximum somatic allele frequency (MSAF) is an indicator of the proportion of tumor-derived plasma DNA, which could affect the concordance between bTMB and tissue-based TMB. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the utility of MSAF, alone or in combination with bTMB, to identify NSCLC patients with or without survival benefit from atezolizumab over docetaxel.Methods: We analyzed the individual patient-level data from the randomized POPLAR and OAK studies. The bTMB and MSAF were derived from the pre-treatment blood-based genomic data.Results: In both the bTMB-high (i.e., bTMB ≥ 13) and bTMB-low subgroups, atezolizumab significantly improved OS compared with docetaxel (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.43 [95% CI, 0.29–0.65], P < 0.001 and HR = 0.73 [95% CI, 0.61–0.87], P < 0.001, respectively). Among patients with a low MSAF (i.e., MSAF < 10.3%), OS significantly favored atezolizumab (HR = 0.59 [95% CI, 0.48–0.72], P < 0.001), whereas OS with atezolizumab was similar to that with docetaxel in the MSAF-high subgroup (HR = 0.91 [95% CI, 0.68–1.20], P = 0.500; interaction test P = 0.017). Among patients from the bTMB-low and MSAF-high subgroup, OS was numerically worse with atezolizumab than with docetaxel (HR = 1.06 [95% CI, 0.78–1.45], P = 0.710); in contrast, OS was significantly improved with atezolizumab compared with docetaxel in those with either a high bTMB or low MSAF (HR = 0.57 [95% CI, 0.47–0.69], P < 0.001; interaction test P < 0.001). Consistent findings were obtained for progression-free survival data.Conclusions: MSAF alone or in combination with bTMB can effectively distinguish patients with or without survival benefit from atezolizumab compared with docetaxel. MSAF and the combined bTMB-MSAF classification may become practical predictive markers for atezolizumab in advanced NSCLC.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC) constitutes the largest subpopulation in EBV-associated tumors worldwide. To date, 44 mature EBV-encoded microRNAs (EBV miRNAs) have been identified, but their roles in EBVaGC development are still poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the roles and targets of ebv-miR-BART10-3p (BART10-3p) and ebv-miR-BART22 (BART22) in EBVaGC. EBV miRNA expression in EBVaGCs was evaluated by deep sequencing and qRT-PCR, and relationships between BART10-3p or BART22 expression and clinicolpathological characteristics and survival rates of patients with EBVaGC were analyzed. The roles of BART10-3p and BART22 and their underlying mechanisms were further investigated through exogenous overexpression or silencing in EBVaGC cells, and validated in clinical EBVaGC tissue samples. BART10-3p and BART22 were found to be highly expressed in the EBVaGC cell lines SNU719 and YCCEL1. Higher expression of BART10-3p or BART22 in primary EBVaGC samples was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and a worse 5-year overall survival. BART10-3p and BART22 promoted cell migration and invasion by targeting adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) and Dickkopf 1 (DKK1), thereby activating the Wnt signaling pathway and, consequently, upregulating downstream Twist and downregulating downstream E-cadherin. In 874 primary gastric carcinoma samples, APC and DKK1 were found to be lower expressed in EBVaGC than in EBV-negative samples, and their expression levels were inversely correlated with those of BART10-3p and BART22 in 71 EBVaGC samples. From our data we conclude that BART10-3p and BART22 play vital roles in promoting EBVaGC metastasis by targeting APC and DKK1 and, subsequently, activating the Wnt signaling pathway, thereby providing novel prognostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for EBVaGC.

Background Deregulation of protein translation control is a hallmark of cancers. Eukaryotic initiation factor 4A2 (EIF4A2) is required for mRNA binding to ribosome and plays an important role in translation initiation. However, little is known about its functions in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods Analysis of CRC transcriptome data from TCGA identified that EIF4A2 was associated with poor prognosis. Immunohistochemistry study of EIF4A2 was carried out in 297 paired colorectal tumor and adjacent normal tissue samples. In vitro and in vivo cell-biological assays were performed to study the biological functions of EIF4A2 on experimental metastasis and sensitivity to oxaliplatin treatment. Bioinformatic prediction, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and dual-luciferase reporter assay were carried out to unveil the transcription factor of EIF4A2 regulation. Results EIF4A2 Expression is significantly higher in colorectal tumors. Multivariate analysis suggests EIF4A2 as an independent predictor of overall, disease-free and progression-free survival. Dysfunction of EIF4A2 by genetic knock-down or small-molecule inhibitor silvestrol dramatically inhibited CRC invasion and migration, sphere formation and enhanced sensitivity to oxaliplatin treatment in vitro and in vivo. Notably, EIF4A2 knock-down also suppressed lung metastasis in vivo. qRT-PCR and immunoblotting analyses identified c-Myc as a downstream target and effector of EIF4A2. ChIP and dual-luciferase reporter assays validated the bioinformatical prediction of ZNF143 as a specific transcription factor of EIF4A2. Conclusions EIF4A2 promotes experimental metastasis and oxaliplatin resistance in CRC. Silvestrol inhibits tumor growth and has synergistic effects with oxaliplatin to induce apoptosis in cell-derived xenograft (CDX) and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-019-1178-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

e16034 Background: Apatinib, a small molecule multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor with high selectivity for VEGFR-2, has been approved for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma in China by significantly improving progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Here, we report safety and efficacy data from an open-label, single-arm, multicenter, phase IV trial of apatinib as a third-line or later line treatment for advanced gastric cancer. Methods: Eligible patients had histologically or cytologically confirmed advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma; and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0–2; and adequate haematological and hepatic function; and failure of at least two lines of chemotherapy. Patients received oral apatinib until disease progression, death or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was safety, and secondary endpoints included PFS and OS. Results: The intention-to-treat population (ITT) included 2004 patients. At baseline, the median age was 59 (range, 19-85) years, ECOG performance status of 0/1/2 (%) was 15.4/68.8/15.1, and stage III/IV was 3.5/96.4; 98.8% had metastases, and among which metastatic foci≤2/ > 2 was 64.5/34.2 (%), respectively. 89.6% of the patients were given apatinib 500mg as the initial does and the median treatment duration was 56 days. After a median follow-up of 126.5 days, adverse events (AEs) occurred in 95.1% of the patients and 70.3% were grade ≥3. 87.9% of the patients experienced treatment-related AEs (TRAEs), of which 51% had grade ≥3, 12.3% and 16.8% reduced dose and discontinued the treatment, respectively. 57 (2.9%) TRAEs-related deaths were reported, mainly because of gastrointestinal bleeding (16 cases), upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage (7), cerebral haemorrhage (2), and gastric perforation (1). The incidence of TRAEs of special interest was 74.3%; 38.1% of patients developed grade≥3, mainly including hypertension (26.3%), bleeding (5.1%), proteinuria (4.5%), and hand-foot syndrome (3.1%). In an ITT population, median PFS was 2.7 months (95%CI 2.23-2.79) and median OS was 5.8 months (95% CI 5.42-6.11). Conclusions: This study confirms that apatinib has a well-established and manageable safety profile and survival benefit as third or later line therapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Clinical trial information: NCT02426034.

e14577 Background: The management of grade 3/4 or steroid-refractory immune related adverse events (irAE) is based on a paucity of retrospective data analysis. Our initial experience with the combination therapy with Vincristine (VCR), immunoglobulin (IVIG) and glucocorticosteroid (VIG regimen) showed clinical improvement in a wide variety of irAEs. As a result, we recommend the use of VIG regimen for the management of grade 3/4 or steroid-refractory irAEs. Methods: The character and clinical course of irAEs were abstracted from the medical record and analyzed. The components of VIG regimens are as follows: Methylprednisolone (MP) 2-10mg/kg for 3days, VCR 1.4mg/m2 (≤2mg) continuous infusion for 4-8 hours on day 3 once a week with Immunoglobulin (IVIG) 0.4g/kg for 3-5 days. The dose of MP and IVIG will be reduced quickly after irAE improves. VCR 1.4mg/m2 once a week will be used for 1 to 3 times according to the improvement. Clinical improvement was defined as either: documentation of resolution of symptoms and normalisation of biochemical tests or hospital discharge within 14 days. Results: A total of 25 patients had grade3/4 or steroid-refractory irAEs after receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors and then received VIG regimen. Among them, 22 patients have been significantly improved, with an improvement rate of 88%. Twenty-three patents were treated in the inpatient setting (92%). The index grade 3/4 irAE was pneumonitis in 28%, immune mediated hepatotoxicity(IMH) in 28%, rash/SJS/TEN in 24%, cerebritis in 8 % and one case each of ITP, Near blindness and severe oral mucositis. In 7 patients with severe IMH, the range of total bilirubin was 80-481umol/L and ALT 35-5000u/L. Six patients with IMH recover well but one patient did not recover to normal due to IMH complicated with pneumonitis and TEN . Clinical improvement was noted in 22/25 patients (88%), 11 patients (44%) required a single dose, while 12 patients (48%) required two doses, 2 patients(8%) required three doses of VCR 1.4mg/m2 continuous infusion for 4-8 hours. What is impressive is that the two patients with encephalitis were significantly relieved within 2 weeks after using the VIG regimen. One patient with TEN (SCORETEN 3)was significantly improved and discharged from our hospital 11 days after using the VIG regimen. A patient with near-blind eyesight recovered to normal 3 days after using the VIG regimen. Conclusions: VIG regimen may be an effective therapeutic option for the management of grade3/4 or steroid-refractory irAEs secondary to immune checkpoint blockade. However, randomized trials are needed to better elucidate the efficacy and safety of VIG regimen.

As a special subtype of gastric carcinoma, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC) has distinct clinicopathological features. The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network revealed that EBVaGC also has distinct molecular features: PIK3CA mutations, DNA hypermethylation, and JAK2, PD-L1, and PD-L2 amplification. Here, we evaluated PIK3CA, JAK2, PD-L1, and PD-L2 expression in 59 EBVaGC and 796 EBV-negative gastric carcinoma (EBVnGC) cases using immunohistochemistry and found that PIK3CA, JAK2, PD-L1, and PD-L2 were highly expressed in 75.9% and 48.8% (P

TPS4115 Background: Previous studies showed that high dose vitamin C especially when administered intravenously might have anti-cancer effect. A recent preclinical study found that human colorectal cancer cells harboring KRAS or BRAF mutations are selectively killed by high dose vitamin C. Our phase I dose-escalation and expansion study has shown that high dose (up to 1.5g/kg) intravenous vitamin C with FOLFOX or FOLFIRI is well tolerated in patients with colorectal or gastric cancer. This trial is a randomized, multicenter, phase Ⅲ study of high dose vitamin C infusion combined with FOLFOX +/- bevacizumab versus FOLFOX +/- bevacizumab as first-line therapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Methods: This study has enrolled patients with histologically confirmed metastatic adenocarcinoma of colorectum, normal G6PD status and no prior treatment for metastatic disease. 432 patients are randomized 1:1 into one of two groups. Patients in the control group are treated with mFOLFOX6 (oxaliplatin 85 mg/m² d1 concurrent with leucovorin 400 mg/m², followed by bolus 5FU 400 mg/m² d1, followed by infusional 5FU 2400 mg/m² over 46 hours) with or without bevacizumab (5mg/kg, d1) every 2 weeks. Patients in the experimental group are treated with vitamin C intravenously (1.5g/kg/day, d1-3) in combination with mFOLFOX6 with or without bevacizumab every 2 weeks. Randomization is stratified by the location of primary site (left-sided or right-sided) and treatment with bevacizumab (with or without). The primary endpoint is progression free survival (assessed by investigator per RECIST v1.1). Secondary endpoints are overall survival, response rate, assessment of treatment-related adverse events, progression free survival and overall survival in RAS or BRAF mutant patients. Genome, microbiome and metabolome are also assessed. Clinical trial information: NCT02969681 .

Background and aims Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation was reported to be induced by transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinonma (HCC) patients with a high incidence. The effective strategy to reduce hepatitis flares due to HBV reactivation in this specific group of patients was limited to lamivudine. This retrospective study was aimed to investigate the efficacy of prophylactic entecavir in HCC patients receiving TACE. Methods A consecutive series of 191 HBV-related HCC patients receiving TACE were analyzed including 44 patients received prophylactic entecavir. Virologic events, defined as an increase in serum HBV DNA level to more than 1 log10 copies/ml higher than nadir the level, and hepatitis flares due to HBV reactivation were the main endpoints. Results Patients with or without prophylactic were similar in host factors and the majorities of characteristics regarding to tumor factors, HBV status, liver function and LMR. Notably, cycles of TACE were parallel between the groups. Ten (22.7%) patients receiving prophylactic entecavir reached virologic response. The patients receiving prophylactic entecavir presented significantly reduced virologic events (6.8% vs 54.4%, p=0.000) and hepatitis flares due to HBV reactivation (0.0% vs 11.6%, p=0.039) compared with patients without prophylaxis. Kaplan-Meier analysis illustrated that the patients in the entecavir group presented significantly improved virologic events free survival (p=0.000) and hepatitis flare free survival (p=0.017). Female and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 2 was the only significant predictors for virological events in patients without prophylactic antiviral. Rescue antiviral therapy did not reduce the incidence of hepatitis flares due to HBV reactivation. Conclusion Prophylactic entecavir presented promising efficacy in HBV-related cancer patients receiving TACE. Lower performance status and female gender might be the predictors for HBV reactivation in these patients.

Mature microRNA (miRNA) 34a-5p, which is a well-known tumor suppressor in hepatitis virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), plays an important role in cell processes, such as cell proliferation and apoptosis, and is therefore an optimal biomarker for future clinical use. However, the role of miRNA-34a-5p in chemoresistance has yet to be identified. In the present study, the expression of miRNA-34a-5p was assessed by an in situ hybridization assay in HCC tissues and was found to be significantly decreased compared with the pericarcinomatous areas of the tissue specimens, which consisted of samples obtained from 114 patients with HCC. High expression of miRNA-34a-5p was found to be associated with a favorable overall survival time in HCC patients. Functional tests performed by transfecting miRNA-34a-5p mimics or inhibitors into MHCC-97L cells illustrated that miRNA-34a-5p inhibited proliferation, elevated apoptosis and decreased chemoresistance to cisplatin in HCC cells. AXL is the direct target of miRNA-34a-5p, as confirmed by sequence analysis and luciferase assay. Transfection of the cells with small interfering RNA for AXL (siAXL) increased the apoptosis ratio of the MHCC-97L cell line. Transfection with siAXL led to similar biological behaviors in the MHCC-97L cells to those induced by ectopic expression of miRNA-34a-5p. Thus, it was concluded that miRNA-34a-5p enhanced the sensitivity of the cells to chemotherapy by targeting AXL in hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, low expression of miRNA-34a-5p in HCC tissues yielded an unfavorable prognosis for patients with HCC that received radical surgery, due to the promotion of proliferation and an increase in chemoresistance in HCC cells.

A recent study indicated that Lectin‐type oxidized LDL receptor‐1 (LOX‐1) was a distinct surface marker for human polymorphisms myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (PMN‐MDSC). The present study was aimed to investigate the existence LOX‐1 PMN‐MDSC in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. One hundred and twenty‐seven HCC patients, 10 patients with mild active chronic hepatitis B, 10 liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis B, 10 liver dysplastic node with hepatitis B and 50 health control were included. LOX‐1(+) CD15(+) PMN‐MDSC were significantly elevated in HCC patients compared with healthy control and patients with benign diseases. LOX‐1(+) CD15(+) PMN‐MDSC in circulation were positively associated with those in HCC tissues. LOX‐1(+) CD15(+) PMN‐MDSCs significantly reduced proliferation and IFN‐γ production of T cells with a dosage dependent manner with LOX‐1(−) CD15(+) PMNs reached negative results. The suppression on T cell proliferation and IFN‐γ production was reversed by ROS inhibitor and Arginase inhibitor. ROS level and activity of arginase of LOX‐1 (+)CD15(+) PMN were higher in LOX‐1(+) CD15(+) PMN‐MDSCs than LOX‐1(−) CD15(+) PMNs, as well as the expression of the NADPH oxidase NOX2 and arginase I. RNA sequence revealed that LOX‐1(+) CD15(+) PMN‐MDSCs displayed significantly higher expression of spliced X‐box ‐binding protein 1 (sXBP1), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress marker. ER stress inducer induced LOX‐1 expression and suppressive function for CD15(+) PMN from health donor. For HCC patients, LOX‐1(+) CD15(+) PMN‐MDSCs were positively related to overall survival. Above all, LOX‐1(+) CD15(+) PMN‐MDSC were elevated in HCC patients and suppressed T cell proliferation through ROS/Arg I pathway induced by ER stress. They presented positive association with the prognosis of HCC patients.

The majority of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergo trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE). However, the prognosis of HCC remains poor. In the present study, five staging systems were compared to predict the survival rate of patients with HCC undergoing TACE treatment. A total of 220 patients with HCC were examined according to the model to estimate survival for hepatocellular carcinoma (MESH), hepatoma arterial embolization prognostic score (HAP), modified HAP (mHAP), performance status combined Japan Integrated Staging system (PSJIS) and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging systems. The endpoints of the study were 3-month survival, 6-month survival, 1-year survival and overall survival (OS) rates. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that the area under the curve of MESH, HAP, mHAP, PSJIS and TNM was 0.858, 0.728, 0.690, 0.688 and 0.699, respectively, in predicting 3-month survival rates; 0.822, 0.747, 0.720, 0.722 and 0.715, respectively, in predicting 6-month survival rates and 0.725, 0.664, 0.672, 0.645 and 0.654, respectively, in predicting 1-year survival rates. Discriminatory ability, homogeneity, monotonicity and prognostic stratification ability was evaluated using a likelihood ratio test and Akaike information criterion values among the five staging systems, and revealed that the MESH system was the optimal prognostic staging system for HCC. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that the MESH system is the most accurate prognostic staging system of 3-month survival, 6-month survival, 1-year survival and OS rates among the five systems analyzed in patients with HCC who have received TACE treatment.

Serum Golgi protein 73 (sGP73) is a candidate diagnostic biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, current evidence of its diagnostic value is conflicting, primarily due to the small sample sizes of previous studies, and its prognostic role in HCC also remains unclear. In the present study, sGP73 levels in 462 patients with HCC, 186 patients with liver cirrhosis, and 83 healthy controls were evaluated using ELISA, and it was identified that the median sGP73 levels were significantly higher in the HCC (18.7 ng/ml) and liver cirrhosis (18.5 ng/ml) patients than in the healthy controls (0 ng/ml; both P

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in neoplasm growth, metastasis, vasculogenesis, and drug resistance. It has been validated that abnormal miR-195 expression was related with poor survival of prostate cancer (PC); however, its role in the resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs docetaxel (DOC) in PC is still acquainted scarcely. In our study, the lower expression of miR-195 was appeared in DOC-resistant PC cells (DU145/DOC) rather than DOC-sensitive DU145 cells. The up-regulation of miR-195 lowered the IC50 of DOC, facilitated the apoptosis and inhibited the colony formation ability in DU145/DOC cells. Moreover, we also found that miR-195 had the binding site with clusterin (CLU) by the online TargetScan database mining. Luciferase tests revealed that miR-195 binds to the 3'-UTR of CLU. MiR-195 overexpression decreased the amassment of CLU in DU145/DOC cells. Knockdown of CLU diminished the IC50 of DOC and enhanced the apoptosis of DU145/DOC cells, which was consistent with the influence of miR-195 on DOC-induced cell apoptosis. Taken together, our results illuminated that miR-195 improved the sensitivity of resistant PC cells to DOC by suppressing CLU. Hence, miR-195 may be a potentially promising molecular target for drug resistance of PC.

Background: This retrospective study was aimed to investigate the efficacy of prophylactic agents in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients receiving TACE and compare the difference between lamivudine and entecavir. Materials and Methods: A consecutive series of 203 HBV-related HCC patients receiving TACE were analyzed including 91 patients given prophylactic agents. Virologic events, defined as an increase in serum HBV DNA level to more than 1 log10 IU/ml higher than the nadir level, hepatitis flares due to HBV reactivation and progression free survival (PFS) were the main endpoints. Results: Some 48 (69.6%) reached virologic response. Prophylaxis significantly reduced virologic events (8.8% vs 58.0%, p=0.000) and hepatitis flares (1.1% vs 13.4%, p=0.001). Patients presenting undetectable HBV DNA levels displayed a significantly improved PFS as compared to those who never achieved undetectable HBV DNA. Prophylaxis and e-antigen positivity were the only significant variables associated with virologic events. In addition, prophylaxis was the only independent protective factor for hepatitis flares. Liver cirrhosis, more cycles of TACE, HBV DNA negativity, a lower Cancer of the Liver Italian Program score, non-metastasis and no hepatitis flares were protective factors for PFS. Prophylactic lamivudine demonstrated similar efficacy as entecavir. Conclusions: Prophylactic agents are efficacious for prevention of HBV reactivation in HCC patients receiving TACE. Achievement of undetectable HBV DNA levels displayed a significant capability in improving PFS. Moreover, persistent tumor residual lesions, positive HBV DNA and hepatitis B flares might be causes of tumor progression in these patients.

Overexpression of enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2), a key component of polycomb proteins, has been linked to aggressive tumor behavior in a variety of cancers. In vitro, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) transcriptionally activates EZH2 and promotes the progression of breast tumor initiating cells. Here, we characterized the clinicopathological effect of EZH2 and HIF-1α in 410 breast cancer patients. We examined EZH2 and HIF-1α expression using immunohistochemistry and western blotting. We found that EZH2 and HIF-1α were highly expressed in 99 (24.1%) and 272 (70.6%) patients, respectively. EZH2 overexpression was associated with lymphatic invasion (P=0.025), HER2 expression (P=0.005) and hypoxia (P

e15048 Background: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-based monotherapies and combination therapies are being investigated to challenge microsatellite stable (MSS) mCRC. This NMA aimed to assess the efficacy of anti-PD-1/PD-L1-based therapies against active comparators (regorafenib, trifiuridine+tipiracil, and fruquintinib [R/T/F]) and negative controls (placebo and best supportive care [P/BSC]) in patients with refractory MSI-unselected mCRC, which are predominantly MSS. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and major oncology websites for relevant RCTs comparing the above therapies with each other up to Feb 15, 2019. We used the frequentist NMA to evaluate hazard ratios (HRs) for pairwise treatment comparisons in terms of overall survival (OS). Results: Seven RCTs were included, totaling nine comparisons between five therapies (durvalumab+tremelimumab [anti-PD-L1+Tre] vs. P/BSC [n = 1], atezolizumab+cobimetinib [anti-PD-L1+Cobi] vs. R/T/F [n = 1], atezolizumab [anti-PD-L1-only] vs. R/T/F [n = 1], anti-PD-L1+Cobi vs. anti-PD-L1-only [n = 1], and R/T/F vs. P/BSC [n = 5]). No significant heterogeneity was detected in the NMA (P = 0.340 in Q test; I2= 11.6%). Compared to P/BSC, OS was significantly improved with anti-PD-L1+Tre (fixed-effects model HR, 0.72 [95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.96]; P = 0.014) and anti-PD-L1+Cobi (HR, 0.70 [0.50-0.98]; P = 0.018), but not with anti-PD-L1-only (HR, 0.83 [0.57-1.21]; P = 0.172). OS with anti-PD-L1+Tre and anti-PD-L1+Cobi did not significantly differ from that with R/T/F (P = 0.565 and P = 0.500, respectively). Conclusions: In refractory MSI-unselected mCRC, anti-PD-L1 monotherapy was ineffective but anti-PD-L1+Tre and anti-PD-L1+Cobi therapies exhibited efficacies comparable to that of R/T/F.

e14589 Background: The aim of our research was to assess the prognostic value of ApoB to ApoA-I ratio (ApoB/ApoA-I) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment. Methods: We collected clinicopathological data of 455 HCC patients with TACE treatments. The cutoff value of ApoB/ApoAI identified by receiver-operating curve (ROC) was 0.56. Correlation analysis was carried out to explore the relationship among ApoB/ApoA-I and other clinicopathological variables. Propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis was carried out to eliminate the unbalance of baseline characteristics of high and low ApoB/ApoA-I group. Finally, 278 patients were included in the PSM cohort, 139 patients in the high APOB/APOA-I group and 139 patients in the low APOB/APOA-I group. Univariate and multivariate analysis were conducted to explore the independent prognostic value of ApoB/ApoA-I in 455 patients and in the PSM cohort. Results: ApoB/ApoA-I was significantly correlated with AFP, NCCN T stage, distant metastasis status and TNM system(P < 0.05). Patients with AFP≥400ng, T3-4, distant metastasis and TNM III-IV had significantly higher serum ApoB/ApoA-I level than that of patients with AFP ≥ 400 ng/ml, T1-2, without metastasis and TNM I-II(P

Purpose Here, we evaluate the prognostic effect of pretreatment serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods and materials Pretreatment serum samples from a randomized controlled trial, which contained 199 neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy patients and 201 neoadjuvant-concurrent chemoradiotherapy cases with locally advanced NPC, were collected and examined for LDH. With 5-year follow-up, the prognostic effect of pretreatment serum LDH was analysed by Kaplan–Meier analysis and multivariate Cox regression model. Results Three hundred and sixty-seven patients (91.75%) had a normal (109.0–245.0U/L) pretreatment LDH level, compared to 33 cases (8.25%) that had a higher (⩾245.0U/L) LDH level. The mean and median pretreatment LDH levels of these 400 patients were 186.6 and 174.0U/L (range, 83.0–751.0U/L), respectively. Compared with the normal subset, elevated LDH level predicted an inferior 5-year overall survival (56.9% versus 76.8%, P =0.004), disease-free survival (DFS, 45.4% versus 64.7%, P =0.001), local relapse-free survival (76.1% versus 89.6%, P =0.019) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS, 54.3% versus 72.2%, P =0.001). Multivariate analysis confirmed that the LDH level was an independent prognostic factor to predict death, disease progression, local relapse and distant metastasis. For the subgroup with normal LDH (median point of 177.0U/L), we detected an evident 5-year DFS (68.8% versus 59.5%, P =0.047) and DMFS advantage (77.3% versus 65.3%, P =0.016) in 109.0–177.0U/L subset than that of 178.0–245.0U/L subgroup. Conclusions Serological LDH level was an independent prognostic factor for locally advanced NPC. Combining pretreatment LDH with TNM staging might lead to more accurate risk definition.

Previously, we and others showed that hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) and transcriptionally upregulated Aurora‐A were required for disease progression in several tumors. Here, we address the clinicopathologic value of Aurora‐A and HIF‐1α in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Aurora‐A and HIF‐1α expression was semiquantitatively evaluated by immunohistochemistry staining in 144 cases from a randomized controlled trial. Of these patients, 69 received neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and acted as the training set, and 75 cases treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus radiotherapy were used as the testing set to validate the prognostic effect of Aurora‐A and HIF‐1α. We found that Aurora‐A and HIF‐1α were highly expressed in NPC, but were deficient in normal adjacent epithelia. In the testing set, Aurora‐A overexpression predicted a shortened 5‐year overall survival (59.1% vs 82.5%, P = 0.024), progression‐free survival (44.8% vs 79.8%, P = 0.004), and distant metastasis‐free survival (43.0% vs 17.3%, P = 0.016). Multivariate regression analysis confirmed that Aurora‐A was indeed an independent prognostic factor for death, recurrence, and distant metastasis both in the testing set and overall patients. Moreover, a positive correlation between Aurora‐A and HIF‐1α was detected (P = 0.037). Importantly, although HIF‐1α did not show any prognostic effect for patient outcome, the subset with Aurora‐A and HIF‐1α co‐overexpression had the poorest overall, progression‐free, and distant metastasis‐free survival (all P

The prognosis and management of acute exacerbations of hepatitis-B in patients with lymphoma after chemotherapy in combination with rituximab remain unclear. Here, we describe 19 Chinese patients with lymphoma who suffered this complication, in order to analyze their clinical characteristics. Receiver operating characteristic analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were utilized to determine potential prognostic factors. We found that key prognostic factors included the peak prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), and total bilirubin (TB), as well as the PT and INR on admission and the interval between acute exacerbation of hepatitis-B and the last cycle of chemotherapy. Moreover, our data suggested that shorter interval between the last cycle of rituximab and acute exacerbation of hepatitis-B might be another prognostic indicator of inferior survival. Our results revealed that the severity of hepatic damage and the interval between the last cycle of chemotherapy and hepatitis flare were the major prognostic factors of an acute exacerbation of hepatitis-B induced by immunochemotherapy. Prophylactic antiviral and rescue antiviral therapy remain to be further characterized.

e16028Background: Some studies have shown that number of metastatic sites is a significant prognostic factor in metastatic gastric cancer. In this subgroup analysis, data from a large phase IV tria...

4039Background: Ahead-G201, a multicenter Phase IV study, is conducting to evaluate apatinib as third-line or beyond therapy in a routine practice setting of gastric cancer patients (pts). Methods:...

e16027Background: Studies have shown BMI could affect long-term survival in advanced gastric cancer. In this analysis, based on a large population, we further investigated the effects of BMI on the...

e15658Background: Our previous study found that eIF4A2 was highly expressed in colorectal cancer and high eIF4A2 expression predicted poor prognosis, which was reported in ASCO GI 2018. However, th...

e16020Background: Apatinib has been approved in China for patients (pts) with advanced or metastatic gastric and gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma after at least two lines of systemic chemo...

e16026Background: Apatinib, a small molecule VEGFR TKI, has been approved in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer in China. The real benefits of apatinib for different patients (pts) with ECOG ...

e16019Background: An open-label, multicenter, post-marketing Phase IV study of apatinib (Ahead-G201; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02426034) is being conducted in a broad range of gastric cancer patients ...

e16021Background: Apatinib is a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets VEGFR-2. Due to good safety, tolerability and efficacy, apatinib has been approved in the treatment of pretreat...

e16022Background: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the most common adverse events (AEs) associated with apatinib treatment in gastric carcinoma. However, few studies focus on the effect of HTN history ...

480 Background: Child-Pugh grade is widely used to assess hepatic function reserve, but it is relatively subjective for assessment of hepatic encephalopathy. A newly developed scoring system combining albumin and bilirubin, called ALBI grade, aims to assess liver function objectively. In prognosis prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), The Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) score is commonly used in clinical practice and includes Child-Pugh evaluation. We substituted ALBI grade for Child-Pugh grade to establish ALBI-CLIP system and conducted this study to validate the prognostic value of ALBI -CLIP in HBV-related HCC patients after TACE therapy. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed HBV-related HCC patients who received TACE therapy. Baseline data were collected and evaluated. Child-Pugh grade and ALBI grade were integrated into CLIP and ALBI-CLIP systems, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Comparisons of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and likelihood ratio test (LRT) were used to compare the value of ALBI-CLIP, CLIP and TNM staging systems in predicting survival. Results: A total of 207 patients were included. 153 (73.9%) and 54 (26.1%) patients were classified as Child-Pugh grade A and B, respectively. But according to ALBI grade, 57 (27.5%), 136 (65.7%) and 14 (6.8%) of them were correspondingly divided into Grade 1, 2 and 3. Comparisons of ROC curves showed that ALBI-CLIP and CLIP had similar areas under the curve, both of which were larger than that of TNM system in predicting 3-month, 6-month, 1-year and 2-year survival. LRT indicated that both ALBI-CLIP and CLIP had larger χ2 values and smaller values of Akaike information criterion (AIC), compared with TNM system (χ2 = 29.771, 29.479, 9.105; AIC = 858.215, 858.069, 879.410 for ALBI-CLIP, CLIP and TNM, respectively). Conclusions: Our current study suggested that modified CLIP score with albumin-bilirubin grade retained prognostic value in HBV-related HCC treated with TACE therapy.

35 Background: A fine balance between maintaining efficacy and reducing toxicity is necessary for drug therapies in many cancers. This study seeks to review the data from phase IV clinical trial of Ahead-G201 to help elucidate the optimal initial dose of apatinib in advanced gastric cancer. Methods: Pts data from the Ahead-G201 study at cut-off date of Jul 10, 2017 were extracted to explore the correlation of apatinib initial dose (500 mg vs 850 mg) with safety and clinical efficacy. Results: 864 of eligible pts received apatinib at an initial dose of 500 mg, and 58 pts received at 850 mg. Dose interruption occurred in 258 pts (33.1%) at 500 mg and in 27 pts (46.5%) at 850 mg. For safety, the most common adverse events (AEs) were proteinuria, hypertension and leukocyte decrease in both groups. Moreover, the incidence of all AEs and grade 3-4 AEs in pts at 500 mg was significantly lower than pts at 850 mg (Table). For efficacy, pts at 500 mg achieved an objective response rate (ORR) of 10.8% and a disease control rate (DCR) of 70.6%, at best response, which were 10.3% and 55.2% in pts at 850 mg. Pts at 500 mg got a significantly longer median progression-free survival (mPFS) and median overall survival (mOS) than pts at 850 mg (PFS, 4.6 mos vs 2.2 mos; OS, 6.8 mos vs 4.0 mos). Multivariate analysis indicated that apatinib treatment at an initial dose of 500 mg was significantly associated with longer mOS in advanced gastric cancer pts (6.8 mos vs 4.0 mos: hazard ratio, 0.5; 95%CI, 0.3 to 0.8), compared to initial dose of 850 mg. Conclusions: Compared to receiving apatinib at initial dose of 850mg, oral administration of apatinib starting from 500 mg seemed to bring more clinical benefit for patients with advanced gastric cancer, whilst with lower toxicities. Clinical trial information: NCT02426034. [Table: see text]

73 Background: Ahead-G201 is an ongoing open-label, multicenter, post-marketing Phase IV trial assessing safety and efficacy of apatinib in 2000+ patients (pts) with chemotherapy-refractory advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of stomach or gastroesophageal junction. Proteinuria (PTN), hypertension (HTN) and hand-foot-skin reaction (HFSR) are common adverse events (AEs) related to anti-angiogenesis drugs. Methods: As of 2017/7/10, 1037 and 820 pts were evaluable for safety and survival. Clinical outcomes were compared between pts with and without PTN / PTN / HFSR using Kaplan–Meier methods and multivariate Cox regression model. Results: 200 (19.3%), 194 (18.8%) and 115 (11.1%) pts had PTN, HTN and HFSR, respectively. Similar mean daily dosage was found between pts with and without PTN, HTN or HFSR (from 520.6 to 551.0 mg/day). Pts developed PTN / HTN / HFSR had longer median medication durations (57 vs. 33 / 55 vs. 35 / 65 vs. 36 days; p

36 Background: Intestinal and diffuse gastric cancer are main histological types of gastric cancer, based on Lauren’s classification, which account for 34–47% and 46–57%, respectively. Patients (pts) with intestinal gastric cancer have better prognosis. The present study aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of apatinib between the two intestinal gastric cancer, based on data from post-marketing Phase IV study (Ahead-G201). Methods: The single-arm, open-label, multi-center, Phase IV trial enrolled advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of stomach or gastroesophageal junction after failure of ≥2 lines of chemotherapy. Data of pts with intestinal and diffuse gastric cancer were collected and compared. Results: As of 2017/7/10, 96 intestinal and 104 diffuse pts were recruited. Differences in age (64 vs. 55 yrs), gender (male: 77.1% vs. 57.7%) and disease duration ( > 12 months: 71.3% vs. 56.7%) were detected. Between intestinal and diffuse gastric cancer, there was no discrepancy in incidences of adverse events (AEs) (78.1% vs. 73.1%) and Grade ≥3 AEs (41.7% vs. 38.5%). The incidences of typical AEs associated anti-angiogenesis drugs were also comparable (hypertension 26.0% vs. 16.4%; proteinuria 14.6% vs. 20.2%; hand-foot-skin reaction 16.7% vs. 9.6%). No statistical difference was observed in best overall response rate (12.8% vs. 14.3%) and disease control rate (76.0% vs. 64.3%). Survival benefit in pts with intestinal gastric cancer was detected (progression free survival: 5.52 vs. 2.76 months, p = 0.036; overall survival: 8.11 vs. 4.70 months, p = 0.047). However, the multivariable Cox regression model analysis showed that histological type was not independently prognostic factors for survival, indicating that clinical benefit of pts with intestinal gastric cancer was influenced by other factors. Conclusions: Compared with diffuse gastric cancer, pts intestinal gastric cancer have more clinical benefit after treated by apatinib. However, histological type based on the Lauren’s classification was not independently prognostic factors for survival, which needs to be further analyzed, considering the small sample size. Clinical trial information: NCT02426034.

664 Background: Eukaryotic initiation factor 4A2(EIF4A2) is a member of the eukaryotic initiation factor 4A family and it is one of the protein-synthesis initiation factors, which are involved in the binding of messenger RNA to the ribosome. The prognostic roles of EIF4A2 in breast cancer, melanoma and lung cancer have been studied. However, the clinical significance and biologic role of EIF4A2 in colorectal cancer remain unknown. Methods: We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to compare expression of eIF4A2 mRNA between 72 paired colorectal cancer tissues and non-tumor colorectal tissues. We used immunohistochemistry to study the expression of EIF4A2 in 310 colorectal cancer patients under surgical resection, 247 of them received curative surgery. We also analyzed correlation between EIF4A2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics. The biological function of EIF4A2 on colorectal cancer cells were determined in vitro by knock-downing EIF4A2 in HCT116 and DLD1 cell lines. We performed MTT tests, colony formation assays, transwell and wound healing assays. Results: EIF4A2 mRNA was significantly higher in colorectal cancer tissues compared to the paired non-tumor colorectal tissues(P = 0.0034). Over-expression of EIF4A2 was prognostic of shorter overall survival(P = 0.002) and shorter disease-free survival(P = 0.042). Over-expression of EIF4A2 was significantly correlated with more TNM stage IV(P = 0.012). Multivariate analysis suggested EIF4A2 as an independent predictor of overall survival (hazard ratio 2.041[95% CI 1.385 to 3.008], P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio 1.537[95% CI 1.003 to 2.355], P = 0.049). Functionally, knockdown of EIF4A2 in HCT116 and DLD1 cell lines exerted tumor-suppressive effects by significantly inhibiting cell proliferation, colony formation,migration and invasion(P < 0.05). Conclusions: EIF4A2 is highly expressed in colorectal cancer and predicts poor prognosis. EIF4A2 could be served as a potential prognostic marker for colorectal cancer patients.

142 Background: Apatinib, a small molecule VEGFR TKI, has been approved in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer in China. Due to toxicity, many pts underwent temporary interruptions during treatment. We analyzed the data from a phase IV clinical trial of Ahead-G201 to evaluate the relationship between dose interruption, drug safety and efficacy. Methods: At the cutoff date of Jul 10, 2017, Ahead-G201 study enrolled 1037 pts. The adverse events (AEs) and clinical efficacy were evaluated for pts with no, 1, 2 and ≥3 dose interruptions. Results: 336 of 1037 pts underwent dose interruptions during apatinib treatment: 1 interruption in 183 pts; 2 interruptions in 67 pts; and ≥3 interruptions in 86 pts. The toxicity and efficacy for them were listed in Table. For safety, pts with no interruption had the lowest incidence of all AEs (59.3%) and grade 3-4 AEs (30.0%). Pts with ≥3 interruptions had the highest objective response rate (ORR, 20.3%) and disease control rate (DCR, 82.6%). Moreover, these pts got median progression-free survival (mPFS) of 6.6 mos and median overall survival (mOS) of 9.4 mos, which were the longest among 4 groups. Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that ≥3 interruptions of apatinib bring much more efficacy benefit both in mPFS (6.6 vs 3.8 mos: hazard ratio, 0.5, 95%CI, 0.3 to 0.7) and mOS (9.4 vs 6.6 mos: hazard ratio, 0.5, 95%CI, 0.3 to 0.8) for pts, than those with no interruption. Conclusions: Current results indicated that dose interruptions are required to manage toxicity and it is necessary to explore an optimal dosing pattern of apatinib in advanced gastric cancer. Clinical trial information: NCT02426034. [Table: see text]

126 Background: Old age is a potential negative predictor, and thus is of interest. Data from the ongoing post-marketing Phase IV trial were collected to assess the effect of age on apatinib treatment in 2000+ patients (pts) with chemotherapy-refractory advanced or metastatic gastric cancer. Methods: This subgroup analysis was stratified by age (

19 Background: Easily detectable and reliable prognostic factors for apatinib response in gastric cancer are of great interest. In this study, 42 characteristics were test for their prognostic value. Methods: Data were collected from the ongoing single-arm phase IV trial in patents (pts) with advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction after failure of ≥2 lines of chemotherapy. Kaplan–Meier and multivariable Cox analysis were conducted. Results: As of 2017/7/10, 1037 pts were enrolled. 820 were evaluable for survival. The median progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was 4.60 and 6.57 m. Age, metastatic lesions, region, treatment interruption, leucocyte decrease and adverse events (AEs) occurrence were independent prognostic factors for PFS, while ECOG PS, disease duration, metastatic lesions, region, developed city, initial dose, treatment interruption, BMI, AST abnormal, hand-foot-skin reaction (HFSR), leucocyte decrease and AE occurrence for OS (Table). Conclusions: Multiple demographics, baseline clinical and laboratory indexes, treatment related indicators and occurrence of AEs can predict the efficacy of apatinib in gastric cancer. Updated results will be reported to guide the clinical application of apatinib. Clinical trial information: NCT02426034. [Table: see text]

331 Background: Myeloid Deprived Suppressor Cell (MDSC) has been recoganized as a promising target for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, targeted therapy on MDSC failed to display convincing efficacy. Optimization of patient selection to find the most potential beneficiaries might be a solution to this issue. In the present study, we aimed to identify clinical parameters relevant to MDSC level in HCC patients for future MDSC targeted therapy. Methods: In the present study, a series of 55 HCC patients (prospective group) and 20 healthy donors were analyzed investigating frequencies of MDSC in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Results: As a result, we found that MDSC level was increased in HCC patients compared to healthy donors (10.33% vs 1.54%, p< 0.0001). The monocytes (r2= 0.2875, p< 0.0001), neutrophils (r2= 0.3630, p< 0.0001) and platelet counts (r2= 0.0828, p= 0.0331) in circulation was positively associated with MDSC level. Then, the prognostic value of the above predictors was determined in a retrospective database of 243 HCC patients (retrospective group). The baseline characteristics of prospective and retrospective group were similar. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were confirmed to be an independent predictor for OS ( p= 0.003) with the rest parameters presented negative results. Then, advanced HCC patients were divided into two groups based on PLR value ≤111.23 or > 111.23 according to ROC analysis. Patients with low PLR presented higher 3-month survival rate (57.6% vs 37.6%) compared with patients with high PLR. PLR was associated with aggressive behavior of malignancies, such as distant metastasis and portal vein thrombosis. Conclusions: In summary, the present study firstly indentified blood platelet counts was a predictor of MDSC level in PBMC for HCC patients. And, patients with higher PLR might be the optimal patient subgroup for MDSC targeted therapy.