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BackgroundInterleukin 12 (IL-12) is a pivotal regulator of innate and adaptive immunity. We conducted a prospective open-label, phase II clinical trial of electroporated plasmid IL-12 in advanced melanoma patients (NCT01502293).Patients and methodsPatients with stage III/IV melanoma were treated intratumorally with plasmid encoding IL-12 (tavokinogene telseplasmid; tavo), 0.5 mg/ml followed by electroporation (six pulses, 1500 V/cm) on days 1, 5, and 8 every 90 days in the main study and additional patients were treated in two alternative schedule exploration cohorts. Correlative analyses for programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), flow cytometry to assess changes in immune cell subsets, and analysis of immune-related gene expression were carried out on pre- and post-treatment samples from study patients, as well as from additional patients treated during exploration of additional dosing schedules beyond the pre-specified protocol dosing schedule. Response was measured by study-specific criteria to maximize detection of latent and potentially transient immune responses in patients with multiple skin lesions and toxicities were graded by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0 (CTCAE v4.0).ResultsThe objective overall response rate was 35.7% in the main study (29.8% in all cohorts), with a complete response rate of 17.9% (10.6% in all cohorts). The median progression-free survival in the main study was 3.7 months while the median overall survival was not reached at a median follow up of 29.7 months. A total of 46% of patients in all cohorts with uninjected lesions experienced regression of at least one of these lesions and 25% had a net regression of all untreated lesions. Transcriptomic and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that immune activation and co-stimulatory transcripts were up-regulated but there was also increased adaptive immune resistance.ConclusionsIntratumoral Tavo was well tolerated and led to systemic immune responses in advanced melanoma patients. While tumor regression and increased immune infiltration were observed in treated as well as untreated/distal lesions, adaptive immune resistance limited the response.

BackgroundNovel second-line treatments are needed for patients with advanced urothelial cancer (UC). Interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-045 study showed a superior overall survival (OS) benefit of pembrolizumab, a programmed death 1 inhibitor, versus chemotherapy in patients with advanced UC that progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy. Here we report the long-term safety and efficacy outcomes of KEYNOTE-045.Patients and methodsAdult patients with histologically/cytologically confirmed UC whose disease progressed after first-line, platinum-containing chemotherapy were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned 1 : 1 to receive pembrolizumab [200 mg every 3 weeks (Q3W)] or investigator's choice of paclitaxel (175 mg/m2 Q3W), docetaxel (75 mg/m2 Q3W), or vinflunine (320 mg/m2 Q3W). Primary end points were OS and progression-free survival (PFS) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1 (RECIST v1.1) by blinded independent central radiology review (BICR). A key secondary end point was objective response rate per RECIST v1.1 by BICR.ResultsA total of 542 patients were enrolled (pembrolizumab, n = 270; chemotherapy, n = 272). Median follow-up as of 26 October 2017 was 27.7 months. Median 1- and 2-year OS rates were higher with pembrolizumab (44.2% and 26.9%, respectively) than chemotherapy (29.8% and 14.3%, respectively). PFS rates did not differ between treatment arms; however, 1- and 2-year PFS rates were higher with pembrolizumab. The objective response rate was also higher with pembrolizumab (21.1% versus 11.0%). Median duration of response to pembrolizumab was not reached (range 1.6+ to 30.0+ months) versus chemotherapy (4.4 months; range 1.4+ to 29.9+ months). Pembrolizumab had lower rates of any grade (62.0% versus 90.6%) and grade ≥3 (16.5% versus 50.2%) treatment-related adverse events than chemotherapy.ConclusionsLong-term results (>2 years' follow-up) were consistent with those of previously reported analyses, demonstrating continued clinical benefit of pembrolizumab over chemotherapy for efficacy and safety for treatment of locally advanced/metastatic, platinum-refractory UC.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02256436.

Abstract Microfluidic vortex shedding (µVS) can rapidly deliver mRNA to T cells with high yield and minimal perturbation of the cell state. The mechanistic underpinning of µVS intracellular delivery remains undefined and µVS-Cas9 genome editing requires further studies. Herein, we evaluated a series of µVS devices containing splitter plates to attenuate vortex shedding and understand the contribution of computed force and frequency on efficiency and viability. We then selected a µVS design to knockout the expression of the endogenous T cell receptor in primary human T cells via delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) with and without brief exposure to an electric field (eµVS). µVS alone resulted in an equivalent yield of genome-edited T cells relative to electroporation with improved cell quality. A 1.8-fold increase in editing efficiency was demonstrated with eµVS with negligible impact on cell viability. Herein, we demonstrate efficient processing of 5 × 106 cells suspend in 100 µl of cGMP OptiMEM in under 5 s, with the capacity of a single device to process between 106 to 108 in 1 to 30 s. Cumulatively, these results demonstrate the rapid and robust utility of µVS and eµVS for genome editing human primary T cells with Cas9 RNPs.

Immune checkpoint blockers (ICB) have become pivotal therapies in the clinical armamentarium against metastatic melanoma (MMel). Given the frequency of immune related adverse events and increasing use of ICB, predictors of response to CTLA-4 and/or PD-1 blockade represent unmet clinical needs. Using a systems biology-based approach to an assessment of 779 paired blood and tumor markers in 37 stage III MMel patients, we analyzed association between blood immune parameters and the functional immune reactivity of tumor-infiltrating cells after ex vivo exposure to ICB. Based on this assay, we retrospectively observed, in eight cohorts enrolling 190 MMel patients treated with ipilimumab, that PD-L1 expression on peripheral T cells was prognostic on overall and progression-free survival. Moreover, detectable CD137 on circulating CD8+ T cells was associated with the disease-free status of resected stage III MMel patients after adjuvant ipilimumab + nivolumab (but not nivolumab alone). These biomarkers should be validated in prospective trials in MMel.The clinical management of metastatic melanoma requires predictors of the response to checkpoint blockade. Here, the authors use immunological assays to identify potential prognostic/predictive biomarkers in circulating blood cells and in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from patients with resected stage III melanoma.

BackgroundThis phase 1 clinical trial was conducted to determine the safety, maximum-tolerated dose (MTD), and pharmacokinetics of imatinib, bevacizumab, and metronomic cyclophosphamide in patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC).MethodsPatients with refractory stage IV CRC were treated with bevacizumab 5 mg kg(-1) i.v. every 2 weeks (fixed dose) plus oral cyclophosphamide q.d. and imatinib q.d. or b.i.d. in 28-day cycles with 3+3 dose escalation. Response was assessed every two cycles. Pharmacokinetics of imatinib and cyclophosphamide and circulating tumour, endothelial, and immune cell subsets were measured.ResultsThirty-five patients were enrolled. Maximum-tolerated doses were cyclophosphamide 50 mg q.d., imatinib 400 mg q.d., and bevacizumab 5 mg kg(-1) i.v. every 2 weeks. Dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) included nausea/vomiting, neutropaenia, hyponatraemia, fistula, and haematuria. The DLT window required expansion to 42 days (1.5 cycles) to capture delayed toxicities. Imatinib exposure increased insignificantly after adding cyclophosphamide. Seven patients (20%) experienced stable disease for >6 months. Circulating tumour, endothelial, or immune cells were not associated with progression-free survival.ConclusionThe combination of metronomic cyclophosphamide, imatinib, and bevacizumab is safe and tolerable without significant drug interactions. A subset of patients experienced prolonged stable disease independent of dose level.