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C. Rolfo



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    P1.06 - Poster Session 1 - Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers (ID 161)

    • Event: WCLC 2013
    • Type: Poster Session
    • Track: Biology
    • Presentations: 1
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      P1.06-058 - The PHALCIS Trial (PHarmacogenomic ALimta CISplatin): A clinical trial in progress by The Spanish Lung Cancer Group (ID 3425)

      09:30 - 09:30  |  Author(s): C. Rolfo

      • Abstract

      Background
      The inherent molecular heterogeneity prevents the efforts to improve outcomes for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Platinum doublets are the standard option for the treatment of advanced NSCLC, but none of the platinum-based combinations used offer a significant advantage over the others. Pemetrexed is an antifolate antimetabolite that inhibits several key folate-dependent enzymes, mainly thymidylate synthase (TS). A phase III trial conducted in the first-line setting of advanced NSCLC demonstrated that survival was statistically superior for cisplatin plus pemetrexed in patients with adenocarcinoma (12.6 versus 10.9 months; HR 0.84, P = 0.03), and large-cell carcinoma (10.4 versus 6.7 months; HR 0.67; P = 0.0 3 compared with cisplatin plus gemcitabine (1). Preclinical data have indicated that overexpression of TS correlates with reduced sensitivity to pemetrexed (2). Baseline expression of the TS gene is superior in squamous cell carcinoma compared with adenocarcinoma (P < 0.0001) (3). BRCA1 is a component of multiple DNA repair pathways and functions as a molecular determinant of response to a range of cytotoxic chemotherapeutics agents. The analysis of BRCA expression levels in patients who had received neoadjuvant gemcitabine/cisplatin chemotherapy found that patients with low levels of BRCA1 had longer survival (P = 0.01) compared to those with high expression levels (4). RAP80 is an interacting protein that form complexes with BRCA1 and could modulate the effect of BRCA1. In patients with non-squamous lung carcinoma, survival was influenced by RAP80 expression (5). Taking into account this background, the Spanish Lung Cancer Group has started a phase IIA study of pemetrexed plus cisplatin as first line treatment for advanced/metastatic non-squamous lung carcinoma. The availability of tissue samples for analysis of expression of BRCA1, RAP80 and thymidylate synthase is mandatory. The primary objective is response rate adjusted for different expression levels of BRCA1, RAP80 and TS. Secondary objectives are OS, TTP and toxicity profile of the combination and its relationship with the biomarkers. The expected total number of patients accrued will be 90. Forty-nine patients have been included up to now. References Scagliotti GV, Parikh P, Pawel J, et al. Phase III study comparing cisplatin plus gemcitabine with cisplatin plus pemetrexed in chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced-stage non–small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 2008. Sigmond J, Backus HH, Wouters D, et al. Induction of resistance to the multitarged antifolate pemetrexed in WiDr human colon cancer cells is associated with thymidylate synthase overexpression. Biochem Pharmacol 2003. Ceppi P, Volante M, Saviozzi S, et al. Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung compared with other histotypes shows higher messenger RNA and protein levels for thymidylate synthase. Cancer 2006. Taron M, Rosell R, Felip E, et al. BRCA1 mRNA expression levels as an indicator of chemoresistance in lung cancer. Hum Mol Genet 2004. Rosell R, Perez-Roca L, Sanchez JJ, et al. Customized treatment in non-small cell lung cancer based on EGFR mutations and BRCA1 expression. PLoS ONE 2009.

      Methods
      Not applicable

      Results
      Not applicable

      Conclusion
      Not applicable

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    P3.01 - Poster Session 3 - Cancer Biology (ID 147)

    • Event: WCLC 2013
    • Type: Poster Session
    • Track: Biology
    • Presentations: 1
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      P3.01-015 - <b>Outcome in pemetrexed/cisplatin-treated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients according to mRNA expression levels of BRCA1, TS, AEG1 and REV3 </b> (ID 1170)

      09:30 - 09:30  |  Author(s): C. Rolfo

      • Abstract

      Background
      REV3, the catalytic subunit of the translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerase x, can continue replication past DNA adducts. Depletion of REV3 sensitizes A549 lung cancer cells to cisplatin. REV3 expression is part of a gene signature that predicted pemetrexed sensitivity in 17 NSCLC cell lines. BRCA1, TS, AEG1 and RAP80 are involved in DNA damage repair through homologous recombination. The homologous recombination and TLS pathways have non-redundant functions in response to cisplatin. We hypothesized that low mRNA expression of these genes – either alone or in combination – could confer improved outcome to cisplatin/pemetrexed in NSCLC patients.

      Methods
      REV3, BRCA1, RAP80, TS and AEG1 mRNA expression was examined by quantitative RT-PCR and categorized by terciles. Expression of each gene was correlated with outcome in 47 cisplatin/pemetrexed-treated NSCLC patients.

      Results
      63.8% male; 47% smokers; 80.9% ECOG PS 1; 80.8% adenocarcinoma. Overall response rate was 51%, with no differences according to expression levels of any of the genes. Progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with low, intermediate and high BRCA1 levels was 13.4, 5.5 and 3.9 months (m), respectively (P=0.005). Similar differences in PFS were observed according to TS (P=0.003) and AEG1 (P<0.001) expression. The hazard ratio (HR) for PFS for patients with high BRCA1 levels was 4 (P=0.002). Overall survival (OS) for patients with low, intermediate and high BRCA1 levels was 29.7, 7.4 and 6.3 m, respectively (P=0.05). Similar differences in OS were observed according to TS (P=0.005) and AEG1 (P=0.001) expression. HR for OS for patients with high BRCA1 levels was 3.6 (P=0.004). There were no differences in PFS or OS according to REV3 or RAP80 levels. However, the joint effect of BRCA1 and REV3 was significant for predictive modeling. PFS for patients with low, intermediate and high levels of both genes was 14.9, 7.2 and 2.8 m, respectively (P=0.001). OS for patients with low, intermediate and high levels of both genes was 29.7, 7.8 and 6.3 m, respectively (P=0.04).

      Conclusion
      Low BRCA1 expression predicts longer PFS and OS in pemetrexed/cisplatin-treated NSCLC p. Low TS and AEG1 levels have similar predictive value. The combination of low BRCA1 and REV3 expression confers longer PFS and OS. Analysis of these genes could be useful for customizing pemetrexed/platinum chemotherapy.

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    P3.06 - Poster Session 3 - Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers (ID 178)

    • Event: WCLC 2013
    • Type: Poster Session
    • Track: Biology
    • Presentations: 1
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      P3.06-035 - Study of the correlations between SNPs in angiogenic genes and treatment response/ outcome in patients with advanced NSCLC (non-squamous histology) treated in first line with carboplatin, paclitaxel and bevacizumab (CPB). The ANGIOMET study. (ID 2664)

      09:30 - 09:30  |  Author(s): C. Rolfo

      • Abstract

      Background
      It has been demonstrated that the addition of bevacizumab to paclitaxel plus carboplatin (CPB) in the treatment of advanced NSCLC improves survival. Even though, there is a high variability in drug efficacy between patients, leading to different response rates. ANGIOMET is an exploratory study promoted by the SLCG in advanced NSCLC, non-squamous histologies (NS-NSCLC) treated in first line with a combination scheme based in CPB, designed to investigate the relationship between angiogenic mediators and the outcome and response to treatment. The primary end-point was progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary end-points are the follows: OS, response-rates and toxicity profiles.

      Methods
      In this multicentric study, patients with stage IIIB/IV NS-NSCLC (ECOG status 0–2) were included and treated in first line with CPB. Peripheral blood samples were collected before treatment administration and DNA was purified from the leukocyte fraction. Ten SNPs of VEGF-pathway genes were genotyped in 186 samples by RT-PCR in duplicate. SNPs were related to PFS and OS (Kaplan-Meir method, log-rank test) and to response rate.

      Results
      10 SNPs were determined in 186 DNA samples. In this preliminary analysis there were data from 108 patients valid for PFS and OS analysis. Baseline characteristics of the patients were: median age, 63 years [37-80]; 74.5% male; 94.1% ECOG PS 0-1; 14% never-smokers, 100% caucasian; 89.7% adenocarcinomas, 2.8% large cell carcinomas; median number of CPB cycles was 4. There was no response assessment in 27 patients (25%), 30.6% PR, 31.5% SD and 13.0% PD. The SNP rs833061 (CC) in VEGFA correlated with lower response rates to CPB than the other genotypes (p=0.07). SNPs in KRAS and VEGFR2 were associated with PFS and/or OS in our cohort. The KRAS SNP rs10842513 (TT+CT) was associated with shorter PFS compared with the CC genotype (median: 5.39 vs 6.81 months; p=0.04, respectively). The VEGFR2 SNP rs2071559 (AA) was significantly associated with longer PFS and OS (Table 1). No significant differences in PFS or OS were observed according to other SNPs analyzed. Table 1: PFS and OS for VEGFR2 SNPrs2071559.

      PFS
      % Median (months) 95%CI p
      VEGFR2 (rs2071559)
      AA 25.6 9,408 5,084 - 13,732 0.01
      GG+AG 74.0 5,724 4,902 - 6,546
      OS
      % Median (months) 95%CI p
      VEGFR2 (rs2071559)
      AA 25.6 NR ---- 0.001
      GG+AG 74.0 12,270 8,760 – 15.780

      Conclusion
      These preliminary data indicate that genetic variation in VEGFR2, SNP rs2071559 variant AA, is associated with prognosis in advanced NS-NSCLC patients treated with CPB and may have predictive implications as biomarkers in patients treated with chemotherapy with bevacizumab. On behalf of the Spanish Lung Cancer Group (SLCG)