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E.W. Alley



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    ORAL 11 - Clinical Trials 1 (ID 100)

    • Event: WCLC 2015
    • Type: Oral Session
    • Track: Thymoma, Mesothelioma and Other Thoracic Malignancies
    • Presentations: 1
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      ORAL11.03 - Single-Agent Pembrolizumab for Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) (ID 3011)

      10:56 - 11:07  |  Author(s): E.W. Alley

      • Abstract
      • Presentation
      • Slides

      Background:
      Targeting the programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) pathway is a valid therapeutic target in a variety of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) is a potent, highly selective humanized monoclonal antibody against PD-1 and is approved in the United States for the treatment of advanced melanoma that progressed following ipilimumab and, if BRAF[V600] mutant, a BRAF inhibitor. We have previously reported preliminary antitumor response and safety data for pembrolizumab in patients with MPM enrolled in the KEYNOTE-028 study. Here we present updated safety and efficacy data, including survival, for these patients.

      Methods:
      KEYNOTE-028 (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02054806) is a nonrandomized, multicohort phase 1b trial of pembrolizumab in patients with PD-L1–positive advanced solid tumors. Other key eligibility criteria included measurable disease, failure of standard therapy, ECOG PS 0-1, adequate organ function, and no autoimmune disease or interstitial lung disease. PD-L1 positivity was defined as expression in ≥1% of tumor cells by IHC at a central laboratory. Patients received pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks for up to 2 years or until confirmed progression or unacceptable toxicity. Response was assessed per RECIST v1.1 by investigators every 8 weeks for the first 6 months and every 12 weeks thereafter. Primary end point was the ORR. Secondary end points included safety and tolerability and PFS.

      Results:
      Of the 84 patients with MPM screened for PD-L1 expression, 38 (45%) patients had PD-L1–positive tumors. Of these 38 patients, 25 met the eligibility criteria and were treated with pembrolizumab. As of March 20, 2015, ORR is 28% (n = 7); 12 (48%) patients had stable disease, resulting in a disease control rate of 76%. In the 15 patients with only 1 prior line of therapy, ORR and DCR are 20% and 73%, respectively. Responses are durable, and 10 (40%) patients remain on treatment (duration, 24+ to 36+ weeks). With a median follow-up duration of 8.6 months, median PFS is 5.5 months (95% CI, 3.4-NR), and the 6-month PFS rate is 49.4%. No new safety signals were observed. 15 (60%) patients experienced a drug-related adverse event (DRAE), including 3 (12%) who experienced grade 3-4 DRAEs. Only 2 patients required dose interruption because of immune-related adverse events (transaminitis and uveitis [n = 1 each]). There was no treatment-related mortality, and no patients discontinued because of DRAEs.

      Conclusion:
      Single-agent pembrolizumab has significant clinical activity in patients with PD-L1–positive MPM. The durability of responses and the 49.4% 6-month PFS rate in this pretreated patient population warrants further investigation. Updated safety and survival data, as well as the correlation of antitumor activity with the level of PD-L1 expression, will be available at the time of presentation.

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    ORAL 26 - Clinical Trials 2 (ID 127)

    • Event: WCLC 2015
    • Type: Oral Session
    • Track: Thymoma, Mesothelioma and Other Thoracic Malignancies
    • Presentations: 1
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      ORAL26.06 - Prospective Assessment of Proton Therapy for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (ID 3071)

      11:39 - 11:50  |  Author(s): E.W. Alley

      • Abstract
      • Presentation
      • Slides

      Background:
      Use of radiotherapy (RT) to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has been limited due to reported significant morbidity and risk of fatal pneumonitis when treating large pleural volumes. To date, RT for MPM has generally been limited to palliation, prophylaxis of surgical tract sites, and adjuvant therapy generally after extrapleural pnuemonectomy. Reports of RT for MPM have employed photons and electrons nearly exclusively. Proton therapy (PT) can significantly reduce irradiation to lung and other critical organs, possibly reducing treatment toxicities and enabling novel RT indications. To date, only a single case series of 4 patients has reported on PT for MPM. We report our prospective experience using PT as adjuvant or definitive therapy for MPM and hypothesized that PT will have low rates of esophagitis and pneumonitis, while providing excellent local control.

      Methods:
      All consecutive patients diagnosed with MPM from 2011-2015 and treated at the Penn Mesothelioma and Pleural Program with PT on a prospective registry study were included for this Institutional Review Board-approved analysis. Local control, defined as lack of tumor progression in the RT portal, and overall survival were measured from PT completion to last follow-up or death. Toxicities were scored using CTCAEv4.

      Results:
      Sixteen patients treated to 17 PT courses were included. Patients were predominantly male (81%) and Caucasian (100%) with epithelial histological subtype (82%) and stage III-IV disease (94%). Patients were a median of 69.8 years old at PT start, which was delivered at a median of 11.1 months (range 3.5-69.3 months) after diagnosis. All patients received pemetrexed plus cisplatin or carboplatin prior to (n=15) or concurrent with (n=1) PT. PT was administered as adjuvant therapy following lung-sparing radical pleurectomy (n=8), to sites of gross disease following progression on systemic therapy (n=8), or as initial definitive therapy with concurrent chemotherapy (n=1). Patients were treated to a median dose of 51.75Gy (CGE) in 2.0Gy daily fractions (range 50.0-75.0Gy/1.8-2.5Gy). At a median follow-up of 5 months from PT completion, all patients had durable local control throughout the study period. Five patients died at a median of 5.4 months following PT. Median overall survival for the cohort has not yet been reached, and 6- and 12-month survival rates were 35% and 24%, respectively. No patients experienced grade ≥3 acute or late toxicity. Across the 17 PT courses, acute grade 2 toxicities included radiation dermatitis (n=8), dysphagia/esophagitis (n=4), anorexia (n=3), fatigue (n=2), and cough (n=1). Late grade 2 toxicity included a single patient with radiation pneumonitis (6%). Overall, patients experienced no significant change in ECOG performance score from PT beginning to end (mean 0.82 to 0.88).

      Conclusion:
      This is the largest report of PT for MPM and demonstrated PT is well tolerated with a favorable toxicity profile compared with photon reports. As such, PT may better allow for integration of RT in multimodality therapy for MPM. This study also demonstrated the efficacy of PT, with local control achieved following all 17 treatment courses. Longer follow-up and additional patients are needed to assess late toxicities and overall survival after PT.

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