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W. Klepetko



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    MA 19 - Mesothelioma: Bench to Bedside (ID 680)

    • Event: WCLC 2017
    • Type: Mini Oral
    • Track: Mesothelioma
    • Presentations: 1
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      MA 19.07 - Does Loss of Smad7 Lead to Increased Aggressiveness of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma? (ID 8459)

      11:40 - 11:45  |  Author(s): W. Klepetko

      • Abstract
      • Presentation
      • Slides

      Background:
      Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is characterized by aggressive growth, limited therapeutic options and rapid recurrence following treatment. A better understanding of biological factors underlying MPM aggressiveness offers the chance to improve therapeutic strategies. Growth factors of the TGF-beta superfamily including TGF-beta itself, activins and BMPs have been repeatedly linked to MPM growth. In the current study, we focus on the role of Smad7, a key intracellular antagonist of TGF-beta and activin signaling, in MPM.

      Method:
      A panel of 17 human MPM cell lines was screened for tumorigenicity in SCID mice. Comparative genomic hybridization and whole genome gene expression arrays were used for identification of genes correlating with tumorigenicity. Immunoblotting and qPCR were used to detect Smad7 expression levels in cell lines. For ectopic overexpression of Smad7 in MPM cells, a retroviral expression system was used. Various in vitro assays, immunoblotting and reporter gene assays were employed to characterize the effect of Smad7 overexpression on MPM cell proliferation, migration, signal transduction and drug response.

      Result:
      When human MPM cell lines were dichotomized into tumorigenic ones and non-tumorigenic ones based on their ability to form tumors in SCID mice, loss of Smad7 was one of the most conspicuous associations with tumorigenicity identified in CGH arrays. The tumorigenic group also showed a reduced Smad7 transcript expression in gene expression microarrays. Based on these data we screened a larger panel of MPM cell lines for Smad7 mRNA and protein expression and identified cell lines with high, medium and low Smad7 expression. We generated a retroviral expression construct and established an isogenic subline overexpressing Smad7 from the MPM cell line VMC33 that shows low endogenous Smad7 expression. Compared to parental VMC33 cells or VMC33-RFP cells, which overexpress red fluorescent protein and were used as control, VMC33-Smad7 cells showed a reduced growth rate and diminished clone forming capacity in vitro. VMC33-Smad7 also showed reduced cell migration, but no difference in invasion could be detected. Since Smad7 was described as antagonist of TGF-beta, we tested its effect on TGF-beta signaling with a reporter gene assay and indeed found a blunted response to TGF-b in Smad7 overexpressing cells. With respect to sensitivity against kinase inhibitors targeting TGF-beta receptors, VMC33-Smad7 showed a decreased response to galunisertib and SB-431542 compared to VMC33-RFP.

      Conclusion:
      Taken together, these data suggest that Smad7 may have a growth limiting function in MPM, possibly by antagonizing growth-promoting TGF-beta and/or activin signals.

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    OA 16 - Treatment Strategies and Follow Up (ID 686)

    • Event: WCLC 2017
    • Type: Oral
    • Track: Early Stage NSCLC
    • Presentations: 1
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      OA 16.06 - Mediastinal Staging by Videomediastinoscopy in Clinical N1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Prospective Multicentre Study (ID 8454)

      15:25 - 15:35  |  Author(s): W. Klepetko

      • Abstract
      • Presentation
      • Slides

      Background:
      A fourth of patients with cN1-NSCLC based on PET-CT imaging are at risk for occult mediastinal nodal involvement. In a previous prospective study, endosonography alone had an unsatisfactory sensitivity (38%) to detect mediastinal nodal disease. This prospective multicenter trial investigated the sensitivity of preoperative mediastinal staging by video-assisted mediastinoscopy (VAM) in patients with cN1 (suspected) NSCLC.

      Method:
      Consecutive patients with operable and resectable cN1 (suspected) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) underwent a VAM or VAM-lymphadenectomy (VAMLA). All patients underwent FDG–PET and CT-scan. The primary study outcome was sensitivity to detect N2-disease. Secondary endpoints were the prevalence of N2-disease, negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of VAM(LA).

      Result:
      Figure 1 Out of 105 patients with cN1 on imaging, 26% eventually had N2-disease. Invasive mediastinal staging with VAM(LA) reached sensitivity of 73% to detect N2-disease. The median number of assessed lymph node stations during VAM(LA) was 4. In 96% ≥3 stations were assessed. VAMLA was performed in 31%, 69% underwent VAM.

      N Prevalence of mediastinal disease Sensitivity OR(95%CI) Negative Predictive Value OR(95%CI) Negative Posttest probability OR(95%CI)
      Dooms et al. Chest. 2014; 147(1): 209–15. Endosonography alone 100 24% 0.38 (0.18-0.57) 0.81 (0.71-0.91) 0.19 (0.13-0.27)
      Endosonograpy, if negative followed by mediastionoscopy 0.73 (0.55-0.91) 0.91 (0.83-0.98) 0.09 (0.04-0.17)
      Current Study Mediastinoscopy 105 26% 0.73 (0.54-0.86) 0.92 (0.83-0.97) 0.08 (0.03-0.17)




      Conclusion:
      VAM(LA) has a satisfactory sensitivity of 73% to detect mediastinal nodal disease in cN1-NSCLC and could be the technique of choice for pre-resection mediastinal lymph node assessment in this patient group with 26% chance of occult positive mediastinal nodes after negative PET-CT. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02222194)

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    P2.09 - Mesothelioma (ID 710)

    • Event: WCLC 2017
    • Type: Poster Session with Presenters Present
    • Track: Mesothelioma
    • Presentations: 1
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      P2.09-004 - PD-L1 Protein Expression Is Negative Prognostic Factor in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Central Europe (ID 9558)

      09:30 - 09:30  |  Author(s): W. Klepetko

      • Abstract
      • Slides

      Background:
      Early data on immune-checkpoint blockade with PD-1 inhibitors show promising response rates and survival benefit mainly in PD-L1 positive malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patients. Reported rate of PD-L1 positivity of MPM is between 20-40%. However, the role of PD-L1 protein expression positivity in prediction of a response to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors remains controversial. We assessed the prognostic value of PD-L1 expression in patients with MPM in central Europe.

      Method:
      We evaluated protein expression of PD-L1 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded surgical specimens of 176 MPM patients from Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia. PD-L1 antibody clone E1L3N (Cell Signaling) was used. Cut-off point of >10% of PD-L1-positive tumor cells at any staining intensity was correlated with clinicopathologic characteristics (age, gender, IMIG clinical stage, histology (epithelioid vs non-epithelioid) and survival).

      Result:
      There were altogether 49 females and 127 males, median age 63 years. PD-L1 protein expression of >10% was observed in higher proportion in a patient with higher IMIG stage (III+IV vs. I+II), as well as in patients with non-epithelioid histology, later being also statistically significant (p=0.0026). Median survival of patients with high PD-L1 expression (>10%) in tumor cells was significantly shorter in comparison with patients demonstrating lower PD-L1 expression (26 vs. 67 weeks respectively, p<0.001). PD-L1 expression (>10%) proved to be an independent prognostic factor in a multivariate cox regression analysis (hazard ratio [HR] 2.902; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.425 to 5.937; p = 0.003).

      Conclusion:
      High expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells (>10%) is negative independent prognostic factor in malignant pleural mesothelioma regardless of histology.

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