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In the CARD study, cabazitaxel significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival versus abiraterone or enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer previously treated with docetaxel and the alternative androgen signalling-targeted inhibitor. Here, we report the quality-of-life outcomes from the CARD study. CARD was a randomised, multicentre, open-label, phase 4 study involving 62 clinical sites across 13 European countries. Patients (aged ≥18 years, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤2) with confirmed metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer were randomly assigned (1:1) by means of an interactive voice–web response system to receive cabazitaxel (25 mg/m2 intravenously every 3 weeks, 10 mg daily prednisone, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) versus abiraterone (1000 mg orally once daily plus 5 mg prednisone twice daily) or enzalutamide (160 mg orally daily). Stratification factors were ECOG performance status, time to disease progression on the previous androgen signalling-targeted inhibitor, and timing of the previous androgen signalling-targeted inhibitor. The primary endpoint was radiographic progression-free survival; here, we present more detailed analyses of pain (assessed using item 3 on the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form [BPI-SF]) and symptomatic skeletal events, alongside preplanned patient-reported outcomes, assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—Prostate (FACT-P) questionnaire and the EuroQoL—5 dimensions, 5 level scale (EQ-5D-5L). Efficacy analyses were done in the intention-to-treat population. Pain response was analysed in the intention-to-treat population with baseline and at least one post-baseline assessment of BPI-SF item 3, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were analysed in the intention-to-treat population with baseline and at least one post-baseline assessment of either FACT-P or EQ-5D-5L (PRO population). Analyses of skeletal-related events were also done in the intention-to-treat population. The CARD study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02485691, and is no longer enrolling. Between Nov 17, 2015, and Nov 28, 2018, of 303 patients screened, 255 were randomly assigned to cabazitaxel (n=129) or abiraterone or enzalutamide (n=126). Median follow-up was 9·2 months (IQR 5·6–13·1). Pain response was observed in 51 (46%) of 111 patients with cabazitaxel and 21 (19%) of 109 patients with abiraterone or enzalutamide (p<0·0001). Median time to pain progression was not estimable (NE; 95% CI NE–NE) with cabazitaxel and 8·5 months (4·9–NE) with abiraterone or enzalutamide (hazard ratio [HR] 0·55, 95% CI 0·32–0·97; log-rank p=0·035). Median time to symptomatic skeletal events was NE (95% CI 20·0–NE) with cabazitaxel and 16·7 months (10·8–NE) with abiraterone or enzalutamide (HR 0·59, 95% CI 0·35–1·01; log-rank p=0·050). Median time to FACT-P total score deterioration was 14·8 months (95% CI 6·3–NE) with cabazitaxel and 8·9 months (6·3–NE) with abiraterone or enzalutamide (HR 0·72, 95% CI 0·44–1·20; log-rank p=0·21). There was a significant treatment effect seen in changes from baseline in EQ-5D-5L utility index score in favour of cabazitaxel over abiraterone or enzalutamide (p=0·030) but no difference between treatment groups for change from baseline in EQ-5D-5L visual analogue scale (p=0·060). Since cabazitaxel improved pain response, time to pain progression, time to symptomatic skeletal events, and EQ-5D-5L utility index, clinicians and patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer can be reassured that cabazitaxel will not reduce quality of life when compared with treatment with a second androgen signalling-targeted inhibitor. Sanofi.

Purpose[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 radio-ligand therapy (PSMA-RLT) is emerging in patients with an advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Here, we aimed to estimate the results of PSMA-RLT in terms of response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients receiving a highly standardized treatment regimen due to mCRPC. The toxicity of PSMA-RLT has also been evaluated.Patients and methodsFifty-four patients (mean age 72 ± 7 years, median PSA at time of initial therapy 66 [range 1.0–4890 μg/L]), receiving three PSMA-RLT cycles (mean 7315 ± 573 MBq) at four weekly intervals, were included in this retrospective analysis. Hematological and biochemical parameters were regularly determined in every patient. Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to assess PFS and OS and a Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze significant associations. Treatment response was based on PSA measurements 4 weeks after the 3rd treatment.ResultsThe majority of patients were previously treated with abiraterone/enzalutamide (69%) and docetaxel/cabazitaxel (67%). In total, 79% of the patients showed a decrease in PSA (median PSA decrease from 66 to 19.8, range 0.7–4563 μg/L, P < 0.001) 1 month after the 3rd therapy cycle. Among them, 58% and 35% demonstrated a PSA-decline of > 50% and > 80%, respectively. Median OS was 119 weeks; median PFS was 25 weeks. Patients presenting with a PSA decline had significantly longer PFS (27 vs. 15 weeks, P < 0.0001) and OS (median survival not reached vs. 52 weeks, P < 0.001) than patients with no PSA reduction. Moreover, patients with reduction in PSA levels ≥ 50% (median survival not reached vs. 52 weeks, P < 0.0001) and ≥ 80% (median survival not reached vs. 87 weeks, P = 0.008) lived significantly longer. While hemoglobin did not change during treatment, levels of platelets (236 ± 71 g/L vs. 193 ± 67 g/L) and leucocytes (6.5, range 2.9–13.7 g/L vs. 4.8, range 1.5–12.3 g/L) decreased significantly, both P < 0.001. Two grade 3 leukocytopenia and one grade 3 anemia were observed.ConclusionIntense PSMA-RLT regime with four weekly intervals between the cycles is well-tolerated and offers favorable response rates, PFS, and survival rates for patients with mCRPC.

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are found in a variety of adult tissues including human dermis. These MSCs are morphologically similar to bone marrow–derived MSCs, but are of unclear phenotype. To shed light on the characteristics of human dermal MSCs, this study was designed to identify and isolate dermal MSCs by a specific marker expression profile, and subsequently rate their mesenchymal differentiation potential. Immunohistochemical staining showed that MSC markers CD73/CD90/CD105, as well as CD271 and SSEA-4, are expressed on dermal cells in situ. Flow cytometric analysis revealed a phenotype similar to bone marrow–derived MSCs. Human dermal cells isolated by plastic adherence had a lower differentiation capacity as compared with bone marrow–derived MSCs. To distinguish dermal MSCs from differentiated fibroblasts, we immunoselected CD271+ and SSEA-4+ cells from adherent dermal cells and investigated their mesenchymal differentiation capacity. This revealed that cells with increased adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic potential were enriched in the dermal CD271+ population. The differentiation potential of dermal SSEA-4+ cells, in contrast, appeared to be limited to adipogenesis. These results indicate that specific cell populations with variable mesenchymal differentiation potential can be isolated from human dermis. Moreover, we identified three different subsets of dermal mesenchymal progenitor cells.

Background We examined real-world outcomes of patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) treated with apalutamide plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The current study, reflecting real-life practice, included specific subpopulations not evaluated in the pivotal phase III TITAN study: patients diagnosed with novel imaging, patients with M1a disease only, and patients treated with concomitant radiotherapy. Methods ArtemisR is the first European multi-country observational study to retrospectively collect data from medical records of patients with mHSPC treated with apalutamide plus ADT in routine clinical practice. Response rates of patients with 50% and 90% decrease in PSA level (PSA50 and PSA90) compared with baseline and undetectable PSA (uPSA, < 0.2 ng/mL) were reported. Time to PSA response, time to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), proportion of apalutamide discontinuation, and survival at 12 months were also examined using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results The analysis included 242 patients from Germany, France, Spain, and Austria; median age was 71 years. Median follow-up was 25.5 months from treatment initiation. Within 12 months of apalutamide initiation, 96% of patients achieved PSA50, 82% achieved PSA90, and 61% achieved uPSA. The median times to PSA50, PSA90, and uPSA were 1.08 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.99–1.28), 1.94 months (95% CI: 1.54–2.27), and 3.48 months (95% CI: 2.92–5.68), respectively. At 12 months after treatment initiation, 94% of patients were alive, 91% had not progressed to mCRPC, and 81% remained on apalutamide plus ADT. Patients diagnosed with novel imaging, patients with M1a disease only, and patients treated with concomitant radiotherapy also showed deep and fast PSA responses (PSA90 and uPSA) with apalutamide plus ADT. Apalutamide-related adverse events (AEs) were reported in 90 patients (37%), and six patients (2.5%) discontinued apalutamide due to AEs. No new safety signals were detected. Conclusions The ArtemisR European multi-centre study examined the efficacy and safety of apalutamide plus ADT for patients with mHSPC, further validating the deep and fast PSA response associated with this treatment regimen. These real-world outcomes were additionally observed in a more diverse patient population than that included in the pivotal TITAN study.

BackgroundMetastatic prostate cancer has a 30% 5-year survival rate despite recent therapeutic advances. There is a need to improve the clinical understanding and treatment of this disease, particularly in the real-world setting and among patients who are under-represented in clinical trials.ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients who received their first treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in routine clinical practice, independent of treatment used, including subgroups with baseline cardiac disease, diabetes mellitus, or visceral metastases.Patients and methodsProspective, noninterventional analysis of patient record data in the multicenter Prostate Cancer Registry (PCR) of men with mCRPC. The data were collected in 16 countries with the aim of recruiting more than 3000 patients between 2013 and 2016. The study end date was 9 July 2018. Data evaluated included baseline characteristics, treatment exposure, and efficacy outcomes [overall survival (OS) and time to progression (TTP)] of patients treated with abiraterone acetate plus prednisone or prednisolone (collectively, “abiraterone”), enzalutamide, or docetaxel. Descriptive outcomes are reported from the overall patient population and subgroups of patients with baseline cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, or visceral metastases. The treatment effects for time to progression were compared for the overall patient population.ResultsThe study enrollment period lasted 2.5 years, and each patient was followed for a maximum of 3 years. A total of 1874 patients in the PCR had not received previous mCRPC treatment at baseline, although they had received androgen-deprivation therapy. Prevalent co-morbidities included cardiovascular disease in 65.4% and diabetes mellitus in 17.4% of patients. Baseline characteristics suggested that patients with more advanced disease received docetaxel treatment. In the overall patient population, the median time to progression with abiraterone, enzalutamide, and docetaxel as first-line mCRPC therapy was 9.6, 10.3, and 7.6 months, respectively, and median OS was 27.1, 27.1, and 27.9 months, respectively. Outcomes in the subgroups of patients with cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus were similar to those of the whole population in the analysis. As expected, patients with visceral metastases had shorter TTP and OS than patients in the overall population.ConclusionsThis analysis shows, for the first time, the effectiveness in parallel of first-line abiraterone, enzalutamide, and docetaxel in mCRPC, including in patients with co-morbidities such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus or in patients with visceral metastases. These real-world findings from the PCR provide meaningful information to help manage mCRPC, particularly in patients under-represented in clinical studies.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02236637; registered September 2014.

Aside from genetic alterations, epigenetic tumor-specific changes including DNA methylation are measurable in ctDNA and CTCs and their potential as diagnostic, prognostic and predictive epigenetic biomarkers has been demonstrated in a large number of studies although only few have made it into clinical practice, yet [7]. Next, the 92 analyzed marker candidates were used for prediction model calculations by inputting PMR values for class prediction models based on different algorithms including Diagonal Linear Discriminant Analysis (DLDA), Nearest Centroid Predictor, k-Nearest-Neighbor Predictor, Support Vector Machines and (Bayesian) Compound Covariate Predictor (BCCP/CCP). Together, these data suggest that mCRPC can be identified based on methylation signatures with high accuracy, whereas organ-confined PCa with Gleason scores lower than 9 cannot be differentiated from benign samples, most likely due to limited amounts of ctDNA, which was also described in other studies analyzing DNA methylation in localized PCa patients using digital droplet PCR [11, 12]. When performing fragment analysis of a subset of benign, localized PCa and mCRPC plasma samples (n=20 per group), we observed a significant shift of the mean cfDNA fragment size from 175 bp in benign and localized PCa (range 168 - 183bp) to 168 bp in mCRPC (range 145 – 179 bp) samples (Figure S2I). [...]our markers might be suitable to identify high risk patients, who have already developed micrometastases, which cannot be detected by regular computed tomography (CT).

Background To validate the clinical utility of a previously identified circulating tumor DNA methylation marker (meth-ctDNA) panel for disease detection and survival outcomes, meth-ctDNA markers were compared to PSA levels and PSMA PET/CT findings in men with different stages of prostate cancer (PCa). Methods 122 PCa patients who underwent [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT and plasma sampling (03/2019–08/2021) were analyzed. cfDNA was extracted, and a panel of 8 individual meth-ctDNA markers was queried. PET scans were qualitatively and quantitatively assessed. PSA and meth-ctDNA markers were compared to PET findings, and their relative prognostic value was evaluated. Results PSA discriminated best between negative and tumor-indicative PET scans in all (AUC 0.77) and hormone-sensitive (hsPC) patients (0.737). In castration-resistant PCa (CRPC), the meth-ctDNA marker KLF8 performed best (AUC 0.824). CHST11 differentiated best between non- and metastatic scans (AUC 0.705) overall, KLF8 best in hsPC and CRPC (AUC 0.662, 0.85). Several meth-ctDNA markers correlated low to moderate with the tumor volume in all (5/8) and CRPC patients (6/8), while PSA levels correlated moderately to strongly with the tumor volume in all groups (all p  < 0.001). CRPC overall survival was independently associated with LDAH and PSA ( p  = 0.0168, p  < 0.001). Conclusion The studied meth-ctDNA markers are promising for the minimally-invasive detection and prognostication of CRPC but do not allow for clinical characterization of hsPC. Prospective studies are warranted for their use in therapy response and outcome prediction in CRPC and potential incremental value for PCa monitoring in PSA-low settings.

BackgroundTreatment-emergent neuroendocrine prostate carcinoma (t-NE) can occur de novo or after diagnosis of prostate adenocarcinoma. Treatment often includes platinum-containing chemotherapy because of t-NE’s histologic similarity to small cell lung cancer. The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab has shown promising efficacy and acceptable safety when combined with olaparib, docetaxel, or enzalutamide for treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in the multicohort phase 1b/2 KEYNOTE-365 study (NCT02861573). Cohort I will be used to compare platinum-containing chemotherapy alone with chemotherapy + pembrolizumab as treatment for t-NE.MethodsPatients who have t-NE (≥1% neuroendocrine cells in a recent biopsy specimen confirmed by central histology review); experienced progression within 6 months of starting a next-generation hormonal agent (NHA) for mCRPC or hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and experienced progression within 6 cycles of docetaxel treatment for mCRPC; and have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status score of 0 or 1 are eligible. Prior therapy with ≤2 NHAs and 1 other chemotherapy for mCRPC is permitted. Patients will be randomly assigned 1:1 to receive pembrolizumab 200 mg IV on day 1 of each cycle every 3 weeks + carboplatin AUC of 5 IV on day 1 + etoposide 100 mg/m2 IV on days 1, 2, and 3 of each 21-day cycle for 4 cycles (arm 1) or the same chemotherapy regimen without pembrolizumab (arm 2); in each arm 40–100 patients will be enrolled. Pembrolizumab treatment will continue up to 2 years until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal of consent. Patients will be stratified by ECOG performance status score (0 or 1). Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging will be performed every 9 weeks through week 54 and every 12 weeks thereafter. Primary end points are safety and tolerability, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate, and objective response rate (ORR) per RECIST v1.1 by blinded independent central review (BICR). Secondary end points are time to PSA progression; ORR and radiographic progression-free survival (PFS) per PCWG3-modified RECIST v1.1 by BICR; duration of response and disease control rate per RECIST v1.1 by BICR and PCWG3-modified RECIST v1.1 by BICR; and overall survival. End points will be summarized for each arm without formal hypothesis testing.AcknowledgementsMedical writing and/or editorial assistance was provided by Matthew Grzywacz, PhD, of ApotheCom (Yardley, PA, USA). This assistance was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA. Funding for this research was provided by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT02861573Ethics ApprovalThe study and the protocol were approved by the Institutional Review Board or ethics committee at each site.

A randomized trial involving patients with metastatic prostate cancer whose disease progressed after receipt of docetaxel and hormonal therapy showed that cabazitaxel was superior to an androgen-signaling–targeted agent in extending imaging-based progression-free survival, overall survival, and PSA response.

Background In the era of cytokines, patients with brain metastases (BM) from renal cell carcinoma had a significantly shorter survival than patients without. Targeted agents (TA) have improved the outcome of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) however, their impact on patients with BM is less clear. The aim of this analysis was to compare the outcome of patients with and without BM in the era of targeted agents. Methods Data from 114 consecutive patients who had access to targeted agent were analyzed for response rates (ORR), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). All patients diagnosed with BM underwent local, BM-specific treatment before initiation of medical treatment. Results Data of 114 consecutive patients who had access to at least one type of targeted agents were analyzed. Twelve out of 114 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients (10.5%) were diagnosed with BM. Systemic treatment consisted of sunitinib, sorafenib, temsirolimus or bevacizumab. The median PFS was 8.7 months (95% CI 5.1 - 12.3) and 11.4 months (95% CI 8.7 - 14.1) for BM-patients and non-BM-patients, respectively (p = 0.232). The median overall survival for patients with and without BM was 13.4 (95% CI 1- 43.9) and 33.3 months (95% CI 18.6 - 47.0) (p = 0.358), respectively. No patient died from cerebral disease progression. ECOG Performance status and the time from primary tumor to metastases (TDM) were independent risk factors for short survival (HR 2.74, p = 0.001; HR: 0.552, p = 0.034). Conclusions Although extracerebral metastases determine the outcome of patients with BM, the benefit from targeted agents still appears to be limited when compared to patients without BM.