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In a randomized trial involving patients with previously untreated advanced non–small-cell lung cancer, pembrolizumab was associated with a higher response rate, longer progression-free and overall survival, and fewer adverse events than was platinum-based chemotherapy. Approximately 23 to 28% of patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a high level of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, which is defined as membranous PD-L1 expression on at least 50% of tumor cells, regardless of the staining intensity (i.e., a PD-L1 tumor proportion score of 50% or greater). 1 , 2 Data from the phase 1 KEYNOTE-001 and phase 3 KEYNOTE-010 studies indicated that patients with advanced NSCLC and a PD-L1 tumor proportion score of 50% or greater were more likely than those with lower tumor proportion scores to have a response to pembrolizumab, a highly selective, humanized . . .

Tisotumab vedotin is a first-in-human antibody–drug conjugate directed against tissue factor, which is expressed across multiple solid tumour types and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. We aimed to establish the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic profile, and antitumour activity of tisotumab vedotin in a mixed population of patients with locally advanced or metastatic (or both) solid tumours known to express tissue factor. InnovaTV 201 is a phase 1–2, open-label, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study done at 21 centres in the USA and Europe. Patients (aged ≥18 years) had relapsed, advanced, or metastatic cancer of the ovary, cervix, endometrium, bladder, prostate, oesophagus, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck or non-small-cell lung cancer; an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–1; and had relapsed after or were not eligible to receive the available standard of care. No specific tissue factor expression level was required for inclusion. In the dose-escalation phase, patients were treated with tisotumab vedotin between 0·3 and 2·2 mg/kg intravenously once every 3 weeks in a traditional 3 + 3 design. In the dose-expansion phase, patients were treated at the recommended phase 2 dose. The primary endpoint was the incidence of adverse events, including serious adverse events, infusion-related, treatment-related and those of grade 3 or worse, and study drug-related adverse events, analysed in all patients who received at least one dose of tisotumab vedotin (full analysis population). This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02001623, and is closed to new participants with follow-up ongoing. Between Dec 9, 2013, and May 18, 2015, 27 eligible patients were enrolled to the dose-escalation phase. Dose-limiting toxicities, including grade 3 type 2 diabetes mellitus, mucositis, and neutropenic fever, were seen at the 2·2 mg/kg dose; therefore, 2·0 mg/kg of tisotumab vedotin intravenously once every 3 weeks was established as the recommended phase 2 dose. Between Oct 8, 2015, and April 26, 2018, 147 eligible patients were enrolled to the dose-expansion phase. The most common (in ≥20% of patients) treatment-emergent adverse events of any grade were epistaxis (102 [69%] of 147 patients), fatigue (82 [56%]), nausea (77 [52%]), alopecia (64 [44%]), conjunctivitis (63 [43%]), decreased appetite (53 [36%]), constipation (52 [35%]), diarrhoea (44 [30%]), vomiting (42 [29%]), peripheral neuropathy (33 [22%]), dry eye (32 [22%]), and abdominal pain (30 [20%]). The most common adverse events of grade 3 or worse were fatigue (14 [10%] of 147 patients), anaemia (eight [5%]), abdominal pain (six [4%]), hypokalaemia (six [4%]), conjunctivitis (five [3%]), hyponatraemia (five [3%]), and vomiting (five [3%]). 67 (46%) of 147 patients had a treatment-emergent serious adverse event. 39 (27%) of 147 patients had a treatment-emergent serious adverse event related to the study drug. Infusion-related reactions occurred in 17 (12%) of 147 patients. Across tumour types, the confirmed proportion of patients who achieved an objective response was 15·6% (95% CI 10·2–22·5; 23 of 147 patients). There were nine deaths across all study phases (three in the dose-escalation phase and six in the dose-expansion phase); only one case of pneumonia in the dose-expansion phase was considered possibly related to study treatment. Tisotumab vedotin has a manageable safety profile with encouraging preliminary antitumour activity across multiple tumour types in heavily pretreated patients. Continued evaluation of tisotumab vedotin is warranted in solid tumours. Genmab A/S.

Pembrolizumab, an inhibitor of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), produced responses in 24% of patients with non–small-cell lung cancer, with a median overall survival of 16.2 months. The response rate increased to 45% if more than 50% of tumor cells expressed the PD-1 ligand. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. 1 , 2 Platinum-based chemotherapy, with or without maintenance therapy and subsequently followed by second-line cytotoxic chemotherapy, is standard treatment for most patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer, with a median survival of approximately 1 year. 3 , 4 One hallmark of cancer is immune evasion, in which the immune system does not mount an effective antitumor response. 5 Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) is a negative costimulatory receptor expressed primarily on the surface of activated T cells. 6 , 7 The binding of PD-1 to one of its ligands, PD-L1 or PD-L2, can inhibit a cytotoxic . . .

ObjectiveThis exploratory analysis evaluated the incidence of adverse events (AEs) by folate receptor (FR) status in the randomized, multicenter, open-label PRECEDENT study in women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer receiving pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) ± the small-molecule drug conjugate vintafolide.MethodsWomen 18 years or older with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer were randomized 2:1 to vintafolide (2.5 mg intravenously, 3 times per week, weeks 1 and 3, every 28 days) + PLD (50 mg/m2 intravenously, day 1, every 28 days) or PLD alone (same dose/schedule). The expression of functionally active FR was evaluated by single-photon emission computed tomography with etarfolatide. Patients were categorized according to FR positivity: patients with all target lesions positive for FR expression (FR 100%), patients with 1 or more but not all target lesions positive for FR expression (FR 10%–90%), and patients with all lesions negative for FR expression (FR 0%).ResultsData on FR status were available for 94 patients: 38 were FR 100%, 36 were FR 10% to 90%, and 20 were FR 0%. Across all FR subgroups, the duration of treatment was longer, and the number of cycles was higher in combination-therapy arms than PLD-alone arms. Although the frequency of AEs was relatively consistent across subgroups, the FR 100% subgroup had a higher incidence of patients with at least 1 AE for combination therapy versus PLD alone. No surprising safety signals were shown according to FR status. The incidence of grade 3 or 4 treatment-emergent drug-related AEs was generally low across all FR subgroups and treatment arms.ConclusionsThis exploratory analysis suggests that FR status does not influence the AE profile of vintafolide + PLD combination therapy or PLD alone in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Future a priori analyses in larger populations are needed to confirm these findings.

In the phase 3 KEYNOTE-024 trial, treatment with pembrolizumab conferred longer progression-free survival than did platinum-based therapy in patients with treatment-naive, advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) tumour proportion score of 50% or greater (PD-L1-positive). Here we report the prespecified exploratory endpoint of pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy on patient-reported outcomes (PROs). In this multicentre, international, randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial, we recruited patients with treatment-naive, stage IV NSCLC in 102 sites in 16 countries. Eligible patients had measurable disease (per RECIST version 1.1) and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0 or 1. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via an interactive voice response system and integrated web response system to receive either pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks (35 cycles) or investigator-choice platinum-doublet chemotherapy (4–6 cycles or until documented disease progression or unacceptable toxicity). Randomisation was stratified according to geography, ECOG performance status, and histology. PROs were assessed at day 1 of cycles 1–3, every 9 weeks thereafter, at the treatment discontinuation visit, and at the 30-day safety assessment visit using the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 items (QLQ-C30), the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire Lung Cancer 13 items (QLQ-LC13), and the European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions-3 Level (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire. The key exploratory PRO endpoints (analysed for all patients who received at least one dose of study treatment and completed at least one PRO instrument at at least one timepoint) were baseline-to-week-15 change in the QLQ-C30 global health status (GHS)/quality-of-life (QOL) score and time to deterioration of the composite of cough, chest pain, and dyspnoea in the QLQ-LC13. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02142738, and is ongoing but no longer enrolling patients. Between Sept 19, 2014, and Oct 29, 2015, 305 patients were randomly assigned to pembrolizumab (n=154) or chemotherapy (n=151). Three patients in each group did not complete any PRO instruments at any timepoints, and so 299 patients were included in the full analysis set. Of these patients, one in each group did not complete any PRO instruments before week 15, and so were not included in analyses of change from baseline to week 15. PRO compliance was greater than 90% at baseline and approximately 80% at week 15 for both groups. Least-squares mean baseline-to-week-15 change in QLQ-C30 GHS/QOL score was 6·9 (95% CI 3·3 to 10·6) for pembrolizumab and −0·9 (−4·8 to 3·0) for chemotherapy, for a difference of 7·8 (2·9 to 12·8; two-sided nominal p=0·0020). Fewer pembrolizumab-treated patients had deterioration in the QLQ-LC13 composite endpoint than did chemotherapy-treated patients (46 [31%] of 151 patients vs 58 [39%] of 148 patients). Time to deterioration was longer with pembrolizumab than with chemotherapy (median not reached [95% CI 8·5 to not reached] vs 5·0 months [3·6 to not reached]; hazard ratio 0·66, 95% CI 0·44–0·97; two-sided nominal p=0·029). Pembrolizumab improves or maintains health-related QOL compared with that for chemotherapy, and might represent a new first-line standard of care for PD-L1-expressing, advanced NSCLC. Merck & Co.

Erbin, a PDZ protein, was identified three years ago as an erbB2 interacting protein. It contains 16 leucine rich repeats in its amino terminus and a single PDZ domain in its carboxy terminus. It was originally believed to serve as a targeting protein; targeting the erbB2 receptor to the basolateral aspect of the cell. Since then studies have demonstrated that erbin can (1) modulate Ras/MAP kinase by interfering with Ras' association with Raf, (2) influence cell motility by modulating Rho signaling pathways, (3) bind to a number of the p120 family of catenins, β-catenin, and the hemidesmosomal proteins integrin β4 and eBPAG1, (4) can influence the integrity of the neuromuscular junction. Furthermore, studies have demonstrated that erbin's interactions with members of the p120 family of catenins are far more robust than its interaction with erbB2 or β-catenin. In light of the observation that erbin can modulate Rho signaling and can bind to p120 catenins, β-catenin, and erbB2 we were interested in determining the role of erbin in the peripheral nerve, and specifically in the Schwann cell. The data described here suggest that erbin co-localizes with E-cadherin and β-catenin in the paranode of the peripheral nerve and is, therefore, a putative component of the autotypic adherens junction. Reduction in erbin expression in the Schwann using siRNA reveals that Schwann cells reduced in erbin expression exhibit (1) alterations in their prototypical bipolar morphology, (2) loss of cell-substrate adhesion, (3) increased proliferation, (4) a decrease in the hypophosphorylated form of merlin, (5) decreased association between β-catenin and E-cadherin, β-catenin and merlin, and erbB2 and CD44, (6) increased expression of phosphorylated β-catenin and E-cadherin, (7) increased activation of ERK. Pharmacological inhibition of MEK, an ERK kinase, leads to a partial reversal of the alterations listed above suggesting that adherens junction instability following erbin reduction is MEK/ERK dependent. In vitro binding assays also demonstrate that EBP50, an ERM binding protein that contains two PDZ domains, directly interacts with erbin, thus serving as a bridge between merlin and β-catenin.